Teesri Kasam

Teesri Kasam (1966) : Brief Review -

A significant Love Story with Classic Bleak Ending, perhaps the Best in the Genre. Basu Bhattacharya delivers an entertaining love story but with meaningful, stunning and irreplaceable scrappy ending. Teesri Kasam is not a much known film because of commercial failure except for the National Award Honour but this film deserves to be known because we are not going to see something like this in Love Story+Sacrifice category. It is a story of a naive and hardworking cart driver Hiraman who meets a courtesan Hira Bai and treats her like a goddess. Hira bai adores him from the first meeting but never tells him about her lousy facts but problem appears when Hiraman also falls in love with her. What sacrifices Hira Bai has to do just to keep her clean image alive in Hiraman's heart and memory and how it turns out to be his Third Vow is all about this Classic story. Raj Kapoor adds another powerful character and a Classic film in his legendary filmography. The way he says, "Issshhh"... He is so cute.. His north Indian accent is fabulous. Waheeda Rehman delivers one of the finest act of her career and also impresses with her dancing skills. What a Chartbuster and Timeless Music Teesri Kasam has got from Shankar Jaikishan. Four Superhit songs appears in the first hour only which was already entertaining, just imagine how engaging it had been. 'Chalat Musafir', 'Paan Khayo Saiyya Hamar', 'Sajanwa Bairi Ho Gayo', 'Sajan Re Jhooth Mat Bolo' are superb and Evergreen indeed but 'Duniya Bananewale' is so deep and works with enthralling impact, and when it appers in The End with completely different meaning from it's first appearance, it just Stays in Mind. Basu Bhattacharya's Direction is worthy if you really understand the meaning and nuances of the pain and sacrifice done in the film. I don't know why this film flooped at Box Office, didn't the audience understand it? Couldn't they feel the pain and profound thoughts? It's a shame for the audience not for the film's team if this film couldn't generate box office numbers. Thanks to National Award juries otherwise this underrated Classic would have remained unknown even for movie buffs. I am thankful to them and to the makers of Teesri Kasam for making such a high quality Love saga and traditionally poignant film for the society in the 60s. Despite the painful and deep thoughts Teesri Kasam is a an Entertaining Rom-com and is far far better than any overrated Rom-com of 80s and 90s. Teesri Kasam got both Entertainment and powerful Bleak Ending, please inform me if you ever find a high quality product in this combination.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest

This film was intelligent and thoughtful, tender and achingly sad with simply gorgeous songs and the stunning Waheedaji proving she is so very much more than just a divinely beautiful face. I will give it 9.5/10 only because I was secretly hoping that the ending would be a little different, in an equally non-formulaic way. The exploration of its themes and the strength of her character are both remarkable for the era. The beginning of the film is quite simply astonishing - to literally open with a song of the calibre of sajan re jhoot mat bolo - what a foretaste of the movie's overall quality. The phrase is worn out and hackneyed now, but if any film is a 'must see' teesri kasam is that film.

After going through two incidents which nearly put his life into danger, a simple rustic bullock cart driver named Heeraman takes two vows - to never carry again illegal goods and to never carry again bamboo on his cart. Then he is asked to transport a young nautanki dancer named Heerabai as a passenger to a distant village fair. Travelling together for over forty hours, a true bond of friendship is formed between the two. They share some life experiences together and sing some wonderful songs to each other. She is charmed by his simplicity, innocence and his unsophisticated perception of life, and he is mesmerised by her beauty and honesty. This sequence is the film's most interesting and beautiful, but what follows next is what carries the narrative forward and leads the story towards Heeraman's third vow, and the viewers clearly can predict it.

A wonderful and musical drama, Teesri Kasam tells a simple story of cultural clashes and unrealised love. It is a rather captivating watch, well directed and narrated, and is aided by fantastic performances. Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman are absolutely outstanding in their roles. Kapoor's character in this film is not an unusual one in his career given he often played roles of this sort (the overly innocent romantic fool) but his performance definitely is. The way he displays Heeraman's sincerity, fear, love and ultimately his realisation is terrific. Rehman is unsurprisingly excellent as Heerabai - the strong, dignified and talented dancer. Her dance numbers were well done, but it is the depth with which she conveys Heera's feelings and her inner devastation that marks this performance. Needless to say, she is as beautiful and graceful as always.

For this film, Shankar-Jaikishen composed another winning soundtrack. "Duniya Banane Wale" is my favourite song and is soulfully performed by Mukesh. This is also the number that makes Heera call Heeraman her Guru, one of the top moments showing their spiritual connection. The film's final scene is unquestionably the most haunting and memorable in Teesri Kasam, and it is the one which brings the third vow to its ironic fulfillment. Heerabai's honest confession and Heeraman's silent reaction create a melancholic ending that tugs at the heartstrings. I was surprised by how moved I was by the conclusion of the story. This is actually the moment that marks this film and bears the stamp of its greatness. I highly recommend you to watch this classic picture. Take a bow, Kapoor, Rehman, and Basu Bhattacharya.

