Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Kanchenjunga - 1962 - Satyajit Ray
I first watched it when I was a teen in Delhi. It was showcased as one of the masterpieces of Satyajit Ray's creations as the Great Film-maker who had won an Oscar Award for Life Time Achievement. SR at the time of Award Announcement was critically ill and hospitalized. His award was presented to him at the hospital. Doordarshan at the footsteps of the Oscard Recognition, then showcased all SR's masterpieces beginning with Pather Panchali.
Kanchenjunga Movie stood out for me. There was something about it which one may not be able to talk about, but there was a depth of emotion added to the majestic silence of the movie just like the backdrop of Kanchenjunga mountain. The events of the moview are mundane and very much the same for the mountain. Its the same when sun rises, spreading the light in the valley, people trekking or away on chores, then by noon time, clouds coming up leading to mist formation and soon the indication of sun to be going down so that travellers, trekkers or daily grind getting the direction to recede to shelters. The sun goes down by 3 PM in the mountains. My parents have trekked while walking to Hemkund from Gobind Ghat on the Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway. They had told stories how it is on the mountains.
And just like that Sun-rise, the advent of clouds, the formation of Mist and clearing of Mist, and onset of Sun Set with decreasing Temperatures, the events for the day are goal-set for the protagonists, the ascent begins, self-doubts as hurdles are thrown in with mind grappling to find that foot-hold to survive the drum of terrifying chaos and fear of unknown and once finding that hold, holding to it steadfastly and with a resolved mind making an effort to go about the descent into the shelter of personal awareness that will take them to a new day. Its a gaining for many, losing for a few and none-changing for some, nevertheless a day of life-changing events for all of them. The Mountain shows its majestic power only by the end of the movie and its excellently captured as it defeats RaiBahadur Indranath Roy, a successful businessman, Chairman of 5 Companies, who has quelled his dependents into submissive silence and pretentious obediance to his idea of a Material Existence.
This was Satyajit Ray's Original Screenplay and a movie ahead of many years. To me its one of Ray's pearls. Beautiful, elegant, lustrous and poignant. Its a poetry as the dialogues, scenes and music blend in to become a beautiful narrative of natural elements controlling the human objects. Its that grand place where the Powerful man or Submissive man or self-effacing Woman from Calcutta will have to relinquish his existence for once and admit to the majestic strength of nature and stand witness to the tempest and chaos in his or her heart, which they had failed to see for a long time.
Its beautiful, how Labonya, Indranath's submissive wife breaks down and finds her lost self, how she finds her singing back and before she can even realize what happened to her, before she can have heart to heart tete-a-tete with her kind spirited brother, the mother and woman in her knows what she has to advise her daughter to protect her and what she has to do support her daughter.
Its remarkable how Monisha, Indranath's younger daughter, who knows about everyone in her family, is finally able to break herself out of her own self-fortified decorum, etiquette of a good daughter's duties and see that without adding heart to her polite actions and not wanting to pain anyone is nevertheless becoming a consequential pain to herself as others are able to read her actions no matter how greatly she can mask her true desires. Its brought out excellently through how men see or read her as, how her father controls her and expects certain fixed response from her, how her brother-in-law wants her not to be scared and giving in, how Mr.Bannerji, her best-fit potential suitor reading her diginified social silence and becoming honest with her forcing her to become honest with him and how a stranger is able to mock at her polite manners and concern, making her comprehend how even an unfit person for her proper company is so close to being human and independent, which is infact liberating and enticing to be attached to him, to flow in that inspiration to find her own voice.
The best part of the movie for me is when Monisha is being called upon to cite her decision, when the mist has already gathered around them, it becoming all dark, her internal chaos, her excited and scared heart is presented to us with passing by drums of the passing by trekking crowd, which is a noise indicative of ringing bells like an alarm. She runs from that chaos in all excitement only to reach her destination with another kind of band playing forcing her to stop escaping from taking the hard decision and to decide once for all by keeping aside trying to be the polite and unhurting pleasant self to all. Its time to take the tough and unpleasant decisions. This piece of screenplay and direction was best to me. And that does not mean that I am not impressed what happens to Mr. Bannerjee (Monisha's suitor) and Ashok (the stranger). They have their liberating experiences as well.
