Here I am posting one interesting article by Manu Joseph. The title itself says it all. Excuse me sir, for not taking your permission, but I hope you won’t mind for a colleague of yours…at the backbench.
Beautiful World of the Backbenchers
Times of India 13 Apr 2008, Manu Joseph
The most foolish description of youth is that it is rebellious. The young do wear T-shirts that say Rebel or Che or Bitch. But the truth is that the youth, especially in this country, is a fellowship of cowards. It lives in fear. Fear of life, fear of an illusory future. The perpetual trauma of the forward castes is inextricably woven into this fear. And what Arjun Singh's successful reservation campaign has denied them is the right to a secured but ordinary life, a life that comes with scoring 98 percent in the board exams, a life that goes like this: Engineer-MBA-anonymous. You can argue that this route is better than sociology-salesman-anonymous. But that will be to focus unduly on the ordinary among the cowards. The real tragedy concerns the extraordinary cowards. Great writers, painters, musicians and athletes who are lost forever to what are moronically called, 'the professional courses'. Instead of pursuing their talents they are, right now, in dark gloomy tutorials preparing for entrance exams, fatally infected by objective type questions. The angle between tangents drawn from the point (1,4) to the parabola y^2=4x is? The angst of the types who score over 95 percent also fills me, and several lakhs like me, with wicked joy. I was the 75 percent type. It was not pleasurable to be so in Madras of the eighties. I grew up in Kodambakkam where Telugu film directors, who wore white shoes, kept their beautiful mistresses; and Anglo Indian girls in skirts, who did not have hair on their legs, and all of whom I now remember only as Maria, walked to Fatima Church. But a large part of my formative years were spent in a Brahmin housing society called Rajaram Colony where fathers were all clerks and mothers were housewives. Rare working women had the same aura as divorcees. I was special because I was a Christian, and the transitory relatives of my neighbours, when they learnt my religion, would speak to me in English.
Many of my friends were periodically thrashed with belts by their fathers when the miasmic green report cards came home. Once, I heard the cries of a boy who had scored just ninety percent in a maths monthly test. Another form of punishment was heating a stainless steel serving spoon and inflicting minor burns. It was called, 'soodu'. My parents never hit me for my marks though my report cards were inspiring. My mother beat me up occasionally for political reasons – every time her mother-in-law came visiting. Apparently, according to a rustic Malayalee way of life, thrashing the kids was a hint to the in-law that it was time to leave. Those days, the legends of Rajaram Colony were our seniors who had entered the IITs, or as a consequence, had gone to America to study further. Their names were taken with reverence. When they visited home, they left a trail of whispers. And when they deigned to play cricket with us, we observed closely how they bowled and how they batted. Because they knew everything. It was already decided in every household, except mine, that the boys will go to IIT, a certainty just like their sisters will do BSc Nutrition. And so my friends began their furtive preparation when they were not yet thirteen. They began to score higher and higher at school. And they began to look at me as an unfortunate freak, not only because they thought they were brighter but also because I said I wanted to become a journalist. They scored better than me in English too. (Once in an English test, when asked the opposite gender of ram, almost every one in my class, astonishingly, knew the answer was ewe. I wrote, 'Sita'). I did always claim a higher creative status and often entertained the backbenchers, who were chiefly sons of illiterate parents, by calling my Brahmins friends, "curd-rice muggers". In the school I had slowly gained a reputation as a poet and some sort of a stand-up comedian. But as I approached the 12th standard, I was not the hero anymore of the juniors. That honour drifted to a brilliant boy, the first ranker who once used to play the tabla and did not touch the instrument anymore because he was preparing for IIT's Joint Entrance Exam. (A few years later, I would meet him on the campus of IIT Chennai. He would tell me that he will not go to America. "Because, you see, with transcendental meditation, you can sit here in Madras and visit any country in the world". He was serious. Now, he is a banker in San Francisco).
Meanwhile, in the Rajaram Colony, I observed that older Brahmin boys who had, somehow, fared poorly in the 12th standard and had to suffer the humiliation of pursuing BSc walked in the perpetual mist of guilt and embarrassment. They took to smoking and drinking, and 'sighting' – the disreputable art of looking at girls. They stared at a future in Eureka Forbes. I eventually moved out of the Colony to another such fiendish place but kept in touch with my childhood friends. The distance between us, however, grew. They did not really want to see me. I was a distraction in their preparation "for life". There was nothing they could talk to me about, nothing they could share, like their latest JEE sample test scores or the traits of the teachers at Brilliant Tutorials. On my part, I began to find them unhappy and bleak. Once, they were fresh and eager. Like me, they wanted to play cricket forIndia. Some were interested in music, some even attempted novels. Now, they were zombies in the trance of a whole material world that was just one entrance exam away. Eventually, almost all of them scored in the high nineties in the 12th standard exams. One made it to the IIT. The others prepared to go to second rung engineering colleges in humid melancholic towns. But they still thought they were more victorious than me because I had got 75%, a misfortune that their parents could not believe would visit someone who had two hands and one head. Worse, I told them that I was going to do a BA in English Literature. At that time, people did not think you were gay because you wanted to do literature. But they still did not understand why a male would do such a thing. They asked me if I was alright, if I could reconsider, if some maternal ornaments could be sold for the good cause of capitation fee. Some days, I think of those boys from another time. They are mostly bankers in America now and, I imagine, partly responsible for the subprime crisis. They are in the glow of the life that they had so dearly sought. But somehow I feel that their sisters, who eventually pursued what they wanted to, have more interesting lives. Also, occasionally I hear that some IITian or the other is returning to the art that he had originally loved. And is making up for the time he has lost because he could crack the toughest questions in the world but could not answer in time the class teacher's annual question, "What do you want to become in life?"
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Thakur Sir
It was a Sunday morning. We; my parents, my sister and me all were in deep sleep after returning from the Ganesh festival at our native place Murud Janjira, the house bell rang. My father saw it and came rushing to me saying “Thakur Sir!!” I bounced up like a spring not knowing what to do now?? All of us woke up from there and rushed inside the room, got freshen up and came infront of Sir. Instead of scolding me of missing Sunday Coaching of Seventh Scholarship class, Sir scolded my parents, saying if the parents can’t control their sleep then it is foolish of me to expect it from their 12 year child. This incidence is imprinted not only on my mind but even my parents can’t let it go. That’s Thakur Sir.
APJ Abdul Kalam, former President said in Ignited Mind, to have one primary teacher makes a deep impact on one’s life. I was extremely lucky to have one in the form of Thakur Sir. I have learnt a lot from him, without him actually preaching all that.
