Twenty-seven years ago, Gulzar dared to break the rules about man-woman relationships on the Hindi film screen with Mausam. With a sensitive, non-judgemental eye, he delved into a knottily tangled relationship between a crusty (at times) old bachelor and a young prostitute. Mausam also underscores the tantalizing ambiguity prevalent in many associations — after all, a bond involving two people is subject to their individual approach to the relationship. Amarnath (Sanjeev Kumar) is a reputed surgeon on a holiday, the film plunges into a series of flashbacks. Amarnath, we learn, had been to this bucolic haven eons ago. He had a shortlived affair with the daughter (Sharmila Tagore) of a vaid (Om Shivpuri). Amarnath had promised marriage on his return from the city but circumstances led to his failure to live upto it. Married off to a lame man, Chanda had lost her husband and her sanity in quick succession. And her daughter Kajli (Sharmila Tagore again), after being molested by Chanda’s brother-in-law, ended up at a brothel. Amarnath’s attempts to reunite Kajli with her one-time boyfriend, while failing to fructify, go a long way in helping to thaw her attitude towards him. She reveals to Amarnath that she hates the doctor responsible for destroying her mother. Kajli now stops smoking, makes truce with the cook (Agha) and veers towards God and a better life. Living with Kajli fuels Amarnath’s memories of her dead mother when she unconsciously imitates some of her mother’s traits and echoes her native advice: “Kaan mat khujao, zeharbaad ho jaata hai (Don’t scratch your ears, or else it will get infected).” Sanjeev Kumar gives a masterfully understated performance — his surface serenity is disturbed by emotions that ripple on his face, fleetingly yet evocatively. Despite playing a flawed human being, a rare entity in Hindi films, the air of sympathy and understanding that Sanjeev exudes lends a halo to his character. The tenderness with which he gazes at Sharmila before driving off with her in the climax is a moment to treasure