The tragic news of Sridevi’s passing came as a massive shock for the country and fans of Indian cinema.
She had won the hearts of Indians through her exceptional acting talent, her million dollar smile and impeccable dancing skills. Her magical 50-year career was brought to a sudden stop on 25th February 2018, in the early hours.
Even as we mourn the death of Sridevi, our very own female superstar, her brilliant performances in over 300 films will always have a place in our hearts.
Here is a short video about the legendary actor, who was taken away from us yesterday.
Sridevi, the legendary superstar, and the heartthrob of millions passed away on 24 February. Shocking as it was, her death prompted a police investigation in addition to several controversies and unnecessary speculation.
Sridevi’s mortal remains have finally reached her home in Mumbai, and her fans and loved ones are set to bid her the final goodbye today.
Here, we celebrate the stardom of Sridevi, as a tribute to her 50-year career, her unparalleled acting skills, and the person we were awestruck with.
From being an innocent child actor in Tamil movies to portraying the idea of a supercool mom in an advertisement, Sridevi’s versatility is incomparable.
You can watch some rare videos of the actor here:
1) In this interview on Baaje Payal, Sridevi speaks about how she gained dancing skills on the go
2) Here is a compilation of Sridevi’s most iconic performances over the years.
3) The innocent actor enthrals her audience with her acting skills and adorable smile.
4) These rare photos capture Sridevi’s life in frames like she captured our hearts.
5) Who says that moms who are homemakers aren’t cool or happening? Sridevi is here to burst the bubble!
My first memory of Sridevi is from ‘Chaal Baaz’. A trapped girl who found her escape in dancing – that version of Sridevi appealed to me. I remember watching that movie on a VHS tape at home, at least a dozen times, if not more.
In today’s day and age, we know everything there is to know about the stars we covet. Where they workout, the places they like to hang out at, and even intimate details of their personal life.
Sridevi was different. There is no mention of her personal life in the public domain; she chose to be an enigma, and that is perhaps what added to her star value.
In this article, we speak to Harish Iyer, noted LGBT community member, who will remain a fan of Sridevi’s for life.
“Whenever we are challenged with anything in life, cinema serves as an escape mechanism. For me, it was so important to build this alternate reality around me, especially at a time when I was getting raped and coming home. For me, to forget all that and believe in a world where anything was possible was very important, and Sridevi made me believe in that,” he says.
“Sridevi’s movies were all about that possibility.”
“Whether it was Moondram Pirai, or even Sadma, which was about her forgetting her childhood. I could relate to that because I was also trying to forget something and yet not remember something.”
“I was never a mad fan of hers. My walls were never filled with her posters. I never wrote any poems to her or about her. My love for her is not something I want displayed,” he says.
He speaks about how just like he would never take to social media to proclaim his love for his mother; he wouldn’t do it for Sridevi as well. His relationship with her is far too personal for that.
Harish speaks about the movies that he fondly remembers, “Gurudev, which was Vinod Mehra’s last movie, had Sridevi playing a double role and also starred Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. One particular scene in which she tries to sneak alcohol into a hospital for me was so poignant as it taught me to keep my mischievous side alive. ‘Mood banana ke vaste’ – as she says.”
“Lamhe was another movie that I will always remember.”
“The scene where the two ladies vying for Anil Kapoor’s attention meet and speak is special. While the lady who was to marry Anil Kapoor says she has known him for seven long years, Sridevi pauses and tells her that she has known him since she was all of seven. It was just the manner in which she said that it has stayed with me,” he says.
Sridevi was all about the moments she used to add to a scene. She was someone who lived in those moments without losing the momentum.
“However she has also done some terrible movies, and I cannot say otherwise even though I am such a huge fan. Army, Sherni, and Chand ka Thukda were such poor choices.”
Speaking about the time he got to meet her during the shooting of Satyameva Jayate, he says, “My first reaction on seeing her was to ask if I could touch her. It was such a surreal experience to meet her. I had never even dreamt of it; this was beyond my dream.”
Imagine someone you have spent a lifetime idolising coming and telling you that you are her hero. It was just something else, Harish recounts.
“I was sitting next to Sridevi and was weeping. She held my hand, and in my Palakkad Tamil accent, she told me that I must be strong. She said if I needed anything I must call her.”
“I never met her after that; I didn’t want to stand in a crowd and meet her. In my head, I was a princess, and in that one meeting I had reached another level,” he says.
When AR Rahman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty had won the coveted Academy Award for the movie Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, the country had staked a claim upon the British film as one of its own and left no stone unturned to celebrate the historic achievement, believing that the Indian Oscar dream had finally been realised.
However, unknown to many, the first Indian to ever receive an Oscar had been Bhanu Athaiya, a costume designer, way back in 1983 for the movie Gandhi, Lord Richard Attenborough’s magnum opus.
Bhanu held the prestigious distinction for 26 years before the Slumdog Millionaire crew stole the show.
Here’s everything you need to know about the revered doyenne of Indian film costume designers and her illustrious filmography spanning five decades and 130 films:
Bhanu Athaiya, the revered doyenne of Indian film costume design. Source: Facebook.
1. Born on 28 April 1929, Bhanumati Annasaheb Rajopadhye hailed from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, and her father Annasaheb was a painter.
2. With artistic flair in her blood, Bhanu’s tryst with art began at an early age and soon after completing her schooling, she pursued a degree in fine arts at Mumbai’s Sir JJ School of Art and graduated with quite literally flying colours and a gold medal.
3. Shortly after, Bhanu started off as a freelance fashion illustrator and worked for various women’s magazines in Mumbai, including the popular magazine, ‘Eve’s Weekly.’
4. It was when the magazine’s editor opened her own boutique and broached the idea of costume designing with Bhanu that the young lady took to designing clothes and discovered that she had an affinity for the profession.
The Designer with Sir Ben Kingsley on the sets of Gandhi. Source: Facebook.
5. Her designs found a rising popularity, and even actors began coming to Bhanu for her costumes. Encouraged by the momentum, Bhanu decided to enter Bollywood and made her foray into the filmdom as a costume designer for Guru Dutt’s film C.I.D in 1956 and went on to design the outfits of actors in all the films made under the Dutt banner. Some of her iconic works under this period include Pyaasa, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, and Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam.
6. Bhanu’s hour of fame came in 1983, when she won the Oscar along with her British counterpart John Mollo for costume design in the great biopic Gandhi. To this date, she continues to be the only Indian woman to have won the Academy award.
7. Her work in films like Lekin (1991) and Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) fetched the talented designer two National awards. The last film for which she worked as a costume designer was the 2004 film Swades.
8. In 2010, she published her book ‘The Art of Costume Design,’ which sheds light upon Bhanu’s pioneering vision that helped shape some landmark Indian film costumes, set the fashion trend of the 1960s and 70s, and won Indian cinema the highest acclaim in the international arena.
You can watch legendary Bhanu Athiaya receive the Academy award here:
Born in a farmer’s family in the small village of Belsand in Gopalganj district of Bihar, Pankaj Tripathi became a well-known name after his powerful performance as Sultan the butcher in the Gangs of Wasseypur film series.
Over the years his roles in Nil Battey Sannata, Masaan and Bareily ki Barfi has overshadowed his image as a ‘villain’, and his versatility has been deeply appreciated by viewers and the film fraternity.
Indeed, his recent performance as Assistant Commandant Atma Singh in the Oscar-nominated film Newton has made him among the best performers in the present film industry.
Pankaj Tripathi in the Oscar Nominated ‘Newton’
But things were not always so bright and starlit. Pankaj’s father was a marginal farmer in Belsand, on four acres of land. They would grow potatoes, sugarcane, wheat and tobacco to sell and some rice and vegetables for the family’s consumption.
Over an hour-long telephonic conversation, we here at The Better India discovered that this history remains at the heart of the grounded thespian, who believes deep inside he remains what he, and his family, have always been – a farmer!
So what acting lessons did the self-made star learn from ploughing fields and growing his own crop? We find out:
“A farmer’s job is the most unpredictable one because it depends on nature. One hailstorm destroys the entire tobacco crop. You can’t imagine the loss! No one cares about the farmer who gives his hundred percent to grow the potato used to make wafers. Farmers have to sell potatoes for Rs 3 to Rs. 4 per kg to the same industrialist who can hire a celebrity and spend crores on an advertisement to sell his wafers.” he observes accurately, reflecting on the fate of farmers in the country.
His background makes it unsurprising that he knows about all this. Pankaj was the youngest of two brothers and two sisters. He helped his father on the farm until he left Belsand for further studies.
