A Journey in a Woman's Heart - My Thoughts on Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

What a woman really wants? This is a question that has been asked by men throughout history and are still asked by men today but sadly, even today the heart of a woman can neither be understood nor read.Maybe that's the reason why the following Shloka makes such an strong impression on all Men of all ages and at all places - whether India or America. It goes something like this:

Striyacharitram Purushyabhagyam,
Devo Naa Jaane, Kuto Manushyam?

In simple words, if we remove the chauvinistic aspects of the Shlok, it means that the Heart of a Woman can neither be understood by men nor by those who profess to be Gods. This is the main parameter of the movie that I intend to talk about today.

Yes, it's a historical; Yes - it talks of the rise of a Mughal Empire and the marriages of convenience that were brokered by the able diplomats of that foremost of Indian dynasties to ensure a powerful march through the sands of time; Yes - it's a story of the beginnings of the first major secular experiment in the Indian (and I would say the entire world) environment; Yes- it's a story of a king and his favourite and most loved queen; but more than anything else - it's the story of a young man (who also happens to be a king) who wants to win over the love and the respect of his wife and the journey of the young man through the woman's heart and in the process the coming together of the two individuals, families, cultures, civilizations and the formation of an Indian Empire at the end of it all.

Jodhaa Akbar is not just any another film - in fact it's not only a film but something more.It's a document that illustrates a century that we can only imagine in the books and paintings and artifacts of that bygone era, a painting that brings to the fore the beautiful, chivalrous and exotic world of the great Mughals and the honourable Rajputs,a gold-decorated page torn from the timeless book of History, written by ageless Time on the pages of Earth with the ink of Destiny that engulfs us within the events of our glorious past, a song that explodes all over in resonant harmony, a pristine river moving with grace and power to an all-embracing sea and a perfect example of the harmonious synthesis that is the hallmark of the Indian way of living

Jodha-Akbar is the perfect film to be made in times of communal strife and frustration; the perfect rejoinder to the policies of the Mullah and the Pandit and I have no doubts that had Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his counterpart, Mr. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar remembered this epoch of our shared history and glory, we would have all been spared of all that we have faced in our days - from the Partition to the Holocaust that followed Partition to the disputes that threaten to strip us of our national fabric to the ever-deepening fissures of hatred and animosity that rule our day to day Hindu-Muslim relations. Indeed had Mr. Jinnah and Mr. Savarkar looked at our past and looked well-enough, there would have been no India and no Pakistan but just one Hindostan

Jodha Akbar makes many points at many levels and still remains very much in the realm of history that it faithfully recounts and recounts well. The marriage of convenience is well-documented, the teething problems associated with the juxtaposition of two altogether different religions, traditions and civilisations and the growing awareness that they are served better not by annihilation of one and the supremacy of the other but a constant sincere desire to create a composite pattern of synthesis that strengthens the best of the two traditions and weeds out the points that add to the discord

The story may derive it's begginings from a marriage of convenience, a marriage that was aimed at political expediency but in the end it ends as a story that has it's moorings in love and faith. The greatest truth that can be ever learnt is that behind all differences of religion, there lies a common strand - the strand of humanism and it's a strand that cannot be let to be destroyed by false notions of pride in self and prejudice to the other


Hrithik Roshan as the young prince Akbar taking over the reins of an emerging power, a rising empire makes heads turn and hearts warm with his earnest and masterful performance. The vulnerability of the young emperor is so well-documented that one would be forced to think that it's not Hrithik but the real Akbar in our midst. His mannerisms show a regal bearing that's as overbearing as to remind you of the great royal of the Indian Cinema, Pradeep Kumar albeit with more emotional depth and maturity.

The only blemish in the performance that one can see is the walk - that's quite hurried, especially in the scenes wherein the young king is addressing the court. How I wish Hrithik would have taken a leaf out of Dilip Kumar's portrayal of Shehzada Salim in Mughal-E-Azam and specially observed in meticulous detail Dilip's walk when he comes to meet his mother (incidentally Rani Jodhaa

If we sidestep this one blemish, Hrithik is a revelation. His performance proves admirably the adage that 'uneasy lies the head that wears the throne' - look at the regret that tears his chest apart after being forced to kill his foster-brother and the pain that tinges his eyes as he begs for forgiveness. Look at the same eyes as he silently listens to the terms and conditions set by Jodhaa for the marriage and feel the flare-up in the eyes as he listens to the message that proclaims the conditions. Look again at the eyes that love and love deeply and then check the restraint that deepens the colour of love of the eyes again. After a very long time, we have an actor who can act through his eyes

Aishwarya Rai as Jodhaa is like a beautiful doll in the midst of a desert storm. Her beauty is unbelievable and her face lightens up with an arrogance that pays homage to the chivalrous spirit of the Rajput women who would unflinchingly prefer the scorching embers of Jauhar to life with ignominy. Her silence deepens the dignity of her character and the innocence in her eyes makes her look so heartbreakingly vulnerable

Though her initial scenes appear forced and lack spontaniety, as the film wears on the actress in Aishwarya slowly and steadly comes to the fore and as the climax nears, the actress makes for brilliant viewership.The pride of a Rajput is the most powerful and distinctive aspect of the Rajput identity and had the actress failed in bringing about the right amount of arrogance or testiness to her role, the entire characterization of Jodhaa would have fallen flat on the face. Aishwarya manages to look the look and the fierceness of her look is truely amazing, it reminds one of a tigress who has been wounded and would not stop at anything less than death

More than the actors in individual, the film works more because of the chemistry that's shared between the two lead actors - Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai look very much in love and well-suited for each other. To use a classic word, both the actors look 'made-for-each-other' and I would not be surprised if this becomes the jodi of the early 21st Century. The fencing between the two lead actors is a beautiful foreplay for the sensual desires of love and longing that reside deep within their hearts and is visible in flashes, all through the film and in perfect consonance

Kulbhushan Karbanda plays the role of Raja Bharmal with a humble elegance that is enchanting and awe-inspiring. The role of Raja Bharmal is very difficult to portray - he was a statesman in an era more known for savagery than statesmanship; a diplomat when the most powerful weapon of diplomacy was the might of the sword; a visionary when all that was envisaged by the majority kings and nobles were strategems to gain land and prestige - it was a role that could have appeared either weak or sychophantic; depending on which side of the divide you were but wihch was actually more enlightened than many of his times - Only a true statesman could see beyond Hindu-Muslim and Rajput-Mughal conundrums and even lesser ones would have the courage to cross the taboo and do the unthinkable - Instances of such love is rare even in the 21st century which is thought to be so liberal , so can one imagine the chances of such a marriage happening with full blessings and state support in the 16th century

Sonu Sood performs his role with an easy earnestness. The role could have easily slid into one with negative overtones but Sonu is able to bring a degree of dignity to the portrayal; so much so that despite that character being severely flawed and bearing the ipact of his own actions, in the final analysis the actor manages to hold fort in our hearts due to his selfless act of valour and chivalry. The eyes are innocent and show a guile that can only come from innocence and Sonu shows a child-like innocence in his performance.

Nikiteen Dheer impresses as the crafty, treacherous and amibtious Shareefuddin. Although the actor suffers from a severe handicap due to a mostly monochromatic caricature of the character, Nikiteen infuses life in the character with a liberal does of style and brings up a solid dash of realism to the role. The other strong negative influence in the movie, Ila Arun is a complete contrast to the role essayed by Nikiteen Dheer. Ila Arun is impressive in her performance of Maham Anga. Her eyes are deep and sharp and they are used to maximal effect by the actress for while watching the movie, one does feel terror in the eyes and fear in the skies when she is on-screen. Such is her screen presence that even heavyweights such as Hrithik and Aishwarya appear submerged in her depth whenever she shares screen space with her. Her silence is also eloquent, giving rise to a depth that's rarely seen in today's cinema

The director manages to bring out interesting performances from among the other players in this historical romantic drama. As an example, Raza Murad is brilliant in his portrayal of Ata Khan. His booming voice by itself stands heads and shoulders above the rest. Pramod Moutho is impressive as Raja Todarmal; specially in the scene where he tells Akbar that he himself being a minister has also been paying the Jiziya a sort of medieval tax, levied on non-Muslims by their Muslim rules. Surendra Pal also makes a strong mark as Rana Uday Singh and Suhasini Mulay impresses with her role as Rani Padmavati. Poonam Sinha as Mallika Hamida Banu is as ethereal as ever

A R Rehman scores another perfect 10 with a gem of an album. After a very long time, one hears songs that appear not only to please the ear but also provide the mind with a soft fragrance of it's own. The heart is enchanted by the beautiful play of words and the movie seems to be floating on a myriad sea of notes and rhythms

The album begins with the almost mesmeric Mann Mohana by Bela Shende - it's soft and soothing tunes are enough to make one feel relaxed and cool. One of the sweetest Bhajans to come out in recent times - come to think of it, how many Bhajans have we heard recently in films

