NO WITCHCRAFT FOR SALE

No Witchcraft for Sale by Doris Lessing The Farquars had been childless for years when little Teddy was born; and they were touched by the pleasure of their servants, who brought presents of fowls and eggs and flowers to the homestead when they came to rejoice over the baby, exclaiming with delight over his downy golden head and his blue eyes. They congratulated Mrs. Farquar as if she had achieved a very great thing, and she felt that she had—her smile for the lingering, admiring natives was warm and grateful. Later, when Teddy had his first haircut, Gideon the cook picked up the soft gold tufts from the ground, and held them reverently in his hand. Then he smiled at the little boy and said: “Little Yellow Head.” That became the native name for the child. Gideon and Teddy were great friends from the first. When Gideon had finished his work, he would lift Teddy on his shoulders to the shade of a big tree, and play with him there, forming curious little toys from twigs and leaves and grass, or shaping animals from wetted soil. When Teddy learned to walk it was often Gideon who crouched before him, clucking encouragement, finally catching him when he fell, tossing him up in the air till they both became breathless with laughter. Mrs. Farquar was fond of the old cook because of his love for her child. There was no second baby; and one day Gideon said: “Ah, missus, missus, the Lord above sent this one; Little Yellow Head is the most good thing we have in our house.” Because of that “we” Mrs. Farquar felt a warm impulse toward her cook; and at the end of the month she raised his wages. He had been with her now for several years; he was one of the few natives who had his wife and children in the compound and never wanted to go home to his kraal, which was some hundreds of miles away. Sometimes a small piccanin who had been born the same time as Teddy, could be seen peering from the edge of the bush, staring in awe at the little white boy with his miraculous fair hair and Northern blue eyes. The two little children would gaze at each other with a wide, interested gaze, and once Teddy put out his hand curiously to touch the black child’s cheeks and hair. Gideon, who was watching, shook his head wonderingly, and said: “Ah, missus, these are both children, and one will grow up to be a baas, and one will be a servant”; and Mrs. Farquar smiled and said sadly, “Yes, Gideon, I was thinking the same.” She sighed. “It is God’s will,” said Gideon, who was a mission boy. The Farquars were very religious people; and this shared feeling about God bound servant and masters even closer together. Teddy was about six years old when he was given a scooter, and discovered the intoxications of speed. All day he would fly around the homestead, in and out of flowerbeds, scattering squawking chickens and irritated dogs, finishing with a wide dizzying arc into the kitchen door. There he would cry: “Gideon, look at me!” And Gideon would laugh and say: “Very clever, Little Yellow Head.” Gideon’s youngest son, who was now a herdsboy, came especially up from the compound to see the scooter. He was afraid to come near it, but Teddy showed off in front of him. “Piccanin,” shouted Teddy, “get out of my way!” And he raced in circles around the black child until he was frightened, and fled back to the bush. “ Why did you frighten him?” asked Gideon, gravely reproachful. Teddy said defiantly: “He’s only a black boy,” and laughed. Then, when Gideon turned away from him without speaking, his face fell. Very soon he slipped into the house and found an orange and brought it to Gideon, saying: “This is for you.” He could not bring himself to say he was sorry; but he could not bear to lose Gideon’s affection either. Gideon took the orange unwillingly and sighed. “Soon you will be going away to school, Little Yellow Head,” he said wonderingly, “and then you will be grown up.” He shook his head gently and said, “And that is how our lives go.” He seemed to be putting a distance between himself and Teddy, not because of resentment, but in the way a person accepts something inevitable. The baby had lain in his arms and smiled up into his face: The tiny boy had swung from his shoulders and played with him by the hour. Now Gideon would not let his flesh touch the flesh of the white child. He was kind, but there was a grave formality in his voice that made Teddy pout and sulk away. Also, it made ________________________________________ Page 2 him into a man: With Gideon he was polite, and carried himself formally, and if he came into the kitchen to ask for something, it was in the way a white man uses toward a servant, expecting to be obeyed. But on the day that Teddy came staggering into the kitchen with his fists to his eyes, shrieking with pain, Gideon dropped the pot full of hot soup that he was holding, rushed to the child, and forced aside his fingers. “A snake!” he exclaimed. Teddy had been on his scooter, and had come to a rest with his foot on the side of a big tub of plants. A tree snake, hanging by its tail from the roof, had spat full into his eyes. Mrs. Farquar came running when she heard the commotion. “He’ll go blind,” she sobbed, holding Teddy close against her. “Gideon, he’ll go blind!” Already the eyes, with perhaps half an hour’s sight left in them, were swollen up to the size of fists: Teddy’s small white face was distorted by great purple oozing protuberances. Gideon said: “Wait a minute, missus, I’ll get some medicine.” He ran off into the bush. Mrs. Farquar lifted the child into the house and bathed his eyes with permanganate. She had scarcely heard Gideon’s words; but when she saw that her remedies had no effect at all, and remembered how she had seen natives with no sight in their eyes, because of the spitting of a snake, she began to look for