Teesri Kasam is set in Bihar (well Phanishwar Nath Renu's story was, so it has to be) in a completely rural area. Raj Kapoor plays a bullock cart driver who is almost caught smuggling contraband - this would place the film at the time between the two great wars. He wows to never smuggle; then he gets into an accident carrying bamboo and vows to never carry bamboo again. THEN he is asked to transport a lady from a nautanki company (Waheeda Rehman) to the village fair many miles away. One knows already what his third vow (Teesri Kasam) will end up being. Raj Kapoor is mind-blowing as the rustic, Heeraman. Heeraman is innocent, pure of heart – he only sees good in people. Heerabai (Waheeda) is not innocent by any means. As she meets and spends time with Heeraman one begins to feel that she may be able to recapture what she lost. But in the end she is faced with a difficult choice. Life is a nautanki - can she pretend/play the role of Savitri for the rest of her life? Can she rob Heeraman of his innocence by telling him the truth about herself? Or must she simply play the whimsical female and go away, leaving him hurt but not robbed of his illusions? Iftekhar plays the very young, dapper zamindar who lusts after Heerabai. In fact the entire crowd that watches the nautanki is mesmerized by her every step, every word coming out of her mouth. She is the dream they have never even dared to dream.

The music by Shankar Jaikishan is divine and is mostly set in two settings, either on a slowly moving bullock cart or on a nautanki stage and yet one is never bored - the tunes are amazing, the lyrics soulful and the songs bring a lump to your throat with their poignancy. There is the somber Sajan Re Jhooth Mat Bolo, followed by Sajanwa Bairi Ho Gaye Hamar, the folksy Chalat Musafir Moh Liyo Re, the sad Duniya Banane Wale. Then we have the awesome nautanki numbers starting with Paan Khayen Saaiyan that had me as mesmerized as the crowd of men watching HeeraBai perform! There was a Laila Majnu song and then the most pleasant Mare Gaye Gulfaam, the number full of longing and pain Aaa Aa Bhi Jaa. Added into these real songs was the rustic number Laali Laali Doliya Mein sung by a bunch of children running after the cart - without a word spoken the lead pair conveyed how they longed to be the Dulhaniya and Sajna! Waheeda was luminous, charming, and completely charmed by the simplicity of Heeraman. Her addressing RK as Meeta throughout the film, gave a sense of deep intimacy that was beyond the physical realm. You could sense her virtuosity in dance that was very much restrained as she played the low brow nautanki belle. In the "Laila Majnu" skit she danced unbelievably well in a non Indian classical mode. Lachchu Maharaj choreographed excellent numbers for this film.

RK - okay, he can act. As Heeraman he plays the ingénue but this is not a caricature of a role. When he says Isss - you can sense his embarrassment/disbelief/humor - Mr. Bhansali's Paro tried to copy it but that became a mockery! Raj Kapoor is the simple and genuine villager who believes the best of people and goes to great lengths to protect the honor of one whom he sees as a virtuous woman. You also sense an inherent high quality in the character when he tells you that he will not remarry if it means marrying a 7-8 year old girl! Renu Sahab was advocating reforms and support for the Sharda laws about legal age of marriage for women. He was also telling us that there is an inner core of strength in women, they may be tossed about on the storm of life, but in the end they will prevail and do the right thing.

The film progresses at a languid pace and is shot in black and white. The locales are very real, with the whipped up dust from the rolling carts, wind, flowing water at a river bank where HeeraBai first realizes how simple Heeraman is, earthen huts, tents, sheds, bullock carts – how much more real can it get? Basu Bhattacharya's first directorial venture and the film is simply awesome. He was assisted by none other than Basu Chatterjee. Phanishwar Nath Renu's story and dialogs evoked the times gone by in a simple rural setting. It is no surprise that this film won the National award for best film.

It is not the fluff stuff of today, but lovers of good cinema will find much that is excellent in quality and manages to tug at the heartstrings.

When Basu Bhattacharya directed this movie he was a new comer whereas Raj Kapoor was already a successful and well established director. Waheeda Rehman, in one of her interviews, narrated how Raj Kapoor would fret and confide in Waheeda "what is this guy doing, he should do this scene in this way" etc. and Waheeda would tell him to forget it and let the director do it as per his vision. I wonder how the movie would have shaped if Basu had heard all of Raj Kapoor's suggestions. No idea, but this is my favorite Basu Bhattacharya and Raj Kapoor movie. It moves at a leisurely pace establishing the ambiance and characters very firmly. Although color was available in those days but the movie was made in black and white for the right effect. Raj Kapoor as a innocent and simple minded bullock cart driver and Waheeda as a village nautanki dancer are amazing at best and their relationship which was doomed from the beginning is the stuff that classics are made of. The movie was crowned with the president's award that year and remains one of the great classics of our times.