Then the tempo picks up with the Sufi 'Khwaja Mere Khwaja' an awesome, jaws-dropping Sufi rendition that is simply out of the world - the maestro A R Rehman himself sings this Quawalli and he is simply unresistable in this brillaint medley of tunes that are like a canvas of soft colours on the canopy of life. Simply marvellous

Then we have the soft (my favourite) romantic ghazal that's just out of the world - it rmeinds me of those days in the 50s when Talat Mehmood would sing ghazals that touched the heart and pained it hard - Jashn-E-Bahaara by Javed Ali is definitely one of the class. The predicament of a pain is so well-etched in this song that I really have to agree that indeed Hindi Films can still have beautiful songs.Javed Akhtar has managed to weave magic with this song that's just out of the world

The tempo of the album is sized up by the militarically well-crafted song - Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah, a gem in it's own right - listen to the orchestra and the orchestration of the song - it's just unbelievable - Mohd. Aslam and Bonnie Chakraborty are just too pepped up for this song of gargantuan proportions

And finally, we have the song of love, Inn Lamhon Ke Daaman by Sonu Nigam and Madhushree which is the best song for a lover and a beloved to come together in an all-compassing embrace

Ashutosh Gowarikar keeps his date with history intact. Lagaan and Swades are a tough act to follow but Ashutosh is remarkable in that he follows up all his movies with something that's not only different but also diverse. The use of metaphors to put forth a point, the use of imagery to deepen or similarly lighen a point, the battle scenes though masterfully inspired by similar scenes from Alexander still maintain a majestic resonance. The research done by the director is meticulous and the attention to detail, almost correct to a fault. The length of the movie may make the plot seem labourous but I do not think that the story could have been abridged to a very large extent since that would leave many loose ends open

History is a very difficult mistress. It's not easy to make a historical movie and still be appreciated all over. It's doubly difficult if you are making a film about an Emperor who has been immortalized by one of the greatest films ever made in India - Mughal-E-Azam; specifically when your current movie is like a prequel to the later movie which is easily among the top 3 films ever made in India. Only a director whose confidence in himself is paramount can dare take such a risk and Ashutosh has proved himself to be a worthy successor to the great K Asif.

The maturity of the director is observed in the way he tides over the inefficiencies of his actors and uses their strengths to further the cause of the movie - Observe the way Aishwarya is keep bereft of dialogues while Hrithik is given ample scope to improvise over the same and to use the silence as a medium to better his own performance.

This movie is important because it talks about how pride of the self and prejudice of the other have to be overcome by consultation and consensus if a dream has to be realized.

The same was true of the 16th century, the same is true of the 21st century and the same will be true of the Nth Century

Beauty Interrupted - My Thoughts on Fashion (2008)

After a very long time, I guess after 10 years, I am back to writing about an Industry that once was kind of as regular for me as the next coffee from Cafe Coffee Day or the next lunch at  Bade Miyan's - I still remember my days modelling and choreographing for 'high-profile' inter-collegiate fests and events like Mood Indigo, Aarambh, Astitva, Ashwamedh, Horizons and Malhar and dreaming under the Bombay sun with stardust in my eyes of being a Star myself some day

Those were the days - Those were the times. Specially the days of Mood Indigo, a fest that happens in December but for which my friends would prepare from January and why would they not - the girls would prepare for the boys from the IITs and the boys - they would prepare for the girls from Delhi and Bangalore and Chennai and what not. Days would be spent in dreams and night would be spent in revelry. Those were indeed the days

As Tughlaq says in that great play by the same name

"19 Saal - Bade Hi Dilqash Hoti Hai Ye Umr - Duniyaa Fateh Karne Ka Jazbaa Hota Hai Iss Umr Mein"

This world - The world of Fashion has a hypnotic spell on minds - young and old - alike. For proof, see the number of hot and cold-blooded males who would gladly stay up late in the night, watching FTV, with remote in hand and sweaty palms holding the channel button so that they can immediately change the change in case of unwanted intrusion, eyes moving from one corner to other and the mute button firmly in place. Eyes pop out, bodies rivet, bodies start sweating and temperatures start rising as soon as the 'Lingerie' Section gets under-way. This is not to say that the beautiful ones are away from the lure of the Fashion World. The World of Fashion has a similar spell on the women watching the show too, the only difference is the effect shows up monthly on the credit cards payments and daily in the malls that showcase the dresses and accessories - although it's a given fact that 90% of the Dresses on show can only be worn in the loony-bins of Agra and Alibaug and that too amid great caution. Ask any young girl or boy from Bombay to Delhi and Calcutta to Madras and the chances are that he or she would list the world of Fashion as a desired destination, somewhere between the movie world and the business world as a most-desired world

But behind the scenes - somewhere behind the sensual stares; somewhere behind the silent plastic and mud-smeared cakes that hide the true face of the model, behind the face 'that could launch a Thousand Faces' and behind the nose 'that could change the path of History' lies a dark truth. What we conveniently forget is that "All that glitters is not Gold."

We all admire the Tiger for his stealth and the power that rips from his moving frame of body. We all marvel at the swoop and the thrill associated with the swoop of the Eagle but have you seen the same from the eyes of the Deer that bears the brunt of the Stealth or the Rabbit that will bear the power of the swoop? Behind every thing of beauty lies a brutality that can only be felt but not explained

Madhur Bhandarkar does well to base his story on this world of Fashion and exposes the world in as simple and as brutal a way as only he can. The research is complete but so is the compassion evident. Still he takes care to ensure that one does not end up thinking that the entire fashion world is bad. He refrains from painting the entire industry with the same brush; he refrains from tarring all with the same stroke but in his own deft manner just puts on gentle strokes that underline the world between the black and the white; the world we call grey. He refuses to preach and let's the viewer decide on what the viewer wants to take away from the film - but during the entire duration of the film - the director is the one in command and maintains a strong grip on the story so here you have a well-made intersection of the world of the designers and the world of the models and the world of the all-powerful media and the advertising agencies, all meeting together at one point

Priyanka Chopra plays in my opinion the role of a lifetime. Her performance as Meghna Mathur is the name by which she will be remembered once the arclights  have dimmed and the audience has forgotten her and newer and prettier faces have come to rule the marquee. The transformation of a young girl from the moffusil sleepy towns of young but awake India who dreams to do the impossible and become a supermodel in the face of mounting pressure and severe challenge from her family; the role of a woman who has strong values in life but who in pursuit of her life compromises on each and every one of them and finally ends up as nothing but a mirror image of herself is brilliant

Mirror Image I say, since a Mirror Image is you and I in shape and size but still what's an mirror image? It's only a shadow and shadows have no values - they bend as per the light and the angle of the light and as per the contours of the space they inhabit

Priyanka is as catty as required; as bitchy as can be and as vindictive as any in that high-pressure job. She plays the role as if it was a second skin to her and as expected the perforamance is just too good

Mugdha Godse as Janet is brilliant. She plays the role of the practical and good-hearted Janet to perfection. What impresses me the most about this young girl who happens to be a débutante is her body-language. Her body-language is not only stylish but also very comforting. No one can see her performance and say that this is her first performance. The subtleties and predicament of her position; the internal pangs of not being successful as a model and the mature and silent understanding of her position is something that makes her a force to watch out for

But the film really belongs to that young performer who has been taking the movie world by storm in the past few days - Kangana Ranaut. Kangana is the soul of the movie and the movie; however one may protest is essentially the movie because of Kangana

From the child-woman lost in her own world to the "showstopper" beyond excellence to the drug addict who just cannot stop being addicted to the model who has her breasts flashed all over in a classic case of wardrobe malfunction and is instead insinuated to be herself responsible for it all, to the model who is forced to be on the streets and then off it, Kangana displays a rare raw power and audacity. Such is the nerve of her performance that one may disapprove of her but one can never ever stop but feel for her. The strength of her performance lies in that she makes people empathize with her and not sympathize with her

The men in the movie are not the main movers in the film but each and every one plays his role with calm, poise and perfection. This is one of the few films that not only centre on feminine strength but are made with the feminine aspect fully in control of the ebb and flow of the movie

Arbaaz Khan as the double-minded and ruthless business tycoon who runs the Bombay fashion scene as his personal fiefdom is excellent. He does not have the author-backed role but he blasts away everyone with his brilliant portrayal of Mr. Sarin. I guess Arbaaz should should looking at roles like these that complement any performance and put forth his acting credentials for the world to see

Arjan Bajwa as Priyanka's one time lover plays his role of a conscience-keeper to the hilt. In his own way, the director uses him to carefully point out the difference between the one who claimed values but lost them and the one who made his career without compromising on the same. Arjan is focussed and plays his role well. Here's hoping to see more from this talented actor

Samir Soni as a designer with a different sexual orientation does a brilliant job. Unfortunately the director refuses to focus on his track but in whatever he gets, Samir still leaves a mark. Raj Babbar as Meghna's father plays his role well. The mature actor that he is, one gets a feel of what the tinsel-world sidestepped in the scene wherein he is trying to give his daughter a new lease of life. Kitu Gidwani and Rohit Roy are also well-cast in their roles - specially Kitu who does the role of an postman-editor quite well. Ashwin Mushran is superb as Meghna's best friend

