To Love a Wife - My Thoughts on Omkara (2006)

One of my favourite teachers of yore, once remarked, "Loving your Wife is optional; Understanding Her is Mandatory" and then paused dramatically as if trying to savour the taste of this priceless nugget of information for as long as he could and then as we looked at him amazed and confounded, he continued further," even if it costs you everything in this world- your pride, your independence, your freedom - and if required, even your conscience!"

The above piece of wisdom is the moral of Othello and many other love stories of this world that died pre-mature deaths .... A wife needs everything that one can provide but most of all the soft caress of care, the soft embrace of trust and the soft touch of understanding - and these are the very things that we men fail to provide our spouses - why, ostensibly because we are too busy earning for them to understand them and understand what they want from us.......

The needle of suspicion is the worst needle that can be placed between those that love and the loss of faith is the worst loss that can be inflicted on one's partner. Othello was a brilliant strategist, a master tactician, a general beyond compare, a warrior beyond compare and yet he was felled not by one more deft than him, but one who could not even have been noticed in the wide shadow that his unmitigated glory provided (Iago). Indeed, many of our more dangerous enemies are the ones we know nothing about........ they are the ones who are considered meek and weak till they prove the power of their venom with our deaths..... What powerful weapon did Iago use that felled a giant like Othello - was it the booming cannon, the dangerous sword or the stealthy dagger - it was none of these... if you wish it know - it was a needle of suspicion of Othello's spouse that he planted in the minds of the powerful but foolish Othello that finally led to his downfall... Such is the power of the soft word, such is the stealth of the false word......

It's not easy to adapt Othello to Indian sensibilities even though the concept of Othello is universal... still my favourite director of today, Vishal Bharadwaj spins a beautiful web that not only stays true and rings true but would also make William Shakespeare proud of the creation.... Omkara is vintage Shakespeare enacted not in the beautiful canals of Venice but in the dust-packed, baked lands of the Indian hinterland.... and the transformation is Magical!

Ajay Devgan as Omkara is cold and ruthless and exudes the raw passion and power of the protagonist. He's the strongman on whose martial prowess and power does the unholy empire of the dreaded Don, Bhaisaab (Naseeruddin Shah, in a powerful cameo role) stand. He's confident, he's capable and he's cool..... enemies dread him, friends walk in awe of him, others steer clear of him, his wife worships him and then.... a snake bites him and the great hero falls, toppled by his own sense of insecurity and suspicion.... Ajay yet once again demonstrates that he is no small fry in the world of acting, even though he may not have had the kind of support and roles and directors that could get him a stand under the sun for his talents and capabilities. Othello, any Shakespearean will tell you is not an easy role, nor is it one that gives an actor instant gratification..... it requires realms and realms of depth and musings before you can even attempt a parody of the role but Ajay does it all with an attitude that symbolizes power and exudes charisma.

Kareena Kapoor as Dolly is innocence and sweetness personified. She is the Indian Desdemona with a heart of gold, a love that's pure and true, one who hero-worships her husband and abides by his will, one who cannot see beyond the smiles of people and takes everything at face value...... such paragons of innocence often fall prey to the wily and cunning nature of fellow-humans... many a wily opponent are cold enough to use their guile and innocence against them and to their disadvantage..... Kareena does not have much to perform in this movie but the little that she gets, she does her valiant best to prove herself worthy of the role...... It's early times to state whether Kareeena as an actress will be as popular as the other illustrious members of the first family of Hindi Cinema or whether she will shine away and then dull away like some other members of her family..... As far as Omkara is concerned, she is competent enough to deliver a naunched performance that may be considered as adequate.

Vivek Oberoi plays the role of Keshu (Cassio) to an admirable degree. Here is an actor that I felt had the energy and the stamina to stand tall and become a legend in Indian Cinema - here is an actor whom I believed to be the rightful heir of the actor's garb and to become another sensation in the history of Cinema - such was his debut that even today Company ranks among one of my favourite movies but sadly the fire did not burn the fireplace, it burnt down the house.... I hope this movie becomes the much-needed turning point in the history of this brilliant performer and he learns his lessons and does what he was born to do ........ act! Vivek plays the role of a bumbling and arrogant but immature Keshu with an earnestness that makes the character exceedingly lovable..... he has a temper that he can't control, a trust that he cannot let go of and a heart that's singularly incapable of duplicity.... he makes Cassio both likeable and adorable..........

Konkana Sen Sharma is what I would call a magic stick... I am just impressed with her talents and capabilities.... Every time I dare to think I have seen the best of this brilliant performer of our times, she smiles that dimpled smile of hers and comes up with something I could never have expected this Bengali tigress to accomplish... but this girl is awesome.... She is so natural and so positive in all her scenes that one would be foolish to bet that this woman actually is not a rural buxom belle but a femme fatale from the gorgeous metropolis of Calcutta.... she is as rustic as rustic can be, as natural as natural can be, as brilliant as brilliant can be.....

Deepak Dobriyal is another actor that catches your eye with a performance that is both natural and refined..... in rural India, a bridegroom who has been spurned is a laughing stock for the world.... in a land where male ego is at a premium, a man unable to hold on to his wife is considered an abject failure..... the scare of anger and hatred that hang from the sleeves of a man can only be imagined but never understood by one who has never been in such male-dominatd landscapes..... Deepak not only manages to capture the essence of a man from the hinterland faced with an emasculative experience such as the one detailed but also manages to add his own interpretation to the role. An awesome characterization.

Naseeruddin Shah in a a cameo performance plays the role of a rustic leader to the hilt. He's as fiery and as quicksilver as always and one can not but marvel at the actor and his maturity. Kamal Tiwari in a small role as a father who has been betrayed and shamed by his own daughter puts in a mature and confident performance. Bipasha Basu sizzles in her two-bit role as a Nautanki dancer. Not only does she get her naunces right, she also is able to get the rustic charm that the dancers exude.

