Friday, July 24, 2009
Back in Chennai
Well life takes a curious turn once again & I saw myself moving out.It's now been close to 4 weeks of having moved back to Chennai.It's a new job, so new office and new people at work.But I find myself relatively at peace.After the emotional turmoil I went through in the last few months, I guess I needed this peace.It's nice to be back in a city which has always been home to me.And to top it up I've also moved back into the same building where I used to live earlier. So in a way its like a homecoming for me.Meet up with friends whenever I get time and of course watch a lot of movies especially @ my 2nd home- Sathyam Cinemas.Shradha's taking a liking to Chennai, which is quite heartening.Hopefully she'll be back to work again soon.The past one week has been a 'family' week with my parents having come over. Hoping to settle down at work at the earliest and enjoy life to the fullest.Viva Chennai!!!
Sankat City- drives away the blues caused by Bhramaram
We keep using the phrase ‘as different as chalk & cheese’ in our daily life so often that sometimes it takes one by surprise when you actually experience it in a very interesting way. The weekend that went by was another filmy weekend for me, but one that was rather very special. Just like enjoying a biriyani and a pizza equally or freaking out on ghazals and rock music with the same zeal, I happened to watch 2 movies this weekend which were completely unlike each other. The movies concerned were Bhramaram and Sankat City ( SC from hereon ) and there was hardly anything in common between them. For starters Bhramaram is a Malayalam movie made by Blessy (his 5th film) and stars Superstar- Mohanlal. SC on the other hand is a Hindi movie made by Pankaj Advani ( his 1st official release ) and has no superstar in it but a very talented cast comprising of Kay Kay, Anupam Kher,Rimi Sen,Chunky Pandey, Rahul Dev,Yashpal Sharma,Dilip Prabhavalkar etc.
While Bhramaram is more of a road movie with the undertone of a thriller, SC is a mad caper and is a fun ride all the way. Bhramaram is more or less a one man show (Mohanlal) while SC belongs to a whole host of characters and it is difficult to just single out just one or two characters. Well I can go on & on but then I guess the message is loud and clear by now. But what is important to know is that I had a good time watching both these movies. In their own ways both Bhramaram and SC have the capacity to engage the viewer and there in lies the one common thread between the two.
Saturday evening saw me taking off early from office to be in time to watch Bhramaram. The initial scenes are quite ordinary and it takes a while to slowly get hooked to the narrative. Suresh Menon (whom we’ve seen for ages on T.V & in Bollywood films) is Unni, a stock broker who lives with his wife (Lakshmi Gopalswamy) and daughter in Coimbatore. One fine day a very shabby looking Jose (Mohanlal) lands up at Unni’s place and introduces himself as his old classmate from school. Unni is unable to recollect Jose but since Jose is able to describe a lot of events from the school days, he is forced to believe him. Jose who claims to be a jeep driver in the high ranges of Kerala does not initially reveal the reason for his visit.
Once the reason is revealed the movie really gets going and you see traces of vintage Mohanlal slowly unraveling. After Unni and Jose embark on their journey it then goes on to become a taut game of emotions. Blessy manages to keep the narrative interesting enough by interspersing humor in certain places which helps in maintaining a balance. The cinematography of Ajayan Vincent certainly impresses especially in the night shots captured in the hills. Music by Mohan Sithara is decent. Suresh Menon certainly impresses and hopefully this performance should help him fetch more such roles. Muralikrishnan as Alex, friend of Unni is also quite effective. Lakshmi Gopalswamy and Bhoomika (Mohanlal’s wife) have nothing much to do. On the whole the movie is certainly a far cry from the recent Mohanlal movies like Red Chillies, Sagar Alias Jackie (Reloaded), Bhagawan etc and gives you glimpses of the brilliant actor that he is. Blessy again redeems himself to some extent with Bhramaram (after Calcutta News) and hopefully should do even better the next time around. Definitely not great cinema, but certainly one of the better films in recent times.
While I kept thinking of what could have made Bhramaram even better, I couldn’t escape the fact that the movie had disturbed me. Later that night Lalettan’s Shivankutty/ Jose continued to haunt me and I realized that the character was not just lingering in my mind, it was also making me feel low (those who’ve watched the movie would understand). So on Sunday morning when I woke up slightly earlier than usual, I was unsure of how to get back into groove and that’s when I realized I didn’t even have to try hard- I was lucky to end up watching a 10.30 A.M show of SC.
By now most of us know the plot and characters of SC so I wouldn’t really get into that. But yes to give a quick insight I can say that it’s all about money and how a host of characters get interwoven into a tale that has money as the fulcrum. Right from the first frame till the end I kept smiling and at times couldn’t really control myself from laughing hard- I guess it was true for everyone else among the audience too. For the sake of people who are yet to watch the movie I wish to point out a few things about the movie-
What SC definitely has-
1.Characters who are loud and even over the top and thankfully do not pretend that they are anything else2.A sparkling cast of some superbly talented actors and some of them would even surprise you with their portrayals.3.Uniform pace of the movie- there’s hardly any dull moment and you do not have to keep looking at your watch.4.Enough and more entertaining moments to keep you glued to the screen till the end, the very end.5.Some wonderful locations in & around Mumbai that have been captured brilliantly ( like for example the garbage dump )6.The budget seems to have been completely well utilized or rather most efficiently utilized ( check out the scene in the bus when the bags get switched )
What SC definitely doesn’t have-
1.Superstars and A – list heroines2.A routine structured story ( it’s a mad caper after all )3.Emotion, tragedy, drama ( well yes it does have it, but certainly not like what you think )4.Item numbers by Rakhi Sawant etc ( well there’s a small bit where Anupam Kher and dynamite are dancing though )5.Songs shot abroad6.Gyan-baazi ( oh! There’s nothing preachy here )7.While actors like Kay Kay , Anupam Kher etc have done some serious, meaningful cinema- this is certainly not a serious off beat movie.
All I can say is that SC is one movie that not only entertains it also makes you think- as to why we don’t have more of such movies coming out of Bollywood these days. While watching the movie I also realized that Pankaj Advani & his team must have certainly had a blast while shooting the movie, it clearly shows on screen as everybody seems to be enjoying what they are portraying on screen. That to me is a very big achievement indeed and I heartily salute Pankaj and the entire cast and crew for giving us SC- a film that we can certainly enjoy time and again.
It’s my fond hope that somebody concerned would do something to enable a much better presence in theatres for the movie by increasing the shows and also by enabling prime time shows wherever possible. A sincere movie like this which has also been getting good reviews needs a much better reach than what it has presently. Till then it’s a sincere request to all those who are passionate about cinema to go on & watch SC- you won’t be disappointed for sure.
P.S- Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/sankat-city-drives-away-the-blues-caused-by-bhramaram/
While Bhramaram is more of a road movie with the undertone of a thriller, SC is a mad caper and is a fun ride all the way. Bhramaram is more or less a one man show (Mohanlal) while SC belongs to a whole host of characters and it is difficult to just single out just one or two characters. Well I can go on & on but then I guess the message is loud and clear by now. But what is important to know is that I had a good time watching both these movies. In their own ways both Bhramaram and SC have the capacity to engage the viewer and there in lies the one common thread between the two.
Saturday evening saw me taking off early from office to be in time to watch Bhramaram. The initial scenes are quite ordinary and it takes a while to slowly get hooked to the narrative. Suresh Menon (whom we’ve seen for ages on T.V & in Bollywood films) is Unni, a stock broker who lives with his wife (Lakshmi Gopalswamy) and daughter in Coimbatore. One fine day a very shabby looking Jose (Mohanlal) lands up at Unni’s place and introduces himself as his old classmate from school. Unni is unable to recollect Jose but since Jose is able to describe a lot of events from the school days, he is forced to believe him. Jose who claims to be a jeep driver in the high ranges of Kerala does not initially reveal the reason for his visit.
Once the reason is revealed the movie really gets going and you see traces of vintage Mohanlal slowly unraveling. After Unni and Jose embark on their journey it then goes on to become a taut game of emotions. Blessy manages to keep the narrative interesting enough by interspersing humor in certain places which helps in maintaining a balance. The cinematography of Ajayan Vincent certainly impresses especially in the night shots captured in the hills. Music by Mohan Sithara is decent. Suresh Menon certainly impresses and hopefully this performance should help him fetch more such roles. Muralikrishnan as Alex, friend of Unni is also quite effective. Lakshmi Gopalswamy and Bhoomika (Mohanlal’s wife) have nothing much to do. On the whole the movie is certainly a far cry from the recent Mohanlal movies like Red Chillies, Sagar Alias Jackie (Reloaded), Bhagawan etc and gives you glimpses of the brilliant actor that he is. Blessy again redeems himself to some extent with Bhramaram (after Calcutta News) and hopefully should do even better the next time around. Definitely not great cinema, but certainly one of the better films in recent times.
While I kept thinking of what could have made Bhramaram even better, I couldn’t escape the fact that the movie had disturbed me. Later that night Lalettan’s Shivankutty/ Jose continued to haunt me and I realized that the character was not just lingering in my mind, it was also making me feel low (those who’ve watched the movie would understand). So on Sunday morning when I woke up slightly earlier than usual, I was unsure of how to get back into groove and that’s when I realized I didn’t even have to try hard- I was lucky to end up watching a 10.30 A.M show of SC.
By now most of us know the plot and characters of SC so I wouldn’t really get into that. But yes to give a quick insight I can say that it’s all about money and how a host of characters get interwoven into a tale that has money as the fulcrum. Right from the first frame till the end I kept smiling and at times couldn’t really control myself from laughing hard- I guess it was true for everyone else among the audience too. For the sake of people who are yet to watch the movie I wish to point out a few things about the movie-
What SC definitely has-
1.Characters who are loud and even over the top and thankfully do not pretend that they are anything else2.A sparkling cast of some superbly talented actors and some of them would even surprise you with their portrayals.3.Uniform pace of the movie- there’s hardly any dull moment and you do not have to keep looking at your watch.4.Enough and more entertaining moments to keep you glued to the screen till the end, the very end.5.Some wonderful locations in & around Mumbai that have been captured brilliantly ( like for example the garbage dump )6.The budget seems to have been completely well utilized or rather most efficiently utilized ( check out the scene in the bus when the bags get switched )
What SC definitely doesn’t have-
1.Superstars and A – list heroines2.A routine structured story ( it’s a mad caper after all )3.Emotion, tragedy, drama ( well yes it does have it, but certainly not like what you think )4.Item numbers by Rakhi Sawant etc ( well there’s a small bit where Anupam Kher and dynamite are dancing though )5.Songs shot abroad6.Gyan-baazi ( oh! There’s nothing preachy here )7.While actors like Kay Kay , Anupam Kher etc have done some serious, meaningful cinema- this is certainly not a serious off beat movie.
All I can say is that SC is one movie that not only entertains it also makes you think- as to why we don’t have more of such movies coming out of Bollywood these days. While watching the movie I also realized that Pankaj Advani & his team must have certainly had a blast while shooting the movie, it clearly shows on screen as everybody seems to be enjoying what they are portraying on screen. That to me is a very big achievement indeed and I heartily salute Pankaj and the entire cast and crew for giving us SC- a film that we can certainly enjoy time and again.
It’s my fond hope that somebody concerned would do something to enable a much better presence in theatres for the movie by increasing the shows and also by enabling prime time shows wherever possible. A sincere movie like this which has also been getting good reviews needs a much better reach than what it has presently. Till then it’s a sincere request to all those who are passionate about cinema to go on & watch SC- you won’t be disappointed for sure.
P.S- Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/sankat-city-drives-away-the-blues-caused-by-bhramaram/
Why Kamal Haasan should never watch Kambakkht Ishq
Ok so Sajid Nadiadwala entrusts a debutant filmmaker Sabbir Khan to make a movie. So like all Nadiadwala productions they decide to make another lavishly mounted project with A listers Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. There are also top notch Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards featuring and to top it all they decide to shoot the movie against the backdrop of Hollywood. And what do they do about the story – well they just decide to look down south and rip apart a Kamal Haasan’s Tamil movie.
Followers of Tamil cinema and fans of Kamal Haasan would remember a movie called Pammal K.Sambandham (referred to as PKS hereafter) which had Kamal Haasan and Simran in the lead. Directed by Mouli and with hilarious dialogues by none other than Crazy Mohan, the movie was a simple tale of a stuntman and a lady doctor, who both have distinct identities of their own. This movie was shot without too much of grandeur in Chennai except for a couple of songs which were shot abroad.
But in case of Kambakkht Ishq (referred to as KI hereon) there is nothing called originality. In fact exaggeration is too weak a word to describe the happenings in the movie as virtually everything is over the top. The plot is extremely silly and it’s all about Viraj ( Akshay) a Hollywood stuntman who doesn’t respect women & has them literally falling all over him. Viraj arrives at his brother Lucky’s (Aftab Shivdasani ) wedding to Kamini ( Amrita Arora ) to admonish Lucky for getting married. That’s where Viraj bumps into Simrita ( Kareena )who is Kamini’s best friend and who in turn admonishes Kamini for getting married to Lucky, as she doesn’t trust men.
The die is cast and there’s a virtual ego clash between Viraj and Simrita now. So after numerous silly jokes, some illogical situations and some constant love- hate banter between the two, the movie ends on predictable lines. Akshay Kumar seems to have literally sleep walked through the movie as the role is a cakewalk for him and he has no need to try hard. Kareena looks gorgeous no doubt but there’s nothing beyond it. Vindoo Singh as Akshay’s side kick is o.k. while Amrita Arora and Aftab have nothing much to do. Javed Jaffrey and Boman Irani are virtually wasted in the movie. Kiron Kher has again a very typical role.Anu Malik’s music is nothing great- you are likely to forget the songs after the movie completes its theatrical run.
While a lot of things can & should be overlooked considering that it is a movie after all, nevertheless certain things are almost tantamount to crime. I have never heard of any stuntman who is able to lead the kind of lavish lifestyle that Akshay Kumar leads in the movie. The kind of excessive indulgence shown in the movie actually starts hurting the eye after a point. None of the so called appearances of the Hollywood actors make any worthwhile impact on the movie. Kamal Haasan’s stuntman character was a Hanuman bhakt who wants to remain single. The character was largely believable unlike the fake portrayal by Akshay over here. Though Simran who played the heroine in PKS also has a fiery temper, she still endears to us by some realism in her depiction whereas Kareena tends to certainly go overboard often.
The script (Anvita Dutt Guptan,Sabbir Khan ) seems to be the big culprit here in what could have otherwise been a reasonably engaging movie similar to PKS. Considering that KI is probably made at more than 10 times the budget of PKS, Kamal Haasan would indeed be shocked to see what a relatively quickly made medium budget movie has turned out to be in its Hindi avatar. And yes it would also remind him again that while people are not willing to back his magnum opus – Marudhanayagam or Marmayogi due to budget constraints, there are people in Bollywood who have it going for them to produce an expensive tasteless film like KI ( at more than half the budget of a Marudhanayagam ).