the return of her cook, remembering what she heard of the efficacy of native herbs. She stood by the window,holding the terrified, sobbing little boy in her arms, and peered helplessly into the bush. It was not more than a few minutes before she saw Gideon come bounding back, and in his hand he held a plant. “Do not be afraid, missus,” said Gideon, “this will cure Little Yellow Head’s eyes.” He stripped the leaves from the plant, leaving a small white fleshy root. Without even washing it, he put the root in his mouth, chewed it vigorously, and then held the spittle there while he took the child forcibly from Mrs. Farquar. He gripped Teddy down between his knees, and pressed the balls of his thumbs into the swollen eyes, so that the child screamed and Mrs. Farquar cried out in protest: “Gideon, Gideon!” But Gideon took no notice. He knelt over the writhing child, pushing back the puffy lids till chinks of eyeball showed, and then he spat hard, again and again, into first one eye, and then the other. He finally lifted Teddy gently into his mother’s arms, and said: “His eyes will get better.” But Mrs. Farquar was weeping with terror, and she could hardly thank him: It was impossible to believe that Teddy could keep his sight. In a couple of hours the swellings were gone: The eyes were inflamed and tender but Teddy could see. Mr. and Mrs. Farquar went to Gideon in the kitchen and thanked him over and over again. They felt helpless because of their gratitude: It seemed they could do nothing to express it. They gave Gideon presents for his wife and children, and a big increase in wages, but these things could not pay for Teddy’s now completely cured eyes. Mrs. Farquar said: “Gideon, God chose you as an instrument for His goodness,” and Gideon said: “Yes, missus, God is very good.” Now, when such a thing happens on a farm, it cannot be long before everyone hears of it. Mr. and Mrs. Farquar told their neighbors and the story was discussed from one end of the district to the other. The bush is full of secrets. No one can live in Africa, or at least on the veld, without learning very soon that there is an ancient wisdom of leaf and soil and season—and, too, perhaps most important of all, of the darker tracts of the human mind—which is the black man’s heritage. Up and down the district people were telling anecdotes, reminding each other of things that had happened to them. “But I saw it myself, I tell you. It was a puff-adder bite. The kaffir’s arm was swollen to the elbow, like agreat shiny black bladder. He was groggy after a half a minute. He was dying. Then suddenly a kaffir walked out of the bush with his hands full of green stuff. He smeared something on the place, and next day my boy was back at work, and all you could see was two small punctures in the skin.” This was the kind of tale they told. And, as always, with a certain amount of exasperation, because while all of them knew that in the bush of Africa are waiting valuable drugs locked in bark, in simple-looking leaves, in roots, it was impossible to ever get the truth about them from the natives themselves. The story eventually reached town; and perhaps it was at a sundowner party, or some such function, that a doctor, who happened to be there, challenged it. “Nonsense,” he said. “These things get exaggerated in the telling. We are always checking up on this kind of story, and we draw a blank every time.” ________________________________________ Page 3 Anyway, one morning there arrived a strange car at the homestead, and out stepped one of the workers from the laboratory in town, with cases full of test tubes and chemicals. Mr. and Mrs. Farquar were flustered and pleased and flattered. They asked the scientist to lunch, and they told the story all over again, for the hundredth time. Little Teddy was there too, his blue eyes sparkling with health, to prove the truth of it. The scientist explained how humanity might benefit if this new drug could be offered for sale; and the Farquars were even more pleased: They were kind, simple people, who liked to think of something good coming about because of them. But when the scientist began talking of the money that might result, their manner showed discomfort. Their feelings over the miracle (that was how they thought of it) were so strong and deep and religious, that it was distasteful to them to think of money. The scientist, seeing their faces, went back to his first point, which was the advancement of humanity. He was perhaps a trifle perfunctory: It was not the first time he had come salting the tail of a fabulous bush secret. Eventually, when the meal was over, the Farquars called Gideon into their living room and explained to him that this baas, here, was a Big Doctor from the Big City, and he had come all that way to see Gideon. At this Gideon seemed afraid; he did not understand; and Mrs. Farquar explained quickly that it was because of the wonderful thing he had done with Teddy’s eyes that the Big Baas had come. Gideon looked from Mrs. Farquar to Mr. Farquar, and then at the little boy, who was showing great importance because of the occasion. At last he said grudgingly: “The Big Baas want to know what medicine I used?” He spoke incredulously, as if he could not believe his old friends could so betray him. Mr. Farquar began explaining how a useful medicine could be made out of the root, and how it could be put on sale, and how thousands of people, black and white, up and down the continent of Africa, could be saved by the medicine when that spitting snake filled their eyes with poison. Gideon listened, his eyes bent on the ground, the skin of his forehead puckering in discomfort. When Mr. Farquar had finished he did not reply. The scientist, who all this time had been leaning back in a big chair, sipping his coffee and smiling with