Dev Anand – Tribute to the undying spirit

Dev Anand in "Jewel Thief"

I was told Dev Anand was one of the great actors in Indian cinema and I grew up with that understanding. Those days the only source of films, film songs’ videos was Doordarshan. And thankfully unlike current telecasting practice of playing only portion of the song, good old DD used to telecast the whole song in programs like ‘Chitrahaar’ and ‘Rangoli’, un-buffered. That was how I got to watch Dev Anand in action, swaying and lip-syncing to some of the fantastic compositions in Hindi cinema. Frankly at that age, I wasn’t impressed.

When in college, with the newfound interest in old Hindi film music and particularly of Kishore Kumar, I watched a lot of songs picturized on Dev Anand. “Phoolon ke rang se..” from “Prem Pujari” is one of my favourites. That is the period when I started watching Dev Anand’s movies. He might not be a brilliant actor or a film maker, but he did bring out movies with themes that were bold and unheard of for those times. His penchant for technology is visible in the excellent cinematography complemented by rich color tones in the movies like “Jewel Thief” and “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”. He also seems to have had a keen ear to music which has resulted in his movies having some of the best soundtracks in Hindi cinema. In collaboration with the likes of S D Burman and R D Burman he has delivered musical hits like “Guide”, “Jewel Thief”, “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”, “Prem Pujari” and “Ishk Ishk Ishk” to name a few. Even as late as 2003 his movie “Love at Times Square” had some wonderful compositions by Lucky Ali.

In "Guide"

The person in front of the camera was no less flamboyant than the one behind it. He had created his own unique style – a fast paced dialogue delivery with varying pitch, a slight tilt of the head and swaying of arms and designer clothes usually with a scarf or headgear. It was impossible to miss Dev Anand’s “mannerisms” in his films. He never tried too hard to do the latest fad of ‘getting into the character’. He played his emotions right and it worked even though you saw more of Dev Anand than the character. His distinction of choosing different themes for his films was also one of its drawbacks, with many storylines never developing beyond the basic premise and resulting in a hotchpotch screenplay. Classic examples are “Swami Dada” and “Awwal Number”. Though his last credit commercial success was “Des Pardes” the film maker in him never seems to have been perturbed by the failures. Till his death in December 2011 he kept making films under his banner ‘Navketan Films’ and talked about his future projects in his last interviews (published as a tribute after his death).

Dev Anand will be remembered always for giving Hindi Cinema some of its classic movies. He will also be remembered for the energy and excitement that kept him active in movies till the end. I had the fortune to watch the colorized version of his 1961 hit “Hum Dono” (titled “Hum Dono Rangeen”) in cinema in 2011 and I remember the song “Main zindagi ka saath nibhatha chala gaya…” in the film. I think the song in a way described the legend Dev Anand was.

A Stranger City..

“Madras” was what I used to call it in my childhood. The very mention of “Madras” meant holidays and fun. It meant – train ride from Bangalore to Chennai, walking with excitement in Central Railway station at Chennai amidst the growing stink of dry fish,  being welcomed by the warmest and genuine smile from grandparents, visiting relatives after a long gap of time, evening visits to the Marina beach with paternal grandfather and cousins, playing around in grandfather’s heritage-like house with cousins, sugarcane juice and “Samosa” from Gopalapuram, waiting for the late evening “Sonpapdi”/”Kulfi” seller at the steps of my grandfather’s house, listening to stories from the past from maternal grandmother and enjoying the affection bestowed upon us by her, watching Tamil TV programs with grandfather and mocking the Tamil-dubbed advertisements, occasional late night shows of movies in cinemas and lots more.

 

And then we grew up and “Madras” became “Chennai”. But most of the fun and excitement remained till grandfather left us. The only other person who longed to see us visit Chennai was my mother’s mother. As infants, we were raised by my parents with her support. It would be difficult to imagine us children growing up in Bangalore without her helping out my mother. Naturally we had a great bonding and she showered us with abundant affection and care till her last breath, a few months ago. If my paternal grandfather one person who longed to see us visit Chennai, my maternal grandmother was the other person who sulked at the mention of our return to Bangalore from Chennai. Her frail looks are deceptive as she is a strong person who had fought many a battle valiantly in her life. It suddenly occurred to me very recently, that I have never ever seen her angry or with a frown on her face. She was always the ‘fairy book’ grandmother one can just hope for; but we were blessed with. She was a person who had very few needs and always content. One would usually find her with religious texts and sacred ash and giving away blessings, but if you would drop in by her in the mornings, she would be found reading the newspapers of the day. She used to read in Tamil and English and was aware of the happenings around the world even in her late 80s. When I read the words “compassion”, “unconditional love” I remember my grandmother, who for me is another ‘Mother Teresa’, for I owe her a lot for what I am today. The only consolation is that, both of the grandparents that I have mentioned above, left this world in a peaceful manner having led a life with very less complaints.

