Deewar as a movie is interesting in the many themes that it plays with, when you for a moment forget the towering presence of Amitabh Bacchan in the movie.
Theme 1 : It starts with the failure of socialism in line with the imminent decline of the half baked industrial revolution in India that had many a false spring. Deewar released in the same year , when Indira Gandhi put the country into a chaotic period of emergency. And hence this movie starts the Bachchan phenomenon , the angry young man who was the collective angst against the establishment , he unofficially had the license to punish or graft his way as he deemed fit. What you see bandaged is not just Satyen Kappu, but social order and righteousness.
Theme 2 : The movie is also about the mother and her ability to uphold the values. If you notice the movie actually starts with Shashi Kapoor ( Ravi) insisting that the medal belongs to his widowed mother. . When the trade union leader is falsely implicated and his family is left desolate and impoverished, its the mother who raises the kids by moving to a new city. This is the Mother India template , where you see Nirupa Roy as Sumitra Devi breaking stones to build modern day buildings in Mumbai. The same building that Vijay buys for his mom only for her mom to say " You have not become so big to buy your mom". However upright she holds these values, her sense of justice is not as strong as Mother India. She goes to the Shiva temple to wait for her son Vijay although she herself gave the gun to Ravi with an advice that he should not dither from doing his duty. Yes there is a soft corner for the first son but not above the law. The soft corner is because Vijay bore the brunt , she feels guilty that he could not get the same education that Ravi got and had to eke a living as a shoeshine boy. Or its a Kunti moment !
Theme 3. To add insult to injury, one of the kids Vijay gets tattooed on his hands that his father was a thief. This changes his perspective completely but he lives with it imbibing the street smartness of anyone growing in Mumbai streets ( a theme that runs all the way to Salaam Bombay and Slumdog Millionaire) , famously in the scene where ' mai feke hue paise nahi uthata' showing the steely resolve and dignity of a professional. Its at the docks where this work ethic crumbles, when he sees the exploitation of people earning a hard living. ( Oh the docks, where will movies be without you, that fragile opportunistic ecosystem teeming with termites and soiled money). Did Vijay Verma enter the life of crime because he saw opportunity or a better use of his talents or he was sick of his existence? Or was he just happy being the Robin hood to Rahim Chacha ( again the under rated Yunus Pervez) who gives the muslim taveez of 786 to a Hindu non believer that will protect him. And what a wonderful cinematic device that Billa no 786 is!
This is somewhat secondary because the movie then moves to 'Mumbai-noir' territory with the whole Haji Mastan angle - the dockyard boy who becomes a smuggler. Then the movie is really a story about a smuggler businessman and its Amitabh all the way. That towering inferno of bottled up anger in suits and swift hand movements, showing the angst he has against the powerful who dont allow the others to flourish.
Theme 4. Is of justice itself. The movie shows that even being educated doesnt get you a job easily. Ravi is unemployed and gets a police job on the suggestion of his would be father in law. When Ravi shoots a young guy who was stealing bread in his first stint as a police officer and he dies and Ravi goes with a small token, there is a scene that is unimaginable without AK Hangal. A former teacher who says that what you did is right even though he has lost a son - "All stealing, whether it be of a cent or a million, is a crime ...if the thousands of people dying of hunger all become thieves, it would make for an impossible situation", showing that crime doesnt pay.
When his wife in an emotional outburst, lambasts Ravi saying that the police can only capture petty thieves and not the big ones who abuse power , he says she is uneducated , and he is a teacher ! This is where you see the screenplay of Salim Javed coming to its bone chilling dramatic impact.
So when Ravi asks Vijay to surrender and admit to his crimes, Vijay describes how futile that effort his because the 'system' will not change. Is that Vijays justification for what he did ? Its this justification because he strongly feels this is the only way wrong doing can be curbed and he needs to be in a position of power to fight them. He almost thinks he did everything for the family - especialy when he goes to his mom ' yeh sab aapka hai maa' .
Again Salim Javed come in to solve a complex moral conflict with a superb dramatic device , the scene that is immortalized in Indian cinematic history where the strong sense of social order and the ability to choose between right and wrong swings to its desired state.
This is the beginning of the end of Vijay Verma the criminal. Maybe this is the reason he finds some succour in another self-made womans love, so what if she is a call girl. .People write a lot about the boldness in which the movie showed the Amitabh- Parveen Babi relationship , but I cant really understand if a smuggler would have a conventional marriage. Maybe its a deeper hurt that Vijay feels that he is not part of that righteous society anymore, so why bother.
Theme 5: Is between the existence of God and our belief.
Even if society can lead with its morass, the biggest belief system is that we all hold ( again Indianness) is the one with God. Even that is answered at the end. When there is no road left, Vijay comes to appeal to God to keep his own ' loyal customers' happy.( Salim Javed where is your feet moment .. )He wants his mom to be absolved of his sins and he comes to the temple he never went. That detour costs him his life but it was needed and he did it asking forgiveness - where he is not the businessman but a son , the ordinary guy who started life in streets.