“I remember my father took a loan of Rs 5000 from a cooperative bank to buy a small five-horsepower tubewell pump. A certain part of it, which cost around Rs 500, was easily detachable. Thieves could steal it easily. To save that Rs 500, my father and I would have dinner early and reach the farm by 8 pm. Every day we would sleep near the tubewell to save Rs. 500.”
With current events on his mind, he added a bit humour, pointing out how people did not seem scared of running away after taking a loan of Rs 11000 crore, but his father would always remain fearful until he returned the Rs 5000 to the bank.
By the time Pankaj was in class 10, he had decided that he was not going to be a farmer. Neither was he interested in a 9-5 job. But cinema was still not on his cards.
Pankaj shares some old memories from his album
“We didn’t have a TV at our house, and there was no question of a theatre in such a small village. None of my family members, even far off relations, had any connection to cinema or art. So I was completely unaware of cinema or theatre as a career.”
For a man who has made such a strong mark on cinema, it was a surprise to learn, as he said, that the first time he saw a TV was when the 1988 TV show Mahabharat was telecast.
“There was this small video shop in Madhavpur, three kms from our village, where every Sunday we would pay Rs 1 to watch Mahabharat. It was a small room where 200 people would sit on the floor and watch it on a TV.”
Pankaj’s first brush with acting came when an actor who usually played the female lead in a local village drama was not available.
A glimpse from his ‘Theatre Days’!
“Those days only males participated in such dramas. Men also played the female characters.But those who played that character were teased for the rest of the year. So no one wanted to take up that role, and I got to play it. I was hardly 16 at that time, and it was a completely amateur sort of drama.”
That first brush did not really stick to the young Pankaj, who continued his studies. After failing to secure a medical seat, Pankaj pursued a BA in Hindi Literature in Patna.
Although Pankaj does not believe in destiny, he feels something quite like it propelled him towards theatre.
“It was 1994-1995 when I watched theatre for the first time. It was a drama titled ‘Andha Kuan’ by Laxminarayan Lal. Parineeta Jaiswal was playing the lead role. I was so involved in her acting that I started crying. That is when I realized that acting is such a powerful medium.”
After this play, Pankaj did not miss a single drama in the Kalidas Ranagalay theatre of Patna for the next one year. He became a known face in the place and eventually ended up doing proxy rehearsals with them in the absence of any actor.
In 1999 he started applying for the National School of Drama (NSD) every year – until he qualified for it in 2001.
“There were only 20 seats back then, and I think now there are 26 at the all-India level. Qualifying for the NSD is not that easy when lakhs dream of becoming an actor every day. But that’s the only place where you can learn acting for free, and you get a stipend to manage your expenses. What could have been better than that?”
For the next three years, Pankaj learnt some serious acting. He swears by the amount of knowledge one can get at NSD.
“People think that you don’t have to study if you want to become an actor. But one can’t imagine the number of books one has to read at NSD.”
He passed out of NSD In 2004, and he kept taking up roles. Year after year without any particular choices. And thus began his eight years of ‘background’ work.
In the meanwhile, he also met Mridula in a train to Kolkata and fell in love with her.
Pankaj and Mridula
“I had two things in my mind when I left my village. One was that I am not going to do a routine 9-5 job and the second was to have a love marriage, which also happened when I married Mridula,” he laughs.
He continues his humour by talking more about his wife, “Very few people know that Mridula is my brother-in-law’s sister. In Brahmins, we do not marry in a family where our sister has been married so was again a big deal for everyone. Toh ab main apne hi saale ka saala hu (Now I am my brother-in-law’s brother-in-law.”
But on serious notes, Pankaj gives the credit of his success to his wife, who was then a teacher and a strong support system for him.
“If you ask me for my struggle, I don’t have any sad details like sleeping on a footpath or starving for days. That’s because my wife, Mridula, had taken over the entire responsibility of the house. In fact, I tell everyone that she is the man of the house.”
Pankaj’s spark finally lit a fire in audiences through his character of Sultan in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ in 2012.
But how were those eight years? Did the thought of leaving this profession to come to his mind after almost a decade of struggle?
“No! Never even once. Basically, I am a farmer. And there’s this inbuilt patience in a farmer. A farmer sows and waits for the first leaf for days. He then nourishes the crop for months to get the final result in the form of fruit. Sometimes the seed doesn’t even grow, but the farmer again makes his land ready for another seed. I knew I had sown a seed and it might take time to get the fruits. Until then all I could do was to keep putting effort into it.”
After ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, there was ‘Fukrey‘ and ‘Nil Battey Sanatta‘. He also got to work in a lead role in ‘Gurgaon’ in 2017. And of course, there is the massively acclaimed ‘Newton’.
But his favourite film as an actor remains ‘Masaan’ where he played the character of ‘Satya Ji‘.
“Though I was never choosy, I also wanted to play various characters. For me, every middle-class parent deserves a story. Have you ever seen the crowd entering a local train? The same crowd comes out, and everyone in that crowd is just a crowd for us. But every individual of that crowd is someone very important in their own world. I want to play that common man and yet become uncommon.”
Another favourite of the actor is the role of Naved Ansari in the crime television series ‘Powder’.
“Many people missed Powder, which according to me is one of the best TV series out there. But I am glad it is going to start soon on Netflix, and many people can catch it again.”
Life hasn’t changed much for Pankaj with the fame. He still goes to buy vegetables and walks to the nearest shops. He still visits his village once in six months and feels proud when his 11-year-old daughter Aashi spends time with the cattle at home.
He is still striving hard to get his village well connected with roads and says that his mother waits for the day when a road will be connected to his house.
Pankaj with his parents at his village
“Nothing much has changed for me. Yes, people ask for a selfie now. But I know that there was no one to take a selfie with me ten years ago, and there might be no one willing to take one ten years from now. So this is all illusion. I am here to do some good work that makes me happy, and I will continue doing that.”
“Youth today look for a star everywhere. They think success is an instant thing. But all you get in two minutes is Maggi – which is not good for health. What I have achieved today has taken almost 20 years.”
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These entities act like delicious, but unhealthy, fast food for the taste buds of our mind.
But there is a great difference. While fast food is extremely unhealthy for the one consuming it, the entities we are talking about above make entire societies unhealthy!
Recently we speculated widely about the death of actress Sridevi, based on nothing more than initial assumptions made by the media. We even had so-called ‘experts’ jotting down ‘dos and don’ts’ based on Sridevi’s alleged lifestyle!
The rumours only came to rest when the actual cause of her death was revealed a few days later. We may just write ‘R.I.P’, but did we really let her soul rest in peace? Not in any manner.
As if this was not enough for us to collectively learn some lessons, another similar circus is looming.
Recently actor Irrfan Khan published a message on Twitter about a rare disease he was suffering from.
The actor had to issue an official statement, similar to the one, to put some brakes on the fake jaundice news. However, at the time, even he was not sure about the disease he was suffering from. The only hint he had was that it was a rare disease.
Despite the ailing actor’s request to his fans to not speculate about his disease, we did not care.
Soon after his tweet, a screenshot started doing the rounds on WhatsApp.
Posted like a news item without giving a link or the source, the screenshot diagnoses Khan with a deadly cancer.The screenshot read as below –
“Unconfirmed reports suggest Irrfan Khan has brain cancer; fans shocked, prayers pour in from all over the world”.
The article went on to diagnose the cancer as Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Grade IV, also called ‘death on diagnosis’.
Not only social media, but some of the most trusted media websites could not restrain themselves from using this rumour as a TRP stunt.
“If the latest reports are to be believed,” one news site stated boldly, “Irrfan had been having convulsion attacks along with slurring of speech due which he had to be admitted into the Hospital immediately.”
Another one claimed that “Irrfan Khan is rumoured to have been diagnosed with Brain Cancer; admitted in Kokilaben Hospital”
Some even gave minute-by-minute reports, updates which even Irrfan might have been unaware of –
“MRI was conducted along with other tests. The fierceness of cancer is very high. Doctors had to do needle biopsy to ascertain the nature of the tumour. Immediate surgery is the only option but Irrfan Khan is not ready to undergo surgery. He rather prefers radiations with few chemotherapies. The final decision will be made only the biopsy report comes.” one report claimed.
These news reports and social media messages compel me to wonder how insensitive we have become as a society!
I remember interviewing a celebrity recently, who spoke to me very casually – just like a friend. When I told her how surprised I was with her friendly behaviour, she said “Arrey yaar…hum log bhi to normal insaan hi hai na,” (Friend! Even we are normal human beings.)
We talk about celebrities as though they belong to some other planet and never come across the gossip we invent about them on social media for our entertainment. But the fact is that they are normal human beings like us. Can you imagine people speculating about the death of your dear ones when you yourself are unsure about the disease?
Why do we make declarations about things we have no clue about? Have we lost all the humanity?