skeptical good humor, chipped in and explained all over again, in different words, about the making of drugs and the progress of science. Also, he offered Gideon a present. There was silence after this further explanation, and then Gideon remarked indifferently that he could not remember the root. His face was sullen and hostile, even when he looked at the Farquars, whom he usually treated like old friends. They were beginning to feel annoyed; and this feeling annulled the guilt that had been sprung into life by Gideon’s accusing manner. They were beginning to feel that he was unreasonable. But it was at that moment that they all realized he would never give in. The magical drug would remain where it was, unknown and useless except for the tiny scattering of Africans who had the knowledge, natives who might be digging a ditch for the municipality in a ragged shirt and a pair of patched shorts, but who were still born to healing, hereditary healers, being the nephews or sons of the old witch doctors whose ugly masks and bits of bone and all the uncouth properties of magic were the outward signs of real power and wisdom. The Farquars might tread on that plant fifty times a day as they passed from house to garden, from cow kraal to mealie field, but they would never know it. But they went on persuading and arguing, with all the force of their exasperation; and Gideon continued to say that he could not remember, or that there was no such root, or that it was the wrong season of the year, or that it wasn’t the root itself, but the spit from his mouth that had cured Teddy’s eyes. He said all these things one after another, and seemed not to care they were contradictory. He was rude and stubborn. The Farquars could hardly recognize their gentle, lovable old servant in this ignorant, perversely obstinate African, standing there in front of them with lowered eyes, his hands twitching his cook’s apron, repeating over and over whichever one of the stupid refusals that first entered his head. ________________________________________ Page 4 And suddenly he appeared to give in. He lifted his head, gave a long, blank angry look at the circle of whites, who seemed to him like a circle of yelping dogs pressing around him, and said: “I will show you the root.” They walked single file away from the homestead down a kaffir path. It was a blazing December afternoon, with the sky full of hot rain clouds. Everything was hot: The sun was like a bronze tray whirling overhead, there was a heat shimmer over the fields, the soil was scorching underfoot, the dusty wind blew gritty and thick and warm in their faces. It was a terrible day, fit only for reclining on a veranda with iced drinks, which is where they would normally have been at that hour. From time to time, remembering that on the day of the snake it had taken ten minutes to find the root, someone asked: “Is it much further, Gideon?” And Gideon would answer over his shoulder, with angry politeness: “I’m looking for the root, baas.” And indeed, he would frequently bend sideways and trail his hand among the grasses with a gesture that was insulting in its perfunctoriness. He walked them through the bush along unknown paths for two hours, in that melting destroying heat, so that the sweat trickled coldly down them and their heads ached. They were all quite silent: the Farquars because they were angry, the scientist because he was being proved right again; there was no such plant. His was a tactful silence. At last, six miles from the house, Gideon suddenly decided they had had enough; or perhaps his anger evaporated at that moment. He picked up, without an attempt at looking anything but casual, a handful of blue flowers from the grass, flowers that had been growing plentifully all down the paths they had come. He handed them to the scientist without looking at him, and marched off by himself on the way home, leaving them to follow him if they chose. When they got back to the house, the scientist went to the kitchen to thank Gideon: He was being very polite, even though there was an amused look in his eyes. Gideon was not there. Throwing the flowers casually into the back of his car, the eminent visitor departed on his way back to his laboratory. Gideon was back in his kitchen in time to prepare dinner, but he was sulking. He spoke to Mr. Farquar like an unwilling servant. It was days before they liked each other again. The Farquars made inquiries about the root from their laborers. Sometimes they were answered with distrustful stares. Sometimes the natives said: “We do not know. We have never heard of the root.” One, the cattle boy, who had been with them a long time, and had grown to trust them a little, said: “Ask your boy in the kitchen. Now, there’s a doctor for you. He’s the son of a famous medicine man who used to be in these parts, and there’s nothing he cannot cure.” Then he added politely: “Of course, he’s not as good as the white man’s doctor, we know that, but he’s good for us.” After some time, when the soreness had gone from between the Farquars and Gideon, they began to joke: “When are you going to show us the snake root, Gideon?” And he would laugh and shake his head, saying, a little uncomfortably: “But I did show you, missus, have you forgotten?” Much later, Teddy, as a schoolboy, would come into the kitchen and say: “You old rascal, Gideon! Do you remember that time you tricked us all by making us walk miles all over the veld for nothing? It was so far my father had to carry me!” And Gideon would double up with polite laughter. After much laughing, he would suddenly straighten himself up, wipe his old eyes, and look sadly at Teddy, who was grinning mischievously at him across the kitchen: “Ah, Little Yellow Head, how you have grown! Soon you will be grown up with a farm of your own” THE END

