doordarshan ki aatmakatha

Kal Jahaan Basti Thi Khushiyaan, Aaj Hai MaatamWahaan,WaqLaayaTha Bahaarein, Waqt Laaya Hai Khizaan…

Namashkaar, Aadab, Sat Shri Akaal, Hello… My name is Doordarshan. Naam Toh Sunaa Hoga… After a prolonged stoic silence, I have finally decided to vent my frustration in front of all of you, the discerning public, who have grown up with me, and have subsequently discarded me from your favour, just like you have forgotten about all those toys that you played with and put it in the attic once you grew out of it, or maybe like the children of your maidservant who were your playmates when you were young, but today are a source of embarrassment for you to even recognize! Or maybe like an old acquaintance from whom you had taken a small loan sometime back, but are now avoiding to recognize, just because it’s been too long now, although you can pay him off quite easily.
I know I am not being politically correct here, but as I said earlier, I have decided to vent my frustration to you all! Whether it makes any difference to you, I doubt, but let me present my own case, and be free from all encumbrances, since everyone says I am the product of my own short-sightedness! And to think that my name is Door-Darshan! Haah!
I sincerely think I have always been a propaganda-child, and a female one at that! Having been born in India, the treatment being meted out to me now is not unprecedented, but what hurts is the purposeful avoidance, as if I am a mistake no one wants to own up! There was a time when I was the only child in the entire household, and was the apple of everyone’s eyes. Not that I was brilliant, but I was at least presentable, and all the elders in family had only me to play with. I was so pampered, I never got the chance to grow up, nor did I want to, lest the attention drifts away from me. Being the cynosure of everyone’s eyes became my habit, and I took it for granted, which was to be my bane in the long run. I did not even realize that while I was being played around with, my playmates were also busy in producing other children, sometimes on their own merit, at other times through artificial insemination!
They were the midnight’s children, who had the benefit of hindsight, and my own follies to act as their own ‘what-not-to-do’ dossier. In a moment, my entire lifetime’s contribution to the family was virtually forgotten. All of you, who suddenly started swearing by a BPL Oye! forgot that I had given you the first Superhit Muqabla! Today, you are fed up of the news channels doing the 24*7 analysis of the latest by-elections of the Vidhan Sabha, but it was I who got you all hooked onto the election-results by throwing in some Hindi films during the midnight votes-counting of 1985 and 1989 elections and brought the Unity-in-Diversity theory to practice in every drawing room in India by making all grown-up party supporters as well children of various strata being glued to the screen, bleary-eyed!
The enormity of my loss is still not comprehensible to me, especially since I still have arguably the most robust infrastructure in India, and probably one of the largest in the world too! But what good is all this hardware, when the software produced for some time now has been like Faujiii – the Iron Man…! Aah, those good old days also had a Fauji, and he was certainly not an Iron Man… but he had originality, he had innocence, and he certainly gave me something most alien to me nowadays, TRPs. But all that was during my golden phase, immediately after I began catering to the entire nation in colored extravaganza!
I debuted with the nationwide live telecast of the Independence Day Speech by my Mother in 1982, immediately following it up with the Asian Games in New Delhi. India’s win in the Cricket World Cup the following year cemented my position as the sole provider of entertainment and salvation for the whole country, and when I started showing them the story of their own household in the simplest possible manner through Hum Log, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Buniyaad and Nukkad, I became the most favored child of the household. The agrarian economy of India suddenly woke up and the farmers from all corners started asking questions and getting answers through Krishi Darshan! All the producers of the latest Hindi films wanted to get at least one song-slot on my bi-weekly Chitrahaar! Children could not have enough of Spiderman, He-Man and Didy’s Comedy Show, but they were also being taught history lessons in the luxury of their own rooms through Bharat Ek Khoj. However, I was probably the most favorite of the older folk and the religiously inclined people, who would not let me breathe till I showed them our mythological ancestry one Sunday after the other!
My golden period continued for almost five years, and I did not realize the birth of my competitors around 1991, until they started copying my own program-templates to give it back to me through the language of TRPs and market-share, which I hardly understood or cared about till then… I was too self-absorbed to realize what was eating me inside-out, and before long, I found myself out of favour. I know my mistakes in the hindsight… I did not (or probably was not ready to) grow up with the changing times. I stuck with the same old formula year after year, playing the morality game with an absolute political-correctness and strict censorship! I had still not realized that I had been meant to be a propaganda child all along. I am sure my political bosses had “Ganda hai par Dhanda hai yeh” song playing in their imported iPods in a loop all along… Bosses changed from time to time, but the imported iPod with the desi song remained with the chair, and I ended up being their mouthpiece! Over the period, all I would do or was allowed to do was to show how X had brought glory to our country by doing so-and-so, or how Y had single-handedly put a “Cherry-Blossom-shine” on the whole of India, the previous efforts by other office-bearers be damned!
Today, I have 19 arms, technically reaching even the remotest parts of the country, with an enabled mouthpiece for most of the states individually, and other especially dedicated channels for sports, news, parliamentary affairs, but I have still not mastered the art of TRPs, and my market-penetration in terms of viewership is almost negligible. Nobody watches the programs telecast by me anymore, and two inherent strengths that I always thought would be my savior, cricket and news, have also gone out of my control. Sometimes, my parents have to force-feed my program-contents to the unsuspecting cricket-lovers by denying the exclusive telecast rights to my cousins! That’s my sole achievement these days, when I can claim a dedicated patronage.
I do not blame my competitors, for they have been driven by the economics of perfect-competition and demand-and-supply in today’s world. My grudge is against my own guardians, who have left me to compete with the professionals, but have provided me absolutely nothing to fight with! I am helpless, since I am being governed by the independent Board Members of the Prasar Bharti under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India, and unfortunately, most of those Board Members are the bureaucrats on deputation, bored with their lives, who tune into a BBC or a CNN in case they want an official confirmation of anything that they might have done themselves during the day!
Is my fate also written with the same ink as the other government-owned monoliths in various fields, who are falling sick one after the other, and the only solution to which seems to be euthanasia? I am terribly afraid, and I did not want to go unheard, did not want to bow out without putting up a fight. So, all my old-lovers, my once-upon-a-time patrons, I beseech you to show me the way, or at least to say whether what I have to propose is right. I have the following options available with me at present:
• Give up hope altogether for any kind of revival, and let my life take its own course. Let me adopt mediocrity for the remainder of my life, and remain a propaganda-mouthpiece for all my present and future masters.
• Follow what my cousins are doing, and insist on airing the following programs in their revamped avatar: Bbuuniiyaaad, Huuumm Lougg, Kkaraamchhaandd, Nuukkadd. (I have confirmed with Jjuumaaannii & Co. about the success-viability of these programs based on numerology, so please do not suggest any spelling-changes. You are, however, welcome to suggest other names, but they must all be numerologically tested and verified by a competent authority.)
• File for divorce / separation / bankruptcy (of ideas), claim alimony (whatever little is due, based on my present contribution) and settle into a life glorious ignominy, and remain to regale the tales of my past achievements with nostalgia to all those who would care to listen. (Baap Mera Ghee Khaya, Haath Mera Soongh Lo)
• Stand up and say no to being taken for granted. Demand my rightful place in the history of Indian Television, and continue to provide those simple but soulful contents that were once my hallmark. It’s a tough task, since the entire infrastructure as well as the mindset has to be revamped, but I can’t take it lying down anymore, there’s my goodwill and past achievement at stake.

