On a success trail
Kiran Shantaram smiles indulgently as he revisits his father’s dream venture Navrang which released 50 years ago to packed houses and exultant audience. It ran for 50 weeks in Liberty cinema in Mumbai and for 54 glorious weeks in Model talkies, Ahmedabad. “People danced in the aisles, they cried for joy and fell at Anna’s feet. It was wonderful to witness such marvellous glory,” he relates about the special show of Navrang in Ahmedabad that the entire cast and crew attended. His father fondly called him Killya and he joined Navrang as an assistant director,”It was my first job and I had to look after continuity shots - like which way was the entry of an actor in a particular shot,” he informs.

V Shantaram - actor, writer, filmmaker started off doing silent films before graduating to talkies. He was celebrated for his socially relevant films like Padosi, Dahej, Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, Do Aankhen Barah Haath. He was known for the diverse themes that he picked. He was already riding the crest of box office success of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje and Do Ankhen Bara Haath when he chose to make Navrang, a film based on the flights of fancy of a patriotic poet. It did shock film analysts for sure, as acerbic critic Baburao Patel of Filmindia called it “a colourless affair” and “mental masturbation of a senile soul”. Never mind the critic’s angst, the film turned out to be blockbuster then running to full houses and completing it’s golden jubilee and in the years to come it attained the status of a classic. Till date, Navrang remains a benchmark amongst India’s ‘song-and-dance’ films.

Colourising a dream
“Although colour technology was available during Do Aankhen Barah Haath , Anna insisted on shooting in black and white to bring out the starkness of the script. What’s the colour of life in a jail, he would argue. In any case, the shades and contrasts are so much more pronounced in B &W,” reasons Kiran Shantaram. As if to make up for the lack of colour in his previous film, he splashed myriad colours in his next - Navrang. “It the first coloured film shot by Indian crew and technicians,” reveals Shantaram Jr.

Interestingly, Navrang started off as a B & W Marathi film based on the story by famous literatteur G D Madgulkar. It was the story of Shahir Prabhakar, a folk poet who fantasised about his simple wife to be his glamorous muse. “The film starred Arun Sarnaik and Sandhya and Anna had even shot 4-5 days of it. Suddenly it struck him - why not colourise it? He then decided to adapt it in Hindi. He also decided to make it on a lavish scale,” he adds.

Fantasy of patriotic fervour
Navrang wove together the flights of fancy of a poet with his patriotic fervour. It was the story of Navrang, a poet living in an independent state in India. Based in the end of 18th century when the British were taking over the entire country, it had Navrang’s poems inspired by his muse - imaginary Mohini, who was none other than his simple wife - Jamuna - his poems earned him the post of the court poet. Even after the British usurped his state, Navrang continued singing songs of protest against foreign rule. Consequently he lost his job and his wife/muse deserted him out of suspicion. The climax had Navrang rediscovering his creative streak with the melodious ‘Tu chhupi hai kahan... ‘ yet again as Jamuna returned to him. “Although replete with a dozen lavish songs, Navrang was essentially a patriotic film. It combined entertainment with a social message,” surmises Kiran.

Giant bells, an elephant and a horse
V Shantaram cut no corners with Navrang, he specially purchased an elephant and a horse for the famous ‘Ja re hat natkhat... ‘ number. “Since Sandhya was supposed to shoot with both Ramchandra, the elephant and Moti, the horse, she would look after them. She had to get familiarised with them,” explains Kiran. A special wading tank was constructed for Ramchandra and he would be hosed with cold water every evening. The elephant enjoyed a special diet of bananas and coconuts.

“My sweetest memory of the film is when Anna asked me to shoot the fantasy song with big bells on which dancers were perched! I remember placing camera tripod on wheels for that shot. Anna was delighted with the results,” he reminisces fondly.

Resplendent dresses and dances
When it came to casting the lead pair, V Shantaram stuck to his muse - Sandhya and chose a regular artist, Mahipal to essay the title role. Sandhya was very particular about her make-up and costumes, “She would immerse herself in the role. Whether it was the opening shot which showed both Mahipal and Sandhya as an old, wrinkled couple for which she didn’t shy away from wearing old woman’s make-up or it were the feathered dress which she and Anna supervised personally. Indeed - their involvement in the film was exemplary,” he admits.

The film included a dozen songs shot on glorious sets. “Anna was a great artist and he would sketch out the sets and specify the dimentions. The set designs were conceived by Anna and executed by our art director Kanu Desai,” he adds.

The entire film was shot at Raj Kamal Studio in Parel, Mumbai. “The cast and crew were the employees of the studio, We had to punch in our cards by sharp 9 am and we worked till 6.30 pm. We worked on a monthly payroll,” he recalls.

C Ramchandra’s hit score
V Shantaram had previously used C Ramchandra’s music in his films - Parchhain and Subah Ka Tara, so he was the obivious choice for Navrang as well. For this film, his brief was to go with the mood of the film. “C Ramchandra would sing each song for his singers before recording it, he taught Asha Bhosale to sing in a high-pitched voice that was sung by the courtesan Manjiri in the film. The number was, Aa dil se dil mila le....”

The sound recording for the film was scintillating, “The sound of tear drop was reproduced by using an industrial dropper and a mike suspended in the water tank! Our audiographer, Mangesh Desai was such a whizard,” he adds. This sound effect was used in the song ‘Tu chhupi hai kahan...’.

The music was released a month ahead of the film but surprisingly it didn’t catch on until after the release of the film.

Colourful premiere
Since V Shantaram was riding high on success, fans eagerly awaited his next release after Jhanak Jhanak.. and Do Aankhen Barah.... Shantaram’s premiere invites were also known for their innovativeness like for Do Aankhen Barah Haath, the invitation card had two eyes on the cover and the details inside! Navrang card most appopriately depicted nine pots with flowing colours. C Ramchandra had composed special music for opening before the curtains went up in Liberty cinema, Mumbai. The grand premiere was attended by Raj Kamal staff, distributors and industry stalwarts including Raj Kapoor, Mehboob, Bimal Roy, A R Kardar, B Nagi Reddy, S S Vasan and Mariappan.

The film, a Diwali release, was an instant hit and it ran for 50 weeks and it celebrated it’s golden jubilee. It was taken off Liberty theatre to make way for Mehboob’s Son of India, in the following year.

“We toured with the film to Ahmedabad and then to Chennai where Baba was accorded civic reception.

It was Shantaram’s habit to have a 5’o clock trial with his crew where he would sit down with a scribble pad and jot down all the “mistakes” that could have been averted! “He would watch first two shows with the audience in Liberty cinema to guage their feedback,” Kiran informs. He pegs the budget of the film at Rs 30 lakh and emphasises that it was a runaway hit.

Navrang remake?
“Master pieces cannot be remade,” Kiran Shantaram states assertively, shrugging off any suggestion of a remaking the classic. Sanjay Leela Bhansali had openly acknowledged the influence of Aadha hai chandrama ... number which he replicated in Devdas with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan balancing numerous pots on her head and dancing delicately just like Sandhya did 50 years ago in Navrang.