Akshay- inspite of the setbacks of late (CC2C and 8*10), you are still right on top with the Khans.Why do a film like this in the first place? And as for your statement that you & Kareena in KI would be the new Mr. and Mrs.Smith, well I have no words to describe my feelings on the same. In spite of all the excesses your recent blockbusters like Welcome and Singh is Kingg worked because it was patronized by the family audience. But with KI you seem to have only alienated them and in case you haven’t realized it by now it’s certainly a pity.
Thanks to the Bollywood strike people have been literally starved of movies and so the terrific opening for KI is not a surprise at all. But it would be interesting to see if the movie is able to sustain the momentum and emerge profitable for all. I’m someone who loves the smaller films but once in a while would like to indulge in the regular mainstream stuff also. But if this is Bollywood’s idea of entertainment then I guess I would rather stay away from it. So what made me watch this? Well at 50 bucks for a balcony ticket at a good standalone cinema, I thought the deal couldn’t go wrong. But I was proved wrong. So go on if you are getting some good deal like this or else leave it for one of the T.V channels to air it shortly- you won’t regret it one bit.
On a parting note I would like to ask a question to Sajid Nadiadwala and co- when you had a lot of people to thank in the opening credits, was it too difficult to acknowledge anybody concerned with PKS? This is all the more surprising because due to industry sources, the remake rights have been bought officially.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/why-kamal-haasan-should-never-watch-kambakkht-ishq/
Followers of Tamil cinema and fans of Kamal Haasan would remember a movie called Pammal K.Sambandham (referred to as PKS hereafter) which had Kamal Haasan and Simran in the lead. Directed by Mouli and with hilarious dialogues by none other than Crazy Mohan, the movie was a simple tale of a stuntman and a lady doctor, who both have distinct identities of their own. This movie was shot without too much of grandeur in Chennai except for a couple of songs which were shot abroad.
But in case of Kambakkht Ishq (referred to as KI hereon) there is nothing called originality. In fact exaggeration is too weak a word to describe the happenings in the movie as virtually everything is over the top. The plot is extremely silly and it’s all about Viraj ( Akshay) a Hollywood stuntman who doesn’t respect women & has them literally falling all over him. Viraj arrives at his brother Lucky’s (Aftab Shivdasani ) wedding to Kamini ( Amrita Arora ) to admonish Lucky for getting married. That’s where Viraj bumps into Simrita ( Kareena )who is Kamini’s best friend and who in turn admonishes Kamini for getting married to Lucky, as she doesn’t trust men.
The die is cast and there’s a virtual ego clash between Viraj and Simrita now. So after numerous silly jokes, some illogical situations and some constant love- hate banter between the two, the movie ends on predictable lines. Akshay Kumar seems to have literally sleep walked through the movie as the role is a cakewalk for him and he has no need to try hard. Kareena looks gorgeous no doubt but there’s nothing beyond it. Vindoo Singh as Akshay’s side kick is o.k. while Amrita Arora and Aftab have nothing much to do. Javed Jaffrey and Boman Irani are virtually wasted in the movie. Kiron Kher has again a very typical role.Anu Malik’s music is nothing great- you are likely to forget the songs after the movie completes its theatrical run.
While a lot of things can & should be overlooked considering that it is a movie after all, nevertheless certain things are almost tantamount to crime. I have never heard of any stuntman who is able to lead the kind of lavish lifestyle that Akshay Kumar leads in the movie. The kind of excessive indulgence shown in the movie actually starts hurting the eye after a point. None of the so called appearances of the Hollywood actors make any worthwhile impact on the movie. Kamal Haasan’s stuntman character was a Hanuman bhakt who wants to remain single. The character was largely believable unlike the fake portrayal by Akshay over here. Though Simran who played the heroine in PKS also has a fiery temper, she still endears to us by some realism in her depiction whereas Kareena tends to certainly go overboard often.
The script (Anvita Dutt Guptan,Sabbir Khan ) seems to be the big culprit here in what could have otherwise been a reasonably engaging movie similar to PKS. Considering that KI is probably made at more than 10 times the budget of PKS, Kamal Haasan would indeed be shocked to see what a relatively quickly made medium budget movie has turned out to be in its Hindi avatar. And yes it would also remind him again that while people are not willing to back his magnum opus – Marudhanayagam or Marmayogi due to budget constraints, there are people in Bollywood who have it going for them to produce an expensive tasteless film like KI ( at more than half the budget of a Marudhanayagam ).
Akshay- inspite of the setbacks of late (CC2C and 8*10), you are still right on top with the Khans.Why do a film like this in the first place? And as for your statement that you & Kareena in KI would be the new Mr. and Mrs.Smith, well I have no words to describe my feelings on the same. In spite of all the excesses your recent blockbusters like Welcome and Singh is Kingg worked because it was patronized by the family audience. But with KI you seem to have only alienated them and in case you haven’t realized it by now it’s certainly a pity.
Thanks to the Bollywood strike people have been literally starved of movies and so the terrific opening for KI is not a surprise at all. But it would be interesting to see if the movie is able to sustain the momentum and emerge profitable for all. I’m someone who loves the smaller films but once in a while would like to indulge in the regular mainstream stuff also. But if this is Bollywood’s idea of entertainment then I guess I would rather stay away from it. So what made me watch this? Well at 50 bucks for a balcony ticket at a good standalone cinema, I thought the deal couldn’t go wrong. But I was proved wrong. So go on if you are getting some good deal like this or else leave it for one of the T.V channels to air it shortly- you won’t regret it one bit.
On a parting note I would like to ask a question to Sajid Nadiadwala and co- when you had a lot of people to thank in the opening credits, was it too difficult to acknowledge anybody concerned with PKS? This is all the more surprising because due to industry sources, the remake rights have been bought officially.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/why-kamal-haasan-should-never-watch-kambakkht-ishq/
Masilamani and Sun Pictures- Changing phase of Tamil Cinema- for better or worse?
I am just back from a late night show of Masilamani- a recent Tamil release. For a movie into the 4th week of its release there was more than 80 % occupancy. At a large single screen theatre like Kasi in Chennai which is regarded as a collection center, this certainly means that the movie is a safe proposition. The movie has a close connection to last year’s surprise hit- Kadalil Vizhunden (KV from hereon). Not only is the lead pair the same (Nakul and Sunaina), this one again is a Sun Pictures release. KV was the first movie to be released by Sun Pictures, the film division of Sun TV network and emboldened by its success they have gone on to buy over and release a spate of movies like Thenavattu, Dindigul Sarathy, Padikathavan, Ayan etc.
The success of KV itself could be a case study in isolation. While the anthem song – Nakka Mukka had already become popular, the movie was in the cans for a while. Starring virtually the unknown pair of Nakul and Sunaina, there wasn’t much going for the movie- i.e till Sun Pictures took over the movie and decided to make it their first venture. What was then unleashed was the marketing might of the Sun T.V network. All of a sudden the T.V audience was bombarded with promos of various kinds for KV. No, they did not stick to the earlier trailer which was floating on air for some time earlier. They unleashed a series of different promos of various time durations with sharp focus on the selling points.In fact so impressed was Sun Pictures with the response to Nakka Mukka that they even made the cast and crew shoot another version of the song which wasn’t earlier there in the movie. It also helped that there were other songs which were also quite good (like thozhiya en kadhaliya ) and Vijay Antony’s songs and the lead pair got well recognized. Whether you were watching news, a daily soap or a movie, any interruption would be greeted with a KV promo and lo and behold the people flocked to the theatres out of curiosity. Thankfully the product was reasonably entertaining and thus a successful business model was created. Buoyed by the success of KV, Sun Pictures announced that they were there in the market for keeps.
By that time the then big players- Pyramid Saimira and Ayangaran were already facing the heat and Sun Pictures was more than happy to capitalize on the situation. Things turned a complete circle later on as Shankar’s mega project- Endhiran changed hands from Ayangaran to Sun Pictures. After KV Sun Pictures literally went on a buying spree and picked up movies for release. Whether it was a small movie like Dindigul Sarathy or a mass movie like Ayan, they showed that they were adept in handling the project. They even went on to release an English movie- Outlander all over South India in both English and the regional languages.
While their efforts at releasing and marketing the movie is commendable when we look at it from the view point of a KV or a Dindigul Sarathy, it becomes extremely irritating to accept carpet bombing on air in the form of promos for movies like a Thee. Dindigul Sarathy (a remake of Sreenivasan’s Malayalam movie Vadakku Nokki Yanthram) would have definitely struggled for a release considering it had comedian Karunas in the lead but Sun Pictures ensured that not only did the movie get a good release, it was also well promoted. Thenavattu saw Jeeva attempting an action movie for the first time and while critics blasted the movie and said Jeeva should rather concentrate on doing movies like Ram and Katradhu Tamil (leaving the mass movies to Vijay and Ajith), the marketing of the movie seemed to work and the movie was a success.
The heavy duty promotion of Ayan has been a big factor in ensuring the spectacular success of the movie. So once again with Masilamani they have been doing what they’ve been reasonably successful with. Expecting just a regular masala movie (coming out very clearly from the promos) I went on to watch Masilamani for the heck of it but came out both disappointed and confused. The movie directed by RMR Manohar has nothing great in terms of a plot. Its all about Masilamani (Nakul) fondly called Masi by all and he is the typical do-gooder. The heroine Divya (Sunaina) is a dance teacher and while Masi falls in love with her at first sight somehow whenever she sees him, he comes across as a ruffian to her due to circumstances.
That’s when Masi comes up with an alter ego called Mani who is the opposite of what Masi is and the rest of the movie goes completely in predictable fashion. Music by D.Imman is of the typical variety and couple of songs have become reasonably popular. The movie has a stock comedy track (no connection to the main story) with M.S.Bhaskar and Karunas. So obviously the promos are all focusing on the songs and the comedy scenes. While the movie is not on the lines of a Villu or a Thoranai it certainly is nothing great to talk about.
This gives me a major cause of concern all of a sudden. With the kind of financial and political muscle that Sun Pictures has they are only going to be producing and releasing a lot many more movies. While I salute their efforts to release and promote a small movie like Dindigul Sarathy, I am also happy to see them push a big movie like Ayan. After all the money made from an Ayan can be used to fund many more smaller films. But what I’m not in favor of is having movies like Thenavattu, Thee and now Masilamani thrown down our throats.
As a keen follower of Tamil cinema I do welcome the advent of a big player in the industry but I’m watching them carefully and curiously to see how they are headed. Let’s see what unfolds in the days to come.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/masilamani-and-sun-pictures-changing-phase-of-tamil-cinema-for-better-or-worse/
The success of KV itself could be a case study in isolation. While the anthem song – Nakka Mukka had already become popular, the movie was in the cans for a while. Starring virtually the unknown pair of Nakul and Sunaina, there wasn’t much going for the movie- i.e till Sun Pictures took over the movie and decided to make it their first venture. What was then unleashed was the marketing might of the Sun T.V network. All of a sudden the T.V audience was bombarded with promos of various kinds for KV. No, they did not stick to the earlier trailer which was floating on air for some time earlier. They unleashed a series of different promos of various time durations with sharp focus on the selling points.In fact so impressed was Sun Pictures with the response to Nakka Mukka that they even made the cast and crew shoot another version of the song which wasn’t earlier there in the movie. It also helped that there were other songs which were also quite good (like thozhiya en kadhaliya ) and Vijay Antony’s songs and the lead pair got well recognized. Whether you were watching news, a daily soap or a movie, any interruption would be greeted with a KV promo and lo and behold the people flocked to the theatres out of curiosity. Thankfully the product was reasonably entertaining and thus a successful business model was created. Buoyed by the success of KV, Sun Pictures announced that they were there in the market for keeps.
By that time the then big players- Pyramid Saimira and Ayangaran were already facing the heat and Sun Pictures was more than happy to capitalize on the situation. Things turned a complete circle later on as Shankar’s mega project- Endhiran changed hands from Ayangaran to Sun Pictures. After KV Sun Pictures literally went on a buying spree and picked up movies for release. Whether it was a small movie like Dindigul Sarathy or a mass movie like Ayan, they showed that they were adept in handling the project. They even went on to release an English movie- Outlander all over South India in both English and the regional languages.
While their efforts at releasing and marketing the movie is commendable when we look at it from the view point of a KV or a Dindigul Sarathy, it becomes extremely irritating to accept carpet bombing on air in the form of promos for movies like a Thee. Dindigul Sarathy (a remake of Sreenivasan’s Malayalam movie Vadakku Nokki Yanthram) would have definitely struggled for a release considering it had comedian Karunas in the lead but Sun Pictures ensured that not only did the movie get a good release, it was also well promoted. Thenavattu saw Jeeva attempting an action movie for the first time and while critics blasted the movie and said Jeeva should rather concentrate on doing movies like Ram and Katradhu Tamil (leaving the mass movies to Vijay and Ajith), the marketing of the movie seemed to work and the movie was a success.
The heavy duty promotion of Ayan has been a big factor in ensuring the spectacular success of the movie. So once again with Masilamani they have been doing what they’ve been reasonably successful with. Expecting just a regular masala movie (coming out very clearly from the promos) I went on to watch Masilamani for the heck of it but came out both disappointed and confused. The movie directed by RMR Manohar has nothing great in terms of a plot. Its all about Masilamani (Nakul) fondly called Masi by all and he is the typical do-gooder. The heroine Divya (Sunaina) is a dance teacher and while Masi falls in love with her at first sight somehow whenever she sees him, he comes across as a ruffian to her due to circumstances.
That’s when Masi comes up with an alter ego called Mani who is the opposite of what Masi is and the rest of the movie goes completely in predictable fashion. Music by D.Imman is of the typical variety and couple of songs have become reasonably popular. The movie has a stock comedy track (no connection to the main story) with M.S.Bhaskar and Karunas. So obviously the promos are all focusing on the songs and the comedy scenes. While the movie is not on the lines of a Villu or a Thoranai it certainly is nothing great to talk about.
This gives me a major cause of concern all of a sudden. With the kind of financial and political muscle that Sun Pictures has they are only going to be producing and releasing a lot many more movies. While I salute their efforts to release and promote a small movie like Dindigul Sarathy, I am also happy to see them push a big movie like Ayan. After all the money made from an Ayan can be used to fund many more smaller films. But what I’m not in favor of is having movies like Thenavattu, Thee and now Masilamani thrown down our throats.
As a keen follower of Tamil cinema I do welcome the advent of a big player in the industry but I’m watching them carefully and curiously to see how they are headed. Let’s see what unfolds in the days to come.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/masilamani-and-sun-pictures-changing-phase-of-tamil-cinema-for-better-or-worse/
Dreams in the cans- A Filmmaker's worst nightmare
A few days ago I was having a conversation over coffee with one of my friends who works in the industry and had just attended the first screenwriting workshop organized by Kamal Haasan’s Rajkmal Films in a tie-up with IIT-Madras. While my friend was sharing his insights about the workshop, he mentioned that apart from the various films screened as part of the course, they were also shown the teaser of ‘Marudhanayagam’, Kamal’s magnum opus which got stalled after the shooting started with a bang. Since I had seen the trailer myself, both of us went on an overdrive, discussing the merits and demerits of the project (as it appealed to us). I still remember the way the muhurat function was held. The chief guest for the event was none other than Queen Elizabeth who was in India at that point of time.