What Mr. Bannerjee decides for himself and Monisha is remarkable of him, an honest and experienced man that he is. The mountain and him remain friends just as Monisha's uncle is in peace with his surroundings.
Ashok, young and poor man he is, as compared to the rich and successful company he tumbles into non-chalantly nevertheless has mystifying surreal experience on that day. He is able to voice what he believes with honesty, courage and in all humility to his circumstantial existence before the stalwart, before the symbol of success itself. Ofcourse not without the great help from the Rai Bahadur who is arrogant and callous enough to make less of all the effort that went into make our country independent. After all he is a History Graduate. What is admirable about the young man that he is able to hold to his thoughts inspite of him getting pulled into the swamp of alluring beautiful company and material success. He is able to break through the mirage, the mist and call the beautiful company as a pretension at kindness when it is given without an inclination to truly participate in the events of the future and also see it as genuine concern when the weight of the emotions as seen from the extra effort makes him see it. He is also able stop himself from getting tempted to easy found success when he refuses the stepping stone opportunity for him which is actually a charitable employment provided by the Rai Bahadur.
Finally the couple salvaging their marriage is again beautiful to see. All that they did was refuse to talk to each other in honesty out of fear and anger. And all it takes them to respect each other into honesty is trying to be true to themselves while respecting the other as well. Its was that simple to fix their lives and they wasted 10 years of their marriage and had to come to Darjeeling and talk on the last day of the trip there.
Indranath's fall and his loneliness by the end of the movie cannot be called tragic as it was bound to happen. When one climbs up the mountain of success and wishes to stay there, he is left alone there. That's the price one has to pay anyways. He is another Kanchenjunga in himself. One has to decide whether he wants to ascend to be near him or descend from his summit point.
The uncles of both Monisha and Ashok remain unchanged just as brother of Monisha remains unchanged. But then those three men depict static equilibrium states who are well grounded in their foothold and are not truly concerned about ascent and descent in their lives.
The movie language is Bengali-English. The Youtube video we have here is subtitled in English. The english spoken by Indranath or Mr.Bannerjee or Indranath's son is excellent....straight from the Brits. Hahaha!!!!!
Well, the credits and cast can be checked at these links. Feeling done with at this time with long write-up.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Tapasya - 1976
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Produced by Tarachand Barjayta, Directed by Anil Ganguly, Story by Ashapoorna Devi (bengali renowed novelist and story-writer) and Screenplay by Anil Ganguly. I was barely 3 years old when this film was released. It was dedicated for the cause of International Year of Women.
This is a story of woman, whose opportunity to get married to her love of her life, a doctor, a good samaritan, is thwarted by fate as she ends up raising her young sibs all by herself when her father dies. By the time she is done with all her familial responsibilities, she is already into twilight of her life as the woman where marriage adds no meaning, as she is sapped out, exhausted of being the householder, full of pain with realization that her dreams just add to her misery...and just wanting to Go Away Anywhere. A true mental picture of her state of mind is drawn where she has the man waiting for her, asking her to come into his life now that she is free ultimately, all she can find within her to say is that she feels all barren about it...which is really true. I was crying buckets here...but then next moment we see her beau's mother crying and simply entrusting her with house-keys and says I am tired and you need to take care of him and relieve me of this. That brings out happy tears of the woman...as in she always wanted to go there...but she wanted that wavelength in others to understand...that everyone is in twilight waiting for the sunset...and the sudden hope that its still worth watching the sun-set together with all those like-minded tired souls.
