PYAASA - Story by Shadows, Silhouettes & Serene Shayari !!!

  

  Since 1957, Lot's has been said and analyzed about Pyaasa. It is world renowned classic which has found space in the most classically-learned, elites and reputed shelves. And there are many views and ways through which we can see inside the veins of Pyaasa. Today I'm just focusing on its art of camerawork, screenplay and lyricism.

    Talking about Camerawork, its the most unique form of camerawork I've ever seen in my life. Guru Dutt had the ability to build the ordinary sequences into completely larger-then-life molds of picturesque scene. Who can forget the epic climax scene of Jesus-like posture in auditorium. It will always be remembered as the God of all shots in the history of Indian cinema. No wonders it took numerous retakes for Guru Dutt to make it right. He'd a great eye for detail, and his colleagues like V.K Murthy, working with 75 mm lens always gave him the shots he wanted, no matter how difficult the implementation occurs.

Whether it's Guru famous extreme close-up scenes, or the beautiful use of Lighting all around the sets, through which he can create the web of shadows & silhouettes, a silent talking cinema in itself, literally no dialogue were required at that moment. But still the equation gets completed when the scene gets the throttle of immensely deep & inquisitive poetry by Sahir Ludhianvi. Its the epitome of lyricism. And what you get in front of you is the real Film-making manual by Guru Dutt. Ya Buddy, that's how you should make the movies. Learn it from here !

I remember one very interesting, stimulating and goose-bumpy scene where Vijay, the protagnist is deeply sad to hear the demise of her mother, and find himself insulted by brothers in the alms of his friends at brothel nudging him to gulp the alcohol, which he reluctantly drank in one go, justifying it with Sahir Poetry,

Gham Is Qadar Badhe ke Mai ghabra ke pee gaya...

Is Dil ki bebasi pe taras kha ke pee gaya

Thukra raha tha mujhko badi der se jahan...

Lo aaj is jahan ko thukra ke pee gaya

                       

And then he confront a brutal reality in front of him. A tired helpless mother ignoring her wailing baby, a prostitute dancing to the tunes of his friends and other lusty guests. Gosh, I've never saw tears falling on the camera lens so beautifully, actually it never happened before or after Pyaasa according to my knowledge. Tears are not just falling on camera lens showing Vijay pain, but were also falling on his glass of alcohol. And after suffering from the guilt of being witness to this cruelty, he finally left from the place and walked open in dimly-lit brothel street with his yet another critiqued notion about Hind, the capitalistic independent India of 1957 where love is on sale. These are my favorite verse of all,

Yeh Kuche Yeh Nilaam ghar dilkashi ke..

Yeh lut te hue karvaan zindagi ke..

Kahaan hai Kahaan hai muhafiz khudi ke..

Jinhe Naaz Hai Hind Par Woh Kahaan hai..

This song has such a scary impact on you, it really shows the mirror to the hypocrite society in its own way. The lighting, windows and street corners are so beautifully captured to describe the lyrics in visuals. Its a remarkable job done by V.K Murthy, the Cameraman. In his own words, he marked that even though technically KAAGAZ KE PHOOL is his greatest work, But PYAASA as a film was more complete and varied experience. It had so much to express under the purview of Art.

These close-up shots, blurred visions, teary camera lens, shadows & silhouettes & lyrics together formed such a marvelous and epic combination which this world will never forget, At least the art fraternity will never forget that cinematic magic. Kudos to V.K Murthy, Kudos to Sahir Ludhianvi, Kudos to Sir Guru Dutt !!

Without such artistic perfection, YEH DUNIYA AGAR MIL BHI JAAYE TO KYA HAI !! CLASS !

TALAASH or AGENT VINOD ? WHICH ONE WILL ROCK 2012 !!

   

Coming out of the warm blanket of 50s & 60s Era for a while in this winter, I wanna inhale some fresh chilled air of bollywood. As they say, this is the most experimentation-oriented phase of bollywood, where different people are trying new things, whether they're successful or not in that is secondary & immaterial thing. The vanguards of this change are people like Vishal Bharadwaj, Ashutosh Gowariker, Anurag Kashyap, Sanjay Bhansali, Jaideep Sahni, Dipankar banerjee, Imtiaz Ali & many more. 

