"Jago mohan pyare jago .. Navayug chume nain tihare”... a soothing melodious song with beautiful lyrics, with inner depth meaning that reflects to awakening ones spirituality, humanity or asking for some divine intervention to situations/ crisis … somewhere faced by each one of us at any given point of our lifetime … This song is from the movie “Jagte Raho”, released long before I was born somewhere in 1956 during black & white era ...
** In 70's there was a old classic movie festival held in central talkies, Mangalore, my hometown, showcasing old movies throughout the day for a week ... being a movie buff, I have seen quite a lot of them sometimes to the extent of 2 shows a day.... shaheed, navrang, aurat, qaidi, nartaki, azaad, to name a few .... most of them went above my head as I was too young to relate to it not to mention the black and white slow movement.
** Jagte Raho somehow has left an impression on my mind just for that beautiful song … As for the movie, I kept wondering what this guy (Raj Kapoor) was doing roaming about at night in search of water and not drinking it at given opportunities ... I was quite bored sitting through the movie and luckily the popcorn saved me through the movie ... I think I finished 2 packets of popcorn to my father’s dismay and also dozed out quite a few times …
** How I wished I had stayed back home and read my Nancy Drew book, Sigh, what a punishment, I thought when Mom kept giving me stares to keep still and quite ... It was only towards the end of the movie that I sat up with a jolt hearing the most beautiful song “jago mohan pyare jago” that Nargisji enacted mesmerizingly toward the end of movie … a natural beauty, she did capture my heart and I swooned through it to end …
** As we age the perception of looking at each object gets changed through in different light at different given time giving different dimensions to the same events with advancing age ... few days back this movie song came on blaring from my system as I traveled through the outskirts of Mumbai and once again I could visualize the song though it had been ages since I saw the movie, almost over 40 yrs that’s 4 decades, quite a long time ...
** Yet it had left a mark in my mind and heart … the song loomed in my head for a few days and I kept murmuring it as I progressed with my work ... I also played it on my player and was deeply moved with the lyrics of the same … somehow now with maturity obtained by advanced age, I felt may be I had missed out something on the plot and the message that was being sent out through the movie, after all its RK movie ...
** Over years I have grown up watching RK movies and Rajji was a man who made excellent movies with vision and thoughts ahead of its time ... there was always a inner depth, a message to the world in his movies as I had watched almost all his movies ... I felt that I should watch the movie all over again on You Tube … lol, this time, I made sure I had some homemade snacks and coolants ready to munch on and sip on if need be ...
** Sitting through first hour, I found it to be too slow for present day and I almost thought of skipping, but then I had somewhere decided to write a little bit on this one, so I needed to watch through till end in new light and with my now new lenses (you see I had gone through cataract surgery 2 years back)... in all, it's about a man who comes to town in search of work to make it big, he reaches Bombay now Mumbai at night and the story unfolds...
** “Jagte Raho” is a phrase used by night security guards of buildings by shouting out to each other, an indication that when replied by the other all is well and when there is no reply, it means there is some problem and the process of alerting all is carried on by blowing a whistle … This system is actually continued to date, though now they have their own methods and keep changing them between themselves to tighten the security levels ...
** The story goes as when Rajji lands in city, he is thirsty and just wants to drink some water. He tries to get some going through various means and in the process comes in contact of security guard who takes him to be thief and starts sending warning whistles to all … he tries to catch hold of him … the story is all about how he escapes from the clutches of all and in the process comes across realities on human nature which changes his life ...
** All in one night, to his dismay he faces so much of realities that his illusions get shattered … corruption, disloyalty, crookedness, loneliness, betrayal, drinking, high handedness, power, heartbreak, loneliness, smugglers, bribing, lovers, poverty... oh yes he comes across all these and more amongst people he cross through the night witnessing them all, as he plays hide and seek from one home to another to avoid being caught as a thief ...
** The end is a peaceful conclusion when after dodging through all night he reaches a place where a small girl open his eyes to reality in life, saying that “when you have not done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear” … she encourages him to walk into the open with head held high and so he does in wee morning, travels across streets and finally reaches a temple where he hears a lady sing a song beautifully while she watered the plants …
** That’s Nargisji singing … “Jago jago jago .. Jag ujiyara chhaye .. Mann ka andhera jaye .. Kiranon ki rani gaaye .. Jago hey mere .. Mann mohan pyare ..Jago mohan pyare jago .. Navayug chume nain tihare .. Jaago jaago mohan pyare ..// Jago re jago re jaag kaliyan jagi // Nagar nagar sab galiyan jagi .. Jago re jaago re jago re .. Jago re jaago re jag jag // Bheegi bheegi ankhiyon se muskaye .. Yeh nayi bhor tohe ang lagaye .. Bahein failaao dukhiyare .. Jago mohan pyare jago // Jisne mann ka deep jalaya .. Duniya ko usne hi ujala paya .. Mat rehna ankhiyon ke sahare .. Jago mohan pyare jago // Kiran pari gagari chhalkaye .. Jyot ka pyasa pyas bujhaye .. Phool bane mann ke angare .. Jago mohan pyare jago //” … after which she sees Rajji who asks her for water and she obliges by pouring out the same ... which he drinks thankfully … a beautifully captured shot I must say …
** This is one of the most beautiful song enchantingly acted by Nagris and mind blowingly sung by Latha Mangeshkarji ... I will not run into the meaning of lyrics of Jago Mohan Pyaare, you can find them if you search through google ... but in a nutshell, here the lady sends out a plea to Mohan ie Lord Krishna to wake up ... that the morning light has filtered in and that he needs to restore lost glory of the world back … help out people in distress and so on …
** The inner depth of the lyrics are so beautifully written that it makes one wonder what a vision Rajji had 5 decades back … Beautiful direction, unfortunately black and white image spoils it to great extent, though the portraying of the same comes across brilliantly … the plea to Lord Krishna is so beautifully enacted that the end of the movie makes you want to see more of it, but then there ends the song and the movie thereby …
** These are my thoughts on the movie, I may be wrong, maybe Raj Kapoorji had something else in mind to tell as is his style in his movies ... would say a man with vision or maybe better put a man who showed realities of life through colored glasses, weaving stories, romance, and beautiful songs around subject in such way as to capture complete attention of all … Sigh! definitely not made any more, are they??? it’s simply par excellence …
** Disclaimer : No, I am not a critic or a movie promoter nor a journalist. I was a movie buff during younger age who saw almost all the movies. I am writing a short article on a movie subject for the first time just on my own thoughts that I would like to share about it and there is no other motive whatsoever. The article is just on a lighter note and is not meant to hurt anybody’s sentiments. I was just impressed by this 5 decade old movie and thought of giving it its due the best way I felt I could. The picture is from Google and the credit goes to them or whomsoever it belongs to. Thank you for reading through, and yes do watch the movie if you have not, they rarely make such message sending one anymore.
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Thanks.