Main Chhupana Jaanta Toh Jag Mujhe Saadhu SamajhtaShatru Mera Ban Gaya Hai Chhal-rahit Vyavahaar Mera...

--satyendra jha--

character potrayals:no change

content-politicians women and doctor in our films


politicians-the far bollywood theme changed from patrotism to romantic melodramas to angry men to slick action.the vamp and heroine meged into same character;the hero hero morphed from patriotic bharat to furious vijay to suave raj.with new govt being formed at the centre..one chracrter has witstood the rabages of time over six decades--The Politician.

from ardhsatya,aakhri raasta,inquilab,raam teri ganga maili ho gayi,saaransh,new delhi times of 1980s to shool,hututu,nayak,yuva,gangajal,apharan,rangde basanti and dev the politicians in hindi films has failed to shed his wicked,two faced image over the decades.one may presume that indian audience needs someone to hate and to criticize and the politicians considered the WORST SPECIES but this alone do not justify the double standards.
while afilm like leaderwith dilip kumar highlighted vested interests in politics was madeas early as 1960's it was in 1980's that the politician got etched in public memory as te villain.
ardhsatya and inquilab were among the first films t5o create the stereotypical iamge of politician in rama shetty essayed by sadashuiv amrapurkar and shankar narayan played by kader khan.the protogonist in both the films kill the politician in chilling climax.popular mainstream cinema all over the world is rooted in its mythology..there is good and evil and the people want to watch ram triumphing over ravana,at this point of debate the potrayal of politicians as villains at one level may bre considerd as reflection of reality.audience has also formed a naive opinion of politicians which leads to his cliched representataion.

indian audience has matured to alevel to understand politics,reel and real world.films being critique of power and political structure in positive light.it is the role of cinema to articulate vierwer's aspirations also.The defence mimnister in rang de basanti wasn't very different from politician bhattacharya essayed by om puri in yuva,both paint the picture of stereotypical corrupt politician.both films were away from reality as niether we do have our youth shooting politician nor we have majorly joining politics.rahul phenomena and the youth wing of political parties however is positive in this part.aamir starrer rang de basanti and mani ratnam's yuva depict two completely different ways of dealing with same problem.both succeded because they were able to articulate the desire of audience for resolution of problems of corruption and manipulative politics

cynism agianst politicians in films is stronger as he is rarely redeemed at the climax since it is understood there is no explanation for his greed.fils like rang de basanti gulaal,mission kashmir the villain is howevwer redeemed at the climax but they leave the audience hating and the stereoypical bad image of politicians remains there.anil kapoor starrer nayak reminds us of politicians andpolitics has inspired youth joining politics to curb the oppostion force of bad politician.now there is good and bad politicians.

