Movie Recommendation - Ankur

Cast: Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Sadhu Meher, Priya Tendulkar.

Release Year: 1974.

Director: Shyam Benegal.

Ankur is a movie that can be credited for starting the ‘Parallel Cinema’ movement in India. Shyam Benegal’s critically acclaimed debut was a box office success as well and went on to win three National Awards.

Surya (Anant Nag) is a college student who wants to pursue further studies but is sent away to manage his share of the family land far away from the village. Married to a young bride Saru (Priya Tendulkar) who will stay at her parents’ house till she attains puberty, Surya finds himself attracted to his servant Lakshmi (Shabana Azmi). Lakshmi is married to an unemployed deaf-mute potter, Kishtayya (Sadhu Meher) who also does a few odd jobs for Surya. Lakshmi spurns Surya’s advances at first. But when Kishtayya is caught stealing toddy and disappears without a trace, she submits to him. However, it isn’t very clear whether she chooses to have an affair because she is attracted to Surya, or because she does not want to lose her job.

The affair is passionate at the outset, but the fire soon diminishes as Saru comes to live with Surya. Having heard the rumours of her husband affair, she does not waste any time in sending Lakshmi away from the house. Meanwhile, Lakshmi’s pregnancy adds to Surya’s troubles; and gives him the opportunity to treat her with disdain. Lakshmi is caught in a sticky situation when Kishtayya returns and assumes himself to be the father of the child.

Ankur is shot gorgeously, in bright blues, yellows and reds. Shabana Azmi’s performance is luminous and quite remarkable for a debut. The film won her the first of her five National Awards. Anant Nag is also very impressive as the rich, spoilt brat. The film’s background score mostly consists of natural sounds and is beautifully used throughout the film. The film also laid down certain topics that Benegal used in many of his later films.

PanchamMagic!

I had the privilege of attending one of PanchanMagic’s shows last night. This was the second one I attended and must say, was completely blown away! Whats so different about the show you ask? Well, for starters, its not one of those shows where novice singers try to sing Pancham’s compositions. Coz anything other than the original rendition is quite lifeless. In this show, people who have worked closely with Pancham share their experiences, memories, anecdotes about him. His music is scrutinized and discussed upon. Each guest on the show provides an insight into the legend’s love for life, and music.

The show delved into Pancham’s love for food, his style of mixing western and classical music, his bizarre music-making techniques, and even his last days, when the industry chose to walk out on him. What always fascinated me about Pancham’s music was his use of different instruments, or even everyday objects. Whether it is a comb used in Padosan, or tinkling of glasses in Chura Liya, or even an empty bottle! He could produce music out of anything. Why, on one occasion he’d stood in his balcony the entire night to record the sound of raindrops! And yesterday’s show only added to my RD knowledge!

An interesting trivia that Mr. Pravesh Sippy shared; during the recording of any Pancham song, Kishore Kumar was always called in at the last moment.  He explained that maybe it was because Kishore Kumar would always take over the song in such a way even without rehearsing, that they feared he would steal the thunder if he was rehearsed beforehand!

Its amazing how a man can live on so many years in the hearts of his fans by the sheer power of his music. Music so pure and eternal that it grows into you. Music so enjoyable that you can listen to it ceaselessly!

The World's Worst Dog

I was watching Marley & Me today. Such a wonderful movie. I must have seen it around ten times before this; and have always cried at the last scene. Today, it was different. I found myself sobbing and then wailing through the entire last thirty minutes. Almost made me wonder if something is wrong with me!

And Marley is so adorable. They call him the world’s worst dog. That is unfair. Even my dog is a strong contender for the title. Like Marley, he chews on anything and everything. Including the furniture. Even he doesn’t walk; he sprints. He’ll bark if anybody’s at the door. He’ll howl if I walk out of the door. Not to mention, two trainers have given up on him.

Yes, he drives me nuts. But know what? I’m nuts about him! It’s a great feeling when you come home tired and somebody just runs up to you, jumps on you, or licks your face! Yes, it is. And nothing in the world can match that.

Quoting Owen Wilson’s lines from the film –

A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes

A waterlogged stick will do just fine.

A dog didn’t care if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb

Give him your heart and he’ll give you his

How many people can you say that about?

How many people can make you feel rare, and pure, and special?

How many people can make you feel extraordinary?

Song Of The Week

A song I can think of that has beautiful written all over it – Lag Jaa Gale from Woh Kaun Thi. One of my favourite Madan Mohan compositions, rendered so emotively by Lata Mangeshkar. The melody haunts you for a long long time even after you’ve finished listening to it.

