Bees Saal Baad (1962)

As I mentioned before, it is all dustedoff's fault that I suddenly felt the need to be haunted. While I did not / could not watch the film she reviewed, I did go back to watch some old favourites. Some were deliciously suspenseful, some not quite as much, and some, frankly, were yawn-inducing. Most of them had one mitigating factor, though. They had great songs. This particular film is one of the better examples from this genre.

1962
Directed by: Biren Nag
Music: Hemant Kumar
Starring: Waheeda Rehman, Biswajeet,Madan Puri, 
Manmohan Krishna, Asit Sen, Devkishen, Sajjan

Bees Saal Baad is not a ‘horror’ movie, though it is billed that way; at the most, it falls into the genre of 'suspense thriller'. It is also not a remake of The Hound of the Baskervilles (in any of its screen adaptations), though it is certainly inspired from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel. Equally certainly, many plot points are similar. The movie, however was a remake. Of a Bengali film called Jighansa (1951), directed by Ajoy Kar, and starring Manju Dey and Bikash Ray. (So said a Bengali friend, though I haven’t been able to verify it.)

As the movie begins, we see a man in the tall grasses, obviously looking for something. He’s no fool though; he has a revolver with him for his own protection. Even as he cautiously ventures deeper into the grasslands, a not-so-ghostly long-nailed hand comes out from behind the trees.

He manages to get off two revolver shots, but it’s 'Exeunt man'. His corpse is dragged off by a man wearing distinctive two-toned shoes, who drives away in a horse-carriage. 

Soon after, a young man arrives at the little railway station at Chandangarh. 

Kumar Vijay Singh (Biswajeet) has come to Chandangarh to take charge of his patrimony. He is met by Dr Pandey (Madan Puri) the local physician; Kumar obviously recognises him, since he greets him in a very familiar manner. 

Unknown to either of them, they are being watched by a very, very sinister one-eyed man...

Dr Pandey drives Kumar to his ancestral mansion. He devotes the journey to informing Kumar about the ‘curse’ that has killed his grandfather, father and uncle. All of them had been lured from the haveli (mansion) into the adjoining marshes, and murdered... 

Dr Pandey also makes it a point to mention that if Kumar was to die, the property would be his, as the next in succession. He also warns Kumar that his life is in danger. What a convivial conversation to have, surely. 

When they reach the haveli, Kumar is introduced to Lakshman (Devkishen), the one remaining servant. The others left after the murders. Lakshman looks half-insane, spending most of his time looking sideways at Kumar and pronouncing the most depressing statements ever. 

The night passes slowly enough, but everything seems brighter to the beleaguered Kumar in the morning. Especially his chance meeting with the lovely Radha (Waheeda Rehman), who is busy singing while everyone else seems to be working. 

Mischievously, Kumar pretends to be blind and deaf, but she soon sees through his pretence and runs away. 

Radha lives with her uncle (Manmohan Krishna) who is the village vaid (physician). They share a very affectionate relationship; he looks upon her with indulgence, and she takes care of him, scolding him affectionately for not taking care of himself. 

Radha is not the only ‘new’ character that Kumar meets that morning. He soon runs into Mohan Babu (Sajjan), who wants to end the khandaani dushmani (family feud) with Kumar’s ancestors. 

He doesn’t seem very prepossessing, and Kumar is not too enamoured of his new acquaintance. 

With good reason, though Kumar does not know that yet. Mohan Babu is not quite the man he seems – in public, he is seen hobbling around on his crutches. In the privacy of his own home, he walks around merrily on his own two feet. In cahoots with him is his servant, the one-eyed man who was spying on Kumar at the station. Like his master, the servant also seems to alternate between being handicapped, and not. 

Also hanging around the haveli  is a newcomer to the village. A detective, Gopichand (Asit Sen) has arrived in Chandangarh attracted by the offer of a reward to anyone who caught the culprit (or culprits) who was responsible for the jagirdars’ (landowners) murders. 

Amused by his insistence on pursuing the case even if Kumar dies before he can solve it, the latter allows Gopichand to stay at the haveli. 