The trailer shows a glimpse of what the movie could have been. It in all probability could have certainly been India’s answer to movies like Braveheart as it falls in that genre and was deemed to be an extravagant affair. Unfortunately all that is left of the movie is around 30 mins of canned film and a dream that’s still not forgotten by Kamal Haasan for sure. Around the time when the shooting had to be stopped, the budget seemed to be something that Indian cinema would have found it hard to support. Now with bigger projects like Endhiran and Blue getting made, there’s still some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of getting some funding for Marudhanayagam. But the question to be asked is will that day be too late?
The reason for that is that Marudhanayagam in the present form requires extremely high levels of fitness and agility from Kamal Haasan and with every year that’s passing by, this is only going to get tougher and tougher for him. Some time last year Kamal even tried to come up with another mega project, again a period movie called Marmayogi. Pyramid Saimira who were initially picking up a lot of projects to produce and/or distribute had decided to produce Marmayogi and then had to back off after their losses suffered due to Kuselan. So now only time will tell whether Kamal Haasan would be able to fulfill his long pending dream of completing Marudhanayagam or whether it remains as just another incomplete dream in the cans.
This discussion made me realize that no matter whatever technical advancements that Cinema is witnessing, some things just don’t change. For one there’s still no safe formula for a successful film. Fortunes are still made and lost on Fridays. And yes luck is a crucial element in this business. That being the case isn’t it extremely heart wrenching for a film maker to see his/her movie getting stalled or lying in the cans unsold? Time and again we have seen so many film makers facing this predicament. This is a phenomena witnessed by both established and new filmmakers.
By now everyone (on PFC at least) knows the kind of struggle that Anurag Kashyap has had to face for Paanch ( still unreleased ) or what Pankaj Advani has had to face for Urf Professor ( again unreleased as of now ). These are just 2 popular examples that I have mentioned to explain a very common phenomena. That people like Anurag Kashyap and Pankaj Advani have a lot of conviction is evident as Anurag has gone on to make movies like Black Friday,No Smoking, Dev D, Gulaal etc and Pankaj Advani is right now gearing up for the release of his ‘ Sankat City’. But not every other filmmaker can carry within themselves so much of conviction, especially if it’s a new comer.
At the moment while I’m writing this my heart goes out to 2 other filmmakers, who share something in common with each other- their first film as a director was well recognized and fairly successful too. On one hand you have Sagar Ballary who made the popular Bheja Fry and whose second film Kachcha Limbu was completed quite some time ago. On the other hand you have Vasantha Balan who made the acclaimed Tamil movie- Veyyil and whose 2nd movie- Angadi Theru is also ready. So what else is common between these 2 directors apart from their first film being noticed? Well simple enough, both their 2nd movies are ready but still unsure of their release.
While Kachcha Limbu is a Sahara production, Angadi Theru is an Ayangaran production. Till recently both Sahara and Ayangaran were fairy serious players in production of Hindi/Tamil movies, but with the recession setting in, both these production houses have been affected to some extent. Sahara already has asked Sagar Ballary to try and find another entity to buy the movie from Sahara and then release it. While in case of Ayangaran as of now the release is still likely though a bit delayed. I just hope for the sake of Sagar and Vasanth that they manage to get their respective films released at the earliest and focus themselves on their other projects.
When my fellow PFC author Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s first film Frozen finally got released in India last month after doing the rounds of 30 odd festivals and winning 20 awards internationally, Shivajee was a much relieved man. And why not, for finally his dream was not in the cans anymore and was there for the whole world to see. And yes the wait can be sweet if it does not go beyond a point and the movie still gets the same reception that it was expected to receive. But if the waiting period goes beyond a point, then sometimes things can certainly go out of hand too.
A classic case in point is the Tamil movie- Kutrapathirikai directed by R.K.Selvamani. The movie was highly controversial for being based on former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi’s assassination. It was banned by the censors in 1992/1993 and after a prolonged court battle, the movie finally released in early 2007. For old times sake I did go and watch the movie but was thoroughly disappointed for 2 reasons- first of all the movie did not have anything objectionable for getting banned and secondly after nearly 15 years, the movie looked so out of place in terms of technique and sensibility that it was not surprisingly a big flop.
For the sake of all filmmakers and wannabe filmmakers I would certainly hope that as far as possible celluloid dreams lying in the cans should not go on to become a cause of concern. The celluloid dreams deserve to hit the silver screen and not lie around in the cans, unseen. Let the audience then deserve the fate of the movie, at least the filmmaker would have received his/her realistic chance of seeing his/her dream come true.
P.S- Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/dreams-in-the-cans-a-filmmaker%e2%80%99s-worst-nightmare/
The trailer shows a glimpse of what the movie could have been. It in all probability could have certainly been India’s answer to movies like Braveheart as it falls in that genre and was deemed to be an extravagant affair. Unfortunately all that is left of the movie is around 30 mins of canned film and a dream that’s still not forgotten by Kamal Haasan for sure. Around the time when the shooting had to be stopped, the budget seemed to be something that Indian cinema would have found it hard to support. Now with bigger projects like Endhiran and Blue getting made, there’s still some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of getting some funding for Marudhanayagam. But the question to be asked is will that day be too late?
The reason for that is that Marudhanayagam in the present form requires extremely high levels of fitness and agility from Kamal Haasan and with every year that’s passing by, this is only going to get tougher and tougher for him. Some time last year Kamal even tried to come up with another mega project, again a period movie called Marmayogi. Pyramid Saimira who were initially picking up a lot of projects to produce and/or distribute had decided to produce Marmayogi and then had to back off after their losses suffered due to Kuselan. So now only time will tell whether Kamal Haasan would be able to fulfill his long pending dream of completing Marudhanayagam or whether it remains as just another incomplete dream in the cans.
This discussion made me realize that no matter whatever technical advancements that Cinema is witnessing, some things just don’t change. For one there’s still no safe formula for a successful film. Fortunes are still made and lost on Fridays. And yes luck is a crucial element in this business. That being the case isn’t it extremely heart wrenching for a film maker to see his/her movie getting stalled or lying in the cans unsold? Time and again we have seen so many film makers facing this predicament. This is a phenomena witnessed by both established and new filmmakers.
By now everyone (on PFC at least) knows the kind of struggle that Anurag Kashyap has had to face for Paanch ( still unreleased ) or what Pankaj Advani has had to face for Urf Professor ( again unreleased as of now ). These are just 2 popular examples that I have mentioned to explain a very common phenomena. That people like Anurag Kashyap and Pankaj Advani have a lot of conviction is evident as Anurag has gone on to make movies like Black Friday,No Smoking, Dev D, Gulaal etc and Pankaj Advani is right now gearing up for the release of his ‘ Sankat City’. But not every other filmmaker can carry within themselves so much of conviction, especially if it’s a new comer.
At the moment while I’m writing this my heart goes out to 2 other filmmakers, who share something in common with each other- their first film as a director was well recognized and fairly successful too. On one hand you have Sagar Ballary who made the popular Bheja Fry and whose second film Kachcha Limbu was completed quite some time ago. On the other hand you have Vasantha Balan who made the acclaimed Tamil movie- Veyyil and whose 2nd movie- Angadi Theru is also ready. So what else is common between these 2 directors apart from their first film being noticed? Well simple enough, both their 2nd movies are ready but still unsure of their release.
While Kachcha Limbu is a Sahara production, Angadi Theru is an Ayangaran production. Till recently both Sahara and Ayangaran were fairy serious players in production of Hindi/Tamil movies, but with the recession setting in, both these production houses have been affected to some extent. Sahara already has asked Sagar Ballary to try and find another entity to buy the movie from Sahara and then release it. While in case of Ayangaran as of now the release is still likely though a bit delayed. I just hope for the sake of Sagar and Vasanth that they manage to get their respective films released at the earliest and focus themselves on their other projects.
When my fellow PFC author Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s first film Frozen finally got released in India last month after doing the rounds of 30 odd festivals and winning 20 awards internationally, Shivajee was a much relieved man. And why not, for finally his dream was not in the cans anymore and was there for the whole world to see. And yes the wait can be sweet if it does not go beyond a point and the movie still gets the same reception that it was expected to receive. But if the waiting period goes beyond a point, then sometimes things can certainly go out of hand too.
A classic case in point is the Tamil movie- Kutrapathirikai directed by R.K.Selvamani. The movie was highly controversial for being based on former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi’s assassination. It was banned by the censors in 1992/1993 and after a prolonged court battle, the movie finally released in early 2007. For old times sake I did go and watch the movie but was thoroughly disappointed for 2 reasons- first of all the movie did not have anything objectionable for getting banned and secondly after nearly 15 years, the movie looked so out of place in terms of technique and sensibility that it was not surprisingly a big flop.
For the sake of all filmmakers and wannabe filmmakers I would certainly hope that as far as possible celluloid dreams lying in the cans should not go on to become a cause of concern. The celluloid dreams deserve to hit the silver screen and not lie around in the cans, unseen. Let the audience then deserve the fate of the movie, at least the filmmaker would have received his/her realistic chance of seeing his/her dream come true.
P.S- Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/dreams-in-the-cans-a-filmmaker%e2%80%99s-worst-nightmare/
‘Passenger’- A tale of trains, scams and the common man
Right from the days when I was a kid, I used to enjoy traveling by train. Whether it were the long distance journeys usually in the summer vacation or the suburban train traveling in a Mumbai or Chennai, I would always look forward to it. Over years I have gone on to notice how Indian Railways seems to have become a home away from home for a lot many people who travel by trains regularly to work. Whether you talk about the electric trains in the metro cities like Western/Central/Harbor lines of Mumbai or the Guindy-Tambaram route in Chennai, or the underground Metro rail in Kolkata and Delhi or even in places like Kerala where people travel from a Palakkad to Coimbatore (T.N) or from far off places like Thrissur and adjoining districts to Cochin/Ernakulam, this phenomena is witnessed on a daily basis. The exceptions must only be in case of Sundays and holidays. Of course in Kerala with strikes and hartals being quite common one must see a lot more exceptions to this aspect.
For all these people traveling to work, the journey by train becomes an extension of their life. They even know the train timings by heart and would have their own acquaintances/friends whom they meet on the train every day. Speaking of this reminds me of Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday, mourning the death of a young man, a fellow train traveler who dies in a bomb blast. When you get into a routine of seeing somebody so regularly on the train everyday, you tend to identify him/her as someone familiar to you & look forward to meeting him/her again and again.
Why am I rambling on and on about trains and train travelers? Well basically because this post is my reflections over a recent Malayalam movie that I saw- ‘Passenger’. It’s a movie that’s certainly better than some of the mediocre stuff that we have got used to seeing from Malayalam cinema these days and it makes me in its own ways also relive my days of having traveled by the suburban trains in Chennai and Mumbai. The movie is not just about train journey, it’s also about the common man and the role that he can play in today’s chaotic society. So in a way that reminded me of A Wednesday, but the comparison is slightly superficial because there are a lot of differences between the common man in both these films.
Ranjith Shankar (a former I.T professional) makes a debut as a writer-director with Passenger. The movie is a definitely more than a decent debut for Ranjith as it’s certainly not a run of the mill subject and that needs to be appreciated. When the opening credits start I was astonished to find a big thanks to the ‘fans of Dileep’ and I certainly expected this to be a way of just addressing star tantrums, but thankfully as the movie progressed, I realized the actual reason for the credit and couldn’t but afford to smile when I realized the same. I will come to that later.
Passenger is a movie that basically chronicles the events that take place in the lives of a few individuals whose paths cross due to nothing but quirk of fate. Sathyanathan(Sreenivasan) is the common man of the story and he works for a Pharmaceutical firm in Ernakulam and travels everyday to work (and back) from his house in a village near Chalakudy by train. On the train he usually encounters a constant set of people with whom he spends time by playing cards and chit chatting. This is how life goes on for him on a regular basis. That Sathyanathan has a social activist streak is evident as he is seen running signature campaigns for cleaner toilets on trains, asking for streamlining the halts on train routes etc.
On the other hand you have a young educated couple who are equally social minded. The husband Adv.Nandan Menon ( Dileep ) and his wife TV journalist Anuradha Menon(Mamta Mohan Das ) by way of work have locked horns with the Home Minister(Jagathy Sreekumar ) in connection with a case pertaining to sand mining in a coastal area. One fine day Sathyanathan pesters his boss to grant him leave for the next day as he being the local temple festival’s organizer wants to be there for the same. Reluctantly his boss grants the leave when Sathyanathan volunteers to work overtime for that day.
Having worked overtime Sathyanathan has to skip his regular train and take up another train at a later time. At the same time Nandan Menon is on the same train traveling to Guruvayoor (his wife Anuradha is part of a press team covering the minister’s press meet in Kottayam). A disturbing series of events unfold and the rest of the movie is all about what happens in the course of the next 24 hours or so. The lives of all the main characters in the story get intertwined. As far as the concept goes it’s not earth shaking but certainly better than the run of the mill stuff seen regularly these days.
In terms of casting again I think Ranjith Shankar has got it fairly right. Who better than Sreenivasan to play the common man? And kudos to Dileep for having accepted a role which is more of a second fiddle ( this is why I guess the thanks was mentioned for his fans- maybe for seeking their support ) and for a change it’s good to see Mamta in a non glamorous role. Though it’s become routine to see politicians as villains in Malayalam cinema, but still it’s refreshing to see the extremely talented Jagathy Sreekumar essaying the role over here.
The movie has managed to get a lot of nuances correct as seen in Kerala on a daily basis. For example in spite of attractions like T.V and cinema you still have a lot of people craving for the temple festivals, in most Malayalee homes you would find an elderly person typically watching an ‘Idea Star Singer’ or ‘Devi Mahatmyam’ on Asianet in the primetime slots on T.V leaving the others at home with no choice if you do not have a second T.V at home. The ending of the movie again is something that leaves you with a smile. And at a running time of just less than 2 hours, the length of the movie is just about right surprisingly.
But all said and done the movie still is not a path-breaker and is nowhere close to being called a great movie. There are a lot of loopholes in the script and sometimes you even question the validity of some events in the movie. But all said and done considering that it’s the first effort of Ranjith Shankar as writer-director and for having tried something different, the effort needs to be highlighted. I only hope that Ranjith and the other film makers only look to go beyond Passenger and come up with even better movies rather than stagnating over here. Malayalam cinema needs a revival, a revival that’s long overdue. Till that happens I have to keep re-visiting some of the good films of the 80’s and 90’s or keep hoping with every ‘Passenger’ that things are about to improve.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/passenger-a-tale-of-trains-scams-and-the-common-man/
For all these people traveling to work, the journey by train becomes an extension of their life. They even know the train timings by heart and would have their own acquaintances/friends whom they meet on the train every day. Speaking of this reminds me of Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday, mourning the death of a young man, a fellow train traveler who dies in a bomb blast. When you get into a routine of seeing somebody so regularly on the train everyday, you tend to identify him/her as someone familiar to you & look forward to meeting him/her again and again.