 

But “Chennai” changed for me after them. It’s a strange city for me now. There is no more frantic running inside my grandfather’s house playing “I-Spy” or the long chat with my grandfather in his living room about “those days”. There are no more tear-eyed goodbyes or the spreading of the sacred ash on my forehead by my grandmother during farewell. I also wish she would be there to give me money when we left for Bangalore. I am stuck up in Chennai when I visit now doing nothing and meeting very few people reluctantly. Chennai meant “paati” and “thatha”, but it now doesn’t mean much to me; it could very well be “Chennai” or “Madras”.

Animal Farm – Book Review

Book Cover

Frankly I am not sure if I had had heard about this book, by George Orwell, before my friend Rajesh mentioned it to me. And to be frank again, when he did I thought it should be one of those classic books with talking animals, that I had tried to avoid all these years. But he said it’s different. And I bought a copy for myself.

Yes, it is a classic novel by George Orwell, not a familiar name to me before I started reading this book. Yes, it has animals that talk. And the biggest relief is that as my friend Rajesh mentioned, IT IS DIFFERENT. The basic premise of the story is about the struggle between Men and the Beasts. The reader is seasoned, initially, to consider this as a struggle between the Evil and the Good. And that’s when the real story unfolds – leisurely peeling layer after layer of the assumed “Good”. For me it was too engrossing and interesting because of the current state of affairs in India. With a mammoth revolution against corruption as the backdrop, there is a whole lot of politics being played out with many players. The media and the self-appointed guardians of peoples’ interests have strongly convinced the people who should be thought of as “Good” and “Evil”. That is exactly what happens in the book too, when the animals are trained to chant “Four legs good, two legs bad”. In the course of time, they are re-taught and they are made to unlearn old beliefs and learn new ‘prophecies’. They are initially promised paradise and in the due course of time are taught to be reasonable and at the end are made to believe that the fight was never to create a paradise. The animals’ beliefs are constantly re-engineered to suit the plans of the “Administrators”. The end depicts clearly what happens if pigs take control.

George Orwell’s language is simple, but has deep meaning. He doesn’t hurry with the narration and builds up the anticipation. For a book that is 120 pages, the impact it leaves behind is huge and shocking. I am still not sure if he was laughing at this society, where people follow blindly into a mass movement without some thinking and retrospection, or was just warning them about doing so. It’s easy to rally around for a change – everyone wants to, but in the hurry it’s not prudent to not plan for the future if the change does occur. The seat of power, or even a chance at authority, is a very tempting proposition where the new occupants easily fall in line behind their predecessors against whose policies was their main fight against.

After reading Dan Brown, Archer and Grisham for the past few years this book was a good change. I called up Rajesh and thanked him for this recommendation. If you have missed reading this book, pick it now. It is a real classic that should not be missed.

 

Bangalore goes ‘Metro’

Bangalore's Namma Metro logo

I can’t call it as a proud moment, but it was a kind of happy expectation of something new happening in Bangalore. It is supposed to a new means of transport for the city at the verge of losing its nerves over traffic hassles. I decided to take my first Metro ride early Sunday morning (23rd October 2011), hoping that there would be less people thronging the Metro stations to take the ride. As usual my early morning plan got delayed due to my extended sleep and I reached the M G Road Metro station at 9:00AM.

There were quite a number of people, families like on a picnic day, all eager and thoroughly in awe of the plush M G Road Metro station. I had made my plan to take a ride from M G Road to Byappanahalli (current terminus) and back. I reached the ticket counter and asked for a return trip ticket but to my surprise the guy at the counter told me the return trip ticket has to be purchased at Byappanahalli. So I paid my fare of 15 INR from M G Road to Byappanahalli and was rewarded with a small round black token which had a plastic feel to it. I swiped the token over the sensor to let open the gates at the entrance to the stairs/escalators to allow me to the next level, though there were sentries at that point who were guiding people on how to swipe the token over the sensor to proceed further. I took the stairs to the next level and was suddenly overwhelmed by all the signboards, decorations, dozen security personnel and many commuters that it took some time for me to get my direction right and head towards Platform 1. Two security personnel at the platform were desperately trying to control the crowd to stay behind the yellow line. It was just a few seconds and the Metro train arrived at the platform at 9:10 AM. The people were more than eager to enter the train that they could not wait for it to open. One actually even was about to try to pry open the door when the automatic doors opened, and as is our custom the crowd just barged inside without caring for the elderly or the young ones. I took the last car of the train and preferred to stand at the end. After about 30-40 seconds of waiting time, the Metro rolled on its track. The interiors are sufficient, good looking and are no different from what I had seen in Singapore. The speed of the travel is also sufficient, though there are some harrowing curves in the 12 minute ride. The public address system inside the Metro train is good with announcements in English, Kannada and Hindi in the same order. There are also visuals indicating the upcoming station. It was a hassle free good ride.

