Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema

3/05/1913 - 3/05/2013

     On 3rd of May, Indian Cinema celebrated its 100th year since the release of 1st film "Raja Harishchandra" made by none other than father of Indian Cinema Mr.Dhundiraj G. Phalke, aka Dadasaheb, a visionary leader, a dreamer, a true movie lover and man behind millions of movies made later. So it would be totally unfair ,rude ,selfish & arrogant of me if  I don't share my thoughts, memories, favorite movies and dreams through my blog on this auspicious occasion.

     Oh God!!! talking of movies, thoughts & memories rushes to my mind like flood. Don't  know what to put first & how to put them in order, to make sense and wont confuse you or bore you.

Let's start with memories. Movies & Memories goes hand in hand for me. But contradict to this, I don't remember the 1st movie I ever watched (I guess none of us do), don't remember if it was in theatre or at home. When asked my mom about my childhood memories of movies she said "you were too lazy to watch complete movie & would fell asleep even before interval", she added "you got scared & terrified of fighting scenes and would cry loudly." I wonder if that's true considering my craze for movies. What if I don't remember 1st movie I had seen but I do remember 1st movie that made my Dad cry, it was Anand, movies that made me cry were Black & Taare Zameen Par, movies that made me laugh my ass off  were Padosan & Andaaz Apna Apna. It was Lakhshya movie for which I borrowed money from my friend Shruti (total Hrithik's fan & dumb ass not to ask her for show). RDB will always be special for me as it reminded me of my engg group. At the end of movie, everyone has chosen one character he likes & thinks that character is like him in real (all this in his own mind). Me & my friend had argued for Siddharth's character. It was Lajja movie for which I had fight with my best friend only because he denied to come with me. I didn't talk to him for next 6 months (that's serious dedication!)

I remember the "filmy bug" has bitten me when I was in 8th/9th class. I had replaced Junior Science Refresher magazine with Filmfare (and that was the murder of my book worm inside me) also started  collecting photos & cuttings in file, had watched every movie in Adarsh Theatre. My friends had this assumption that any movie showing in our city must be seen by Aadesh (that was my reputation you see!)  Since teen hood I fantasized to be like Spiderman or Superman, bought specs like Hrithik's, kept changing my looks and few years back started drinking black tea (Love Aaj Kal's effect).

      My Testimonies to Superstars:

 If you want to see what Rajesh Khanna truly was, watch Aaradhana, Anand, Avatar,Swarg.

If you want to know why Dilip Kumar was called the Patriarch & what was his aura like, watch Naya daur, Mughal-e-azam, Shakti, Karma,.

For Dev Sahab's charm & ever green personality you must see CID, Tere ghar ke samne, Jewel Thief, Johnny mera naam.

If you want to experience India's best Beauties those has immortalized silver screen go watch Madhubala's any movie or Nargis's Awara, Shri420, Mother India, or Saira Bano's Padosan. Hema malini's Dreamgirl, Seeta aur geeta, khobsurat. Rekha's Umrao jaan, Silsila. Sorry to all Kareena, katrina, priyanka lovers, they all look like plastic dolls or mannequins before them.

I cant express my feelings for Amitabh Bachchan in 1 or 2 movies, you can pick from Deewar, Don, Sholay, Sharabi, Agnipath, Black or Paa.

     Being an Aspiring Filmaker I feel this has been pity of our Indian cinema that movies are remembered by Actors & Actresses and not by Filmmakers, their team who worked many times more than leads. How can you forget K.Asif if you are talking of Mughal-e-azam. Ramesh Sippy was the man behind movies like Sholay, Shaan, Shakti. Raj Kapoor changed the trend with his movies like Bobby, Mera naam joker, Awara. Hrishikesh mukherjee was best story teller of his time, who made movies like Anand, Chupke Chupke. Vijay Anand surprised everyone with Guide, Jewel Theif. Yash Chopra was well known for his movies like Deewar, Silsila, Kabhi Kabhi,Chandni. Mani Ratnam is master when we see Bombay, Roja,Guru. Ram Gopal Verma has his own identity after Rangeela, Satya, Company. With time our Cinema has changed. Now story teller has different views, techniques & dreams. Today we have Karan Johar, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Raju Hirani, Anuraj Basu, Dibanker Banerjee.

     Indian cinema, no doubt has entertained us, educated us, enlighten us in last 100 years. we owe big time to this Industry. Thanks to Cinema we heard singers like M.Rafi, Kishor Kumar,Mukesh, Jagjit Singh, Lata Didi, Asha tai, Udit narayan, Kumar Sanu, Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi, Shreya and many more.

Thanks to Cinema we have seen Music Directors like O.P.Nayyar, Khayyam,S.D.burman, R.D.Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Kalyan-Anand, Jatin-Lalit, A.R.Rahman.