WOMEN
women in contemporary arts has become terribly unsophisticated sloppy and on screen smooches,prancing about in beach in abikini and having anextra marrital affair are not signs of changing women.if anything she is consatntly being used to selll everything fro haute coutre to shoes but come time to taslk about rape,dowry,ads,forced female circumcision,prostitution and all sorts of viloence meted out to women, and we clam up.ew refuse to talk.

globalization has exposed us to several influnces while we cold blodedly steal scenes ,plots from hollywood,it will take decades to make afilm like million dollar baby.sadly enough even when women are offered pwerful roles,they prefer to stick to vacuous scraps.stereotypes have become so entreched i popular culture that we have internalised them long before we even realise it.

bollywood excuses itself claiming it is the true agent of fantasy,but waht excuses does television have.every battle for equality,time and again has proved that sometimes the worst enemies come from within.often women are one holding other women back.people who have power to change the thinkimg are not doing it has nobody wnts to take risk because success,however shallow it may ahve to be emulated.if art imitates life then something something is definately is amiss here.fashion people take the concepts of women empowerment asd gendetr equalty in the wrong roite of ramp wals and fashion shows.when ABCL and godrej arranged miss world contest in bangalore,controversy ignited in the name of ethics.the beauty market,flambuyont in india's mall culture forcibly fuses female beauty and sexuality,two very different values.the lust that parodes s beauty in ads ,films and music videos leaves women aspiring for cosmetic instead of real.
great purchasing power combined with commercial TV feed the industry's quest to feed the popular has centralized and hemoginised the parrot potrayal of women in our films.

DOCTOR
Inhe dawa ki nahi dau ki zaroorat hai-says the man in white coatwith depressing finality. With these words, the doctor is handlingover the baton to his immediate GOD.THE DOCTOR is otherwise bastion of absolute knowledge, allpronouncements as he rushes from one operation theatre flashing redlight to another.The doctor as CHARACTER in Hindi films especially of sixties andseventies. His persona lie embedded in many a popular motives aboutthe idea of fate; health and its differential impact on people. To thepoor, he is VOICE of doom that circles their lives. He spells outgod’s miserable plan for POOR and serves to squeeze out whateverlimited opinions that exist. The doctor here represents theunreasonable unfairness of FATE; his knowledge is immediate in face ofentreaties of the unfortunate.For the RICH he is shown as the VOICE of the well trained consciencethat knows the limits of truth it is supposed to tell. Rich men haveheart attacks and need rest. Their health is an enabler; it allowsthem to force their will. In the world of rich ill-health magnifiesthe power of their way to go-off. FATE as seen through the lens ofhealth is manipulability for the rich and is.The DOCTOR character appears as part of STORYLINE. His role apart fromplaying the rich man’s hag was to function as white collar relativeoccupying a grey space between friend, employee and relative. Thedoctor in our conception, the doctor is one who is closest toanswering questions that only GOD has answers to. the doctorprotagonist tended to be depicted as one who carrying a heroic burdenof knowledge.DR BHASKAR of ANAND portrayed by amitabh bachchan,evenas anand lay dying, he was looking for an injection that could avoidthe inevitable.The idea of difference between life as seen in medical terms and lifeas it can be lived is explored in MUNNA BHAI MBBS.

shamshad begum

shamshad begum her time and tryst
FORGOTTEN IDENTITY
One of eight children of Hussein baksh and ghulam fatima,the grand senior of indian playback singing-Shamshad Begum was orn and brought up in atraditional amritsar family.she made a mark much earliar to Lata Mangeshkar and Suriaya.
“passion has long life” the singer proved it right with fortunes of support in family and in laws gramophone at amritsar house encouraged her singing credentials.those were the days ,time passed sitting near the unique instrument repeating lines enthusiasticallyt.revisng songs and marsias based afuture prodigal singing star in shmshad.the talent didn’t went unnoticed.atrue art lover chacha noticed her skils with support of encouragement.passionate skills made shamshadji an identifying voice of masses.then achild only her voice struck symphony of impression.