Yesterday Irrfan has put an end to these rumours by tweeting the below
And as per Google this disease is very much treatable!
Those who spread fake news for entertainment or TRPs might have little or no ethics at all but It falls on us to refuse to engage in such behaviour. Let’s try to do that, at least!
Lazy Sunday afternoons in my childhood usually meant sitting with my family and watching a movie. I genuinely believe that one of the many elements that bring a lot of drama to movies are the tense courtroom scenes.
From a very early age, my perspective of Indian courts was that they were very royal in appearance. The lavish tables for judges, two guards to escort them to and from their desk, and a court full of people rooting for each side all led me to believe that Indian courts were like lesser versions of grand palaces.
Of course, the big question in my curious mind is – how much of the drama and masala portrayed in movies is authentic. And so I went and found out!
Damini is a critically acclaimed movie which focuses on its female characters. One woman fights against powerful men in the court of law to give justice to a victim of gang rape. The case and courtroom drama were an essential part of the movie.
I am not criticising the base of the film, and nor am I saying that they should have brought the drama to the bare minimum. However, here are a few things that do not occur in real life.
While a lawyer (Amrish Puri) is arguing, the witness (Meenakshi Sheshadri) interrupts him saying that his claims are false. While the interjection could be argued as necessary for the scene, in real life, non-lawyers are not allowed to interrupt the proceedings while lawyers are speaking.
Lawyers, of course, are allowed to cut through an argument if it seems necessary.
2. Identification in court:
Lawyers have to follow procedure in court. Source.
In a continuation of the scene, Damini is asked to identify the four rapists from a group of men, who faces are covered in Holi colours (this is an important plot line in the movie.)
The lawyer then ups the drama by pushing each man upon Damini, trying to provoke her to make a point. In reality, however, the process of identification is not conducted in court.
The police have to file a charge-sheet and make a case before any one comes to court. Even then, the identification process will not be brought in the court of law, let alone be so dramatic that the witness is visibly intimidated.
3. Your royal honour:
Representative image of a court taken from the movie Shahid. Source.
Well, who hasn’t seen those lavish polished tables on a judge’s desk in a Bollywood movie? The judges are almost always escorted by two guards, sit at a high table and enjoy a large space where lawyers walk around as they try to prove their point.
While most of this is true in High Courts, and of course, the Supreme Court, district or village courts do not enjoy such luxuries.
To get a better perspective of a district court, you can watch movies like Pink, Jolly LLB 2 or even Court, a highly acclaimed Marathi movie. Here, files of various cases are shown piling on cupboards and tables. The judges enjoy more humble seating, and the courtroom follows a more suitable setting.
In Meri Jung, Anil Kapoor is left with no choice but to drink a full bottle of medicine only to prove that it is not, in fact, poison. Maybe he did have other options but he chose the fastest one to prove that his client did not poison the bottle.
However, if someone tries that in real life, he will be held in contempt of court.
No sir, lawyers are not allowed to drink evidence in the middle of the court to prove their point. They have to follow procedure and not go beyond it to win their cases.
In the movie Shahenshah, Amitabh Bachchan drives an old woman, who is the only witness in the case, to court …rather, inside the court, to be precise. Such a dramatic entry was warranted by the fact that on his way to the court, he is attacked by goons with machine guns.
No matter how urgent the case is or how important getting a person alive to the court is, neither lawyers, nor the police or any one for that matter is allowed to break down the doors of the court to make a grand entry.
This is most definitely a contempt of court, illegal and might even lead the Bar Council to cancel your license to practice.
However, all said and done, what would movies be without their dramatic moments? This article is definitely is not trying to get directors to bring down the level of drama, or become more realistic.
Movies like Shahenshah are made for the entertainment of their audience – although they have some moral teachings as their base.
To get a closer look at authentic courts without having to go there, you can watch movies like Shahid, Pink, Jolly LLB (1 and 2), Ek Ruka Hua Faisla or Aitraaz.
Commuting across the city of Bangalore? If you travel by road everyday, you will be no stranger to traffic. The words “Silk Board” are enough to strike terror into your heart, and “Bellandur” has you waking up in a cold sweat.
This Kannada film, directed by Santhosh G, provides a hilarious look at what can happen during traffic. Shot in real-life traffic hotspots across the city, the film titled “Silk Board: A Traffic Love Story,” showcases the trials, tribulations, and sometimes unexpected surprises that can happen when stuck in a jam!
An Indian screenwriter, filmmaker, graphic artist, music composer, author and widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, it’s been 26 years since Satyajit Ray bid the world goodbye.
On this day, which marks his death anniversary, we dive into the untold story behind India’s first-of-its-kind sci-fi film that Satyajit Ray was to direct but which never saw the light of day.
For decades, the mystery of extraterrestrial beings has captivated the human mind. Most sci-fi films in the 1980s portrayed them as a bloodthirsty species who would land on earth with the sole purpose of destructing humankind. It was Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial that reversed the trend.
The film which was declared an immediate blockbuster surpassed the popular Star Wars series to become the highest-grossing film of all time (a record it held for eleven years until Spielberg’s Jurassic Park surpassed it in 1993).
It chronicled the beautiful story of a lonely boy, Elliott (Thomas) and his friendship with the extraterrestrial, dubbed “E.T.”, who was stranded on Earth. Over the course of the film, Elliot kept the creature hidden from his mother and the government, to finally help him return to his home planet.
Before you start drawing any parallels between the story of ET and the Bollywood film, Koi Mil Gaya, you should know about the biggest controversy surrounding Spielberg’s E.T.
It was alleged that E.T was a plagiarised story from a screenplay Satyajit Ray wrote back in 1967, titled ‘The Alien’.
While the screenplay never reached its culmination to become the film it could have been, its copies continued to make rounds in the United States much after the project was abandoned.
Ray first spoke about the idea of India’s first sci-fi film to his friend and fellow sci-fi author, Arthur C Clarke. The screenplay was based on his own 1962 Bengali science fiction story, Bonkubabur Bandhu, published in his family magazine, Sandesh.
Bonkubabur Bandhu was the story of an alien landing in Bengal and befriending a boy. The story revolves around a spaceship that lands in a pond in rural Bengal where the villagers begin worshipping it as a temple, which they think had risen from the depths of the Earth. The alien, however, bonds with a young village boy named Haba through his dreams and in the course of its short stay on the planet, plays a number of harmless pranks on the villagers.
When Ray spoke to Clarke about the screenplay he had written, Clarke thought it was promising. On his encouragement, Ray sent the script to Columbia Pictures in Hollywood.
It was only a matter of time until Columbia Pictures came on board as the producer for this planned US–India co-production. Peter Sellers and Marlon Brando were set to be cast in the lead roles.
However, a major setback was set to hit Ray, where he would come to terms with the harsh realities of the cinema world. Without his knowledge, Mike Wilson, who also happened to be Ray’s representative in Hollywood had copyrighted the screenplay, and fee appropriated the script of ‘The Alien’ as a co-writer, without having played any part in its creation. Actor Marlon Brando too dropped out of the project. While an attempt was made to bring James Coburn in his place, Ray had lost hope in the project and eventually returned to Calcutta to pursue his other films.
And thus, despite the many trips Ray embarked on to the USA, UK and France, the film was never made.
But the heartbreak and shock came to haunt Ray again, more than 15 years later, when he watched Steven Spielberg’s film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. He realised that not only did the script bear uncanny resemblances to The Alien, but even the design of ET resembled the sketches he had drawn in the screenplay that was shared with Columbia Pictures. Further, Columbia Pictures had co-produced Spielberg’s E.T and was also alleged to be responsible for creating copies of Ray’s screenplay.
As Aseem Chhabra, a journalism student from Columbia University who interviewed Ray about the controversy at the time put it, “Reading the script, I realised Clarke was right and that there were similarities between E.T. and The Alien. Ray’s alien was introduced to us for the first time as we noticed his slow-moving three-fingered hand, similar to E.T.’s slow-moving four-fingered hand. Ray’s alien had healing powers, just like E.T. And both the aliens could make plants bloom. There were other similarities as well.”
In an interview with India Today magazine in February 1983 Ray had asserted, “E.T. would not have been possible without my script of The Alien being available throughout the United States in mimeographed copies.”
While Spielberg denied this claim and said, “I was a kid in high school when his script was circulating in Hollywood,” even his friend and renowned Director, Martin Scorsese, alleged that it was influenced by Ray’s script.
Spielberg had once shared that ET was based on an imaginary alien companion he had made up as a kid who was also ‘a friend who could be the brother he never had and a father that he didn’t have any more’.
But whether Spielberg plagiarised Ray’s script or the concept of ET was inspired by the imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents’ divorce in 1960 is still a mystery. Ray, however, did not want to take any legal action as he believed that Spielberg made good films and was a good director.
