3/5
Stars
The film 'Satyakam' is a Dharmendra-Sanjeev
Kumar starrer, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Another slice-of-life representation
by the legendary auteur!
The 1969 film, based on a Bengali novel of
the same title, written by a renowned writer Narayan Sanyal, is a poignant tale
about how a righteous individual had to give up his life, while trying to lead
a truthful life. Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Sharmila Tagore and Ashok Kumar
deliver brilliant performances in this melancholic drama.
The film revolves around Satyapriya
Acharya's (Dharmendra) struggle to choose between right and wrong. For him, there
has never been any choice - it has always been concurrent with the foundations
of truth and honesty. Be it a normal class lecture, a work assignment, a
building contract, a woman's chastity, accepting an 'impure' lady or any other
matter, Satyapriya has always chosen the 'right' path. And for this, he has
always ended up bearing the brunt of this self-centred society of the newly
independent country. Satyapriya's fight against all the corrupt elements of the
society takes such an intense turn that he starts questioning himself. Over his
journey, his grandfather Satyasharan Acharya (Ashok Kumar), wife Ranjana
(Sharmila Tagore) and his friend Narendra Sharma (Sanjeev Kumar) play an
important, not necessarily instrumental, role.
An interesting line uttered by Dharmendra's
Satyapriya in this film goes on the lines of 'Honest is not a policy. In fact, dishonesty
is a policy. Honesty is religion to me.' The film is filled with similar
thought-provoking gems. The writing team, comprising Bimal Dutta, Rajinder Singh
Bedi and the original author Narayan Sanyal, come up with a profound story and
screenplay. Hrishikesh Mukherjee has pulled off this satire, albeit with a
tragic undertone, with impeccable perfection. There are a few blips on the way
- the length, the underwhelming music and several editing errors. However,
these mistakes can largely be attributed to the era in which the film was made.
It is a compelling watch and there are few
scenes, which will certainly give you goose bumps if not a few tears.
Dharmendra and the dialogue writers are clearly the winners here!
Shivom
Oza
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