The gentleman director

In a film industry replete with rags-to-riches stories, Raj Khosla was an exception. When he got his first break as an assistant director with Guru Dutt, he already owned a fancy car and would often offer Dutt a lift to the sets. A refined and cultured gentleman, Raj was fluent in English and Urdu and could quote Shakespeare and Ghalib with equal ease.

Belonging to a prosperous family of Sri Hargobindpur town in Gurdaspur, Raj Khosla’s father, Atma Ram, had moved to Ludhiana when Raj was born. His mother, Saraswati Devi Bhalla, was a Sikh. Atma Ram, a financial officer in a railway company, shifted to Bombay when Raj, named Desraj at birth, was only three.

Atma Ram built a house in Matunga. Khosla Niwas soon became a focal point for the Punjabi community, including film personalities like Prithviraj Kapoor and KL Saigal. A bright student fond of cricket and music, Raj was sent to Jagannathbuwa Purohit of the Agra Gharana, where he got a sound grounding but did not aspire to be a classical singer. Instead, he idolised Saigal and would play harmonium at his musical evenings.

At Elphinstone College, Raj developed a passion for theatre but his father got him a job at Punjab National Bank. He lasted three days and then worked for All India Radio and Radio Ceylon. He got an offer to act though there is no trace of this film. Raj wanted to be a playback singer and got a song in Madan Mohan’s first film. But life had other plans.

Raj Khosla (R) with his mentor and friend Dev Anand, who introduced him to Guru Dutt.Photo courtesy: Personal family collection

He got a break when Dev Anand asked him to assist his friend Guru Dutt on his new film. Raj thought this might give him a break as a singer. Dutt hired him on the spot and the two later became close friends. He worked with Dutt on two Anand starrers: ‘Baazi’ (1951) and ‘Jaal’ (1952). Both were hits. His third film, ‘Baaz’ (1953), starring Dutt as an action hero, failed. But Raj’s work was noticed and he was offered a chance by another production house to direct ‘Milap’ (1955), which did average business. Then Dutt asked Raj to work on ‘CID’ as he wanted to focus on ‘Pyaasa’.

‘CID’ (1956), an urban crime thriller with Anand as the lead actor, was a success that Raj attributed to his learnings from his mentor, Guru Dutt. The film’s song picturisations and the use of light and shade had a clear Dutt stamp. But in its montage of anonymous phone calls and mysterious threats, Raj seemed to be inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston and other masters of Hollywood suspense and crime noir films.

 Waheeda Rehman was introduced by Dutt in ‘CID’. Unfortunately, Raj, like many new directors, was over-assertive and he and Waheeda were soon on bad terms. Raj’s biggest learning from Dutt was in understanding an actor’s movements not only during a song but in every frame, as Dutt, a trained dancer, never kept his actors in stiff theatrical poses. Raj had a great sense of minor characters. He filmed an entire song, ‘Leke pehla pehla pyaar’, on secondary actors while keeping Shakila and Dev Anand silent. Anand was not amused. But Raj’s directions to him went down in film history: “Your job is to keep walking and looking handsome.”

Raj also learnt from Dutt the importance of being generous with his team and keeping their morale high. Many of his assistants went on to become acclaimed directors like Mahesh Bhatt, Pramod Chakravorty, Dharmesh Darshan and Suneel Darshan, and producers such as Lekhraj Khosla, Inder Khosla and Johnny Bakshi.

However, there was no love lost with his heroines. While shooting ‘Bambai Ka Babu’ (1960) in Kullu, Suchitra Sen left midway due to a boisterous crew but had to return on the directive of the Producers’ Association. Raj also had issues with Waheeda in ‘Solva Saal’ (1958). Madhubala (‘Kala Pani’, 1958) was perhaps the only one he had no trouble with. Then, 1960s onwards, Raj found a muse in Sadhana and became famous for being a ‘woman’s director’.

In 1962, Sasadhar Mukherjee wanted to repeat ‘Love in Simla’s’ hit pair, Joy Mukherjee and Sadhana, for ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’. Raj was signed on as director. This time, the clash happened with the film’s music director, OP Nayyar, who swore never to work with Raj again. This was also the beginning of his Sadhana trilogy. The first was ‘Woh Kaun Thi?’ (1964), a mystery film. Madan Mohan’s music was memorable. The second film, ‘Mera Saaya’ (1966), starring Sunil Dutt as the hero, was also a smash hit. Mohan again gave an outstanding music score. Sadhana’s dance number ‘Jhumka gira re’ is still popular.

The third film of the trilogy, ‘Anita’ (1966), with Manoj Kumar as the male lead, saw the exit of Madan Mohan, who found the story weak, as did the audience. The film flopped. Fortunately, Raj had another hit in ‘Do Badan’ (1966), whose leading lady, Asha Parekh, did another tragic role in ‘Chirag’ (1969).

More hits followed in ‘Do Raaste’ (1969), starring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz, and ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’ (1971), a dacoit film with Asha Parekh, Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna. ‘Kuchhe Dhaage’ (1973) was another dacoit film with tremendous performances by Vinod Khanna and Moushumi Chatterjee.

From this peak began a slow decline. Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz starrer ‘Prem Kahani’ (1975) had a rather flat trajectory. ‘Shareef Budmaash’ (1973), the last of his films with Anand, looked out of control and ‘Nehle Pe Dehlaa’ (1976) was a crime film without a taut story.

‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’ (1978) had great performances by Nutan, Asha Parekh and Vijay Anand. A similar plot was repeated in Raj’s later films. There was talk of it being autobiographical, but the audiences were not interested.

‘Dostana’ (1980) with Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Shatrughan Sinha was his last great success. His later films had good music and acting, but looked tired.

Raj Khosla was only 66 when he died in 1991, with a career spanning 35 years. Contemporary directors still go back to study his style and unique ability to frame shots through mirrors, windows and peep holes.

His unit and actors adored Raj Khosla. His family worshipped him. It was a rich legacy of grace and artistry but also that of a gentleman, always considerate of the feelings of others.

— The writer is former Director General, All India Radio