Music by Salim-Sulaiman is brilliant and some of the tracks stand out. The one song that really makes me go wild and remember my days as a choreographer-cum-model is 'Mar Jawaa' which is brilliantly rendered by a a super stylish Shruti Pathak and Salim Merchant. Another track that makes waves when you listen to it is the all-dazzling "Fashion Ka Hai Ye Jalwa" by Sukhwinder Singh, Satya Hinduja and Robert Bob Omulo. It is a definite show-stopper

Another thing that I like about the movie is the Theme music that's fantabulous to say the least

Madhur Bhandarkar -an activist director is excellent to say the least. Like his earlier movies, each of them a masterpiece like Chandni Bar and Page 3, this movie also rivets the viewer and provides one with a ring-side show of the industry with privileged seats in the middle. The performances extracted are of the highest order and the metaphors used worth a dekko

It's rare to find a movie that encompasses so many different aspects of a movie and still remains so well-rooted and strong is rare in today's world but Madhur proves that a good director can still make movies that are different and beautiful - just like the boys and girls that inhabit that scene

Unlike the advice that Janet gives Meghana that a model is supposed to look and not think, this movie makes one think and think hard.

Songs to Remember - IV

I have always firmly believed in Love - in fact often at an heavy cost and severe detriment to my own self. But that's fine - one should not be pained at the very essence of Love. What is Love if it is devoid of Pain? As the great poet Ghalib has stated and stated so very clearly:

Ye Ishq Nahin Aasaan Bas Itna Samjh Lijiye;
Ek Aag Ka Dariya Hai Aur Doob Kar Jaana Hai

If so be it - so be it! But still it beats me and often I question my failures at this most strange of emotions - Am I really so heartless that I cannot feel it or am I really so arrogant and my manners so obnoxious and my attitude so high-handed that Cupid would rather shoot a magazine full of A K 56 bullets on my heart than shoot those darts of love towards me? Often, when I see those beautiful and passionate couples down Bandra Bandstand I am forced to look down my lonely heart and smile at my own impotence.... As Ghalib again has said:

Ek To Husn Aur Us Par Husn-Zan; Rahe Gayee Bul-Hawas Ki Sharm;
Apne Pe Aitimaad Hai; Gair Ko Aazmaaye Kyoon?

Somewhat like that guy in that ad wherein everyone has something but is still sad since he / she does not possess something that the other has.... "Khwab Ko Kya Chaahiye; Khwaab Thode Zyaada....."

And often in nights of loneliness and silence I find myself, especially after losing yet another game in the sport of love, wondering about those who managed to find love and not only find it but also were able to live life with the one they loved - And my heart goes out then to those feelings that I will throttle down deep in my breast and a silent cry goes to the heavens above hoping that what Iqbal said is proved true:

Dil Se Nikli Hiu Har Baat Asar Rakhti Hai
Par Nahin Taqat-E-Parwaaz Magar Rakhti Hai

But then, soon I find my loneliness making a mockery of my hopes (high ambitions, it says) and my heart goes out to a beautiful song sung by the great Hemant Kumar in Pyaasa (1957)(undoubtedly among the top 3 albums even in Hindi Cinema) - I can never forget this song as this has often been the balm that I applied to my heart after every defeat in love - after every time I found myself alone waiting as the aisle while others moved on with their new lovers / boyfriends / husbands.

"Jaane Woh Kaise" is not just a song - it's a statement of pain that has been immortalized as if it was a tear that falls off the face of that beautiful flower which is aware of it's impending death and still chooses to smile at the unforgiving rules of God's universe - it's not a song but the tears that fall from an eye that has forgotten how to cry - it is a tear from hell

Listen to the lilting and slow beginning of the song - the feeling of the pain in the voice as the man with a voice that could induce magic in the environment starts weaving his beautiful web - This is no ordinary singer - This is Hemant Kumar - the man whose voice could seduce the most estranged of beloved; the voice that could bring to love the most strong-headed and the voice that could teach love to the recalcitrant - it's not a common voice; it's the voice of a magician - a magician who always manages to lay his magic on one and all and so it pains more when he sings this song - this melody of the pain-stricken warbler; this cry of the anguish-ridden nightingale - full of pain; pull of heartbreak. Maybe this is where the beauty of this song lies.

Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jinke Pyar Ko Pyar Mila
Humne To Jab Kaliyaan Maangi Kaaton Ka Haar Mila

The singer is full of pain and heartbroken at the broken promises of love and shattered declarations of faith - he is too absorbed with his pain to feel anything but angst - and he wants to know about those who got love on their terms. His experience has not been one of happiness and his pain at getting a garland of thorns when all he wanted was a few blooms of the garden has pained him deeply.

When I hear these words, my heart often goes out to the writer of the poem, Sahir Ludhianvi and many a times I feel these words are the outpourings of the heart of this prince of song-writers for the loss of the one he loved - Amrita Pritam and why did he lose her? Because he was a Muslim and she was a Sikh! Great are the ways of our society!

Khushiyon Ki Manzil Dhoondhi To Ghum Ki Gard Mili
Chaahat Ke Naghmen Chaahen To Aahen Sard Milen
Dil Ke Bojh Ko Dugna Kar Gayal; Jo Ghum-Khaar Mila

Look at the pain inherent in these words - Look at the angst that threatens to overflow from the frustrated heart - Feel the tears that have stopped flowing for they feel that they have no value in this world - Feel the angst of the man who has lost his love

What does a lover desire? Love!

What does a Lover get? Pain!

All that he wanted was a little happiness; all that he got was sadness - All that he wanted was a little melody in his life; all that he got was agony. The one he wanted to share his pains and frustrations ended up doubling the pains and frustrations of that poor broken man

Bichhad Gayaa Har Saathi Dekar Pal Do Pal Ka Saath
Kisko Phursat Hai Jo Thaame Deewane Ka Haath
Humko Apna Saaya Tak Aqsar Bezaar Mila

And now the true lament of the lover is in the open - the one who was supposed to hold his hands has left him in the cruel world to fend for himself - the one who should have taken him in her arms and assured him of her presence in his life has left him to the dogs while she saves herself - she has been practical; he has been emotional and so he has to suffer.

But he knows that she is not at fault - as he reasons out why would someone be so 'Stupid' to commit herself to a man whose mad! Isn't self-preservation the first instinct of mankind? And so with that he absolves his beloved of her decision and forgives her the step she has taken.

How can he blame her, when his own soul, his own shadow, his own conscience, his own heart has brought him to this point of no return!

And finally he says that:

Iss Ko Hi Jeena Kehte Hain To Yunhi Ji Lenge
Uff Na Karenge Lab See Lenge Aansoo Pee Lenge
Gham Se Ab Ghabraana Kaisa Gham Sau Baar Mila

If this is what has been deemed as correct for him by his beloved, then so be it - if this is how she wants him to live, so be it - he assures her that there will not be a single protest, a single murmur of dissent and he promises her that he will drink all his tears - even if his death ensues, he ensures that she will not be held responsible for it

After all, he has lost so many times; losing in love is almost second nature to him.....

Mohabbat Ke Liye Kucch Khhas Dil Maqsoos Hotey Hain
Ye Woh Geet Hai Jo Har Saaz Pe Gaaya Nahin Jaata

Let this be the fact that all Lovers of the world may kindly note

When a Man loves a Woman - My Thoughts on Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)

When I was young, I had once heard a Ghazal by that great King of Ghazals - Mehdi Hasan. It was mind-blowing and somehow the words just stuck with me. Allow me to repeat the same to you, if you may:

Ye Saagh-Dil, Ye Phool-Chehre, Mazaak Udaate Hai Aadmi Ka
Koi Zaraa Ye Inn Se Keh De, Maqaam Oonchha Hai Saadgi Ka

Translated it means something like this, beautiful girls with those sweet and innocent hearts, that flower-like face that makes lovers in droves go mad, often make fun of men with simple features.The poet further exhorts one and all to go ahead and tell these beautiful cradles of innocence and love that only flamboyance is not all that matters in life and that often times, the value of simplicity often outweighs flamboyance in all ways.

But in the path of life, I have often seen that men and women (too) of simple and decent manners are often losers when it comes to being the attention of parties - the limelight is often hogged by those who are flamboyant enough to show their feelings - by those who can carry their feelings on their sleeves. I guess the days of simplicity are often numbered.

I remember in school and college times, how many times my friends and I would be passed over for those who had the better dresses and the better styles and things would no change a lot till I would come back with trophies and awards and successes in all fields - academic, cultural and sports and still things would not change. What to do, there were no Ray Ban glasses, no Adidas shoes, no gel in the hair (good old Parachute coconut oil was all I could afford), no Gucci, no Armani suits to wear and no hot wheels to burn - so other things could wait.