      Many of my friends always said Indian Cinema is not original but only copy stuffs from Hollywood. I agree we used to, but today we have made our name in international market. we deliver original products. i hope after next 100 years someone will write many such things about our cinema with equal proud & gratitude as I am feeling now.(I  hope he will include me in list of Directors too)

         I surely have forgotten many names, but I was just honest to my own self. I had not mentioned anyone who's work i have not seen like the great Satyajit Ray or other such Filmakers, Actors, Actresses and Artists. Please forgive me for not mentioning your favorites. You can surely post your replies in comment box. I would like to go through your memories, thoughts etc.

        That is all I had to say about celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema. From my memories to My testimonies. My thoughts to my Dreams.

                                                                                                       

Unforgettable journey but Not Memorable!!!!!

How often these things do happens with you.

1.       You reach bus stand & bus is ready to go. - I guess very often.

2.       You search for empty seat & found it next to a beautiful girl – again often.

3.       You are pretending “I don’t care” about this beautiful girl next to you & planning how to start conversation, when she asks “Excuse me, what time it is now?” – Not often. In my case never, until few days back. Till then I used to think only blind girls with no sixth sense can talk to me. (Those with sixth sense & eyes don’t even notice me.)

Let me take you to this bus ride from Nagpur to Bhandara which turn out to be unforgettable but unfortunately not memorable.

I chose an evening time of 7.30 to go to my home town. As I step inside, I searched for an empty seat & to my luck found one (call it good luck) next to a girl, not just girl but Beautiful one. I sat there, started doing my stuff like checking my mobile (which I knew is in my pocket), wallet, undergarments & brush in bag and looking at this girl from extreme corner of eyes. Its very important for my ego to “pretend I don’t care” about this beautiful girl but utmost important for my thirsty, flirty & lonely heart to start conversation. But I failed at both things as she must have seen me seeing at her and conversation was happening in my mind only.

“Excuse me, what time it is now”, were those beautiful, magical & sensational words she said to me.

Guys are you getting it???? A girl -oh sorry- a beautiful girl talked to me (Don’t say it wasn’t talk but just a question, you jealous ppl)

7.40 was my instantaneous reply (who would delay at such times, btw my ego was dead by this time)

“How long this bus will stay here?” she enquired.

“10 mins max”, I replied with smile this time.

She looked outside window & soon was lost in thoughts. (How did I know?? Do I have any other work there???)

Then I looked away lost in my thoughts, of course of our future friendship, relationship, love. OMG, it just happened. LOVE.

“Where are you going?” I asked. Seriously I don’t know when & how this question slipped from my mouth.

“To Bhandara.” She replied little absent mindedly.

“Where you came from?” was my next question.

“Yavatmal”, she replied looking at driver’s seat (which was still empty) then looking outside.

How much time it will take to reach Bhandara?” she asked after some time.

“Not more than 1 hour 45 mins” My simple ans.

She looked upset as if she wants to reach sooner. We were back to our own thoughts. Both ways I was having good time.

“Your Hindi is really very good, I mean has very good accent.” I complimented her. (Appreciate girls is only trick I knew, so tried it)

Thanks. But it’s not very good as you said. We all speak like this at home” was her reply.

Thankfully our bus moved & we were happy. I called my mom to tell her I am coming home. Looking at my mob she hesitated for some time then asked me “can I make one call; I lost my mobile in Yavatmal?”

 “Sure, why not” I gave her my mobile, little embarrassed of still using Nokia 1200 handset in age of Smart phones, android phones Tabs & I phones.

She asked someone to pick her from bus stand (I wasn’t spying on her), but wasn’t happy by the reply she got. She was very upset. (How did I know??? She didn’t even thank me while returning my mobile.)

“It‘s not easy to find auto at night & not even safe for girl” she said. I wasn’t sure to whom she addressed as she was not looking at me.

“Don’t worry its Bhandara city, very safe compared to other cities”, I consoled her.

“But guys are same everywhere”, she fired instantly.

“Everyone are not alike”, I saved my species.

“Not everyone are alike but guys who stand ogling girls at night near bus stand are definitely dogs”, she was very much intense this time.

“Don’t worry, nothing like you think will happen”, I was still saving my species.

She borrowed my mobile again called two different nos this time. But none got connected. I was astonished by her memory. I mean its rarest quality these days to remember mobile nos. I recalled how many nos I remember from my contacts. Dad’s? Yes. Sister’s? Yes. GF??? Oh for sure (proudy smile on face) Best Friend’s? Not sure of last 2 digits. Forget everone else.

Can I tell you something, if you don’t mind?” she asked.

Sure. (Do I need to say yes, pagli)

“I have eloped from my home for my Bf. But he is not ready to pick me from bus stand & now has switched off his mob.” She said in single breath.

