Films like Dosti were path-breakers in Indian film history.

Films like Dosti were path-breakers in Indian Film History.

Bollywood films had been known for the entertainment they had provided over the years. Entertainment had compelled the producers and directors to make formula films where there was equal share of romance, comedy and action. There were other directors who believed in making films out of classic literature.

Satyen Bose, the director of Dosti experimented with the literature of Nihar Ranjan Gupta who wrote the story for the Bengali film Lalu Bhulu, the story of a blind and a handicapped boy. Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar, were the two artists who played the role of the blind and handicapped boys. In this film the blind boy had an elder sister who declined to identify him. The sister worked as nurse.

Both the boys used to come to meet a small girl played by Baby Farida. Sanjay Khan was the elder brother of the small girl who never liked the presence of the two boys. The handicapped boy got admission in a school where Abhi Bhattacharya was the headmaster. Nana Palsekar who was a reputed teacher in the institution got inpressed with the brilliance of the handicapped boy and taught him.

Nana Palsekar took him to his own house for education as the colony where the boy stayed was full of mischievous boys. But his friend Mohan got deprived out of it. He collected money by singing songs in the street and paid the fees for his Board Exam. Hi friend stood first in the exam.

In the film music played a very important role. Laxmikant Pyarellal had composed only in the film Parasmani before Dosti. Dosti was undoubted their best creation. Mohammad Rafi was as brilliant as ever. The lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri made the viewers weep. The songs “janewalo zara”, “rahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyun satati hai”, “chahunga mai tujhe saanz sawere”, “mera to job hi kadam hai” sung by Rafi were milestones in Indian film history. In the Bengali version Lalu Bhulu, Robin Chatterji composed the music, Sailen Ray wrote the lyrics while Manobendra Mukherjee sang the tragic songs “dukho amar shesh kore dao probhu”, “jar hiya akasher”, “ei pran jharona jaglo”, “dukher pothe naamli Jodi”, to name a few. The film had message relating to morality, public policy, etc.

Dosti did brilliant business without any renowned hero like Dilip Kumar or Raj Kumar, a classical dancer like Vaijayantimala. The viewers appreciated classic films in those days and the film was a path-breaker in its true sense of the term.