आस्कर पुरस्कार 2012

84 वां आस्कर पुरस्कार घोषित किए जा चुके हैं, फ़िल्म ‘द आर्टिस्ट’ एवं ‘हुगो’ पांच-पांच पुरस्कारो के साथ अव्वल रहे हैं । सभी पुरस्कारों का ब्योरा नीचे दिए जा रहा है :

श्रेष्ठ फ़ीचर फ़िल्म
द आर्टिस्ट—विजेता !
द डिसेन्डेनटस
एक्सट्ररिमली लाऊड एंड इन्करेडबली क्लोज़
द हेल्प
हुगो
मनीबाल
मीडनाईट इन पेरिस
द ट्री आफ़ लाईफ़
वारहार्स

श्रेष्ठ निर्देशन
माईकल हाज़नवीकस- द आर्टिस्ट—विजेता !
अलेक्ज़ेंडर पेन- द डिसेन्डेनटस
मार्टिन स्कोर्सिज़ - हुगो
वुडी एलन - मीडनाईट इन पेरिस
टेरेंस मलिक- द ट्री आफ़ लाईफ़


श्रेष्ठ अभिनेता
डेमिन बिकर – अ बेटर लाईफ़
जार्ज क्लूनी- द डिसेन्डेनटस
जीन दार्ज़िन- द आर्टिस्ट— विजेता !
गेरी ओल्डमैन- टिंकर टेलर सोल्ज़र स्पाई
ब्राड पीट- मनीबाल


श्रेष्ठ अभिनेत्री
ग्लेन क्लोज़- एल्बर्ट नोब्स
वायला डेविस- द हेल्प
मेरिल स्ट्रीप – द आईरन लेडी- विजेता !
मिशेल विलियम्स- द वीक वीथ मार्लिन
रूणी मारा- द गर्ल वीथ ड्रेगन टेटु


श्रेष्ठ सहायक अभिनेता
केनिथ बाराग- माई वीक वीथ मार्लिन
जोनाह हिल- मनीबाल
नीक नोल्ट – वारीयर
क्रिस्टोफ़र पलम्मर- बिगनर्स- विजेता !
मैक्स वोन- एक्सट्ररिमली लाऊड एंड इन्करेडबली क्लोज़


श्रेष्ठ सहायक अभिनेत्री:
बेरिंस बेजो—द आर्टिस्ट
जेसिका केस्टन- द हेल्प
मेलिसा मेकार्थी- ब्राईड्स मेड
जेनट मेकट्यर- अल्बर्ट नोब्स
ओकटविया स्पेंसर- द हेल्प- विजेता !