(“What The F**K!!!!!!” my heart cried out. Thankfully she couldn’t hear it)

“Oh No…” I said as I was short of words.

“Basically I am from nearby village of Bhandara, when my parents came to know about our affair they sent me to yavatmal, now I have eloped from there leaving behind everything, didn’t even pick my clothes. My parents got this news & they sent few goons to beat up my Bf, so he is scared now. That’s why he is not ready to pick me up from bus stand.” she explained whole scenario to me. (Being good at imagination I had created good visuals of all this sequences.)

Now that explains many things like her lost mobile, no luggage, her worried expressions, lost-in-  thoughts look outside window , blaming guys for every mishap,& her need to talk to me.(well, last thing hurt)

“But why are you going back to Bhandara when you know your parents will come there?” I asked.

“I had nothing else to do.” She said.

“I will say you must return to your parent’s home, after all they are parents.” I said.

“I better kill myself than returning to my parent’s home”. She said firmly. (This sounds cliché but believe me, it’s is very scary to hear in real. Very scary)

“Don’t be stupid, don’t even think of anything like that” (I don’t know from where & how these words came out, but I said it bravely. I guess you don’t need to be philosophical to understand dangers of such actions & explain it to others.)

She asked for my mob again to check if he has switched his mobile on. Luckily he has.

“Don’t do this to me, at least listen to me, where I will go at this time, I came for you only, Mukesh you cannot do this to me, you have your sister’s promise.  Okay, my swear, our child’s swear Mukesh.” She kept on saying, requesting & pleading.

“What the Fuck!!!!!” banged in my mind after hearing those last words. “Are they M…?” “Is She P…?” I couldn’t even complete words in my mind.

“Okay…as you say. I will return to my home tomorrow morning but please come to pick me up from bus stand. Don’t leave me alone. I need you most this time. Yes, yes I will do as you say.” She ended call with tears & smile on face. She returned me mobile wiping her tears & saying Thanks. (Finally she said it.)

 During her call I realized in awkward moments like this you look at roof of bus & find classic work of Art. You get involved in craft of unknown artists. You look anywhere to isolate yourself from embarrassment of sitting next to someone who is crying, pleading on phone & to avoid neighbor passengers’ hard look which are looking at both of you. You look with “I-didn’t-do-anything” & “I-am-not-with-her” expressions.)

“He is coming to pick me up…” she said to me.

That’s good. I replied.

I didn’t ask her anything as I heard everything. Again I was not spying on her. She didn’t tell me anything as she knew I heard everything. She tried to give me Rs 30/- for mobile top up but I refused. She thanked me for support. I said its okay, don’t mention. I gave her mobile so that she calls him for last time as I was reaching my stop. I prayed for no more twist & turns.

So isn’t it was Unforgettable but not memorable journey.

Next time be sure girl next to you has her luggage, mobile & senses at right place. And most importantly don’t get over excited if she talks or asks questions to you. She has some reason for that and you are not that reason.

Enjoy your life’s journey!!!!! Make it unforgettable & memorable!!!!

Another of My First Time Experience....Failure this time...

This blog was written after the meeting conducted on 28th Feb ’13 at Prajakt's (Owner of our production house & my Mentor) flat. Please accept my sincere apologies for posting it too late. I couldn't post it then for some obvious reasons but i had written it few days after 28th Feb.

Hey Friends & my Dearest Readers,

                                                          I know you were there since I started blogging with short articles & fictional stories; also you were there when I started my new journey towards my dream of becoming FILMMAKER. "" been there, read that", must be your words when anybody asks you. So keeping the trend of letting you know what happened with me recently & maintaining the dignity of Honesty, here is the confession of my first failure at Professional level. Many of you may think I should not write such blogs or at least should not post them, but believe me guys (& girls) writing it on page then rewriting it for posting on blog is an eye opener for me, confessing what i did & where i commit mistake didn't disturbs me but make me feel light & better. None of you should take it any negative sense because its fact that every coin has two sides. So, how my life can be just Good, getting Better & at its Best without any pot holes?

To start with fact, I don't know how many of you knew about my new project or new assignment I got after working as a AD in LASTBENCHERS movie. Well good news was I have been hired as one of the DIRECTOR for new music video album and we have a team of 15 guys to work out the Project.  For me it was a three level high leap (don't ask how, do your calculations or leave it). Our project has objective of writing, composing, singing, shooting videos for songs & editing all videos, then to make a DVD of Album, ready to sale for customers. 28th Feb. was decided as final date to submit our project.