Similarly, if you have been a simple and decent girl with no great features but friends who are fairer and sport hot dresses, even you must have felt the pain when your decency is sidelined for our friend who happens to be more shapely, more curvaceous, more fair and ..... maybe, more sexy!

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi talks about such people and then more. It talks about the predicament of a man who's a simple middle-class Joe, (a man whom we meet everyday on the roads, on the trains, in the office) but who loves and is married to someone due to fate and fortune who is flamboyant, full of joie-de-vivre and the struggles inherent in such a contradiction of qualities- told from the point of view of love itself

Shahrukh Khan as Suri is brilliant to say the least - if the 1990s oversaw the birth of Shahrukh the Star, the Super Star, the Phenomenon - one that could sleepwalk through any movie on the basis of a few stock emotions, the last few years have actually seen the metamorphosis of the stunted growth of an actor we thought we would never see after the days of DDLJ and now maybe those who kept the faith in the 90s can now turn and say, guess what we told you so.....

Shahrukh plays the role of Suri to perfection - this is a role that's easy for many to identify with - a caricature here who embellish both the performer and the performance but true to his credentials, the actor has carried it well - the look could have been toned down a bit but then the actor should not blamed for the director's or the designer's faults and foibles - should he be?

As Raj, Shahrukh is however a revelation - that's the way a loud boisterous Jat from Delhi performs and that's how one needs to see it - and Shahrukh ensures that you carry the image with you. There are many who may find fault with his performance and say that he played to the gallery but to be frank, that's not true - one needs to understand that it was not a double role and hence given to the merits of understatement but a single man in the script masquerading as two different people and that too a man of no previous works as such - I think it is justified and justified well

The force of what the director wishes to say is well-explained in one dialogue and if one listens closely, this is the dialogue that has the entire film in a nut-shell

"Main Uss Ka Pyaar Paane Ke Liye Kucch Bhi Karoonga, Bobby Par Uss Ko Pyaar Suri Se Hi Karna Padega........Suri Badlega Nahi"

What I will like the most about him though and what I will remember the most in this movie though is his banter with his friend wherein he extols the supremacy of true love - one that comes through devotion and sacrifice and not the love that speaks through flamboyancy. I mean, what is love if it needs to be told all the time (although a lover cannot stop telling, but still) - love should be seen even if it's being hidden. As Hasrat Jaipuri said:

Lakh Chhupao, Chhup Nahin Sakta Raaz Itna Gehraa
Dil Ki Baat Bata Deta Hai; Asli - Naqli Chehra

Another scene that pained me but made me smile too was the scene wherein a drunken Raj is talking to a mannequin dressed as Suri ( a brilliant directorial achievement - after all to most of the girls out there in this world, a man like Suri is a mannequin; for them men are like Raj) and telling him that one day Raj will take away Taani and Suri will be left wringing his hands and then crying over it like Suri - that was some scene! As Suri, his best scene is the one where he's visiting the Gurudwara, internally traumatized but overtly calm and dignified - please watch the movie for these 3 scenes if not for anything else

Anushka Sharma, the debutante is pretty impressive in her performance. She performs well and the best part about her performance is that her equations and her graph never dip, despite being exposed to such a complex and difficult role - So her agreeing to a loveless marriage does not have a ring of fantasy, her blunt espousal of a life without love is not extra-ordinary, her initial behaviour with Suri is not out-of-place, her decision to fall in love outside love is not wrong, her decision to seek love outside her marriage and walk out on her husband, not strange and finally her decision to stay back not surprising.

That's what amazes me - her performance as Taani is an exquisitely made necklace made to order with no tramplings - well wrought in gold and it's obvious that the director has done his job well. Her best scene has to be the scene wherein her frustration with her husband comes to the fore and the way she chides him for being just an ordinary man - that was awesome. Again the scene when she decides to be with Raj is brilliant. It shows the love she has for that man. The love is true and the love is the only truth is well-understood and felt even she decides to forsake him.

Vinay Pathak has always been a fabulous actor. He does not need an introduction for his performance - having been a man beyond compare in most of his roles and here too he does not disappoint. As usual, he has done an excellent job with her portrayal of Bobby - a bohemian in the conservative city of Amritsar well performed without any pretence or hyperbole

Music by Salim-Sulaiman is average. Anyways, the time for masterpieces in Hindi Cinema is gone far too much in the past but I do feel that compared to what we hear today, it's still one of the better ones.

However, one song that does capture my heart and makes me actually remember somethings from the past is: Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai by Roop Kumar Rathod is well sung and well shot. It's beautiful to say the least. However, Shreya Ghosal in her version is not as impactful as Roop, although she has the benefit of the slower version. Another song that may make one feel slightly romantic is the song - Haule Haule by Sukhwinder Singh that has a lot of panache. "Dance Pe Chance" by Sunidhi Chauhan and Labh Januja is another song that will definitely set the discotheques on fire. Sonu Nigam disappoints with his rendition of "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" - I also feel sad that this song mentions Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Rishi Kapoor but fails to mention the greats such as Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. I do believe that actors, directors and composers need to have some knowledge of their cinema.

Aditya Chopra has never disappointed me whenever he took over the helms of the show and jumped behind the scenes - he does not do that even now. All his films have fascinated me in lesser degree or more and I am happy to see that even this movie did. I understand the commercial implications of being the creative and the financial head of Yashraj Films but I think the banner would be served more if he could keep making movies like the ones he makes at more frequent intervals. The direction is brilliant - now only if it could have been a little less earnest; maybe it would be more powerful like the two movies that come to my mind while watching this movie - Sasural starring Rajendra Kumar and Katha starring Naseeruddin Shah and Farooque Shaikh. Anushka's transformation may leave many unconvinced since the bound and the rebound from Suri to Raj and back is a little too fast for many to digest. Also the Hindi Cinema of 2008 is not equivalent to the Hindi Cinema of 1995 when DDLJ was released.

Also, I like the way the director has used the Mohammed Rafi - Asha Bhonsle - Shailendra Singh song from Suhaag as the inspiration for the name of the film - may I say the name is apt for the film though

All I would say, as I rest my case is that:

Humne Dekhi Hai Inn Aankhon Se Mehekti Khushboo;
Haathon Se Chooke Inhien Rishton Ka Ilzaam Na Do
Ek Ehsaas Hai Ye Sirf Inhein Mehsoos Karo
Pyaar Ko Pyaar Hi Rehne Do, Koi Naam Na Do

The City that was Bombay - My Thoughts on Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008)

Ae Rah-E-Bar-E-Mulq-O-Qaum Zaraa
Aankhen Na Chura, Nazren Naa Jhuka
Kucch Hum Bhi Sunen, Hum Ko Bhi Sunaa
Ye Kiska Lahu Hai, Ye Kaun Mara?

There are some days in your life that you cannot forget ever and then there are some days that never let you forget ever- and still there are some other days that though forgotten never are actually forgotten- they appear so to the untrained eye but lurk silently behind the veil of consciousness and keep us aware by being consistently a part of our nightmares and other psychological incidents.

One may try and try hard but somehow the memories of the days refuses to let go - one such day in the life of Bombay / Mumbai and every man in Mumbai is the day Bombay relived the horror of the 1993 blasts - 11 July 2006

I will never forget this day - this was the day my current career was getting a fillip and I had received a confirmed letter of intent from an employer that I was very keen to join in the capacity that had eluded me for a long time. I looked forward to meeting an old friend and I remember leaving the office premises and travelling downtown to meet him at Churchgate station. We met at Gaylord, a popular restaurant in South Bombay and decided to take a train to Andheri, a suburb of  Mumbai where another friend was waiting for us. Somehow and now I am not sure why, maybe because I wanted to take a bite or maybe because I wanted to call up someone on my mobile and was unable to get a clear signal (it was as bad as today, even then) we got down at Bombay Central.

I remember my friend chiding me and calling me a real fussy character for being so stupid and getting off a seat on a train and that too on the Western Line where getting a seat in the evening locals is like getting a glimpse of God Almighty. Little did we know then that it was indeed God Almighty who was guiding our actions because just a few stations later the bombs kept on the train by those who kill in the name of God blasted in the compartment where we had been sitting just moments earlier and ripped apart that same compartment of iron and steel as if it was made of paper and mud.

I remember going all stunned when I heard of the blasts and rushing all the way to Andheri by whatever transport I could to check if our friend who was supposed to receive us on the station was fine. I will never forget the stress I underwent as phone lines dramatically went dead and all we could hear all over was about the deaths all around us. We never could make it to Andheri - what we saw on the stations between Bandra and Andheri was enough for us to get out of the cabs and start helping the guys around.

All around me was death and destruction; all around me was pain and sorrow; there were people and corpses and it was difficult for me to judge where the people ended and the corpses began.... beneath a pile of corpses, there would be a man still sighing away and similarly among stunned men that were still unfortunate to survive after going through that disastrous and dastardly act lay silent corpses, reminding the ones left to survive both the frustration and happiness of being alive despite all that had happened.