But the film belongs to Saif Ali Khan... In Othello, the most difficult and powerful character is not Othello but Iago...... many of the greatest actors of World Cinema have cut their teeth on this most difficult of roles and only few have ever been able to stand tall in this role.... No wonder, Iago is among the strongest villains on World Literature ever. Saif knew what he was getting into when he signed on for this role and it's to his credit and appreciation that Langda Tyagi not only works but works brilliantly........ had he failed, he would have failed miserably but the Chote Nawab is made of sterner stuff.... he brings Iago to the rural, ruthless landscape of UP and Bihar and makes it Iago's own backyard. He's revengeful like a snake but does not snarl like a dog, instead he looks like a dove and talks like a parrot till the time comes and when it comes, he strikes like a tiger, intent and focused on his kill.... He uses innuendos in everyday speech and still manages to portray eagerness... Who could have thought Saif would be so powerful in a role that's so much diametrically opposite his own place.... But he does and does well.... marking his name on Langda Tyagi alias Iago for a long time to come........

Music by Vishal is as expected rustic and awesome. Gulzar captures the essence of the movie well... every song is different and a sight to behold and a melody to hearken to ........ the title song by Sukhvinder Singh, sung with a different kind of style establishes the movie well and every song thereafter builds up to a crescendo....... Beedi Jalaiyle sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Namak Issak Ka sung by Rekha Bharadwaj transport you to the world of guns and power. O Saathi Re by Shreya Ghosal on the other hand is soft and puts words to the character of Desdemona.

Vishal is becoming a sort of a legend as times go by.... Watch Omkara because there are very makers today who can make you taste 'Namak Issak Ka' and trust me, it taste it so well.........

They Played Chess while the Nation Burned - My Thoughts on Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977)

Chess is a beautiful game - in fact, in my humble estimation, it is one of the three greatest gifts of Ancient India, among others to our world - the other two being the discovery of the number zero that makes mathematics and science possible and astronomy; the twists and turns that are inherent in so humble a game, one that can be compassed in just a few blocks of black and white, makes one wonder at and appreciate the genius of the man who was the architect of this great game; Who could have thought that for a game as sedate and slow-moving as chess is, chess would be the companion of the greats and the legendary of the world of power; no wonder that to the connoisseurs of this regal game, nothing comes close to the excitement of chess, not even the intoxication of real power.

When two experts well-versed in this ageless art of attacks and counterattacks face each other across the board of 64, the thrill and excitement that this game provides; the battle of wit, intellect and mental fortitude that it presents to both the player and his opponent and even the onlooker can hardly be rivaled, let alone bettered by any other. It's something exciting about chess that allows you the full opportunity to plan your moves and also to be silent and patient, while the enemy plans is.... No one ever won a bout of chess by being exactly impatient or by thinking himself or herself above the others... Chess has a way of humbling the greatest and the smartest!

It’s common knowledge that every sport is an opportunity for humans to calibrate their prowess against their peers and contemporaries but there is hardly any game that stands up to chess when it comes to calibrating a man’s mental make-up. Some may argue in favour of Bridge and though I do agree that Bridge is a formidable game, Chess wins in keeping the individualistic streak open (In Bridge, it's a team that's competing). However, its one thing to play chess on the board and consider oneself as the prime among equals when it comes to deciphering hidden moves and plans and strategies on the board and another to actually be astute enough to understand the same in real life. As they say, you can play the game of chess all your life without ever becoming a player.

Politics is the real-time equivalent of chess with far more varieties and variations than can ever be seen on the board and it falls to the astuteness, alertness and intelligence of the player to deduce from what he sees what may be and what can be. Unfortunately there are few, if any, who read correctly the nuances written on the tealeaves of time and still fewer who actually understand them. That maybe the reason why India, though the land where chess originated and reached its pinnacle was easily outplayed by a few intelligent employees of the East India Company to an extent such that the land of the golden bird remained a colony of the imperialistic west for more than 200 years.

The film is based on a short story by the great Munshi Premchand, one of the legends of Indian modern writing. In his own imitable way, the great Premchand has in this brilliant short film of his, woven with a deft hand the circumstances that were in India in the 1850s and how the British, though a handful were able to using the stratagems employed in Chess, able to win over and rule a nation 3 times their size, while the rulers of India failed. Shatranj Ke Khiladi is a grim reminder of the fact that while the rajahs, maharajahs and nawabs of the Indian sub-continent wasted their time in fun and frolic, flying kites, frolicking with courtesans, killing each other to the last person on some perceived notion of slight to self-respect and playing games like chess in their palatial mansions, the actual players of the game, the British continued silently and softly on their mission of subjugation and conquest by gobbling up one state after another while reducing India to the status of a colony in the bargain.

Performance wise, Sanjeev Kumar as the chess-crazy Nawab of Awadh, Mirza Sajid Ali plays the role of the aristocratic nawab to the hilt. As a person who has no qualms whatsoever at playing chess at any cost and in any circumstances – even at the cost of marital discord, Sanjeev is brilliant. The elegance of a Nawab is not only evident but also stamps itself in every scene. You have to just watch the regal bearing the actor brings to his scene to be convinced of his greatness and completeness as an actor.

There are times when I have thought that there must be at least one performance where I will be able to capture a sense of discomfort in this great actor but always I have been forced to eat humble pie. Sanjeev Kumar is a complete actor, whatever the role, whatever the characterization and it's an honour to watch him perform whether as a volcano in Sholay or a lowly stream in Shatranj Ke Khiladi!

