ASHIRWAD (1979)

How about watching a scene where the loving father came to his home town to bless his beloved daughter on her wedding as unknown stranger amid a crowd of beggars receiving a token of charity from her hand! It’s visually one of the most literary cinematic moment for me.

Story, screenplayed, edited, directed and co-produced by Hrishida ,‘Ashirwad’ is a story of an unusual man named Jogi Thakur, son-in law of village landlord with a concerning and genuine heart of commoner. He loves two things in life. One is his little daughter Bittu and the other is common village people and their folk culture. He learns rhythm lessons from villager Baiju. Once in order to save Baiju’s daughter from rape, he commits a murder and lands up in prison for fourteen years. So many things happen in fourteen years.
Jogi Thakur is one of the character I cherish as long as I live. And that’s without doubt Ashok Kumar’s lifetime best emotional act. In certain song sequences, he imitated his younger and notorious brother Kishore Kumar’s free body movements quite unnatural and awkward for him. Two fine Bengali character actors Hrindranath Chattopadhyay & Abhi Bhattacharya also cast in unusual and yet memorable roles. The film also has presence of five or six years old Sarika as child actress and young Sanjeev Kumar.

Do you know who’s India’s first rap singer? It’s none other than loving Dadamuni aka Ashok Kumar. His ‘Railgaadi… song’ is associated with my fond childhood memories. I heard it so many times on All India Radio & Vividhbharati when I was li’l kid and today I still feel as a kid in grown up body.
Another touching cinema from great Hrishida.

Ratings- 8/10