Dastak (1970) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

There was a time when Film-making used to be solely dependent upon ‘The Writing’ and its story content. An interesting plot depicting the social surroundings of the people was the first requisite of starting a project in those days. And that was the reason why we had so many famous writers from the world of literature working for films as the contributors of its story, dialogues, script and lyrics. Such was the depth in the basic idea behind all those movies that they still are studied as a benchmark in the history of Hindi Cinema after so many decades.

DASTAK (Knock) is one of those rare & bold movies made on an off-beat subject which surprisingly still remains relevant even today after so much development experienced all over by the society and its people.

Revealing its outstanding thought provoking plot, just imagine the trauma faced by a newly-wed couple (shifted to their new house), after they are told that the house was earlier owned by a prostitute who was pretty famous in the locality and used to run her business right from there. Taking the viewer into the couple’s extremely tense and uncomfortable days in that house, the movie is a kind of philosophical journey digging into the various kinds of double standard personalities living around us in a society. Besides, it also re-defines the power of Tolerance possessed by a human which empowers him to surpass any unexpected tough condition in life with his precious patience.

Coming to the cream of talented people associated with the film, it is written, produced and directed by Rajinder Singh Bedi, one of the 20th century's greatest progressive writers of URDU fiction. The name needs no introduction to the readers who are well familiar with Urdu Literature and its prominent writers. But the best thing is that here the original writer has himself directed the film in such a manner that it makes a very similar kind of impact as felt after reading the story in its published form. And that is not an easy task to achieve since there are very few movies which have been equally transformed into an enlightening visual experience taking it all from a book.

Featuring the one & only Sanjeev Kumar along with Rehana Sultana as the innocent couple, DASTAK is also known for its outstanding soul stirring musical score by the unmatchable Madan Mohan including the songs sung by the Queen of Musical Notes, Lata Mangeshkar. In fact the tracks are universally included in the list of The Finest Ever from this famous talented duo and can be found in the Top 10 List of both the magicians, compiled by any music critic or fan living anywhere around the globe.

Thoughtfully penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri the songs have 4 mesmerizing gems such as "Baiyan Na Dharo", “Mai Ri Main Kaase Kahun”, "Tumse Kahoon Ek Baat" & "Hum Hain Mataye Koocha Bazaar Ki Tarah". As an extra rare bonus the Original Soundtrack of the album also includes a version of “Mai Ri Main Kaase Kahun”, sung by the Ghazal-Maestro Madan Mohan himself and its indeed a precious gem to be treasured by every serious music appreciator loving Hindi Film Music and Ghazals all over.

But the list doesn’t end here. DASTAK has been shot beautifully by Kamal Bose in Black & White and for that he very deservingly received the BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD too from FILMFARE in 1972. The film also has another reputed name associated with it of Hrishikesh Mukherjee who contributed as the Editor of the film just before he went on to be the legendary director himself. So it is can even be called “The Creative Creation of Many Masters of Their Art Together.” Having said that, the masterpiece may also turn out to be a tough watch for few youngsters who are quite used to the current age fast paced films. But if the above description of this Ultimate Classic interests you then ‘Go For It’ at the earliest and get a taste of those Golden Times, when life was spend and lived slowly at a soothing pace without any electronic gadgets around us taking all our time and attention. To be more precise, its story talks about the time when “Prostitution” and “Mujra” were the favourite amusement sources for the rich and they used to be a very known but unavoidable integral part of the society. But at the same time it was also an era when people actually knew and took care of new entrants in their locality with all their love and in reality exactly understood the deeper meaning of the word called “Neighbors”.

Summing up I would like to add that DASTAK is one of those rare and intelligently made films which were way ahead of their times both in their content and the treatment. So the basic message, meaning and importance of the film remains the same even after 40 years of its release.
And that makes it A Highly Recommended must watch indeed!  

Directed by Rajinder Singh Bedi
Starring : Sanjeev Kumar, Rehana Sultan, Manmohan Krishan, Anwar Hussain and more

Music : Madan Mohan

Lyrics : Majrooh Sultanpuri