Sunay Chowdhury

A vivid tapestry of the lives of drifters and street-hustlers living in New York City, Midnight Cowboy is set against the backdrop of the counterculture movement of the late sixties. The film is a sweeping spectacle. It manages to lace together variegated themes - of loneliness, poignant drama, friendship, unbridled hedonism, psychedelic thrills, libertine beliefs and mostly vignettes of stylish Americana - to ultimately create a cinematic experience that is unforgettable.

What was to serve as a time-filler during these work-from-home days turned out to prove an aching experience that would wound my soul with overpowering bereavement. Right from the beginning, with the song "Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari" the mood is set and you know that it will be an emotional journey. I kept noting the flaws in the screenplay at different moments during the passage of the film: loosely threaded situational changes, lack of a seamless narrative where turn of events happen inexplicably leaving the viewer alienated, poor sound engineering that suddenly erupts with loud background music seconds after barely audible dialogues between characters, etc. As the film progressed, I kept wondering why it was declared a classic. Was it just because the filming was done using a widescreen camera and hence every frame appears like a beautiful painting; was it Guru Dutt's crafty direction, memorable camera-angles, usage of light and shadow effects to create a moody panorama that entranced the undiscerning viewer? What was it? Why was this lauded as a timeless classic, I kept wondering. Well, I had to wait right till the end. The ending is poignant and heart-touching. The moment Guru Dutt's character, Suresh Sinha, starts running away when he gets discovered under his rags, unkempt and bedraggled attire and appearance and Waheeda Rehman's character, the famous film-star Shanti (the one whom Suresh Sinha himself had discovered one night long time ago when Shanti had taken shelter under a tree while it rained heavily), recognising him madly runs after him, Mohammad Rafi's high-pitch, heart-rending and emotionally shattering voice rings with these words: ud ja ud ja pyase bhanware ras na milega dharo me kagaj ke phul jaha khilte hain baithna un gulzaro me nadan tamanna reti me ummed ki kashti kheti hain ik hath se deti hain duniya sau hatho se le leti hain ye khel hain kabse jari And Guru Dutt keeps running away towards the exit-gate of Ajanta Pictures Studio while a storm brews and leaves blow all over in an emotionally surging finale. It is a terrible conclusion, as the viewer sits up from his seat, choked with unpalatable emotions. It was the ending which made this an absolute classic: it is high on poignancy and yet a rousing cinematic triumph. It stirs your soul and forever the man, the artist, the legend called Guru Dutt acquires an unequivocal place in your heart. The film is a theatrically profound depiction of a man's fall from grace, his dwindling persona and is a stirring account of how a once phenomenally successful man who had the world at his feet is reduced to a pitiful subhuman condition, his self-esteem totally crushed under the weight of his own delusional ego to the point that he is metaphorically running away from his own self as he has lost all belief, all confidence in the spotless purity of his own soul and he probably detests and hates himself while there's a side of him which pities himself too. It's a terrible sight to behold this vanquished spirit of man, who has lost his self-belief and his own identity. Really a true masterpiece which leaves a lasting effect on you.