To think of it, the song was never recorded in the first place. Madan Mohan had composed the tune for a romantic situation in the film, but the director, Raj Khosla rejected it. Madan Mohan was confident about the song and he requested Manoj Kumar to listen to it. Manoj Kumar loved the tune so much, that he came to the next sitting and convinced Raj Khosla to include it in the film. The song thus got recorded, and even features in Lata Mangeshkar’s collection of her own favourites.

* Humko mili hai aaj yeh ghadiyaan naseeb se

Jee bahr ke dekh lijiye humko kareeb se

Phir aapke naseeb mein yeh baat ho na ho

Shayad phir iss janam mein mulakaat ho na ho..*

Song: Lag Jaa Gale

Film: Woh Kaun Thi

Music: Madan Mohan

Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

Vocals: Lata Mangeshkar

Let it be.

I wish I could say ‘I don’t care’ atleast once and really mean it. I have abused the term many a times.

How difficult can it be? And You, yes You. How much time has it been? Three? Or four years? I sometimes wonder what a nutcase of a heart mine is that I still cannot get over you. You have a world of your own. A world where you look happy to me. You choose to say otherwise. I am unsure what to believe. I let the silence speak.

And you have to run into me on a rainy evening. Right when I have a coffee craving. Its surprising you still recall how I like my coffee. I’m surprised why you have started putting three sachets of sugar into yours.

You complain about the traffic. And the potholes. I can’t help but remember how you used to love the monsoons. How you used to roam around without any rainy-gear. Today, I noticed you were carrying an umbrella.

You seem like you were in a place somewhere else.

I wonder when I’ll be set into motion.

Kiss Them Goodbye

8 seasons, 180 episodes. This is it.

I remember surfing through hundreds of channels before I came to Star World. The moment I saw James Denton, I was hooked! (My heart broke when they killed him in the eighth season). Then came the ladies…Susan, Gaby, Lynette, Bree – and I never missed an episode after that!

They made me go ‘Aww’ at an emo scene.

And made me go ‘Hawwwww!’ at their secrets!

They taught me bitching was fun, after all.

I laughed my ass off at the physical comedy.

I laughed at their racist jokes. The sexist ones too!

As the finale nears, I realize, gosh I’m so gonna miss this! *Sigh*. Goodbye ladies. How I wish the dirty laundry never ended.

Awkward Moment #1

That awkward moment when you drink a Chocolate milkshake after ages, make that 'mmm-mmmm' sound on drinking it and realize ten people around are staring at you. 

Movie Recommendation - Andaz Apna Apna

Cast: Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapur, Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor.

Release Year: 1994.

Director: Rajkumar Santoshi.

Epic is perhaps the only word that can describe this movie. Though it was a box office dud upon its release, Andaz Apna Apna has achieved cult status over the years among its fans.

Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) are two losers who dream of getting rich by marrying Raveena Bajaj (Raveena Tandon), daughter of a wealthy businessman, Ram Gopal Bajaj (Paresh Rawal). Amar and Prem make a lot of efforts to win over Raveena, but what they don’t know is that the asli Raveena Bajaj is actually the assistant, Karishma (Karishma Kapur). They also don’t know that Ram Gopal Bajaj has an evil twin, Shyam Gopal Bajaj (or Teja!). Teja hatches a plan to kidnap Ram and make away with the money, which has been converted into diamonds. For this, he sets up Robert…err..Raaaabert (Viju Khote) and Bhalla (Shehzad Khan) in Raveena’s house. Teja succeeds in his plan and what follows is utter confusion!

The film boasts of brilliant performances by the entire cast, and even the supporting cast, however miniscule the role may be. A standout among them is Paresh Rawal, who has you in splits with every single line. Music by Tushar Bhatia is very reminiscent of the 50’s and 80’s and Majrooh Sultanpuri’s words blend well with the compositions. The highlight of this film, however are the dialogues. Just downright hilarious.

For all those who haven’t watched the film, hell you’re missing out! Go buy a DVD today! And for those who have seen it a billion times, here are some memorable lines:

- Teja: “Yeh thailii mein pachaas lakh laye hai?”

   Robert: “Sir, lakh lakh ke pachaas cheque hoenge sir!”

- Bhalla: “Veh Vasco De Gama ki gun hai”

   Teja: “Kiske mama ki gun hai?”

- Gogo: “Yeh Teja Teja kya hai? Yeh Teja Teja..”

- Ram Gopal Bajaj: “Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai!”

- Teja: “Hamara Bajaj!”

- Ram Gopal Bajaj: “Nonsense!”