While we mourn the lost opportunity to witness his genius on screen, let us remember him fondly on his death anniversary. The Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa, put it best when he said,
“Not to have seen the cinema of Ray, means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”
With a gripping plotline that revolves around the life of a dreaded terrorist and the very talented Rajkummar Rao playing the lead, ‘Omerta’ has been one of the most anticipated movies of 2018. And it does live up to these expectations. As far as biopics goes, this film by Shahid director Hansal Mehta is pretty out-of-the-box.
Portrayed without any judgement or justification, the movie is a clinical yet compelling sketch of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.
The British terrorist of Pakistani descent played a key role in some of the world’s most brutal terrorism cases, from the devastating 9/11 attacks to the 2002 beheading of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl.
Interestingly, few know that Omar Sheikh first hit headlines when he was arrested in 1994 in a case related to the kidnappings of four foreigners from Delhi. Fewer still know that the dynamic IPS officer who played a key role in apprehending the terrorist went on to become the head of Intelligence Bureau (IB), one of India’s most powerful intelligence organizations.
Here are five facts about Syed Asif Ibrahim, the former director of IB who is now a special envoy on counter-terrorism and extremism in India’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
1. A 1977 batch IPS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ibrahim first made a name for himself in the 1980s by wiping out the gang of dreaded dacoit Malkhan Singh.
Considered one of India’s finest police officers ever, the JNU student joined the police force in 1977. Posted as the SP of Datiya (then a bandit-infested district in Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region), his exploits quickly earned him the appreciation of the locals and the title of ‘Dacoit Buster’.
2. Ibrahim played a key role in police operation that led to the capture of Omar Sheikh in 1994.
In 1994, soon after a stint in Afghanistan, Omar Sheikh used the alias of tourist guide Rohit Sharma to lure an American and three British tourists from their hotels in Delhi to a hideout in Ghaziabad used by his partners in the terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He then demanded the release of 10 Kashmiri militants in exchange for the lives of the captives.
In an exhaustive intelligence operation, the Indian police traced and raided the hideout. In the fierce pre-dawn gun battle that followed, all the four foreign nationals were freed unhurt and a wounded Omar Sheikh was arrested along with two other terrorists. Soon after, he was sentenced to a long prison term in Tihar jail.
Five years would pass before people would read about him again. On Christmas Eve, 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked and forced to land in Afghanistan. In exchange for the lives and freedom of the 155 hostages, Omar Sheikh and two other terrorists (Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Mohammad Masood Azhar) had to be released from Indian jails after an eight-day standoff.
(On July 15, 2002, Omar Sheikh was tried and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorist court in Pakistan for the kidnapping and beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
3. Extremely graceful and discreet under pressure, Ibrahim is a highly efficient officer who has repeatedly shown exceptional talent not only in intelligence-gathering but also in winning over people’s support.
Appointed the chief of the IB’s operations wing in 2013, Ibrahim played extremely critical roles in curbing Khalistani terrorism in Punjab, anti-terror operations all over India (including Kashmir and naxal-dominated areas) and was the principal negotiator in the Kandahar hijack crisis.
4. Ibrahim played a pivotal role in the 2013 IB surveillance operation that managed to nab Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM).
This was not just an ordinary catch because Bhatkal alias Ahmad Zarar Siddibappa wasn’t a foot soldier — he was a leading recruiter, an expert bomb-maker and the mastermind who had carried out a series of blasts across India. His capture literally broke the back of the terror group.
5. After his retirement in 2015, Ibrahim was appointed as India’s special envoy for counter-terrorism and extremism.
Syed Asif Ibrahim being felicitated by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on his retirement in 2015.
This impressive appointment was a recognition of his formidable understanding of a range of security threats to India, from ISIS and Boko Haram to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, with naxals and NSCN Khaplang thrown in on the way.
Earlier, Ibrahim had also become the first official from his service to be appointed to the crucial position of Special Envoy to West Asia and Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) region. In fact, during his time as IB chief, the soft-spoken IPS officer had played a key role in bringing back many young Indians who had left home to join ISIS without informing their parents.
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The 2018 edition of the world’s most glamorous film festival, Festival de Cannes, kicks off on the French Riviera from Tuesday. Scheduled to run from May 8 to 19, the highly anticipated event is expected to bring many surprises this year as a whole lot of new-gen directors are in the running for the festival’s coveted honours.
India will be represented at the prestigious film jamboree by Nandita Das’s biographical drama Manto (starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the legendary Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto) and Rohena Gera’s Sir (starring Tillotama Shome as a domestic worker who falls for the son of her upper-class employers) in the Un Certain Regard and Critics Week categories respectively.
Interestingly, four National Award-winning regional films have also been hand-picked for screening by the official Indian delegation heading to Cannes 2018. With the aim of celebrating the exceptional talent in India’s regional cinema, these four films will be showcased at the festival’s India Pavilion, organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting along with FICCI.
Here are the four amazing regional films selected for Cannes 2018. If you haven’t seen them yet, check the out now!
A coming-of-age Assamese film written, edited, co-produced, and directed by self-taught fimmaker Rima Das, Village Rockstars is about a little girl in a village in Assam who wants to own a guitar and form a band. A story of hope and profound simplicity, this refreshingly original movie has been shot in the nondescript hamlet of Chhaygaon, with the cast being made up of mostly local villagers.
Incredibly, apart from winning the National Award 2018 for best film, Village Rockstars also won the awards for best editing, best location sound, and best child actor.
2. Bhayanakam
Made by ace Malayalam film-maker Jayaraj, Bhayanakam bagged three awards – best director, best adapted screenplay and best cinematography – at the 65th National Film Awards. The beautifully depicted film is based on a chapter in Kayar, the epci novel written by Jnanpith award-winning Malayalam writer Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.
Through the life of a postman (played by Renji Panicker), Bhayanakam tells the story of Kuttanad in the pre-Independence era when youths in large numbers joined the British India army to fight in World War II.
3. Sinjar
Made in Jeseri (the dialect of Malayalam spoken in Lakshadweep) by short film director Sandeep Pampally, Sinjar bagged the titles of the Best Jeseri Film and the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Director at the 65th National Film Awards. The movie traces the journey of two housemaids in Iraq who are taken hostages by the ISIS along with the Yazidi women and flee from captivity only to end in a closed society.
Interestingly, the film takes its name from the Sinjar massacre of 2014, in which thousands of Yazidi men and women were targetted by ISIS terrorists.
4. Nagar Kirtan
Helmed by acclaimed director Kaushik Ganguly, Bengali film ‘Nagar Kirtan’ won big at the 65th National Film Awards, with four honours to its credit – Special Jury, Best Actor, Best Costume and Best Makeup Artist. The moving drama revolves around a flute player, played by Ritwik Chakraborty and a transgender, played by Riddhi Sen.
The movie also stars Manabi Bandyopadhyay, Bengal’s first transgender to complete a PhD and become a professor. She is also India’s first transgender college principal. Read more about her here.
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The amount of money that the Indian film industry makes is proof enough of our love for the movies. India’s film industry is known to be the largest in the world, with almost 1000 films being produced each year. For most avid moviegoers Fridays are sacrosanct, spent in the company of stars and popcorn.
We hang on to every word they say and believe every endorsement they make.
But while those of us in the cities and bigger towns have easy access to movies, many in villages do not. This inaccessibility could very well be one of the reasons why the industry loses so much money to piracy. A report in The News Minute, suggests that the Indian film industry loses around Rs 18,000 crore ($2.7 billion) and over 60,000 jobs every year because of piracy.
In a bid to make movie watching available for all and also help in curbing the piracy issues, Director Satish Kaushik, fondly remembered for his iconic role as ‘Calender’ in Mr India, is launching Mobile Digital Movie Theatre (MDMT).
Inaugurated by Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the mobile theatres (essentially refurbished trucks with a seating capacity of 150) will go from village to village – playing the latest movies.
These theatres are air-conditioned, fire-proof, and weather-proof. A ticket to watch a movie in this mobile theatre will cost between Rs 35 to Rs 75.
The project is backed by entrepreneur Sushil Chaudhary, who is the founder of Picture Time, a company that runs these mobile theatres. Chaudhary wants to provide a cheaper movie experience to people in the remotest parts of the country, as reported by Times of India.
The publication further reported, “This is a revolutionary concept and can fulfil the aspirations of people in small towns. There is a shortage of movie theatres in the country as compared to USA and China. According to an estimate, there are around 2,200 multiplexes in India for a population of around 1.3 billion people, which is far below the density in developed countries.”
“The target group of this theatre is people who live in places were cinemas fail to reach,” said Kaushik.