Theme 1 : It starts with the failure of socialism in line with the imminent decline of the half baked industrial revolution in India that had many a false spring. Deewar released in the same year , when Indira Gandhi put the country into a chaotic period of emergency. And hence this movie starts the Bachchan phenomenon , the angry young man who was the collective angst against the establishment , he unofficially had the license to punish or graft his way as he deemed fit. What you see bandaged is not just Satyen Kappu, but social order and righteousness.
Theme 2 : The movie is also about the mother and her ability to uphold the values. If you notice the movie actually starts with Shashi Kapoor ( Ravi) insisting that the medal belongs to his widowed mother. . When the trade union leader is falsely implicated and his family is left desolate and impoverished, its the mother who raises the kids by moving to a new city. This is the Mother India template , where you see Nirupa Roy as Sumitra Devi breaking stones to build modern day buildings in Mumbai. The same building that Vijay buys for his mom only for her mom to say " You have not become so big to buy your mom". However upright she holds these values, her sense of justice is not as strong as Mother India. She goes to the Shiva temple to wait for her son Vijay although she herself gave the gun to Ravi with an advice that he should not dither from doing his duty. Yes there is a soft corner for the first son but not above the law. The soft corner is because Vijay bore the brunt , she feels guilty that he could not get the same education that Ravi got and had to eke a living as a shoeshine boy. Or its a Kunti moment !
Theme 3. To add insult to injury, one of the kids Vijay gets tattooed on his hands that his father was a thief. This changes his perspective completely but he lives with it imbibing the street smartness of anyone growing in Mumbai streets ( a theme that runs all the way to Salaam Bombay and Slumdog Millionaire) , famously in the scene where ' mai feke hue paise nahi uthata' showing the steely resolve and dignity of a professional. Its at the docks where this work ethic crumbles, when he sees the exploitation of people earning a hard living. ( Oh the docks, where will movies be without you, that fragile opportunistic ecosystem teeming with termites and soiled money). Did Vijay Verma enter the life of crime because he saw opportunity or a better use of his talents or he was sick of his existence? Or was he just happy being the Robin hood to Rahim Chacha ( again the under rated Yunus Pervez) who gives the muslim taveez of 786 to a Hindu non believer that will protect him. And what a wonderful cinematic device that Billa no 786 is!
This is somewhat secondary because the movie then moves to 'Mumbai-noir' territory with the whole Haji Mastan angle - the dockyard boy who becomes a smuggler. Then the movie is really a story about a smuggler businessman and its Amitabh all the way. That towering inferno of bottled up anger in suits and swift hand movements, showing the angst he has against the powerful who dont allow the others to flourish.
Theme 4. Is of justice itself. The movie shows that even being educated doesnt get you a job easily. Ravi is unemployed and gets a police job on the suggestion of his would be father in law. When Ravi shoots a young guy who was stealing bread in his first stint as a police officer and he dies and Ravi goes with a small token, there is a scene that is unimaginable without AK Hangal. A former teacher who says that what you did is right even though he has lost a son - "All stealing, whether it be of a cent or a million, is a crime ...if the thousands of people dying of hunger all become thieves, it would make for an impossible situation", showing that crime doesnt pay.
When his wife in an emotional outburst, lambasts Ravi saying that the police can only capture petty thieves and not the big ones who abuse power , he says she is uneducated , and he is a teacher ! This is where you see the screenplay of Salim Javed coming to its bone chilling dramatic impact.
So when Ravi asks Vijay to surrender and admit to his crimes, Vijay describes how futile that effort his because the 'system' will not change. Is that Vijays justification for what he did ? Its this justification because he strongly feels this is the only way wrong doing can be curbed and he needs to be in a position of power to fight them. He almost thinks he did everything for the family - especialy when he goes to his mom ' yeh sab aapka hai maa' .
Again Salim Javed come in to solve a complex moral conflict with a superb dramatic device , the scene that is immortalized in Indian cinematic history where the strong sense of social order and the ability to choose between right and wrong swings to its desired state.
This is the beginning of the end of Vijay Verma the criminal. Maybe this is the reason he finds some succour in another self-made womans love, so what if she is a call girl. .People write a lot about the boldness in which the movie showed the Amitabh- Parveen Babi relationship , but I cant really understand if a smuggler would have a conventional marriage. Maybe its a deeper hurt that Vijay feels that he is not part of that righteous society anymore, so why bother.
Even if society can lead with its morass, the biggest belief system is that we all hold ( again Indianness) is the one with God. Even that is answered at the end. When there is no road left, Vijay comes to appeal to God to keep his own ' loyal customers' happy.( Salim Javed where is your feet moment .. )He wants his mom to be absolved of his sins and he comes to the temple he never went. That detour costs him his life but it was needed and he did it asking forgiveness - where he is not the businessman but a son , the ordinary guy who started life in streets.
Comments