- Gogo: “Kya namaste namaste? Daawat pea aye ho kya?”

- Prem: “Uui Ma!”

- Amar: “Zhakaas!”   :P

Song Of The Week

In the film Bawarchi, Rajesh Khanna has a dialogue which goes somewhat like this –

‘Khushi ke geet phuljhadi ki tarah hote hai…jalkar bujh jaate hai. Lekin dukhbhare geet toh agarbatti ki tarah hote hai…jal jaane ke baad bhi unki khushboo zindagi mein mehekti rehti hai’.

How true!

Song for this week is an aromatic agarbatti – Chingaari Koi Bhadke from Amar Prem. If I were to describe it one word, I would call it a masterpiece. Such profound lyrics by Anand Bakshi. I go all gaga over the words every single time I listen to it. Pancham’s composition gives you time to let the words sink in. And the way it has been shot only adds to the beauty.

When the song was being composed, the guitar was being played and an incorrect chord was plucked. This produced a completely different sound. Pancham used this chord to create the opening strums! Come to think of it, the song would have not been the same if it were not for the strumming.

* Manaa toofaan ke aage, nahiin chalataa jor kisika

Maujon kaa dosh nahiin hai, ye dosh hain aur kisi kaa

Majdhaar mein naiyyaa dole, toh maanjhi paar lagaaye

Maanjhi jo naav duboye, usee kaun bachaaye*

Song: Chingaari Koi Bhadke

Film: Amar Prem

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Music: R.D.Burman

Vocals: Kishore Kumar

Movie Recommendation - Angoor

Cast: Sanjeev Kumar, Deven Verma, Moushmi Chatterjee, Aruna Irani, Deepti Naval, Utpal Dutt.

Release Year: 1972.

Director: Gulzar.

If I had to name some evergreen comedy films, the list would definitely contain Angoor. Gulzar’s tale based on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, Angoor is a laugh riot that does full justice to the original story.

Raj Tilak (Utpal Dutt) and his wife (Shammi) are on a trip with their twin sons. The boys are so alike that even their mother is unable to differentiate between them. Both of them are called Ashok since Mr. Tilak feels that if they look the same, their names should also be the same! The couple adopts another set of twins that are found abandoned near the temple, and name both the boys Bahadur. The couple is travelling on a ship when the ship meets with a mishap. The husband and wife end up separated with one kid from the two pairs each, and assume the other spouse to be dead.

Many years later, Ashok (Sanjeev Kumar) is married to Sudha (Moushmi Chatterjee) and Bahadur (Deven Verma) is married to Prema (Aruna Irani). They all stay in the same house along with Ashok’s sister-in-law, Tanu (Deepti Naval). Troubles begin when the other pair of Ashok and Bahadur also comes to the same city. The events that follow thereafter are uproarious.

Sanjeev Kumar is tremendous as usual. He portrays both the Ashoks in a way that you can tell them apart. The native Ashok is angry and mad while the other Ashok is always shocked and suspicious by nature. His reactions to Tanu holding his hand, or the other Bahadur acting strange are priceless.  Deven Verma excels as the sidekick and his confused expressions will have you in splits. A scene to watch out is the one where he asks the shopkeeper to give him a sturdy rope for committing suicide. Moushmi Chatterjee, Deepti Naval and Aruna Irani are the perfect supporting cast.

This is one film where I feel songs could have been avoided. Nonetheless, the two-three tracks by R.D.Burman are memorable. The dialogues are witty and typical Gulzar (read: brilliant!). I wonder why such films aren’t made anymore, where the situations are simple and the script is the real hero. No dancing around trees, no phoren locations, no NRI stuff, and where a star’s image cannot overshadow his character. The golden 70’s and 80’s. Sigh.  

A movie not to be missed. Don’t wait for its remake to come out. I’m sure it’ll be crappy as all the other remakes!

Good News & Bad News

The Bad One:

Ok I know I am supposed to write a review today, but the only film that I’ve seen this week is Yaadon Ki Baraat. Not that I haven’t seen other movies before, but I usually watch a film again before I make a recommendation. I was hoping Yaadon Ki Baraat turns out good enough for me to write a review. Sadly, it’s a dud of a film. I wonder why it was such a hit. All and I mean, ALL the actors are so hammy and the story is vaguely similar to Amar Akbar Anthony. So there is no point in wasting an entire post over it.

The Good One:

I have a DVD of Gulzar’s Koshish, which is a brilliant film. And there are more films that I’ll be surfing through at the video library. I intend to watch one tonight and post a review tomorrow.