Saeed Jaffrey as his partner-in-crime, his partner-in-chess – Mir Roshan Ali is character personified. In his role as an incredulous, bumbling fool, Saeed is exceptionally well cast and he brings to the role the perfect nuance of an unworthy scion of a worthy family. As a person who understands everything on the board but nothing outside it, Saeed is magnificent – easily his best role in Hindi Cinema. The two lead actors complement each other completely. Watch out for their efforts to play chess even oblivious to the death of a lost comrade – a hallmark of excellent performance.

Shabana Azmi as the neglected wife of Sanjeev Kumar plays a terrific cameo in an ill-defined role. Her hatred for the game and efforts at weaning away her husband from his compulsive obsession are well performed. On the other hand, Farida Jalal as the philandering wife of Saeed who intends to keep her husband involved in chess makes good capital of the little scope she gets to perform.

Amjad Khan as the last nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah gives a brilliant and highly exceptional performance. Watching him enact a role of such a complex hue as Wajid none can think this is the same actor who played Gabbar Singh in Sholay to the hilt, such is his identification with his character. The role of a king forced to abdicate his throne and bear humiliation on the streets of the city he once ruled is one that offers a lot of challenge to any actor and hence it’s indeed a homage to the art of acting to see Amjad perform this role with excellence.

And if any had any doubts about the calibre of Amjad Khan, rest assured it will be forgotten as he chides gently the dancer and then goes on to give an impromptu performance of Kathak - he is an actor to be believed; sadly as usual Hindi Cinema failed his talent as it has many of his talent and standing.

Veena as the Dowager-Queen, the mother of the current Nawab puts in a regal performance. The scene wherein she confronts the English Resident is one of the best in the entire movie and can stand out by itself inspite of so many brilliant performances. Who would have thought that an actress past her prime would prove to be so strong and well-suited to her role as Veena. The imperial gaze reminds us of Taj Mahal, the arrogance and attitude of the woman who portrayed Noor Jehan still lingers, the eyes still smoulder and the voice is imperial as ever.

Richard Attenborough, the great Hollywood actor, writer and director who has done a lot for Indian sensibilities plays the role of the English resident with utmost ease and confidence. Considering the fact that very few Hollywood actors have actually performed a role of substance and performed it well in Hindi Cinema, his performance is exceptionally well crafted and delivered - especially if we remember the utter failure of his fellow actor, Rex Harrison in Shalimar. His performance in the confrontation with Veena is highly recommended for those who feel knowledge of the language is required to shine in a role.

And then there are others; in small cameos but still brilliant whether it is Farooque Sheikh, David, Victor Bannerjee and Agha they all shine in their small roles. Tom Alter, the resident British Indian Actor, one who's more known to Indian films than to British ones as the Secretary to the Resident gives the performance of a lifetime and still proves to be a handful.

Satyajit Ray, considered arguably one of the greatest directors of Indian Cinema proves his commendable hold over the medium of story telling by his expertise on all aspects of filmmaking in this movie. It’s the loss of Hindi Cinema and gain of Bengali Cinema that this director never before and never again weilded the baton in a Hindi film ever again – although he did direct a few short films hereafter. Each and every scene in the movie is an example of a genius at work, one who knows that he's a genius and one on whom genius alights softly on the shoulder, without making a fuss of it.

The juxtaposition of the chessboard with the political conditions of 1857 India, the use of animation and plums to signify the fall of Imperial India and the rise of the British Empire all point towards his extraordinary talent. Unlike many other films, where the casting of the support causes a sort of imbalance in the film, Shatranj Ke Khiladi maintains a perfect consonance of all the actors performing in the movie.

Every scene is a treat for the eyes; the confrontation between the two friends to the extent of causing mortal damage to each other is absolutely a delight to watch, considering the background of the fight. As the friends fight each other on the finer nuances of the game, the British Resident has deposed the Nawab and is taking him prisoner through the roads of his own country and nobody bothers to even pay a second glance to the unfortunate event. Such was the plight of our past!

This movie is a must for all who are citizens of a free country, irrespective of whether the country is India or America.... Do not dismiss it as History for History repeats itself and it severely punishes them who fail to learn its lessons. They all perish in the sands of time that disregard History for History disregards them completely, thoroughly and ruthlessly

As the great poet Iqbal once wrote:

Wataan Ki Fiqr Kar Nadaan, Qayamat Aane Waali Hai,
Teri Barbaadiyon Ka Mashwara Hai Aasmaanon Mein;
Na Samjhoge To Mit Jaaoge, Ae Hindostaan Waalon,
Tumhari Daastaan Tak Naa Hogi Daastaanon Mein

Vengeance Shall Be Mine! - My Thoughts on Sholay (1975)

Have you ever seen embers of coal smoldering in the dark? The glow of the embers is so bright that it can effortlessly be observed even in the darkest of the nights. If the very sight of that smoldering coal is enough to shake one out of his reverie, what then if one would be foolish enough to try and pick up those pieces. The burns inflicted by those red-hot embers would be enough to last a lifetime and even beyond that. Now imagine if someone would be unlucky enough to have to live his life, lying down on those embers – even figuratively that life would be worse than hell.

Now, let's go a little further..... And imagine yourself in the shoes of one who has lost his all to the maverick machinations of a psychopath and has still not received justice or retribution for all that he has suffered. Imagine a man handicapped by his most hated adversary trying to perform normal mundane chores and the steely rage that engulfs him every time he faces those tasks. Imagine a man forced to face everyday the silent prying eyes of someone he failed to protect from the strike of a hated adversary and imagine his plight if that misfortune was brought on by his own actions, however just, however correct? Imagine what this man must go through if the law stood a mute witness to his pain and frustration, when the law itself was responsible for the magnitude of the retribution? Heaven forbid, the recipient of such a cold anger for within such a man burns the embers of revenge and he is transformed into a living volcano, smoldering with nothing but revenge on his mind. The personification of Revenge, the personfication of blind fury, the personification of all that's vile and beastly - the personification of the fires of rage itself!

