Hum to Doobenge sanam tum ko bhii le Doobenge

Film : Aawaara

Year of release : 1951

Spoken by : Raj (Raj Kapoor)

Spoken to : Rita (Nargis)

This is a line which instantly reminds me of my 9th grade English textbook. There was a story written by a Bhabhani thingummajig which was entitled Mere Monkeys. If that short story was to be made into a Hindi film, I would have given it the same title as the title of this post.

One of the lasting impressions that I have in this film is a 11-12 year old Shashi Kapoor going and asking his mother 'Maa yeh aawaaraa kyaa hotaa hai'. It is probably the most contrived line I have heard in the history of Hindi cinema. Shashi Kapoor even at that tender age had the grace to look very very embarrassed. You must watch the film for just this one line. But otherwise this film - written by Khwaaja Ahmad Abbas - whose great grandson Shahid Kapoor is setting the screen on fire these days - was a paean to the socialist version of the nature vs nurture debate. Ever since Hitler did what he did, most scientists are loathe to propound any theory which links behaviour or traits to genetics. Khwaaja Ahmad Abbas tries to settle it in favour of 'nurture' with this film. Hence KN Singh goes to great lengths to disprove the judge's theory that a thief's son will turn out to be a thief. He picks up the judge's son and turns him into an 'aawaara' - a vagabond.

Anyways this line has nothing to do with all the pseudo serious drivel that I have written above. Raj and his girl friend Rita are frolicking on the beach. The famous Raj-Nargis chemistry is evident. They both have jumped into a small 'bay'. While Rita has managed to come out, Raj hasn't. He extends his hand out asking for help and utters this classic line.

"Hum to Doobenge sanam tum ko bhii le Doobenge"

"हम तो डूबेंगे सनम तुम को भी ले डूबेंगे"

Isme aapkaa dosh naheeN...meree soorat hee aisee hai

Film : Awaara
Year of release : 1951
Spoken by : Raj (Raj Kapoor)
Spoken to : Rita (Nargis)

This is Raj's oft-repeated line in this movie. You can call it his 'takiaa qalaam'. Raj is a tramp - an aawaara - who steals for a living. One fine day, he snitches Rita's purse from a crowded market place. He bumps into her as he is doing this. Since he is dressed as a tramp, Rita heaps scorn on him. When she discovers that her purse is missing, she is distraught. She starts running in the direction where she thinks the thief might have gone. Raj pretends to chase the thief and while chasing this thief he jumps over a high wall and pretends to fight with the imaginary thief before bringing back the purse to Rita. He is almost exposed, as a curious Rita tries to climb the wall to see what's going on. But she is unable to scale the wall and hence Raj escapes detection. When he hands the purse back to Rita, she is contrite as she had treated him with contempt a while back. Raj says

"IsmeN aapkaa dosh naheeN memsaab; merii soorat hee aisee hai. Aur to aur kabhee kabhee police bhee dhokhaa khaa jaatee hai"
"इसमें आपका दोष नहीं मेमसाब; मेरी सूरत ही ऐसी है. और तो और कभी कभी पुलिस भी धोखा खा जाती है"

Years later I remember reading an interview (perhaps by the late Bunny Reuben) where Raj was asked what went wrong between him and Nargis. Raj is reported to have said

"Perhaps she did not find me handsome enough"

I guess Raj had this desire to get all audience sympathy directed towards him by hook or by crook. Probably the reason why after Andaaz, he was so desperate to do Sangam with Dilip. The final choice for that role in Sangam - Rajender Kumar - was quite miffed at the way Raj tried to corner all the sympathy in Sangam. I see no other reason why a very fair, slim, 26 year young man with blue eyes should mouth a line like this in India - and get away with it.

I remember, Cary Grant used to say that he would tell every woman that he was impotent and that made them all the more eager to prove him wrong. This seems to be a similar trick. So, if you are handsome and suffer from the same complex that Raj did, use this line. I can't use it. You see the line kind of loses its punch if mouthed by someone ugly. :)

इसमें आपका दोष नहीं मेमसाब; मेरी सूरत ही ऐसी है