It was not easy for any of us to forget that day; it has not been easy for any of us to make peace with the pain we felt that day but then as they all say - life does not wait. It moves on. Maybe I do not have emotions and so it was easier for me to detach myself from the act and stand confidently and start afresh like the spirit of Bombay that refuses to die - and hence is the subject of abuse by one and all, again and again and then yet again but for others like my friend, it was a major debilitating experience. Hence, when we went to see Mumbai Meri Jaan, what we were doing was not just trying to check the authenticity of the film; but also relive a part of our life that we left that fateful day on the tracks of Western Railways and along the stations of Mumbai and try to exorcise the demons of a fate that befell people whom we never knew but often met in those compartments of steel and iron.

Mumbai Meri Jaan (transliterated as Mumbai my love or Mumbai my life, depending on how you look at it. Transliterating a work of art in Hindustani - Hindi / Urdu is the most difficult thing to try; since both being highly evocative and emotional languages; words have multiple, varied and emotional meanings) is one of the few films that have dared to place that incident in the times and context of the times and studied the impact of the incident on different sections and strata of society. Unlike the classic Black Friday which studies the March 1993 bombings in the causes and effect paradigm and is a well-shot classic that reflects the reality behind the blasts; Mumbai Meri Jaan does not discuss the blasts or the causes of the same -it only delves deep into the psyche of the common man on Mumbai's streets and looks at the impact of that incident on common people.

Mumbai is too diverse of be cast into one colour - if there was ever a true metropolitan city, then Mumbai could surely put up it's hand and lay claim to the same - hence this movie is a sort of a deep look at this incident from the points of view of different characters with different characteristics, culled from the different layers of strata and society that make up what Mumbai is. So we come across different people - like a street tea vendor who ekes out his living by selling coffee and tea on the streets, a TV reporter used to trivializing human tragedy and making them into human interest stories so as to convert it into higher TRPs for the Channel, a man given to extreme disgust and hatred for another community, a man with firm values of patriotism shaken by the aftemath of the blasts and in denial of the circumstances and a motley group of policemen frustrated with both the detoriating circumstances and their impotence and helplessness when faced with forces that make policing a farce.

The first track in the film features the common man on the train who got saved due to God and is battling his personal devils since then. Madhavan has always been a class apart from his contemporaries and he maintains that brilliance in the movie as well. As a man who takes a principled stand on all issues and is patriotism personified to a fault, the slow weaning of his character from his feelings of devotion to his city and country due to the psychological impact and post-event trauma was something that would definitely require a large dose of serious application by the actor and to his credit, the descent is as fluid as can be. The actor is adept at describing the mindset of a man who has been a part of the blasts, experienced it first-hand and seen near and dear ones impacted.

The scene wherein he stands at the station days after the blast, unable to enter the compartment and then takes a cab to office - I remember that scene, wherein he's clutching his bag tightly in the cab while in the background a train is running - shows the actor in complete command of his performance. Equally brillaint are his scenes in the shower, his interactions with his pregnant wife and the final coming to terms with the truth and the gaining of an insight into the dictum that life is ever-changing and keeps moving on.

The impact on a common man of a death-enhancing encounter can only be felt and can only be understood - it's practically impossible for one to explain it in black and white terms - this experience is primarily a difficult emotion, not easily given to words and hence only an actor worth his salt can bring life to that emotion - this is exactly what Madhavan does. One can feel the fear that has seeped into his psychosis by the way he tries to reason out with his friends ably played by Narayana Shastri and Gaurav Chopra about whether NY is safer than Bombay. Agreed the track ends somewhat simplistically and in a complete Bollywood fashion but still it's better than many other top blockbusters

Then we have a track that features the world of sensational TV coverage. Soha Ali Khan as Rupali, an ambitious and on-the-move TV journalist who does not think twice before trivializing a human tragedy to a human sob and interest story to garner brownie points and increase TRP ratings is so realistic that you would be reminded of a classmate or a friend who has shown similar traits in the corporate jungle. Bets are on that you yourself may have been viewed in this light at some time of your career as well.

And then as if to prove that Time never stays constant but is constantly changing, Times change and she is suddenly made aware of the feel of the searing pain when she loses her own in the mayhem that surrounded the blasts and finds that she has lost her own fiancée to that incident. In a moment, the shoe is on the other foot and the pain that was just a human interest story suddenly becomes a personal issue.

The sensationalism of the press has been a major issue and often we find realms of pages devoted to that space but the impact as shown by the performance of this young lady brings home the fact much more strongly than a thousand tasteless documentaries and articles on the subject. Soha performs her role with a dignity that can only be imagined and after a point of time, one not only feels her pain but cries with her - specially when the production house she worked with, in a bid to catch eyeballs goes to town sensationalizing her personal pain and proclaiming to the world her personal loss by such an insensitive comment 'Rupali Bani Rudali' (Rupali becomes a tearjerker).

Some of the scenes that one needs to appreciate are the ones wherein she is being asked to give an interview about her loss and the way she breaks down in the midst of it all and the scene when she sees her personal life becoming fodder for TRP wars. Soha endears with a vulnerability that can only come from confidence and faith in one's art. The track does leave a few loose ends towards the end but on the whole is stronger than most.

The third track in the movie is the track that involves one of the gifted individuals to come to Hindi Cinema in recent times - Kay Kay Menon. Kay Kay plays a right-wing fanatic from a community (it can be any community), totally given to hate and disgust at the other community and one who refuses to have any dealings with the other community and is paranoid and hateful to the extent of being a blind chauvinist to the glory of his own religion and community; looked at from a distance, he can be anyone from any community, someone you can meet on the streets of Mumbai or the streets of any other city, proudly proclaiming the supremacy of his race, religion, creed, community, sex, language, caste or whatever it is that he is a fanatic of!

The height of his hatred is when he chides his friend for appreciating a song by Mohammed Rafi stating that it would be difficult to find a man among the Muslims who would appreciate a song by Kishore Kumar! The irony of the situation is the song that's shown as playing in the background - 'Kar Chale Hum Fida' from Haqeeqat - one of the best patriotic songs in the history of Hindi Music

Kay Kay is excellent in his performance and two scenes stand out in the film - one when in a state of drunken stupor he stops a poor old baker and asks him about bombs and then hits out at policemen trying to save that poor man from his grip and the other when he impersonates a Muslim name to find out information about a Muslim guy who has been missing from his home since the bomb blasts.

The manner in which he holds the sweets offered by the mother of the guy, as if they were not sweets but bombs in disguise, speaks volumes for this man's inherent talent - many have performed the fundamentalist but when Kay Kay performs, he performs! Just look at the way he tries to shy away from the mother when she looks at him with probing eyes and you will know the difference between an actor and a star.

The track involving him and how he changes from the fundamentalist to a man open to all influences is well written but there are times when you would feel the transformation very simplistic. Having said that, I would still say that this is one of his best performances and Kay Kay really defines himself in the role

And now we come to the track that defines man and his ability to take advantage of the most saddest of the tragedies. Irfan as Thomas plays a small-time street vendor who makes his life around coffee and tea that he sells in the silence of the night. Sir Charles Chaplin once said that the most difficult performances are those that are performed only with the eyes and with this brilliant performance, Irfan proves that he has in it that quality that separates great actors from good actors.

Thomas belongs to the strata of society that has always been overlooked. This is the strata of society that leaders and statesmen meet once in 5 years and then forget for the next 5 years. These are the people who suffer indignity,  frustration; people who do not exist except in reality; people who are not valued except on paper but people who die whenever there are riots, blasts or any other hooligan activity - whether State-sponsored, whether Party-sponsored or whether Foreigner-sponsored.

Irfan as always is brilliant - he does not have many dialogues but does an actor of his calibre require dialogues? His silence is eloquent and shows his and every emotion of a dispossessed man threadbare.The scene where an emasculated and a frustrated policeman  unable to bear the barbs of common citizenry thrashes him and destroys his livelihood for the day while he bears it all silently is a lesson in performance to young actors. The scene where he is thrown out of a mall with his wife and children and the cry of anguish that he lets out in silent and impotent desperation is as strong as the waves of a tornado that lash on the deep sea on an angry night.

Look at him as he scans his heart for pain that cascades all pains and the way in which he goes about taking vengeance for the humiliations and hurt that came his way for being poor. Feel his anguish as he is thrown out of the mall since he's poor and feel his pain as it all happens in front of his wife and children. No man worth his salt would allow himself to be insulted in front of his wife and children. For him, the fact that the Bombay Blasts have taken away a lot of life does not mean anything - to him it's just another thing that happens in the city, to the rich man for a change and for him, it's only an occasion for vengeance.

The way he goes about making those hoax calls and spreading thin the police force of an entire city and the way his walk mirrors his feel-good factor shows a perfect psychological high for a wronged man and Irfan performs it brilliantly. But the man is not evil at heart; when faced with the consequences of his revenge on others, he repents and his repentance is much more convincing than Madhavan coming to terms with his trauma or Kay Kay coming to terms with his new-found secularism.