Discipline: Sir is the first disciplined fellow came to my life. I was and am still much unorganized, not to-the-core-punctual, doing many things simultaneously, absent-minded etc. But at every point Sir is completely opposite to me. Initially I used to be late in the class especially when I had to come early. Somewhere at time I learned that best way to be on time for a chap like me is to reach early! If you have missed homework, then you will be punished not by bitting but by non-cooperation, putting you aside. There is hardly anything disheartening than this if you have slightest of self-worth in you. It worked with me many times. It took me later on many years to actually value the importance of discipline almost 15 years, but I know what it is and how it could build or kill you. The knowledge acquired that time, was useful for me to develop my mathematical abilities. I could get through State Talent Search, National Talent Search –interview just by the basics gotten through at early times.
Self-lessness: They say they don’t make people like this anymore. I mean, everybody wants money, who does not? Nowadays private coaching classes are the highest earning revenue models. But Sir took a free of charge seventh scholarship classes of us. As the anecdote goes, give by right hand such that even the left hand remains unknown about it. He never flaunted it even by mistake. There used to be a screening test for one to get through the class. You could be asked table from 2 to 30. I was very petrified to have been appearing for the test. I had butterflies in my stomach. And unexpectedly I got through!! That was the first time, a sense of superiority brushed through me. That was the only time of my school life, when I enjoyed learning, rest all was made for marks, sheer mugging. I wonder he never expected a single penny from any of us!! At the end of the class, mind you, it was the first tragic separation from someone to whom I secretly admired deeply. We went on to gift him a pen set worth Rs 50 or so at the last class. Sir humbly refused to take it. Since we emotionally appealed him, after contemplating for almost an hour in front of all, he kept it. I could not forget that moment, Sir with his folded hand, banian, half pant, spectacle….looking at the ground deeply…with a sense of extreme spirituality. Accepting a pen set worth Rs 50 from about ten of us for a yearly coaching, could not have been a tribute to what we went through. Today I would have gone ahead with just a tight hug and nothing else. But at 12 years, you can’t help but do that. At the day of exam, like a coach, he had brought curd-rice for all of us and without asking how it was, he was feeding it to us, and bucking us up for the next delivery. How selfless one could be. He has always remained an ideal for me for how much you can trouble yourself for others and at the end of the day what you have is immense satisfaction, irrespective of how much of it is repaid back to you.
Love: Sir is as affectionate as much disciplined. Sir knew I like a guava among all the fruits. He has always kept a guava from his own garden especially for me because all others used to eat everything given to them but I was choosy. Till today I get those guavas at my home. At the hindsight, I feel a child need a disciplined affection for growth and one lame is without another. Even after 7th standard, he was integral part of all my decisions; going to Ruparel College after 10th, opting Chemical engineering at UDCT after 12th, joining Pradan after Lubrizol. He was there everywhere. Looking at my health at 12th, he was cautious if I could tolerate the chemical fumes/gases/products that were seen in my college. He even consulted some of the doctors, took opinions of my seniors and once when I reacted to this what is long-life worth if it’s lived against one wishes, he laughed a lot and said you know what you are doing, go ahead. After two year in industry when I decided to join NGO, he first showed a great concern, later on when got convinced; he literally announced to the whole city that my son is “mad” enough to take a different path. Little he knows that he is implicitly a big impression for me to do it.
Sir has always been accompanied by his mother-in-law, whom we always called Ajji. Ajji is a Sanskrit and Marathi scholar. Ajji taught us marathi, which is one of the subjects for scholarship exam. She is blessed with strong memory, I had always astonished as she used to hum her childhood poems. Her pronunciation of marathi words is exemplary, as if that’s how we should speak the languages, as sweet as sugar! She is a wonderful cook, I have had pleasure various time to eat fish and modak-ladoo made by her. Actually modak-ladoo is Lord Ganesha’s favourite food and they are prepared in Ganesh festival. But whenever ‘this ganesha’ kept on going to meet them even otherwise the festival, modak-ladoo were prepared especially for me. I have admired her clarity in whatever she did.
I wish him on teacher’s day. From my first ever salary, I brought him a pair of shirt and pant piece. Yet I am so full of him.. How can I pay tribute to Thakur Sir..
APJ Abdul Kalam, former President said in Ignited Mind, to have one primary teacher makes a deep impact on one’s life. I was extremely lucky to have one in the form of Thakur Sir. I have learnt a lot from him, without him actually preaching all that.
Discipline: Sir is the first disciplined fellow came to my life. I was and am still much unorganized, not to-the-core-punctual, doing many things simultaneously, absent-minded etc. But at every point Sir is completely opposite to me. Initially I used to be late in the class especially when I had to come early. Somewhere at time I learned that best way to be on time for a chap like me is to reach early! If you have missed homework, then you will be punished not by bitting but by non-cooperation, putting you aside. There is hardly anything disheartening than this if you have slightest of self-worth in you. It worked with me many times. It took me later on many years to actually value the importance of discipline almost 15 years, but I know what it is and how it could build or kill you. The knowledge acquired that time, was useful for me to develop my mathematical abilities. I could get through State Talent Search, National Talent Search –interview just by the basics gotten through at early times.
Self-lessness: They say they don’t make people like this anymore. I mean, everybody wants money, who does not? Nowadays private coaching classes are the highest earning revenue models. But Sir took a free of charge seventh scholarship classes of us. As the anecdote goes, give by right hand such that even the left hand remains unknown about it. He never flaunted it even by mistake. There used to be a screening test for one to get through the class. You could be asked table from 2 to 30. I was very petrified to have been appearing for the test. I had butterflies in my stomach. And unexpectedly I got through!! That was the first time, a sense of superiority brushed through me. That was the only time of my school life, when I enjoyed learning, rest all was made for marks, sheer mugging. I wonder he never expected a single penny from any of us!! At the end of the class, mind you, it was the first tragic separation from someone to whom I secretly admired deeply. We went on to gift him a pen set worth Rs 50 or so at the last class. Sir humbly refused to take it. Since we emotionally appealed him, after contemplating for almost an hour in front of all, he kept it. I could not forget that moment, Sir with his folded hand, banian, half pant, spectacle….looking at the ground deeply…with a sense of extreme spirituality. Accepting a pen set worth Rs 50 from about ten of us for a yearly coaching, could not have been a tribute to what we went through. Today I would have gone ahead with just a tight hug and nothing else. But at 12 years, you can’t help but do that. At the day of exam, like a coach, he had brought curd-rice for all of us and without asking how it was, he was feeding it to us, and bucking us up for the next delivery. How selfless one could be. He has always remained an ideal for me for how much you can trouble yourself for others and at the end of the day what you have is immense satisfaction, irrespective of how much of it is repaid back to you.