Regional films and those movies that don’t get a theatrical release will also be screened as Kaushik feels there’s a shortage of cinemas halls showing those films. “This moving cinema will be a good platform (for all of them),” he says, adding that the moving cinema’s live-streaming facility makes it highly versatile, as reported by Hindustan Times.
If you find this travelling theatre in your city or town, do write to us about your experience.
The trailer for Shaad Ali’s new biographical film, Soorma, is out. It speaks about the greatest “comeback story of the hockey legend Sandeep Singh”.
The biopic will be released on 13 July 2018 and features Diljit Dosanjh, the talented actor and singer in lead role, while Taapsee Pannu takes the role of “a daughter, a sportsperson, a brave spirit”. The choice of lead actors certainly excites us, but even more enthralling is the story of Sandeep Singh–the ex-captain of Indian national hockey team who survived a near-fatal gunshot and went on to win the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup for India just three years later.
Here is the story of Sandeep Singh in brief, although watching it on the silver screen would be a different experience altogether.
Sandeep was born in 1986 in Kurukshetra, Haryana. His elder brother, Bikramjeet Singh, is a field hockey player too. He was popularly known as “Flicker Singh” for his legendary drag-flick on the field. In 2010, he was said to be the fastest drag-flicker in the world at 145km/hr!
Soon enough, Sandeep rose up the ranks and started playing on an international platform.
In 2004, Sandeep made his international debut in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in Kuala Lumpur. He was part of the Indian Men’s hockey team when they took the second position in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. He even became the fifth highest-paid marquee at the inaugural Hockey India League auctions. In the same tournament, he went on to score 11 goals in the 12 games he played!
But that’s not all. His brilliance on the hockey field is evident from the kind of performance he has shown over several years.
However, one accidental gunshot could have stopped him from representing India–and prevented the country from having such a legendary player.
In 2006, Sandeep was travelling in the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express to attend a national camp. A Railway Protection Force jawaan stationed on the way accidentally shot him. The bullet fractured Sandeep’s lowest rib, punctured his pancreas and damaged his kidneys and liver. To top it all, Sandeep’s spine took the force of the shot and was chipped. Flicker Singh collapsed and was on the verge of paralysis.
“A bullet wound went through all three organs and on the spot, I was paralysed, and for me it was the worst day of my life, I just wanted to go and play, whenever I saw the field, or whenever I saw the match on TV, I was crying from the inside to become a player again,” Sandeep told Free Press Journal.
His love for the game cannot be disputed.
“When I saw hockey for the first time after the gunshot, I said to my brother, bring my hockey stick, I want to sleep with my hockey stick, and I want to become a hockey player again,” Sandeep shared.
Slowly but steadily, the player recovered. Was it his determination to get on the field again, or fate or a mix of both is a matter of speculation. But, three years after the near-fatal injury, Sandeep was made the captain of the Indian hockey team. His talent on the field and as the captain of the Indian national team was reflecting right from the beginning.
Leading a team to international victory in the same year that the captaincy was changed is no easy feat. However, Sandeep proved his worth when he led the team to victory at the Sultan Azlan Shah Sup.
Soorma is set to bring to life, the struggles and achievements of the legendary Sandeep Singh. His grit and talent certainly deserve recognition from us and the box office.
If you google the word ‘Kamakshi’, you’ll see that it is a short film, gaining accolades in national and international film festivals.
Parvati Limbaji Suryawanshi, 78, is the lead character.
‘Kamakshi’ by Satindar Singh Bedi, is a black-and-white Marathi film that chronicles the journey of Kamakshi, an 80-year-old water-seller. She digs a well with her horse, Kafka, and oxen, Huuri, in a bid to turn the barren land green. Her expressions, as she digs deeper and deeper, in search of water will leave you spellbound.
The film is set in a dystopian timeless desert land.
According to an Indian Express report, the film was widely appreciated at Berlinale 2015, Indian Panorama at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and even clinched four awards at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF).
But little does anybody know, that this woman who captured the attention of critics and juries at various national and international film festivals is, in fact, a waste picker at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune.
Well-versed in Marathi, 78-year-old ‘Parubai’ as she is fondly called, started earning her living at the film school, sifting through glass, metal, used papers and plastic to be sold as scrap.
Gradually, Parubai started picking up acting roles in student assignments and made her debut into the world of cinema.
This is her story.
The narrative of Kamakshi ties closely with the real-life story of Parubai. Perhaps this is why the waste-picker with no fancy degrees was able to make a mark in the film.
Parubai herself was a young married woman when the 1972 famine struck Maharashtra. She worked as a landless labourer along with her husband in the water-scarce region of Solapur. But when the drought hit, they were left with no work.
Parubai told The Indian Express, “There was no food. Our cows and calves died, we had no time for them as we struggled to feed ourselves.”
She had also lost three of her children to the famine.
And so she decided to leave her home with her family and started working as a labourer at well-construction sites.
They were all taken in a group, loaded in trucks, willing to give the contractor who hired them ‘cheap labour.’ The truck took them to Gujarat, where Parubai and her husband would work day and night. From breaking stones and carrying them over their heads to digging wells and harvesting crops, they did it all! Nights were spent in makeshift shelters or under the open sky with nowhere to go.
“My husband was reluctant to take me along, but I insisted. We went wherever work took us: Gangthadi, Vapi, Navsari. My husband would lift big stones and put them on my head to carry. Bigger stones meant more money,” she says.
One cannot imagine the amount of hard work and persistence that went in for a meagre wage of Rs 10 a day. But it wasn’t long before the couple had to flee. They helped a co-worker whose family fled after taking an advance from the muqaddam. And when he started punishing them, Parubai’s family fled to escape the harassment.
Walking on foot for days, travelling in buses and trains, they eventually reached Pune to start a better life.
What followed instead were a string of menial jobs in the city until Parubai got employed as a waste picker with the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat in 1982.
Parubai continued to work as a waste picker ever since and was later employed at FTII.
With no training in acting whatsoever, this humble waste-picker has been a part of over 20 student films to date. While she is fluent in Marathi, she negotiates with the students who pay her small remunerations for the acting projects, in broken Hindi.
It’s been four years since cataract affected her vision, thus affecting her job as a waste picker. And so, many times, her sole source of income is the money she gets from students for her acting projects.
In 2009, she was paid Rs 11,000 for a diploma film. She used the money to build a makeshift tin-sheet shanty. While her husband died ten years ago, Parubai also lost one of her surviving sons. The one who lives with her currently is an alcoholic and was abandoned by his wife and children due to his vice.
She recalls how he sold off her copper utensils, the little furniture she had and also the tin roof of her shanty. But now they live in a small home in the Janata Vasahat slum.
“I don’t understand cinema at all,” confesses Parubai to the publication.
She says all she knows is to start acting once the director belts out a loud: ACTION!
Of the 20 films she has worked in, Parubai’s favourite film and character are Kamakshi, though she continues to scrunch her nose distastefully at how terrible she looks in it. “Almost like a witch,” she says.
She says, “That shoot really tired me out. The sequences were really difficult and tricky. I had to climb down the well, sleep in water and even chew stones. All this in one sari. I thought I would contract pneumonia. But you have to suffer. That’s how it is during a film shoot. Potachi khalgi bharnyasathi aamhi kaam karto (I continue to work, to be able to feed myself). There’s no one to support me. Even today, I don’t have electricity in my house.”
Her daily schedule includes walking four kms to the FTII campus from her home on the slope of the Paravati hill.
On the days she has no work on the campus, she still makes it a point to travel in the afternoon and spends her evenings there. She expresses how the students mean so much more to her than her own family.
“It’s here (FTII) I find some solace. I’m alive only because of these kids (students),” she says, signing off.
Parubai has now finished shooting for a commercial film in Pune and Latur. We can’t wait until the film hits the theatres. We hope it succeeds and helps this humble septuagenarian gain the limelight she truly deserves!
In the pantheon of legendary Indian film composers, Rahul Dev Burman stands apart. Even though it’s been two and a half decades since RD Burman (aka Pancham) has passed away, his music continues to captivate the imagination of musicians and music aficionados to this day.
The sheer breadth of his music, allied with a unique ability to not only make folk and classical music accessible to the modern listener, but present them in an original, yet contemporary manner for young listeners was, and remains, a game changer.
It has clearly influenced the modern masters of mainstream film scores like AR Rahman, Amit Trivedi, Vishal Bharadwaj, and Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy.
The melodies and harmonies he composed continue to captivate listeners even today. Although his music is steeped in a certain social context, it speaks to different generations.
A lot of it is down to his remarkable rhythms, which was a hallmark of his music, and the different themes he embraced. His rhythms steeped in African drums, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, madal, shakers, bongo and tabla, among other instruments, are irresistible. Those rhythms brought the school and college-going crowd in the 1960s and 70s into Hindi film music.