    Let me tell you straightforwardly, As a whole, till now Industry has done lot of goof-ups while dealing with such experiments in past decade, but still some of them really got successful, rest were copy-kats, So're not entitled to my scrutiny for class at all. Yeah, the motive is still finding the ones who're near the classicism. So rather going retro, I'm going forward this time, dealing with two most awaited movies of 2012- Talaash & Agent Vinod ! So this is my analysis of which one can garner more attention & rake moolah on box-office.

  I'll share all the factoids & perceptive qualities of both the ventures in order to project which one can win the heart of critics & public in this grand cinematic duel.

  First let me talk about Talaash first, Well movie has Aamir Khan as its cast, what more it can ask for ? But mere actor presence cannot make it a great product to sell off. Otherwise Mangal Pandey-The Rising would be a hit. But then Aamir investment & creative interest also lies within the Film, So we can expect his greater interventions in the filming of the same. The movie is a psychological thriller where Aamir, the cop is suffering from multiple personality disorder. The teaser has revealed more than what it should have, but the execution of this interesting plot can play to the advantage of movie. Aamir & crew have worked really hard for the same, starting from mustache look to filming in red-light area for making it look real. That's really appreciable of him, to again trying hard to do justice with the character. But according to me, the real hero of the movie is the one behind the screen, i.e Director! 

  I've not seen Reema Kagti's first directed movie Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. But she is talented girl, worked as an assistant to the likes of Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan), Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai), etc. Also she is been attached to Excel Entertainment since its inception working with Farhan & Zoya (her close friend) in nearly all their productions. But she is still fresh and has to prove her mettle before I can count on his direction abilities. But her experience in industry looks enriching & promising.

  Now coming to Agent Vinod, Saif is not as popular star as Aamir for sure, so first-day-watch hunger of public would be lesser than Talaash. But Saif is a producer of this movie and this is his dream project. He's been so crazy & addicted to the filming of this flick, that his dedication not just felt by shooting-site injury & bruises news coming from locations like Morocco or Amsterdam since June 2010, but it shows in the trailer also. Well, to be honest, it's one of the most promising trailer in terms of thriller in quite long time. But then even Don 2 can have a good locations and trailer, but did the story intelligent enough to stimulate emotions, surprise & appreciation in the mind-space of viewer. Well this movie is not a remake of 80s forgotten-foolish Agent Vinod. But it's an original story by Sriram Raghavan, the director himself. Movie is a spy-thriller with lot of chills & thrills in it. And atleast that you can expect from Sriram Raghavan movie, Why?

   Because he was the Director who has made two movies till now. First one was Ek Haseena Thi, other one was Johnny Gaddar. Both highly-acclaimed thrillers. So thriller is his best jounre, and he's playing in his love-field. Sriram Raghavan, has worked in Stardust before joining the prestigious Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune. I know art doesn't require any qualification. But if we do consider it, He has the advantage over Reema in that respect. And experience-wise, his own creative efforts have been impressive enough to raise the expectation bar. If you happen to see the camera angles & screenplay of Sriram Raghavan, you'll see  that camera itself play a character, which create tense & thrilling sequences. That art he might have learned from Mr Ram Gopal Verma. 

So, if we compare the two movies on the first-perception basis, the analysis concludes Agent Vinod to fare better than Talaash. But box-office is tricky game altogether, nobody can judge it accurately before the theatre release. But still we can compare the two movies. There are some similarities like new Directors, both Director are two movies old, both Directors are the writers too. 

Both movies have a star to bank upon, and both leading actors belong to choosy breed of artists. They nowadays do one movie at a time. Yeah, Aamir has been more impressive than Saif, but Saif has recently entered into the self-production sincerity mode where Aamir ventured way back at Lagaan time. If we go by their career performances, Aamir memorable one in similar theme was Ajay Rathod (Sarfarosh) & Saif performance in Ek Haseena Thi was commendable. If we go by their adaptability loaded roles- Aamir is an uncrowned king of adaptability by range and varieties of roles he has done in last decade or so. But Saif's Langda Tyagi was phenomenal too, performed with all honesty he possessed. 

