Early Hindi cinema wins many accolades – for its idealistic
themes, for its propagation of Hindustani and for its secular temperament. While
it is true that the political atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s, the Nehruvian
era, was responsible for many of these attributes, the contribution of communist
writers and poets to early Hindi cinema and to its idiom, language and content
is often forgotten.
Obviously, a medium like cinema which is so responsive to public
demands and public tastes does reflect its social and political context to a
large extent. Therefore the values and excitement of the national movement, the
heady brew of freedom from colonial bondage and the novelty of nation building
and Nehru’s secular, modern outlook provided much of the inspiration for the
best-remembered films of the era. But they would have been incomplete without
the contribution of a galaxy of communist literary giants who chose this medium
precisely because it was the most effective medium of mass communication.
It is important to remember that there is a basic difference
between the way in which a communist uses the word ‘mass’ and the way others do.
A communist uses the word with a feeling of reverence and respect and wishes to
communicate with the mass in order to imbue it with what he considers to be the
highest values and ideals and in order to help it achieve its historic mission
to bring about universal equality. Others use the word mass contemptuously, in a
pejorative way, with the objective of converting as much of it into mindless
consumers of their products, including cultural works, as possible.
It was this attitude towards the mass combined with their
enormous talents that made the communist contribution to early Hindi cinema so
memorable.
Perhaps no country in the world has at any time in its history
witnessed such a large number of first-rate talents harnessed to a common
ideology. It is important to remember that communist writers, poets, actors and
artists did not come from Hindi and Urdu backgrounds alone. All Indian languages
were blessed by similar practitioners at the time.
They were all products of a unique blend of nationalist and
revolutionary fervour that was peculiar to the 1930s when most of them came of
age. This was complemented by the fact that many of them came from feudal and
traditional families. For them the Communist Manifesto, the experiences of
Soviet Russia and the national movement in their own country fused into
liberating images far removed from the suffocating conservatism surrounding
them. Patriarchy, feudal oppression, caste hierarchies and inhuman cruelty would
all be blown away by the winds of change that they had not only begun to
experience but which they themselves would fan into invincibility. This was the
dream they dared to dream – not alone but in communion with each other, with
their comrades – and which they longed to communicate to the masses.
Bombay, the working-class capital of the country, was the
headquarters of the Communist Party of India. Its journals attracted the finest
talents in the country. Sajjad Zaheer was able to bring writers and poets of the
calibre of Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar Jafri, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Krishan Chander,
Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri and a host of others to work as party
whole-timers. Without compromising the quality of their work they had the
opportunity to test it every day against the touchstone of the people: the
textile workers of Bombay, the handloom weavers of Bhiwandi, the fighting
peasants of Bhiwandi.
It was this unique circumstance that would stand them in good
stead when they brought their thoughts and verses from the world of cramped
party offices, factory gates and vast public recitals to the world of cinema.
Here they were joined by other comrades from the Indian People’s Theatre
Association (IPTA) who gave Hindi cinema many of its earliest and finest actors
and actresses.
A New World. The New Woman. These were the hallmarks of what is
nostalgically referred to as the golden era of Indian cinema. Awara.
Shree 420. Mother India. Pyaasa. Do Bigha Zameen. The
era’s sheen was provided by the communists. Of course, their convictions
underwent changes with the years but their commitment to secularism and to its
language, Hindustani, never diminished. And the dross of crass commercialism
could never completely dull the brightness of their earlier dreams…