Sholay is all that and still more - it's the personification of the cold hatred the protagonist, Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) bears for his adversary Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan), it's a moving display of how the cold exterior of burnt coal can hide within itself the inferno of revenge, hatred and anger....the entire film is a visual treat of the smoldering enmity between these two lead characters. Although the director takes pains to create parallel tracks, centering on love, friendship and duty, the film largely wins appreciation for it’s single-track obsession with the battle between Thakur and Gabbar and such is the intensity of their hatred and animosity, that the screen sizzles in resonance of the feeling till it reaches a crescendo from where nothing but only Death or Vengeance is possible!

Sanjeev Kumar as Thakur Baldev Singh churns out a performance that adds to the burgeoning list of an already chequered list of super performances. As the protagonist of this smoldering movie, the actor ensures that the role is akin to that of a live volcano; one that has a lot of magna but has not erupted in the recent past. If ever one has to see quiet fury, one has to observe Sanjeev and that’s it. In his own inimitable style, Sanjeev is the personification of a man rolling on red-hot coal. Look at those eyes, they burn with an intensity unequalled or unrivalled, forget surpassed by any other in the industry.

Time and again, I have been told and have also appreciated the angry young man for his performances but if truth be told and truth should always be told, if any other symbolises anger to such an extent that he be considered as the personification of anger, then it has to be Sanjeev Kumar's brilliant portrayal of Thakur Baldev Singh. Never was an inferno so well portrayed, never was anger so deeply engraved... So soft are the words, the menacing the meanings as if life itself is nothing but a quest for revenge.....

Amitabh Bachchan as Jai, the silent mercenary hired by Thakur is exceptional. In a performance, wherein he communicates via silence, Amitabh comes out trumps. You can feel his intensity, admire his maturity and fear his silence but when he decides to let his hair down, he appears to be completely at ease in the comic sequences as well. His romance is also in sync with his character – mature yet playful, deep yet restrained. Watch him in the scene wherein he interacts with Jaya on his deathbed – a mindblowing performance – the regret of one whose love died unrequited, unsaid and unacknowledged captured on celluloid for all connoisseurs of acting – a scene I can never forget and which remains firmly ensconced on my consciousness.
It's really a point that makes me think hard - would Indian Cinema have benefited more if Amitabh would have not let himself become just the Angry Young Man and gone beyond it? Whenever Amitabh decided to act, beyond his persona, the results were always magical. Be it Jai from Sholay or be it the madcap, shy professor from Chupke Chupke!

Dharmendra as his mercenary partner Veeru – the happy-go-lucky chap is the perfect counterfoil to the intense persona of Jai. In a role that required both for portrayal of machismo as well as to maintain, an endearing childlike quality to the role, Dharmendra excels beyond expectations. His flirting with Basanti is enough to bring down the roofs, as is his camaraderie with Jai a sign of maturity in an otherwise child-man. Also, see his blind fury after Jai has been gunned down by Gabbar and his henchmen – a mindblowing account of a river that has overflown its boundaries. A performance that should rank among his best and one that is a showcase of an actor, one who was never recognized as one.

Hema Malini as the chatterbox, Basanti is absolutely brilliant. In a role that exudes a lot of confidence and spontaneity and is like a relief from the heavy-duty action all around it, the softer emotions of love and social interactions are more of her preserve and domain and she has done a great job of it. Her expressions in her dance on mirror shards are one of the best expressions on helplessness ever and she shines effortlessly in the comic scenes – especially the introduction scene which is still considered my many to be one of the best introductions ever. The only sore point that can be mentioned and that needs to be mentioned though is her dialogue delivery - Hema could never rid herself from the South Indian delivery tinge and for the most stringent of the critics that may be an issue.

On the other hand, Jaya Bhaduri as the unfortunate widow daughter-in-law of the Thakur gives one of her best performances ever. This was a role that was both a reason of fury for one volcano (Sanjeev) and the oasis of hopes for another (Amitabh) but in itself was nothing but a desert left barren by a sudden gust of a mad hurricane (Amjad). A Very difficult role, not easy to perform nor easy to emote but Jaya proved her acting skills in a role that was less incidental to the movie but more fundamental to the plot. An excellent rendition nonetheless –just watch her light the lamps in the night, signifying the emerging of a dream in a barren sleep and then in the climax, watch her closing the window which was the only source of her erstwhile dream. Society is just too rigid to allow a woman a space of her own - could this have been more better symbolized than this awesome scene?

A K Hangal as the blind Imam of the village is exceptional in the two-bit role inscribed to him. His anguish in the scene where his son, (ably performed by the great but underrated Sachin) has been gunned down by the dacoits is brilliant. Asrani as the jailer is still remembered whereas Jagdeep mad a career for himself playing Surma Bhopali time and again and to his credit, this is one of the few comic roles from this movie in the history of Hindi Cinema that has stood the test of time, the other being the role of the Jailer performed by Asrani. Among the others Satyen Kappu, Mac Mohan, Viju Khote and Leela Mishra impress with heir cameo performances. Even Helen and Jalal Agha who come in for a song are still remembered for that song........

But the man, who makes the movie a classic, is the man who portrays Gabbar Singh – Amjad Khan. This movie was one of his earliest performances and to say the least, it’s mind-blowing. It’s indeed surprising to note that nobody believed in his talents, not least the director and the script-writers but today his performance is considered one of the biggest successes in Hindi cinema and till date, Gabbar Singh is a name to reckon with in villainy. As a psychopath, feared and terrorized by all on the screen and in the theatre, Amjad Khan was exceptional. The greatness of the act lies in the fact that he conveys the singular emotion of terrorism with a flick of an eye. Cinegoers are still terrorized in the scene when on receiving information about young Sachin he menacingly looks at an ant crawling on his arms – you can feel the storm gathering and start fearing the inevitable... Surprisingly, that is the most violent scene in the movie...... and still the violence only betters up with every scene...... Can you believe this?