By now, however, Kumar must be beginning to wish he had never heard of his ancestral mansion! There isn’t any electricity in the blessed place, and Lakshman spends all his time going around lighting the many chandeliers, and the hanging kandeels. To add to the general mood of spookiness, Kumar can now hear the sound of a woman sobbing. It seems to come from inside the haveli but despite his best efforts, Kumar cannot figure out from where. Not only that, there is a ghostly female voice warning him that no one ever escapes, followed by the eerie sound of ghungroos (anklets) echoing in the grasslands. 

Lakshman does solve one mystery for Kumar – the origin of the ‘curse’ that has killed the jagirdars. Kumar’s grandfather was a womaniser, and took the ‘advantages’ of his jagirdari very seriously. 

Twenty years earlier, as the lord of the manor, the local women were often prey to his lust. One day, he kidnapped a young girl, the daughter of the chieftain of a neighbouring village; she managed to escape into the grasslands, but he, chasing after her, raped her, and she fell (or was pushed) to her death soon after. Her father, Radheshyam, came to the haveli, begging for his daughter’s honour. The arrogant jagirdar had the poor man flogged and thrown into the grasslands, where, it is said, he died. Since then, the jagirdar and his heirs have been killed in the same place. Kumar is thoughtful. It still does not explain how his grandfather, father and uncle died, and he, for one, does not believe in spirits.

When Kumar runs into the vaid the next morning, the latter tries to keep him away from the marshes, to no avail. Kumar is bent on getting to the bottom of the mystery. It seems that he is not the only person in the marshes that night. The place is positively over-populated. He hears a conversation between two people; another man runs into him and is as taken aback at seeing him there as Kumar is upon seeing him; he sees a light flashing from the ramparts of the haveli... Also on the prowl is Dr Pandey, who cannot offer a good reason for his presence in the marshes, and Gopichand jasoos (literally ‘spy’), wandering around the haveli looking for clues. 

Despite his suspicions increasing day by day, Kumar finds the time to meet Radha; they soon proceed from bickering with each other every time they meet, to falling in love; despite herself, Kumar charms his way into Radha’s heart by teasing her, and singing to her, and Radha is wooed away from her initial pique and shyness.

Kumar is no closer to solving the mystery surrounding the jagirdars' deaths than he was before, though Gopichand finds the answer to the mystery of the flashing lights. It is Lakshman who is responsible, and what is more, there are answering flashes from the marshes too.

The stakes have increased, and so has the spookiness. Kumar not only hears the sound of the ghungroos, a haunting melody now beckons him to the same marshes where his grandfather, father and uncle have met their doom. He has even seen a woman in the shadows.

Who is she? To whom was Lakshman signalling? Why is Mohan Babu pretending to be a cripple? Who is the mysterious man killed in the marshes? Who killed the jagirdars of Chandangarh? Was it Dr Pandey? Will Kumar be the next victim? 

An atmospheric thriller, Bees Saal Baad had great songs by Hemant Kumar who is also the music director (Beqaraar karke humein yun na jaaiye is a particular favourite, for very personal reasons). 

The cinematography deserves a special mention, establishing the underlying sense of terror, and adding to the whole ‘suspense’ aura of the film. I particularly liked the very marked difference between day and night, the cheeriness of the former juxtaposed against the dark spookiness of the night. The shots of the different characters against the skyline was also particularly effective.    

A beautiful Waheeda Rehman does not have much to do, but is more than just competent; she is effortless at what she had to do. Her expressive face moves quickly from (pretend) anger to smiles to tears, and back.

Biswajeet (in his debut) was not as annoying as he usually is (to me). In fact, he is quite competent in his role as the young heir. His Kumar is matter-of-fact, is not very foolish or superstitious, takes adequate precautions for his own safety, and is not given to trusting anyone blindly. Biswajeet also had wonderful chemistry with Waheeda, and that helped a lot in the romantic scenes.

His trysts with Waheeda are sweetly romantic, and there is a spark between the two that makes you root for them. 

The plot was not ruined either by the addition of too much masala, though I must admit that Asit Sen grated on my nerves after some time. There are plot holes, of course (Why, for instance, if Radha intends to keep Kumar away from the marshes, does she sing a song that particularly draws him there?), but not that many that it took away from my enjoyment of the film. 

There was more than enough suspense to hold my interest, lots of red herrings (that had reasonable explanations) to suit most palates, and a *quite* surprising ending. Not bad for a mystery story.