In 1971, actor Rajesh Khanna, (on road to becoming a superstar called the ‘Phenomenon’ by film media) enacted a different role in ‘Dushman’ which received critical acclaim for its powerful theme. Directed by Dulal Guha it had legendary actress Meena Kumari in a pivotal stellar role while Mumtaz played the romantic pair opposite RK with aplomb as she always did. Yet it was Khanna who was memorable in portrayal as the repentant truck driver. Why talk about a vintage film after so many years. Let’s look at the story…
Here was an out of the box theme on the subject of differentiating law and justice. A rash and reckless truck driver in an inebriated state runs over a man in an accident in a village and is arrested by the locals and tried in court. In a far cry from normal jurisprudence and as a revolutionary social experiment the Judge proposes to Judges bench that the accused should spend two years in the village to take care of the family members of the person who got killed by accident, which comprise of his old Father, wife, sister and young son. The riveting tale is about how the family and village at large, copes with the judgement that’s unpalatable to all of them !
If the story rings a bell, it’s eerily akin to the horrific road accident in Pune that snuffed out the lives of two young techies crushed under the recklessly wayward wheels of a luxury car driven by a inebriated delinquent youth. To add to people’s outrage was the near immediate bail granted to ‘juvenile’ driver and his two friends that reeks of entitlement that comes to affluent. As redemption, the juvenile court has asked the accused to write a 300 page essay on how to avoid road accidents and tasks that are kind of punishment to errant school student, not for heinous negligence resulting in two deaths.
What the fictional Judge in ‘Dushman’ proposed was a major socio-legal experiment that stressed on reformation of delinquents but by undertaking all the responsibilities of the bereaved family & that was plausible in a way. In the Pune road accident case, what appears is the kind of cover-up and machinations that are set in motion to protect rich-brats who are a threat to society. Most stringent action needs to be initiated against them and those responsible for such an upbringing that breeds a flagrant defiance of civil society norms and exposes people on the streets. That is order of the day !
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