Bengali Classic Literature and Bollywood Films

Influence of Bengali Classic Literature in Bollywood films

Bengal in the eighteenth and nineteenth century had produced intellectuals of different dimensions in different fields including academics, politics, music, literature, social science, etc. Social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Vidhyasagar brought social awakening through the prohibition of evil practices like Sati and bringing modern legislations with the help of the British Government in the colonial era like Widow Remarriage Act. In the field of religion Swami Vivekananda redefined Hinduism in his Chicago Conference in USA and provided the deliberations of Sri Ramakrisha in condemning materialist philosophy. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the most dynamic personalities of the freedom struggle movement of India.

Literature is a field where the immortal works of the Bengali Legendary thinkers have influenced the silver screen the most which even has significance after around 50 years of creation of the classic works. Bankim Chandra Chatterji was given the title of Sahitya Samrat (the Monarch of literature) who nurtured Bengali language from its Sanskrit-oriented origin in almost the same manner in which mythologically Lord Mahadeva brought river Ganges from his knotted hair (jata) and created classic novels like Kapalkundala, Anandamath, Devichowdhurani, etc. His song Vandemataram had instilled patriotism and respect for the motherland and was the guiding mantra in India’s freedom movement which became the national song of the country after India got independence. His novel “Anandamath” was picturised as Bollywood film in 1950 with Pradeep Kumar, Bharat Bhushan, Prithviraj Kapoor playing significant roles.

Bimal Mitra’s epic literature Saheb Bibi Gulam, directed by Karthik Chatterji became a historically eminent work depicting the Zamindari existing in Kolkata during Colonial rule. Chabi Biswas was the second brother, showed the aristocracy, grantieur with which the feudal lords ruled the state. Uttamkumar was the observer of the events as Bhutnath.[1] Guru Dutt played the same role in the hindi film Saheb Bibi Aur Ghulam, 1962, where Meena Kumari played the chotibahu in her own style.

Rabindranath Tagore, the winner of Nobel Prize in literature for Gitanjali, in 1913 had galvanised the firmament of creativity with short stories, poetry, prose, plays, songs and had influenced both Bengali and Hindi films with his revolutionary thinking. His story Kabuliwala was directed by Tapan Sinha in 1957, with Chabi Biswas, the greatest actor of Bengali Silver Screen giving immortal performance of an Afghan father who left his country, came to Kolkata to sell his produce of mewa, pesta and loving a small Bengali girl “mini” who brought him memories of his own daughter back in the country. [2] Tapan Sinha’s films Khudito Pashan, Atithi, 1965, Satyajit Ray’s cineclassic, Teen Kanya, 1961, Gharebaire, 1984, are based on the immortal prices of work of Tagore.

Bimal Roy, the winner of a number of Filmfare awards for best direction in bollywood films made Kabuliwala with Balraj Sahani in 1961. Although the film could not create the same impact as the Bengali film Kabuliwala, yet the classic literature was well appreciated by the Indian masses. Previously Salil Chowdhury’s Do Beegha Zameen, in 1953 had kept its mark as a Bollywood film having strong storybase and powerful direction.

Sarat Chandra Chatterji, titled Katha Sahitwik, influenced Bollywood films the most as his language was understandable to the people of the grass root level and his observation on social, economic issues of rural Bengal had tremendous impact on the readers and filmlovers. His story Devdas picturised by Bimal Roy stormed the silver screen in 1955, providing Dilip Kumar the title of Tragedy king and the image which did not fade with changing times. The remake of Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bansali shows the fact the story is immortal and has not lost its significance even today, more than 70 years after its creation. Similarly Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s Parineeta was picturised by Bimal Roy in 1953 with Meena Kumari in the lead role. The same film had been remade by Pradeep Sarkar in recent times and had been well appreciated by the Indian masses showing the strength of the story and the depth of thought of the author.