Love: Sir is as affectionate as much disciplined. Sir knew I like a guava among all the fruits. He has always kept a guava from his own garden especially for me because all others used to eat everything given to them but I was choosy. Till today I get those guavas at my home. At the hindsight, I feel a child need a disciplined affection for growth and one lame is without another. Even after 7th standard, he was integral part of all my decisions; going to Ruparel College after 10th, opting Chemical engineering at UDCT after 12th, joining Pradan after Lubrizol. He was there everywhere. Looking at my health at 12th, he was cautious if I could tolerate the chemical fumes/gases/products that were seen in my college. He even consulted some of the doctors, took opinions of my seniors and once when I reacted to this what is long-life worth if it’s lived against one wishes, he laughed a lot and said you know what you are doing, go ahead. After two year in industry when I decided to join NGO, he first showed a great concern, later on when got convinced; he literally announced to the whole city that my son is “mad” enough to take a different path. Little he knows that he is implicitly a big impression for me to do it.
Sir has always been accompanied by his mother-in-law, whom we always called Ajji. Ajji is a Sanskrit and Marathi scholar. Ajji taught us marathi, which is one of the subjects for scholarship exam. She is blessed with strong memory, I had always astonished as she used to hum her childhood poems. Her pronunciation of marathi words is exemplary, as if that’s how we should speak the languages, as sweet as sugar! She is a wonderful cook, I have had pleasure various time to eat fish and modak-ladoo made by her. Actually modak-ladoo is Lord Ganesha’s favourite food and they are prepared in Ganesh festival. But whenever ‘this ganesha’ kept on going to meet them even otherwise the festival, modak-ladoo were prepared especially for me. I have admired her clarity in whatever she did.
I wish him on teacher’s day. From my first ever salary, I brought him a pair of shirt and pant piece. Yet I am so full of him.. How can I pay tribute to Thakur Sir..
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Group Dynamite/cs
I am not able to quiet figure out why 26/11 has shaken me this much. These attacks are not something new to me. I wonder is it because the operation lasted for 60 hours, is it because the coverage was given full throttled on the news channel, is it because it made to resign the CM’s and Union Home Minister, is it because of the game-blame of various stake-holders, is it because the good cops of Mumbai Police were killed, or because seeing the Versace clad Kasab on CST. Probably it is because this and what it led in my mind, that I have been terribly depressed, blocked and wanted terribly to vent off myself.
To quote the data, since 1998, 20000 people have died in terrorist attack. We are second to Iraq, but theirs is a civil war. There have been 11 attacks all at the major cities in last 7 years (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Varanasi, Malegaon and again Mumbai). in hindsight, I am shaken this much not earlier but this time. Why?? This proves that I am one of those tolerant Indians.
According to ToI’s Editorial on 27/11, the attack was also meant to shake our economic spine by attacking on foreigners at places like Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House and just ahead of December which marks the beginning of tourist season.
It is a well acknowledged universal fact that, we are the economic superpower. Over 1 billion people contribute towards over $1 trillion economy which is constantly growing by 8-9 %. With recent global recession, we are not affected as much as that of USA. It is said that whenever the recession will get over, India would be amongst foremost to get ahead.
Now consider this: the NSG commandos who got down at Taj didnt have the basic equipments like flak jackets, night goggle, knee pad; the commandos were brought to Taj by local buses; the Helicopter which they supposed to have got, has not bought yet; Naval Admiral says how can we protect sea borders with less coast guard ships; RAW says that we had informed the authorities about possible attack but no action was taken; CM takes film director and his son to take round of the attacked places, Deputy CM is impressed with Raj from DDLJ that he says “Bade bade shaharon mein, aisi chhoti chhoti baaten hoti rahati hai”, Anyone dare attack the dress of Union Home Minister, come what may he is clean and cool, there is no co-ordination among various security agencies that we have: Army, Navy, Air force, RAW, IB, CBI. Who will report to whom, not clear?
Well the list could go on. The recent news channels are full of such masalas. I was wondering about the previous two paragraphs, don’t they give opposite messages? India comprising of same people could perform economically so well, and governance point of view...impossible. And mind you, with same sort of people. For good ones, the entrpreneurs, corporates, ‘The Indian Middle Class’ could be credited for. And on flipside: Politicians?
They say ‘Civilians get the Politicians they deserve’. This is so apt and leaves less to be said. This throws light on those who elected those politicians or rather chose not to vote by letting the non-deserving come in. The average voting happens between 55-60%. Rural population is 70% of total population (whose contribution to growth not more than 2%) and rest 30 % urban population contributes significantly to valued growth of India (there contribution must be 22-25 % so as to maintain 8-9% overall growth).
Thus it can be concluded from the above data that, India is full throttled functioning due to these 30% who are not only supporting themselves but also those 70% by paying taxes, which in turn be utilized for various schemes that government implements. If we say that the converse of this is true in the governance related matter; that we are lagging behind in Governance of our nation because these 30% are not taking interest, they are indifferent, which has started affecting the entire nation.
There are certain matters which have to be handled by the government and they can’t be taken care by corporate or NGO’s, matter of security is one such of them along with regulation to name a few. (As USA’s banks have collapsed Government has accommodated them by mergers.) And there we don’t have efficient people. Bureaucrats are to some extent take care of this but then they also are manipulated by politicians. Thus governance’s direct responsibility lies with Politicians, and We, The People elect them.
They are not accountable to anyone except their party. Had there been a forum of civilians like Parent-Teacher’s Association (PTA), local samits/groups in Nagarpalika/Gram Panchayat of education, water supply etc, Housing societies, local common interest groups like those have come together for music, theatre etc, like the Self-Help Groups (SHG) are there in villages in which I work. Imagine, this group would have chosen the appropriate candidate for a particular party, taken agenda from various political members and would have valuated them at regular interval. Thus the strings would have remained in really People’s hand. A real, vibrant Democracy!
But, this is the hardest thing to ever happen with us. Especially with Indians who are cursed by Bhagawan Vishnu for working in the ‘Group’. We can’t work with each other. I know what politics goes in my Mangalmurti Housing Society, how several of our music and dramatic groups got dissolved due to inter-personal problems. I wonder how we can get over that.
