The squeamish need not go further
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Namak Ishq Ka (The Salt of Love)
Salut 2 Gulzar the lyricist, 2 Rekha Bharadwaj the singer and Vishal Bharadwaj, the director of Omkara
Monday, July 14, 2008
Hindi Cinema
Is Hindi film escapist? Sure as hell is for me. Surely all cinema is escapist in some sense, enabling you to disappear into another world where time is speeded up and multiple worlds unfold around u. It doesn’t really matter if it is Mike Leigh or Manmohan Desai, Lukas Moodyson or David Dhawan: they all present other worlds where things just don’t happen the way that they do in real life – but perhaps should. What is wrong in affirming the possibility that good might well triumph over evil, and that given the right conditions people might just burst into song in the mustard fields of the Punjab and kids might grow wings and play football on the roofs of Russian tower blocks? We all have times in our lives when we want to leave the reality that we live in and let our minds escape into other possible realities, be it at the Curzon Soho in London or the Eros cinema in downtown Mumbai. For the rickshaw driver whose life is endless traffic stress, abuse and exploitation, what could be nicer thatn seeing an ordinary man take on the world and win both respect and the girl? I have often escaped into five-star hotels, exiting my life in London and entering the sparkly world of the famous where everyone is beautiful and shimmers.
……………….We all take a little of the energy of the film we have seen out with us, making the world we live in just that bit more bearable for a while. Of course it needs topping up as the harshness of life crashes down again upon our heads, but is this such a bad addiction?
- Jessica Hines in Looking for the Big B. Bollywood Bachchan and Me
……………….We all take a little of the energy of the film we have seen out with us, making the world we live in just that bit more bearable for a while. Of course it needs topping up as the harshness of life crashes down again upon our heads, but is this such a bad addiction?
- Jessica Hines in Looking for the Big B. Bollywood Bachchan and Me
Thoughts.........
Indians say that their gift is for synthesis. It might be said, rather, that for too long, as a conquered people, they have been intellectually parasitic on other civilizations. To survive in subjection, they have preserved their sanctuary of the instinctive, uncreative life, converting that into a religious ideal; at a more worldly level,. They have depended on others for the ideas and institutions that make a country work.
- V.S.Naipaul in ‘India: A Wounded Civilization’
- Bhagavad Gita
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
- T.S.Eliot in The Four Quarters
As is your desire, so is your will
As is your will, so is your act
As is your act, so is your Destiny
- Kathopanishad
- V.S.Naipaul in ‘India: A Wounded Civilization’
- Bhagavad Gita
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
- T.S.Eliot in The Four Quarters
As is your desire, so is your will
As is your will, so is your act
As is your act, so is your Destiny
- Kathopanishad
Friday, July 11, 2008
Movie Review: Gumraah (Astray) – 1963 (Hindi film)
A rather well-built Mala Sinha and a slightly overage Sunil Dutt (who plays an artist/singer in the movie) are, we are led to believe, just out of college and madly in love. They are about to reveal their infatuation to the elders when tragedy strikes. MS’s elder didi succumbs to a surprisingly scratch-free free fall from a mountain and dies. In true Indian sacrificial fashion, the younger sis marries her jijaji so that her young niece and nephew get a mother.
MS’s husband is Ashok Kumar, the successful French-spouting (if my guess is right, his accent is terrible) lawyer: loving but not the lover-type. Work keeps him away from home. The inevitable happens when MS is on a holiday back home (without the hubby) and bumps across SD. The old fire ignites at both ends.
Just when the going is about to get hot, AK arrives for a short visit. Its when the 2nd time around pa-in-law is playing cricketing shots on the golf links with the son-in-law, that AK gets introduced to SD. The acquaintance develops and SD gets access to their house. The illicit relationship continues all the way back to Mumbai (where MS, AK and family reside), develops into a blackmail plot and ends in an i-see-the-light drama.
Gumrah is quite daringly forward for the times it was filmed in; though not by Hollywood standards. The image of Sita (Ram’s wife) was the template for the depiction of all womanhood in Hindi films in those times. But Gumrah strays in that sense. And because it strays, it appeals. Because it covers a facet of human behaviour that Hindi cinema frequently overlooks. The melancholic SD who turns a darker shade towards the obsessive side, MS who plays the wife who strays into infidelity are creatures we don’t frequently come across in Hindi films.