Direction by Ramesh Sippy is brilliant. In each and every scene, Ramesh marks his indelible stamp. The train chase sequence, the fight on the bridge, the climax sequence all of them not only bind but also blend with the movie and are brilliantly executed. On the lighter side, the comic scenes, especially Dharmendra on the water tank and Amitabh carrying Veeru’s proposal to Leela Mishra are brilliantly canned. On the emotional front, the romance track between Dharmendra – Hema is as frivolous as frivolity can be and at the same time the romance between Amitabh and Jaya is as mature as maturity can be.

The director has single-handedly made so many important careers with one single film that many of the actors are still known by their roles in the movie - even bit actors like Mac Mohan (Sambha), Viju Khote (Kaalia), Keshto Mukherjee (Nai), and Leela Mishra (Mausi) have been known by these names throughout their career although their roles were hardly the most important ones in this movie...... Rarely does a movie impact the national consciousness of a people as vividly and as fully as Sholay did and for this reason itself, it will always be among the top movies made in this industry for ever and ever and ever........

Salim-Javed come up trumps with yet another brilliant and taut script. Undoubtedly this is one of their best ones and it’s sad that such a brilliant team broke up, so early in their career.

However, R D Burman comes up with a not so impressive musical score; he still manages to salvage his reputation with one of the best imaginative background scores in the movie but a lot remains to be said of someone who was genius reincarnated when you pay attention to the songs themselves. Among the songs, “Yeh Dosti” by Manna De and Kishore Kumar and “Mehbooba ‘0’ Mehbooba” by the maestro himself are good but.... Still, the heart longs for more.

Sholay will always burn high in the imagination of the film industry ...... Grab it for they don't make them like this any more..........

Remembering You, My Self! - My Thoughts on Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

I went by my old school today, a good many years after I left it to enter the world of naked ambitions and dangerous dreams. I must have been there for about some time but all I remembered was a young boy running, playing and having fun and then, as if on a kind of a hunch, I moved on, a little ahead, to the playground where there was no longer a ground and hence of course no one to play and then in a mood of quiet contemplation and deep remembrance, a little ahead of the ground to that small, old quaint natural but forgotten amphitheatre where we used to rehearse for plays. All of us: Kamal, Javed, Surendra, Akhil, Akram, Mahendra, Apurva, Girish, Deepanshu and so many others that now I only can smile and remember, scenes float of my eyes in memory of all who were there but who are not any more ...

A lot of water has flown below the river to remember it all and still not enough will ever flow as long as I am here in this world before I can say, it has been all forgotten. We used to call it Eden - Eden, the place, where our dreams lie still; Eden the place where our hearts lie still; our ambitions, our hopes, our romances, our loves, our pains and frustrations, our tears and our smiles; our deepest secrets and our profoundest happinesses; our most crushing of defeats and our most exalting of successes - it all lies there; there in that groove called Eden (I still remember it and I think I will always will) and Like Eden, we were exiled from that land of promises and happiness to out here in the world .... not that I mind this world, but I could give a lot for that small piece of land and that time 4 PM to 6 PM that we rehearsed for plays - plays that remain alive now only in the certificates that we won; the snaps that we took and the memories that stayed.....

I came home, lost in deep thought and then switched on the TV in that strange mood that one has when he's remembering the past days and what do I see on TV! Dil Chaahta Hai .... a movie released towards the time when the dream was fading out but which captured in it's beautiful canvas a story that I could never write; though I thought I wrote almost all the scripts then .... it was a movie I did not direct; though it was a part of my life out there on celluloid .... it was a movie I did not act in, though it was a role I had played again and again and then again.... that's what Dil Chaahta is for me.... not a movie, but a remembrance of a past I lived in.... it's not about the plays I talk when I talk of Dil Chaahta Hai; it's those friendships, those close relationships... the ones that remained and the ones that were destroyed .... it's an episode that always plays on packed houses in my heart and I guess will always, whether I am 30 or 90....

Dil Chaahta is not a movie in the actual sense of what a movie stands for in Indian (or at least Hindi Cinema) but to be frank Dil Chaahta Hai is a movie and has better claim to being a movie than many others that call themselves so..... Dil Chaahta Hai has no formula; no heroes rising out of a canvas to save damsels-in-distress; no heroines, for whom it is required to flutter their eyelashes and act stupid while the hero rescues them; there are no negative characters either or any characters for that matter... only people.. people, you and I would meet on the streets and recognize.... To add to it, no story also ... yes, I repeat, no story also... incidents that happen on a daily basis and are continuing to happen on a daily basis and will keep on happening on a daily basis are not a story; but still it manages to sear your heart - because it speaks from the heart and it is from the heart and it relates to the heart and one can find himself in one of the characters of the movie, whether he's from Bombay or Bhilai.... though to point out, the story is more in tune with urban sensibilities than rural ones... it depicts the urban India and is quite far from the rural landscape....

Dil Chaahta is a story (as long as we can call a collection of incidents to be a story) of 3 friends and their different diverging paths in life; which diverge totally but are still converged due to the depth of the bond of friendship that exists between them....

Aamir Khan plays the role of a happy-go-lucky, ever-mischievous, prank-loving with no thought of tomorrow, highly immature Akash with the brilliance that we have come to expect from the consummate performer of his stature... the performance is well-nuanced and his and every prank of his is made to either warm your cockles or irritate you no end.... Akash does not care for love; to be more precise he does not have time for love and goes around playing around with love; Love to Akash is what a simple spell would be to a Death-Eater; frivolous, not to be bothered with, a pastime and nothing more but when Cupid strikes, none could be more intense or serious that Akash; then the fangs are bared, the claws come out, the eyes set in and then he fights with his back to the wall but inch to inch, neither giving one away easily not letting one away without making the price costly - quite like a few fellows I have seen or met in life.... and Aamir makes sure you remember him for each and every one of those guys you have ever met.... Just like Vicky - a guy I knew!