श्रेष्ठ वृत्तचित्र :
हेल एंड बैक अगेन
इफ़ ए ट्री फ़ाल्स
पराडाईज़ लास्ट 3
पिना
अनडिफ़ीटेड- विजेता !


श्रेष्ठ स्क्रीनपले :
द आर्टिस्ट
ब्राईड्स मेड
मार्ज़िन काल
मीडनाईट इन पेरिस- विजेता !
ए सपेरेशन

श्रेष्ठ प्रेरित स्क्रीनपले:
द डिसेन्डेनटस- विजेता !
हुगो
द आइडियज़ आफ़ मार्च
मनीबाल
टिंकर टेलर सोल्ज़र स्पाई

श्रेष्ठ विदेशी फ़िल्म :
बुलहेड
फ़ुटनोट
इन डार्कनेस
मोनज़ियर लाज़हर
ए सपेरेशन- विजेता !


श्रेष्ठ एनीमेशन फ़िल्म :
ए कैट इन पेरिस
चिको एंड रिटा
कुंफु पंडा 2
पुस इन बुट्सर
रांगो – विजेता !


श्रेष्ठ संगीत :
द आर्टिस्ट – विजेता !
द एडवेंचर्स आफ़ टिनटिन
हुगो
टिंकर टेलर सोल्ज़र स्पाई
वार हार्स


श्रेष्ठ छायांकन :
द आर्टिस्ट
द गर्ल वीथ ड्रेगन टेटु
हुगो- विजेता !
द ट्री आफ़ लाईफ़
वार हार्स

श्रेष्ठ संपादन :
द आर्टिस्ट
द द डिसेन्डेनटस
द गर्ल वीथ ड्रेगन टेटु- विजेता !
मनीबाल
हुगो


श्रेष्ठ कला निर्देशन :
द आर्टिस्ट
हैरी पाटर एंड हेलोज़ 2
हुगो –विजेता !
मीडनाईट इन पेरिस
वार हार्स

श्रेष्ठ लघु वृत्तचित्र :
द बार्बर आफ़ बिर्मिंघम
गाड इज़ बिगर एल्विज़
इनसीटेंड इन न्यु बगदाद
सेविंग फ़ेस – विजेता !
सुनामी एंड चेरी ब्लाशम

‘सुजीत कुमार’ को याद करते हुए…

सिनेमा प्रशंसक 1960 दशक की हिन्दी फ़िल्मों को आज भी याद करते हैं, इस सिनेकाल के समर्थक ‘लाल बंगला’(1966), एवं ‘एक साल पहले’(1965) जैसी लघु बजट फ़िल्मों के तेज़-तर्रार अभिनेता ‘सुजीत कुमार’ को नहीं भूले हैं । सुपरहिट ‘आराधना’(1969) के गीत ‘मेरी सपनों की रानी’ में ‘राजेश खन्ना’ की जीप में पास बैठा वह शख्स बरबस ही याद आ जाता है ।

आराधना से राजेश खन्ना को ‘सुजीत कुमार’ के रूप में ओन-स्क्रीन साथी मिला, सुजीत उनके साथ ‘हांथी मेरे साथी’ ,‘अमर प्रेम’ , ‘मेहबूबा’ और ‘रोटी’ में आए । इस तरह सुजीत कुमार अमिताभ बच्चन, और धर्मेंद्र जैसे चोटी के अभिनेताओं के साथ भी अनेक बार नज़र आए । अमिताभ (द ग्रेट गैम्बलर, अदालत) एवं धर्मेंद्र (जुगनु, धर्मवीर, चरस, ड्रीम गर्ल,आंखें) उनकी कुछ सफ़ल फ़िल्में रहीं हैं ।