We fail to deliver. I failed to deliver what was expected, promised by me & was quite an easy & achievable task with a time span of almost 2 months. Shame. Pity. No, not Pity but real Shame. Why I failed has no reasons but only excuses. What could have been done was not done so of no use of saying it now. I am angry, disappointed, defeated & disgraced. To fail to deliver a product is one part but to fell from your eyes is big deal, to lose respect & faith from your Mentor is a big deal, to look in mirror & then avoid eye contact is a big deal. With all due respect to my efforts & hard work I put in making videos, in making product as good as possible, I have lost respect for myself. My job was never a work for me, its my pleasure, my passion, Dream, so how I couldn't do it, make it happen & achieve it.

"Bura lagta hai, jab Dil toot jaye

koi hath na thamey,

koi rah na dikhaye,,

 par jaan nikal jati hai

jab koi kahe “I don't hate you, coz you have lost that place where i could care & respect you."

This could be difficult for most of you to understand but at the end all should know – “I Failed”.

This is my first failure and it may followed by hundred others & many new ones, but I won't be repeating this mistake again.

I could have posted my sentiments & happenings in my status update of FB or Twitter but i wanted to add meaning to this happening, so getting it on my blog, so that you could read in peace or even take a copy of it with you to understand what i meant.

Lessons to be learned from this incident-

1. Never neglect your deadlines at work.

2. If your Boss is your good friend & you respect him as Mentor, then you have two more people to satisfy with your work.

3. When it comes to team work, you need to lead. If it’s not you, then don't expect anybody.

4. Don't ever let yourself compromise on what you wanted to do. If it’s your name labeled on that product, you better make it Worthy.

Now most of people around me & reading my FB status knew that we have submitted our project & it got over whelming response from our Producers. And this adds more meaning to this blog because I did what was expected & promised. And we all must remember that getting work done is of utmost importance. Keep yourself up & positive & ready to deal with any critical circumstances.

LOVE MAGGI

I was at my home, packing my bags for Mumbai tour when my mobile ranged. It was Her. I picked call and was showered by most loving “Helllooo” in a beautiful voice.  She told me she is in train-same train I was having my reservation for Mumbai and she had departed from Gondia and that she will meet me at station to bid bye bye… I was overwhelmed b’coz it was her plan to surprise me, pleasant gift and wonderful treat. I packed  my bag hurriedly, did home rituals of praying to God, taking blessings from Parents & telling whole world that  I am going to Mumbai & will return after 5 days (as if its really important for them).jumped on my friends bike, we kicked & marched towards station. I was beaming, bumping, blushing & bubbling like an overexcited baby (well, I am her baby). 

 

“left for stn, can’t wait 2 c u” I msgd her. 

 

“oh baby me toooo” she replie & I went crazy. (Told u na m her baby).

 

 “R U ready for LOVE MAGGI???” I asked. 

 

“What’s that??” she asked in reply.

 

 “V got 2 mins at station for our love” I explained. 

 

“Lolz, Yes”, she replied with smiley.

 

 “Love Maggi will have taste of ur kiss, hotness of ur hug, sweetness of ur smile & blissfulness of ur presence” I msgd. 

 

“Of course…with spice of ur words & masala of ur naughty tickles” she adds.

 

 “It wil b d Best maggi of  my life.”I said.

“Well… we both as noodles & Love as ingredient Love Maggi have to be a delicious treat”. She replied this time with kissi smiley.

 

            Exactly at 4 pm train arrived at station, wave of people – travelers, their relatives, friends rushed toward train searching for their boogies & shouting their seat nos. In the midst of all this chaos, one beautiful face slowly walks toward me. World around me stops, heart skips a beat, crowd went out of focus, my eyes got fixed on her. She stands near me looked at me quizzically, smiled (maybe at my open mouth expressions) & hugged me saying “missed you”. Now everything has stopped for me this time. She laughed little more “Mr. Love Maggi your 2 mins are done.” I hold her hand, touched her cheeks with other hand and was about to say something when someone dashed on me & woke me from fantasy.

 

            Then again exactly at 4 pm (this in reality) train again arrived at station, a thunder of people dashed on me and took me with them. But then I stopped, looked for that beautiful face, worried & lost. Someone asked tapping on my shoulder “looking for someone special??” I turned, it was Her with best blazing smile. I move toward her with open arms for hug but she stopped me looking at people around us. She took my hand, put some paper in it & said “Happy journey my Dah’ling…” 

 

So in reality nothing happens as you dream. But it was far better experience to see your loved ones & best ones. For me Love Maggi was about loving loved ones in 2 mins. Expressions expressed, feeling felt, words understood and love made in 2mins. It was LOVE cooked & made in 2 mins.  That touch in crowd, that moment of rush when world stops & that skip of heart beat when I found her, her smile, her usual look but very special way of looking at me, making me feel special, made my Love Maggi exceptional, lovable & Yes a Delicious Treat!!!!!