Such a character as Akash always needs a gullible person to play his pranks on and that's what he gets time and again in his friend - Sameer.... Sameer is the exact opposite of Akash; if Akash id confidence personified, Sameer is the personfication of Confusion galore... If Akash plays around with Love and considers as an idle pastime, Sameer swears by love; actually, by many loves (you see, he keeps falling in love and out of it with a frequency that only reminds me of the frequency with which we change Chief Ministers in Goa and UP); where Akash is the one who plays pranks on others, Sameer is the one who is often the butt of all the fun and the pranks as well... But there is one thing common to both - they both are still Immature... Sameer is a darling and I am sure, many of the girls would find him so and who else could play it better than Saif Ali Khan. Saif is exceptionally earnest in his award-winning portrayal of the hopeless romantic; needless to say, this was one of the movies that gave him a headstart and brought him back to stardom; making him finally one of the Khans of the Industry....

And... then there is Sid aka Siddharth; a guy in a class of his own - actually he's not a guy, he's already an old man masquerading as a young man... Sid is mature, practical but imaginative and knows love for what love is, relationships for what relationships for what relationships are, truth for what it is and the world for what it can be.... I don't think Sid was ever young, I guess sometimes, he was born at that age and he always remained at that age and I do not think he would ever be any age other than that... Mr. Mature & Dignified; but also very mischievous; ever ready for a prank but never the prankster himself..... a soft guy, one girls would be proud to take home as future beau ... a real softie ... and who could play him well - more than Mr. Mature & Dignified himself .... Akshaye Khanna gets a real brilliant characterisation and plays it to perfection in an award-winning performance

And then, there are the snobs - the smart, dashing guys who were really pains in the many places, mentionable and unmentionable, but still had all the girls and all the bikes and all the babes, just around them ... the ones who reminded us of the fact that Man was once an Ape and Girls still preferred them to the suave and sophisticated ones that we had become in the course of evolution .... the 'Apes' who always got the 'Grapes'.... and Ayub Khan, in one of his best performances ever, makes an excellent portrayal of one of their ilk, Rohit... it's sad that an actor of his calibre could not make it in the industry - if any deserved stardom, he was one of them.. but then, sometimes Life deals out a difficult hand.... Girls sometimes just see the hearth and not the heart!

Preity Zinta as Shalini plays the role of a simple girl-next-door as effervescently as she can... but to be fair to her, there is hardly anything she has to do that can taste her histrionics.... Still, she manages to hold her own against some heavy power-acting by the guys mentioned above and also is able to convey a girls' side of the story effortlessly..... there is very less opportunity for her to perform but Preity manages to catch those moments effortlessly and her chemistry with Aamir is brilliant and her reluctance with Ayub well-captured... Many would be out with forks when I say that Ayub has a meatier role than Preity but trust me, once you see the film for what it is, and not for the lead pair, you will find that Ayub dominates even in absence and Preity ends up competing with Aamir in presence and Ayub in absence... a brilliant directorial trick, Farhan!

Sonali Kulkarni plays her role as a no-nonsense modern girl-with-a-simple heart with quiet aplomb and proves the dictum that actresses act; they do not need to model.... however, her characterization is a victim to the heavy-on-brotherhood plot of the movie.... for she does not manage to remain etched in memory once the lights have been dimmed and the curtains drawn - still, it would be wrong to say that her performance is not appropriate to the occasion... Suchitra Pillai, on the other hand is unable to make a lot of capital out of a strong chance to put her mark on the movie, although she does try hard..... sometimes way too hard!

And what does one say about Dimple Kapadia? This woman is hot! Really Hot! she sizzles on the screen on the hot potato and not only grabs her scenes but also stamps herself indelibly on the canvas of a movie which was not supposed to be very kind to it's female actors... Dimple however stands tall and performs as tally as expected. Her characterization as Tara could have created a lot of negative vibes in a society just opening up to mature women in relationships but Dimple manages to grab the bull by it's horns and gives a sterling performance, one rarely seen nowadays by actresses her age, if we leave out Rekha and Sarika and of course Shabana Azmi.... Suhasini Mulay impresses in a cameo as a woman who is faced with a delicate situation of having her son love a woman of her age and confused about how to wean away her son from a woman, who in her opinion is just not right.... their scenes together (Dimple and Suhasini) are a classic show of performance.

Farhan Akhtar, in his directorial début makes one of the most sensible movies to come out of our industry in the recent past..... the scenes herald a maturity that belies the young age of the director and at the same time does not appear heavy on the brain... To be frank, this is no heavy-duty classic in the making - no Mother India, no Mughal-E-Azam, no Sholay.... still it has a class of it's own as one of the best coming of maturity movies in Hindi Cinema.... It's not easy to make a movie of every-day common occurrences, Indian cine goers at their best are fickle and unpredictable but that Farhan chose such a difficult subject for his first film is itself worth appreciation....

Music is one of strong points of the movie. Thankfully, the musical trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy do not try to compose a preachy friendship ditty and thus save the soul of the movie from descending into pits of formulaic fare - not that I have anything against such ditties but they would be as out-of-place in Dil Chahta Hai as would be a Dr. Frankenstein in The Fall of Troy.... The music has a new sound and a beautiful feel to it... Some of the songs are worth singing and re-singing again and again and then yet again....

Songs like Tanhaiyee are just awesome.... the feeling of loneliness is so well-described that you end up remembering certain periods in your life, when such bouts of loneliness assail you and for those of us who never moved on, they remind of a certain hollowness that remains....

Khawab Mein Dekha Tha Maine Ek Aanchal,
Apne Haathon Mein;
Ab Tootey Sapnon Ke Sheeshe Chubhte Hain,
Inn Aankhon Mein....