And if we go by their last movie responses. Aamir did a little cameo in Delhi belly & Saif's Aarakshan lacked the finesse in it. So collectively, Both stars are engaging enough to attract audience, the only thing which will matter now is STORY. And even after a good story in hand, the perfect execution with all sweat and blood immersed in it, will probably decide this duel. Well Agent Vinod will come early in March end, while Talaash will come in June. So you can see, marketing-wise Aamir is using both Social media & other avenues intelligently. 

My Verdict, Agent Vinod will be the Winner, It's 60% due to the Director, 20% to story, 20% on my movie-worms instincts. I liked the whole branding of Agent Vinod starting from their choice of Title Font & poster of movie to the locations & execution of sequences shown in trailers. While Talaash has a huge burden of expectation over its shoulder, and in contrast to that, it looks little dull in its teaser. You must be surprised, but its a courageous verdict, because people is waiting for Talaash so much that in two days its teaser videos has got 1 million views on Youtube till date, way faster than any other movie I've ever seen. Still I feel Agent Vinod is a dark-horse, and will come out with flying colours. 

Lets see how the assumptions work out in real ! Stay Tuned !

(After Release of Agent Vinod)

O my dear God, I haven't seen Agent Vinod yet. But All critics has unanimously bombed the movie, even cinema goers aren't much impressed. All are saying the movie seems lengthy. So, It seems my prediction proved wrong. Everybody is saying that this is not Agent Vinod, But Travel Agent Vinod with all worldwide locations mixed up in the movie. C'mon I'd so much expectation from this movie ! Alas !

That prove the point, Sometimes, even having a good Director, Actor, Approach, you can land up in a messy affair. And promo can't be the judgment criteria. Let's wait for Talaash then !

GURU-R-BRAHMA !

It's a very basic prayer in India for the teachers, Guru (Teacher) is Brahma (God of Creation).

But I'm symbolically using the same to describe Sir Guru Dutt. Yes I'm a fan, I'm a devotee, of not just this man great films and productions, as the similar feat can be replicated and has been tried by many, so what if not been accomplished in such grandeur & kingly way. I'm devotee of something even bigger than that, something deeper, I'm devotee of his ideals, his thinking, his approach in life. Even though cynic might say all of him was extreme, a wild race towards perfection, a completeness which can never be attained. Game which cannot be won.

 

And he never won ! Did he ? He mastered film-making, productions and arts. But he was the representative & one of the niche-sponsor of great failures, whether professionally or personally. His marriage was a disaster, his greatest creations not aligned with people frequency of understanding. So what if he made movies 30-40 years ahead of its time. Whats the point when nobody is there in theatres to have a taste of the art. 

But then, I damn-sure know, succumbing to commercialism, profitability, and money is so easy and ordinary in this society. What he craved for was reaching the ultimate he visualize, the zenith he foreseen. A jump to grasp the sky of creation. And a medium to let the fountain of emotions, anguish, sadness & frustration to flow unsteadily. He was insatiable but for creation, not for the benefit out of that. And thus he was always dissatisfied by his work, the end-result. And this quality which look so appealing, is equally dangerous & lethal. It can drove you to farthest sea-zones of mental traumas & high tides of emotions from where returning is not the option. His close friends & colleagues were annoyed by the same too. They wanted the work done and move on, he wanted the work to move on till it gets the right textures & proper canvas. An undying quest for perfectionism.

