Author Pandit Mukhram Sharma: As in today’s time because of Baahubali and RRR S. S. Rajamouli has the status of a star screenwriter. Or in the past, Salim-Javed got that spot for Sholay, Dewar and Zanjeer. Before all this there was a screenwriter in the film industry, in whose name films were sold. Or we can say that his name alone was the guarantee of selling the films. This was Pandit Mukhram Sharma from Meerut, who wrote screenplays for 24 films including ‘Sadhana’, ‘Dhul Ka Phool’ and ‘Hamjoli’. At that time he was number one in the film world in terms of story, screenplay and dialogue writing. Film distributors from all over the country used to call Mukhram Sharma asking what his next film was and which actors and actresses were working in it. At that time, Mukhram Sharma’s answer was to guarantee to sell all the rights of a film overnight.
Who was Pandit Mukhram Sharma?
According to India Discovery, Mukhram Sharma was born on 30 May 1909 in Puthi village in Parikshitgarh area of Meerut district. After completing his studies, he became a teacher in Meerut. He enjoyed studying, but still missed something. Actually he was very fond of movies. He liked films produced by Prabhat Film Company and New Theatre. By that time Mukhram Sharma had started writing stories and poems for newspapers and magazines. Now he decided that he would write for films. In 1939, Mukhram Sharma came to the Maya city of Mumbai.
In 1939 took the road to Mumbai
Mukhram Sharma came to Mumbai with his wife and children on the invitation of his friend, but initially he could not find any work. Disappointed, he went to Pune. There he V. Worked as a Marathi teacher to the cast of Shantaram’s Prabhat Films. He used to get 40 rupees per month for this work. He got his first work in films in the year 1942 when he got to write songs for the film Dus Baaje. Directed by Raja Nene, the film featured Urmila as the heroine and Paresh Banerjee as the hero. This film became a superhit. Raja Nene gave him an opportunity to write the story of his next film Taramati. The film was based on the love story of Raja Harishchandra and Taramati. Now success started kissing Mukhram Sharma’s feet. The next two films written by him ‘Vishnu Bhagwan’ and ‘Nal-Damayanti’ were also hits.
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Wanted when the movies hit?
After succeeding as a writer, Mukhram Sharma had a strong desire to write a film story on a social theme. He also got this opportunity soon. King Nene also gave him this opportunity. But this movie made in Marathi did not work. But his next Marathi film ‘Stri Janma Tuzi Kahani’ became a hit. The film was later remade in Hindi as ‘Aurat Teri Yehi Kahani’. After this, Mukhram Sharma became so famous that a queue of filmmakers formed at his house in Pune. This was the time when he decided to move to Mumbai again.
After the success of ‘Aulaad’, he continued to climb the ladder of success.
After coming to Mumbai from Pune, his first film was ‘Olaad’. This film was a huge success. In the year 1955, he received the Filmfare Award for the first time. After becoming successful as a writer, he also produced films. In 1958, Mukhram Sharma made half a dozen films including ‘Talak’ and ‘Santan’. He used to raise social issues in his films. Because of this, his films were very popular.
‘Sadhana’ gave him a distinct identity
‘Saadhana’ was one of the famous films of Mukhram Sharma. In this film, he has thrown light on the life of a prostitute. The success of this film showed that Mukhram Sharma was an expert in understanding the pulse of the audience. There is also an interesting story associated with this film. Mukhram Sharma wanted Vimal Roy to direct the film, but Vimal Roy wanted to change the ending. Vimal Roy said that the audience will not accept the ending. But Mukhram Sharma got down from his moving car after hearing this and B. R. Went to Chopra. B. R. Chopra was ready to film his story without any changes. After this both worked together for a long time. B. R. Chopra used to call him ‘the author of our success’. The friendship between the two remained lifelong.
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He became a star writer even in the south
Mukhram Sharma also worked in South Film Industry. There too he got the status of a star writer. There he wrote ‘Devata’ for Naidu and L.V. Wrote many films one after the other for Prasad. Prominent among these are ‘Dadi Maa’, ‘Jeene Ki Raah’, ‘Main Sundar Hoon’ and ‘Raja Aur Ranka’. Apart from this, he wrote films like Do Kaliyan, Gharana, Grhasthi, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya and Hamjoli for other producer-directors. All these films count among the hits of their time. In the year 1980, he did the films ‘Naukar’ and ‘Sau Din Saas Ke’ and then returned to his hometown Meerut. He breathed his last in the year 2000.
Received Filmfare Award three times
Mukhram Sharma won the Filmfare Award three times for his outstanding work between 1950 and 1970. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1961. Before his death in February 2000, he was also awarded the Zee Lifetime Award.
Tags: bollywood news, Film industry, Hindi writer, Meerut news
First published: May 30, 2024, 16:14 IST