Inside Bangalore's Metro Train

When all is good, the real success of this Metro can be gauged only when all the phases are complete. Even then, the reliability of the last-mile connectivity is an important factor for Bangaloreans to take the Metro. I hope in the other phases the number of curves in the tracks is reduced. One action for the general public is to not only cherish this property but also to maintain it. One gentleman in the last car of Metro that I travelled in was stress-testing the overhead handgrips to the extent that I feared the Metro would take its first tear.

Automatic doors of the Metro Train

I am eagerly waiting for the Metro to cover most parts of Bangalore. It should add enormous value to the life of Bangaloreans by making commuting less of a hassle. Take the Namma Metro ride, and know what is in store for us in the future.

The Music of ‘The Beatles’

'The Beatles' performing on stage

It’s not unusual when it comes to Wikipedia and YouTube that you start searching for something which leads you to other material and so on till you end up engrossed in something totally unrelated to what you had started your search for. That day I don’t know what I was searching in YouTube, but I clicked on a song – “Beatles – You’ve got to hide your love away”. With John Lennon singing about suppressing one’s feelings, there was revelation of sorts and I was entrapped by the music of the legendary band – The Beatles.

I was not sure that the olden days’ English pop would appeal to me, and hence I had always maintained a ‘sound’ distance from the artistes of the 60s, 70s and 80s till lately. Till a few years ago all that I listened to in English music was Michael Jackson and some odd soundtrack album songs here and there. Part of it is attributed to my deficiency in the English language which makes it tough for me to follow the lyrics. I had heard about ‘The Beatles’ before, but was not sure when it came to listening to their music. I had read about how one of the members of the band (George Harrison) had come to India to learn Sitar from our own Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and its influence on their music afterwards. I have watched few of the band’s pictures and their famous drop-T logo, but was still two minded about their music till “You’ve got to hide your love away” happened.

The famous drop-T logo of 'The Beatles'

Their music has variety and they don’t stick to a particular ‘sound’. Though the orchestration is minimalist, they infuse new sounds and enrich their music. Their music is a delight for Guitar enthusiasts, with the instrument being the major accompaniment in all the compositions. They have experimented with “Electrical Sounds” with some of their songs like “Baby you’re a Rich Man”. The other major highlight of their songs is the lyrics. The lyrics, mostly written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, are meaningful and poetic. One of the recurring themes in their lyrics is Love, which gives a certain creative space for some amazing melodies. The words are simple and put to good use to convey the emotion and meaning of a song. Their distinct voices elevate the song to a greater level, especially those that are sung with unquestionable passion by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. George Harrison’s Sitar pieces in some of the compositions are outstanding. It is amazing to see the way the classical Indian music piece blended into mainstream pop compositions.

 And NOW, I am a fan of their music. The Beatles’ music is a new experience. Their music is addictive often resulting in repeated playbacks of some favourite songs. It’s amazing that their music is enthralling audience across the world for so many generations. Truly good music has no expiration date. Below is a list of songs that are my favourites. Listen to ‘The Beatles’ and indulge in “Beatlemania”…

* Song – Album
 
* Ask me why – Please Please Me 
 
* There’s a place – Please Please Me 
 
* P.S I love you – Please Please Me
 
* Please Please Me – Please Please Me 
 
* Get Back – Let it be 
 
* Across the Universe – Let it be 
 
* Girl – Rubber soul 
 
* In my life – Rubber Soul 
 
* Norwegian Wood – Rubber Soul 
 
* Here comes the sun – Abbey road 
 
* I’m a loser – Beatles for sale 
 
* I feel fine – Past Masters 
 
* Rain – Past Masters 
 
* The night before – Help 
 
* Tell me what you see – Help 
 
* You’ve got to hide your love away – Help 
 
* Yesterday – Help 
 
* With a little help from my friends – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 
 