The recent problem of terrorism has roots over there or for that matter any of our problems. We can’t blame Pakistan for this solely. Attacking them is incidental solution and would not give us peace in long term. What message are we giving them by being secularist in the form of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). By burning Gondhra, breaking Babri Masjid. Whoever does that, it is considered as Indians are doing it, same way as we blame Pakistan or ISI or LeT for every attack on us.
I am touched by an article from India Today (December 15, 2008) Michael F. Schever, who says don’t do it America way, the way they incessantly bombed Afghanistan after 9/11. George Bush is condemned for it and Obama is seen with lots of hope who can bring change human way. The attackers are well-educated like Togadiyas of VHP, Narendra Modis of BJP and Raj Thakres of MNS. We have to clear signal to the outside world both as strict as well as accommodative at appropriate places.
And nonetheless, I believe, root lies with you and me and us as ‘Group’ coming together. How do we do that is to be realised.
To quote the data, since 1998, 20000 people have died in terrorist attack. We are second to Iraq, but theirs is a civil war. There have been 11 attacks all at the major cities in last 7 years (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Varanasi, Malegaon and again Mumbai). in hindsight, I am shaken this much not earlier but this time. Why?? This proves that I am one of those tolerant Indians.
According to ToI’s Editorial on 27/11, the attack was also meant to shake our economic spine by attacking on foreigners at places like Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House and just ahead of December which marks the beginning of tourist season.
It is a well acknowledged universal fact that, we are the economic superpower. Over 1 billion people contribute towards over $1 trillion economy which is constantly growing by 8-9 %. With recent global recession, we are not affected as much as that of USA. It is said that whenever the recession will get over, India would be amongst foremost to get ahead.
Now consider this: the NSG commandos who got down at Taj didnt have the basic equipments like flak jackets, night goggle, knee pad; the commandos were brought to Taj by local buses; the Helicopter which they supposed to have got, has not bought yet; Naval Admiral says how can we protect sea borders with less coast guard ships; RAW says that we had informed the authorities about possible attack but no action was taken; CM takes film director and his son to take round of the attacked places, Deputy CM is impressed with Raj from DDLJ that he says “Bade bade shaharon mein, aisi chhoti chhoti baaten hoti rahati hai”, Anyone dare attack the dress of Union Home Minister, come what may he is clean and cool, there is no co-ordination among various security agencies that we have: Army, Navy, Air force, RAW, IB, CBI. Who will report to whom, not clear?
Well the list could go on. The recent news channels are full of such masalas. I was wondering about the previous two paragraphs, don’t they give opposite messages? India comprising of same people could perform economically so well, and governance point of view...impossible. And mind you, with same sort of people. For good ones, the entrpreneurs, corporates, ‘The Indian Middle Class’ could be credited for. And on flipside: Politicians?
They say ‘Civilians get the Politicians they deserve’. This is so apt and leaves less to be said. This throws light on those who elected those politicians or rather chose not to vote by letting the non-deserving come in. The average voting happens between 55-60%. Rural population is 70% of total population (whose contribution to growth not more than 2%) and rest 30 % urban population contributes significantly to valued growth of India (there contribution must be 22-25 % so as to maintain 8-9% overall growth).
Thus it can be concluded from the above data that, India is full throttled functioning due to these 30% who are not only supporting themselves but also those 70% by paying taxes, which in turn be utilized for various schemes that government implements. If we say that the converse of this is true in the governance related matter; that we are lagging behind in Governance of our nation because these 30% are not taking interest, they are indifferent, which has started affecting the entire nation.
There are certain matters which have to be handled by the government and they can’t be taken care by corporate or NGO’s, matter of security is one such of them along with regulation to name a few. (As USA’s banks have collapsed Government has accommodated them by mergers.) And there we don’t have efficient people. Bureaucrats are to some extent take care of this but then they also are manipulated by politicians. Thus governance’s direct responsibility lies with Politicians, and We, The People elect them.
They are not accountable to anyone except their party. Had there been a forum of civilians like Parent-Teacher’s Association (PTA), local samits/groups in Nagarpalika/Gram Panchayat of education, water supply etc, Housing societies, local common interest groups like those have come together for music, theatre etc, like the Self-Help Groups (SHG) are there in villages in which I work. Imagine, this group would have chosen the appropriate candidate for a particular party, taken agenda from various political members and would have valuated them at regular interval. Thus the strings would have remained in really People’s hand. A real, vibrant Democracy!
But, this is the hardest thing to ever happen with us. Especially with Indians who are cursed by Bhagawan Vishnu for working in the ‘Group’. We can’t work with each other. I know what politics goes in my Mangalmurti Housing Society, how several of our music and dramatic groups got dissolved due to inter-personal problems. I wonder how we can get over that.
The recent problem of terrorism has roots over there or for that matter any of our problems. We can’t blame Pakistan for this solely. Attacking them is incidental solution and would not give us peace in long term. What message are we giving them by being secularist in the form of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha (RSS), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). By burning Gondhra, breaking Babri Masjid. Whoever does that, it is considered as Indians are doing it, same way as we blame Pakistan or ISI or LeT for every attack on us.
I am touched by an article from India Today (December 15, 2008) Michael F. Schever, who says don’t do it America way, the way they incessantly bombed Afghanistan after 9/11. George Bush is condemned for it and Obama is seen with lots of hope who can bring change human way. The attackers are well-educated like Togadiyas of VHP, Narendra Modis of BJP and Raj Thakres of MNS. We have to clear signal to the outside world both as strict as well as accommodative at appropriate places.
And nonetheless, I believe, root lies with you and me and us as ‘Group’ coming together. How do we do that is to be realised.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Gulzar
If I list down the film personalities, which are spontaneously on my mind, has given me immense joy and satisfaction from a medium of cinema; they are: Gulzar, Maniratnam, Farhan Akhtar, Tabu, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Nagesh Kukunoor and the great Aamir Khan. Don't know why but the names came spontaneously to me. Count they are 7, you can call them 7 Wonders of Vishal’s filmography.
मुश्किल है आकाश पे चलाना, तारे पाऊँ में चुभते हैं
None other than my own Gulzar can say that. There was an era in seventies which got carved separately due to Gulzar’s existence. Excuse for not calling him Gulzar saab, Gulzar jee because maybe these words have been used too often that they have lost the respect that they had thought off to deliver. Or may be I don’t want to separate him from myself by adding tags to him and then separating him from me, because sometimes he says what I never had words to say so. It’s good that he never carried his name Sampporna Singh in film industry that would have been so unromantic. Gulzar, the name is just perfect for ‘him’.
