{"id":5645,"date":"2016-03-03T20:20:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T14:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=5645"},"modified":"2016-03-03T20:20:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T14:50:06","slug":"55-years-of-dosti-empathy-friendship-1964-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=5645","title":{"rendered":"55 Years of Dosti: In a Country that Lacks Empathy, We Need More Films Like this 1964 Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\nA<\/span>ny discussion around the 1964 classic Dosti <\/em>is incomplete without marvelling how a little film with two fairly new actors and a splendid soundtrack emerged as the third highest earning movie of the year. Dosti<\/em> was Rajshri Productions\u2019 second outing; they had ventured into filmmaking only two years earlier with the Meena Kumari<\/a>-starrer Aarti<\/em>. The project was helmed by Satyen Bose, known for the iconic Jagriti<\/em> (1954) that also focused on the theme of youngsters and idealism. With commendable performances by its lead actors, Sudhir and Sushil Kumar, and the combined musical prowess of Majrooh Sultanpuri\u2019s soulful lyrics, Mohammed Rafi\u2019s dulcet voice, and Laxmikant Pyarelal\u2019s melodious tunes, Dosti<\/em> became a cinematic milestone.\n\nA remake of the Bengali film Lalu Bhulu <\/em>(1959), Dosti, <\/em>as the title suggests chronicles a friendship<\/a> between two poor and orphaned disabled boys. Mohan (Sudhir), who is blind, and the crippled Ramu (Sushil) form a team using their respective musical talents of singing and playing the harmonica to earn a livelihood and survive the cruelties of a hand-to-mouth street existence. But the film is much more than the kinship between these plucky physically-challenged teenagers. Beyond its well-worn tropes of heartbreaking tragedies, crushing struggles, sacrifices, and eventual triumph, Dosti <\/em>trains its gaze on imagining a society that is empathetic, educated, and equitable.\n\nDosti<\/em> was made a decade and a half after India gained Independence<\/a> and set in an interesting period where Nehruvian principles were still considered the ideal. But, this hope was slowly fading in the face of poverty, unemployment, and degrading morals. The film explores this erosion: For instance, when a meritorious student Ramu loses his home and family, damages a leg, and is forced to give up studies, his dreams of a bright future come crashing. The world has no time or patience for a poor cripple like him, he discovers. For Mohan, who arrives in the city looking for his sister, the experience is no different. With no income, he is forced to beg and live on the streets. Their handicap and the society\u2019s apathy toward them serve as a mirror for urban India\u2019s growing self-absorption and lack of empathy toward the oppressed and the marginalised.\n\nThe malaise has only grown deeper and is now staring the country in the face. At a time when convenience trumps compassion \u2013 the homeless breathing the toxic air in Delhi<\/a> and men dying in sewers are forgotten unceremoniously, and the plight of people under lockdown for months is met with jingoistic cheers \u2013 it\u2019s this need for walking in someone else\u2019s shoes that Dosti<\/em> propagates. For a country in the midst of an empathy crisis, there doesn\u2019t seem to be a more fitting anthem than Mohan\u2019s earnest call \u201cJaane waalon zaraa, mudke dekho mujhe. Ek insaan hoon main tumhaari tarah.\u201d\n\n

Dosti<\/i> also underscores how educators can shape the destiny of a student \u2013 especially the underprivileged.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nOne of the film\u2019s subplot features a sick, wealthy girl Manju (Baby Farida) who befriends Mohan and Ramu and promises to have her elder brother<\/a> Ashok (Sanjay Khan) help the latter resume school. Ashok, however, responds with annoyance and accuses the boys of manipulating the little girl for monetary gains. He is then a metaphor of a unempathetic society, which views the unprivileged as nothing more than a menace.\n\nDosti<\/em>\u2019s sharp commentary on the ills of this calculated world is best reflected in how it underlines the quest for education and how it eludes those without means. In one scene, Ramu is calculating the fees required to go back to school<\/a>. A hopeful Mohan wonders if the Indian education system would ever be state-sponsored like in other countries. Ramu laughs it off saying maybe in the distant future when they have turned old. The exchange seems almost prophetic in today\u2019s time where the country has taken the first step towards making education accessible: The Right to Education Act for children between ages six to 14 was enacted only 10 years go.\n\nThe film also underscores how educators can shape the destiny of a student \u2013 especially the underprivileged. Ramu\u2019s school teacher Sharma Sir (Nana Palsikar), who takes up his academic responsibility and eventually becomes a father-figure to him, and the considerate school principal (Abhi Bhattacharya) embody the kind of educators the country needs \u2013 conscientious, involved and action-oriented. And in standing up for Ramu against his prejudiced and discriminatory classmates<\/a>, they become representative of an equitable system that safeguards the interests of the disadvantaged.\n\nToday, mainstream cinema has come a long way from the traditional style of cinematic storytelling that was didactic and relied heavily on familiar tropes. For those discovering Dosti<\/em> in today\u2019s age of slick filmmaking, the film may look outdated and dismissed as a moralising, maudlin melodrama. But I\u2019d still argue in favour of revisiting it, given that it\u2019s message for a more accommodating society is more relevant than ever now.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the surface, Rajshri Productions\u2019 Dosti is an endearing tale of friendship between two plucky physically-challenged teenagers. But look beyond and the 1964 classic also speaks of the society we still aspire to be \u2013 empathetic, educated, and equitable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":291,"featured_media":5646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3114],"tags":[9552,9553,9554,9555,1254],"class_list":["post-5645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bollywood","tag-55-years-of-dosti","tag-bollywood-classic","tag-dosti","tag-empathy","tag-friendship"],"yoast_head":"\n55 Years of Dosti: In a Country that Lacks Empathy, We Need More Films Like this 1964 Classic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On the surface, Rajshri Productions\u2019 Dosti is an endearing tale of friendship between two plucky physically-challenged teenagers. 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