* Within you without you – Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
 
* Blackbird – White Album 
 
* Dear Prudence – White Album 
 
* Goodnight – Whitel Album 
 
* Ob La Di, Ob La Da – White Album 
 
* I will – White Album 
 
* Baby You’re a rich man – Magic Mystery Tour 
 
* Love you to – Revolver 
 
* Give Peace a change – John Lennon Single

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara – Movie Review

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Theatrical Poster

You walk into the cinema expecting something on the lines of “Dil Chahtha Hai”. The credits roll, after a brief introduction of the three friends – Kabir (Abhay), Imran (Farhan) and Arjun (Hrithik). Seeing the names on the title credits at the start you are all set for a “Dil Chahtha Hai” ride, like we would have had if we had had a movie based theme park. And you are entertained on those lines for few minutes with the witty one liners and depiction of real-life bonding between the friends.

But that is just skin deep. The more you go into it, the movie strips its outer layers of the “Dil Chahtha Hai” feel, to reveal a more serious theme. The film’s narrative takes in the 3 protagonists and carefully dissects their problems and hidden emotions. There is no concrete storyline. The road trip sets to loosen up them to cast away the veil and soak in the beautiful warmth of their present day in life. The problem and tribulations of some of the characters are mentioned and sympathized, whereas some are left unsaid (the character played by Katrina for instance).

To make such a serious theme lighter, the backdrop of Spain is a perfect ingredient. I could hardly count a shot or two of Mumbai/India, rest of the screen time was devoured by Spain. The most commendable part of the trip for sure is the underwater scuba diving. With Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy providing an apt near-to-silence BGM for those underwater scenes, the experience is magical. The other important and defining moment in the film is the sky diving scene. Just when all the three dance drop in the air and hold their hands together to form a circle, there is silence for a moment and the bond they share as friends is highlighted. These are the scenes that cannot be brought alive on a TV or a laptop. The dialogues are penned by Farhan Akhtar himself and he voices-over the poems in the movie too.

Running away from the Bulls

In the acting department, all the three male lead actors have done a wonderful job. They have refrained from showing any traits of larger-than-life persona on screen, save for their toned up physique. They laugh, brood and cry on screen like people do in normal life. For once the ladies are not arm candies and have a part to play, however small the part be. Zoya Akhthar has surely done a marvellous job of bringing such a huge cast together and extracting fine performances from them. None of the actors try to hog the limelight and seemed to enjoy the combined screen presence.

Cinematography and Music of the film come across as formidable allies to the director. The road scene where Hrithik breaks himself away from his cocoon, lost in thoughts of Katrina’s character, he throws inhibitions to winds and rests his head on the door of the car and watches the windmills and horses going past him, is a treat to watch. And so is the climatic sequence, where in the Bulls are depicted as problems in life and the need to run ahead of them.  Hats off to Carlos Catalan for such awesome cinematography. The metaphor is discreet and left to the viewer to interpret.

The movie does have its flaws and does drag a bit in the second half, but these are no reasons to discredit the film. It may not be “Cool” like “Dil Chahtha Hai” or a conventional potboiler that celebrates friendship. But it gives a good feeling about life and friendship. It celebrates the “Do what you love to do in life” attitude without any lengthy sermons. You will come out with a good feeling, and that really matters.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara – so watch this movie now when you can.

Inventing a word !

There was a workshop on ‘Innovation’ at the workplace recently and we were given an exercise to invent a new word. This was sudden and we were all excited. I started thinking what word I would want and in which language. Then I recollected a problem I have faced in the English language.

In Tamil and Kannada, the regional languages that I speak, we can ask a person to the effect of whether he/she is the nth child of his/her parents. But this is a complicated scenario in English. After a long quest, I came across the way to put it in English.

‘What is your rank among the children of your parents?’

Tough isn’t it? I do not know if there is an appropriate word or a phrase in English for the above scenario. So, in the workshop I was thinking of a word that could make this simpler. And I proposed the word ‘CHILDNUM’. The word I created should be able to bring out the answer from the listener of the question, if he/she is the first or second or nth child of his/her parents. Now to an example with the new word:

Question: ‘What is your childnum in your family?’
Answer: ‘I am the 4th child.’

‘Childnum’ is the word that occurred to me during the workshop. Later I thought ‘Childrank’ would be more appropriate. But still I prefer to stick on to the first version. Do you think Oxford or Webster’s would be interested in the new word I created?

Bringing Home the Cup..

