What triggered off the idea of digitally upgrading and colourising Haqeeqat?
It was the success of Mughal-e-Azam that is a classic in its own right. After K Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam if there was any other film that could go in for a re-release I thought it was Haqeeqat. It wasn’t just the impact it would have in terms of its story but it’s also a film that lends itself extremely well to colour because it was shot almost entirely in Ladakh. I’d been to this picturesque location with dad for the shoot of Param Veer Chakra.We were shooting at a height of 12,000 feet and it was amazing. Now the army has planted some trees there but back in the ‘60s there must have been very little vegetation. It must have been just acres and acres of snow. We climbed to 15,000 feet to Lake Pangong where the first attack took place. We even went to the exact spot where the climax of Haqeeqat had been shot. The army has named it Haqeeqat Hill and were so elated that Chetan Anand, at 75, had returned to the spot that they even felicitated him with a guard of honour. The colours of Ladakh were so beautiful even on TV (Param Veer Chakra was a tele-series) and can only get better on Cinemascope.
But the one recurring complaint about the newly-released Mughal-E-Azam was that the colours were too garish.
Mughal-E-Azam called for a lot of guess work not just because it was a period film but also because it was shot on the sets. Most of Haqeeqat was picturised outdoors and we have footage of Param Veer Chakra to help us match the colours. The title of the film is Haqeeqat and I can promise you that I’ll try to live upto it with as close to natural tones as is technically possible. I’ve enlisted the support of Rajeev Dwivedi, the same technician who worked on the new-look Mughal-E-Azam, for my film too.
All this won’t come cheap obviously.
No, the budget’s pretty solid. I don’t want to reveal too much but it will go into a number of zeroes. Colourisation doesn’t come cheap and at the same time it’s a pretty tedious process too. You have to first restore the black-and-white film, then since it was shot on 35 mm, we need to expand it into cinemascope. Then layer-by-layer the frames have to be coloured. After that comes digital imaging followed by Dolby mastering. The background music has to be completely redone and several of Madan Mohan’s unforgettable gems touched up since we are converting in 5.1 Surround Sound. Once we’re through you’ll get the full impact of a blockbuster.
And when do you think you’ll be through with the new-look Haqeeqat?
We’ve just started but I’m aiming for an Independence Day release. But it’s slow and painstaking work since you have to move frame by frame. If I’m unable to keep my date with August 15, I’ll target for a Diwali release because not only is it an auspicious occasion but it also has a sentimental value for us. The 1962 Indo-China war that inspired the film also happened during the festival of lights. In fact, there’s a song, ‘Ayee ab ke saal Diwali...’ that talks about that Kaali Diwali. The film has to release this year because we are celebrating Chetan Anand’s tenth death anniversary. In March we will be releasing a book and a documentary in his memory followed by this classic.
Are you planning to upgrade any of his other films too?
Well, Heer Ranjha is already in colour but I’d like to give it digital sound and re-release it. It was such a beautiful film with great poetry by Kaifi Azmi who also wrote memorable lyrics for Haqeeqat. I’d like our children to see this film too. May be if trade with Pakistan officially opens someday, I could have a premiere of Heer Ranjha across the border. I’m sure our neighbours will be fida over our first film in verse.
I’m not sure if our other neighbours, the Chinese, would be as warmed by Haqeeqat.
Yeah, we’re buddy-buddy with China today and I can quite believe that they would have objections to Haqeeqat. But even the Chinese cannot deny that there was a war with India just as the Japanese cannot deny their conflict with the West. Haqeeqat was inspired by a treacherous movement that took place when the Chinese premier, Zhou-en-hai, was shaking hands with Pandit Nehru in Delhi and promoting Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai. It was a stray incident, a border skirmish and a land-grabbing endeavour initiated no doubt to divert attention from disturbing internal issues. Unfortunately, it resulted in a lot of deaths. A lot of jawans laid down their lives protecting our border and several families were left bereft. Haqeeqat is a tribute to these unknown soldiers and unsung heroes.
War films of late don’t have too many takers.