I have lived my best days with Gulzar when I was growing up mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He provided enough food for me to feel complete and made me to starve for more. His Aaj kal paon jameen par nahi padte mere, has remained my top most song and let me share with you a secret that, if anybody wants to bang on my heart, then one can show interest with this song by any means and that fellow can easily get in.
There are some people, I wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t met me at the crucial juncture of my life, Gulzar is one of them.
There are two specialities that I found special in Gulzar.
He made to flow life through the dead objects found around.
मोड़ पे देखा है वो बूढा-सा एक पेड़ कभी ?
मेरा वाकिफ है, बहुत सालों से में उसे जानता हूँ
This is poem titled Humdum। Here ped (tree) has been said to boodha-sa।
He made to show the various, different facets of the some commonly observed objects।
पानी पानी रे खरे पानी रे, नैनो में भर जाए, नींदे खली कर जाए.
पानी पानी यह ढलानों की कगारों से, उतर जाना..
We hear about flowing water, sea water, rain drops but here GUlzar took of water flowing from eyes. Salty water coming out of eyes!!
Gulzar’s collaboration with various peoples like Maniratnam, Vishal Bhardwaj and my favorite actress also happens to be his mooh boli daughter, Tabu. In that way Gulzar happens to be my mooh-bole father-in-law!!
One of the skills that I acquired, appreciating arts, because of my mother who I vividly remember used to listen to Vividhbharathi’s classic marathi and hindi songs, I tasted it early years of my life and then definitely my sister, Ranoo, whose innumerable plays that I saw several times groomed me to appreciate arts and culture in my life otherwise I would have been just another a good-in-maths, exam-scorer-boring fellow.
Watching Hu-Tu-Tu - which happens to be Gulzar’s latest movie - and especially Tabu, is an experience. It puts up the frustration that we see around due to the political situations, the hypocrisy in behaviors and the only solution that is found is suicide not by being afraid of self but from can’t letting it continuing the way it is happening. It portrays me, it’s a complex movie but then that’s how I am sometimes. The way Suhasini Mulay compromises to be on power, how Nana Patekar remains the way ins pite of all odds. Sunil Shetty lives a live totally opposite of his mother Suhasini Mulay. And Tabu represents the frustrations of a common man. It’s a perfect combination.
Gulzar’s association with Vishal Bharadwaj has been best thing happened in my life. Even if you listen the duo RDBurman and Gulzar’s song, which are considered to be one of the best in Indian Cinema to the latest up to ARRehman-Gulzar, believe me no combination is as effective as that of Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj. As poetry flows through the blood of Gulzar, so does with music for Vishal Bharadwaj. His wife Rekha Bharadwaj with her Sufi voice has made Tere ishq mein a mesmerizing experience. Imagine how any other Music Director – A R Rehman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy- would have composed Paani Paani re, Chappa Chappa from Maachis, Jag ja re gudiya, O saathi re, Bidi Jalaye le from Omkara, Tere ishq mein from Ishqa Ishqa. I bet nobody would be as perfect as them. In Gulzar’s own world about Vishal (ohh, unfortunately not me!!) ‘He brought melody back into music when there was only beat.’ ARRehman’s sometimes unnecessary bits make the already complex lyrics (infact simple beyond imagination) us bounce above head. Take example of Saathiya or Dil Se. so as to like, which you eventually do (no other option) it takes repeated listening, and so as to like Paani paani re, just one is enough. Music never becomes louder than words how much high Bass you make of your music system.
As scientist invent new molecule, they research what nature has already searched ages ago. Gulzar found new form of poetry, Triveni.
नाप के, वक्त भरा जाता है, हर राइट घड़ी
मेंइक तरफ़ खली हो जब फिर से उलट देते हैं उसको ....
उम्र जब ख़त्म हो, क्या मुझको वो उल्टा नहीं सकता?
First two lines portray a simple fact and third and last one conveys a complete opposite connotation of the above two.
Listening Gulzar’s Sunset Point in the voice of Bhupinder Singh and Chitra is the romantic experience, the intensity of separation of two lovers can’t be portrayed by any other poet than Gulzar.
One more aspect of Gulzar that inspires me, is his relation with Boksi, his daughter Meghna. Gulzar’s marriage with Rakhee didn’t last the way it is observed in common marriages, but the relationship of Gulzar as dad with Boksi is special. Because He Is…written by Meghna on his dad, must be a rare tribute tor a father. Meghna tried her hand with film Filhaal, on a different and sensitive subject of surrogate mother and followed by a flop Just Married. Could I be as a wonderful father as Gulzar is? In that way I can compete with my father too.
I find it amusing about those, who in spite of having so much, remain humble to the extent that i doubt are they even slightly aware what they have. When all others are running behind the accolades to be announced on their name, here is this fellow who is searching for more inspite of having so much. I wonder from where it comes.
After a long spell, another one of that genre is coming - Prasoon Joshi, lyricist of Taare Zameen Par, Rang De Basanti. Well no comparison, or nobody could ever exist to fill in the gap, but today’s film makers must be missing someone like Gulzar to portray their emotions, ideas on screen, atleast filmmaker in me always craves for the 75 years old Gulzar. I wish the time stops here..
मुश्किल है आकाश पे चलाना, तारे पाऊँ में चुभते हैं
None other than my own Gulzar can say that. There was an era in seventies which got carved separately due to Gulzar’s existence. Excuse for not calling him Gulzar saab, Gulzar jee because maybe these words have been used too often that they have lost the respect that they had thought off to deliver. Or may be I don’t want to separate him from myself by adding tags to him and then separating him from me, because sometimes he says what I never had words to say so. It’s good that he never carried his name Sampporna Singh in film industry that would have been so unromantic. Gulzar, the name is just perfect for ‘him’.
I have lived my best days with Gulzar when I was growing up mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He provided enough food for me to feel complete and made me to starve for more. His Aaj kal paon jameen par nahi padte mere, has remained my top most song and let me share with you a secret that, if anybody wants to bang on my heart, then one can show interest with this song by any means and that fellow can easily get in.
There are some people, I wonder what would have happened if they hadn’t met me at the crucial juncture of my life, Gulzar is one of them.
There are two specialities that I found special in Gulzar.
He made to flow life through the dead objects found around.
मोड़ पे देखा है वो बूढा-सा एक पेड़ कभी ?
मेरा वाकिफ है, बहुत सालों से में उसे जानता हूँ
This is poem titled Humdum। Here ped (tree) has been said to boodha-sa।
He made to show the various, different facets of the some commonly observed objects।
पानी पानी रे खरे पानी रे, नैनो में भर जाए, नींदे खली कर जाए.