Kapil Dev lifting the shining Cup at Lord’s on the 25th of June 1983 was the sole image that convinced us all these years that we were one of the superpowers when it came to Cricket. But that was 27 years ago and India needed a re-assurance. After 1983, we have had our moments of glory in Cricket. By the end of the 80s we got Sachin Tendulkar. When he started playing, India was excited and the world – Speechless. He was at first compared to Don Bradman, and over the years most of them, Cricketers and laymen, agreed that he was the God of Cricket. The Indian Cricket team became a one man army.. almost.  

The 90s saw Sachin growing from strength to more strength. He conquered the cricketing teams with his batting prowess and became an object of fear even for the top in-form bowlers. To some, clinching Sachin’s wicket was more important than the match. Sachin won many battles for the Indian Cricket team over the next decade, but when it came to the war, the victory crown always eluded us. Twice after 1983, the Indians tried to reach the top and failed. In 1996, the team lost in the Semi Final match against Sri Lanka, in a rather unpleasant way in front of an unsporting crowd, at Eden Gardens Kolkata. It was a better show by Indians in the 2003 edition of the tournament, where the team played the Australians in the Final match but lost meekly without a fight.  

The hype was overwhelming during the start of 2011 edition of the tournament, with the Indian team being the favorites to lift the cup. It was widely known and accepted that this was the last world cup to feature Sachin Tendulkar and his last chance to be on the winning side of the coveted trophy. ‘Bleed Blue’ was the campaign slogan and most of the players seemed to playing this time to get the trophy. After few hiccups, a tie with England and a loss against South Africa, both matches that could have been won if not for the unimpressive middle order batting and some wayward bowling, we did manage to get into the Quarter Finals stage. The next two matches, against Australia in the Quarter Finals and against Pakistan in the Semi Finals were historic. The Indian team showed signs of maturity and its full power was displayed on the field. The team also had come out of the ‘Dependency-on-Sachin’ syndrome. They ended the chances of Australia, the defending champions, and sent them out of the tournament. They maintained their winning record against Pakistan in World Cups and went on to beat Sri Lanka to the lift the Cup, brining joy to the entire nation. It wasn’t an easy win; they had to fight it out in all the 3 matches at the end of the tournament to bring home the Cup. And then it happened. The scene that so many Indians wanted to witness over the years. Sachin lifting the World Cup and smiling with joy. History was made on 2nd April 2011 and the GOD of Cricket was part of it.

Only Time Will Tell – Book Review

Jeffrey Archer is a widely read novelist in the sub-continent. He has been acknowledged as a ‘Master Storyteller’ who is capable of conjuring up good stories. His writing usually is packed in a well paced narrative with dollops of witticism strewn around. He is never as detailing as Forsyth or as short as James Hardly Chase. After the success of ‘Kane & Abel’, he followed it up with two sequels – ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ and ‘Shall We Tell the President’ (re-written to become a sequel). The other time he wrote a series was during his prison time; he came up with three books of his prison experiences. So this is the first time, he has set out to write a five volume series, what he calls the ‘Clifton Chronicles’, with ‘Only Time Will Tell’ being the first book of the five volumes.

Archer has changed his style a bit. The story is not told in linear narrative. I was reminded of a Tamil movie ‘Virumaandi‘ when I was reading through this book. The story is narrated by the major characters in the plot, one by one, from their ‘Point of View’. They all narrate the sequence of events, since the time they met with Harry Clifton, the protagonist, up until a point at which the narration moves into third person mode and eventually passes of the baton of narration to another character. The story unfolds in a mixture of first person and third person narratives. With the narration from each character, more flesh is added to the skeletal structure of the story which makes for an interesting read. Archer also maintains a suitable pace, which keeps the reader hooked to the book and turn the pages. The first book ends with a shocker, the kind you find at the end of Dan Brown’s chapters, which makes you yearn for the next book. This is a good start for the series and the first book manages to create an interest for the following volumes that are yet to arrive. But, Only Time Will Tell, how good the ‘Clifton Chronicles’ will turn out to be.

Amay Proshno Kore…

Now, this one was a real surprise to me. Never knew there was an original version of ‘Kahin Door Jab Din..’ from Anand, one of my all-time favourites sung exceptionally well by Mukesh.
I came across the Original Bengali version sung by Hemantha Mukherjee (better known to the Hindi music lovers as Hemant Kumar) in youtube by chance. The Bengali version was a private single, composed by Salil Chowdhury, who did the score for Anand too. Though the basic tune remains the same, there is a different treatment to both these songs. Listen and Enjoy!

1] Amay Proshno Kore Neel – Bengali
2] Kahin Door Jab Din – Hindi