Bimal Roy picturised Biraj Bahu in 1954, another story of Sarat Chandra Chatterji, showing the experiences of rural Bengal. Sarat Chandra Chatterji’s classic story Niskriti, based on the problems of joint family system was picturised in Bengali film and in the hindi film Apne Paraye, 1980, the pain of poverty was well depicted through strong performance of Shabana Azmi and Amol Palekar with Utpal Dutta’s compassionate andaz as elder brother. Sarat Chandra Chatterji could think ahead of his time, because joint families are getting eroded these days due to lack of adjustment and giving birth to nuclear families. Besides the biographies of Sarat Chandra Chatterji were picturised in Bengali cinema in Rajlakhi Srikanto,1958, Kamallata, 1969, where Uttamkumar represented Sarat Chandra himself and Abhaya Srikanto, 1965 where Basonto Chowdhury represented Sarat Chandra. In all these stories, the social stigmas, religious barriers, poverty existing in the rural countryside and condition of women was depicted with such a pictographic dimension that people find themselves and associate themselves in one character or the other.

Noted author Jorasondho had provided immortal stories based on his experiences as Jailor in a Bengal prison. Tapan Sinha mesmerised the Bengali audience with his powerful adaptation of the novel Louhakapat in 1958. Chabi Biswas’s performance was well acclaimed throughout Bengal and Nirmal Kumar playing the role of the observer was well appreciated. Bimal Roy made his epic film Bandini on the story of Jorasandho in 1963. The tragic background of individual prisoners made people think whether our justice system punishes the crime or the offender. Other landmark stories include hinger kachuri, written by Bibhutibhushan Mukherjee, which was picturised as Nishipadda, 1970, where Uttamkumar gave a lifetime performance and also translated into hindi version in Shakti Shamant’s Amar prem, 1972. The list can go on. As Bengalis are characterised with their depth of thinking, analysing and feeling human emotions, Bengali literature still is an invaluable asset, even today. Still realistic films can be made from the classic literature of different ages by thoughtful directors. Efforts should be made to translate the Bengali classic literature into different regional languages, so that more section of the society can cherish them for generations.

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[1] My father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex-chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court, had interviewed Dilip Roy, eminent actor of Bengali films who was his witness, in a case instituted in Bankshall Court, who said there was no second actor in India who could depict the role of Zamindar in the way Chabi Biswas had done in Saheb bibi Golam, Jalsaghar, Dui Purush, Antarikha, etc. He also said when Raj Kapoor tested Chabi Biswas in the role of a drunkard in the film Ekdin Ratre, 1955, his performance in the song “Ei duniyay bhai sabi hoy” sung by Manna Dey, he came down the trolley and saluted Chabi Biswas saying he had not seen an actor in Indian screen like Chabi Biswas. In the hindi version Jagte Raho, 1956, the same character was played by Motilal, but he could not match the level of excellence of Chabi Biswas.

[2] Kabuliwala received President’s Gold Medal for best film in 1957. Renowned Director Satyajit Ray in his TV interview on DD Bangla had said Chabi Biswas was the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen and giving him direction was his greatest challenge in the award winning films Jalsaghar, 1958, Devi, 1960, Kanchenjungha, 1962. Chabi Biswas’s performance in the film Manik, 1956, the adaptation of Oliver Twist written by Charles Dickens, in a role of a handicapped grandfather could have brought him Oscar had the film being placed for the nomination.

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.


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Laxmikant Pyarelal and Mohammed Rafi

Laxmikant Pyarelal's immortal relationship with Mohammad Rafi.

Laxmikant Pyarelal emerged into the Indian film arena at a period when the main stream cinema was flooded with extremely talented music directors,lyricists and filmmakers in the 60s.Already the film industry has created its own unique standard due to the sheer brilliance of Musical Giants like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madanmohan, Roshan, Khayyam, Salil Chowdhury and many others and the versatile performance of Mohammad Rafi for over 15 years.

