**Ni Sa Re Sa Ni Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa**
**Ni Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Dha Pa**
Someday soon, I’ll sit down to write a long post on Khubsoorat. No, not the Urmila Matondkar and Sanjay Dutt starrer which was also quite enjoyable, but not as much as this 1980 -Hrishikesh Mukherjee gem of a film which won Rekha her first Filmfare Best Actress Award. I have watched Khubsoorat almost 5-6 times and every time I watch it again, I still find something new and fresh in it. I love the Natkhat Manju (Rekha) who plays pranks with everyone and cleverly manages to win over everyone by manipulating them (in a good way). And on the other side of the fence is Nirmala Gupta, a strict disciplinarian played immaculately by Dina Pathak. I love them both and I fail to decide whom I like more. And of course, there’s the very loveable Dada Moni Ashok Kumar as Dwarka Prasad Gupta. Yes, I will sit down to write a long post on this movie and its loveable characters, not to forget its chuckleworthy scenes. But for now, let me quickly rant on this one song which has been playing continuously on my playlist for the last couple of days. It is Piya Banwari sung by one of my all time favourite singer -Her Excellency, Asha Bhosle.
Composed by none other than Panchamda, and lyrics by Gulzar, Piya Banwari is an extremely melodious Indian classical song beautifully woven into a movie soundtrack. It is based on Raaga Bihagda ( in which we get Raaga Bihag and Khamaaj ). Now why do I love this song. C’mon hit the jump and let the awesomeness be unveiled.
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Filmfare Awards was recently aired on Telly. And apart from the usual fart jokes that floated around with SRK and Saif in the hosting shoes, the highest point of this year’s show was the Lifetime Achievement Award honoured to none other than Balbir Raj Kapoor or as we popularly know him – Shashi Kapoor.
Now, I am a big fan of Shashi jee. But when it comes to fandom, I am miles away from it, considering the existence of fangirls such as Beth whose Shashi fandom [ Beth's house of Shashi ], can give the Twilight Tweens a run for their money. But the body of work that Shashi Kapoor has done over his life speaks for itself. From commercial to international cinema to producing some of the best of Indian cinema, Shashi Kapoor adds up to one word – Uncompromising. While his peers and contemporaries gave in to the Ooty revolution and Ketchup bloodshed, Shashi Kapoor gave us Utsav, New Delhi Times, Junoon and 36 Chowringee Lane. Yes, he gave us Ajooba as well, but then, that is a classic too in a whole another level [and I know most of you'd agree].
Filmfare’s lovely Lifetime Achievement Award this year couldn’t have been more justified. And I couldn’t resist posting a whole post dedicated to the Awesome Shashi Kapoor. So without any further ado, I give to you the lovely screencaps I managed to pull from the Filmfare montage piece. [ Go hit the jump to see the awesome pics ].
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First post of the decade. And we are looking back at the 80′s. No not the 90′s or the Noughties, but the 80′s. Coz that was when I was born. I AM a child of the 80′s.
Right, so I just got one big affirmative answer to the question of how many people love the Bollywood of 80′s. The answer of course is a Big-Ass YES!! I did this post on one of my most favourite cinema blogs called PassionForCinema.com [Please read the post if you haven't. It's titled : Essential Eighties -Tezaab (1988) ]. The post was a tribute to one of the milestone movies of the 80′s and most importantly the one that launched Madhuri Dixit to her Dancing Diva status – Tezaab. Much of that has already been discussed on the post, but more than that people have commented at length about how much they loved the 80′s[and the music associated with them]. I am absolutely thrilled to see the amount of fundoo trivia knowledge that these people have, and it makes me feel very happy to be in their company. While I will be discussing more on Tezaab in a follow up post on PFC, here I am continuing my ‘Khujlee’ on my long-forgotten Say What section. And this time, it is Tezaab ki baari.
Now be warned. This post contains language which could be too colourful for your taste.
And yes, spoilers if you haven’t watched the movie yet. [Never thought I would say that for a 1988 movie]
So, the Kahani begins like this. Shyamlal[Anupam Kher] pours Acid on plants. His daughter Mohini sings Ek Do Teen to make money. Shyamlal owes money to Lotiya Pathan. Lotiya Pathan kidnaps Mohini. Mohini’s lover – Munna is on a Tadipaar.. out of Bombay. But he’s still good at heart. He is the typical 80′s ka dude – much like Robin Hood – Less on personal hygiene, more on sympathy. And yeah! Kick the arse of villains with funny names – like Mukut Bihari. If villains in today’s era in Mumbai had such names, first of all they would have to deal with MNS and Shiv Sena 
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First things First!Happy Birthday Mr.Bachchan. Janamdin ki Haardik Shubhkaamnaye!!
Secondly, this post has no religious inclination whatsoever, and I am not comparing Mr.Bachchan to any religious figure period. So, please don’t send me any hate mails or threats to take this down. This is just one of those fandom posts which have been churned out, out of immense pyaar and bhakti of the onscreen personification of innumerable and yet memorable avatars of Mr. Bachchan [ I'll from here on refer to him as Mr.B]. So what is this post all about? This is about the ten maha-charitra-fication of Mr.B in his long film career in Indian cinema. It is not about the charitra [ the character] in the sense that I will not be focussing on the characterisation i.e. the behavioural and interactive side of the avatars. [ That'll be covered in the 2nd part of this series, so keep watching this space]. This post has got to do more with the outward appearance and somewhat “larger than life” image that Mr.B has brought to celluloid. It’d be unfair to praise Mr.B’s avatars without mentioning the various film-makers, make-up artists and simply put ideators who originally pre-conceived these images, before they were made into screen legends. I think we are clear with the concept of this post so far, so let’s countdown. [ Disclaimer: This has got more to do with my tastes than anything else ]
#10: Subhash Nagre-Sarkar
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