सिने जगत में सुजीत कुमार को ‘भोजपुरी सिनेमा’ के महान अभिनेता के रूप में भी याद किया जाता है, भोजपुरी संसार में ‘बिदेसिया’(1963) का ‘बिदेसी ठाकुर’किरदार मिल का पत्थर’ जैसा है । सुजीत की फ़िल्म ‘दंगल’ ने भोजपुरी सिनेमा की डूबती हुई कश्ती का बेडा पार लगाया,फ़िल्म की बाक्स-आफ़िस सफ़लता ने भोजपुरी को नया जीवन दिया ।

Top 20 Superstars of Indian Cinema’

दिलीप कुमार

एक निकट संबंधी की सहायता से युवा युसुफ़ (दिलीप कुमार) को पुणा स्थित आर्मी कैंटीन में एक छोटी सी नौकरी मिली । महज 36 रुपए की तन्खवाह पे उन्हें सहायक के तौर रखा गया, दिन –प्रतिदिन के सामान्य कार्यों का जिम्मा था । वह काम से खुश थे, लेकिन वह भी कैंटीन के बंद हो जाने से जाता रहा । काम छुटा तो पिता ‘गुलाम सरवर खान’ के फ़ल व्यापार की ओर ध्यान दिया, जहां वह एक बार कारोबार के सिलसिले में नैनीताल पहुंचे । नैनीताल में उस समय देविका रानी एवं निर्देशक अमिय चक्रवर्ती आगामी फ़िल्म’ ज्वार भाटा’ के लिए उपयुक्त लोकेशन की खोज में आए थे। युसुफ़ को तब देविका रानी के बारे में पता नहीं था, देविका जी से अनजान वश टकराने से भाग्य बदला।

युसुफ़ को फ़िल्म में फ़िल्म में काम करने का प्रस्ताव मिला, सहमति में सर हिलाते हुए जवाब दिया। देविका जी ने युसुफ़ को मलाड स्थित ‘बाम्बे टाकीज़’ दफ़्तर में मिलने को कहा। कुछ दिनों तक युसुफ़ वहां नहीं जा सके,फ़िर बुलावा आया और इस बार उन्होंने बाम्बे टाकीज़ के साथ 500 रुपए की तन्खवाह पर काम स्वीकार कर लिया । ‘ज्वार भाटा’ से युसुफ़ साहब(अब से ‘दिलीप कुमार’ के रूप में जाने गए) ने फ़िल्मों में कदम रखा। व्यापार में मशगुल युसुफ़ के पिता फ़िल्मवालों को पसंद नहीं करते थे, गुलाम सरवर को तब शायद ताज्जुब हुआ होगा जब उन्होने पत्रिकाओं में युसुफ़ की तस्वीरें देखी थीं । पुत्र की सिने व्यक्तित्व को स्वीकार करने में उन्हें वक्त लगा । सन 50 दशक के आरंभ तक युसुफ़(दिलीप कुमार) हिन्दी सिनेमा के एक परिचित शख्सियत हो चुके थे, उनकी पहचान देश के महत्त्वपूर्ण ‘रोमांटिक’ हीरो रुप में स्थापित हुई । फ़िल्म कैरियर में यादगार रोमांटिक किरदार निभाने वाले दिलीप कुमार निजी जीवन में प्रेम की ओर आकर्षित थे ?


सितारा देवी के शब्दों में युसुफ़ साहब को निजी जीवन में भी प्यार हुआ, अभिनेत्री कामिनी कौशल उन्हें सबसे अधिक प्रिय थीं । स्क्रीन पर दिलीप कुमार-कामिनी कौशल के युगल ने कुछ स्मर्णीय रोमांटिक फ़िल्में --नदिया के पार, शहीद, शबनम, आरजू से दर्शकों को मोह लिया । मसूरी की कामिनी कौशल(उमा कश्यप) ने चेतन आनंद की बहुचर्चित फ़िल्म ‘नीचा नगर’ से फ़िल्मी सफ़र शुरु किया, फ़िल्म प्रतिष्ठत अंतराष्ट्रीय पुरस्कार जीतने वाली पहली भारतीय फ़िल्म है । दिलीप कुमार व कामिनी जी के बीच मधुर संबंध ‘नदिया के पार’ समय बढें, निजी जीवन में भी दिलीप उन्हें पसंद करने लगे । कामिनी कौशल के परिवारिक कारणों से यह प्रेम कहानी ‘बिछोह’ दर्द में समाप्त हुई । पिछली बातों को भूलने की कोशिश कर रहे अभिनेता के जीवन में ‘मधुबाला’ का प्रवेष हुआ , मधुबाला के आने से दिलीप की जिंदगी में प्यार लौटा तो जरूर लेकिन तकदीर ने साथ नहीं निभाया । दरअसल मधुबाला के पिता ‘अताउल्ला खान’ दिलीप कुमार के साथ नज़दिकियों से खफ़ा थे । उन्हें लगा कि गर कमाने वाली कहीं चली गई फ़िर घर को कौन देखेगा?