Why am I rambling on and on about trains and train travelers? Well basically because this post is my reflections over a recent Malayalam movie that I saw- ‘Passenger’. It’s a movie that’s certainly better than some of the mediocre stuff that we have got used to seeing from Malayalam cinema these days and it makes me in its own ways also relive my days of having traveled by the suburban trains in Chennai and Mumbai. The movie is not just about train journey, it’s also about the common man and the role that he can play in today’s chaotic society. So in a way that reminded me of A Wednesday, but the comparison is slightly superficial because there are a lot of differences between the common man in both these films.
Ranjith Shankar (a former I.T professional) makes a debut as a writer-director with Passenger. The movie is a definitely more than a decent debut for Ranjith as it’s certainly not a run of the mill subject and that needs to be appreciated. When the opening credits start I was astonished to find a big thanks to the ‘fans of Dileep’ and I certainly expected this to be a way of just addressing star tantrums, but thankfully as the movie progressed, I realized the actual reason for the credit and couldn’t but afford to smile when I realized the same. I will come to that later.
Passenger is a movie that basically chronicles the events that take place in the lives of a few individuals whose paths cross due to nothing but quirk of fate. Sathyanathan(Sreenivasan) is the common man of the story and he works for a Pharmaceutical firm in Ernakulam and travels everyday to work (and back) from his house in a village near Chalakudy by train. On the train he usually encounters a constant set of people with whom he spends time by playing cards and chit chatting. This is how life goes on for him on a regular basis. That Sathyanathan has a social activist streak is evident as he is seen running signature campaigns for cleaner toilets on trains, asking for streamlining the halts on train routes etc.
On the other hand you have a young educated couple who are equally social minded. The husband Adv.Nandan Menon ( Dileep ) and his wife TV journalist Anuradha Menon(Mamta Mohan Das ) by way of work have locked horns with the Home Minister(Jagathy Sreekumar ) in connection with a case pertaining to sand mining in a coastal area. One fine day Sathyanathan pesters his boss to grant him leave for the next day as he being the local temple festival’s organizer wants to be there for the same. Reluctantly his boss grants the leave when Sathyanathan volunteers to work overtime for that day.
Having worked overtime Sathyanathan has to skip his regular train and take up another train at a later time. At the same time Nandan Menon is on the same train traveling to Guruvayoor (his wife Anuradha is part of a press team covering the minister’s press meet in Kottayam). A disturbing series of events unfold and the rest of the movie is all about what happens in the course of the next 24 hours or so. The lives of all the main characters in the story get intertwined. As far as the concept goes it’s not earth shaking but certainly better than the run of the mill stuff seen regularly these days.
In terms of casting again I think Ranjith Shankar has got it fairly right. Who better than Sreenivasan to play the common man? And kudos to Dileep for having accepted a role which is more of a second fiddle ( this is why I guess the thanks was mentioned for his fans- maybe for seeking their support ) and for a change it’s good to see Mamta in a non glamorous role. Though it’s become routine to see politicians as villains in Malayalam cinema, but still it’s refreshing to see the extremely talented Jagathy Sreekumar essaying the role over here.
The movie has managed to get a lot of nuances correct as seen in Kerala on a daily basis. For example in spite of attractions like T.V and cinema you still have a lot of people craving for the temple festivals, in most Malayalee homes you would find an elderly person typically watching an ‘Idea Star Singer’ or ‘Devi Mahatmyam’ on Asianet in the primetime slots on T.V leaving the others at home with no choice if you do not have a second T.V at home. The ending of the movie again is something that leaves you with a smile. And at a running time of just less than 2 hours, the length of the movie is just about right surprisingly.
But all said and done the movie still is not a path-breaker and is nowhere close to being called a great movie. There are a lot of loopholes in the script and sometimes you even question the validity of some events in the movie. But all said and done considering that it’s the first effort of Ranjith Shankar as writer-director and for having tried something different, the effort needs to be highlighted. I only hope that Ranjith and the other film makers only look to go beyond Passenger and come up with even better movies rather than stagnating over here. Malayalam cinema needs a revival, a revival that’s long overdue. Till that happens I have to keep re-visiting some of the good films of the 80’s and 90’s or keep hoping with every ‘Passenger’ that things are about to improve.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/passenger-a-tale-of-trains-scams-and-the-common-man/
My Chennai Cinema Diary
Well as work beckoned, I was back in Chennai for a short visit of 3 days, incidentally my 2nd visit in less than 2 weeks time. Chennai has more than been home to me and so always has a special place in my heart. This visit was extra special because I ended up watching 3 movies on the big screen all in a span of 24 hours. It was back to my old days of glory and the feeling was accentuated since I saw the movies in Sathyam Cinemas, which is virtually my 2nd home in Chennai.
Considering that the last 2 months have been fairly drought prone in terms of movies, what with the strike in Bollywood (now finally called off) and hardly any major Hollywood release too, it was mainly regional cinema that kept me busy. So it was all the more interesting that I was watching a Hindi movie and 2 Hollywood movies one after the other after quite some time. And adding to all this was the fact that I genuinely enjoyed 2 out of those 3 movies, so without too much of a prologue, let me get into the details.
Thursday, 4th June,’09- 3.45 P.M show at Studio-5 (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie-99
No one could have asked for a better way to capitalize on getting free so early on a working day. I was there with an industry friend to watch 99 again. Another friend, also from the industry was supposed to join in, but couldn’t make it due to some work. While I had asked my friend to get the tickets booked, my friend was slightly hesitant. His contention being that the movie was about to enter the 4th week and it was an afternoon show on a week day, so tickets should be easily available. But the scenario seemed to be completely different. Yes it was the smallest of the 6 screens in the multiplex but still it was a full house and hence very creditable for a movie on the 21st day of its release.Quite a few people among the audience were watching the movie for the 2nd time & most of the people seemed to be having a great time watching the movie. I think if the Bollywood strike has benefited anyone the most; it should definitely be the team of 99 as the movie certainly seems to be getting watched by a lot of people. I would not want to review the movie now as by now most of us know quite a lot about the movie. But yes I would definitely like to mention that by and large I was impressed with the casting choices. Of course I felt Vinod Khanna’s role had no meat and it could have been done by nearly anyone else. Kunal Khemu is a good actor and I would like to see him in more such movies than a Jai Veeru .
Soha Ali Khan,Cyrus, Boman Irani were all more than adequate. But I think Mahesh Manjrekar and Amit Mistry in particular rocked. I would really like to congratulate Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru and the entire team of 99 for not only have they been able to make a movie that’s entertaining yet made within a reasonable budget, they have also been able to bring in a lot of authenticity as seen by the way they have captured the years 1999-2000 in the movie. And considering that they have got the nuances of Mumbai and Delhi so well it becomes an even better spectacle to watch. There are so many wonderful moments in the film, that one always stays glued to the screen. Oh! Yes I do plan to catch the movie again probably sometime later this week.
Thursday, 4th June,’09- 7.00 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Angels and Demons
Based on the book of the same name by Dan Brown, this one is the filmy sequel to The Da Vinci Code (while the book is more of a prequel). While the book series and the previous movie have created enough controversy, this movie has also generated enough curiosity. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon in this movie directed by Ron Howard. Set within the Vatican, this movie is the archetype Hollywood masala movie. With its stock characters, some fair bit of intrigue, twists and turns and some rescue acts galore, this is a movie that will be lapped up by majority of the audience and the crowd at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) seemed to be no exception too. Thankfully the movie moves at a reasonable pace and is technically good (not a surprise for a film of this magnitude). All in all it was a movie I didn’t regret having watched, but not something that I’m proud of either.
After the movie was over I realized that there was a paid preview of Star Trek, later at night and being a Star Trek fan (Trekkie/Trekker), I was tempted to make it 3 movies in a row, but restrained myself as I already had taken tickets for the next day.
Friday, 5th June,’09- 10.15 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Star Trek
Ok this is a brand new installment of the franchise that I kind of grew up with. I still remember watching the T.V series on D.D as a kid and watching the movies those days. Oh! Yes I also remember reading the books/comics of the series when I was in school and so when I heard of the movie being made, I was naturally excited. When PFC had reviewed the movie after a sneak preview in the U.S sometime ago, my curiosity levels were raised and so there I was on the first day of its India release to watch it. First things first, the movie does not disappoint. For a lot of Star Trek fans, it’s like re-visiting the franchise as you are shown the origins of Kirk and Spock. And for most newcomers among the audience (majority of the people didn’t seem to be aware of the franchise) it was good that they got to understand the concept quite well. The actors have changed, some personality traits have changed but at heart the franchise remains the same.So there’s time-travel, black holes, Starfleet Academy, distant planets and more such things that the franchise had started to symbolize. And for all the original fans, one also gets to see Leonard Limoy (the original Spock) who reprises his role as the senior Spock in the movie. All in all, this is one adventure ( directed by J.J.Abrams )that’s lovely to experience. I’m now looking forward to the next movie in the series.
Finally before I left from Chennai for a short vacation to Kerala, I was almost set to watch another movie- the Malayalam hit, Passenger. But due to shortage of time, I had to cancel the plan and looked forward to watching it in Kerala instead. So coming up next is my Kerala Cinema Diary.
Note- This was written a few days ago and was to be posted over last weekend. Now at the time of posting this I have already watched 99 once more. Viva cinema!!!
P.S- Originally posted in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/my-chennai-cinema-diary/
Considering that the last 2 months have been fairly drought prone in terms of movies, what with the strike in Bollywood (now finally called off) and hardly any major Hollywood release too, it was mainly regional cinema that kept me busy. So it was all the more interesting that I was watching a Hindi movie and 2 Hollywood movies one after the other after quite some time. And adding to all this was the fact that I genuinely enjoyed 2 out of those 3 movies, so without too much of a prologue, let me get into the details.
Thursday, 4th June,’09- 3.45 P.M show at Studio-5 (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie-99
No one could have asked for a better way to capitalize on getting free so early on a working day. I was there with an industry friend to watch 99 again. Another friend, also from the industry was supposed to join in, but couldn’t make it due to some work. While I had asked my friend to get the tickets booked, my friend was slightly hesitant. His contention being that the movie was about to enter the 4th week and it was an afternoon show on a week day, so tickets should be easily available. But the scenario seemed to be completely different. Yes it was the smallest of the 6 screens in the multiplex but still it was a full house and hence very creditable for a movie on the 21st day of its release.Quite a few people among the audience were watching the movie for the 2nd time & most of the people seemed to be having a great time watching the movie. I think if the Bollywood strike has benefited anyone the most; it should definitely be the team of 99 as the movie certainly seems to be getting watched by a lot of people. I would not want to review the movie now as by now most of us know quite a lot about the movie. But yes I would definitely like to mention that by and large I was impressed with the casting choices. Of course I felt Vinod Khanna’s role had no meat and it could have been done by nearly anyone else. Kunal Khemu is a good actor and I would like to see him in more such movies than a Jai Veeru .
Soha Ali Khan,Cyrus, Boman Irani were all more than adequate. But I think Mahesh Manjrekar and Amit Mistry in particular rocked. I would really like to congratulate Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru and the entire team of 99 for not only have they been able to make a movie that’s entertaining yet made within a reasonable budget, they have also been able to bring in a lot of authenticity as seen by the way they have captured the years 1999-2000 in the movie. And considering that they have got the nuances of Mumbai and Delhi so well it becomes an even better spectacle to watch. There are so many wonderful moments in the film, that one always stays glued to the screen. Oh! Yes I do plan to catch the movie again probably sometime later this week.
Thursday, 4th June,’09- 7.00 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Angels and Demons
Based on the book of the same name by Dan Brown, this one is the filmy sequel to The Da Vinci Code (while the book is more of a prequel). While the book series and the previous movie have created enough controversy, this movie has also generated enough curiosity. Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon in this movie directed by Ron Howard. Set within the Vatican, this movie is the archetype Hollywood masala movie. With its stock characters, some fair bit of intrigue, twists and turns and some rescue acts galore, this is a movie that will be lapped up by majority of the audience and the crowd at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) seemed to be no exception too. Thankfully the movie moves at a reasonable pace and is technically good (not a surprise for a film of this magnitude). All in all it was a movie I didn’t regret having watched, but not something that I’m proud of either.
After the movie was over I realized that there was a paid preview of Star Trek, later at night and being a Star Trek fan (Trekkie/Trekker), I was tempted to make it 3 movies in a row, but restrained myself as I already had taken tickets for the next day.
Friday, 5th June,’09- 10.15 P.M show at Santham (Sathyam Cinemas) – Movie- Star Trek
Ok this is a brand new installment of the franchise that I kind of grew up with. I still remember watching the T.V series on D.D as a kid and watching the movies those days. Oh! Yes I also remember reading the books/comics of the series when I was in school and so when I heard of the movie being made, I was naturally excited. When PFC had reviewed the movie after a sneak preview in the U.S sometime ago, my curiosity levels were raised and so there I was on the first day of its India release to watch it. First things first, the movie does not disappoint. For a lot of Star Trek fans, it’s like re-visiting the franchise as you are shown the origins of Kirk and Spock. And for most newcomers among the audience (majority of the people didn’t seem to be aware of the franchise) it was good that they got to understand the concept quite well. The actors have changed, some personality traits have changed but at heart the franchise remains the same.So there’s time-travel, black holes, Starfleet Academy, distant planets and more such things that the franchise had started to symbolize. And for all the original fans, one also gets to see Leonard Limoy (the original Spock) who reprises his role as the senior Spock in the movie. All in all, this is one adventure ( directed by J.J.Abrams )that’s lovely to experience. I’m now looking forward to the next movie in the series.
Finally before I left from Chennai for a short vacation to Kerala, I was almost set to watch another movie- the Malayalam hit, Passenger. But due to shortage of time, I had to cancel the plan and looked forward to watching it in Kerala instead. So coming up next is my Kerala Cinema Diary.
Note- This was written a few days ago and was to be posted over last weekend. Now at the time of posting this I have already watched 99 once more. Viva cinema!!!
P.S- Originally posted in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/my-chennai-cinema-diary/
Yaari Hai Imaan Mera, Yaar Meri Zindagi- Friendship as depicted in Bollywood Films
On behalf of Ashwin I dedicate this post to Vrushali, who according to Ashwin is the best friend in the world.
Friendship is an integral part of our emotions and friends occupy an important part of our lives. In some cases friends often are given the same status as that of family members when it comes to certain crunch situations. For someone who has been brought up over a staple diet of Bollywood movies, friendship as depicted in these films has always fascinated me. This post is a simple attempt to illustrate how friendship is shown in Hindi films and mention a few movies in particular for they way they have gone about illustrating the same. And of course in my own small way I wish to thank a lot many people for, their friendship has certainly been quite valuable to me.
In the earlier days (at least in the 50’s and 60’s) life was considered to be a lot simpler than it is now. There were lesser complications that existed in those days. But even then friendship could take different dimensions as shown in 2 well known movies, both of which incidentally released in the same year- 1964. The films in question being Dosti and Sangam. Dosti was an ideal example for the fact that not all films need big stars to succeed. In fact the movie starred a couple of relatively new actors in the main lead- Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar as a blind boy and a cripple respectively. It was a movie which was basically based on the friendship between these two boys who roam the streets of Bombay (as it was known then) singing songs and earning their livelihood. One of the biggest strengths of the movie apart from the very natural performances of the 2 male leads was the melodious music given by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, one of their earliest successful films.
