This is the fortieth year of Hindi’s ‘cult classic’ film ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’. In the history of Hindi cinema, many films have been made on humor, but none like ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’. Recently, prominent filmmaker of parallel cinema, writer Saeed Mirza has written a book – ‘I Know the Psychology of Rats’, which has Kundan Shah (1947-2017) at its center. Adorned with beautiful illustrations by Nachiket Patwardhan, this book is actually the story of Saeed-Kundan’s friendship, which has been written with the help of memories. With this our time and society also goes on.

Most of all while reading this bookLeave it, folks‘ misses the movie. In short, ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ is the story of two struggling, honest photographers Vinod and Sudhir, who expose the corruption of a builder. As they move ahead with the belief of ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’, we see a society in which everything is black. Based on humor and satire, this film mercilessly exposes the socio-political system. The way it entertains the audience with cheeky dialogues makes it ‘contemporary’. This film neither takes the path of popular cinema nor is it monotonous like parallel cinema. Kundan himself could not continue the experiment with cinema making here, which is innovation. The TV serials he directed (Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, Wagle Ki Duniya) though people still remember him.

The context of Mahabharata at the end of the film ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ still tickles us, but after some time we are unable to divert our eyes from the question of blind ‘Dhritarashtra’ – ‘What is happening’. There are many such incidents in this film which have no ‘logic’, they are absurd. Similar is the context of Mahabharata. Our time is also like this, in which many things are going on without logic and we keep watching it silently. We don’t know whether to laugh or cry!

This book also contains sharp commentary on the important national-international political events of the last fifty years, mostly through dialogues. This book is like a mourning song. Isn’t the movie ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaar’ also a condolence song? While going through this book, we get acquainted with Kundan’s mental make-up, his ideological point of view. The description of the FTII campus in the tumultuous seventies is quite interesting. The Bodhivriksha (Wisdom Tree) of the campus has been a witness to this.

film made in seven lakh rupees
In the year 1982, Kundan along with FTII and NSD artists made this film with a very low budget (with the help of NFDC) for seven lakh rupees. Famous actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapoor, Bhakti Barve, Neena Gupta, Ravi Baswani, Satish Kaushik, Satish Shah have rarely appeared together in a film. Also behind the scenes, the role of Ranjit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra, Sudhir Mishra, Vinod Chopra (he also had a small role in the film), Renu Saluja (Editor) was no less important. This film is also an example of excellent ‘team work’ and dedication towards work. In fact, Yaaron Ki Yaari has made ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ a ‘cult classic’.

Saeed and Kundan’s friendship was scripted at FTII, Pune (1973-76), where they met in the year 1973 and the partnership lasted a lifetime. Kundan had seen many ups and downs in his life. After training in film direction, he started working as a clerk in England, then after a few years when he returned, he started working as an assistant director with Saeed. Sayeed came from a cultural background and was very vocal about his Marxist views. Unlike him, the ideological journey was not easy for Kundan coming from a simple Gujarati baniya family background. FTII campus played an important role in the development of his personality and ideological vision.

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Childhood in one pocket, alcohol in the other
In this book, Kundan comes across as a hardworking, spontaneous, sensitive person and filmmaker who was deeply influenced by supremacist and communal politics. In the book, Saeed mentions an incident that in the second year of the course, famous filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak had come to the institute and taught him (a class). Ritwik Ghatak was the mentor of parallel cinema pioneers Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, John Abraham, but when Saeed-Kundan enrolled in the institute, Ritwik had left.

However, Saeed writes that Kundan asked Ghatak during the class, ‘How does one become a good director?’ He asked to read text books on cinema, acquire technical skills. He also added that ‘a good director carries his childhood in one pocket and a bottle of liquor in the other’. Then Ghatak asked Kundan that did you understand my point? To which Kundan said- Yes, Sir. Have faith in yourself and don’t leave your intuition. Saeed adds that ‘Kundan did just that!’ The title of the book is borrowed from a fable by Kundan Shah. But what does it mean? In fact, only a perfect creator can talk to a sad chameleon, understand the psychology of a mouse.

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