Its again a story where the woman under circumstances gets glorified for her sacrifices, but she is happy and unhappy as well and she gets a meaning for her individual life as when finishes one journey successfully and embarks on another. Here too the theme is marriage or the loss of that opportunity...but there is sacrifice and then the true meaning of companionship in one's life and what is loneliness and what is freedom and what is choice and what is opportunity and what is sacrifice. Its kind of more appealing that at that age, the woman is shown to be welcomed by the man's family to enter their lives and begin her journey afresh. In those days, it was hypocritical of Indian Society to show a woman getting married when she is already past her 35th year. She would rather die a spinster rather than be married as pretty much she is useless as she cannot bear children and if that is not possible or if there were no step children to take care of, the woman has practically no right to enjoy her life with her spouse in truly fulfilling manner through sharing, companionship. This concept was more of a western concept then in 70's, whereas this in our present times is quite okay...like me and others marrying very late.
A beautiful film. The rendition, the execution of the story is such that it doesn't hurt the traditional and modern audience much...though we can criticize on argument basis...how about a man who was not known to her and not waiting for her over the years...Just that ART has to be pervasive and not jolting. A thought that pervades our mind stays in our heart as we think on it. A jolt just subjects us a shock...which I call as Loud without aiming for resolution.
Other Specifics
Rakhee considered this movie her as her best performance and movie in her accomplishments. She had been always known to pick up movies with meaty roles.
All the supporting actors were excellent.
Songs - we have that Do Panchee Do Din Ke song......one of my fav songs.
Singers - Its Hemlata as usual for the female playback singer. She has been Rajshri Movies In-House Singer.
Story writer - Ashapoorna Devi, the Bengali writer and so we know why this story is that gripping. I remember reading an excerpt of her work, Pratham Pratishruti when in school. It was in the Hindi syllabus. Later, I watched Pratham Pratishruti on Doordarshan also. It was adapted in Hindi for televised Serial adaptation.
Geet Gaata Chal - 1975
Video Link
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I was angry and on the side of hero. Very angry and related to him and intellectually I found what it is about to fight across traditions and bring a change in thought process...how across time, we are forced to give in to traditional thought, no matter how avant-garde we are. That was more of me.
Produced by Tarachand Barjayta, Directed by Hiren Nag, Story and Screenplay by Madhusudhan Kalelkar and Sharad Pilgaonkar (He is Sachin's father). I was barely 2 years old when this film was released.
This story is about a young boy...coming of age Teen, Youngster, who can't stand the idea of being bound in marriage. He feels suffocated at that thought and leaves the place when he gets to know that people are trying to get him married without even asking him as he is such a docile and a good boy, eligible from all angles. Everyone blames him that he broke their trust, but no one even once says, we did not even ask the boy if he wants to get married, we just asked him if he likes Radha.
To me intellectually it was so suffocating that I was revolting and needed a vent. Then I remembered by childhood and all that suffocation, when me too did not want to get married because that is the natural course. And the only way to run from that confirmed end to my existence was keep away from it as much as I can. But eventually as the eldest daughter, I did bow to traditions and got married. Yeah I come from that generation, where without possible cause, girls or boys cannot say, we want to enjoy and explore our life being spinsters or bachelors. Eventually we needed to marry as it was our Dharm. If we refused, we were committing Adharma. So when watching Sachin cringe at his losing independence and hearing everyone blame him, I was all pained.
Compared to that age, we now live in an age, where parents are okay to have their children remain unmarried...though seeing from my mother's eyes, it is still sinful. We cringe at her thought process but that's what it has been...a fight between her traditional principles and our fight on our rights to our shaping of our existence as it makes meaning. That is why a lot of struggles in our family are more on intellectual ground as the stance we took was to beat the regular course and go for NEW thinking which is individualistic breaking traditions...even if it has to hurt our mom's sentiments...as we believed that somewhere there has to be a change...and why not begin at our home. So we became the difficult children to a hapless woman who just wants to be ordinary like all other women of her age with material comforts of extended family. We al;ways were a match to Mom's religious argument and eventually she had to give in and this was her grudge that she had to give in...but it was our grudge too that we had to give in to her demands. So our saga of fight between principles...change acceptance will continue.