While every song was a gem (Rahi manwa dukh ki chinta, chahoonga main tujhe shaam savere and many more) the song in particular which probably epitomizes friendship is“Koi jab raah na paaye, mere sang aaye, ke pag pag deep jalaye, meri dosti ,mera pyar”.Such is the intensity of the song that it leaves you completely at peace. Friendship as shown in Dosti is truly divine. Moving on to Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, well the movie was about 3 childhood friends played by Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar & Vyjayantimala. It won’t require any special insight to know that the story turns out to a romantic triangle. It was a movie which placed a lot of emphasis on male bonding and tried to distinguish between the thin line between friendship and love. It also showed how love could result in anguish for someone. This was again a musical with Shankar-Jaikishan in brilliant form with scores like Yeh mera prem part padh kar,Mere man ki Ganga, Main kya karun Ram mujhe budda mil gaya and many more but the anguish & pain in friendship and love is aptly described in this song-
“Dost dost na raha, pyaar pyaar naa rahaZindagi hamein tera, aitbaar na raha, aitbaar na raha”
In the year 1973 a sensation happened. Prakash Mehra came out with his Zanjeer with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. The movie went on to become a path breaker in many ways. It was the first blockbuster in the career of AB, it paved the way for a long relationship between Prakash Mehra, AB & the writer jodi of Salim-Javed and of course the ‘angry young man’ persona which AB went on to successfully symbolize in movie after movie started off with this movie. But amidst all this the element of friendship is also something that the film focused upon. And here the friendship was special- it was the friendship between a cop and a criminal (Pran) who is influenced by the cop and gets reformed. And therein begins the deep friendship between the two. The song“Yaari hai imaan mera, yaar meri zindagi” composed by Kalyanji-Anandji summarises the friendship in the best way possible.
Well,when we are talking about friendship in Hindi cinema, would it be prudent not to talk about Sholay? Jai and Veeru today are probably the best known friends in the entire history of Hindi cinema. Yes Sholay is a classic and probably everything that matters in the movie was a highlight, but certainly one of the biggest positives of the movie was the bonding between Jai and Veeru. Be it the early scenes in the jail when the jodi tries to have a blast in taking a dig a the jailor ( Asrani ) or in the scenes when Veeru is trying to woo Basanti ( Hema Malini )- there is an inherent sense of humour that is prevailing throughout the movie. The song “yeh dosti, hum nahin todenge,Todenge dum magar, tera saath na chhodenge” symbolizes the free spiritedness of their friendship the best. The Jai-Veeru bonding went on to even be an inspiration for the similar bonding of Govinda and Sanjay Dutt seen in movies like Haseena Maan Jaayegi,Jodi No.1 and Ek Aur Ek Gyarah.
When a film’s title is Dostana what else can the movie symbolize but friendship? Both the popular movies with this title, one a 1980 release and the other a recent 2008 release had a strong undercurrent of friendship running throughout the film. Let’s look at Dostana (1980) to begin with. This was a classic tale of friendship between Vijay (who else but Amitabh Bachchan ) and Ravi ( Shatrughan Sinha ) who are best friends in spite of their work getting into the way. Even when both fall in love with the same girl, Sheetal ( Zeenat Aman ) they still manage to retain their friendship with Vijay trying to sacrifice his love. But that’s when their friendship gets fractured on the basis of a misunderstanding created by the villain,Daaga ( Prem Chopra ). The movie was a resounding success and the music by Laxmikant- Pyarelal was certainly a big boost too. My pick of the lot among the songs is definitely –“Bane chahe dushman zamana hamara, salamat rahe dostana hamara”.
Well, in the 70’s and 80’s there were hundreds of Hindi films which stressed on the friendship angle, but in most cases the movie would again go on to become a romantic triangle and the exceptions would be limited to the odd movie like Khudgarz. Just when I thought the topic had almost lost its impact, there came a movie in 1994 which ushered in a fresh wave- Andaz Apna Apna .Amar ( Aamir Khan ) and Prem ( Salman Khan ) begin as rivals fighting to marry a rich heiress and wanting to become rich overnight. Due to turn of circumstances they join hands and then begins the mad comedy of errors. For the way the two characters are shown as fun loving, bumbling characters- the movie can be seen endlessly. There is always an underlying current of one-upmanship between the two and that was certainly refreshing.
There was a movie which came a few years before AAA and which tried to explore the angle of friendship between a boy and a girl. The movie was the trendsetting Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) which along with QSQT is credited to have broken the trend of the mindless action movie of the 80’s. Here the two friends are Prem (Salman Khan) and Suman (Bhagyashree ) who try to portray that after all friendship can exist between a boy and a girl too. The innocence shows in the form of symbols like the ‘friend’ cap which went on to became a rage across the country. But of course all good things come to an end. This was after all a romantic film and yes the situations eventually lead to them falling in love with each other. Nearly a decade later (1998) the angle was explored again in Karan Johar’s directorial debut ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ as you had Kajol and SRK playing best friends.Of course friendship eventually turns to love here too.
If there was ever a movie to symbolize friendship between 2 women I would probably think of movies like ‘Dor’ and ‘Filhaal’. In case of Filhaal the story tackles the emotions running through the friendship between 2 childhood friends Rewa ( Tabu ) and Sia ( Sushmita Sen ) and brings in the element of surrogate motherhood between the 2 friends. Dor on the other hand is a sensitive portrayal of friendship between 2 women( Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia )of completely different spectrums yet who go on to share a bond- of friendship, that is extremely genuine.
The coming of age when it applies to human emotions and portrayal of friendship, can be seen in the form of Dostana (2008). Here Kunal (John Abraham ) and Sameer ( Abhishek Bachchan ) pretend to be gays to share an apartment with Neha ( Priyanka Chopra ). Though predictably both of them fall in love with Neha and try their level best to spoil her relationship with Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol ), they do end up realizing ultimately that the friendship between the three of them is what matters the most. Probably the best thing that Bobby Deol does in the entire movie is to tell Priyanka in the climax that the 2 of them (John-Abhishek) are truly her best friends.
Duniya Dilwalon Ki (1996- Kadhal Desam in Tamil) takes a slightly unconventional look at friendship again. Both Vineet and Abbas who are best friends are in love with the same girl –Tabu. When it becomes clear to her that both her friends are in love with her, she decides to give predominance to friendship over love and choses to remain friends with both of them forever rather than marrying one of them and losing a good friend in the bargain.
Well, talking about friendship and while discussing current trends how can I not talk about OLLO (Oye Lucky Lucky Oye). OLLO brings a fresh and unconventional approach to friendship. Lucky (Abhay Deol ) the protagonist and Bangali ( Manu Rishi ) are childhood friends who become partners in crime as well. Theirs is a typical tale of friendship as they do most of things in tandem, just when it looks like a regular tale of friendship there occurs a chilling betrayal and the friendship crumbles in a heap. This is a very contemporary take on friendship. As we are all aware life has got a lot more complicated in the recent past and to see such an event happening is but fairly natural.
And maybe another movie which I must mention here is Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gulaal’. I felt that the friendship portrayed between Ransa ( Abhimanyu Singh ) and Dileep Singh ( Raj Singh Chaudhary ) was impressive enough for the simple reason that it clearly shows how a bold and colorful personality can influence an otherwise mild mannered person.
This was not a comprehensive list of Hindi movies which explored friendship. Rather I have gone on to just look at a sample list of a few films all of which look at facets of friendship different from each other. I would certainly like to know which are your favorite Hindi movies depicting friendship and your take on the movies mentioned here by me.
P.S- originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/yaari-hai-imaan-mera-yaar-meri-zindagi-friendship-as-depicted-in-bollywood-films/
Friendship is an integral part of our emotions and friends occupy an important part of our lives. In some cases friends often are given the same status as that of family members when it comes to certain crunch situations. For someone who has been brought up over a staple diet of Bollywood movies, friendship as depicted in these films has always fascinated me. This post is a simple attempt to illustrate how friendship is shown in Hindi films and mention a few movies in particular for they way they have gone about illustrating the same. And of course in my own small way I wish to thank a lot many people for, their friendship has certainly been quite valuable to me.
In the earlier days (at least in the 50’s and 60’s) life was considered to be a lot simpler than it is now. There were lesser complications that existed in those days. But even then friendship could take different dimensions as shown in 2 well known movies, both of which incidentally released in the same year- 1964. The films in question being Dosti and Sangam. Dosti was an ideal example for the fact that not all films need big stars to succeed. In fact the movie starred a couple of relatively new actors in the main lead- Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar as a blind boy and a cripple respectively. It was a movie which was basically based on the friendship between these two boys who roam the streets of Bombay (as it was known then) singing songs and earning their livelihood. One of the biggest strengths of the movie apart from the very natural performances of the 2 male leads was the melodious music given by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, one of their earliest successful films.
While every song was a gem (Rahi manwa dukh ki chinta, chahoonga main tujhe shaam savere and many more) the song in particular which probably epitomizes friendship is“Koi jab raah na paaye, mere sang aaye, ke pag pag deep jalaye, meri dosti ,mera pyar”.Such is the intensity of the song that it leaves you completely at peace. Friendship as shown in Dosti is truly divine. Moving on to Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, well the movie was about 3 childhood friends played by Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar & Vyjayantimala. It won’t require any special insight to know that the story turns out to a romantic triangle. It was a movie which placed a lot of emphasis on male bonding and tried to distinguish between the thin line between friendship and love. It also showed how love could result in anguish for someone. This was again a musical with Shankar-Jaikishan in brilliant form with scores like Yeh mera prem part padh kar,Mere man ki Ganga, Main kya karun Ram mujhe budda mil gaya and many more but the anguish & pain in friendship and love is aptly described in this song-
“Dost dost na raha, pyaar pyaar naa rahaZindagi hamein tera, aitbaar na raha, aitbaar na raha”
In the year 1973 a sensation happened. Prakash Mehra came out with his Zanjeer with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. The movie went on to become a path breaker in many ways. It was the first blockbuster in the career of AB, it paved the way for a long relationship between Prakash Mehra, AB & the writer jodi of Salim-Javed and of course the ‘angry young man’ persona which AB went on to successfully symbolize in movie after movie started off with this movie. But amidst all this the element of friendship is also something that the film focused upon. And here the friendship was special- it was the friendship between a cop and a criminal (Pran) who is influenced by the cop and gets reformed. And therein begins the deep friendship between the two. The song“Yaari hai imaan mera, yaar meri zindagi” composed by Kalyanji-Anandji summarises the friendship in the best way possible.
Well,when we are talking about friendship in Hindi cinema, would it be prudent not to talk about Sholay? Jai and Veeru today are probably the best known friends in the entire history of Hindi cinema. Yes Sholay is a classic and probably everything that matters in the movie was a highlight, but certainly one of the biggest positives of the movie was the bonding between Jai and Veeru. Be it the early scenes in the jail when the jodi tries to have a blast in taking a dig a the jailor ( Asrani ) or in the scenes when Veeru is trying to woo Basanti ( Hema Malini )- there is an inherent sense of humour that is prevailing throughout the movie. The song “yeh dosti, hum nahin todenge,Todenge dum magar, tera saath na chhodenge” symbolizes the free spiritedness of their friendship the best. The Jai-Veeru bonding went on to even be an inspiration for the similar bonding of Govinda and Sanjay Dutt seen in movies like Haseena Maan Jaayegi,Jodi No.1 and Ek Aur Ek Gyarah.
When a film’s title is Dostana what else can the movie symbolize but friendship? Both the popular movies with this title, one a 1980 release and the other a recent 2008 release had a strong undercurrent of friendship running throughout the film. Let’s look at Dostana (1980) to begin with. This was a classic tale of friendship between Vijay (who else but Amitabh Bachchan ) and Ravi ( Shatrughan Sinha ) who are best friends in spite of their work getting into the way. Even when both fall in love with the same girl, Sheetal ( Zeenat Aman ) they still manage to retain their friendship with Vijay trying to sacrifice his love. But that’s when their friendship gets fractured on the basis of a misunderstanding created by the villain,Daaga ( Prem Chopra ). The movie was a resounding success and the music by Laxmikant- Pyarelal was certainly a big boost too. My pick of the lot among the songs is definitely –“Bane chahe dushman zamana hamara, salamat rahe dostana hamara”.
Well, in the 70’s and 80’s there were hundreds of Hindi films which stressed on the friendship angle, but in most cases the movie would again go on to become a romantic triangle and the exceptions would be limited to the odd movie like Khudgarz. Just when I thought the topic had almost lost its impact, there came a movie in 1994 which ushered in a fresh wave- Andaz Apna Apna .Amar ( Aamir Khan ) and Prem ( Salman Khan ) begin as rivals fighting to marry a rich heiress and wanting to become rich overnight. Due to turn of circumstances they join hands and then begins the mad comedy of errors. For the way the two characters are shown as fun loving, bumbling characters- the movie can be seen endlessly. There is always an underlying current of one-upmanship between the two and that was certainly refreshing.
There was a movie which came a few years before AAA and which tried to explore the angle of friendship between a boy and a girl. The movie was the trendsetting Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) which along with QSQT is credited to have broken the trend of the mindless action movie of the 80’s. Here the two friends are Prem (Salman Khan) and Suman (Bhagyashree ) who try to portray that after all friendship can exist between a boy and a girl too. The innocence shows in the form of symbols like the ‘friend’ cap which went on to became a rage across the country. But of course all good things come to an end. This was after all a romantic film and yes the situations eventually lead to them falling in love with each other. Nearly a decade later (1998) the angle was explored again in Karan Johar’s directorial debut ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ as you had Kajol and SRK playing best friends.Of course friendship eventually turns to love here too.
If there was ever a movie to symbolize friendship between 2 women I would probably think of movies like ‘Dor’ and ‘Filhaal’. In case of Filhaal the story tackles the emotions running through the friendship between 2 childhood friends Rewa ( Tabu ) and Sia ( Sushmita Sen ) and brings in the element of surrogate motherhood between the 2 friends. Dor on the other hand is a sensitive portrayal of friendship between 2 women( Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia )of completely different spectrums yet who go on to share a bond- of friendship, that is extremely genuine.
The coming of age when it applies to human emotions and portrayal of friendship, can be seen in the form of Dostana (2008). Here Kunal (John Abraham ) and Sameer ( Abhishek Bachchan ) pretend to be gays to share an apartment with Neha ( Priyanka Chopra ). Though predictably both of them fall in love with Neha and try their level best to spoil her relationship with Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol ), they do end up realizing ultimately that the friendship between the three of them is what matters the most. Probably the best thing that Bobby Deol does in the entire movie is to tell Priyanka in the climax that the 2 of them (John-Abhishek) are truly her best friends.
Duniya Dilwalon Ki (1996- Kadhal Desam in Tamil) takes a slightly unconventional look at friendship again. Both Vineet and Abbas who are best friends are in love with the same girl –Tabu. When it becomes clear to her that both her friends are in love with her, she decides to give predominance to friendship over love and choses to remain friends with both of them forever rather than marrying one of them and losing a good friend in the bargain.