Sonu Nigam has rendered this song with a pain that can only be imagined and Javed Akhtar has used pain and tear as mortar to create an abiding, haunting song of memories remained and loves lost....

Other songs are also well-made; notable examples would be Shankar Mahadevan, Shaan and K K singing the youth anthem - Koi Kahe, Kehta Rahe in a manner such that it smells of youth spirit and in yet another song, Shankar Mahadevan gives words to the thought of every guy or girl in college in the title song....  thoughts that we would not be away from the friend that we make in our school and college days, thoughts that would be broken no sooner than the moment you cross the final doorstep....

Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik, two of the best singers of the 1990s, come together in a teasing song about love and it's pros and cons (Jaane Kyoon ...) .... As usual, Udit dominates with his clear and effortless singing.... One of my favourite singers of the 1990s, Kavita Krishnamurthy demonstrates yet again, her awesome skills in a beautiful duet with the talented Shaan in the song (Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan...?) while the young Srinivas is mellifluous in the romantic "Kaisi Hai Ye Ruth?"....

Dil Chaahta Hai.... what? Actually a lot.....

There is a young child here, somewhere, within me, still remembering those days and smiling at those moments that will remain forever etched in memory but will never be back.... I still remember that kid, who shares my name walking to and from those days of daily meetings, that today have been taken over by others, who will vacate it for some others tomorrow; walking along in a carefree manner; for him at least, the journey is not hard, the promises not difficult and the pain not visible...

Not for me for him, my heart sometimes may yet say....

Dil Chahta Hai, Kabhi Na Beete Ye Chamkile Din
Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Naa Rahen, Kabhi Yaaron Ke Bin...

Dil Chahta Hai!

The Web - My Thoughts on Jaal (1952)

I was watching Discovery Channel yesterday and they had this program which spoke of the 12 most dangerous animals on Planet Earth...... It had many interesting but unthinkable animals and I was impressed by the coverage and the detailed expositions of each animal... what surprised me the most was that the spider was not included in the list....

Yes sir, I am talking about your 'friendly neighbourhood' spider, the one you brush off with a neat swash of your hand but what you fail to understand is that none can be more dangerous than a spider who is nothing but a Judas in the disguise of a friend? And who can be more dangerous than Judas - the man who betrays with a kiss is definitely more dangerous than a man who challenges you for a duel to death - you can be ready for the later but can you be ready for the former?

There is a saying that if you wish to boil a frog, do not throw it in boiling water, it will jump out; throw it in normal water and then increase the temperature steadily; the frog will never know of the difference and by the time it learns, it will be too late for both the frog and it's chances of escape.....

Similarly, A spider’s web is the most treacherous creation of nature and the spider, the wiliest of all creatures. This statement may appear incongruous to the passive observer who only believes what his eye tells him but to the trained and discerning eye of a wise man, the distinction is not only obvious but also a clear reminder of the dictum that not all enemies face off and challenge in the open. Not all enemies come with a sword in the hand, many attack with silvery tongues and sweet words. Unlike other predators like the lion and the tiger, the spider never uses brute force to kill its victims but lures them to their death with charm and guile. Its victims are not the result of a traditional battle between the fang and the hoof but are led to their doom by the charm of his magnificent web, patiently woven around the frailties of it’s unfortunate victims.

So also does the human spider lurk in the shadows, plotting his web, waiting for the prey to make the fatal error and once made, moves in ruthlessly to claim his victim, destroy him ruthlessly, showing no mercy, till the victim has been vanquished and the objective realized. Amazing, as it may seem, this breed is not uncommon but can be found anywhere and everywhere - in offices, among one's circle of friends, among loved ones and often the hand that you trust the most hides a sharp dagger. They are the ones who act as if they are the victims and you the aggressor, whereas within their dark hearts they hide an ambition more gruesome than any; a ruthlessness more fierce than any and a hatred more ancient than any. They may be like the meek Judas who betrayed Jesus with a kiss or Dathan who betrayed both Rameses and Moses with a soft voice, they may be like Brutus who betrayed his Caesar or Igor who destroyed Othello....

History and Mythology is full to the brim with such characters who were the downfall of great heroes and nations; and you and I stand as a mute testimony of many such whom you would have met in our course of life.

Jaal (1952) is one of the most brilliant and stark portrayals of a human spider and his resoluteness that could go to any extents to ensure that his primary objective was achieved; even to the extent of destroying those who had done nothing to excite his revenge. The way, a spider and his shrewd net has been portrayed in this movie is not only worth appreciation but also worth comprehension for many hide in such garbs, all around us.

Speaking historically, too this movie is a landmark in Hindi Cinema. It was in a way, the harbinger of similar movies, wherein the protagonist would use the garb of love and emotions to obtain his desire and then ruthlessly destroy the victim, but with one marked difference – the villain in this movie was the hero himself, making it one of the first complete negative portrayals by a leading man. Although Ashok Kumar had portrayed the anti-hero in Kismet (1943) with a reason and Raj Kapoor had portrayed a anti-hero who reforms towards the end in Bewafa (1951) and Awara (1951) and Dilip Kumar would do the same in many movies in the coming years, it was to the credit of the actor and director that whenever one talks of a spider, silky and debonair, it will always be Tony aka Dev Anand

Geeta Bali as Maria plays perhaps her best performance in a sadly truncated career. Critics may argue and point out her performance in "Banwre Nain" and if they do, fair enough but this is as per me vintage Geeta. It’s sad to note that despite being an actress of the best calibre, Geeta rarely got a chance to prove her capabilities and all we have as a remembrance of the great actress are her brilliant performances in a few movies. One of those has to be definitely Jaal (another would be "Banwre Nain".)

