Aakhri Khat: Rajesh Khanna's debut film had early signs of a romantic juggernaut ready to unleash

Editor’s note: Whatever happened to watching a film, just because? When was the last time you watched a film, just because you stumbled upon on it, or heard someone mention it in passing? We’re so used to reviews, previews and a barrage of recommendations — it almost feels like it is impossible to enjoy watching a film without it being topical. And so, here’s a column we’re introducing — Films, Just Because.

Most first films have a certain charm attached to them, which more often than not, increases with the passage of time. This charm increases if the talents attached with such films go on to scale great heights or the film in question is rediscovered.

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Amongst the two stalwarts to dominate the landscape of popular Hind cinema from the late 1960s through the 1970s, and again for a brief period in the 1980s, both Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan had debuts that were far from perfect. While Bachchan had to go through the rigmarole of being one of the many in the frame in his maiden appearance, Saat Hindustani (1969), to a supporting act in Anand (1970) — ironically enough to Khanna — and ultimately a superstar with Zanjeer (1973) after 13 releases, Khanna got to play the lead right from the first time he faced the camera.

[caption id=“attachment_5708041” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rajesh Khanna and Indrani Mukherjee in a still from Aakhri Khat[/caption]

Although Aakhri Khat (1966) might not be an unlikely first film, it surely was in Khanna’s case. While this highly experimental film, where Khanna played a kind of second fiddle to a 15-month toddler, was not a success when it first released, it unfortunately has not even been able to rekindle a journey of rediscovery. Although the trip down this particular memory lane might not be a pilgrimage of sorts, there is enough in Aakhri Khat that warrants a relook.

The premise of Aakhri Khat is as old as the hills – a city-based sculptor, Govind (Khanna), falls in love with a village belle, Lajjo (Indrani Mukherjee), and leaves her, promising to return. What follows was not unexpected as well. The two consummate their love and when Lajjo comes to the city with Govind’s son, Buntu (Master Bunty) in tow, he doubts her and asks her to leave. Lajjo tries convincing Govind but when things do not work out, she pens a farewell letter, the eponymous ‘aakhri khat’, telling him that she would leave his son at his doorstep and end her life.

Lajjo leaves the letter but she cannot bear to walk away from the bawling infant. She leaves with her child only to unexpectedly die some moments later. A guilt-ridden Govind looks for his son, Buntu, who merrily totters across the bustling city. The cop (Manvendra Chitnis), investigating the case, cannot stand the likes of Govind and stops short of calling him names, something that only extenuates Govind’s worst fears – the love of his life and his son have died. After three days, when Govind is about to give up, his son miraculously ends up wandering into his studio and goes in front of a statute that resembles Lajjo and says, ‘mama.’

Written and directed by Chetan Anand, who, to put it mildly, was an aberration in popular Hindi cinema, Aakhri Khat was not supposed to feature Khanna in the first place. Anand was on the lookout for a young actor to play Govind. Khanna, fresh from winning the Filmfare-United Producers’ talent contest was not even on his radar. While awaiting his legitimate launch by GP Sippy, Khanna accompanied a friend to Anand’s office and what followed was serendipity. Anand knew that he had found his Govind and the film ended up being Khanna’s first release.

The film was shot in monochrome as opposed to the color extravaganza Raaz (1966), the film that ‘officially’ launched Khanna. The film offered Khanna a textbook acting opportunity and threw some challenges as well. The script had enough for the ‘actor’ within Khanna to pack in a good performance. It also juxtaposed him with a 15-month old baby whose scenes could not be ‘scripted.’ The film features long sequences of Khanna being made to ‘react’ to Indrani Mukherjee’s voice-over, where her letters are read out, as well as many where cinematographer Jal Mistry’s camera just followed the toddler, Buntu, across real locations in Bombay.

[caption id=“attachment_5708061” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Master Bunty in a still from Aakhri Khat[/caption]

The one thing that both Anand and Khanna had in common was a background in theatre. Anand was one of earliest members of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), that included the who’s who of Hindi cinema like Balraj Sahni, Zohra Sehgal, Ismat Chughtai, Balwant Gargi, Krishan Chander, Prithviraj Kapoor, Ritwik Ghatak, Utpal Dutt, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Salil Chowdhury and Pandit Ravi Shankar to name a few, and Khanna was active in Bombay’s theatre. So, when it came to the treatment of Aakhri Khat, Anand found in Khanna an actor willing to be pushed. Being a novice when it came to acting for the camera, Khanna submitted to Anand.

For the climax where Khanna’s Govind had not slept in three days, Anand kept Khanna up for three nights by calling him in the middle of the night to break his sleep, sometimes instructing his assistants to not allow the actor to converse with anyone beyond a point. By the time Khanna arrived on the set to shoot the pivotal scene, he was a wreck. The entire climax is almost 600 feet of film or approximately 5 minutes, and it is almost devoid of any dialogue. Once Govind realises that it is his own son in front of his eyes, he undergoes a gamut of emotions. For this, Anand let the film roll instructing Khanna for a particular look or emotion, and did not stop till he got what he wanted.

One of the strongest cases for a relook at Aakhri Khat would have to be a wonderful Kaifi Azmi-penned song called ‘ Aur Kuchh Der Thahar’, rendered to perfection by Mohd Rafi. Composed by Khayyam, the song is one of the earliest testimonies of the romantic phenomenon that Khanna would go on to become. This was perhaps for the first time in Hindi cinema the hero was not shy of displaying sensuality. The softer scenes and the songs of the film were an indicator of the torrent that Khanna would unleash as a romantic star in a few years with Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana   (1969). But on its own as well, Aakhri Khat has enough to enjoy Khanna before the burden of stardom weighed in.

Moreover, revisiting Aakhri Khat in the light of the recently released  Pihu ,  where a two-year-old girl gets trapped inside her house with no escape, becomes an intriguing idea.

All images from YouTube.