Classics, at times, are happy accidents. Had the cash-strapped Bimal Roy not digressed from his pet socially-relevant subjects to make a commercial film, Indian cinema would have been deprived of its great formula movie Madhumati. Had the legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak (who wrote the story for this film) packed his bags earlier for Kolkata, the great reincarnation drama probably wouldn’t have made it to the celluloid. Its landmark music wouldn’t have happened had Salil Choudhury not gone gung-ho in using western classical instruments. And the film wouldn’t have been so well-knit had Hrishikesh Mukherjee not thought of editing one last film for Roy before turning a filmmaker himself.

The reminder of all that went into making the Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala movie a cult formula film is the golden jubilee celebration of Madhumati today at Globus, Bandra. The event, jointly organised by the Bimal Roy Memorial Film Society and Taj Enlighten Film Society, is a tribute to its unfading charm and timeless inspiration for filmmakers.

The newest instance is Om Shanti Om; its climax bears an uncanny similarity to that of Madhumati. And although OSO co-writer Mushtaq Sheikh denies being influenced by Madhumati, he says the Roy film is “a must-see and far ahead of its time”.

“However, when the film released in 1957, the response was lukewarm for a nearly a week while Bimalda faced criticism for resorting to formula. Soon the business picked up and it went on to become a top grosser. For weeks, four of its songs were on top of the Binaca Geetmala chart,” says Debu Sen, Roy’s first assistant for the film.

The reason for making Madhumati was pretty clear for the 1912-born filmmaker. “My father made just two commercial films—Yahudi, to help a producer friend and Madhumati, to bail his own production house out of financial crunch,” says Rinki Roy Bhattacharya, daughter of Bimal Roy. Ghatak’s story, full of twists and turns, was another huge draw.

“The filming of Madhumati started even before the Dilip Kumar-starrer, Yahudi was over. The latter went on to become a hit and Bimalda decided to make Sujata. A chunk of the money he got from the distributors for Sujata was used for Madhumati,” Sen says.

Though the theme was commercial, the treatment showcased the class and craft that Roy was known for. “By then, colour had invaded the silver screen.

Yet, the filmmaker staunchly stuck to black and white for Madhumati and Sujata,” says Sen. This worked to the rebirth saga’s advantage by creating an eerie feeling. The outdoor shooting was done mainly in Ranikhet, Nainital and Igatpuri (Suhana safar was picturised here).