पानी पानी यह ढलानों की कगारों से, उतर जाना..
We hear about flowing water, sea water, rain drops but here GUlzar took of water flowing from eyes. Salty water coming out of eyes!!
Gulzar’s collaboration with various peoples like Maniratnam, Vishal Bhardwaj and my favorite actress also happens to be his mooh boli daughter, Tabu. In that way Gulzar happens to be my mooh-bole father-in-law!!
One of the skills that I acquired, appreciating arts, because of my mother who I vividly remember used to listen to Vividhbharathi’s classic marathi and hindi songs, I tasted it early years of my life and then definitely my sister, Ranoo, whose innumerable plays that I saw several times groomed me to appreciate arts and culture in my life otherwise I would have been just another a good-in-maths, exam-scorer-boring fellow.
Watching Hu-Tu-Tu - which happens to be Gulzar’s latest movie - and especially Tabu, is an experience. It puts up the frustration that we see around due to the political situations, the hypocrisy in behaviors and the only solution that is found is suicide not by being afraid of self but from can’t letting it continuing the way it is happening. It portrays me, it’s a complex movie but then that’s how I am sometimes. The way Suhasini Mulay compromises to be on power, how Nana Patekar remains the way ins pite of all odds. Sunil Shetty lives a live totally opposite of his mother Suhasini Mulay. And Tabu represents the frustrations of a common man. It’s a perfect combination.
Gulzar’s association with Vishal Bharadwaj has been best thing happened in my life. Even if you listen the duo RDBurman and Gulzar’s song, which are considered to be one of the best in Indian Cinema to the latest up to ARRehman-Gulzar, believe me no combination is as effective as that of Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj. As poetry flows through the blood of Gulzar, so does with music for Vishal Bharadwaj. His wife Rekha Bharadwaj with her Sufi voice has made Tere ishq mein a mesmerizing experience. Imagine how any other Music Director – A R Rehman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy- would have composed Paani Paani re, Chappa Chappa from Maachis, Jag ja re gudiya, O saathi re, Bidi Jalaye le from Omkara, Tere ishq mein from Ishqa Ishqa. I bet nobody would be as perfect as them. In Gulzar’s own world about Vishal (ohh, unfortunately not me!!) ‘He brought melody back into music when there was only beat.’ ARRehman’s sometimes unnecessary bits make the already complex lyrics (infact simple beyond imagination) us bounce above head. Take example of Saathiya or Dil Se. so as to like, which you eventually do (no other option) it takes repeated listening, and so as to like Paani paani re, just one is enough. Music never becomes louder than words how much high Bass you make of your music system.
As scientist invent new molecule, they research what nature has already searched ages ago. Gulzar found new form of poetry, Triveni.
नाप के, वक्त भरा जाता है, हर राइट घड़ी
मेंइक तरफ़ खली हो जब फिर से उलट देते हैं उसको ....
उम्र जब ख़त्म हो, क्या मुझको वो उल्टा नहीं सकता?
First two lines portray a simple fact and third and last one conveys a complete opposite connotation of the above two.
Listening Gulzar’s Sunset Point in the voice of Bhupinder Singh and Chitra is the romantic experience, the intensity of separation of two lovers can’t be portrayed by any other poet than Gulzar.
One more aspect of Gulzar that inspires me, is his relation with Boksi, his daughter Meghna. Gulzar’s marriage with Rakhee didn’t last the way it is observed in common marriages, but the relationship of Gulzar as dad with Boksi is special. Because He Is…written by Meghna on his dad, must be a rare tribute tor a father. Meghna tried her hand with film Filhaal, on a different and sensitive subject of surrogate mother and followed by a flop Just Married. Could I be as a wonderful father as Gulzar is? In that way I can compete with my father too.
I find it amusing about those, who in spite of having so much, remain humble to the extent that i doubt are they even slightly aware what they have. When all others are running behind the accolades to be announced on their name, here is this fellow who is searching for more inspite of having so much. I wonder from where it comes.
After a long spell, another one of that genre is coming - Prasoon Joshi, lyricist of Taare Zameen Par, Rang De Basanti. Well no comparison, or nobody could ever exist to fill in the gap, but today’s film makers must be missing someone like Gulzar to portray their emotions, ideas on screen, atleast filmmaker in me always craves for the 75 years old Gulzar. I wish the time stops here..
Thursday, July 31, 2008
CINEMATOGRAPHY
If I had to be a film-maker then it would have begun by being a Cinematographer. It was bridged by my fondness for clicking photographs by our antique camera. The still medium was later taken over by a moving image and thus photography was replaced by cinematography. The first person I idolized was Govind Nihalani, who was ace cinematographer of Shyam Benegal. Well before knowing about cinematography, I was fascinated by this person. Later on this fascination drove to its pick when he directed Takshak starring Tabu and Ajay Devgan.
So as to convey the importance of a cinematographer I would quote a incident on the set of Roja.
‘While filming the acclaimed "Roja", It was suggested to the director Mani Ratnam that a substitute for the cinematographer be found, as Santosh Sivan had a prior commitment. He immediately retorted by asking the man who suggested the idea if the same could be done with the heroine of the film under similar circumstances.’ (Courtesy: www.santoshsivan.com)
If the story is the heart of the film, then cinematography is the eye with direction as the head of the Film. Why I find cinematography so captivating because it transforms the ideas of story into a reality. It’s again engineering. There are lots of technicalities which need to be mastered. And call it my arrogance but so as to be good in anything you do, technicalities can’t be compromised of.
To tell it by an ace cinematographer Govind Nihalani:
‘There are roughly three kinds of images. At the simplest level, any photographic image that is projected on screen is an image, which does not and need not take into account the various formal and aesthetic factors like composition, color, movement etc.
The second kind of image is what is considered to be the cinematographic image where the shot is composed with a purpose, the angle, the lighting, the size of the image are all shot and calculated with a purpose.
The third kind of image is the image that goes beyond information and acquires a larger meaning than the information contained within a shot. These images carry and echo a lot of our subconscious memories, personal and collective alike, and grow into symbols.’
That’s so explanatory, isn’t it? And as they say Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder, so true with it, what else you look into a scene could be so shallow or deep.
What captivated me to write is Ravi K. Chandran’s article in Hindustan Times in which he said he insists to distributor that his name be their on the poster of the film. In south when the name of cinematographer is displayed on screen in theaters, audience claps for him. We, as audience of hindi films are very myopic in our regards to the actors of the film making. High regards always have gone to Hero/Heroines later followed by Directors.