Geet Gata Chal was a run away Hit. But if you see it now...you can say its a Classic. Any filmographer will analyse how the story writers blended the new age thinking into traditional thinking, where tradition wins and yet that winning is suspect ...as the boy does not give into elders voice of Dharm and Ethics...the boy gives in as he realizes Her Love for Him and hence the meaning of bonding for him...and all this is shown by removing all Censuring Voices in the story and just keeping people who make him realize meaning of love and yearning; and the girl he left behind.
Now that is what I call subtle story telling...making a commercial success by making traditions win and yet retain something for an intelligent viewer to see modern thinking germinating within an innocent boy who grew up quite independent devoid of family values and who just believed in humanity and individual embarking on his life journey through a gusto for adventure on the way.
I was angry and on the side of hero. Very angry and related to him and intellectually I found what it is about to fight across traditions and bring a change in thought process...how across time, we are forced to give in to traditional thought, no matter how avant-garde we are. That was more of me.
Produced by Tarachand Barjayta, Directed by Hiren Nag, Story and Screenplay by Madhusudhan Kalelkar and Sharad Pilgaonkar (He is Sachin's father). I was barely 2 years old when this film was released.
This story is about a young boy...coming of age Teen, Youngster, who can't stand the idea of being bound in marriage. He feels suffocated at that thought and leaves the place when he gets to know that people are trying to get him married without even asking him as he is such a docile and a good boy, eligible from all angles. Everyone blames him that he broke their trust, but no one even once says, we did not even ask the boy if he wants to get married, we just asked him if he likes Radha.
To me intellectually it was so suffocating that I was revolting and needed a vent. Then I remembered by childhood and all that suffocation, when me too did not want to get married because that is the natural course. And the only way to run from that confirmed end to my existence was keep away from it as much as I can. But eventually as the eldest daughter, I did bow to traditions and got married. Yeah I come from that generation, where without possible cause, girls or boys cannot say, we want to enjoy and explore our life being spinsters or bachelors. Eventually we needed to marry as it was our Dharm. If we refused, we were committing Adharma. So when watching Sachin cringe at his losing independence and hearing everyone blame him, I was all pained.
Compared to that age, we now live in an age, where parents are okay to have their children remain unmarried...though seeing from my mother's eyes, it is still sinful. We cringe at her thought process but that's what it has been...a fight between her traditional principles and our fight on our rights to our shaping of our existence as it makes meaning. That is why a lot of struggles in our family are more on intellectual ground as the stance we took was to beat the regular course and go for NEW thinking which is individualistic breaking traditions...even if it has to hurt our mom's sentiments...as we believed that somewhere there has to be a change...and why not begin at our home. So we became the difficult children to a hapless woman who just wants to be ordinary like all other women of her age with material comforts of extended family. We al;ways were a match to Mom's religious argument and eventually she had to give in and this was her grudge that she had to give in...but it was our grudge too that we had to give in to her demands. So our saga of fight between principles...change acceptance will continue.
Geet Gata Chal was a run away Hit. But if you see it now...you can say its a Classic. Any filmographer will analyse how the story writers blended the new age thinking into traditional thinking, where tradition wins and yet that winning is suspect ...as the boy does not give into elders voice of Dharm and Ethics...the boy gives in as he realizes Her Love for Him and hence the meaning of bonding for him...and all this is shown by removing all Censuring Voices in the story and just keeping people who make him realize meaning of love and yearning; and the girl he left behind.
Now that is what I call subtle story telling...making a commercial success by making traditions win and yet retain something for an intelligent viewer to see modern thinking germinating within an innocent boy who grew up quite independent devoid of family values and who just believed in humanity and individual embarking on his life journey through a gusto for adventure on the way.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Dhuan - 1981
Cast : Raakhee Gulzaar, Mithun Chakroborthy, Sudhir Pandey, Amjad Khan, Ranjeeta, Padma Khanna, Goga Kapoor and others.
