This film is a ripoff of Satyajit Ray classic Mahanagar. They should have given tribute to Ray.
3 Reviews
Ripoff of Mahanagar
amit_agy20 May 2018
Matching steps on the path of life
jmathur_swayamprabha2 November 2011
Humkadam (one who matches steps with you on a path) is the story of an ordinary salaried person, Shekhar (Parikshit Saahni) living in Mumbai with his very very traditional and confined to the household wife, Indu (Raakhee Gulzaar) and their kid. Highly domesticated Indu has neither served anywhere nor interacted with the outside world in her life. However when Shekhar's parents (A.K. Hangal and Deena Pathak) alongwith his younger sister shift to Mumbai and start living with them, Shekhar feels that his income is not sufficient to manage the extended family. He instigates Indu to work outside. Reluctant Indu gets the job of a salesgirl in a company headed by Mr. Dutt (Biswajeet). She gradually becomes confident to handle her job as well as dealing with the outside world. However her working is not looked upon with respect in her own family and despite supporting the family with her income she gets taunts only in return. Her father-in-law always feels that his daughter-in-law is going astray. The real testing time comes for Indu when the attitude of her father-in-law spreads to her husband too and cracks of misunderstanding props in the ground of her marital life.
One fine morning, Shekhar pressurizes Indu to resign from her job but the same day, he finds that his employer company is closed and he is out of job. Shocked, Shekhar stops Indu from resigning and thereafter Indu's earning becomes the only source of income for the family. Unemployed Shekhar's personality and psyche gets deteriorated low and low and he starts suspecting the character of Indu which brings their home to the point of breakage because Indu is also brimmed up with frustration and anguish now. However due to a painful incident, Shekhar's father realizes his mistake of misunderstanding his daughter-in-law and finally, Shekhar also realizes the worth of his HUMKADAM, i.e., his wife who has always stood by him, moving step-by-step with him on the thornful path of life.
Humkadam shows the growing confidence of a woman who comes out of her domesticated life and sees the world through her own eyes and not through hearsay. Since it is around three decades old movie, it shows the psychological barrier in the minds of the elders regarding the working of family's women. Things have changed only partially and it exists even today in a sizable part of the old-fashioned society. And finally, it is the typical Indian male chauvinism which is the biggest problem. Males maintain double standards in their behaviour. They are happy to have the earnings of their wives but at the same time, they are willing to impose all kinds of restrictions on them and keep a suspicious eye on them which is highly unjustified. This the undue punishment for a loving woman is the biggest curse of the patriarchal Indian society. The family members wants her to earn but not ready to trust her, leave aside respecting her efforts and toil for the cause of the family only.
Humkadam underscores the importance of trust between a husband and a wife. If you cannot trust your life-partner, you do not deserve to be considered a life-partner yourself. The relation of a husband and a wife is perhaps the most significant one who have to move ahead on the path of life together, matching step-by-step. If they are truly each other's Humkadam, even the thornful path will make a pleasant journey, else the journey of (marital and family) life will turn into a torture, a burden.
The complete milieu of the movie is utterly realistic and the characters are real flesh and blood human-beings who can be seen throughout our country struggling with their everyday problems and managing tense relations in personal life alongwith them. Still if they are able to preserve love and and mutual trust, they can manage all the problems. It's a movie which most of the middle class Indians can easily relate to the way I am able to relate to.
Anil Ganguly has always been able to extract the best from Raakhee Gulzaar and Humkadam is no exception. Raakhee has marvelled in the author-backed role and I am the first one (perhaps) to record the fact that her best on-screen chemistry was with Parikshit Saahni only. The son of the legendary artist, (late) Balraaj Saahni - Parikshit is, in my view, one of the most underrated actors of Bollywood. Nobody could do the role of Shekhar, the middle class salaried person; responsible son, brother, husband and father and finally, the typical Indian male with a traditional style of thinking; better than him. The complete supporting cast has done pretty well including the child-artist. The surprise packet of the film is - Biswajeet as the kind-hearted and understanding Mr. Dutt, Indu's employer. This popular romantic hero of the sixties has delivered a highly mature performance rendering reliability to the character of Mr. Dutt (though I have seen very few such understanding and generous employers in my life).
Humkadam was not a box office success and it is a long-forgotten movie. However, after watching, I consider as the most underrated movie of the Rajshri banner, the flag-bearer of simple, lovable and down-to-earth movies. This movie is not for those who like the filthy rich characters of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or the larger than life characters of Shah Rukh Khan in different movies. Watch this outstanding movie if you want to watch the real Indian middle class in the metro cities and able to relate to their lives. Despite its being an entertaining movie, I recommend it more for its inspirational quotient. The audience liking sentimental movies based on husband-wife relationship should not miss it.