Unlike popular Western musicians, Indian film score composers have to not just work with other musicians, but directors and lyricists as well.
Thus, the themes associated with a lot of Pancham-produced songs are also down to lyrics written by the likes of Gulzar, vocal performances from immortal playback singers like Asha Bhonsle, Kishore Kumar and Bhupinder Singh, and even plot lines carved out by filmmakers of yore like Ramesh Sippy, Ramesh Behl and Nasir Hussain.
What Pancham did remarkably well, especially in his peak years, is to bring all these facets seamlessly together to compose music that remains eternal.
RD Burman with legendary singer Asha Bhonsle, whom he married in 1979. (Source: Facebook/RD Burman)
His first big break was the 1966 film ‘Teesri Manzil’ starring Shammi Kapoor, which had smash hits like ‘Sona re Sona’, ‘O Hasina Zulfo Wali’ and ‘Aajaa Aajaa’. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Since Pancham, there hasn’t been another school of music that has come to invade. There isn’t a new amalgam, for example, a new genesis of a new kind of music like Pancham created way back in the mid-60s,” says Gautam Rajadhyaksha, a renowned photographer and music connoisseur in the 2008 documentary ‘Pancham Unmixed’.
Many fans of RD Burman have not watched many of those movies, but can instantly recognise the songs by their distinct percussive elements and sublime melodies. In fact, according to some listeners, they can identify a Pancham song just by listening purely to the rhythm section.
However, there are five distinct reasons why RD Burman stands head and above the rest:
Genius lies in simplicity
It’s often said that true genius lies in simplicity. No one embodied that spirit better than Pancham. There were incredibly intense and complex compositions like ‘Chingari Koi Bhadke’ from the super hit 1970 classic ‘Amar Prem’.
However, there were also songs like ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga’ from the film ‘1942: A Love Story’, which consists of one melody that repeats right through the song.
As the legendary lyricist Javed Akhtar once said:
“A certain minimal quality is what you’ll find only in the masters and only those artists who are totally self-confident. There is no room for desperation or fear. That’s all one needs.”
Using the human voice as an instrument
Some legendary composers of modern music consider the human voice as the best, most ideal and most magnificent instrument. Long before the advent of autotune and other recording technology, Pancham was doing some remarkable things with the human voice.
What made Pancham such an innovative producer is that he never limited vocal performances to just traditional singing. Songs like the immortal ‘Duniya Mein Logon Ko’ from the 1972 film ‘Apna Desh’ were game changers with RD’s unusual voice and unique rendering.
What we hear here is ‘scat singing’ (vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables) straight out of vocal jazz. Pancham made scat singing fashionable for future music composers.
Finding music and rhythm everywhere
What puts RD above and beyond everyone else is his ability to amalgamate genres from all over the world into his music.
Pancham’s mastery of classical music is well known, but he also religiously inculcated elements from rock, funk, jazz, disco, afrobeat, folk and a myriad of Latin American music forms into his songs for mainstream cinema and private albums.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the 1975 Bollywood classic Sholay, where he composed and sang the immortal ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba’. From a composition standpoint, it was yet another example of innovation and discovering sounds from everyday life.
In the initial rhythm segment of the song, what you’re hearing is musicians blowing rhythmically into half-filled beer bottles. Subsequently, you hear the Iranian santoor, but different from its traditional tone. Finally, you get to Pancham’s voice, and those distinct accentuated vocals come through.
Influence of Jazz
However, beyond individual songs, jazz music would a strong influence on his vocal delivery as a whole. Inspired by Jazz legend Louis Armstrong, Pancham developed his own distinct vocal delivery, according to film journalist Chaitanya Padukone in his book ‘R.D. Burmania’ (Panchamemoirs).
“He was fascinated by Louis [Armstrong] and didn’t want to be stereotyped as a conventional playback singer,” says Padukone. “He used to say: ‘Meri Awaaz Ki Koi Pehchaan Honi Chaahiye (my voice should have its own identity)’.”
Pancham fans should also listen to his own album ‘Pantera’, composed with Latin American musicians of the time and imbibed with elements of rock, jazz and funk. Released in 1987, it received good reviews in the West, while Indian audiences weren’t very receptive to it.
However, some of Pancham’s most prolific work was in Bengali, where he wrote, composed and sung compositions released before Durga Puja celebrations. A lot of these Pujo compositions were sung in his natural voice, unlike the stylized singing he usually did for Hindi films. One would require a book to capture the essence of his Bengali compositions.
Bringing the best out of those who worked with him
A fundamental quality of any great composer is his/her ability to enhance and accentuate an artist’s best qualities. In the hit documentary ‘Pancham Unmixed’, singers and fellow session musicians elaborately speak of an absence of ego while making music, despite his obvious gifts.
Receptive to new ideas, treating fellow artists with empathy and respect and constantly seeking inspiration from everyone around – working with Pancham was an exercise in collaborative brilliance.
RD Burman with Kishore Kumar, Dev Anand, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Yash Chopra (Source: Facebook/RD Burman)
Under his tutelage came out musicians of real calibre like Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Louis Banks, Ramesh Iyer, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and the Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo.
Legendary singers like Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi and Bhopinder sang some of their most memorable songs with Pancham’s music backing them up.
And of course, there are the lyricists, whose words Pancham brought to life in his music. His partnership with the likes of Gulzar (Parichay, Ijaazat) and Anand Bakshi (Amar Prem) is the stuff of legends.
Reclaiming his mantle when the chips were down
Except for a few classic film scores, the 1980s and early 1990s were particularly difficult for RD Burman. Times had changed. Despite his legendary status, Pancham was unable to find much work in the film industry.
Other music directors had come into the picture, ways of getting work had changed, and the music in demand wasn’t the same anymore.
“Yes, Ab Main demand Mein Nahin Hoon, Log synthesisers Par music Banate Hain. I can’t do that. I need a full music arranger. I can’t cheat people. Also, I can’t sell myself. Sab Ko Pata Hai Main Kya Hoon, Kaisa music Banata Hoon, Ab Toh Woh singers Bhi Kahan Hain,” RD Burman said in an interview for TV Today, in late October 1993.
(Source: Facebook/RD Burman)
His inability to find work had significantly affected his self-confidence, health and happiness.
There was one particularly humiliating experience with director Subhash Ghai, who had initially signed him up for ‘Ram Lakhan’ but later dropped him in favour of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. What had particularly angered Pancham was the lack of respect Ghai showed in not even informing him that he had been dropped.
All that changed with ‘1942: A Love Story’, in which Pancham reclaimed his mantle as one of the greatest film score producers India has ever seen.
It reminded the film industry of Pancham’s enduring genius and doubled up as the perfect riposte to anyone who thought he would fade away. The film had some of his best melodies in years, and it was a major box office success.
Unfortunately, he passed away days after the music for the film had released on January 4, 1994, at the age of 54. He left this earth on top of his game.
His music lives on in the hearts of millions. Anyone who is making music today in mainstream Indian cinema owes a debt of gratitude to RD Burman, whether they know it or not.
(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)
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These structures stood out in our cities at one time. Decked with movie posters, the iconic single-screen theatres or talkies, are slowly disappearing from our country’s landscape. There was something special about a single-screen theatre, screening either Bollywood or Hollywood movies. About the soft drink in small fountain cups or glass bottles, and the generic popcorn.
At that time, if you were unlucky, you’d have to shell out more than the ticket amount, to buy it in ‘black’, if legitimate tickets were sold out. In any case, single-screen theatres shaped our society in more ways than one.
These eight iconic single-screen movie halls from across India are reminiscent of that era.
1. Maratha Mandir, Mumbai Central, Mumbai:-
Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir, is iconic, and ran Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge for 20 years. Image Credit: Mumbai Darshan
This iconic movie hall screened the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge’, for 20 years, from 1995 to 2015. The first movie that was played here was the 1958 classic ‘Sadhna’, featuring Sunil Dutt and Vyjayanthimala, the year the hall opened. Another Bollywood classic, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, was premiered here and ran here for a full six years. The theatre has truly seen some glorious days. To celebrate occasions, elephants and horses made an appearance, and Dilip Kumar once made a remarkable entry on a horse.
2. Lighthouse, Kolkata:-
This movie theatre was established in 1934 for screening Hollywood movies. It had a 70-year streak of being one of the most popular cinemas in Kolkata. One of the largest movie halls in India, it had a seating capacity of 1,396, which was later reduced to 600. The theatre is located in Humayun Place in New Market, a thriving shopping and street-food destination. Lighthouse started suffering heavy losses after 2000, and in February 2002, the management decided to close the hall. Lighthouse shut its doors for good on 22nd February 2002.
