Johnny Walker was well past his prime when “Sanjog” graced the screens across the country. Pradeep Kumar and Anita Guha had starred in the previous movie with the same title in 1961 and Jeetendra came together with Jayaprada in “Sanjog” released in 1985.
The story in all three obviously had its own course but music added value to the Pradeep Kumar-Anita Guha film with Madan Mohan giving one of his finest compositions. That was the era when melody was an integral part of film music.
When S. S. Balan decided to produce and direct “Sanjog”, he roped in Amitabh Bachchan and Mala Sinha, not the best ingredient for success of a movie. Bachchan had made an impression with “Anand” but certainly was far away from being a rage that he became with “Zanjeer”. Mala Sinha was past her prime.
To have gone ahead with the venture was indeed brave of Balan. He looked to pack the cast with Johnny Walker and signed up the pair of Anand Bakshi (lyricist) and composer R. D. Burman. For the film to do well it had to have good music. Sadly, RD and Bakshi could not create the magic to boost the film at the box office.
Yet, there was something that did not let the film sink. Mala Sinha plays Asha in the role of a wife who is left to fend for herself by husband Mohan (Bachchan), who later marries Seema (Aruna Irani) and appears to lead a happy life with his family until fate brings about a twist in the tale.
Asha is now Asha Devi, a District Collector, and Mohan a clerk in her office. Confronted by circumstances that raise a storm in their life, Mohan and Asha look to face the challenges but can’t keep things under control.
Their past returns to haunt them as Seema looks to find out the truth of Mohan’s past. She is able to extract the truth from Asha but in the process triggers off a chain of events that result in her losing her eyesight even as Asha battles for life.
The contrived climax brings Mohan and Seema together but not before Asha breathes her last. Seema sees the world through Asha’s eyes as Balan ends the film on a happy note. Barring Mala Sinha, there is not much of note in the movie. She manages to give a decent performance but there is not much scope for Bachchan and the rest to add to the narrative.
For fans of Johnny Walker there are refreshing moments when he brings welcome relief from some gloomy phases on the screen. He was not at his peak when Balan offered him the role but Johnny Walker was a welcome presence in the film. Humour was not subtle when Johnny Walker or Mehmood dominated the film industry and much was expected from them. They delivered on occasions, like Johnny Walker in this film. He earned the reputation to command his space in the company of some of the best leading actors of the times and he was expected light up the screen in “Sanjog” with his experience.
Johnny Walker, who was backed by Mohammad Rafi’s voice in his youth, notably in “Pyaasa”, “Aar Paar”, “Detective”, “Naya Daur”, had another legend to give him playback support. It was the only time that Kishore Kumar sang for Johnny Walker. The song – “Ek Do Teen Char Paanch Che Aur Saat” – was hardly a hit but the novelty of Kishore singing for Johnny Walker was not to be missed. Like Mukesh singing for Dev Anand or Kishore lending his voice to Dilip Kumar or Shammi Kapoor.
The one outstanding feature of “Sanjog” was Balan’s craft to enliven even an average story line. There is not a moment of absurdity in the film which draws its strength from the presence of Mala Sinha and Johnny Walker. As for the future super star of the industry, Amitabh Bachchan was yet to make an impact with his individual ability to carry a film.
Genre: Social drama
Director: S.S. Balan
Cast: Mala Sinha, Amitabh Bachchan, Aruna Irani, Madan Puri, Nazir Hussain, Johnny Walker, Keshto Mukherjee, Ramesh Deo, Sulochana Chatterjee
Written by: Joseph Anandan
Dialogue: Pandit Muraram Sharma
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Music: R. D. Burman
Box office status: Hit
Published - December 22, 2016 09:53 pm IST