गौरतलब है कि बडे परिवार में मधु अकेली आमदनी का ज़रिया थीं । इस डर के वजह से पिता ने मधुबाला को दिलीप साहेब के साथ ‘नया दौर’ मे काम करने से रोक दिया, यह रोल बाद में वैजयंतीमाला ने अदा किया । इसके बाद दोनों ‘मुगल-ए-आज़म’(1960) में ही एक साथ काम कर सके, उस समय दिलीप कुमार की मधुबाला से बातचीत बंद थी। कमरुद्दीन आसिफ़ की इस ऐतिहासिक फ़िल्म में दिलीप-मधुबाला के प्रेम को एक तरह से महान श्रधांजलि दी ।

कामिनी कौशल और मधुबाला के कडवे अनुभव बर्दाश्त कर चुके दिलीप अब प्रेम के मामले में थोडे संभल कर चलने लगे, लेकिन दिल में शायद अब भी प्रेम की विजय का विश्वास था । कहा जाता है कि वह ‘वहीदा रहमान’ को लेकर गंभीर हुए, अब वह प्रेम में असफ़ल नहीं होना चाहते थे । सिल्वर स्क्रीन पर दिलीप – वहीदा रहमान ने ‘राम और श्याम’ से जादू बिखेरा, एक बार फ़िर प्रेम ने दिलीप को चुना । वहीदा रहमान को मन ही मन पसंद करने लगे , लेकिन दिल बात कहने से पहले ही ‘सायरा बानो’ सुनामी ने दिलीप को जग से छीन लिया।

नोट: पेगुईन से प्रकाशित नवीन पुस्तक ‘Top 20: Superstars of Indian Cinema’ संपादक—भाईचंद पटेल। पुस्तक में ‘दिलीप कुमार’ को ‘हिन्दी सिनेमा’ के महानतम हीरो के रूप में सम्मानित किया गया है ।

57वें फ़िल्मफ़ेयर पुरस्कार

रणबीर कपूर और विद्या बालन ने 57वें फ़िल्मफ़ेयर पुरस्कारों में सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनय का पुरस्कार जीता है.रणबीर कपूर को रॉकस्टार के लिए जबकि विद्या बालन को द डर्टी पिक्चर के लिए ये सम्मान दिया गया. सर्वश्रेष्ठ फ़िल्म ज़िंदग़ी न मिलेगी दोबारा घोषित हुई और इसी फ़िल्म की निर्देशक ज़ोया अख़्तर को सर्वश्रेष्ठ निर्देशक घोषित किया गया.

सबसे ज़्यादा सात पुरस्कार ज़िंदग़ी न मिलेगी दोबारा फ़िल्म को मिले.

दूसरे स्थान पर रॉकस्टार पाँच पुरस्कारों के साथ रही.

रणबीर को रेखा और यश चोपड़ा ने सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेता का सम्मान दिया. वहीं विद्या बालन को द डर्टी पिक्चर के लिए ये सम्मान श्रीदेवी और बोनी कपूर के हाथों मिला.

विद्या को इससे पहले 2009 की पा फ़िल्म के लिए सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेत्री का फ़िल्मफ़ेयर मिला था जबकि इश्क़िया के लिए उन्हें क्रिटिक्स का सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेत्री का फ़िल्मफे़यर दिया गया था.

