Which is your favourite Hrishikesh Mukherjee film? 8 out 10 fans would scream, Anand, whose greatness emanates to a large extent from Rajesh Khanna’s flawless performance as a man who smiles his way to death.
Uma (Jaya Bhaduri)’s singing spreads the same happiness in Abhimaan. When superstar singer Subir (Amitabh Bachchan) first spots her, Uma is singing Nadiya kinare, oblivious to the world. Subir marries her, whisks her to the city and helps her find her bearings as a professional singer. Then comes the bummer. Subir feels eclipsed, overshadowed by Uma’s success. This is the Star Is Born territory. The story was told in Hollywood several times, the most recent being the version where Bradley Cooper played 'Subir' and Lady Gaga played ‘Uma’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRaVzCwkl98
Hrishida had once revealed that Abhimaan was based on the marriage of Ruma Guha Thakurta and Kishore Kumar, and his professional envy. The male ego is shown to crush the wife’s talent. Jaya Bhaduri, who won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, looks like a withered flower as her joy in singing is snatched away by her husband’s egotism.
Jaya in the finest performance of her opulent career had Lata Mangeshkar’s voice to carry the various shades of Uma’s journey, from the innocence of Nadiya kinare to the anxiety of Abb toh hai tumse har Khushi apni to the heartbreak of Piya bina piya bina baasiya baje na. Hrishida had shared, "There could be no Abhimaan without Lata. Her voice is the soul of the film. I needed a singer so ahead of her male counterpart that the word competition didn’t even prop up anywhere."
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Lighting up at the mention of Abhimaan, Jaya Bachchan reminisces, “When Hrishi Kaku offered me Abhimaan, I was on the verge of retirement, quickly wrapping up my assignments to get married. He said I have to do Abhimaan. No one said no to Hrishi Kaku. I am so glad I did it. Not doing Abhimaan would have been a regret and I am not one to regret anything.”
Jaya recalls observing Lataji to play Uma. "I would turn up at her recording of the Abhimaan song. She was very sweet about it. But I am sure she wondered why this woman keeps barging into my recording. When the film released everyone who knew Lataji saw I had copied the way she records songs. I think Abhimaan is one of Hindi cinema’s finest soundtracks. Every song a gem.”