Movie Trishul in Redux

Day before yesterday, as that impostor serendipity would have it, I saw Trishul, the movie of the seventies, when Amitabh Bachchan had just broken into the film firmament as a star, and giants such as Sanjeev Kumar were still around. The film brought tears of nostalgia for a time when movies, stories, and plots had that simple though predictable characteristic about it, where the acting used to complement the story.

Of course, the cast was tremendously talented. Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar, Sashi Kapoor (A vastly under-rated actor, I always maintain he is one of our finest actors, whose talent remained undiscovered.), Rakhee and Prem Chopra. Such natural unmannered acting as never could ever be found in Hindi films.

Watch Shashi Kapoor as he discovers that Amitabh has stolen the keys of his car, and his playfulness as he sportingly accepts it and goes ahead, the deep disappointment on Amitabh’s face as he loses Hema Malini to his worthy opponent. I was mesmerised, after all these years. The technicalities were a bit wonky, there were a few patches of drudgery, but what a clean story, what joy in the young ones cavorting to “Gapuchi gapuchi gum, gum.” The song was a rage in college (Yes, that was where I was when it was released in Natraj Cinema in Chembur.). And Poonam Dillion became a heartthrob, which Amitabh and Shashi already were. Ungainly, with a body structure considered odd, with a brooding heavy lidded-look Amitabh burst into filmdom as a breath of fresh air, and captured people’s imagination more than hearts.

Of all the actors, Amitabh still plods on, among the others Sashi have faded away and Sanjeev has been totally obliterated from memory. An age passes, only a few remnants remain.