Kamal Amrohi: A great and impassioned impresario

Amrohi directing a stuntman understudy for Hema Malini: Stickler for detailIt's not the making of the movie that is historic, but its maker. For nearly five years the making of Razia Sultanhas mesmerized Bombay's film industry not because of the appeal of the subject, the grandeur of the sets, the casting of the stars or the originality of locales, but because the man who has conceived the project is considered by Bombay's movie moghuls as a great and impassioned impresario. A mad man and visionary who may be the last moghul of a dynastic star system.Kamal Amrohi, is the stuff of Bombay movie legends. He is the man who wrote dialogues of super hits like Jailor and Pukar in the 1940s, who produced a super hit - Mahal in the 1950s, married Meena Kumari, and topped it up with yet another great hit - Pakeezah, starring his ill-fated wife. It was released after her death, and became a sensation in the 1970s. For a man whose career in the industry has spanned over four decades, who as a dialogue writer, lyricist, director and producer has come to be associated with all-time epics of the commercial cinema, there are bound to be conflicting views of his life and work. There are those who see him as an absolutist and tyrannical about the design and detail of his movies, a complete dictator who will stand no compromise from his financiers or from members of his crew. Hema with Dharmendra: Natural arrogance for the roleThere are those who see him as the last of the old time eccentrics, often perverse in his professional relationships, and ready to exploit the talent of others to his own credit. And then there are those who see him as the man who drove a reigning diva of the Hindi screen to dipsomania, but immortalised her posthumously in the role of the fabulous courtesan inPakeezah.There is, above all that, a certain style about the man and his work, just as there was style in the seediness, the romantic floss and the hard grit of old Hollywood. All his movies to date, in spite of the lack of probability, their purple prose, their hideous opulence and ethereal imagery, have a certain surviving magic in them."India will never see another director as meticulous as he is," says R.D. Mathur, one of Bombay's senior cameramen, who worked on Mughal-e-Azam and controls the cameras on Razia Sultan. But will the movie work, after nearly five years of nonstop effort, and after draining almost Rs 6 crore, is a question that keeps speculation in the film world alive. As the film's shooting now draws to a close in the Rajasthan desert, there are critics who fear that Amrohi's new opus may well prove his Waterloo.The legendary Soharb Modi in a sequenceBut oblivious of what his rivals in the industry think, or the comparable fate of recent big-budget extravaganzas, or for that matter the heat, dust and chaotic organisation of conducting a major war sequence, Kamal Amrohi sits cool in his collapsible chair. A red flap on the back, and the words "Director" embroidered in silver tinsel, mark out his presence. His third wife, Bilkis Jan, who doubled for Meena Kumari inPakeezah.pours out his tea.Haw keyed and henna-haired, with scores of pot-bellied chamchas running around in circles, Amrohi won't let the last detail pass unnoticed by his acute vision. "Everything," he says, flicking the ash off a Dunhill in the sandy riverbed whereby a thousand villagers are mocking a fight between the armies of Empress Razia and her Governor Altuniya, "is in my head - the script, the elevation of the set, the ground plan, the colour scheme, the ornaments and lighting. I am a story writer, a dialogue writer, a director and, of course, a poet."How he manages to utilise such various talents to make a film on the doomed reign of the 13th century empress of the Slave Dynasty is something that daunts him not a bit. "I have a great interest in history," he says, "so when one of my distributors suggested that I tackle a historical subject instead of taking up another social theme like Pakeezah, my interest was aroused." Amrohi apparently went through great pains in his research about Razia's life, about which very little is known, and not much documented.Preparing for the war with the strange background setting: All the Queen's horsesIt was recently published in Pakistan that Raziadied neither in a battle in Bhatinda in Punjab nor in Delhi, where a grave in Turkman Gate in the old city, is said to be hers. According to Amrohi neither of the two graves are authentic. He believes thatRaziaactually lived incognito after her imagined death - just as in the movies - and died of old age in Multan, where a courtesan befriended her and left an account of her life.Purists among historians may beg to differ, but starting with such a theory Amrohi has let his poet's imagination take over. There are eight songs in the film, written by poets like Jan Nissar Akhtar and Kaifi Azmi and set to music by Khayyam. There are two dance sequences; a banquet sequence: so ostentatious that it took a month-and-a-half to construct the Moti Mahal at a cost of Rs 30 lakh and roast 200 lambs and 300 to 400 chickens each day to get the right flavour of a feast. And there is a war sequence, involving nearly 60 horses, some borrowed from the 61st Cavalry in Jaipur, and others flown in especially from Bombay to perform authentic falls. Says English stuntman, Gerry Crampton, who has worked on movies like Sholay and Shaan, and who trains horses specially on Juhu Beach to perform stagefalls: "There have never been so many horses falling in a battle sequence in a Hindi movie. Two or three perhaps but never 20 as they do in the Razia war, because it's a highly complex and difficult trick to accomplish without hurting the horses. The horse has to fall at a speed of 30 miles an hour, throwing the horseman some 35 feet away. Even for stuntmen it could be dangerous."Mid-battle sequence in the film: Dangerous stuntmanshipThe director of the second unit, Hargovind Pandey, who is British-trained and something of a wizard at special effects, has had to deal with problems like creating a special Turkish Bath, with steam billowing up two floors of a set right up to Razia's shoulders but dissipating before reaching her face. "We used liquid nitrogen and other chemicals and it was an awfully smelly-business," says Pandey.Nothing made Hema Malini, the heroine, wince at all. Not even a specially created Jaisalmer sandstorm, made from smoke bombs, difficult skirmishes on horseback or lessons in unarmed combat given by the Abyssinian slave, Yakut (played by Dharmendra) who is her lover. Yet the casting of Hema Malini as the great queen is thought poorly of. Many think she will hardly be able to cope with Amrohi's dialogues in florid Urdu that are known to leave audiences gasping. But the director himself confesses that at the time he started the movie, she was the only actress with the kind of face and personality who could play Razia. "Moreover," he adds, "she has the natural arrogance for the role. As for the delivery of dialogue, we have been sending her taped cassettes of her speeches to memorise the accent and style."The man's conceit is staggering. So is his capacity to get what he wants. Pakeezah took him nine years to complete. Razia will take him five. His producer, A. K. Mishra of Rajdhani Films, hopes to release it by Diwali, but members of the crew feel it is impossible even by 1982. Emphasising Amrohi's precision for exotic details, one assistant relates how the director wouldn't move with a palace shot till a sulphur-crested cockatoo was produced. None could be found. Eventually one had to be imported from Australia. Explaining his style of functioning another assistant, who has spent half his life working with Amrohi, says: "He is the last moghul. Nothing can move in the unit without his command." Some would call it interference. Others think it is insulting, but Kamal sahib's movies are a one-man show. He controls everyone and everything himself. That is why people flock to see his movies and remember them forever. He hands out his film as a personal gift to each member of the audience. It's his way of saying, thank you for coming to see my movie.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 22, 2013 11:52 IST--- ENDS ---

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Kamal Amrohi: A great and impassioned impresario

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