at 13 uncle guided her Ginophone studios.at studio the relatively new but different vioce became instant Hit,punjabi song ‘hath jod’ offered and recorded.an album content the punjabi number earned grat name for adolescent Shamshad riding on huge response Ginophone offerd shamshad 200 songs in single year.
Ghulam Haider-Renowned musicain Ghulam haider, regular artist of GINOPHONE mentored shamshad ji to singing sensetion.haider saab later migrated pakistan
1937 lahore-1937 shamsahd begum became aregular vioce of Lahore Studios . at 15 in 1939 she enterd into marital knot with Barrister Ganpatlal
Break in films-shashad begum’s first break as playback Singer was-Yamla Jaat (1940)/punjabi films Yamla Jaat and Chaudhari(1941) were filmdom signatures of singer.
Lahore based Khazanchi(1941) is shamshad begum’s Hindi debut .A Panchali Arts production with Ghulam Haider musical score,Khazanchi made to box-office with numbers-sawan ke nazare,mann dheere dheere rona,ek kali nazon se pali.four to five films followed Khazanchi.incrediblE Playback with quality music made the films HIT. 1n 1943 ace director Mehboob called shamshad to sing –daroga ji kaun kasur par for his film Takdir(1943).poona visit cementd her filmy safar
1947 partition-Khazanchi crew DM Pancholi,actress R amola and Shamshad begum shifted their base to Bombay.at Bombay shamshad ji saw suraiya and sensational Lata Mangeshkar.SD burman identified Folk Potentila in siner and offerd shmashad begum to sing folk touch numbers for his film –Shabnam- ‘bajre ke khet me pehli baar mulaqat and ‘tui mahal me rahne wali main kutiyon me.l
Naushad
-shamshad begum made to Naushad as fortunate substitute for Johrabai Ambalewali.He gave her achance to sing for Dilip Kumar-Nargis starrer-Mela.milestone in indian cinema,the film was major success.numners like-‘dharti ko aakash pukare and ‘mohan ki muralia baje sun thes jia pe lage’ are signposts of singer’s contribution to film.for reson unknown Naushad those days kept Lata mangeshlkar at bay.he went for other vioces.Shmashad begum,Johrabai Ambalewali and Uma devi Tuntun were his choices.Mehboob’s Anokhi Ada relesed with no Lata Mangeshkar.Uma Devi and shamshad begum were main playback for the film—‘aaj kahan nazr takrayee’ ‘nazar mil gayee kiski nazar se’ are memorabl shamshad begum nunbres from Anokhi Ada..N aushad innovated shamshad voice as contrast to Lata M nageshkar.film ‘deedar’ marked the beginning of trend—‘bachpan k din bhul na dena-duet from film had shmashad bregum as MALE voice.for Naushad shamshad begm became anecessity.a Place for shamshad numere in many Nuashad musical scores confirms the fact.London based Naushad library has –chandni na ke aayee payar o sajna. ‘chaman me rehkar virana mera dil(deedar) and ‘chod baabul ka ghar (baabul) with ace N auashad sketch a different picture for singer.Itis true shamshad begum did most of her numbers with Naushad and OP naiyar.playback for twenty three Op naiyar musical scores suggest a point that singer worked mostly with Naushad and Opnaiyar saheb. Opnaiyar musical scores has no Lata mangeshkar.shamshad begum and ASHA bhonsle were priorities-‘kabhi aar kabhi paar laga teere nazar’(aar paar) ‘bujh mera kya naam re’ and ‘ kahin pe nighahen kahin pe nisana’(CID) Are remarlkable shamshad begum numbers with the magician.

Make shift playback-shamashad begum hasintersting statistics of sometime male and other time:male disguised as female character singing.she did Playback for Lootera(Dara singh) and Kismat(Viswajeet) ‘patli kamar nazuk umar’ (Lootera1965) ‘kajra mohabbat wala ‘(Kismat 1968) is reference point to this fact.musician C RAMACHNDRAN carried the Naushad move of assignining shamshad as contrast to Lata Mangeshkar musician called her for—Samadhi and Patanga.—‘gore gore banke chhore’ ‘mere piy agaye hain rangoon’ are top numbers of singer in contrast to Lata Mangeshkar .’chali pi ke ghar ab kahe ka darr ‘ (mirza Ghalib) is signature shmashad
Triumvirate-Literaure---Music—Acting witnessed evolution of trend.Literature—jayshankar prasad,suryaknat nirala, sumitranandan pant Acting: raj kapoor, dilip kumar.dev anand Music- mohd rafi,mukesh ,talat mehmood (male palyback singers). Lata mangeshkar,shamshad behum and Geet adutt mde the femlae fator.
ISOLATE D Emotions-Traditional apprences ,camps polarization and rising politics made singer disappeared silently.one time lead singer,shamshad begum was reduced to situational characters and Quwalli chorus –‘teri mehfil me kismat azma(mughal-e-azam) ‘holi aayee re kanhai rang bahr de’ and ‘gadiwali gadi dheere hank re’(mother india) ‘sarma k pardanasin(chaudvin ka chand) speak up the sory for reticent living singer.Musicians who earned shamshad begum name later abandoned professional relations with singer.1970’s mark a clear dip in her playback appearnces.shamshad begum slowly went unnoticed.she remained industry isolated for three decades.she was forced to live an isolated life.Naushad,Madan Mohan,Shankar Jaikisan,Opnaiyar ERASED her from their list.in between years any information on the legendary singer did’d reached any Media.just when fans begun to question-Is she dead? Columist SHISIR SHARMA set to look out for her LOST singer.he succeded in his noble cause.biography on shamshad begum by—CHANDRAKANT MOHAN is another turning point in this regard.both proved a piece of REVIVAL shamshad begum

