Saee Tembhekar

I am reading a biography on RD Burman and the intricate descriptions of various films in it gave me a major FOMO of not having watched so many of them. So I decided to watch Amar Prem and it gave me so many realisations.

1. Pace of the Movie : First of all, our generation has lost its ability to sit through any film which crosses 1.5 hour mark and I do not take any pride in it. I was a bit skeptical looking at the 2 hour 23 min duration but it was truly a healing experience. Every movement in the film felt like slow-motion. I realised how much we are used to watching fast action sequences and frames changing every split second. We watch all videos at minimum 2X speed today. So watching Sharmila Tagore opening the door for full 10 seconds felt irritating in the beginning but very healing in the end. It just felt so calm. I could sense the era, where overall life was a bit un-rushed and chilled.
2. Replication of the society : The idea that a woman was thrown out of the house by her husband and later also by her mother as the introduction of the film made me un-easy and very angry. I knew I was watching a film based in the late 1960’s but still the idea of a weak female protagonist irritated me. But the way her character turned around at the end, satisfied my soul. When I thought long and hard about how she was treated by everyone around her and the society, one intense question troubled me. Do I know for sure that such a thing doesn’t happen in our society in 2026? Especially in small towns/villages? Have we truly grown as a society? Just modernism exist only in fashion and not in thoughts?
3. Costumes : Overall all the costumes in the film felt so soothing. Not just because of the sarees, dhotis and jhabbaas, but also the quality of clothes, the colours and the overall non-synthetic nature of the appearance. I miss looking at such elegance and soothing textures in modern films.
4. Background Score : The recording techniques and the way in which background score of the film was made in those days was miles apart from today’s modern technology. All the instruments were recorded live and the tapes were literally stitched on to one another while editing the film. I am not entirely sure of the era of multi-track recording and how Amar Prem was recorded but while listening to the background score, I could analyse the thought processes which went behind each scene. In one scene, when it is raining heavily, the sound of the rain and the sound of the background music playing behind the dialogues and the way it changed when they come indoors and shut the door was so thoughtful. Today we can do all of this in literally a few clicks but I could imagine what it must have taken to create that effect for this film. It made me admire the passion of all people working towards perfection.
5. Sets : The two major areas of the story, the village and the locality of the houses in Calcutta was so well created in the sets. It did not have any grandeur but had all the essential elements to create a recall factor.
6. Use of Leaf Containers : We are struggling to ban plastic and use sustainable products for so long. The scene in which Rajesh Khanna gets sweets and namkeen in leaf containers made me realise, that we already lived such a sustainable life in the olden era. Fabric bags, leaf containers was a natural way of living. How I wish there was some way to magically stop the plastic from being such an inseparable part of our lives.
7. Literal Depiction : In most scenes, the literal depiction of the lyrics in the visuals felt a little unwanted. I assume the simple way of living and the straight thinking lines must have paved a way for those shots but while watching it today, I could not resist but smile awkwardly at them. For example, in Raina Beeti Jaaye, when the line ‘ Tan Man Pyaasa, Akhiyon Mein Paani’ played, the camera moved from a wide angle to the close-up of Sharmila Tagore’s tears, No, Thank You!
8. Role of music : I have always been curious at how music played a gigantic role in the old films. It held up the fort strongly and the success/failure of the film depended a lot on how the music was, who the composer was, who the singer was. I enjoyed how the songs fit in perfectly in the storyline, at least in this film. And what to say about the richness of the music ? It was 24 Carat Gold in front of the imitation jewellery we hear today!
9. Depth in the storyline : The thought of selfless love and the way the storyline went ahead to show the depth in different relations made me glue to the film. I realised it was a revolutionary thought to put forth in that era.
10. Conclusion : Watching a slow paced film with depth in the story and rich music is a rare phenomenon today. Toda, we use vintage filters to make the ultra-clear HD pictures look real or to add a tinge of emotion to it. And we add vinyl plug-ins to our master audio files to add depth to it. This itself shows that clarity and high end technology does not always bring purity. Watching Amar Prem (1972) in 2026 felt like a cleansing experience. Your thoughts?