Gumrah depicts the pangs of infidelity in a totally different light (in Hindi cinema at least). MS is no Sati Savitri. She consciously strays and how. But the directors one concession to Indian womanhood is that he is careful to avoid any reference of a physical relationship between MS and SD; although there are quite a few sensual shots.
Watch this film, for some crisp/mature editing, some beautifully framed shots especially capturing the beauty of Nainital and its environs in the lap of the Himalayas. Not to mention some good public shots of Mumbai when it was livable / watchable.
It would be easy to generalize saying that MS is no great shakes as an actress. But the truth is that in some scenes she is very ordinary while in others she rises to much much better heights. Perhaps its her ordinary acting in some scenes that makes it easier to accept her fall in the movie J . I must admit that MS has an angelic beauty and some of the admiring shots really do her beauty, justice. AK is competent as usual except when he is spouting badly accented French. Sunil Dutt didn’t appeal much to me mainly because his mannerisms didn’t appeal.
We see Deven Verma in a very early incarnation as a Brahmin cook eyeing the Christian maid. But the director never really develops that angle in the movie. Maybe it fell victim to the editor’s scissors
But to turn to the key songs which are minor classics
* Aaja Aaja Re Tujhko mera Pyar Pukare
In which Munnabhai’s Pa prances with Mala Sinha (the one with the curious dance moves) to the backdrop of the Nainital Himalayas (some stunning views there). A delightful song. And there is a happy version and a sad version of it
And in the last verse of the sad song, observe the guys in the background. You’ll see a funny sight there. A man in sherwani twitching a cigarette from ear to ear quite oblivious to the gravity of the shot
Some of these extras in the films of yore have a mind of their own. You have to keep a sharp eye out for them and you might come across some unexpected delights
Ye Hawa, Ye Fiza
Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se Ajnabi Ban Jaye
MS’s husband is Ashok Kumar, the successful French-spouting (if my guess is right, his accent is terrible) lawyer: loving but not the lover-type. Work keeps him away from home. The inevitable happens when MS is on a holiday back home (without the hubby) and bumps across SD. The old fire ignites at both ends.
Just when the going is about to get hot, AK arrives for a short visit. Its when the 2nd time around pa-in-law is playing cricketing shots on the golf links with the son-in-law, that AK gets introduced to SD. The acquaintance develops and SD gets access to their house. The illicit relationship continues all the way back to Mumbai (where MS, AK and family reside), develops into a blackmail plot and ends in an i-see-the-light drama.
Gumrah is quite daringly forward for the times it was filmed in; though not by Hollywood standards. The image of Sita (Ram’s wife) was the template for the depiction of all womanhood in Hindi films in those times. But Gumrah strays in that sense. And because it strays, it appeals. Because it covers a facet of human behaviour that Hindi cinema frequently overlooks. The melancholic SD who turns a darker shade towards the obsessive side, MS who plays the wife who strays into infidelity are creatures we don’t frequently come across in Hindi films.
Gumrah depicts the pangs of infidelity in a totally different light (in Hindi cinema at least). MS is no Sati Savitri. She consciously strays and how. But the directors one concession to Indian womanhood is that he is careful to avoid any reference of a physical relationship between MS and SD; although there are quite a few sensual shots.
Watch this film, for some crisp/mature editing, some beautifully framed shots especially capturing the beauty of Nainital and its environs in the lap of the Himalayas. Not to mention some good public shots of Mumbai when it was livable / watchable.
It would be easy to generalize saying that MS is no great shakes as an actress. But the truth is that in some scenes she is very ordinary while in others she rises to much much better heights. Perhaps its her ordinary acting in some scenes that makes it easier to accept her fall in the movie J . I must admit that MS has an angelic beauty and some of the admiring shots really do her beauty, justice. AK is competent as usual except when he is spouting badly accented French. Sunil Dutt didn’t appeal much to me mainly because his mannerisms didn’t appeal.