Well, talking about friendship and while discussing current trends how can I not talk about OLLO (Oye Lucky Lucky Oye). OLLO brings a fresh and unconventional approach to friendship. Lucky (Abhay Deol ) the protagonist and Bangali ( Manu Rishi ) are childhood friends who become partners in crime as well. Theirs is a typical tale of friendship as they do most of things in tandem, just when it looks like a regular tale of friendship there occurs a chilling betrayal and the friendship crumbles in a heap. This is a very contemporary take on friendship. As we are all aware life has got a lot more complicated in the recent past and to see such an event happening is but fairly natural.
And maybe another movie which I must mention here is Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gulaal’. I felt that the friendship portrayed between Ransa ( Abhimanyu Singh ) and Dileep Singh ( Raj Singh Chaudhary ) was impressive enough for the simple reason that it clearly shows how a bold and colorful personality can influence an otherwise mild mannered person.
This was not a comprehensive list of Hindi movies which explored friendship. Rather I have gone on to just look at a sample list of a few films all of which look at facets of friendship different from each other. I would certainly like to know which are your favorite Hindi movies depicting friendship and your take on the movies mentioned here by me.
P.S- originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/yaari-hai-imaan-mera-yaar-meri-zindagi-friendship-as-depicted-in-bollywood-films/
Chandrasekhar Yeleti undertakes a new ‘Prayanam’
A couple of years ago,on one fine morning, I was stranded in Bangalore’s HAL airport (or the old airport as we now describe it) for some 4-5 hours. The reason being my flight and most other flights were delayed due to fog condition and so I was caught unawares. Since the agenda was only a meeting with a retail chain towards lunch time, I was hoping to catch up on some other agenda’s and catch the evening flight and return back. You see those were the pre recession days and could easily fly short distances like Chennai-Bangalore and get back the same day too . Well I do miss those days I guess. Before you wonder if this post is going to be about my ramblings on recession, flying etc- let me clarify that it’s not what I have in mind. I just narrated this incident to tell you all how I wish I had at least known the story of Chandrasekhar Yeleti’s ( C.Y from hereon ) latest Telugu movie-‘Prayanam’ by that time.If that were so, who knows those few hours could have changed my life.
For those who have seen or heard of C.Y’s previous movies namely Aithe, Anukokunda Oku Roju (remade as Sunday in Hindi) and Okkadunnadu, it would surely come as a surprise to know that Yeleti this time has changed tracks and gone in for a lighthearted romantic film in the form of Prayanam. Before talking anything about the movie- I have a question to ask. What would any guy who has a lot of time to while away in an airport try to do? Well yes the normal responses would be reading, checking your mail/chatting, having endless cups of coffee/mugs of beer, talking with someone on the mobile etc. But would anyone among us think of falling in love and then ensuring that one tends to get successful in it?
Yeah! I’m sure most of us probably end up seeing a good looking girl and some of us probably even manage to talk to the girl and feel happy about it. But I repeat how many of us would use the few hours of time with us at the airport to fall in love with the girl and then try to woo her successfully? Not many, right? Well let me then go on to tell you what Prayanam is all about. The plot if I were to call it is all about a trio of friends – Dhruv (Manchu Manoj), Janardhan and Tamim who have just completed a sightseeing trip to Malaysia and are now at Kuala Lumpur’s International airport to fly over to Singapore. At the same time you have the female lead Harika (Payal Ghosh a.k.a Harika) along with her friend Kalpika who are also at the airport to catch a flight to Hyderabad.
Harika is about to meet a prospective bride groom in Hyderabad and that’s the reason for her travel. In truly filmy style Dhruv falls in love with Harika – a classic case of love at first sight. But our hero is somewhat different because he is not content by merely falling in love; he wants to successfully woo her too. And he has just 2 hours to go about in this task. How he goes about doing this is what the movie is all about. Now I’m sure even without seeing the movie it would be clear to almost everyone that the plot is extremely simple and does not carry any meat on its own. In such a case it becomes very important for the director to be very effective in ensuring that the proceedings on screen keep the viewer enthused throughout the duration of the film.
It is here that C.Y shows he is in complete control. By ensuring that the humour quotient is fairly high throughout the movie, he manages to keep the proceedings interesting enough till the end. In fact though it is a romantic film, I personally did not find anything extraordinary about the romance in the movie as such. But it is in the comedy scenes that C.Y completely excels and lifts the movie to a large extent. Also what is remarkable about the movie is that the movie is more or less shot in just one location (except the few scenes at the start) i.e. in the airport and there are just 5-6 characters in the movie. Also commendable is the fact that the comedy is never over the top. Brahmanandam as Satyanaryana Swamy is hilarious and the scenes that he has with Janardhan are certainly innovative.
Also interestingly the characters of Kalpika and Tamim have been well sketched and the scenes involving them are entertaining again. Manchu Manoj seems to be having a blast in this movie (after Nenu Meeku Telusa which was reasonably noticed) and he will surely be talked about with this movie. Harika/Payal Ghosh does not have much scope but is fairly decent. Music by Mahesh Shankar is fairly adequate and does not distract (just 3 songs in the movie). The animation in the opening titles and the first song (YYW) is quite interesting. All in all this is one ‘Prayanam’ which can be safely undertaken. Not outstanding cinema, but definitely entertaining enough.
P.S- By now you would have understood why I mentioned I wish I knew the story of Prayanam when I was stuck at Bangalore’s HAL airport. But on hindsight even if I had liked some girl then, with all the chaos that prevailed there on that day I doubt if I would have been successful enough like Manchu Manoj in the movie .
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/chandrasekhar-yeleti-undertakes-a-new-%e2%80%98prayanam%e2%80%99/
For those who have seen or heard of C.Y’s previous movies namely Aithe, Anukokunda Oku Roju (remade as Sunday in Hindi) and Okkadunnadu, it would surely come as a surprise to know that Yeleti this time has changed tracks and gone in for a lighthearted romantic film in the form of Prayanam. Before talking anything about the movie- I have a question to ask. What would any guy who has a lot of time to while away in an airport try to do? Well yes the normal responses would be reading, checking your mail/chatting, having endless cups of coffee/mugs of beer, talking with someone on the mobile etc. But would anyone among us think of falling in love and then ensuring that one tends to get successful in it?
Yeah! I’m sure most of us probably end up seeing a good looking girl and some of us probably even manage to talk to the girl and feel happy about it. But I repeat how many of us would use the few hours of time with us at the airport to fall in love with the girl and then try to woo her successfully? Not many, right? Well let me then go on to tell you what Prayanam is all about. The plot if I were to call it is all about a trio of friends – Dhruv (Manchu Manoj), Janardhan and Tamim who have just completed a sightseeing trip to Malaysia and are now at Kuala Lumpur’s International airport to fly over to Singapore. At the same time you have the female lead Harika (Payal Ghosh a.k.a Harika) along with her friend Kalpika who are also at the airport to catch a flight to Hyderabad.
Harika is about to meet a prospective bride groom in Hyderabad and that’s the reason for her travel. In truly filmy style Dhruv falls in love with Harika – a classic case of love at first sight. But our hero is somewhat different because he is not content by merely falling in love; he wants to successfully woo her too. And he has just 2 hours to go about in this task. How he goes about doing this is what the movie is all about. Now I’m sure even without seeing the movie it would be clear to almost everyone that the plot is extremely simple and does not carry any meat on its own. In such a case it becomes very important for the director to be very effective in ensuring that the proceedings on screen keep the viewer enthused throughout the duration of the film.
It is here that C.Y shows he is in complete control. By ensuring that the humour quotient is fairly high throughout the movie, he manages to keep the proceedings interesting enough till the end. In fact though it is a romantic film, I personally did not find anything extraordinary about the romance in the movie as such. But it is in the comedy scenes that C.Y completely excels and lifts the movie to a large extent. Also what is remarkable about the movie is that the movie is more or less shot in just one location (except the few scenes at the start) i.e. in the airport and there are just 5-6 characters in the movie. Also commendable is the fact that the comedy is never over the top. Brahmanandam as Satyanaryana Swamy is hilarious and the scenes that he has with Janardhan are certainly innovative.
Also interestingly the characters of Kalpika and Tamim have been well sketched and the scenes involving them are entertaining again. Manchu Manoj seems to be having a blast in this movie (after Nenu Meeku Telusa which was reasonably noticed) and he will surely be talked about with this movie. Harika/Payal Ghosh does not have much scope but is fairly decent. Music by Mahesh Shankar is fairly adequate and does not distract (just 3 songs in the movie). The animation in the opening titles and the first song (YYW) is quite interesting. All in all this is one ‘Prayanam’ which can be safely undertaken. Not outstanding cinema, but definitely entertaining enough.
P.S- By now you would have understood why I mentioned I wish I knew the story of Prayanam when I was stuck at Bangalore’s HAL airport. But on hindsight even if I had liked some girl then, with all the chaos that prevailed there on that day I doubt if I would have been successful enough like Manchu Manoj in the movie .
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/chandrasekhar-yeleti-undertakes-a-new-%e2%80%98prayanam%e2%80%99/
Sambhala Hai Maine,Bahut Apne Dil Ko- Revisiting Love Songs of the 90’s
Of late I keep going into a reflective mode often and look back in time and relive a lot of interesting memories. A few days ago I was discussing with a friend about a Tamil movie –‘Guru En Aalu’ which after lying in the cans for a while finally got released a few weeks ago. What’s interesting about the movie is that it is the Tamil remake of Yes Boss. The discussion once again made me go back in time to the 90’s and think of some of the romantic songs of the 90’s.Now the 90’s are very special to me for various reasons. The 90’s were when I was a teenager and also the time when I moved out of school and into college. Also it was the 90’s again (the later part) when I became a young adult. So the memories of this decade are very precious to me & since that was the time my heart really started fluttering, a lot of memories come alive when I listen to the numerous Bollywood love songs of the 90’s.
Taking a cue from my fellow author Tushar’s write –ups ( like this one- http://passionforcinema.com/hona-hai-to-ho-hi-jayega-of-lost-songs-ii/) I am going on my journey of revisiting some of my favorite songs ( mostly romantic ) of the 90’s.If anyone is expecting me to write on the standard songs from the blockbusters like DDLJ,Aashiqui,Saajan, DTPH etc, you are thoroughly mistaken. The endeavor is to revisit those songs which have been more or less forgotten by us. Most of these songs are from movies which probably were not box office successes. And these songs are most likely not to be seen/heard anywhere these days- not even in T.V (unless the movie is being played), but back in those days of the 90’s were quite popular in their own way. Most of these songs are confined to individual memories and one has to go back to the old audio cassette/C.D or the internet to hear these songs again.
1. Sambhala Hai Maine- Naaraaz
By the early/mid 90’s Mahesh Bhatt had kind of become obsessed more with the number of projects than the quality of work and this resulted in him doing a series of movies which didn’t do much justice to his filmography (barring exceptions like Zakhm of course).One such movie was Naaraaz a movie which had Mithunda,Pooja Bhaat,Atul Agnihotri & Sonali Bhendre in the lead. Though I do vaguely remember the plot and some scenes from the movie, nothing else has remained etched permanently in my memory like the song Sambhala Hai Maine from the movie. Picturised on Atul Agnihotri and Sonali Bhendre, this was romance at its expressive best. I certainly was envious of Atul Agnihotri when I saw the song for the first time. Not only was he romancing the pretty Sonali, he also got to sing such a beautiful song on screen- probably his best ever song in his entire career as a hero J
Check out the video and relive the magic, once again.
Trivia- Tadipaar is the only other movie apart from Naaraaz where Mahesh Bhatt and Mithun Chakraborty have worked together.
2. Utra Na Dil Mein Koi- Uff!Yeh Mohabbat
The movie introduced a new hero- Abhishek Kapoor ( now popular as the director of Rock On ) and a new director- Vipin Handa (who was popular for his T.V shows on D.D) and had an upcoming heroine- Twinkle Khanna. Somehow the promos seemed to look interesting and I remember having to literally force a female friend & her sister to accompany me for the movie because no one else wanted to accompany me. I was not at all disappointed with the movie. True there wasn’t a great story to boast of but the picturesque locales of Sikkim and the songs like Utra Na Dil Mein Koi and Deewani Deewani ( music by Nikhil-Vinay )more than made up for it. While Deewani Deewani is more likely to be remembered by people now for its brilliant Sufi rendition, Utra Na Dil Mein Koi is the one which sunk into my heart and the romantic in me was floored.
For those who haven’t seen/heard the song and for those who would like to revisit it, here is the video- do have a look and fall in love once again.
Vipinji- if you ever read this let me tell you once again that it is this movie which made me fall in love with Sikkim and prompted me to make 2-3 visits. I know I have told you this before, but cannot resist the opportunity to tell this once again.
3. Sawali Saloni- Hum Sab Chor Hain
Now when a movie has Kamal Sadanah and Ritu Shivpuri in the romantic lead (for those who do not know them, just forget itJ ), what more does one have to say? So while the movie did not grab any eye balls on release and is of course completely forgotten (rightly so today), there is this song- Sawli Saloni which was extremely popular in those days. Picturised on the lead pair on a fort/palace (don’t remember which one), this one again was a Kumar Sanu hit. Lyrics by Nawab Aarzoo were perfectly in sync with the music of Bappi Lahari for the song.
For all those interested in a revisit given below is the video.
4. Hum lakh chupaya pyar magar- Jaan Tere Naam
Now this is a movie most of us are aware of. The songs were quite popular when the movie released and used to be a major draw on ‘Chitrahaar’ on D.D. Starring Rohit Roy & Farheen in the main lead, the music was by Nadeem-Shravan who were literally ruling the roost in the 90’s. Most of the other songs are also popular like Kal college bandh ho jaayega, main tumse juda ho jaunga, yeh akka India jaanta hai etc. But when it comes to love songs nothing really surpasses Hum lakh chupaye pyar magar sung by Kumar Sanu & Asha Bhonsle.
6. Resham Jaise Hain Rahein- Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan
I vividly remember watching the promos of this movie in T.V in 1997. The movie was supposed to be the launch vehicle of Isha Koppikar and had Inder Kumar and Arbaaz Ali Khan (seen later in Mrityudaata as Amitabh Bachchan’s younger brother). The music was by Anand Raj Anand whose first movie as composer – Masoom had just released some time before this. Abhijeet was in his element while singing this and you can feel the free spirit in the mood of the song when you listen to it. The opening lines of the song are very simple, yet makes you want to hum it to yourself (I do it often).
“Resham Jaisi Hain Rahein,Kholein Hain Bahein ,Ye Vaadiyaan Mausam Saare Hain Apne,Rangeen Sapne,Hain Maherbaan Yoon Hi Gayenge Milke ,Hum Geet Dil Ke ,Sadiyon Yahan”
I don’t know if the movie ever got released and have not yet been successful in my search for the actual video of the song. I guess I have to depend upon my old audio cassette when I want to hear this once again.
