Khamoshi

Khamoshi
Directed by	Asit Sen
Produced by	Geetanjali
Written by	Asit Sen (screenplay) Gulzar (dialogue)
Story by	Ashutosh Mukherjee
Based on	'Nurse Mitra', a story; by Ashutosh Mukherjee
Starring	Rajesh Khanna; Waheeda Rehman Dharmendra
Music by	Hemant Kumar; Gulzar (lyrics)
Cinematography	Kamal Bose
Release date	April 25, 1970
Running time	127 min
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Khamoshi (Hindi: ???????, Urdu: ??????, translation: "Silence") is a 1970 black-and-white Hindi drama film directed by Asit Sen, starring Waheeda Rehman and Rajesh Khanna. It is especially remembered for its songs with excellent music by Hemant Kumar and some excellent lyrics by Gulzar in songs such as "Tum Pukar Lo... Tumhara Intezaar Hai" sung by Hemant Kumar, "Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi" by Kishore Kumar and "Humne Dekhi Hai In Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo" sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Though what really made this film stand out was the B&W cinematography by Kamal Bose, who won the Filmfare Award for his work in the film and critical acclaim received for Rajesh Khanna's performance. The film is considered Waheeda Rehman's finest acting feat, as she carries the entire film through her powerful yet understated acting; she received a Filmfare nomination for it. This movie is often considered to be most successful film of Waheeda Rehman box-office wise as it ran due to the craze for Rajesh Khanna.

The film was shot in Calcutta. The film is based on the Bengali short story titled Nurse Mitra by noted Bengali writer, Ashutosh Mukherjee and is a remake of director Asit Sen's own Bengali film, Deep Jwele Jaai (1959), starring Suchitra Sen. The Bengali original proved to be a hit at the box office, especially at the urban centres. Impressed by the story line, producer Vuppunuthula Purushotham Reddy and director G. Ramineedu remade the Bengali film into Chivaraku Migiledi (1960), which was a block buster. This film is counted among the 17 consecutive hit films of Rajesh Khanna between 1969 and 1971, by adding the two-hero films Marayada and Andaz to the 15 consecutive solo hits he gave from 1969 to 1971.

Background

Director Asit Sen (not to be confused with the actor-comedian Asit Sen) acted in the original Bengali film Deep Jélé Jaai (1959) in a role which was essayed by Dharmendra in Khamoshi, where the movie-goers actually could not recognise him because it was a dark scene marked with the baritone voice of Hemant Kumar. Later, he revealed himself in an interview in the 1990s. After his success in the off-beat films Mamta (1966) and Anokhi Raat (1968), Sen, wanting to make it big in Bombay as well, decided to remake his Bengali hit.

Actress Waheeda Rehman suggested the name of actor Rajesh Khanna, having been impressed by his work in Aakhri Khat (1966). She said that her own performance came "nowhere near Suchitra Sen." She credited the director for helping her a lot during difficult scenes.Waheeda Rehman said in an interview that she could not meet the standards set by Savitri in Chivaraku Migiledi (1960) for the character.^[4]

Plot

Colonel Sahab is a doctor in a psychiatry ward and Nurse Radha (Waheeda Rehman) is heart-broken after a civilian patient, Dev Kumar (Dharmendra), whom she cared for, pouring out her love and affection, leaves the hospital, as she had been unable to keep her heart separate from her professional work and had fallen in love with her patient. Next, Arun Choudury (Rajesh Khanna), a writer and poet enters as a patient, suffering acute mania after being rejected by his lover, Sulekha. After refusing to take his care, Radha relents and starts nursing him. In between while caring for Arun, she reminisces about her past and tells a story of how she took care of injured brave army soldiers when she was posted in Ladakh during the Sino-Indian war of 1962.

Gradually, Arun gets cured by the love of Nurse Radha, who yet again falls hopelessly in love with her patient. Unable to hide from the truth yet unable to face it, Radha herself goes insane and is admitted to the same clinic. Arun promises to wait for her until she recovers, finding no other options that he could choose to make her better again.^[7]

Cast

Waheeda Rehman - Nurse Radha
Rajesh Khanna - Arun Choudhury (Patient #24)
Dharmendra - Mr. Dev (Patient #24) (Guest Appearance)
Nazir Hussain - Dr. Colonel Saab
Iftekhar - Doctor
Lalita Pawar - Matron
Deven Verma - Patient #22
Anwar Hussain - Biharilal Gupta
Snehlata - Sulekha (Arun's friend)

Music

The music was composed by Hemant Kumar and some of the popular songs (written by Gulzar) of the movie are :

01. "Tum Pukar Lo.. Tumhaara Intezaar Hai": Hemant Kumar
02. "Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi.. Yeh Shaam Bhi Ajeeb Hai" : Kishore Kumar
03. "Humne Dekhee Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo": Lata Mangeshkar ^[2]
04. "Aaj Ki Raat Charagon"- Aarti Mukherjee ^[8]
05. "Dost Kahan Koi Tumsa": Manna Dey

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award (B&W film category): Kamal Bose
Filmfare Nomination for Best Actress: Waheeda Rehman^[9]

Remake

A Hollywood remake of the film, Silence, was announced in 2008 to be directed by Sanjay Patel. It was rumoured that it would star Jennifer Aniston in the lead role but nothing came of it.^[10]