But the segment that engages everyone the most and is the most eloquent is the story that combines two brilliant actors in one foil - Paresh Rawal and Vijay Maurya.

I would be lying if I say that this is not the best segment in the film - Both Paresh and Vijay play cops (Havaldars to be precise) but that's where the similarities end. Vijay as Sunil Kadam is a rookie policeman frustrated with the system and sad at being able to do nothing worth mention. He was supposed to be on a vacation with his newly wedded wife but the blasts have forced him to leave everything and come back to work. The double standards in the police force are so well portrayed that you start feeling for the idealism of the young man and fearing for the death of innocence that is his final destination and when it comes, the tears are real - both on screen and off screen.

The Tears of this young man make you remember and draw parallels with our own hearts to that dark, bleak day in our lives that we wish to forever consign to the back of our conscientious mind - the day we made peace with our desire and killed our conscience. For where would be these blasts, if we would not be a part of the corruption that allows it to flourish.

For any gutter to flourish anywhere on Earth, we require people to throw their filth in that running water; so before we get up from our commodes and point a finger to others, let us also note that some filth flows from our commodes too.

But the man who beats all competition hollow is the man we have all grown up on - Paresh Rawal!

As Head Constable Tukaram Patil, Paresh Rawal is magnificent. The regret of a man who's due to retire the next day but has done nothing worthwhile in his 30 years of service; the impotence of a man who has been in the police force but never pulled a trigger once; the frustration of one who has proved impotent or more precisely allowed the system to emasculate his potency; the man who hides his disappointments behind his humour and the man whose only passing advice to his ward is to not live his life the way he lived it is a painful way to look at life. Paresh is the only one who could have pulled it off and he DOES pull it off.

His monologue at the end of his non-illustrious career is something that will always haunt me to the end of my life for in his failure, I can see mine and of many others like me who could have been something more. When he speaks about Bombay being made of 7 islands and being devastated by 7 bombs, we, as the audience get goosebumps.

Everything about Head Constable Tukaram Patil is brilliant- he's common; so are his pains and therein lies the uniqueness of his pain. Impressive Sir! Really Impressive!

Hats off to the direction of Nishikanth Kamat. I salute him and give him a standing ovation. This is indeed a masterpiece and I personally think this man has done an excellent job while executing a film of this standard. The film wisely stays away from heavy-duty preaching but still manages to convey more than has been conveyed by directors who make jingoistic movies but end up with no value added to the menu - only noise!

Each and every scene in the film stands out and tells us of it's uniqueness. The metaphors employed by the director are brilliant and fit the bill well. There may be simplistic answers to a few segments and I am sure both Kay Kay and Madhavan segments could have been stronger; on the whole the film stands tall. His use of the Mohammed Rafi song in the end invokes within each one of us the same emotions that have made the song the Anthem of Bombay

Ai Dil Hai Mushqil Jeena Yahan
Zara Hatke, Zara Bachke,
Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan

Still, we all love you Bombay! Whether you are Bambai, whether you are Mumbai or whether you are Bombay, you will always be Meri Jaan

Bambai Meri Jaan !
Mumbai Meri Jaan !!
Bombay Meri Jaan !!!

Being Muslim - My Thoughts on Aamir (2008)

The Chinese have a very interesting blessing that I have been reminded of after watching a movie called 'Aamir'.

Well- it's not exactly a blessing but then it's not a curse either.... it's something that has overtones of struggle that would make someone like Iqbal proud but may also be a source of frustration for many others in this world.

It goes something like this: May You Live in 'Interesting' Times..... As is the norm with everything Chinese, much more can be read out and interpreted of those simple lines than what is written within those lines. As Iqbal was wont to say:

Khuda Tujhko Kissi Toofan Se Aashna Kar De
Ke Tere Baher Ki Maujon Mein Iztiraab Nahin Hai

What it means in simple terms is that out of Chaos is born a Man with Character, a Nation with Destiny, a Civilization with History and most importantly a Human with Humanity. This is so because a man in chaos will have everything except the support of the world; at every step of life he will be faced with nothing but battles to prove his worth and a war to fight to prove his existence - detractors will challenge his motives and enemies will meet him at every step - Of Course, there will be excitement, for what are battles without excitement but there will be less of support and more of hostility - However, the world is aware of the fact that greatness is often the result of a battle with the difficult and the impossible.

If this be true, indeed to be a Muslim in today's Islamophobic world is nothing short of being in a battle that has but one clear truth - you are bound to be alone.

Terrorism has no religion but the world has been conned to believe and firmly believe that Islam is the religion of Terrorism. Not all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims - thus goes a popular adage against the religion of Islam, which detractors would be surprised to learn means Peace!

What those honourable men of pure intentions forget is that Terrorism was neither invented by Islam neither has it been a policy of the state for the Islamic theologians. The IRA was arguably the first Terrorist Organization of the world and it does not include a single Muslim in it's ranks. Ben Gurion, who first took to bombarding hotels in 1948 with his extremist ultra-conservative Jews for the formation of Israel was anything but a Muslim. The LTTE that began with suicide bombing and use of women and children for terrorist acts does not belong exactly to the Islamic school of thought. Neither is the Lord's Republican Army a Muslim Army. Red Guerillas across the world owe allegiance to Marx and not Muhammed. I am not even considering the spectre of State-sponsored Terrorism but still the currency that has gained across the world is that Islam is the religion of war and Islamic Terrorism the only Terrorism in this world.

Being a Muslim at this point of time is then indeed a challenging preposition.

Of course, there are among Muslims a school of thought that has done a lot to humiliate and degrade Muslims than even it's most strindent of enemies. This is the thought of the Salafis, the Taliban, the Wahaabis and the renegades that are spawned by this school of Islam that has nothing to do with Islam.For them and those of their ilk, distinguishing them from real Muslims I would quote Iqbal as he states a verse that seems directed directly at the Taliban and their ilk:

Khud-Kushi Sheva Tumhaara, Woh Gayyuro Khhudar
Tum Akhubat Se Gureza; Woh Akhubat Pe Nissaar
Tum Ho Guftaar Sarapa; Woh Saraapa Kirdaar
Tum Taraste Ho Kali Ko, Woh Gulistaa Ba-Kinaar

How can these be called Muslims then and how can their religion then be compared to the religion of the great messenger of Peace?

Whatever, be the case, being a Muslim is today's world is not easy. It's an open invitation to being looked down upon, to be looked upon with suspicion, to be arrested without cause and to be held without conviction. I have seen similar circumstances among near and dear ones and have seen how a Nation often shames it's own citizens to the extent that they may no longer consider themselves a part of the Nation - which is a sad commentary on the Nation because a man who loves when ridiculed for his love turns into an animal who knows only fear and there is no emotion more destructive than Fear

There has been a dearth of films that have been made in India or abroad that look at Terrorism from the Muslim point of view - Not all Muslims subscribe to the path of terrorism - but this is not easily acceptable by the majority who view all Muslims as messengers of death and destruction. Hence when once sees a movie like Aamir, he is impressed with the way the Muslim Question has been raised by an all non-Muslim crew and how well life is shown from the Muslim point of view.

Terrorism is accidental to the plot of Aamir - for Aamir is more a story of an ordinary man caught in exceptional circumstances and how destiny drives him to make choices that normally no man would but how Man being Man, by the grace of that Divine Power we call God and his inspiration, finally does outmaneavour Destiny and in the process proves that Man Creates his Destiny and that Destiny is nothing but a  result of one's actions.That Man has Free Will and any Man who knows how to control his Will and keep it Free form undue influences can change the course of his destiny.

On a deeper plane, Aamir discusses the plight of the pampered Muslim community of India - their abodes, their living spaces, their conditions and their circumstances. Looking at these, one would be 'impressed' to listen that these are the communities that have been pampered by the State for the last 60 years since Independence. There is an interesting scene in the film wherein the hero is asked to look for a clue in a Muslim neighbourhood and the neighbourhood is shocking to say the least. A building as dilipidiated as if it was a relic of the atomic bomb explosions of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and to imagine families with women and children residing there, as if in the shoadow of death and still going about their life as if that abode was nothing short of 'Paradise on Earth' - and the washroom - one can only feel what it must be like from the expressions of the lead actor - one interesting tidbit - no one knows the meaning of the word ' washroom'! - Imagine then the conditions and circumstances of the Community!

Rajeev Khandelwal as Aamir is excellent. Here is a guy making début in the big, bad world of movies and not afraid to tackle a subject that even the most seasoned of performers would shy away from - Rajeev's Aamir is natural, simple and ordinary. He is the guy you can meet on the roads tomorrow as you walk your dog down to the park, he is the guy who is most likely to occupy the seat next to yours in the bus as you travel to work or from work, he is the guy your girl-next-door is getting married to or who is being fancied by the girl-next-bench. In simple terms, he's a nobody - he's just another ordinary man whom we all meet on the street and may not even give a second look - This is the hallmark of Rajeev's performance - He is understated and confident and comes as a fresh bout of air in a system that seems suffocated for performance.

