Movie Review: Do Ankhen Barah Haath (Two Eyes and Twelve Hands) (1957)

This little gem of a movie comes from the house of Prabhat and V.Shantaram. Both made ‘different’ movies for those times. Theirs were movies with a social face, a social conscience. . I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a classic but it is one of the memorable Hindi movies of all times. And it won an award (Silver Berlin Bear) at the Berlin film festival.

“Almost twenty years ago, in a small state of India, an idealist started on a great experiment. His task was as difficult as of converting a beast into a human being. People called him a lunatic: But he, undaunted, stuck to his faith. With his very life in one hand and the flag of his ideal in the other, he marched ahead. The story of this motion picture is based on his real experiences.” Thus is proclaimed at the beginning of the movie.

It’s a simple story of a jailor who reforms an impressive ragtag bunch of murderers and criminals through an experimental open jail i.e. a house (not a prison) somewhere in a barren area. And how together they overcome the demons of temptation (the temptation to stray from the path).

The reasonably good standard of acting in this movie is particularly more impressive if you take into account the era in which this picture was made. Its remarkable humaneness and elavating thoughts make it in a sense quite a ‘modern’ movie. The way humour is used to take the story forward, the attention paid to characterization appeals.

The kind of performances the director has extracted from his cast is delightful. Watch the bewildered reactions of the kid of one of the murderers when he cries out ‘Where do I go?’ after his father tries to send them away from the house (for unknowingly causing a schism in the unity of the house).

Yes, one can complain (justifiably) that it does tend to be somewhat patronizing throughout. Another jarring note being the part played by Sandhya with her highly stylized overacting. What V.Shantaram saw in her to cast her again and again renders my mystified. But then as they say ‘Love is blind’ as Sandhya was V.Shantaram’s 3^rd wife.

You might find fault with the Hindi diction and dialogue delivery of the main actors too but then that is probably not their mother tongue. Plus the tendency of the films of that era to tend towards melodrama; including the jailers tendency to sit like Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’; that wont sit comfortably with you.

Also, the movie does end rather too tamely and too melodramatically for my taste. Won’t reveal much on that.

But just in case you think I am complaining too much, the positives of the film far outweigh the negatives. The broad vistas of the desolate landscape will leave your heart aching at the end.

Unlike Sandhya (who seems to take it pretty lightly on hindsight next morning, the fact that the criminals trying to molest her the previous day) you will take this film more seriously.

Songs:

1. Aei Malik Tere Bande Hum
   
   
   

2. The brilliantly picturised ‘Takataka Dhoom Dhoom’.

Unfortunately I cant find any online video on this

<5-jan-10> and some kind soul has now uploaded it. Enjoy

3. Umad Ghumad Kar Aai Re Ghata : another delightful song not on youtube

Songs 1. and 3. have beeen known and appreciated by many Hindi film lovers over the decades

Raj Kamal Kalamandir presents

Credits

Story/Dialogues: G.D.Madgulkar

Songs: Bharat Vyas

Playback: Lata Mangeskhar, Manna Dey

Music Direction: Vasant Desai

Photography: G. Balkrishna

Direction: V. Shantaram

Starring :

V.Shantaram

Sandhya

Babu Rao Pendharkar