Crew
Director: Dulal Guha, PR Chatterjee, Shafique Ansaari, RS Chaturvedi, Abdul Aziz Sajawal, Abhijeet Sen
Story:
Screenplay : Dulal Guha
Dialogues : Shafique Ansaari
Editor : Bimal Roy
Cinematography: DOP: M Raja Ram
Audiography : K S Rane
Sound Recording -Kaushik, HMV Records
Art Director : Bijoy Ghosh
Costumes : Ram Lal Maheshwari, Bada Saab, Leena Daru, Aruna, Meeta
Make-Up : Babu Rao
Hair Style : Khatija, Thelma and Meera
Choreography : Gopi Krishna
Stunts/Action Director : Ravi Khanna
Music Composer: RD Burman, Basu, Manohari, Maruti and Sapan Chakravarthy
Lyrics : Majhrooh
Singers : Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Amit Kumar
Producer : Partho Guha, Gautam Guha
Processed : Ramnord Research Lab
PRO : Gopal Pandey
Stills: Image
Distribution: ?????
Excellent Suspense thriller. And best part is ending line.....Please do not tell anyone about the ending. And I will follow that and not tell anyone what is the ending or suspense.
The film out and out belongs to Dulal Guha and his team of direction and writers.
Also most of the cast and crew is Bengali :)
It was simple, neat and clean execution. I could not stop myself suspecting everyone excluding Ranjeeta, her father and Sudhir Pandey and his constable Asit Sen. I suspected even Goga Kapoor along with rest of cast.
As for some action scenes; the car racing scene was extremely funny.....at such windy speed, Sudhir Pandey's Police Topi was intact without flying anywhere. Even Ranjeeta's hair was not flying. The race driver Mithun had helmet, but Ranjeeta and Sudhir did not wear one. Against Racing Safety rules.
I have always admired Rakhee and Mithun for the variety of roles they picked up while signing for movies.
Rakhee has always looked for meaty roles in her character. Never afraid if that role deglamorised her.
On Mithun - Very nice to see him in sleuth kind of role. Suited him.
And personally I am reminded that how he has never shied in taking up any kind of role that seemed to be entertaining and meaningful. Infact he has ended flooding the market with his own movies that his movies competed with each other, thus compromising getting a blockbuster returns from his starry image. He used to manage making his his movies as Hit, but none became Super Duper Hit. But Mithun has always been like Govinda, going for what his people like. In entertainment business or any business, Mithun is excellent businessman and has been the highest tax payer most of the time. He was from Naxalite background. And even today he remains close to grass roots that way. His loyalties most of the time stay with lesser known people, masses and poor. He has mass appeal because he loves to maintain that and he works for them only. So he never minds going low and cheap to entertain that crowd and to bring his cost or production down can go for any innovative ideas that become bread and butter or career Opportunities for Ordinary people. And all of this well within a business mind that never failed to look for profit. Mithun had this dance show on Bangla TV Star Jalsa. When it became a HIT, he gave this idea for DID to be held across India. Which TV Software, it was I forget...UTV softwares or something. Anyways, then DID took its birth and is now a HIT show. Basically the concept is Mithun Chakroborthy and he gets to be called Grand Master Dada. But its not that openly known that concept is his.
On Mithun - Very nice to see him in sleuth kind of role. Suited him.