 

So when I symbolize Guru Dutt to be Brahma, a god of creativity. Don't take it as an exaggeration, or false fan-hood, Infact it's an extension of Guru's path or, the destination of his journey, i.e towards attainment of Bhrama. Yes, whether it's a much-talked about ones like Pyaasa or Kaagaz Ke Phool or, the lesser talked one like Mr & Mrs. 55, he displayed his craftsmanship in accurate manner with some minute flaws, for which he remained guilty to himself till he died. Yes, in various occasions he had expressed his anguish & guilt for some rare surrender to commercialism, the popular masala he put on his flicks for garnering public attention, monetory success. And he never liked those impurities in his creations. A/c to me, Even legendary Pyaasa was not the purest creation of him, nor the Kaagaz ke Phool. His purest was not meant for the world at that time. That’s why you see ‘Sar jo tera chakraye’ have to be placed in sadistic Pyaasa, and “Hum Tum Jise Kehta Hai” kinda crappy number have to be gelled in the otherwise, purest creation of his whole life, Kaagaz ke Phool.

But I would not complain about that! Who is not adulterated or impure in this society? How could one man attain the eternal bliss of mastery, the completeness? And if he would have attained that, do you really think he would be satisfied, Nah! Then there would be another level to reach. That’s the story of Ideality. My teacher was once explaining an Ideal Engine to the class. He said, “Ideal Engine never exists! It’s like Shri Rama, and Ideal man, who is so flawless, that doesn’t look real, A man who can go for painful 14 years exile for happiness of his step mom. So Ideal Engine efficiency is 100%”

In Similar manner, and Ideal Creator, or Brahma, if ever existed in some impure form in Hindi Film Industry, was undoubtedly Mr Guru Dutt.

If anyone has any confusion on that, or any challenging claim against it, Please share your contender for this Tag, I’ll be enriched to know another genius like him.

GURU-R-BHRAMA !!

KISHORE, CRAZINESS & ME !

 "Acting is false, Singing is truth..." 

Great Lines by Kishore Da Vinci Kumar, when asked about his favorite interests- Acting or Singing.

Taking the characters study forward, today I would like to study one of my favorite all rounder artist, legendary Kishore Kumar. Well you must be wondering who doesn't know about this interesting & jack-of-all trades creative man. But I'm talking about the influences of this man in my upbringing & my family roots.

From the very beginning I've been surrounded by people totally crazy and mad about his histrionics. My Father used to have a lot of respect for this man multi-dimensional creativity, and he use to tell me stories about how Ashok Kumar use to demotivate Kishore about his acting and singing skillset. And how Kishore proved him wrong by his sheer talent and determination. I was impressed from this guy from that very moment. As I found a personality to represent my anguish. How? As Kishore was also the youngest brother of three- Elder ones being Ashok & Anoop. And his capabilities were also doubted by his brothers also like me. Even my elder brothers use to make fun of me when I was small. And therefore, Now he was my Icon !

But to be honest, my attachment with him grew leaps and bounds due to my Uncle Rajiv & brother Vishal overwhelming appreciation for Kishore. They were crazy about him, probably more than me. They were a kind of Kishore Data Collectors, have all the details about him, had procured all the songs and movies of him. And through their craze I got to know him further. Yes, he was a legend. Most of my friends only knew the singing side of Kishore as he was the singer of YOUTH, and will always be. But for me, he was more than a singer. He was a comedian, a sensitive actor, a music director, a lyricist and a great human being. One more thing about him, which was equally nostalgic, notorious & lovable was his madness. He was so damn unpredictable. I can narrate his strange behavior stories all day, and the space would be less for that. 

But I would like to quote some of the incident. Like Kishore had a board hanging outside his flat- BEWARE OF KISHORE ! Wow, what an attitude. Once a director paid his half remuneration, and to protest about that he wore the half makeup and clothes for film shoot. The list of his craziness is so long- Like he made G.P Sippy chase him to Madh island fort from his home just for fun, Short hair look surprise to Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Stand-on-the-table in nicker demand for SD Burman and many more. I'm also a bit crazy like him, my brother use to reinforce this fact over & over again. Also my close friend sometime doubt my senses whenever I tries to inject some serious dose of philosophy into their tired veins. So I can relate with this annoying trait of Kishore also. And yes even I'm unpredictable at times. Whether it's Lata Mangeshkar first impression of eve-teaser chaser, or 6-7 months long prank of Manas-putra (imaginary child) incident with Asha Bhonsle, he was always equally adorable in terms of his real-life comic timing.