At 90 The grand Senior of indian playback singing has found communication with fans .Awards like –PADMABHUSAN and PHALKE GOLDEN SINGER AWARD is saving grace.

shakti samanta

Birth: born on 13 June 1926 at wardhman Bengal, Shakti samanta school
education completed in Dehradun.he returned to native Bengal for higher studies. Calcutta happened to him. Admission into Calcutta university for bachelors saw him rise to new level.shaktida emerged bilingual with equal command on Hindi and Urdu.Bangla was his mother tongue.
mumbai 1948: with passion to be a Hero in films,Shaktida moved to Mumbai. Days of struggle at Urdu school. At teaching he developed passion for talkies. Cinema urge inside him guided shaktida to Mumbai Studios of Mumbai. Bombay talkies was the favorite spot. At Bombay talkies He came in Touch with leading actor Ashok Kumar. Brief meeting with Dadamuni at talkies transformed his fortunes forever. With an advice from Ashok ji to opt for Direction, Shakti samanta came in touch of Pahni majumdar to be an assistant director. Association emerged fruitful as he dropped the idea of becoming hero/actor forever and came behind the camera.Shaktida committed him to art of film making. His devotion towards cinema proved blessing in 1945. He got break as director with bahu. (1945) inspector hill station detective followed
shakti films: 1957 shakti samanta started his own banner of film production and soon became producer director.
The golden decade: 1960-1970 Is the golden decade of Hindi cinema .decade belongs to Shakti films.array of superhits makes the decade golden.shaktida with his Shakti films gave some of most cherishing moments of Hindi films.shaktida strongly felt story music and songs decide the fate of film. Golden decade proved him right. The decade of romanticism and of Hindi cinema's first superstar—Rajesh khanna
crime -suspense-thriller was initial shaktida interest. He switched to romanticism later what he best delivered.shaktida innovated social engineering with touching musical content. The confident insights Of his films ignited urge and demand for such films among masses.shakti samanta films achieved huge recognition and fan following Howrah Bridge: star studded with actors like Ashok kumar, Madhubala, KN.singh, Howrah Bridge was first Shakti samanta film as producer-director. A crime thriller film has immortal numbers like-- aaiyee meherbaan and mera naam chinchin chu. OP naiyar, Asha bhonsle, Geeta dutt contributed to a grand musical success Post this film for coming two decade Shakti films continued as successful film factory. Good story with great lyrics-dialogues-music is striking feature of many films made under the banner. Shakti samanta shuffled actors as per need of script and screenplay. Rajesh khanna. Shammi kapoor, Ashok Kumar and Uttam Kumar remained prominent faces for Shakti films . Ashok Kumar: Shakti samanta had great love and respect for ashok Kumar. For shaktida dadmuni was elder brother. Together gave nine films. Howrah Bridge cemented their relationship. Shammi kapoor: shammi kapoor had lifelong association with Shakti samanta until very recently death separated friends. "China town" Kashmir ki kali" and "an evening in Paris" are signposts of fruitful association. Rajesh khanna: first superstar of Hindi cinema. Shakti samanta's aradhana (1969) gave popular cinema the first superstar in Rajesh khanna.shaktida brought the idea of popular cinema through khanna with his films. Cinematic efforts and ventures of Shakti samanta furnished immortal place for social romanticism.Release of aradhana became a turning point in history of romantic films. Kati Patang (1971) Amar prem (1972) followed suit. Aradhana, kati patang and Amar prem placed Rajesh khanna as superstar .the overwhelming response of these films glittered the shining superstar tremendously. Anuraag, awaaz, ajnabi, anurodh, mehbooba, alag alag are other notable films for Rajesh khanna with ace director. However Shakti samanta efforts proved less to sail the superstar's sinking innings.salim-javed’s Angry young man diminished the further hope for khanna.shakti films and romanticism shared the odds with superstar. Average and not up to mark performance of films, Shakti samanta took decisive break. Those were the days of litmus test for superstar then struggling to keep his superstar image intact. He failed shaktida expectations and the great association suffered. It even bitterd with star not looking, caring, searching For his mentor. sanjeev kumar (charitraheen) sunil dutt (jaag utha insan) manoj kumar (saawan ki ghata) and uttam kuamar (amanush) are other top actors to work with shaktida .2nd innings also saw Amitabh bachchan and Mithun chakraborty appearing for bangla films.. Sharmila Tagore: Shakti samant's winning efforts gave stars of Bangla films: Sharmila Tagore, Uttam Kumar and Mausmi chatterjee entry to Hindi films. Actress sharmila Tagore was camp favorite of Shakti films. She did many films--Kashmir ki kali, aradhana, amar prem, an evening in Paris, amanush and annad ashram are memorable Sharmila Tagore films for the banner.shakti films gave memorable pairs of golden decade.Sharmila Tagore’s on screen chemistry with Rajesh khanna and shammi kapoor formed the hit Jodis. Anand Bakshi: post super hit aradhana (1969) lyricist anand bakshi continued as lyricist for most shakti samanta films.anand sahib wrote some of his most sweet numbers for shakti films such as-- aradhana, amar prem, kati patang, mehbooba. --- Immortal 'kuch to log kahenge' 'chingari koi bhadke' 'yeh shaam mastani' 'mere naina sawan bhado' and kora kagaz tha y Mann mera' saw Anand Bakshi at his best. kishore kumar :close to shakti samanta singer kishore Kumar shot to fame with super hit aradhana film transformed the fortunes of all associated with it. Playback kishore Kumar was one. he continued as lead playback singer for most of shakti samanta films. some of his most touching numbers are for shakti films. Quest for quality: Shakti samanta devoted his time in search of hit concepts. He committed him to make meaningful social dramas with romanticism in the centre stage. Quest for good stories, suitable faces to match characters, impressive musical chords continued throughout his lifetime. Super success for his ideas reflects the hard work shaktida put in his endeavors. Shakti samanta encouraged many talents.shakti films provided them platform to actualize their potential. Mind behind great array of ideas to Hindi cinema. In the lines of vimal Roy and hrishikesh mukherjee Shakti samanta carried forward their tradition of being bangla but serving Hindi. All three opted to serve Hindi. Ear for music: a story on music In Hindi films may not be completed or get heart of matter if one ignores Shakti films.shakti samanta films contributed to the totality of film music significantly. Music meant lot to shaktida.a committed cine activist Shakti samanta devoted lot of his time to bring out suitable music and lyrics suiting characters and storyline. OP naiyyar, shankar-jaikisan, burmans(SD and RD),madan mohan and laxmikant-pyarelal composed some of their most sweet compositions for shaktida. 1980s: mainstream cinema gradually transformed with action replacing romanticism.salim-javed creation angry young man--Amitabh bachchan replaced Rajesh khanna as next superstar.shaktida paused film making as audiences were also in flow of action. Idea of romantic cinema ideology in the times of revenge and action Ceased. Geetanjali (1993) is last hindi Shakti samanta film Bangla cinema: years after making name in Hindi films Shakti samanta went for Bangla films as well. Average and not up to expectation response of his latter films made him move to regional cinema. Annad ashram, amanush are some of memorable bangla films. They were bilingual films. Hindi cinema is growing day by day. Significant number of contributors made Hindi cinema what it is now. a gradual journey and star studded growth of Hindi films has had the privileged of services of able,craetive,innovative minds--shakti samanta was one such pearl.