Probably because the acknowledgements received in south, the classic cinematographers come from South only. To start with, Ravi K. Chandran having DCH, Yuva, Black, Fanaa, Kandukondain Kandukondain and recent Delhi6 to his credit. He started his career by assisting his elder brother Ramchandra Babu in a Malayalam film. His first film in hindi was Virasat, set by a simple and natural story and acting by Amrish Puri, Anil Kapoor and Tabu. He is the man who has worked with as many directors like Priyadarshan, Farhan Akhtar, Maniratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kunal Kohli and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. There is hardly anyone today who can match his genre of filmmaking.
The other cinematographer has been P. C. Shriram, who’s first hindi film is Cheeni Kum. His belief has been that I will work in the language which I know best of. That’s why he entered late in hindi films. Saahtiya’s original Alaypayuthe was shot by him. As shared by him he is the one who have differences with Mani for the betterment of the product.
Anil Mehta, who hold lenses behind for Lagaan, is an internationally acclaimed cinematographer. He also shot Saathiya, Khamoshi, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. He tried his hand into story writing with Agni-varsha. Recently released come-back movie of Madhuri Dixit, Aaja Nachle was his directorial venture. As shared by Ravi Chandran, he is India’s one of the best cinematographers.
There is another creative creature, Santosh Sivan, who has Dil Se, Roja, Fiza on his credit and also The Terroirst which gained critical acclaim in various film festivals, was directed by him. What is distinct about Dil Se and ROja is the beautiful locations they are filmed especially the songs of the films.
Last but not the least is Rajeev Menon, the man showed us Bombay through his lenses. Many ad films later, he started off as cinematographer for Mani Ratnam’s Bombay before directing Minsara Kanavu (Sapnay in Hindi), apart from a few documentaries for Shyam Benegal and a short film for Girish Karnad. Among his recent film is Maniratnam’s Guru. Multi-starred Kandukondain Kandukondain was his directorial doorway. His primary interest has remained that of advertising film making. Airtel, Cadbury, Colgate Palmolive, Asian Paints are directed by him.
Just a little gyan..that a list of India’s cinematographers list would never get completed without names of Subrata Mitra, the legendary cinematographer who held camera for Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Apur Sansar, Charulata. And also V. K .Murthy who alongwith Guru Dutt filmed Kagaz ke phool and Pyaasa. I have seen none of the movies and have never read credit of these classics shared by these cinematographers.
I am looking forward to new genre of film-makers who could replace the old masters. Unfortunately me being doing something else, the world will miss one of those precious few, wat say?
If I had to be a film-maker then it would have begun by being a Cinematographer. It was bridged by my fondness for clicking photographs by our antique camera. The still medium was later taken over by a moving image and thus photography was replaced by cinematography. The first person I idolized was Govind Nihalani, who was ace cinematographer of Shyam Benegal. Well before knowing about cinematography, I was fascinated by this person. Later on this fascination drove to its pick when he directed Takshak starring Tabu and Ajay Devgan.
So as to convey the importance of a cinematographer I would quote a incident on the set of Roja.
‘While filming the acclaimed "Roja", It was suggested to the director Mani Ratnam that a substitute for the cinematographer be found, as Santosh Sivan had a prior commitment. He immediately retorted by asking the man who suggested the idea if the same could be done with the heroine of the film under similar circumstances.’ (Courtesy: www.santoshsivan.com)
If the story is the heart of the film, then cinematography is the eye with direction as the head of the Film. Why I find cinematography so captivating because it transforms the ideas of story into a reality. It’s again engineering. There are lots of technicalities which need to be mastered. And call it my arrogance but so as to be good in anything you do, technicalities can’t be compromised of.
To tell it by an ace cinematographer Govind Nihalani:
‘There are roughly three kinds of images. At the simplest level, any photographic image that is projected on screen is an image, which does not and need not take into account the various formal and aesthetic factors like composition, color, movement etc.
The second kind of image is what is considered to be the cinematographic image where the shot is composed with a purpose, the angle, the lighting, the size of the image are all shot and calculated with a purpose.
The third kind of image is the image that goes beyond information and acquires a larger meaning than the information contained within a shot. These images carry and echo a lot of our subconscious memories, personal and collective alike, and grow into symbols.’
That’s so explanatory, isn’t it? And as they say Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder, so true with it, what else you look into a scene could be so shallow or deep.
What captivated me to write is Ravi K. Chandran’s article in Hindustan Times in which he said he insists to distributor that his name be their on the poster of the film. In south when the name of cinematographer is displayed on screen in theaters, audience claps for him. We, as audience of hindi films are very myopic in our regards to the actors of the film making. High regards always have gone to Hero/Heroines later followed by Directors.
Probably because the acknowledgements received in south, the classic cinematographers come from South only. To start with, Ravi K. Chandran having DCH, Yuva, Black, Fanaa, Kandukondain Kandukondain and recent Delhi6 to his credit. He started his career by assisting his elder brother Ramchandra Babu in a Malayalam film. His first film in hindi was Virasat, set by a simple and natural story and acting by Amrish Puri, Anil Kapoor and Tabu. He is the man who has worked with as many directors like Priyadarshan, Farhan Akhtar, Maniratnam, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kunal Kohli and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. There is hardly anyone today who can match his genre of filmmaking.
The other cinematographer has been P. C. Shriram, who’s first hindi film is Cheeni Kum. His belief has been that I will work in the language which I know best of. That’s why he entered late in hindi films. Saahtiya’s original Alaypayuthe was shot by him. As shared by him he is the one who have differences with Mani for the betterment of the product.
Anil Mehta, who hold lenses behind for Lagaan, is an internationally acclaimed cinematographer. He also shot Saathiya, Khamoshi, and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. He tried his hand into story writing with Agni-varsha. Recently released come-back movie of Madhuri Dixit, Aaja Nachle was his directorial venture. As shared by Ravi Chandran, he is India’s one of the best cinematographers.
There is another creative creature, Santosh Sivan, who has Dil Se, Roja, Fiza on his credit and also The Terroirst which gained critical acclaim in various film festivals, was directed by him. What is distinct about Dil Se and ROja is the beautiful locations they are filmed especially the songs of the films.
Last but not the least is Rajeev Menon, the man showed us Bombay through his lenses. Many ad films later, he started off as cinematographer for Mani Ratnam’s Bombay before directing Minsara Kanavu (Sapnay in Hindi), apart from a few documentaries for Shyam Benegal and a short film for Girish Karnad. Among his recent film is Maniratnam’s Guru. Multi-starred Kandukondain Kandukondain was his directorial doorway. His primary interest has remained that of advertising film making. Airtel, Cadbury, Colgate Palmolive, Asian Paints are directed by him.