Gajraj Rao in the role of the nameless mastermind is terrifying. He plays the role with such a conviction that one can only feel his power through the terror that he inflcits on the others around him. He is soft-spoken but the hatred that burns within him is like a smouldering fire that can become a volcano at short notice. Throughout the movie, we find him through his actions, his speech and his mobile but still he chills you to the bone with a calmness and a detachment that comes from complete identification with the convictions that he carries.

Jhilmil Hazarika as a prostitute is bold, in-your-face and put forth a brilliant performance as a prostitute. She is so natural and effervescent that one tends to forget that this is just a persona and starts feeling as if this must be definitely the true vocation of the gifted actress.She is a complete natural and the manner in which she offers her on body on sale to Aamir with the compensations for the services availed makes one fell for an monemt as if she is not discussing her body and her shame but some wares in the market. A marvellous performance indeed.

I am very much impressed with the scriptwriter (Raj Kumar Gupta) who has drafted the script of the movie that I have nothing but the highest regard for him in my mind. The evocative use of words and the symbolisms is so well-matched that one starts feeling as if the script-writer himself must be a master in Islamic Theology. For e.g., the use of the word 'Qaum' rather than 'Mazhab' while referring to Muslims is possible only by understanding the actuall feelings of a Muslim mind.

Qaum is more than religion; it's very much akin to Community in literal meaning but is also close to the word Civilzation and Nation and is often used interchangably with both of them. This is where the script of the movie scores over many of the movies that delve in similar subjects.

The direction by the first-time director, Raj Kumar Gupta is fabulous. He has not only delved deep into the subject but has also been able to put across his point without lengthy sermonizing or the use of cliche to prove his point. The story steers clear of all the formulaic interventions that have become a matter of common use in films dealing with either religion and terrorism. Also, the fact that the film is so compactly directed, that one feels that after a long time, we have a taut thriller that actually is thrilliang and exciting to say the least. The director also proves his expertise in the use of minimal expressions to portray emotions and the movie is a brillaint exposition of the use of understatements to portray complex emotions.

There have been many movies on Terrorism, some of them formulaicm some of them exceptional; some have broken new grounds and some have been strictly pedestrian; among all this cluster of films this movie stands in a class of it's own for it's brilliant exposition of the circumstances and the psychological interplay with human emotions, how the feelings of 'us' and 'them' are created, deepened and reinforced and how these factors come together to create death and destruction in it's wake.

A movie for all who really wish to look at the current state of the country and do something about it. As I end this post, I am reminded of the words of Sahir from Pyaasa

Har Ek Jism Ghaayal, Har Ek Rooh Pyaasi
Nigaahon Mein Uljhan, Dilon Mein Udaasi
Ye Duniya Hai Ya Aalam-E-Bad-Hawaasi?
Ye Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye To Kya Hai!

A deep question - Let's ponder and answer this question!

Songs to Remember - III

Sometimes there are nights that are very different from the others.... some nights are more lonelier, some nights more painful.... And for every night that's different, Hindi Cinema has a gem of a song. Today I will speak of a night that's pregnant with frustration and pain and loneliness and a gnawing realization that dares to spill open a heart.

From the film, Ram Aur Shyam (1967), this was one of the few last Naushad gems that would enthral you. Undoubtedly Naushad is a giant among Hindi film composers, in fact he is more than a giant - he's a colossus and some would say a demi-God for his compositions - and indeed he fits the bill but this is one of the songs taken from the fag end of his composing career and you can still feel the magic of Naushad in what is a definitive song on a man's depressed circumstance.

As expected, the gem is in the voice of the great Mohammed Rafi - who else could bring the sublime divine to a collection of words? Only one man - Mohammed Rafi

The song begins with a beautiful incantation - The singer in his inimitable and strong taan extols the virtue of the night that has become kind of different from the others - This may also be so because of the fact that today, the singer himself is going through a very difficult situation in his own life - this is a night that he feared for all his night but finally the night has come and the singer, being the Man he is, has to take stock of the situation.

Ye Raat Jaise Dulhan Ban Gayee Charaagon Se
Karungaa Ujaalaa Main Dil Ke Daagon Se

The singer can feel the joy in the air - that the night that's different has become like a bride by the playful luminosity of the small candles that burn in the wind. As if seized with the emotion in the wind, the lover (only those who can love can sing) and understanding the enormity of the night on his simple heart, he says that today he will also spread light in the environment, even though it may be the cost of his own heart

Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salaami Le Le
Kal Teri Bazm Se Deewaana Chalaa Jaayegaa
Shammaa Rah Jaayegi Parwaana Chalaa Jaayegaa

And then having stated the inevitable, he finally asks the night that has brought so much grief and pain to his heart to 'please' accept his regards - He knows that the night is not happy with him - that his emotional outbursts have hurt the night irreversibly and so he tells the night to bear with him for some time more - and then he puts the pain of his heart in his words - The Candle (the beloved) will burn forever but the moth (The Lover) will finally take a bow

Listen to Rafi as he puts the pain in the last two lines - the way he emphasizes on 'Kal' and then on the way he lets the last line go softly

Teri Mehfil, Tere Jalwe Ho Mubaarak Tujh Ko
Teri Ulfat Se Nahi Aaj Bhi Inkaar Mujhe
Tera Maykhaana Salaamat Rahe Ae Jaana-E-Wafaa
Muskurakar Tu Zara Dekh Le Ek Baar Mujhe
Phir Tere Pyaar Ka Mastaana Chalaa Jaayegaa

Only a lover who has loved truly and deeply knows the pain inherent in the words that have been used. No lover who knows what he's talking can ever say that the beloved has hurt him. Here too, the lover still loves and respects the beloved and wishes that her splendour and beauty may not go undiminished - He knows that the one he loved still is worth all the love that he has for her in his deeply-aching heart. He wants her happiness to remain forever and even as he leaves, there's nothing he would want more than to see her smile at him just that once.

The smile of the beloved has it's own value - what does a lover want more from life than the fact that his beloved is happy and is smiling - What can be greater than that happiness; what can be more sought after then that great moment?

Main Ne Chahaa Ke Bataa Doon Main Haqeeqat Apnee
Tu Ne Lekin Naa Mera Raaz-E-Mohabbat Samajha
Mere Uljhan, Mere Halaat Yahaan Tak Pahunche
Teri Aankhon Ne Mere Pyaar Ko Bhi Nafarat Samajha
Ab Teri Raah Se Beganaa Chalaa Jaayegaa

And now, he slowly delves into his own frustrations - into his own pains, into his own grief - Imagine a lover who is being hated by the beloved for whatever maybe the reasons - Imagine a lover who is unable to explain the sanctity of his love to the one he loves the most - Imagine a lover who has failed in the eyes of the one whom he loved - Worse still imagine a lover who has 'fallen' in the eyes of the one he loves!

Only one who has gone through this torture knows what it feels like - only one who has been through it, knows what it feels like

Imagine being forced to walk out from the paths of the one you love, like a stranger and one will understand the pathos and the pain

Tu Mera Saath Na De Raah-E-Mohabbat Mein Sanam
Chalte Chalte Main Kisee Raah Pe Mud Jaaoongaa
Kahkashaan, Chaand, Sitaaren, Tere Chumenge Kadam
Tere Raste Ki Main Ek Dhool Hoon, Ud Jaaoongaa
Saath Mere Meraa Afsanaa Chalaa Jaayegaa

Strangely, and as is expected, within his heart he still pines for that love but finally coming to the inevitability of the situation, he comforts, more himself than anyone else that he will be able to move on - he knows he cannot still he tries to comfort himself, knowing well within himself that the loss is all his and the beloved, being as lovable as she is, she will easily be better-off without him in his life..... He knows the condition of his broken-heart but he also knows that a broken heart is sometimes better than breaking someone else's heart - especially if that someone happens to be the one you love

These are among songs to die for; these are songs to live by.

I hope everyone learns this fact well that one's own heart is never as important as the one that is the cynosure of one's heart

Love in Cinema - My Thoughts on Kaaghaz Ke Phool (1959)

What does Man want most in life? What does Man work for? What is Man's biggest desire? What is the thing that makes Man's life a better life and what is it the lack of which destroys Man's life?

Man is Man only due to love - the only thing that Man desires is Appreciation for Self and Love for his heart - The greatest successes in life and the biggest treasures of riches in this world cannot take away Man from what he wants the most - Love and a sense of belonging. And often this is what Man fails to get in a lifetime - he may get a family but not familiarity, he may get a spouse but not satisfaction, he may live but not know what life is all about and he may spend his entire life living a life of compromise thinking that it's love that sustains him when the reality is that it's not love that sustains him but his mind that forces him to see love even in mundane acts of human consideration - since the heart and the mind have to justify their existence even the untruth is often dressed as truth and accepted as one

Nothing destroys Man and his life more than the knowledge of the fact that what he considers as love is nothing but a feeling of compromise and worse days are ahead in case he find love but due to social sanctions is forced to disown it.