folk songs

The most unconventional song in “laga chunari me daag” is “ehe thaiya motiya heraail ho raama”(this is the spot where I lost my pearl) . Though Shantanu and Swanand had tried their best to revive a most popular form of music of UP & Bihar, I felt that something is missing in the song. first thing I felt that this is a “chaiti” not “thumri” so it should be sang with the same energy and enthusiasm that the form of the song demands. “Chaiti” is a festival folk which in villages used to sing in the time of reaping of their grains. It has different moods depend on the situations for example, the villagers used to sing in two groups and counters each other’s comments. The other situation is when a woman misses her husband or a remembers her maayka. Obviously a sad situation but the fragrance of festival overcomes it and song becomes a little lighter. If we hear the same “chaiti” which was sung by Mukesh in the movie “Godaan” we could feel the difference. Ravishankar’s classical strength and the mood of the song has come out so nicely in the song that we can feel the culture inherited into the song. I am not questioning Rekha’s ability. She is absolutely a fresh air in our music industry and the team must have much knowledge of music than me. But the “ras” which I get while hearing the original Chaiti’s by Manoj Tiwari or Bharat Sharma is somehow missing in this version. Now another form is “Bideshiya”. we have seen a part of this in “Hazaaro Khwahishe aisi” in the song “Piya gaile calcuttwa” which I think Sanjay Upadhyaay has sung. It’s not the style of bideshiya in which the song came out.The movie has another brilliant thumri. “Gadar” has also a humming thumri. The song “namak Ishqa ka” I feel is very artificial song. Though I liked the style and mood with which Rekha sung it. it’s awesome. In the similar manner the rajasthani folk “kesariya baalma” has used many a times in our hindi cinema including recent one “Dor” but I don’t think that it has ever come close to the mood with which the Rajasthan’s local orchestra artists sings it. Bihar’s folk singer Sharda Sinha has sung twice(as far as I know) in our mainstream cinema.First in “maine Pyaar kiya” & the other was “Hum Aapke hai kaun”. The song “kahe tose sajna” is used beautifully in “maine pyaar kiya”. It’s an absolutely brilliant song.
The other folk song which is missing in our hindi mainstream cinema is Punjab’s folk “heer”. It’s very rarely used and if used never conceived it . The North east music is also remains untouched. The songs of “Raincoat” were obviously not folk but classical. The film has a nice Sohar (song that used to sing in the time of birth of child). There are enormous kinds of Indian folk and classical songs which has not been given importance in our film industry. Shabha Mudgal has found some precious songs which were written in the pre independence era. but it’s only a pinch of sand. With such a vast variety of culture and music available we are yet to reach those songs, but with Shantanu and Swananad we could hope for some brilliant songs to come out.