But even after all these so-called flaws, he was a great human being, fact which his many collegues put forward all the time, whether Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh bachchan or Pran whom he worked for very long time. Everyone was influenced by him. So who he was ? An Artist, Yoodler,  Joker, Playboy,  Paranoid or a great philospher. He was also known for his romantic connection with heroines. It was so easy for Kishore to impress girls, and he do have beautiful wives like Madhubala, Leena Chandarvarkar & Yogita Bali. I would say I've been a loser in this case, I've been unlucky in case of girls. But yes, I'm a good human being like him, as people believe of me. He died in 1987 when I was born, I know this is quite a faulty way to connect with a legend. I've the same voice quality like Kishore, now that I can bet, I can match to his tone easily, but yes, melody & yodeling like him is a faraway game to me.

He was impressive yes, But who were the Icon of this icon. Two names which I would like to point out are the foremost K.L Saigal, his god of music & the foreign connection, Jimmy Rodgers. Yeah from where he picked up his yodeling trickery. He use to yodle the same way as Rodgers in his bathroom to the amazement of family members. However, the similar way he impressed the film industry people coming to his home due to Ashok Kumar's Filmy connection those days, by his classic imitations & interpretations of K.L Saigal voice.

Once, he quoted so well about his popular madness by saying, " If they strongly believe that I'm mad, why not have a fun out of this"

I would request everybody to watch his Half-Ticket, New Delhi and other movies to gauge his crazy acting talent. All comedians and artists of that period has similar belief that Kishore was different from one & all. Infact, comic artist Mukri once said, " We all are creating situational comedy, but this man require no situation, as his FACE works so well. "  And he goes on to vouch that after Charlie Chaplin, Kishore was the greatest comedian artists of the world with his impeccable expressions & perfect comic timing. 

HAIL MADNESS ! HAIL KISHORE !

                                  Movie Half-Ticket in 15 Minutes...

GURU-DEV ARTISTIC BOND !

Hi Folks! It’s been months since I reviewed any classic movie, but then I had little time for watching cinema, and If I got succeeded in plucking some crafty flowers of art from celluloid, I didn't got motivated enough to resonate the aroma in words for the dissection or presentation of that classic piece. 

So I decided that I should not form boundary within this blog, it should become wide & free from that. And I decided that I would also write about the famous classy characters. Now I'm thinking to open the last door of freedom of my expression in such a way that I can write anything and everything which I seems worth writing under the belief that "It's a Classic"

So today on the eve of me buying Romancing with Life, an autobiography of Dev Anand felt compelled to enhance my purview of this man a little bit more. He was not just a great artist and a charming man, but a serious writer too. His way of expressing his true life event in gripping manner was a nice experience till now. I've just started his book and many untold chapters are left to be unfolding in front of me. But then I encountered an article by Mr Murali Gopy about the friendship of Mr Dev Anand & Sir Guru Dutt. 


 Although, I know about great bonding of these two icons of golden era of bollywood for a long time, but I like to stumble back upon these nostalgic years of Indian cinema with zooming from different binoculars & different perspectives.

Why I titled this post like this, because I seriously wish that the two friends would have imbibed a little bit of each other into their self. They were totally opposite to each other, In my words, possibly North Pole & South Pole. But more interesting thing was that they were still inseparable, and Dev Anand even before breathing his last reinforced many a times that Guru Dutt was his only true friend in Indian Film Industry. This friendship proves that how unlike poles attract each other. Their friendship blossomed even after the striking difference in their ideologies & notions about life. A friendship blossomed wherein Dev Anand promised him that if ever he produced a film, Guru Dutt would direct and should Guru direct, Dev would play the leading man! Let’s have a close look on both personalities.