Sometimes all that one wants from life is a second chance - and sometimes all that life will not give you is a second chance!

One keeps pleading and requesting, begging for that elusive chance to set things corrected but Life looks at him and then looks through him and the doomed, unfortunate Man slowly but surely drowns in the sea of his own frustrations and sorrows, defeated and devastated, not let down by the struggle of life but the cruelty of life that decides the fate of Man on a single throw of the dice - a dice that's often loaded against Man right from inception.

This is not an imaginary statement. Often in life, we see merit becoming an also-ran in the race of life and mediocrity emerging as the surprise winner. How many times have we seen Man being destroyed due to a single throw of the dice? As a poet remarked about the power of fate over reality of life:

Zamaane Ne Dekhe Jawaan Kaise Kaise
Zameen Kha Gayee Aasmaan Kaise Kaise

But what do you say about someone whose own decisions, his own acts of omission and commission become a cause of his troubles, sorrows and frustrations. What do you say about someone who in a moment of emotional innocence destroys his life forever and should now forever be at the receiving end of a torturous fate - one that has been the gift of one wrong step. So aptly is it said for a man of that wretched circumstance:

Ek Qadam Galat Uttha Tha Zauq-E-Yaar Mein
Zindagi Tamam Umr Humein Dhoondhti Rahi

Kaaghaz Ke Phool talks about such errors in life that became a millstone in the life and times of people. A classic, this movie which was among the first to delve deep into the cinema world is the first film to speak about lost moments, an erroneous judgement and the destruction of many lives at the altar of one error.

It is a movie that talks about the life of two individuals who have emerged bigger than life and who have found out that they are the only life for each other but still are forced to destroy their own life because they do not have the power or I would say the guts to take life in their own hands and change it the way they want it to change. Indeed, in a way the loss is a result of their own silence and refusal to stand up and change their fortune but it's only the few who can change the fortunes - the brave, lucky few whereas the others are the ones who are changed by the future itself.

After Pyaasa, Guru Dutt delivers another masterpiece of a performance. As Suresh Sinha, the director whose personal and professional lives come together to create a mess for him and his career and most importantly his life, Guru Dutt delivers a tour-de-performance. His fall from the epitome of success to his final destination - death - is all a story of a man's lost battle against fate and Guru shows admirable constraint while allowing for the character's fall into oblivion. This was a performance that could have failed and failed totally but Guru proves that such complex characterizations do not deter an actor of his calibre.

It's known to all that a frustrating and downward spiralling personal life can create havoc in the life and times of the most strongest and sturdiest of people but the manner in which Guru has performed his role is beyond comparison.

A man whose deep emotional attachment with a woman other than his 'legal' wife has not been reciprocated for the sake of social mores and rules, a man whose wife has become more of a cause of his personal destruction, a man who is unable to come to terms with the loss of love - this is what Suresh Sinha stands for and Suresh is not alone in this quest, there are many who stand like him and destroy themselves for the sake of a love that continues to evade them and refuses to accept them.


Waheeda Rehman as Shanti, the woman whose emotional and personal attachment to a 'married' man creates a destructive effect on her lover plays her part with brilliant restraint. The love and attachment between Suresh and Shanti is obvious; the care and respect they hold for each other natural; the emotions and the feelings true but it's her failure to commit that creates a cascading effect on the life of the one she loves, finally destroying him completely at the altar of frustration and anguish.

It would have been easier for one to destroy this feeling and make it uni-dimensional but Waheeda colours her character with a truth that cannot be forgotten; one does not hate her for her decisions since she is not guilty; she is only weak - her weakness may be a cause for the destruction for the other but she is not responsible for it. How can a victim and her actions be responsible even if they create a vacuum that engulfs and destroys another?

What pains us today is to observe that the love the two held for each other could be allowed to become a plaything of a society that never understood that's it primary function is to allow for human love and dignity and not to destroy love that is the cause of all happiness in this world.

Kaaghaz Ke Phool may appear to be a story of a successful director and his equally successful actress and the relationship they share and how it's impacted by the changing equations of the industry, where selfishness rules the roost but if all the trappings of the circumstances and the conditions be removed, at the heart of the story is a simple love story of two people who loved each other more than anything and yet could not commit their love leading to a life-long pain for one and the end of life for the other.

Like flowers made of paper, that have long life but no existence, so is it with people in the industry - they have emotions but have learnt to kill them; they have feelings but they learnt to smother them. They have a heart but they know that for them it's not more than a pump; it doesn't bleed; it doesn't cry - it's a heart of paper

Veena in her role as Bina, Suresh's wife is too uni-dimensional for comfort. One is unable to either sympathize with her or to understand her reasons for her attitude which borders lunacy at times. Her character-development is one of the weakest and I would say personally the only weak spot of an otherwise robust and strong script. Then it's possible that it was necessary to show the estrangement of the two in such decisive colours but it would have been great, if one was allowed access within her mind.

Johnny Walker is effective at times with his comic timing intact. However, there are times when you feel that the track is laboured and could have been done away with. Unlike Pyaasa, where Johnny Walker is a part and parcel of the film, except a few places where Johnny is instrumental in moving the movie ahead, the role that had a lot of promise is wasted.

The only thing that comes out of his characterization is that many a times, the voice of reason is often forced under the noise of tradition - so although Johnny approves of Guru and supports him; he himself often finds himself drowned under the force of opposition by his family and society alike. Bigger is his error, since a man who cannot stand for truth cannot stand for anything else. When life shall decide the final call of error and appreciation - it will be men and women like him who will be considered to have failed for they could have gone beyond the impossible and done the impossible but they would not; since their fear for their own self-esteem was often much higher than their love for the right things.

Baby Naaz has been given a responsible role, much beyond her age and performs it admirably. As a young child, who dreams of getting her parents together and is oblivious of the grim realities of adult life, Naaz as Pammi delivers an exceptional performance. Her's is a role that shows how young minds can be corrupted and mislead at the altar of social realities and as such, she performs her role with an earnestness that cannot be forgotten.

The music of the film can be described in one sentence as - the cry of an anguished heart from the depths of one's feelings. S D Burman as usual is brilliant and puts another claim to being the greatest of the greatest of the composers ever to put forth their wares in the market.

One often feels that the songs could have been better had the legendary Sahir - S D relationship continued and although Kaifi does give us a score of beautiful songs, the songs are not a notch above the songs of Pyaasa which to my mind alongwith Guide is among the top two musical scores of the industry.

Still the songs of this movie stand hands and shoulders above many others due to two timeless gems - one, among the greatest songs ever sung by Geeta Dutt and the other, one of the most beautiful and scintillating songs ever by the 'Voice of God' - Mohammed Rafi

The song that is the pick of the album has to be 'Bicchde Sabhi Bari Bari' by Mohammed Rafi - only Rafi can bring power to a song that is so depressing as this. Just catch the lyrics of the song and you will know what I mean:

Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari, Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari
Kya Leke Mile Ab Duniyaa Se, Aasoo Ke Siwaa Kuchh Paas Nahi
Yaa Phool Hi Phool Thhey Daaman Mein, Yaa Kaanton Kee Bhi Aas Nahi
Matlab Ki Duniyaa Hai Saari, Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari.....

This is a song that pains you utmost and on the top of it is Rafi and his lilting vocals that bring not only grief and anguish but also a sense of loss while listening to the song

And of course, you have Geeta and her inimitable song 'Waqt Ne Kiyaa Kya' to put pain in the minds of the painless, tears in the eyes of the tearless and anguish in the hearts of the heartless

Be-Qaraar Dil Iss Tarha Mile
Jis Tarah Kabhi Hum Judaa Naa Thhey
Tum Bhi Kho Gaye; Hum Bhi Kho Gaye
Ek Raah Par Chal Ke Do Qadam

What else can signify that pain, that heartache; that tear, that anguish more than these words - "Tum Bhi Kho Gaye, Hum Bhi Kho Gaye" - that's what love is all about - the feeling, the pain, the understanding and the song - just too good

Guru Dutt in his last official directorial effort is majestic as ever - however, the strains that his relationship with Waheeda were making on his relationship with Geeta can be felt in the movie - there are times when the pace slackens and there are distractions at times but on the whole, the direction is fabulous - the cinematography by V K Murthy is faultless and there are many gems of scenes that make you go wah-wah over the great director that Guru was, is and shall always remain

Do watch this movie - it is important for it deals with love in it's pristine nature. As Gulzar would say

Hum Ne Dekhi Hai Inn Aankhon Se Mehekti Khushboo
Haath Se Choo Ke Innhein Rishton Ka Ilzaam Na Do
Ek Ehsaas Hai Ye, Ruh Se Mehsoos Karo
Pyaar Ko Pyaar Hi Rehne Do; Koi Naam Na Do

A movie crafted in love; a movie made in love; a movie sculpted in love; And yes, it's true flowers of Paper exist forever but their life has no charm; their beauty no intoxication