-dipankar giri-

Gehrayee-the film

Rk
A decent horror film? A horror film - subtle?
Is it possible and even if it is possible, will the film still be attractive and appealing?
One film does this magic.
In Hindi cinema, horror films mean either typical products of Ramsey Brothers or Ram Gopal Verma’s factory products and few other efforts by other filmmakers here and there like Vikram Bhatt’s 1920 and Madhvan starrer 13 B.Ram Gopal Varma’s last horror entry Phoonk was loosly based on (/inspired by) a sensible film made by Vikas Desai and Aruna Raje in 1980.
Gehrayee was the film. This film could easily be said as only sensible and good film ever came out of hindi cinema where subject has dealt with black magic, spirit, supernatural powers and ghost etc. This is the only film which does not take refuge in technical gimicks to falsely terrorise the audiences rather it goes down deeply into the psychology of the characters. Inspite of being quite a low budget film, this is highly devoted to the genre and it does not try to play the tricky games with the audience.

No tricky camera work is there, no swift movements are there and camera does not even try to portray some particular character in a wrong manner so that audiences are given a fake illusion that this person is the culprit. Film goes ahead in quite a subtle manner.Realistic touch is quite high in the film. Film looks real and shows in a way as it can happen to somebody in real life and how real people may react when come across something which defies their understanding of not to recognize any supernatural thing.
Many things happen in the life of human being and science is unable to provide any definite answer but because science has taught not to believe whatever is not proved scientifically so people live in a confused state. Science is also followed blindly like a superstition by many people.
For those who are involved deeply into the scientific reaserach few things may be fine but what about those people who even have never come across the very early and primary type of theories of modern science?These people simply rely on what newspapers feed them or what others tell them. They always have to listen to others because more successful people are shouting at them that whatever they are telling them is the right as they had read it in their 10th standard book.
To listen about supernatural powers or to read about them in books or to see films based on fictions are different thing but when confused people living in a confused time come across something which they can not define and understand then things really can disturb the families of people suffering from unknown things.Those who do not believe in any undefined powers will naturally seek the shelter of doctors and doctors will rely on the available knowledge of personality disorder or psychological problems defined by some area of human psychology.
Other people may not say anything before the person telling about problem of his family member but after he is gone, people may comment,” his family member is going mad”.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Capitalistic and consumeristic approach does not allow people to consider the lives of poor people serving the riches all through their lives.
If a person has been doing hard work on a land owned by a rich man and starts treating the land with a great love and treats the land as a very important part of his life and even does not treat badly any living creatures living in that premises and rather respects even a snake as the caretaker of the land then he can be devasted if rich person asks him to leave the place as he has sold the land to other owner who would make an industry here.
It is not about the alternative arrangement done by the owner of the land for his job at a different place and it is more the matter of his emotional attachment with the land, trees on this land, his hard work done in making this land as a green paradise where birds are singing the song all the day and different kinds of flowers are blossomed and different kinds of fruits are flourishing on the trees and different kinds of vegetables are existing on and inside the land. This land has become his life and selling this land may carry him at the door of death.
A young man brings his lover to his home so that she can meet with his family. His teen ager sister takes his lover to her room to show the photo album etc. After some minutes his lover comes out in a visibly disturbed mode and she insists on going back to home as soon as possible.
It is not usual in films to see the teen ager sister making sexual advances to her elder brother. All the family members are sitting in a room and son gets up to take the bath and all of a sudden his younger sisters gets up from her chair and takes her brother in her arms and starts saying dialogues which a prostitute may say to lure her customer. Everybody is shocked to see this lewd behaviour of a teen ager girl. Brother is trying to push away his sister but she is clinging to him more tightly.
Whole family is playing carrom board and all of a sudden daughter starts accusing her father for her sexual exploitation and not as a young girl but as some other woman.
Her mother is stunned to listen this. Daughter is taken to doctor who has only one option to treat her, electric shock.
Gehrayee explores the mental torture of the family when daughter starts suffering from a disorder in her behaviour. Father takes her to doctor and daughter complains about doctor’s rude behaviour. Brother and mother listens to their old servant that girl is suffering from ghost problem.There is a clash between father and son over the girl’s problem.
A tantrik is asked to help but it makes situation even worse and girl is saved from his evil efforts.
There is a mystry behind girl’s problem.
Padmini Kolhapure had given an outstanding performance in the role of a teen ager suffering girl. She was very young and still could portray the changing and complex behaviour of her character very well.In the media film was in news because of a nude scene of Padmini Kolhapure.
Dr Shreeram Lagoo as the father of girl, Indrani Mukharjee as the mother of girl and Anant Nag as brother of the girl were quite good.
Amrish Puri in a small role of the tantrik proved again that great actors don’t need hours of screen space and they can leave the long lasting impact even in a few minutes role.
Film’s USPs are the relience on the story, characterization, psychological dynamics of the characters and direct take on the probelm and absence of technical gimmicks. Film does not try to create false fear because of the use of technology andproblems and emotions of the characters do that job.
A simple take makes Gehrayee a remarkable hindi film in the genre of ghost and black magic etc.
Asrani used to say in the ad. of Sylvania Laxman : Ek Naam jo Ujala Laye
BPL, perhaps was first ever advertisement which Amitabh Bachchan had done through his corporate venture ABCL.Focus of the ad was on the idea to search a brand which keeps international value and Amitabh Bachchan endorses BPL that it is one brand which has that international value.
In the crowd of B and C grade horror flicks in hindi cinema Gahrayee shines like a star and keeps waiving the flag of a different and distinguished brand name even after 29 years of its first release.

