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Veteran
Journalist, Writer, Filmmaker Padma Shri Ramanand
Sagar passed away in Mumbai on December 12th,
2005. He was 87 and had been unwell for the last
three months.
Sagar
was born on December 29, 1917 at Asal Guru Ke
near Lahore into one of the region's wealthiest
families. He was adopted by his maternal grandmother,
who changed his original name Chandramauli to
Ramanand. He initially toyed with the names of
Ramanand Chopra and Ramanand Bedi using them as
pseudonyms before settling on Ramanand Sagar.
 It
is said he inherited his talent for writing from
his father - Dinanath Chopra. He first published
a piece of prose-poetry, Pritaam Pratiksha,
in 1933 when he was just 16 for the Srinagar-based
Shri Pratap College magazine. The editor was impressed
but was not convinced Ramanand had authored the
work and so wrote as a footnote that 'the editor
could not vouch for the originality of the article.'
Sagar went on to work as a Journalist with
the Daily Milap and Daily Pratap in
the period from 1936 - 1942. He also obtained
a degree in Sanskrit in 1942. The same year, he
caught tuberculosis and fought for his life in
a sanitarium. It was there that he wrote Diary
of a TB Patient, which was serialised in Adab-e-Mashriq,
a highly rated magazine in the 1940s. It caught
the fancy of the literary world, including the
writer Krishen Chander, and won him great acclaim.
Other Prose stories he wrote included Jawar
Bhata (1943), Aine (1944), Jab Pehe
Roz Barf Giri (1944) and Mera Hamdam Mera
Dost (1945).
Sagar
moved to Bombay in 1947 on Partition. He later
recorded the communical holocaust in his classic
Hindi novel - Aur Insaan Mar Gaya (1948).
The novel was translated into several Indian and
foreign languages. The English version And
Humanity Died was published in 1987-1988.
Sagar also wrote the stage play Gaura part of
which the great Prithviraj
Kapoor staged at Prithvi Theatres as Kalakaar
(1951).
Sagar had worked in films earlier assisting HS
Thakur in the silent film Raiders of the Railroad
(1936). In 1940-41, he was signed as a leading
man for the film Koel and as Abhimanyu
in an unfinished film, Krishna, at Shalimar
Studios, Pune. However, Sagar's breakthrough in
Hindi films came with Raj
Kapoor's seminal romance Barsaat (1949)
wherein he scripted the film. The film with its
theme of love vs lust and shot with beautiful
use of light and shade also proved to be the breakthrough
films for Kapoor the Director, Lyricists Hasrat
Jaipuri and Shailendra, Singer Lata
Mangeshkar, actress Nimmi and Music Directors
Shankar-Jaikishen whose evergreen Musical Score
(Jiya Bekaraar Hai, Chhod Gaye Balam,
Barsaat Mein Humse Mile Tum Sajan, Patli
Kamar Hai, Mujhe Kisise Pyaar Ho Gaya
etc.) was responsible in a big way for the film's
success.
In
the 1950s Sagar launched his own Production Company,
Sagar Arts with its maiden Production being Mehmaan
(1953). He continued writing for films in
particular for SS
Vasan - Insaaniyat (1955) - the only
film to co-star Dilip
Kumar and Dev
Anand together, Raj Tilak (1958) and
Paigham (1959), winning the Filmfare Award
for Best Dialogue. He also went on to direct Ghunghat
(1960), Bina Rai's comeback film which won
her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and Zindagi
(1964) for Vasan's Gemini Studios.
The
1960s and 1970s  was
Sagar's peak period as a successful Filmmaker.
The hits piled up with Arzoo (1965), Aankhen
(1968), Geet (1970), Lalkar (1972)
and Charas (1976). The lone flop in this
period was Jalte Badan (1973) made 'specially'
for actress Kum Kum who also had strong supporting
roles in Geet and Lalkar. Sagar's
films were known for their star casts, spectacular
locales and tuneful music. Perhaps of this lot,
Arzoo was Sagar's best film as a Filmmaker
though the biggest success was the James Bond
type starrer Aankhen.
Arzoo,
a take on the Cary Grant - Deborah Kerr starrer
An Affair to Remember (1957) but with a
gender twist - Rajendra Kumar has the accident
is the quissential 1960s romantic film costarring
Sadhana.
Rarely has Kashmir been exploited so beautifully
as a locale and Sadhana, largely attired in her
trademark churidaars, too has never looked better.
Shankar-Jaikishen's memorable Musical Score for
the films includes hits like Ae Phoolon ki
Rani Baharon ki Mallika, Bedardi Balma,
Ajee Roothkar Ab Kahaan Jaaiyega and Nargis-e-Mastana.
The film remains Sadhana's most popular film to
date.
However
in the 1980s the flop of films like Romance
(1983) and Salma (1985) saw Sagar entering
the then relatively new medium of Indian Television.
His greatest achievement on Television has been
the serial Ramayan (1986 - 88). The 91
episode serial was a major success with a peak
Sunday morning viewership of 78%!
In
1996, Sagar was honoured with the title Sahitya
Vachaspati (Doctor of Literature) by the Hindi
Sahitya Sammelan in Allahabad.The Indian Government
conferred the title of Padma Shri on Sagar
in 2001. He is survived by his wife, five sons
and a daughter.
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