Song Review: Saqiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin Aayegi

It was last week I was enjoying one of my favourite movies on DD..The classic SAHIB BIBI AUR GHULAM by Abrar Alvi. This movie’s characters, songs, dialogues , background score has invariably appealed me. This time though something else caught my attention. This song… sakiya aaj mujhe neend nhi aayegi.. has some very interesting aspect to it which I never noticed before. I must mention here that this movie has been watched by me umteenth number of times !! This mujra is picturised on Minu Mumtaz and there are extras dancing with her. Can anyone recognize or remember any other dancer other than Minu Mumtaz from the song? No!! Watch that mujra again. Not a single dancer’s face is visible throughout the whole song. They are all in shadows !! I was taken aback by this sheer brilliance of the camera work and especially by the creative aspect. The mujra has numerous dancers dancing and singing but only Minu Mumtaz is visible ( sans a single shot where a dancer comes in much proximity with the main dancer).The sole credit goes to the legendary cinematographer V.K. Murthy, who was Gurudutt’s regular cameraperson. No wonder he made Gurudutt’s movies look outstanding. Most of Gurudutt’s movies had this strange melancholy feel..it was all because of that genius behind the camera..V.K.Murthy. The age of brilliance , class , experimentation , resplendence !!