Tyaag


Tyaag is a 1977 Bollywood film directed by Din Dayal Sharma. The film stars Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles. The film was produced by Sharmila Tagore's secretary, N.S. Kabir, and was co-produced by Sharmila Tagore. Rajesh Khanna's real-life secretary Gurnam Singh played the side kick Bansi to Khanna's character Chetan in this film. The film was critically acclaimed and given four stars by critics upon its release in Bollywood Guide Collections. It was the last film to release with the music director as S.D. Burman. This film was not commercially successful at the time of its release. However, over the years this film has gained a cult following and appreciation from audiences in its screening on television.

Plot

The story begins in the Central Jail, where a prisoner being hanged in the morning is desperately bewailing his fate. His fears are soothed somewhat by another inmate named Chetan who tells him that he is not dying but starting a new life elsewhere in a body free from sin. The concept comforts the prisoner and the jail inmate becomes happy. Chetan has served a 10-year-long sentence for murder and is about to be released early for good behavior. The Jailor is curious as to how such an obviously empathetic and honest man such as Chetan has proved to be a murderer as well, and he asks Chetan to explain. Initially, Chetan refuses gently but then starts disclosing his past.
Chetan is a penniless poet while Sunita is the daughter of a wealthy man. Both are very much in love. Chetan's close friend Bansi thinks Chetan should use his education to get a job to keep the creditors from his door, but Chetan wants to continue writing books and develop his habit of writing stories with Sunita's full support. Sunita fears to talk before her father. Her rich father has the reason for being a stubborn father too and that is that he was a poor man and his wife had died because he could not afford proper medical facilities for her only because he could not afford them and this has made him more ambitious in life. So Sunita's father has throughout his life concentrated more on building his house and earning more money for a secure future, but all this at the cost of a complete disconnect personally between him and Sunita.
Sunita's father decides to marry her to Gopal, a doctor. Gopal and his mother meet Sunita in her house for the first time and they like her. Her dad decides to announce their engagement at the birthday party. Meanwhile, Sunita urges Chetan to ask her hand from her father on her birthday and she invites him for that party. At the party her father is rude to Chetan and then announces her engagement to Gopal—she swallows her anger in order to maintain a good front before the guests, but later goes in search of Chetan at his home.
Sunita tells Chetan that they should elope and go far away from her parents and live in a separate world of their own. Chetan asks why should they elope, instead they should go together to her father and tell him that they want to marry and that Chetan will take care of Sunita. Sunita does agree with him, but tells Chetan that this idea of his won't help as her father may attack or kill Chetan. To this, Chetan replies that its completely unethical to run away from problems and in this case, from her father as it would bring dishonour to Sunita and even to their own love story. Chetan promises that were her father to refuse to give his permission, they would marry anyway. So Chetan advises her to go back home and that Chetan would marry her after trying to convince her father. Chetan points out that society will disapprove and she might regret it someday. To this, Sunita declares that Chetan is cowardly and selfish and does not want to share a bit of sorrow that her parents did not approve of their relation and wouldn't take a risk by running away and starting a life together, when she left her wealth and family and came to him. Sunita says she did not think of anything except her love for Chetan and came running with her belongings to Chetan's house. That shows she is selfless in this love affair. So by this logic, she tells Chetan that she would now marry Gopal only as Chetan has belittled their love and her ability to make a choice.
Sunita marries Gopal and they live happily, but one day, she discloses to her husband that she was in love with a person in her college days. Gopal gets angry and hurt so starts drinking wine and confides his problem to a friend in the Mahinder bar and goes off to England for years to further his medical studies, abandoning Sunita to bring up their son Munna and take care of his mother.
Chetan, meanwhile, channels his despair into writing and becomes critically renowned and popular; one of his biggest fans is Sunita's mother-in-law. His greatest work is a novel called Tyaag—the story of his romance with Sunita. Five years pass after Sunita's marriage and Gopal decides to return to India as he by now realises that Sunita is a good mother and a good daughter-in-law and so decides to mend their married life.
Sunit's child then runs away from home in search of his father and boards a train. There, he meets a passenger and he turns out to be Chetan. Chetan realises that the child is innocent and decides to lodge a police complaint. On this, the child being smart and hyperactive, decides to run away from him. But Chetan catches him and promises to him to take him to England. Munna agrees to go home now, provided that Chetan takes him home.
Sunita gets angry on seeing Chetan. She tries her best to throw him out of her life. The rest of the story is about the dilemma which Sunita faces. Will Chetan avenge his failed love affair with her in the past by destroying her present married life? Will Chetan avail of the opportunity of Gopal's absence to molest her? Is Chetan really in love with her child? What will happen to her life when her husband returns?

Cast

  1. "Hum Tum Tum Hum Hum Tum" : Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
  2. "Kore Kagaz Pe Likhvawe" : Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle
  3. "Ek Raja Ka Ek Beta Tha" : Kishore Kumar
  4. "Mann Pukare" : Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
  5. "Tujhe Pyaas Hai Mere Paas Hai" : Asha Bhosle