Bidding adieu to the ‘fortunate son’

This line was birthed by a thunderbolt of screenwriting in Yash Chopra’s unforgettable crime saga Deewar (1975) starring superstar Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor, who play brothers Vijay and Ravi, torn apart by a life of crime. 

In a high-voltage scene, the anti-hero Vijay belittles Ravi, his younger brother and an honest police officer, mocking his working-class values, with pompous claims of owning a car, a bungalow and a bank balance. But when Vijay questions Ravi as to what he owns, and what his honesty has brought him, the younger sibling delivers what a line etched in immortality – I have my mother.

This solemn dignity of Shashi Kapoor, has become the stuff of pop culture legend. As an officer drawn to his duty and as a brother tortured by his sibling’s life of crime, Ravi is at the centre of the morality play in Deewar.

His determination to do the right thing is unwavering, even when he opens fire at a juvenile thief. When Ravi catches up with the bleeding young man, he is shocked to see the boy clutching on to a loaf of bread. 

To atone, a guilt-ridden Ravi confronts the juvenile’s father, a former schoolteacher of Ravi’s (played by the late AK Hangal) with a loaf of bread and some supplies. As Ravi admits to having pulled the trigger on the young offender, the boy’s mother flies into rage. This one moment will later serve as a counterpoint to the climax, when Ravi guns down his own brother – in the line of duty. 

And that’s what Shashi’s characters have always been – an everyman, righteous and dignified in the face of extraordinary circumstances.