3. Liberty, Churchgate, Mumbai:-
Liberty Cinema, Mumbai, is an art-deco theatre, and screened the Bollywood classic Mughal-e-Azam for 6 years. Image Credit: Dinakar Patnaik
This theatre is special because it was built in 1947, the year of India’s independence. The first movie to hit its screens was the Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Raj Kapoor starrer ‘Andaz’. One of Mumbai’s last art-deco theatres, it had a seating capacity of around 1,200. When the era of multiplexes dawned, Liberty found itself struggling, and space was given out to film shoots, musicals and stage events. It was only in 2016 that Liberty re-invented itself by installing a new sound system, a new projector and a silver screen as well as implementing an e-payment system for buying anything from tickets to refreshments.
4. Everest Talkies, Bengaluru:-
A major landmark in Bengaluru’s bustling Frazer Town area, this hall is more than 80 years old, the oldest in Bengaluru, and one of the last surviving examples of its kind. Today, India’s IT capital may have state-of-the-art multiplexes, but Everest is where it all started. The theatre belongs to one family with whom it has been since 1968. The theatre was originally built in 1932. Over the years, the theatre has lost its sheen, yet today, it still attracts audiences, as it is one of the only theatres that screens documentaries! In 2008, Everest got a much-needed facelift, and now screens Hindi, English and Kannada releases regularly.
This hall is special, as its history is intertwined with one of Bollywood’s biggest blockbusters, ‘Sholay’. The film hit screens on 15th August 1975, and Minerva ran the movie for five straight years, from 1975 to 1980, with fans turning up in large numbers day after day. Minerva was founded in the late 1960s, and refurbished in the 1970s. The first movie to screen here after refurbishment was ‘Lal Patthar’ in 1971. Almost all big films at the time would hold their grand premier at Minerva, and the manager Sushil Mehra told LiveMint, that he remembers every big star from Amitabh Bachchan, to Sanjeev Kumar, Dharmendra and Hema Malini, walking down the portals of Minerva theatre.
6. Sheila Cinema, Delhi:-
This iconic movie theatre downed its shutters in April 2017, after failing to secure the rights to screen ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’. Uday Kaushik, the owner of the cinema, told Hindustan Times that the plans for shutting the movie hall were on for quite a while. The legendary movie was established in January 1961 and was the first cinema in the country to have a 70 mm screen. The owners wanted to turn Sheila into a multiplex with ten screens, but that would take time shared Kaushik.
7. Polo Victory Cinema, Jaipur:-
Screening many a classic back in the day, the Polo Victory Cinema, in Jaipur, now has a modern facade. Image Credit: Lalchand Saini
This cinema hall bears a close connection with the sport it is named after. India won the Polo World Cup in 1933, and the owner of Polo Victory Cinema went to England with the Indian team in the same year, and to commemorate it, he created the eponymous cinema hall. The hall was interestingly inaugurated by Lord Mountbatten and was so popular that audiences had to wait for tickets for as long as 30 days. The cinema hall is close to Sindhi Camp bus station and was one of the first cinemas in the city to be renovated as per multiplex culture.
8. Sangeet Theatre, Hyderabad:-
This iconic cinema hall was constructed in 1969, and was ahead of its time, back in the day, thanks to the Ultra Stereo Optical Sound in 1994, a Digital Theatre System in 1995, and later the Xenon Lamp Projection with Platter System. The Hollywood classic ‘Camelot’ was the first film screened in the theatre, and the Bollywood blockbuster ‘Hum Aapke Hai Koun..!’ which released in 1994 was screened here for the entire year. Other legendary movies that Sangeet screened included ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Titanic’.
Since their glory days, some of these cinemas have closed down, while others have been converted into multiplexes. However, we shall never forget the days of the single-screen theatres, and all that they had to offer!
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Ocean’s 8 that released worldwide in June 2018 was a much-anticipated film. Featuring an ensemble cast dominated by women, the film is a heist comedy, and its plot revolves around a highly sophisticated robbery that the women execute by infiltrating the annual Met Gala in New York City. Their plan is to steal “the Toussaint,” a necklace worth $150 million designed by French luxury brand, Cartier.
But did you know what is so unique about the necklace that features in Ocean’s 8?
The necklace is called Jeanne Touissant and is named after a former creative director of Cartier. The designer, who died in 1976, was heavily inspired by Indian jewellery and many of her creations reflect that.
The design of the Toussaint is inspired by a necklace created for Jam Saheb Shri Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja—the ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933.
(L) The necklace in the movie (source) and (R) the original (Source)
The original necklace was a magnificent piece of creation that also featured a blue-white 136.25-carat diamond called the Queen of Holland. Such was the beauty of the original necklace made for the Raja, that its designer, Jacques Cartier, describes it as “a superb realisation of a connoisseur’s dream.”
When the Raja was reportedly exiled, the precious necklace too was lost.
However, the sketches and photographs of it still remain, and that helped Toussaint design the necklace that features in Ocean’s 8.
(L) The sketch of the original and (R) the recreated piece. Source: Cartier.
The recreation of The Toussaint took more than 4200 hours and the hard work of about 10-15 artisans! Cartier, the official jewellery partner of Ocean’s 8, featured the beautiful necklace in an exhibition as part of their promotions.
Ranjitsinhji himself has a fascinating history, one that will not only interest Hollywood movie buffs, now that his jewellery features in a major film, but also cricket fans in the country.
Raja Ranjitsinhji was a brilliant batsman. Source.
Ranjitsinhji was a brilliant test cricketer during his time. When studying in the Cambridge University, he played for the university and played county cricket for Sussex. He even played for the English Cricket team when the British were ruling India.
He reportedly had an unorthodox technique and brought in a new style to batting. If you are a hardcore cricket fan, you’d know that the Ranji Trophy, a first-class cricket tournament in India, is named in his honour.
Oh! Nalini open your eyes
Is sleep still to abandon its ply
See standing at your door
The rising sun’s first score
Hearing my morning song
See all around the shroud of sleep has gone.
—the English translation of an excerpt from Tagore’s poem Probhati.
Fondly referred to as ‘Kobiguru’, poet laureate and versatile genius Rabindranath Tagore lives on through his timeless literary work. But for many, his enduring legacy is nowhere better expressed than in his original songs, of which there are over 5,000.
Sung in living rooms, during festivals, and at the turn of every season, Rabindra Sangeet’s rich repertoire includes some outstanding odes to love.Take, for example, the song “Bhaalobese sokhi, nibhrite jatane” — “Do inscribe my name, my darling, with utmost care and affection, in the temple of your soul.”
Given this, it’s not very surprising that the Bengali icon is often also called the ‘poet of romance’. However, few know the story of Tagore’s love for Annapurna Turkhad of Bombay. As a 17-year-old, the future Nobel laureate had fallen in love with the young Marathi girl he would go on to immortalise in many of his poems.
Interestingly, this little-known romance is set to be revealed through an upcoming Bengali-Marathi movie called Nalini. Being produced by Priyanka Chopra’s production house Purple Pebbles Pictures, the film is based on written documents and will be narrated from the point of view of a young student in modern-day Shantiniketan who sees a picture of Annapurna captioned ‘Nalini’.
Here’s the story of Annapurna Turkhad, the girl Tagore fondly called ‘Nalini’ and from whom the movie draws its name.
Also known as Anna or Annabai, Annapurna was the daughter of Atmaram Pandurang Turkhad, a Mumbai-based (then Bombay) doctor. Belonging to a highly educated family, Atmaram was also a dedicated social reformer who had founded the Prarthana Samaj.
As such, his circle of friends included reformists and eminent citizens from across the country. One among these acquaintances was Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother, Satyendranath Tagore — the first Indian to have been inducted into the Indian Civil Service.
Hoping that his younger brother’s English would improve if he stayed with the anglicised Turkhund family, Satyendranath convinced 17-year-old Tagore to stay with the Turkhud family prior to his first voyage to Britain in 1878 (where he was going to pursue further studies).
So, for two months in mid-1878, a teenaged Tagore lived at Atmaram’s household, taking lessons in spoken English from Anna. About three years elder to Rabindranath, Annapurna had just returned from England and was comfortably conversant with the English language.
It is believed that a mutual attraction developed between the two during these days, a platonic relationship that has been vividly described by Krishna Kripalani in his book Tagore—A Life.
According to this book, as affection bloomed between them, Tagore gave Anna the nickname ‘Nalini’ and wrote several poems inspired by her. However, the youthful love did not transform into a future together, with destiny willing otherwise.