7. Aake Teri Baahon Mein- Vansh
Vansh was the Hindi remake of Manirathnam’s popular Tamil movie- Agninatchathiram. This was a movie noticed mainly due to the music of Anand-Milind. Most of the songs like Main to deewani huyi, yeh bindiya yeh kangna, etc were also quite popular. But when it comes to the turn of having a pleasant romantic track which makes you forget about the visual and just sit back and relax, one can definitely slot ‘ Aake teri baahon mein’ in this category. With veterans like S.P.Balasubramaniam and Lata Mangeshkar singing to the lyrics of Sameer ( who was having a golden run at that time as he was the busiest lyrics writer in Bollywood then ), the song is a virtual treat to the ears.
Trivia- Vansh was directed by Pappu Verma more popular as an action director. And of the main cast, Sudesh Berry and Siddharth can be still seen occasionally while the leading ladies Ekta and Priyanka have disappeared.
8. Chand se parda kijiye- Aao Pyar Karen
This was a Saif Ali Khan,Shilpa Shetty,Somy Ali starrer and was one of the early films for the main star cast. Music was composed by the then relatively new composer- Adesh Shrivastav. In combination with Shyam Raj (lyrics) Adesh composed some good songs like Haathon mein aagaya jo kal, Jab do dil milte hain, etc. But there’s something remarkable about this song –
“Chand se parda kijiye” which in spite of being a party song certainly has soul and is extremely romantic at the core.
Do check out the video once again to revive the memory once again.
Trivia- Directed by Ravindra Peepat,Aao Pyar Karein was a remake of a Tamil movie, Chemabaruthi directed by R.K.Selvamani & starring Prashant & Roja.
The list is not exhaustive and these are just some of my top of the mind recall songs in this category. Given below are a few more songs which I feel belong to this category-
Bin tere sanam- Yaara Dildaara
Man chahe sanam- Aar Ya Paar
Tu jab jab mujhko pukare- Qurbaan
Ek chanchal shokh haseena- Baaghi
Aankhon se dil mein utarke tu mere dhadkan mein hain- Fareb
Chaha to bahut na chahen tujhe- Imtihaan
Tu mile dil khile- Criminal
Feel free to add more songs which you believe fall under this category and let’s relive the 90’s once again.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/sambhala-hai-mainebahut-apne-dil-ko-revisiting-love-songs-of-the-90%e2%80%99s/
Taking a cue from my fellow author Tushar’s write –ups ( like this one- http://passionforcinema.com/hona-hai-to-ho-hi-jayega-of-lost-songs-ii/) I am going on my journey of revisiting some of my favorite songs ( mostly romantic ) of the 90’s.If anyone is expecting me to write on the standard songs from the blockbusters like DDLJ,Aashiqui,Saajan, DTPH etc, you are thoroughly mistaken. The endeavor is to revisit those songs which have been more or less forgotten by us. Most of these songs are from movies which probably were not box office successes. And these songs are most likely not to be seen/heard anywhere these days- not even in T.V (unless the movie is being played), but back in those days of the 90’s were quite popular in their own way. Most of these songs are confined to individual memories and one has to go back to the old audio cassette/C.D or the internet to hear these songs again.
1. Sambhala Hai Maine- Naaraaz
By the early/mid 90’s Mahesh Bhatt had kind of become obsessed more with the number of projects than the quality of work and this resulted in him doing a series of movies which didn’t do much justice to his filmography (barring exceptions like Zakhm of course).One such movie was Naaraaz a movie which had Mithunda,Pooja Bhaat,Atul Agnihotri & Sonali Bhendre in the lead. Though I do vaguely remember the plot and some scenes from the movie, nothing else has remained etched permanently in my memory like the song Sambhala Hai Maine from the movie. Picturised on Atul Agnihotri and Sonali Bhendre, this was romance at its expressive best. I certainly was envious of Atul Agnihotri when I saw the song for the first time. Not only was he romancing the pretty Sonali, he also got to sing such a beautiful song on screen- probably his best ever song in his entire career as a hero J
Check out the video and relive the magic, once again.
Trivia- Tadipaar is the only other movie apart from Naaraaz where Mahesh Bhatt and Mithun Chakraborty have worked together.
2. Utra Na Dil Mein Koi- Uff!Yeh Mohabbat
The movie introduced a new hero- Abhishek Kapoor ( now popular as the director of Rock On ) and a new director- Vipin Handa (who was popular for his T.V shows on D.D) and had an upcoming heroine- Twinkle Khanna. Somehow the promos seemed to look interesting and I remember having to literally force a female friend & her sister to accompany me for the movie because no one else wanted to accompany me. I was not at all disappointed with the movie. True there wasn’t a great story to boast of but the picturesque locales of Sikkim and the songs like Utra Na Dil Mein Koi and Deewani Deewani ( music by Nikhil-Vinay )more than made up for it. While Deewani Deewani is more likely to be remembered by people now for its brilliant Sufi rendition, Utra Na Dil Mein Koi is the one which sunk into my heart and the romantic in me was floored.
For those who haven’t seen/heard the song and for those who would like to revisit it, here is the video- do have a look and fall in love once again.
Vipinji- if you ever read this let me tell you once again that it is this movie which made me fall in love with Sikkim and prompted me to make 2-3 visits. I know I have told you this before, but cannot resist the opportunity to tell this once again.
3. Sawali Saloni- Hum Sab Chor Hain
Now when a movie has Kamal Sadanah and Ritu Shivpuri in the romantic lead (for those who do not know them, just forget itJ ), what more does one have to say? So while the movie did not grab any eye balls on release and is of course completely forgotten (rightly so today), there is this song- Sawli Saloni which was extremely popular in those days. Picturised on the lead pair on a fort/palace (don’t remember which one), this one again was a Kumar Sanu hit. Lyrics by Nawab Aarzoo were perfectly in sync with the music of Bappi Lahari for the song.
For all those interested in a revisit given below is the video.
4. Hum lakh chupaya pyar magar- Jaan Tere Naam
Now this is a movie most of us are aware of. The songs were quite popular when the movie released and used to be a major draw on ‘Chitrahaar’ on D.D. Starring Rohit Roy & Farheen in the main lead, the music was by Nadeem-Shravan who were literally ruling the roost in the 90’s. Most of the other songs are also popular like Kal college bandh ho jaayega, main tumse juda ho jaunga, yeh akka India jaanta hai etc. But when it comes to love songs nothing really surpasses Hum lakh chupaye pyar magar sung by Kumar Sanu & Asha Bhonsle.
6. Resham Jaise Hain Rahein- Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan
I vividly remember watching the promos of this movie in T.V in 1997. The movie was supposed to be the launch vehicle of Isha Koppikar and had Inder Kumar and Arbaaz Ali Khan (seen later in Mrityudaata as Amitabh Bachchan’s younger brother). The music was by Anand Raj Anand whose first movie as composer – Masoom had just released some time before this. Abhijeet was in his element while singing this and you can feel the free spirit in the mood of the song when you listen to it. The opening lines of the song are very simple, yet makes you want to hum it to yourself (I do it often).
“Resham Jaisi Hain Rahein,Kholein Hain Bahein ,Ye Vaadiyaan Mausam Saare Hain Apne,Rangeen Sapne,Hain Maherbaan Yoon Hi Gayenge Milke ,Hum Geet Dil Ke ,Sadiyon Yahan”
I don’t know if the movie ever got released and have not yet been successful in my search for the actual video of the song. I guess I have to depend upon my old audio cassette when I want to hear this once again.
7. Aake Teri Baahon Mein- Vansh
Vansh was the Hindi remake of Manirathnam’s popular Tamil movie- Agninatchathiram. This was a movie noticed mainly due to the music of Anand-Milind. Most of the songs like Main to deewani huyi, yeh bindiya yeh kangna, etc were also quite popular. But when it comes to the turn of having a pleasant romantic track which makes you forget about the visual and just sit back and relax, one can definitely slot ‘ Aake teri baahon mein’ in this category. With veterans like S.P.Balasubramaniam and Lata Mangeshkar singing to the lyrics of Sameer ( who was having a golden run at that time as he was the busiest lyrics writer in Bollywood then ), the song is a virtual treat to the ears.
Trivia- Vansh was directed by Pappu Verma more popular as an action director. And of the main cast, Sudesh Berry and Siddharth can be still seen occasionally while the leading ladies Ekta and Priyanka have disappeared.
8. Chand se parda kijiye- Aao Pyar Karen
This was a Saif Ali Khan,Shilpa Shetty,Somy Ali starrer and was one of the early films for the main star cast. Music was composed by the then relatively new composer- Adesh Shrivastav. In combination with Shyam Raj (lyrics) Adesh composed some good songs like Haathon mein aagaya jo kal, Jab do dil milte hain, etc. But there’s something remarkable about this song –
“Chand se parda kijiye” which in spite of being a party song certainly has soul and is extremely romantic at the core.
Do check out the video once again to revive the memory once again.
Trivia- Directed by Ravindra Peepat,Aao Pyar Karein was a remake of a Tamil movie, Chemabaruthi directed by R.K.Selvamani & starring Prashant & Roja.
The list is not exhaustive and these are just some of my top of the mind recall songs in this category. Given below are a few more songs which I feel belong to this category-
Bin tere sanam- Yaara Dildaara
Man chahe sanam- Aar Ya Paar
Tu jab jab mujhko pukare- Qurbaan
Ek chanchal shokh haseena- Baaghi
Aankhon se dil mein utarke tu mere dhadkan mein hain- Fareb
Chaha to bahut na chahen tujhe- Imtihaan
Tu mile dil khile- Criminal
Feel free to add more songs which you believe fall under this category and let’s relive the 90’s once again.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/sambhala-hai-mainebahut-apne-dil-ko-revisiting-love-songs-of-the-90%e2%80%99s/
Pasanga- for the child in each one of us
All of us have been kids at some point of time. We have all had our moments of glory, moments of frustration, moments of success, moments of failures etc during our childhood. And barring certain exceptions I’m sure most of us look back with great satisfaction and happiness when we reminisce over our childhood days. Now haven’t many of us wanted to be an actor, a policeman, a doctor and many other things when were kids in school? Most of us would keep changing our desired profession of interest from time to time based on the current flavour. Like if I saw a movie where the hero ( mostly Amitabh Bachchan )was a cop then I spent the next few days imagining that I’m a cop. When I saw Ravi Shastri win his Audi car & get the Champion of Champion title when India won the World Championship Series in 1985, I wanted to be a cricketer. There was even a lovely ad ( Aviva life insurance ) featuring a kid,his father and Sachin Tendulkar which highlighted this aspect creatively.
While I’m talking about childhood & associated stuff can I avoid talking about children’s films? A very common complaint that we keep hearing is that children’s films as a genre has not really taken off within the mainstream cinema of India. While we have been watching movies like the Home Alone series, Baby’s Day Out, numerous animation movies, films of Majid Majidi etc and admiring them, children’s movies as a genre within the spectrum of mainstream Indian cinema has seen just the odd Masoom,Makdee,Hanuman or a Taare Zameen Par. A wonderful effort like Santosh Sivan’s Tahaan went literally unnoticed. Amidst this backdrop here comes a Tamil film called Pasanga which clearly defies all conventions and is surely a trendsetter of sorts.
Pasanga has no stars (unlike Aamir in TZP) and is not too preachy. In recent times Tamil films have seen some wonderful natural depiction of childhood in movies like Veyyil,Autograph,Azhagi, Poo etc but the difference between these films and Pasanga lies in the fact that in these films the childhood segment is only a part of the film & the kids go on to grow up and the tempo of the movie shifts to a different gear. Here in Pasanga there is a scene when one of the 4 main kids – Anbukarasu while introducing his family members to the audience cheekily says – “you might be mistaken if you feel my uncle is the hero of the family, but no I’m the actual hero and I don’t grow up till the movie is over”.
Debutant director- Pandiraj has literally relived his childhood by shooting the movie in his native village of Virachilai ( near Pudukottai ). The story begins with cheeky introductions of ‘the brat gang’ of Jeeva ( Sriram), Pakkada ( Pandian ) and Kuttymani( Murugesh ) – class 6 students,who are the troublemakers and the feared lot in school. In comes Anbukarasu I.A.S ( Kishore ) as he calls himself. Anbu is an ideal student and adds the IAS to his name as he is a follower of Dr.A.P.J.Kalam & wants to become a collector. Anbu goes on to earn the displeasure of the brat gang as he is liked by all in school including Manonmani ( Dharani ) , the cousin of Jeeva. Rubbing salt into the wounds of Jeeva & co is the fact that their class teacher Chockalingam ( Jayaprakash ) is also fond of Anbu.
So there begins a typical tale of rivalry,jealousy,hatred and of course love too. Woven into the tale of the kids is the simple romance between Meenakshi Sundaram ( Vimal ), Anbu’s uncle and Sobhikannu ( Vega who debuted in Saroja ),sister of Jeeva which is shown in a sweet and effective way. The dialogues between Meenakshi and Sobhikannu are interesting and humorous and not once do you find the romance distracting the audience from the main plot involving the kids and here again the director Pandiraj scores. Not only has the director shown the kids in a natural manner, he is even able to infuse a lot of tongue in cheek humour. Watch out for the various references to the popular Kollywood stars and their histrionics in some of the scenes in the movie.
The rural milieu has been well captured and the performances of the entire cast are extremely natural. Music by James Vasanth is good and he has shown his tribute to Ilayaraja in the right way by using a few of his tunes in the background at the right times. Cinematography by Prem kumar also does justice to the movie. While the climax is melodramatic, the finale more than makes up for it. In a nut shell this is a movie which is not just worth watching, it certainly needs to be appreciated for being a children’s film which gives you the complete satisfaction of having watched any other entertaining film. And a big round of applause goes to the producer- Sasikumar (director of Subramaniapuram ) who has shown complete faith and confidence in the vision of Pandiraj. We need more such movies, till then let the kids of ‘Pasanga’ rock.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/pasanga-for-the-child-in-each-one-of-us/
While I’m talking about childhood & associated stuff can I avoid talking about children’s films? A very common complaint that we keep hearing is that children’s films as a genre has not really taken off within the mainstream cinema of India. While we have been watching movies like the Home Alone series, Baby’s Day Out, numerous animation movies, films of Majid Majidi etc and admiring them, children’s movies as a genre within the spectrum of mainstream Indian cinema has seen just the odd Masoom,Makdee,Hanuman or a Taare Zameen Par. A wonderful effort like Santosh Sivan’s Tahaan went literally unnoticed. Amidst this backdrop here comes a Tamil film called Pasanga which clearly defies all conventions and is surely a trendsetter of sorts.
Pasanga has no stars (unlike Aamir in TZP) and is not too preachy. In recent times Tamil films have seen some wonderful natural depiction of childhood in movies like Veyyil,Autograph,Azhagi, Poo etc but the difference between these films and Pasanga lies in the fact that in these films the childhood segment is only a part of the film & the kids go on to grow up and the tempo of the movie shifts to a different gear. Here in Pasanga there is a scene when one of the 4 main kids – Anbukarasu while introducing his family members to the audience cheekily says – “you might be mistaken if you feel my uncle is the hero of the family, but no I’m the actual hero and I don’t grow up till the movie is over”.
