Dastak (the knock) is one of those rare movies of Indian Film Industry whose story is as relevant today as when it was first performed in a All India Radio play "Naql-e-Makani" (moving to a new house) in 1944, and again when it was adapted in this film in 1970 by its original playwright Rajinder Singh Bedi, the finest writer of Urdu fiction.
Making a directorial venture with this film Bedi sahib depicted the experiences of a newly married lower middle class couple whose respectability and integrity was tested time and again by their neighborhood, when they unknowingly moved into an apartment formerly occupied by a prostitute. From this film the Mr. Bedi brilliantly portrayed the psychology of a man whose honesty and morality, which are the only assets he possess, is in question, a woman whose integrity and character is painted by the sexual brush, due to which she feels like an imprisoned bird, and a bourgeois society whose benchmark of morality is based on a person's external appearances and environment and have no more space for internal standards of respectability.
This film not only tries to express the psychology of such complex nature but also tries to test the limit of the one's border of tolerance after which one could collapse and departs from one's own standard of morale and principles to save one's hard real life.
I very much like this film not only for its story (if you like, you could buy a Paper book novel of the same name from Hind Pocket Books and will have same profound effect if you read it), but also for sheer acting prowess of Sanjeev Kumar who as always gave his finest shot as Hamid and Rehana Sultana who, despite being a débutant in this film, beautifully characterized the role of restricting, stultifying and imprisoning Salma whose life as housewife was marred by the "Prostitute" label she got from the greedy neighborhood.
Another highlight of this film is its soul-touching songs which are, I think, is the finest creations of Madan Mohan Sahab's as a musician and Majrooh Sultanpuri's as lyricist, and Lata Mangeshkar's & Mohd. Rafi sahib's as singers. Because as you listen to each song you will literally feel the pain or pleasure of character for whom these songs were written. Whether the private moments of love through "Bainya Na Dharo"(don't hold my hand) and "Tumse Kahoon Ek Baat Paro Si" (Let me tell you a word as light as feather) or the silent cry of "Mai Ri Main Kaa Se Kahoon Peer" (Oh Mother ! who should i tell my pain) or the agony of a woman whose honor is bleeding, "Hum Hain Mataye Koocha Bazaar Ki Tarah" (We are like an item-on-sale in the street).
Moreover, Kamal Bose too had done a great job with its B/W cinematography. So the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee as Editor.
All in all I give it 10/10 for its traumatic yet beautiful story, excellent piece of work from a Rajinder Singh Bedi, unforgettable songs and more than impressive acting by its lead actors. I would highly recommend it if you like serious film.
Though it was way ahead of its time in treatment and statement explicitly, the film had very implicit meaning. Dastak is a classic in its own term.
