Gaman (the departure): A lyrical tale of human anguish of

helplessness and separation

By R N Ghosh
The film Gaman (1978), meaning the departure, is a most
sensitive film about the plight of the migration of rural poor to the
urban areas for livelihood and survival, the heart break of the
tragic human situation in a big city and in the bleak countryside,
portending a dismal present and an even more dreary, grim,
desolate and depressing future, a future without much hope.
Almost three and half decades after the film was released in
1978, it remains as relevant today, and even more; the plight of
poor migrants to the big cities, the predicament and misery of
those who are forced by the circumstances, both economic and
social, beyond their control, to leave their homes and hearth, their
family and near and dear ones, to uncertainty and homelessness
as the social and cultural fabric of their immediate environment
gets torn apart. Its theme of human anguish of helplessness and
separation, of tragic human situation of the desperate struggle for
survival in the mega cities, is so poignantly portrayed on celluloid,
and so timeless is the leitmotif of continuing rural migrations in all
third world countries, of urban population explosions, of incessant
1

migration to the mega cities, that it remains contextually

relevant.
Gaman is a story of an unemployed youth from a village near
Lucknow, possessing hardly any education or any land worth the
name, and hardly any opportunity for economic uplift, deciding to
migrate to the then Bombay, now Mumbai, on the insistence of
his close friend, for livelihood, leaving his ailing mother and wife
behind. Doing odd jobs, he is hired to drive a taxi, but the life as a
taxi-driver in Bombay is harsh and unforgiving, hardly offering any
opportunity to save enough to visit home. The two women in the
village have an equally gloomy, distressing, somber, and yes,
mundane, hum-drum existence and wait for the periodic letters
and money orders to keep their hopes alive. Even after living in
Bombay, the most cosmopolitan, vibrant and happening city at
one time, for years, his friend has to only a shanty tenement as a
roof over his head, which is also likely to be demolished soon. The
tragedy unfolds when the close friend (Jalal Agha) gets murdered
and the taxi driver Farookh Shaikh in a memorable role
decides to return to his native place, for good. But procrastinates
enough to stay back in the city, perhaps forever, with the closing
shots showing him driving taxi, in the city of dreams, a melting
pot, which attracted hundreds of thousands over the years as the
only city in India where they could aspire to fulfill their dreams of
making it big, the city which was assimilative, inclusive and
welcoming, and cosmopolitan.
The films high watermark was its music by the incomparable
Jaidev, its unforgettable poetry of Shahrayar and Makhtoom
Mohiudeen, it lyrical realism, its epitomizing the tragic social
ethos of separation and heartbreaks, of loneliness and the
changing socio-reality reality and values in the society. Who can
forget the angst ridden, emotionally cathartic, Seene mein jalan
aankhon mein toofan sa kyon hai/Is shahr mein har shaqs
pareshaan sa kyon hai/Dil hai to dharakne ka bahaana koi
dhoondhe/Pathhar ki tarah behi o bejaan sa kyon hai? Or, the
2

soulful ghazal rendered by Chhaya Ganguli, 'Aapki yaad aati

rahen raat bhar, Chasham-E-Nam Muskuraati Rahi Raat Bhar, Aap
Ki Yaad Aati Rahi, Raat Bhar Dard Ki Shamaa Jalati Rahi.., the
vintage music, verses and the situation, loneliness, melancholy,
pain and nostalgia? Muzaffar Alis Gaman is a poetry in visuals
indeed, and watching it is a memorable, yet melancholic,
experience. Quite justifiably, Jaidev won the National Film Award
for Best Music Direction in 1979 for his work and for the Song
"Aap ki Yaad Aati Rahi" Chhaya Ganguly won the National Award
for Best Playback Singer female.
Muaffar Ali, the director, was recently asked, why aren't such films
being made today? He responded with a barely concealed
contempt, there is no money to be made with such films, simply
no money.