I don’t endorse Paki-bashing. I think it’s very wrong because if you reflect on things then despite the violence we’ve seen around us down the decades, India has never actually been the aggressor. Whether it’s China or Pakistan, we have never been the one to initiate an armed conflict. In fact, thanks to one of the biggest blunders in history, we came under imperialistic British rule and had to pay a really high price for our mistake. Even Haqeeqat isn’t glorifying war but talking about the tragedy of war. And if we have suddenly become so anti-war then we should immediately stop watching American films because every second one celebrates violence.
Border was one of the more recent films in this genre that made a huge impact and JP Dutta, as has been pointed out once too often, had obviously been inspired by Haqeeqat.
I take that as a compliment. Any creative person would feel flattered when told a particular film is a remake, an adaptation or a version of his work. And if Border that was inspired by Haqeeqat,was such a huge hit, then I have a good reason to feel that the original too will be as well received. I’m not getting into this thing blindly, you know. I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback that makes me optimistic that Haqeeqat will get a grand theatrical release again.
Any plans for a grand premiere?
We haven’t got down to that yet but if the army is open to it, I don’t mind giving our soldiers, for whom my dad made this film, a special screening. Maybe we can even discuss a charity premiere with the proceeds going to the welfare fund for war widows considering that they are the unfortunate victims of any war. Perhaps the Chief of the Army would attend the premiere. He did, back in ‘64. The Chief Guest was the Indian President. Dr Radhakrishnan, broke protocol to attend and sat through the entire film.
What are your memories of Haqeeqat?
I was just a student when the film was made but I remember going to Kashmir once with a friend, an English boy named Christopher Hardwick, when dad was shooting there. There was a shoot at Sonmarg the next day and dad was speaking to some people. One of them was a very handsome young man in uniform. After he’d finished, dad walked up to where we were standing outside the hotel and said cheerfully, “Glad you could make it.” I immediately enquired about the handsome army officer he’d been chatting to. Dad answered with a loud laughing, “Oh, he’s my hero Dharmendra, Captain Bahadur Singh. He’s not really a soldier. ” I wished all army officers looked as beautiful in uniforms!
Did you get to meet Balraj Sahni?
Balraj uncle and dad were not just colleagues but best friends. They had come down from Lahore together and worked in IPTA before dad, who didn’t have any Leftist leanings, left to form his own theatre group. Balraj uncle was a regular visitor to our house from the time we lived at 41,Pali Hill. Dad and he were a lethal actor-director combination like Robert De Niro and Martin Scorcese. I’d go to the extent of saying that Balraj Sahni was Chetan Anand’s alter-ego. They even looked a lot alike and were often mistaken as brothers. For dad the biggest thrill of Haqeeqat was that he was getting to work with two of his favourites—his soul brother Balraj Sahni and his younger blood brother Vijay Anand. Both came up with marvellous performances. In fact, every character in the film, no matter how small, and every actor stood out, from Balraj Sahni to Sridhar, from Jayant to Vijay Anand, from Dharmendra to Sanjay Khan. Haqeeqat was also a memorable film for Johnny Bakshi and Bhupinder because it almost killed them.
Tell us more.
Bhupinder along with several fatigued soldiers was required to jump into a river and cross it to the strains of ‘Hoke majboor...’ No one realised just how cold the water was. It was freezing and hypothermia set in. It’s a deadly condition when water accumulates in the lungs and you drown in your own fluid. Fortunately, it was not fatal.
I’m told Chetan sahab shot a lot of extra footage.
The film was three hours plus and all of 19,000 feet. He exposed over a lakh feet of film because he knew he couldn’t go back to Ladakh again. The film was carved out entirely on the editing table.
Finally, what’s your favourite moment from this classic?
One of the most poignant when so much was said without a single word spoken is that scene of the dying lovers, Dharmendra and Priya Rajvansh. Captain Bahadur Singh and his gypsy girlfriend Kammo have willingly sacrificed their lives holding at bay the Chinese who have surrounded their chowky, so their comrades can beat a quick retreat. They reach out for a final clasp but their hands don’t meet rubbishing the notion that iss janam mein nahin to jannat mein zaroor milenge as nothing but the stuff of romances. Haqeeqat kehti hai that young lives are sacrificed to a senseless war that benefits none. What’s even more poignant is that even the comrades they die protecting are eventually outnumbered by the Chinese soldiers and killed. Dad set the entire climax on a background song. But the song itself, ‘Kar chale hum fida jaan-o-tan saathiyon...’, conveyed most effectively the pathos and futility of war.