One fine morning, Shekhar pressurizes Indu to resign from her job but the same day, he finds that his employer company is closed and he is out of job. Shocked, Shekhar stops Indu from resigning and thereafter Indu's earning becomes the only source of income for the family. Unemployed Shekhar's personality and psyche gets deteriorated low and low and he starts suspecting the character of Indu which brings their home to the point of breakage because Indu is also brimmed up with frustration and anguish now. However due to a painful incident, Shekhar's father realizes his mistake of misunderstanding his daughter-in-law and finally, Shekhar also realizes the worth of his HUMKADAM, i.e., his wife who has always stood by him, moving step-by-step with him on the thornful path of life.
Humkadam shows the growing confidence of a woman who comes out of her domesticated life and sees the world through her own eyes and not through hearsay. Since it is around three decades old movie, it shows the psychological barrier in the minds of the elders regarding the working of family's women. Things have changed only partially and it exists even today in a sizable part of the old-fashioned society. And finally, it is the typical Indian male chauvinism which is the biggest problem. Males maintain double standards in their behaviour. They are happy to have the earnings of their wives but at the same time, they are willing to impose all kinds of restrictions on them and keep a suspicious eye on them which is highly unjustified. This the undue punishment for a loving woman is the biggest curse of the patriarchal Indian society. The family members wants her to earn but not ready to trust her, leave aside respecting her efforts and toil for the cause of the family only.
Humkadam underscores the importance of trust between a husband and a wife. If you cannot trust your life-partner, you do not deserve to be considered a life-partner yourself. The relation of a husband and a wife is perhaps the most significant one who have to move ahead on the path of life together, matching step-by-step. If they are truly each other's Humkadam, even the thornful path will make a pleasant journey, else the journey of (marital and family) life will turn into a torture, a burden.
The complete milieu of the movie is utterly realistic and the characters are real flesh and blood human-beings who can be seen throughout our country struggling with their everyday problems and managing tense relations in personal life alongwith them. Still if they are able to preserve love and and mutual trust, they can manage all the problems. It's a movie which most of the middle class Indians can easily relate to the way I am able to relate to.
Anil Ganguly has always been able to extract the best from Raakhee Gulzaar and Humkadam is no exception. Raakhee has marvelled in the author-backed role and I am the first one (perhaps) to record the fact that her best on-screen chemistry was with Parikshit Saahni only. The son of the legendary artist, (late) Balraaj Saahni - Parikshit is, in my view, one of the most underrated actors of Bollywood. Nobody could do the role of Shekhar, the middle class salaried person; responsible son, brother, husband and father and finally, the typical Indian male with a traditional style of thinking; better than him. The complete supporting cast has done pretty well including the child-artist. The surprise packet of the film is - Biswajeet as the kind-hearted and understanding Mr. Dutt, Indu's employer. This popular romantic hero of the sixties has delivered a highly mature performance rendering reliability to the character of Mr. Dutt (though I have seen very few such understanding and generous employers in my life).
Humkadam was not a box office success and it is a long-forgotten movie. However, after watching, I consider as the most underrated movie of the Rajshri banner, the flag-bearer of simple, lovable and down-to-earth movies. This movie is not for those who like the filthy rich characters of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or the larger than life characters of Shah Rukh Khan in different movies. Watch this outstanding movie if you want to watch the real Indian middle class in the metro cities and able to relate to their lives. Despite its being an entertaining movie, I recommend it more for its inspirational quotient. The audience liking sentimental movies based on husband-wife relationship should not miss it.
Simple but very touching story!
ParagDesh1 August 2020
It looks like this is based on Satyajit Ray's Bengali movie.
Very simple but interesting story. A wife starts working at the behest of her husband because her in-laws and sister-in-law have moved into their home. They need to augment their income so reluctantly, the wife agrees to work. Slowly, she becomes good at her job and starts earning a decent salary. But the father-in-law, being old-fashioned does not like his now working daughter-in-law. He believes that women should stay home. Later, the husband loses his job. He and his father get even more upset and frustrated and start picking on the lady. Things become bad but soon a small climax happens and everything is sorted out. This prejudice against woman working vanishes and everyone is happy.
Direction is amazing. A very simple, middle-class dwelling, simple family. Their attire, language, furniture in the house perfectly reflects a middle-class family.
Actors are just amazing. Rakhee is the best. Parikshit Sahni, A. K. Hangal and Deena Pathak are great too. Madan Puri shines in his small role. Biswajit and Helen play roles which are different from their usual mold.
The movie is entertaining, interesting. Gives a powerful message. Perfectly made.
That's why it gets 10/10 from me!
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