The news of his passing away was lost somewhere in the tributes and memoirs of biggies (quite a few of them) from that golden era of Hindi Cinema, who left us last year... A tribute...
Though he addressed I S Johar as the ‘Bade Miyaan’ in Shagird, (Not Tigmanshu Dhulia’s take on Delhi crime but the old classic) he himself was the original Bade miyaan of Bollywood, standing at above 6 ft. Yes the name cannot be more apt. Joy.. Joy Mukherjee, one of the first ‘Chocolate heroes’ of Bollywood left the industry Joyless on 9th March 2012.
One of the first hunks of Hindi film industry who was tall, clean shaven, with well groomed long hair and a disarming smile. His was the image of an ideal, happy -go-lucky handsome guy and never really tried too hard to deviate from that. He knew his USPs and his limitations. And that’s why never tried either to be lovable, innocent joker (Raj Kapoor) or the intense, brooding (Dilp kumar) like his immediate seniors in the industry. Most of the films he acted in were boy-meet-girl when both of them are facing pretty strange and awkward situations in their lives, they fall in love and then the usual problems created by our good old… oops! bad old villains (Most of the times the onus would fall on Pran, who could have given any hero, even of present generation, a run for his money both in looks as well as acting department!).
Though the films in which Joy Mukherjee worked were no path breaking cinema but he had an ear for music and an eye for the leading ladies (I mean the talent!… considering his spotless image) He had a good on screen chemistry with some of the best actresses of that era, Sadhna (both of them made their debut in Love in Shimla), Asha Parekh (gave most no. of hits with her which includes Love in Tokyo) and Saira Banu (Though Only Shagird clicked at the box office, they worked in a lot of movies together). Joy also had this knack of getting some of the most melodies romantic songs from that golden period of Hindi cinema (O meri shah-e-khuma, aaja re aa zara, phir wahi dil laya hun, le gayi dil gudiya Japan ki and of course bade miyaan deewane aise na bano). Okay now if you are thinking of putting Joy Mukherjee and Emraan Hashmi in the same bracket, don’t even go there… And I guess you know why!
After his short and successful stint as an actor (cut short by a younger lot of actors of likes of Rajesh Khanna), he tried his hand at production and direction but failed. And he accepted it with grace. He never tried to make desperate attempts to come back as character artiste or the father of the hero or heroine (as was the trend those days) and never stooped down to the levels of selling cheap-joints-pain-removal herbal oil on teleshopping (As is the present trend).
Last but not the least; I will have to provide a vague connection for today’s young generation to relate to him. Okay guys and girls, so Joy Mukherjee was none other than the Uncle of our very own Kajol! Now you know who am I talking about…Well, he might not have been as popular as Dev Sahab to have a flurry of articles, tributes, memoirs and news reports from all streams of media for weeks, after his death. Sometimes, I wonder if it is the clean and absolutely non-controversial careers of celebrities like Joy that they tend not to remain in public memory for too long. But for true Bollywood lovers he will always have a special place in the warm corners of their hearts… true to his name he brought us a lot of Joy and would continue to do so…forever! RIP Mr Mukherjee… listening to your songs and watching your movies would always be that… A Sheer Joy!
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