We see Deven Verma in a very early incarnation as a Brahmin cook eyeing the Christian maid. But the director never really develops that angle in the movie. Maybe it fell victim to the editor’s scissors
But to turn to the key songs which are minor classics
* Aaja Aaja Re Tujhko mera Pyar Pukare
In which Munnabhai’s Pa prances with Mala Sinha (the one with the curious dance moves) to the backdrop of the Nainital Himalayas (some stunning views there). A delightful song. And there is a happy version and a sad version of it
And in the last verse of the sad song, observe the guys in the background. You’ll see a funny sight there. A man in sherwani twitching a cigarette from ear to ear quite oblivious to the gravity of the shot
Some of these extras in the films of yore have a mind of their own. You have to keep a sharp eye out for them and you might come across some unexpected delights
Ye Hawa, Ye Fiza
Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se Ajnabi Ban Jaye
Monday, June 30, 2008
Shakeel Siddiqui – the laugh riot
The Pakistani comedian Shakeel Siddiqui is one hell of a comedian. His every gesture, dialogue delivery is an invitation to laughter
A great spoof on shakeel and urvashi
Movie Review: Mrs and Mrs 55 (1955) (Hindi film)
A 1955 (doesn’t take a particularly perceptive person to guess that) movie that stars the talented (but doomed) Guru Dutt. The melancholic talented Guru Dutt is mostly known for his sad movies. He committed suicide in his prime
Also starring is the woman acclaimed to be the most beautiful face in Hindi cinema: Madhubala. Some might add also Madhuri Dixit to the list. Well, certainly the latter is much more talented than the former and equally beautiful. But that’s a story for another day.
Madhubala stars (and starts) as the fresh, wet behind the ears lass dominated on the domestic front by a feminist aunt…..unusual for that age. A curious sub-clause in the recently opened will of her late father; compels her to look for a short-term marriage in order to inherit her rightful millions. Of course, that’s at her aunt’s prompting. Enter Guru Dutt as the penniless cartoonist (cartoonist, and not communist as he clarifies later in the movie) who agrees to be her temporary mate. The story proceeds on usual lines with the girl and boy walking into the sunset.
Where the movie scores is in its scores (music scores, that is). Each song is lighthearted, unique, highly hummable and remembered to this day.
Where the movie scores is in its scores (music scores, that is). Each song is lighthearted, unique, highly hummable and remembered to this day.
* Dil Par Hua Aisa Jadoo: the effect of love at first sight on GuruDutt
* Thandi Hawa Kali Ghata: the girl coming of age, frolicking with her friends
* Jaane kaha mera jigar gaya ji: a delightful song picturised on the comedian Johny Walker and his love interest (who is no mean charmer herself)
* Ab toh ji hone laga kisi ki surat ka
* Neele Asman mein
* Chal diye banda nawaz
* Udhar tum haseen ho idhar hum jawaan hai
* Meri duniya lut rahi thi aur main khamosh tha
A solid set of actors is what lends a strong backbone to this movie. While GuruDutt, Lalita Pawar, Johny Walker, even Tun Tun (or Uma Devi as she is known here) are competent where acting is concerned, Madhubala makes up for the shortage in that department by her endearing acting and high cuteness quotient. If that endearing smile and spontaneity wont attract you to Madhubala, I wonder what will.
Given the times and the era in which the movie was made, one will observe a lot of variations in the proficiency of acting. But the kind of lovable set of characters that one observes cannot be found in today’s Bollywood world of standardization (or McDonaldisation as I would prefer to call it).
I wonder if Sridevi has modeled her Hindi dialogue delivery on Madhubala: the staccato, childlike (and childish) falsetto voice.
And as far as the drawbacks are concerned:
In the print I watched, the chiaroscuro is jarring at times. More black then white.
The music runs roughshod on the dialogues at times.
You get to watch Guru Dutt sing high pitched songs with admirable economy of lip movement. Indeed he appears to be like a ventriloquist with his dummy emitting suitable noises elsewhere.
Also in line with those times, one will find parts of this film overtly chauvinistic
Aside from that, its mildly delightful with the songs, a must watch.
Credits
Starring
Madhubala
Guru Dutt
Johny Walker
Lalita Pawar
Yasmin & KumKum
Uma Devi (TunTun)
Dialogues: Abrar Alvi
Lyrics: Majrooh
Music: O.P.Nayyar
Directed: Guru Dutt
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