Guru Dutt-Ever Thirsty, an activist, an extreme one, the Intensified, a cynic, a perfectionist, the most gratifying & unsatisfying craftsman of Indian cinema. Dev Anand on the other hand, a synonym for constant Karma, Infinite energy source, God of Optimism, a Charmer, Smiling Enthusiast, Pioneer of Style in India. I would not like to dwell into the much talked about popular incident of their Shirt-exchanging first encounter which made them life & art buddies.

Guru believed in extreme, Success or Failure, Perfection or Pack-up, but no mediocrity at all. Dev believed in optimism, enjoying the process and pathways rather than the destination. So if Guru Dutt song of life is Absolute, Incompleteness in completeness “Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai”, Dev song is completeness in incompleteness “ Mai Zindagi Ka Sath Nibhata Chala Gaya”.

Both have suffered the failure in love. Dev Anand Suraiya was snatched away from him, and Guru’s dream Waheeda was broken half-way. But both have a different way of treating their respective tragedies. Guru has to say, “Jane woh kaise log the jinke pyar ko pyar mila”, And Dev says unapologetically, “ Jo bhi pyar se mila, hum usi ke ho liye”. Guru philosophy was ONE or NONE! Dev philosophy was ONE by ONE!

Believe it or not, but their life account resemble to their choice of art in their films & songs. Guru mostly took personal experience to 70mm screen at will, Dev took the same to screen in conscious or unconscious manner.  Guru was ever ‘PYAASA’ for completeness and disembarked the fake & hypocrite society which he calls ‘KAAGAZ KE PHOOL’, Dev was his own ‘GUIDE’ for his journey to become an eternal romantic ‘PREM PUJARI’.

So their choice of films and stories beautifully resonate their personalities. But sadly, Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam ! Guru passed away so young at age of 39. And that too in Guru-style, again on his own terms, finishing the chapter by himself. Dev died 47 years later at the age of 88. Their death also explains their self further.



If & only if, Dev would have gave him some of his optimism. And if, Guru had injected some of his perfection inside Dev, What beautiful and artistic blend both of them might have proved. Nonetheless, We are fortunate that both friends had a stint rubbing shoulder to shoulder, which we can store and learn from, whether it’s JAAL or BAAJI to start with. Or, the later productions like CID etc. Both helped each other in whichever way they could as they promised in their early heydays. Dev Anand in 1951 gave directorial break to Guru Dutt in BAAJI, and Guru Dutt casted Dev Anand as promised in various ventures as director and producer. They made a good pair together.

Dev Anand, often quoted as the great narcissist, was actually right in loving himself. Guru didn’t loved himself the way Dev did. Otherwise we might have saw the rise of Indian celluloid on his able shoulder even after one-or-two failures, which in that case he would be agreeing to fathom. But Alas, he wasn’t like Dev. He was not even appreciable for the classics he made, which are shelved in the most prestigious libraries of the world. Infact Abrar Alvi, his close writer-friend recollects,

" Frankly none of his films satisfied him as a director.  He always felt that something was missing from his films."

Guru died young but was too mature for his age. Dev died aged but will be considered as forever young. I’m a firm believer in souls & jeev-aatma, So both Dev & Guru might have met now after the escape of latter one from his aged body after a long gap of 47 years since former demise. And if it doesn’t happen like that, Guru will again cry,

“Dekhi zamane ki yaari, Bichde sabhi bari bari….”

                                   CID : Dev Anand & Guru Dutt Successful venture !

CHARACHTERS STUDY- COMING SOON !!

Till Now I've reviewed the classic movies, This time I want to make a shift to classic charachters of celluloid.
I would try to explain the know-hows and detailing about some of the great roles, who have taken the mindspace of audience for decades. My research list will include both real-life, Artist-specific & reel-life charachters like Sherlock Holmes, Dev Anand, Raju Guide, Kishore Kumar, Guru Dutt, Don, James Bond, Tom Hanks, Leonardo De Caprio, Mother India, Count of Monte Cristo, Dracula, Indiana Jones, Ethan Hunt, Tin Tin, Captain Jack Sparrow, Dr Hannibal Lecter, Joker, V etc. So Stay Tuned !!!!