Debutant director- Pandiraj has literally relived his childhood by shooting the movie in his native village of Virachilai ( near Pudukottai ). The story begins with cheeky introductions of ‘the brat gang’ of Jeeva ( Sriram), Pakkada ( Pandian ) and Kuttymani( Murugesh ) – class 6 students,who are the troublemakers and the feared lot in school. In comes Anbukarasu I.A.S ( Kishore ) as he calls himself. Anbu is an ideal student and adds the IAS to his name as he is a follower of Dr.A.P.J.Kalam & wants to become a collector. Anbu goes on to earn the displeasure of the brat gang as he is liked by all in school including Manonmani ( Dharani ) , the cousin of Jeeva. Rubbing salt into the wounds of Jeeva & co is the fact that their class teacher Chockalingam ( Jayaprakash ) is also fond of Anbu.
So there begins a typical tale of rivalry,jealousy,hatred and of course love too. Woven into the tale of the kids is the simple romance between Meenakshi Sundaram ( Vimal ), Anbu’s uncle and Sobhikannu ( Vega who debuted in Saroja ),sister of Jeeva which is shown in a sweet and effective way. The dialogues between Meenakshi and Sobhikannu are interesting and humorous and not once do you find the romance distracting the audience from the main plot involving the kids and here again the director Pandiraj scores. Not only has the director shown the kids in a natural manner, he is even able to infuse a lot of tongue in cheek humour. Watch out for the various references to the popular Kollywood stars and their histrionics in some of the scenes in the movie.
The rural milieu has been well captured and the performances of the entire cast are extremely natural. Music by James Vasanth is good and he has shown his tribute to Ilayaraja in the right way by using a few of his tunes in the background at the right times. Cinematography by Prem kumar also does justice to the movie. While the climax is melodramatic, the finale more than makes up for it. In a nut shell this is a movie which is not just worth watching, it certainly needs to be appreciated for being a children’s film which gives you the complete satisfaction of having watched any other entertaining film. And a big round of applause goes to the producer- Sasikumar (director of Subramaniapuram ) who has shown complete faith and confidence in the vision of Pandiraj. We need more such movies, till then let the kids of ‘Pasanga’ rock.
P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/pasanga-for-the-child-in-each-one-of-us/
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Those were the best days of my life
Oh when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
Well yes Bryan Adams’s Summer of 69 is one of my all time favorites and it probably describes the essence of this write-up the best. No I’m not going to talk about my experiences in the Summer of ’69, heck I wasn’t even born then. But yes then whatever I probably will be writing here is maybe what I’ve experienced and felt while I was growing up and in that way it’s quite similar to what Bryan Adams felt too. The difference being that I’m not confining myself to just one year- but more or less a whole period of growing up.
Born in the late 70’s in a typical middle class family I was witness to the virtual flurry of events that were happening in the country in those days. I still remember that in my first few years of existence it was the large B&W T.V sets which stood for entertainment in our homes those days along with the evergreen transistor/radio of course. I also remember the entry of color T.V broadcast with the ’82 Asian Games that were staged in Delhi. I must have virtually been a toddler when my first vivid experience of identifying a movie star was captured carefully in my memory. The actor was none other than Amitabh Bachchan.
So it was basically the 80’s and the 90’s which constituted my days of growing up on all counts. Life in the 80’s especially was a lot simpler than it is now. I’m sure there would be others who would describe the 70’s, 60’s or 50’s in the same way depending on when they grew up. In my case most of my early memories are from the 80’s. I remember the monthly outings that we used to undertake as a family. Watching 1-2 movies in a month was a definite routine. If it was a Hindi or a regional movie it would be a complete family outing and if it was an English movie it would be mostly just me & my father.
One of the insights that my father realized early on was that his eldest son (who else but me) was fast becoming a ‘dangerous’ filmy. Sample this- typically in those days Chitrahaar on good old D.D used to be a big draw and something that everyone looked forward to. Typically the new songs being shown in it would first feature a poster of the movie followed by the song itself. Since watching T.V in those days was a community phenomenon , there would always be people at home while watching Chitrahaar or we would be at someone else’s house. And typically when the poster of a movie say ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ would be shown, I would go off rattling the names of the cast and crew like Mithun Chakravorty,Padmini Kolhapure,Danny Denzongpa,Laxmikant-Pyarelal etc. My dad would certainly be furious at me and hence in order to ‘control the flow’ of information on movies that I was exposed to, film magazines were virtually banned at home.
So my reading of Filmfare and other such magazines would typically be in a saloon or in some other friend’s home. That was also the time when I began to take an active interest in quizzing and so my thirst for filmy knowledge kept increasing even more. Oh! and while I would watch movies of all languages in all spots on D.D (sat eve, sun eve, sun afternoon-regional language, fri late nights, tue afternoons etc and many more ) the other habit that I was accustomed to was listening to songs on radio especially on Vividh Bharati. Ameen Sayani’s Binaca/Cibaca Geetmala was my favorite and it certainly was the precursor to all the countdown shows which became popular on T.V much later.
Couple of other programs on radio which I was particularly fond of were Chhayageet which played the old songs especially at night and ‘Chitralok’ which played the musical trailers of the current releases and the upcoming releases. Of course those were the days when there used to be no internet, no mobile phones and no other gimmicks and gadgets that we have today. So even as a kid I became addicted to the ‘Friday Phenomena’ ( check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/the-friday-phenomena/) and so scanning the newspaper on Friday’s for knowing the latest releases was a big activity for me and would give me immense pleasure.
When I was finally allowed to watch movies with my friends on the rare occasions, life had become all the more colorful as I did not have to depend upon my parents alone for now having to watch a movie. King Kong Lives and Ram Lakhan were among the early movies that I remember having watched with my friends. And yes my father was strictly against going to watch a movie more than once in a theatre and so I had to come up with inventive ways every time I wanted to watch a movie again. The one thing I was very clear about is that I would never hide the fact to my parents that I saw a movie, of course but the name would often get changed at times So when I wanted to watch Hum again, I had to tell my folks that I was watching Honey I shrunk the kids and so on & so forth.
Of course sports especially cricket, soccer and tennis was something that I really had embraced and thanks to D.D, I would often be glued to the World Cup Soccer matches, the umpteen test & one day cricket matches and of course the Tennis Grand Slam tournaments. The center posters of Sportstar used to adorn the walls of my room and collecting them was a big passion as much as other hobbies that I was into like philately and numismatics.
As the 80’s gave way to the 90’s there was a new avenue of entertainment that opened up, namely satellite television. Unfortunately when the satellite revolution happened I had just cleared my class X board exams and moved to the Higher Secondary stream so for those 2 years, there was not much of T.V that I had time for. Not that I had any complaints, for by then I was completely into a lot of stuff both academic and non academic. While quizzing and other inter school events took care off attendance, movies and books still managed to feature in my schedule. Thankfully none of these really affected my studies and so I really did not have to get into any major struggle.
Well when I’m talking about my teenage days in school, can falling in love or teenage crushes be left out? I had my share too, many girls that I liked, many that liked me and some being quite mutual. But remember those days one never really knew how to be fashionable like in today’s terms? and so there was a lot of ‘ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya, baite baite jeene ka sahara ho gaya’. That I was a decent singer with a wide repertoire of songs helped and often I would sing in the earshot of the girl I liked, songs of her choice. In true Bollywood style I faced a funny situation once.There was a girl in my class who used to stay in the same street as that of another friend of mine. So I would very often hang around her house in the pretext of meeting my friend when one day I was literally surrounded by most of the nukkad ke romeo’s who warned me to stay away from her. Thankfully in filmy style she watched it all and the next day was full of sympathy for me.
Another interesting event happened like this – the occasion was some function in school (probably my farewell party in school).All of a sudden I decided that I would go on stage & sing, the intention being only to impress a particular girl. While the plan was to sing some soft romantic number, tragedy struck when I opened my mouth and realized that a lot of screaming and shouting that day had given me a sore throat. So while I debated on apologizing and leaving the stage, my brain overworked & I surprised myself by singing ‘angna mein baba’ in ‘rock’ style taking everyone by shock. But the girl was impressed and she was the first to say that she liked my experiment.
So thus my school days were spent often under the repeated shelters of movies, books and music. The T.V and the radio were literally like members of my family and something indispensable. When I compare the current scenario with my school days, I feel a lot of satisfaction in what I underwent. Yes today’s kids have a lot of things at their disposal be it DTH, the internet, multiplexes and malls, mobile phones, play stations etc, but where is the innocence of the yesteryears? How many children nowadays actually read? How many children actually enjoy the outdoors? How many of them especially in the metros and other bigger cities have been exposed to the single screen theatres and cineplexes? I can just go on & on, for ‘those were certainly the best days of my life’.
P.S- originally published in PFC,check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/those-were-the-best-days-of-my-life/
V
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
Well yes Bryan Adams’s Summer of 69 is one of my all time favorites and it probably describes the essence of this write-up the best. No I’m not going to talk about my experiences in the Summer of ’69, heck I wasn’t even born then. But yes then whatever I probably will be writing here is maybe what I’ve experienced and felt while I was growing up and in that way it’s quite similar to what Bryan Adams felt too. The difference being that I’m not confining myself to just one year- but more or less a whole period of growing up.
Born in the late 70’s in a typical middle class family I was witness to the virtual flurry of events that were happening in the country in those days. I still remember that in my first few years of existence it was the large B&W T.V sets which stood for entertainment in our homes those days along with the evergreen transistor/radio of course. I also remember the entry of color T.V broadcast with the ’82 Asian Games that were staged in Delhi. I must have virtually been a toddler when my first vivid experience of identifying a movie star was captured carefully in my memory. The actor was none other than Amitabh Bachchan.
So it was basically the 80’s and the 90’s which constituted my days of growing up on all counts. Life in the 80’s especially was a lot simpler than it is now. I’m sure there would be others who would describe the 70’s, 60’s or 50’s in the same way depending on when they grew up. In my case most of my early memories are from the 80’s. I remember the monthly outings that we used to undertake as a family. Watching 1-2 movies in a month was a definite routine. If it was a Hindi or a regional movie it would be a complete family outing and if it was an English movie it would be mostly just me & my father.
One of the insights that my father realized early on was that his eldest son (who else but me) was fast becoming a ‘dangerous’ filmy. Sample this- typically in those days Chitrahaar on good old D.D used to be a big draw and something that everyone looked forward to. Typically the new songs being shown in it would first feature a poster of the movie followed by the song itself. Since watching T.V in those days was a community phenomenon , there would always be people at home while watching Chitrahaar or we would be at someone else’s house. And typically when the poster of a movie say ‘Pyar Jhukta Nahin’ would be shown, I would go off rattling the names of the cast and crew like Mithun Chakravorty,Padmini Kolhapure,Danny Denzongpa,Laxmikant-Pyarelal etc. My dad would certainly be furious at me and hence in order to ‘control the flow’ of information on movies that I was exposed to, film magazines were virtually banned at home.
So my reading of Filmfare and other such magazines would typically be in a saloon or in some other friend’s home. That was also the time when I began to take an active interest in quizzing and so my thirst for filmy knowledge kept increasing even more. Oh! and while I would watch movies of all languages in all spots on D.D (sat eve, sun eve, sun afternoon-regional language, fri late nights, tue afternoons etc and many more ) the other habit that I was accustomed to was listening to songs on radio especially on Vividh Bharati. Ameen Sayani’s Binaca/Cibaca Geetmala was my favorite and it certainly was the precursor to all the countdown shows which became popular on T.V much later.
Couple of other programs on radio which I was particularly fond of were Chhayageet which played the old songs especially at night and ‘Chitralok’ which played the musical trailers of the current releases and the upcoming releases. Of course those were the days when there used to be no internet, no mobile phones and no other gimmicks and gadgets that we have today. So even as a kid I became addicted to the ‘Friday Phenomena’ ( check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/the-friday-phenomena/) and so scanning the newspaper on Friday’s for knowing the latest releases was a big activity for me and would give me immense pleasure.
When I was finally allowed to watch movies with my friends on the rare occasions, life had become all the more colorful as I did not have to depend upon my parents alone for now having to watch a movie. King Kong Lives and Ram Lakhan were among the early movies that I remember having watched with my friends. And yes my father was strictly against going to watch a movie more than once in a theatre and so I had to come up with inventive ways every time I wanted to watch a movie again. The one thing I was very clear about is that I would never hide the fact to my parents that I saw a movie, of course but the name would often get changed at times So when I wanted to watch Hum again, I had to tell my folks that I was watching Honey I shrunk the kids and so on & so forth.
Of course sports especially cricket, soccer and tennis was something that I really had embraced and thanks to D.D, I would often be glued to the World Cup Soccer matches, the umpteen test & one day cricket matches and of course the Tennis Grand Slam tournaments. The center posters of Sportstar used to adorn the walls of my room and collecting them was a big passion as much as other hobbies that I was into like philately and numismatics.
As the 80’s gave way to the 90’s there was a new avenue of entertainment that opened up, namely satellite television. Unfortunately when the satellite revolution happened I had just cleared my class X board exams and moved to the Higher Secondary stream so for those 2 years, there was not much of T.V that I had time for. Not that I had any complaints, for by then I was completely into a lot of stuff both academic and non academic. While quizzing and other inter school events took care off attendance, movies and books still managed to feature in my schedule. Thankfully none of these really affected my studies and so I really did not have to get into any major struggle.
Well when I’m talking about my teenage days in school, can falling in love or teenage crushes be left out? I had my share too, many girls that I liked, many that liked me and some being quite mutual. But remember those days one never really knew how to be fashionable like in today’s terms? and so there was a lot of ‘ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya, baite baite jeene ka sahara ho gaya’. That I was a decent singer with a wide repertoire of songs helped and often I would sing in the earshot of the girl I liked, songs of her choice. In true Bollywood style I faced a funny situation once.There was a girl in my class who used to stay in the same street as that of another friend of mine. So I would very often hang around her house in the pretext of meeting my friend when one day I was literally surrounded by most of the nukkad ke romeo’s who warned me to stay away from her. Thankfully in filmy style she watched it all and the next day was full of sympathy for me.
Another interesting event happened like this – the occasion was some function in school (probably my farewell party in school).All of a sudden I decided that I would go on stage & sing, the intention being only to impress a particular girl. While the plan was to sing some soft romantic number, tragedy struck when I opened my mouth and realized that a lot of screaming and shouting that day had given me a sore throat. So while I debated on apologizing and leaving the stage, my brain overworked & I surprised myself by singing ‘angna mein baba’ in ‘rock’ style taking everyone by shock. But the girl was impressed and she was the first to say that she liked my experiment.
So thus my school days were spent often under the repeated shelters of movies, books and music. The T.V and the radio were literally like members of my family and something indispensable. When I compare the current scenario with my school days, I feel a lot of satisfaction in what I underwent. Yes today’s kids have a lot of things at their disposal be it DTH, the internet, multiplexes and malls, mobile phones, play stations etc, but where is the innocence of the yesteryears? How many children nowadays actually read? How many children actually enjoy the outdoors? How many of them especially in the metros and other bigger cities have been exposed to the single screen theatres and cineplexes? I can just go on & on, for ‘those were certainly the best days of my life’.
P.S- originally published in PFC,check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/those-were-the-best-days-of-my-life/
V
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