And personally I am reminded that how he has never shied in taking up any kind of role that seemed to be entertaining and meaningful. Infact he has ended flooding the market with his own movies that his movies competed with each other, thus compromising getting a blockbuster returns from his starry image. He used to manage making his his movies as Hit, but none became Super Duper Hit. But Mithun has always been like Govinda, going for what his people like. In entertainment business or any business, Mithun is excellent businessman and has been the highest tax payer most of the time. He was from Naxalite background. And even today he remains close to grass roots that way. His loyalties most of the time stay with lesser known people, masses and poor. He has mass appeal because he loves to maintain that and he works for them only. So he never minds going low and cheap to entertain that crowd and to bring his cost or production down can go for any innovative ideas that become bread and butter or career Opportunities for Ordinary people. And all of this well within a business mind that never failed to look for profit. Mithun had this dance show on Bangla TV Star Jalsa. When it became a HIT, he gave this idea for DID to be held across India. Which TV Software, it was I forget...UTV softwares or something. Anyways, then DID took its birth and is now a HIT show. Basically the concept is Mithun Chakroborthy and he gets to be called Grand Master Dada. But its not that openly known that concept is his.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Special 26
16th July 2013
Here is the link: http://www.desitvforum.net/forum/watch-online/261938-special-26-2013-watch-online-download-dvd-rip.html
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai
Crew
Director:
Story:
Screenplay
Dialogues
Editor
Art Director
Cinematography
Costumes
Make-Up
Choreography
Stunts/Action Director
Music Composer
Singers
Producer
Distribution
A clean thriller in a non-glamorous manner. Well itched characters, who are not loud but ordinary. Except for one Filmy stunt, everything else was simply a smooth flow. Very easy with me, gripped in my own mental predictions of how Ajay/Akshay was gonna pull off with his scam. I was damn sure they would get away anyways, but "how" was becoming "the thing for me" and I realized it the moment Jimmy Shergil gave odd looks and next second we have Divya Dutta with her punchline...asli kaam toh hum kar rahen hain.
Here is the link: http://www.desitvforum.net/forum/watch-online/261938-special-26-2013-watch-online-download-dvd-rip.html
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpai
Crew
Director:
Story:
Screenplay
Dialogues
Editor
Art Director
Cinematography
Costumes
Make-Up
Choreography
Stunts/Action Director
Music Composer
Singers
Producer
Distribution
A clean thriller in a non-glamorous manner. Well itched characters, who are not loud but ordinary. Except for one Filmy stunt, everything else was simply a smooth flow. Very easy with me, gripped in my own mental predictions of how Ajay/Akshay was gonna pull off with his scam. I was damn sure they would get away anyways, but "how" was becoming "the thing for me" and I realized it the moment Jimmy Shergil gave odd looks and next second we have Divya Dutta with her punchline...asli kaam toh hum kar rahen hain.
It was a good film and should be watched in company.
Now the specifics:
The Make up and Costumes - Wonderful. Excellent. I will have to go back and check the credits.
The script and dialogues - not hurting my ears. On some occassions, the 4 scampsters kept such a low profile that I didn't want to pay my attention. Infact I even got up from my seat when my legs were hurting. (Usually, when I watch movies that are interesting, I forget myself, my body pains. I have a history with that). I was with all my attention as soon as Manoj Bajpai was coming on screen. Coz in contrast, he had a mighty task to catch these con men.
The Con people : Very ordinary looking and yet master minds. By God!! they looked Gov Servants with their ordinary looks.
The wife who was asking her husband to wash clothes and all : She was playing mother to Saanchi on Ruk Jaana Nahin Show on Star Plus. That show was from Paresh Rawal production house.
The CBI Boss to Manoj Bajpai : He too was part of Ruk Jaan Nahin. He was playing professor of the University.
The ending : The way Manoj Bajpai ends up laughing, I was pained. I was hurt and felt for him. His honesty ka to poora falooda bana ke rakh diya. I was praying in my heart, shock na lag jaaye, naukri na chale jaaye, with that much big theft. And he asks for Chulloo bhar paani.
What I did not like
Kaajal Aggarwal as the female interest of Ajay. She did not even know how to speak Hindi. She was so accented, with bad hair style. Everything about her was faky ordinary girl.....she was the biggest imposter of the next door girl role in the movie.
Anupam Kher being made a joke with so many children. Woh joke bhi nahin lag raha tha mujhe. and if in reality his character was such a man, then what a loathsome man. Aadmi mein ya bacche paida karne ki machine. And his shameless wife.
It was a good story telling of Con without any glamour.
The stunt scene of Manoj catching the thief/culprit in New Delhi's Connaught Place took me into nostalgia. I was like main kitni baar wahaan pe gayee. :)))
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