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‘Dharam ji’ at his Cinematic Best
When Dharmendra, the iconic & evergreen star, passed away on 8th, Dec., entire media was overwhelmed with glowing tributes for the superb actor, high praise of his immense body of work, life sketches of his legendary film career and the great human being he was. Mention of scenes from films like ‘Sholay’ and ‘Chupke Chupke’ got pride of place.
Yet, as an ardent fan and old film buff, despite his prolific portrayals in different roles spanning six decades, I have always felt that unarguably his best came in the sublime film ‘Satyakam’ a 1969 Indian drama film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, based on a Bengali novel of the same name by Narayan Sanyal and the name inspired by ancient saint Satyakama Jabala. The protagonist is a bold, upright young Engineering graduate called Satyapriya who works in the terrains of Bhawanigarh in British-ruled India, with unwavering honesty & principles. The role played superbly by Dharam ji was considered by critics as among the finest in Indian cinema. The movie won National Film Award For Best Feature Film but sadly didn’t fetch Dharam ji the coveted Best Actor Award !
Influenced by the ideals he learnt from his grandfather Satyasharan Acharya, Satyapriya is a man of probity and truth and as a budding Engineer he has dreams of building a new India, but almost every character he encounters in his work-life experiences, share little of his ideals. His closest friend advises him to leave rigidities & follow the golden ‘middle path’ but Satyapriya argues that ‘Compromise is another name for surrender to wrong practices’ which he cannot. Ideological conflicts force Satyapriya from one job to another- unable to allow dishonest deals by officials & those part of a corrupt system.
His tumultuous love & marriage ends in retribution too. Satyapriya hesitates in rescuing Ranjana, who loves him, and lets her become prey of the morally corrupt prince and to redress the mounting guilt, he later marries her, but their lives are never the same again while she bears a child. Satyapriya is constantly reminded of his failure, unable to adjust to the opportunism and greed that preys on the system, devoid of a strong moral fibre. His struggle continues to a poignant end that leads us into deep ethical introspection.
‘Satyakam’ with its idealism of truth and honesty appears surreal in today’s times but it had set a high benchmark for moral values in society that seemed to endorse beautiful message of the Mahatma ‘Be the Change You Want To Be’. In shorter parlance it would mean ‘Let’s Walk the Talk’, show the way for ‘Your Actions Speak Louder than Words’ !
In one scene, to his friend who advocates that Truth must not be so harsh and should be ‘Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram’ – Satyapriya says ‘If You have the Courage to Speak the Truth, then have the Courage to Hear the Truth also’ ! But are ready for such idealism ? Surely this is the kind of narrative that we must bring home to our younger generation.
Working on Living 