Dharmputra

Dharmputra (1961) : Brief Review -

Severe Hinduism against its own blood with an identity crisis amidst a partition backdrop. Too much mess to handle for young Yash Chopra. Yash Ji debuted with a bang with the classic "Dhool Ka Phool" (1959), where a Muslim man adopts a Hindu child. Dharmputra sees a swipe as a Hindu family adopts a Muslim woman's child. I somehow didn't like the idea that both films showed the mother of the child in a bad light. "Jawani ki Galti" or "Jawani ki Bhool" can't be an excuse for an educated girl and a boy. If they were uneducated and lusty, it would have been a different case. Mala Sinha plays that woman in both films. For a change, in this film, she is happy that her son has grown up to be a good guy, but as a Hindu extremist. DKP played a masterstroke by keeping the character as a kid because then we have to teach them what they don't know. Dharmputra lacks that innocence and hunger for knowledge. Half the film is already over when you see the lead actor of the film, Shashi Kapoor, a Muslim boy who is brought up by a Hindu family and is unaware of his identity. He is an extremist Hindu leader who wants to eliminate Muslims from society, not knowing that he himself has Muslim blood in his body. That's the only trick this film gets right, while the rest of the narrative seems too messy. Young Yash Chopra tried to join the scattered pieces but didn't really get what this gutsy story deserved. I am not saying that Dharmaputra is a bad film, or even an average film; it's a good film, but it does not match Chopra's previous classic "Dhool Ka Phool," which attempted a similar topic from the other end. The film won a national award, and I don't wonder why. The kind of topic it tackled was too risky at the time, even though we had Chhalia made a year ago. Nevertheless, it is stuck to the "Unity" message, and that might have wowed the people then. In my opinion, as a cinematic outing, it could have been better.

RATING - 6/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This movie shows Hindus are intolerant are you serious.

Very bad, watching this is a bad waste of time.

Very alienated from the reality.

Yash Chapra's DHARAMPUTRA is surprisingly good, particularly in it's first half. The atmosphere of an upper-class Muslim home is captured very well, and the performances of Mala Sinha and Nirupa as young mothers of different faiths are good. While Shashi Kapoor as the illegitimate Muslim son adopted into the Hindu family is okay, it's also fascinating to see Rajindra Kumar in a minor role as and even more fanatic Hindu. There's little suspense in the story (the only question really is if Shashi will live or die after he finds out he was born a Muslim) but the first half and the message of communal harmony are handled quite well. It's certainly a Yash Chopra film --social issues disguised in a romance, and still effective today.

Yash Chopra's second directorial venture is a family melodrama involving a Hindi and a Muslim family with their houses connected by a bridge, set during the revolutionary movement against the British rule in 1925 and 1947. The bridge stands a metaphor to the communal harmony between the Hindu and Muslims amid the partition of India - Pakistan and the hostility between them.

Though not successful commercially, the film sets a benchmark for a remarkable direction by Yash Chopra for making a notable film based on a literary work set in a historical milieu. The film is tautly narrated and well acted, yet few cast go uncredited, notably Ashok Kumar for a remarkable role as a benevolent Muslim, who is shot dead during the people's movement to burn the union jack. Besides, the film showcases the remarkable performances from Mala Sinha, Manmohan Krishna, along a promising debut in an adult role by Sashi Kapoor.

Amid its grip throughout, the film is interrupted by the numerous songs you ought to skip. Plus the disappointment is it sketches the story superficially only in the perspectives of Hindu extremists. It's a film worth watching for the remarkable direction and story that to some extent takes a departure from the ordinary cliches with some notable acting, but still it isn't a classic of a higher order to stand an epitome of time.

Rating: 2 stars out of 4