I miss you so much, it hurts!!!

Yes the title of this write-up is inspired by the recent SRK-Saif-Kareena ad for Airtel, but I am not going to be writing anything about the ad here. Often at times either while watching some movie or generally thinking aloud I suddenly realize as to how I miss someone/something so badly. I’m sure at times most of you also must have experienced similar thoughts. So let me share with you some of the things that I really miss a lot about Indian Cinema (mostly Bollywood)

At the very outset let me tell you the list is not exhaustive & I would try to keep updating this list as often possible. For the moment here is a list of what I seem to be missing so far-

The joy of watching movies like the old days. No other distractions- look forward to your weekend movie on Doordarshan & the visits to theatres (of course single screen) with family or otherwise.
I miss the “superstar” movies of Big B. Yes no doubt he is still acting and doing
good movies too. But I still yearn to see the star in him once in a while.The last
glimpse of that was probably in Khakee & Ek Ajnabee

There used to be a time when I used to relish the bollywood countdowns ( songs) which started with Amin Sayani’s Binaca ( later Cibaca) Sangeet Mala on Vividhbharati and then got captured with visuals on Philips Top 10 ( Zee TV) & Superhit Muqabla ( D.D.Metro) . But today it has become overkill and so do miss the earlier days.

The comedian in bollywood is almost a dying role. Right from the past be it an I.S.Johar,Mehmood,Johny Walker, Rajendranath, Asrani, Deven Verma etc to the
Laxmikant Berde & Johny Lever days, there used to be a special place for comedians in hindi cinema.A place that is kind of getting extinct. You either have people like Shakti Kapoor ,Paresh Rawal, Kadar Khan etc who also don the role at times ( and do a good job of it) or the lead actor himself takes on the mantle.

The “ vamp” has vanished.What earlier a Helen, Aruna Irani, Bindu etc used to do
Gracefully, its now been done by the heroines themselves plus a whole host of
“item girls”. Definitely not the same thing!!!

Cheap ticket rates- earlier it used to be hardly an expensive indulgence. But now
Both in multiplexes and (in some) single screens, the ticket rates these days have
Sky rocketed. No, this is not a function of inflation alone.

Evergreen music- does it still get made? All of us know that the music of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s were magical & we keep listening to it actively even now. For that matter I still dig out my cd of soundtracks like an Aashiqui or a QSQT once in a while. But what about the music of these days? Yes there are hits getting generated even today, but will we keep listening them at least a decade from now?

Of course I also miss all those in the industry who made a mark on us & are no more. I will not take names here, as the list is completely exhaustive. Give it a thought my friends, I am sure you might also be missing some of these points right?

I guess its time to say “those were the best days of my life”.