After his two-month stay in Bombay ended, Tagore bid adieu to Anna and departed for England on a ship. Two years later, Annapurna married Harold Littledale, the Scottish vice-principal of Baroda High School and College. Subsequently, the couple left India for England and settled in Edinburgh. It was here that Annapurna died in relative obscurity in 1891 at the young age of 33.
Interestingly, evidence suggests that a marriage between Tagore and Annapurna was considered by Atmaram, but was rejected by Debendranath (Tagore’s father) due to his son’s young age and Annapurna’s being older than his son.
According to the book The Myriad Minded Man (written by Krishna Dutta and W. Andrew Robinson), Atmaram and Annapurna travelled to Calcutta in early 1879, where they paid a visit to Debendranath at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, the family residence of the Tagores.
What passed between them remains shrouded in mystery, but the authors believe that it is highly likely that it was then that the match was mooted and rejected.
A present-day picture of Jorashanko Thakur Bari, the ancestral home of the Tagores.
However, the fact that Annapurna continued to use ‘Nalini’ as her literary moniker and named one of her nephews as Rabindranath shows that it was not just a momentary flirtation for the two. Tagore too continued to write both poetry and prose where the name Nalini is taken in the most endearing of manners.
In fact, Tagore never forgot about Annapurna and would often reminisce about her in his old age. Recalling that ‘Nalini’ had once asked him never to let a beard hide the outline of his face, the Nobel laureate remarked at the age of 80,
“Everyone knows that I have not followed that advice. But she herself did not live to see my disobedience proclaimed upon my face.”
As such, it can be expected that this story will make for a memorable on-screen adaptation. Featuring Saheb Bhattacharjee as the young poet and Marathi actor Vaidehi Parashurami as Annapurna, the upcoming period film will be directed by National award winning filmmaker Ujjwal Chatterjee.
Chatterjee claims that ‘Nalini‘ is based on written documents and ‘extensive research’. However, he is aware of the sentiments involving an icon as big as Tagore. This is why he told the New Indian Express, he has had an eight-member experts panel (including Jnanpith award-winning poet Sankha Ghosh, an authority on Tagore) review the script before making changes accordingly.
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You can never underestimate the power of cinema in influencing your thoughts. Whether it is the notion of a ‘happily ever after’ or a romantic pursuit, movies play an important role in shaping our minds.
And when this powerful platform uses casual sexism, casteism or racism in its humour or as a norm, this idea too, gets affixed in the minds of the masses.
We are not saying that cinema is the only or the most powerful platform that infuses any idea in the masses, but think about this—how many people idolise actors and how many idolise someone from any other profession? The scale tips towards the former and as much as cinema is for entertainment; if it does away with social evils, maybe it will start reframing the set notions of sexism and racism in our minds.
The first step towards this is for powerful people from the industry to accept that maybe some things they portray in a film are wrong after all.
(L) Rima Kallingal. Source. (R) Renji Panicker. Source.
Renji Panicker, a prominent director and screenwriter in the Malayalam film industry, is one such person who recently accepted that he promoted misogyny in his films, that he regrets it and that he is trying to be more sensitive now.
“I strongly feel that the dialogues, situations or scripts weren’t written consciously out of a strong gender prejudice. It was because I see the characters I have created as just characters. I will not ever accept it if someone says or tries to prove that I have gender prejudices. I am very clear that I am not. However, in the contemporary scenario, where new interpretations are given to whatever we do, I am very careful not to give anyone the space to interpret any of my writings as sexist or misogynistic,” he told the Times of India.
Perhaps this consciousness was generated through the scrutiny of media, and the public will set the wheels turning and make the casual misogyny in films a thing of the past.
“I feel I shouldn’t have written it. When I wrote it, I never thought of belittling women or even degrading the gender;
it was just contextual for the film… If I knew that what I was writing based on a situation will have a different interpretation in the future, I wouldn’t have written that. Definitely, I regret it.”
Rima Kallingal, a prominent actor, applauded his acceptance and maturity. Taking to social media, she said, “This is the beginning of a new wave… It takes immense courage to unlearn what you have been told all along and to bring about a new perspective. Kudos and cheers to Renji Panicker.”
And yes, like he said, all art will be scrutinised again and again in history. All art reflects the times we live in.
Let’s make art that stands the test of time. Let’s make art that will be revered by generations to come.”
Such support from popular figures in the industry will undoubtedly act as a significant catalyst to end the misogyny in the film industry. Going forward, if more actors refuse to work for films which promote regressive ideas and the masses refuse to watch the already produced movies, it will be a massive win for social equality.
Inspiring the millions of people, including youngsters, women, and aspiring actors who look up to her, Priyanka Chopra has made her mark in the Indian film industry, as well as Hollywood.
Whether it is the innocent Jhilmil or the fierce Mary Kom or even a struggling Meghna Mathur, our Piggy Chops is a phenomenal presence on screen. And now, after a short break from Bollywood, she is back with an inspiring story. This time, as Aisha Choudhary’s mother in “The Sky is Pink.”
This story, which is sure to make you emotional, is written by Shonali Bose and Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim will also reportedly star in it. Zaira will play the character of Aisha Choudhary.
Who is Aisha Choudhary and how will her story be an inspiration to viewers?
At a time when youngsters are still exploring themselves, when they know that they have infinite opportunities lying ahead of them and school, friends and hobbies engulf their lives entirely, Aisha was fighting a battle against her body. Aisha, a motivational speaker and writer of one book, had always lived a life full of challenges—but none of them were successful in pulling her down. Not until she breathed her last.
“Aisha was diagnosed (with Severe Combined Immuno-Deficiency or SCID) when she was six months old. And she had a bone marrow transplant in the United Kingdom… Basically, these children are born without an immune system so any disease can kill them, even the common cold,” Aditi Chaudhary, Aisha’s mother said at an INKtalk.
The doctor had given Aisha just one year to live unless she underwent a bone marrow transplant, and even then, the risk would not go away completely. Although the transplant helped Aisha with her SCID, it came with the strong risk of Pulmonary Fibrosis—a disease that occurs when lung tissues are damaged, making it difficult for your lungs to function properly.
“Aisha was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in January of 2010. Her lung capacity was only 35%, and as a result, she had trouble walking and navigating staircases. She would tire easily.”
Priyanka Chopra is reported to play the role of Aditi Choudhary (Above). Source: INKtalks.
While Aisha was struggling, and at her most vulnerable stage, her friends started straying away. “She was often not asked out by friends as she was getting slower and needed help with carrying heavy things. I think the more she suffered and the more she felt unaccepted by her peers, the more determined she became. I was blown away when she agreed to be a speaker at INK at the age of 14, but she said, “I must do it because I think I can’t,” Aditi recalls.
That became the turning point in Aisha’s life. A potentially fatal disease at the tender age of 13, a group of friends straying away from her and dropping out of school were not enough to dim her optimism or determination. Aisha took solace in painting and writing, and as she kept her spirits up while fighting for each breath, she suddenly became an inspiration to thousands of others who were struggling through life themselves.
“So if death is the ultimate truth, what should really matter most in life? I felt the only thing that really matters to me is being happy. And happiness is a choice one makes. It’s simply an attitude…
Now it’s not that by being miserable I’m going to get any better so I may as well choose to try and be happy and if I have to have pulmonary fibrosis, I choose to have a happy pulmonary fibrosis,” Aisha once said at a TEDx talk in Pune.
Her optimism was contagious. A young girl, going through the toughest times that one could imagine, was standing in front of a thousand people, sharing her story and motivating people to be happy even in the most challenging times!
Remembering his daughter, her father, Niren, told the Economic Times that he learned three lessons from her— giving back to society, gratitude and not to be overwhelmed by difficulties. “Find the highest mountains to climb. Despite her disability she wanted to enjoy life—something I tell myself each time I am overwhelmed. She also taught me the power of dreaming and aiming for the moon.”
But how did Aisha herself find the motivation to get up every day and go through her day without getting pulled down by her lungs?
“Aisha was bedridden since February 2014, and that’s when I found that she had started thinking a lot about life, death, happiness and pain,” Aditi told The Quint, adding that, “Every day she would say very profound things. I suggested that she write these thoughts down and she asked me, “Why? Who will read them?” So, I gave her a book called ‘Notes to Myself’ by Hugh Prather and told her that the book had sold a million copies. Aisha smiled and said, “I can write better than Hugh Prather!”
So every day, Aisha started recording her thoughts on her cell phone, because she was still bedridden and could not get up. She typed down about 5000 words that were compiled in her book titled ‘My Little Epiphanies‘ that was published in January 2015. Unfortunately, just hours after the book was published, Aisha breathed her last, leaving a legacy of optimism and happiness.
Now, Shonali Bose is set to bring Aisha’s story to the silver screen, and we are sure that she will do justice to her incredibly brave life and the legacy that she has left behind.