Just a little gyan..that a list of India’s cinematographers list would never get completed without names of Subrata Mitra, the legendary cinematographer who held camera for Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Apur Sansar, Charulata. And also V. K .Murthy who alongwith Guru Dutt filmed Kagaz ke phool and Pyaasa. I have seen none of the movies and have never read credit of these classics shared by these cinematographers.
I am looking forward to new genre of film-makers who could replace the old masters. Unfortunately me being doing something else, the world will miss one of those precious few, wat say?
Screenplay
I have always been curious in reading the names that appear on the screen before and after movie is being screened. There are whole lots of technicians who transform the vision of director, the fantasy into a reality. Perhaps myself being a curtain puller in inter-collegiate events, I know what importance it plays in making a program success! The word that I had least understood for years was Screenplay, perhaps until I saw Saathiya.
Here the movie starts with Vivek driving bike and hearing ‘O humdum suniyo re’ and somewhere in the middle of the story again you see repeating the same scene but much has happened in between those two same scenes. Otherwise what Saathiya is, it has no story which is strikingly different as Swades or Lagaan, a very ordinary love story, which happens very commonly, both meeting in marriage, attraction, next dramatic view in two oppositely passing train (that’s quiet impossible otherwise), superb straight- forward proposal in train, coming together-leaving for parents, and then Runaway marriage, differences after marriage (commonly termed as ‘ate daal ka bhav pata hona’). Apart from calculated acting of Rani and Vivek (and small yet crispy role of Sandhya Mridul), its screenplay is what which acts as a fuel to keep our interest burning. Story could be the strength of a movie like Lagaan has, but with a simple story like Saathiya, getting away with such a pleasant result, could be achieved by Mani only.
If Sanjay Leela Bhansali could be ‘feelingful’ director then Mani could be called as thoughtful. If Ram Ram Gopal Verma is a man of silences in dark room, then Mani could be calculated words with timing (Remember another classic propose to Isha by Michael Mukherjee of Yuva, “ Yeh Pyaar vyaar kuchh nahi hota hai, mujhe jhel sakati ho to aa jao.” ). If Karan Johar is only good at handling family soap type movies then Mani could handle variety of stories with midas touch.
Another good part of Saathiya has been dialogues by Gulzar. He is master in weaving words together and farming a sentence. They are low-weight yet meaningful and humorous too. When Vivek runs to see Rani in her gallery, Sandhya Mridul – Rani’s sister- says “Kise dekh rahe ho, who ladki jo kapde utar .., mera matlab hai rassi par se kapde utar rahi hai usko?” You see, it’s not a vulgar, it’s actually humorous. That’s what has made Saathiya superb alongwith ARRahman’s Composition and not to forget ‘Yeh udi udi udi’ by Adnam Sami.
What I have admired in Mani’s film is the way relation ship between man and woman is portrayed. Generally the Gender is taken as giving deliberate importance to woman to the level of sidelining male, but in Mani’s character both are actually ‘equal’. The simply Vivek has conveyed his feeling, without shying away, not silently keeping flower in hand and waiting for months to speak out, Why? If it is so natural!
Also see the choice of actors for the roles. Even in the tamil Alaipayuthe, the original version of Saathiya has Madhavan and Shalini. They are irreplaceable in their roles-perfectly tailor made-as like Rani and Vivek in Saathiya.
Oh! In the middle of writing this, I realized that Saathiya is not directed by Mani but his assistant Shaad Ali, who has almost vanished after that. But with this much classic, it is not possible, by heart, to give credit to Shaad. Romeo and Juliet even if transferred in marathi by me, credit would always remain with Shakespeare, isn’t it? I am waiting for Shaad Ali’s next movie. He has a great legacy behind him; he is son of Mujaffar Ali who filmed Umrao Jaan.
Another good example of a good screenplay is Yuva, again by Maniratnam. The way three different lives of youths woven together and yet there is a common stream and at last the way they meet at the Howrah Bridge is a classic piece of story telling and screenplay.
In the old films, where Anurupa Roy is the mother of Abhishek Bacchan kind of films, the mother tells the story how she became old, then bald and grey haired character would wear a wig and be hero’s father. It was that kind of screenplay those days.
Among all, I believe, nobody knows what a screenplay is as much as Maniratnam does. All directors’ with different style are appreciated, but Mani leaves his trail behind.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Me- A Movie freak
Being a Movie buff, there are four characters close to my Heart!!
Ajay Devgan from Govind Nihalani directed 'Takshak', who conveys Tabu Honestly that he has unknowingly committed a murder. He is telling her because from her only he could draw this strength to speak Truth. The way he tells to Tabu made me to fall in love with character and Honesty too.
Another one is Zakir Hussain (the Great Tabala player) from Sai Paranjape's film 'Saaz', he proposes Shabana both in their fifties that 'He loves her, even if she would have been a flower, wall, sky or anything, he would have loved her equally.' Again with the shear simplicity that Zakir has said it makes you adore him.
Another superb one is by Ajay from Maniratnam directed 'Yuva', where Ajay says to Esha, 'Yeh pyaar-vyar kuchh nahi hota hai. Yeh sab X-Y chromosome ka khel hain. Mujhe jhel sakati ho to aa jao'. It could be as plain and logical as it could be. It sounds very non-romantic but it is very true!!
My recent favourite has been Saif from 'Tara Rum Pum'. He is superb father. i wish i could be playing that role..
Ajay Devgan from Govind Nihalani directed 'Takshak', who conveys Tabu Honestly that he has unknowingly committed a murder. He is telling her because from her only he could draw this strength to speak Truth. The way he tells to Tabu made me to fall in love with character and Honesty too.
Another one is Zakir Hussain (the Great Tabala player) from Sai Paranjape's film 'Saaz', he proposes Shabana both in their fifties that 'He loves her, even if she would have been a flower, wall, sky or anything, he would have loved her equally.' Again with the shear simplicity that Zakir has said it makes you adore him.
Another superb one is by Ajay from Maniratnam directed 'Yuva', where Ajay says to Esha, 'Yeh pyaar-vyar kuchh nahi hota hai. Yeh sab X-Y chromosome ka khel hain. Mujhe jhel sakati ho to aa jao'. It could be as plain and logical as it could be. It sounds very non-romantic but it is very true!!
My recent favourite has been Saif from 'Tara Rum Pum'. He is superb father. i wish i could be playing that role..
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