अन्य पुरस्कार
विद्या बालन इससे पहले पा फ़िल्म के लिए भी सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेत्री का सम्मान पा चुकी हैं
इस बार सर्वश्रेष्ठ डायलॉग का सम्मान फ़रहान अख़्तर को ज़िंदग़ी न मिलेगी दोबारा के लिए मिला जबकि सर्वश्रेष्ठ पटकथा के लिए डेल्ही बेली को चुना गया. ये सम्मान अक्षत वर्मा ने जीता.

सबसे अच्छी कहानी के लिए फ़िल्म 'आई एम कलाम' के संजय चौहान को सम्मानित किया गया.

क्रिटिक्स का सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेता का ख़िताब भी रणबीर कपूर को ही मिला जबकि अभिनेत्री का सम्मान प्रियंका चोपड़ा ने फ़िल्म सात ख़ून माफ़ के लिए जीता.

सर्वश्रेष्ठ सहायक अभिनेता फ़रहान अख़्तर फ़िल्म ज़िंदग़ी न मिलेगी दोबारा के लिए बने जबकि सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेत्री रानी मुखर्जी नो वन किल्ड जेसिका के लिए बनीं.

अरुणा ईरानी को लाइफ़टाइम अचीवमेंट सम्मान दिया गया.

फ़िल्म रॉकस्टार के लिए एआर रहमान को सर्वश्रेष्ठ संगीतकार चुना गया.

रॉकस्टार के ही गाने नादान परिंदे के लिए इरशाद कामिल सबसे बेहतरीन गीतकार चुने गए.इसी फ़िल्म के गाने जो भी मैं के लिए मोहित चौहान को सबसे अच्छे पुरुष गायक का सम्मान मिला. महिलाओं के वर्ग में ये सम्मान रेखा भारद्वाज और उषा उत्थुप को सात ख़ून माफ़ के लिए दिया गया.

डीप फ़ोकस’ सत्यजित रे को समर्पित

डीप फ़ोकस मूलत: फ़िल्मकार सत्यजित रे द्वारा सिनेमा के ऊपर लिखे आलेखों का संग्रह है, सिनेमा क्षेत्र में महान उपल्ब्धियां अर्जित करने वाले चार्ली चापलीन, माईकल अंजेलो,गोदार एवं बांग्ला सिनेमा के हस्ताक्षर उत्तम कुमार पर आलेख हैं । विशेष आकर्षण सत्यजित रे द्वारा तत्कालीन फ़िल्म सामारोहों पर लिखे लेख हैं। पिता के स्मरण में संदीप रे ने फ़िल्मकार के कुछ लेखों को ‘डीप फ़ोकस’ रुप में प्रकाशित कर रहे हैं, पुस्तक का विमोचन आज 28 जनवरी को कोलकाता में जाने माने फ़िल्मकार श्याम बेनेगल द्वारा किया जाएगा । श्याम बेनेगल ने पुस्तक की ‘प्रस्तावना’ भी लिखी है । कार्यक्रम में सत्यजित रे पर बनी डोक्युमेंट्री ‘सत्यजित रे फ़िल्ममेकर’ भी प्रदर्शित की जाएगी ।

पुस्तक के संपादक संदीप रे के मुताबिक पुस्तक की पहली श्रृंखला ‘ हमारी फ़िल्में, उनकी फ़िल्में’ को सत्यजित रे ने स्वयं संपादित किया था। उसके बाद पुस्तक में कई आलेख जोडे गए फ़िर ‘डीप फ़ोकस’ को निकालने का मन बनाया गया । पुस्तक निकालने के पूर्व पाठकों से सहयोग मांगा गया, सत्यजित प्रेमियों ने फ़िल्मकार द्वारा लिखे भुले-बिसरे लेख संदीप रे के पास भेजें । नवीन पुस्तक के अधिकांश आलेखों को सुधी पाठकों के सहयोग से एकत्रित किया गया। पुस्तक में फ़िल्मकार द्वारा लिखी कहानी ‘ रोयल बंगाल रहस्य’ को शामिल किया गया है,साथ में संदीप रे द्वारा कहानी पर लिखी पटकथा भी है.

:पुस्तक का विमोचन 28 जनवरी को कोलकाता में जाने माने फ़िल्मकार श्याम बेनेगल द्वारा किया जाएगा