The spunk of the character, the gay abandon of youth, the mesmerism of first love, the wakening of the sexual desires and the final abandonment of the self to the pursuit of happiness in the arms of the beloved and then the rude awakening, all of it points to a brilliant understanding of the role and it’s deeper nuances. The fall of the character into the web is so well documented by the eyes and the face, by torn desires and frustrated looks that one can almost feel Maria falling in the trap and the spider closing down on him. Geeta does all this and more, as she lives the part of a woman in love with a man from the depths to the extent of committing any crime to be with him effortlessly. Her portrayal of an agonized and arrested soul, seeking liberation in the arms of her love during the course of the song ‘Yeh Raat’ is one of the most brilliantly performed and has all signs of an awakening sexuality. Never before has sexuality been so brilliantly depicted without a hint of the vulgar as in the picturisations of this song. In it’s brilliance, it compares itself only to a similar performance by Madhubala in Mughal-E-Azam and Nargis in Barsaat.

Dev Anand as Tony pulls out all stops to portray effortlessly the negative side of man. The sly toothless grin, the twinkling eye, the friendly smile every gesture of this man points towards the eternal romantic except for the fact that somewhere behind the mask lurks a predator. This is vintage Dev, long before the actor got submerged in the star with the romantic persona and engrossing mannerisms.

An actor out to prove his capability, Dev not only manages to portray his role to perfection but also in the process is able to create one of the most enduring and well-chiseled negative performances in Hindi Cinema. Look at the way, he creates his persona and seduces Maria. The soulful ballad, the charismatic persona, indeed Dev was the Casanova of Hindi Cinema - and if I may say so, in the context of the film, the best spider ever. The patience of the spider, the game of seduction, the soft pedal towards sexual arousal and at the same time the continuous spinning of the web such that nothing is visible but yet happening; the style that smiles and twinkles and hides and kills - could there be another spider as lovable as this and as DANGEROUS as this?

Johnny Walker impresses in a short cameo. There is not much from him in the movie, dominated as it is by the web being built by Tony for Maria but still Johnny is Johnny. He goes beyond his role and shows that given a chance, he can outshine and outwink the greatest stars in the constellation.

Purnima plays the role of the wronged woman effortlessly. K N Singh is adequate but does not rise above the script. Rashid Khan shines in the role of the buffoon. Ram Singh however fades away in his depiction of Mr. Good in front of the incessant devilish charm of Dev. His failure makes the movie completed one-sided. Thank God then for the brilliance of Dev Anand and Geeta Bali!

S D Burman as usual is at his mesmerizing best. This was one of his first films in collaboration with Sahir Ludhianvi and went a long way in creating the magic that culminated in priceless classics like Sadhana and Pyaasa. Although each and every song in the film is a classic, the song that captures the imagination is undoubtedly the love ballad, ‘Yeh Raat, Yeh Chandni” serenaded by the great Hemant Kumar in his inimitable style. The song is seduction at his best as the singer croons,

Ek Baar Chal Diye Jo Tujhe Pukaar Ke
Laut Kar Naa Aayenge Qaafile Bahaar Ke

Listening to this song is magic… pure magic…. how sweet is the sound of love and how subtle the call of love... but behind it hides, at it's destructive best, the danger of the enemy, so well masked by the velvet strains of the voice.....

As if this was not enough, we have Lata Mangeshkar’s melancholic version of the same song, sung with pathos the way only Lata can. some parts of that song are so much full of pathos that one can understand and feel how a fly must feel in the web, in the last hours of her existence.

Lahron Ke Labon Par Hain, Khoye Huey Afsaane
Gulzaar Umeedon Ke Sab Ho Gaye Veerane
Tera Pata Paoon Kahan, Sune Hai Saare Thikaane
Jaane Kahan Gum Ho Gaye, Jaa Ke Woh Agle Zamaane
Barbaad Hai Aarzoo Kaa Jahan.....

Thus does the prey still love her spider and look for him, though he has destroyed her beyond redemption

In total contrast,  we have Geeta Dutt at her effervescent best, signifying the free bird in “Chori Chori Meri Gali”. The way, the song has been visualized as well as sung speaks of the carefree and natural flow in the voice of the one and only Geeta Dutt. She's debonair and uninhibited, giving full flow to youth in it's first flush of freedom. Another song that one cannot forget is the Kishore Kumar - Geeta Dutt duet, "De Bhi Chuke Hum Dil Nazaraana", a beautiful playful song that still reminds me of the greatness of Geeta Dutt's free style when compared to the laboured style of many then and thereafter.

Guru Dutt is synonymous in Hindi Film as a director who dealt with the inner tribulations of a talent gone waste in a materialistic society but long before Guru Dutt acquired the reputation, he had actually earned his spurs directing what would be later considered as one of the finest psychological crime thrillers of Hindi Cinema. The movie is slow and cannot be considered as a thriller if you are looking for excitement and thrills, but if you understand the theme of the story, you will find the story moves at the right pace. Admittedly, the story of a spider cannot but move leisurely but firmly.... that's how a spider plays his game; slow but sure!

The director's ability to emerge deep into his characters and still manage to remain afloat enough to ensure that the film does not become a personal ego-trip is something today’s directors would do well to learn from. Another appreciable point about the director is that he takes immense pain to portray the life in a Christian Goan hamlet and does not make it a caricature. Very few films have managed to make a movie that is so well and meticulously researched on the Christian Goan community. Again, right from the characterization of the lead pair to the game of seduction to the inevitable end, everything in the movie is just too natural and it’s all thanks to the director who time and again reminds us that directors are not those who rely on camera angles but those who ensure that the film has a story worth the trouble. The director impresses with his take on the futility of human relationships in a world given to materialistic pursuits. Equally mesmerizing is his skill at using the fisherman’s net as a symbol of the human spider’s plotting and machinations.

Always remember that not all that glitters is gold and not all who welcomes you with open arms, a friend.