sau jhooth ek sach

satyendra jha

One such movie that I watched, (and I was fortunate I did so) was Sau Jhooth Ek Sach, a 2005 film directed by Bappaditya Roy, starring Mammotty (in one of his rare non-dubbed / original Hindi movies), the DVD of which I had picked up on an impulse during my recent visit to Kochin (it could be the Mammootty-effect, or maybe even trying the ‘local-flavour’), but had not even removed the wrapper since then.
The reason of going into details about the treatment I had meted out to the film is to curse myself once again (this time, publically) for having missed out on this little-known gem for such a long time. The film is based on a famous English play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by JB Priestley, and has, apart from Mammootty, other assorted powerful actors like Vikram Gokhale, Lillette Dubey, and Joy Sengupta. Among the lesser known, there are Anjali Jathar, Kiran Jhangani, Neha Dubey (Lillette’s daughter) and Tisca Chopra. Fortunately, the director has given an official credit to the source material, so its easier on the conscience to praise the film for all its inherent qualities, even the borrowed ones from the original play.
It is most unlike a regular film, and the setting is entirely in the drawing room inside the bunglow of a rich business tycoon, Vikrant Pradhan, played with amazing nuance by Vikram Gokhale. He is in a mixed mood of celebration as well as hurt-ego, the former due to his daughter’s engagement to the son of another rich industrialist, and the latter due to his not-so-subtle derision in front of other guests by his son on the dinner table earlier in the evening. The way in which Vikram Gokhale has managed to convey both emotions at the same time without speaking anything has to be seen to be believed.
Late in the evening, while he is enjoying a drink, his wife (Lillette Dubey) is sulking in their bedroom for some bitter confrontation between them, his son (Kiran Jhangani) is out somewhere getting drunk and laid, and his daughter (Neha Dubey) is making out with her fiance (Joy Sengupta) in her bedroom, comes an unannounced and unexpected police inspector Vivek (Mammootty, with all his Malayali accent and mannerisms intact), in connection with the interrogation of an apparent suicide of an unmarried pregnant girl in a discrepit chawl room in another part of the city.
At first, Vikrant Pradhan is arrogant and dismissive with the inspector, but against the no-nonsense attitude of the inspector and certain bare truths later, he complies with the interrogation. As the story unfolds, all the characters, including the daughter, the son, the wife and the would-be son-in-law turn out to have had something to do with the suicide case, and all of them have their own skeletons to hide, their own demons to face. How the story unfolds further and how does it culminate has to be seen, not told, else I have to give away a lot of interesting details. However, trust the film to give you a few shocks and twists on the way.
Those who have read the play or watched the two English film-adaptations would surely know the ending beforehand. Suffice it to say that the film has not tried to deviate much from the original except to set it up in the Indian mileu, and use some local references. The merit of the film is in the coherence with which the characters are coerced by the Inspector to introspect themselves. The film also reflects a lot on the inter-connectedness of our human-existence. It can also be merited with the concept of integrating “Chaos Theory” in a more believable manner, without trying to go over-the-top. The character of Inspector Vivek is a collective manifestation of our human-conscience, and the naming of the character signifies that as well.
The suicide-girl in question has been played by six different actors for the same character, maybe to reflect the significance of a common man(?), and the plight and class-injustice suffered at the hands of the capitalists. It may sound a bit serious and ‘arty’, but I would put it more in the lines of “12 Angry Men” / “Ek Ruka Hua Faisla”. I would strongly recommend it to those who like that genre.
The bottomline of this movie can be summarised by way of one of the best SMS jokes I have ever come across, and which, IMO, is the most apt and succint way to conclude this article. Some of the words in the following joke have been *beeped* for obvious reasons. Here goes:
Garib Aur ***** Hamesha Dabaaye Jaate Hain…Museebat Aur **** Kabhi Bhi Khada Ho Sakta Hai…Kismat Aur *** Kabhi Bhi Khul Sakti Hai…
Disclaimer: I sincerely apologise to anyone whose sentiments have been hurt due to the content of the joke…The intent was to let people know the truth that the movie tries to confront, without losing the humour.