Laxmikant and Pyarelal

Laxmikant Pyarelal the legendary musical duo included Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar(1937-1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born in 1940).Laxmikant was quite impressed with Mandolin and learnt to play it by his own. He used to play mandolin in street functions.Pyarellal was the son of renouned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma and his specialisation was violin.Laxmikant and Pyarelal met at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children, run by the Mangeshkar family. After Lata Mangeshkar came to know about their financially poor backgrounds, Lata recommended their names to different music directors in the film industry.Both them started their career with the film Parasmani(1963).Two songs of Mohammad Rafi "Woh Jab Yaad Aye, bahut yaad aye" and "Roushan tumhi se duniya" brought fame for the musical duo.

Laxmikant was fond of the orchestration of Shankar Jaikishan to such an extent that some of their earlier tunes were similar to a huge number of Shankar's compositions. In the next film Dosti,1964, Laxmikant Pyarellal got inspired by a very extraordinary standard of musical performance by Bengali Music Director Robin Chatterji in composed music for the Bengali film Lalu Bhulu, 1958.The story depicted a blind boy and a his friend who did not have one leg.In the bengali film all the songs were sung by Manobendra Mukherjee who was a genius in hindustani classicals and has rich collection of Bengali modern songs,Kirtan, Nazrulgeeti and Bhaktigeeti. The notable songs include "Dukkho amar shesh kore dao probhu","Jar hiya akasher neel nilimaye","Ei pranjholona jaglo".The striking part of the film was that no conventional hero or herione were depicted in the story, as the tragic story of the two handicapped friends was the central attraction.

Laxmikant Pyarelal had a huge challenge to match the music of the bengali film and create the same standard of excellence. Both Laxmikant Pyarelal and Majrooh Sultanpuri sat together to compose the songs.The result was history. Rafi's song "Chahunga mai tujhe saanz sawere", "Mera to joh bhi kadam hai","rahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyun satati hai", "janewalon zara"brought tears in the pandemonium hall.Rafi was so impressed with the compositions of Laxmikant Pyarelal that he had taken just one rupee for singing the song because it was the custom of a singer to take something in return for a professional song.The film became a huge success. Laxmikant Pyarelal won the filmfare award in 1964 for composing best music in a year when Shankar Jaikishan has composed songs for Sangam, 1964, Naushad had composed for Leader, 1964, Madanmohan had composed songs for Woh Kaun thi, 1964, Roshan had composed songs for Aarti. From that time onwards Laxmikant Pyarellal never looked back and their everlasting bond with Rafi just grew with time.

Their similarity with Shankar-Jaikishan is evident in the composition of the songs "woh hai zara khafa khafa" in the film Shagird, 1967 picturised on Joy Mukherjee and "Nazar na lag jaye" in the film Night In London,picturised on Biswajeet, 1967. These compositions had led to Shankar Jaikishan transforming their own style as people started geeting mixed up with their composititions. But one factor was unique.The amount of affection Shankar Jaikshan had for Mohammad Rafi, the same passion was carried on by Laxmikant Pyarelal till Rafi's death in 1980 as his last song in the film Aas Paas , 1980,was composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Dharmender and Jeetender had different story lines in the films of late 1960s and early 70s, but one thing was common. both had some of the extraordinary songs of Mohammad Rafi composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal.Examples can be "Hui sham unka khayal agaya" from the film Mere mhumdum Mere Dost, 1968, "Baar Baar Din yun aye" from the film Farz, 1967. Besides LP pair had provided tunes sungs by Mohammad Rafi in the films of Jeetender namely Jigri Dost, Banphool, Humjoli and the hits of Dharmender namely Aya Sawan Jhumke,Jeevan Mrityu, etc.Lastly after the death of Jaikishan in 1971, Raj Kappor engaged Laxmikant Pyarelal for his films starting with Bobby in 1973.

The song "hum tum ek kamre me bandh hai" had the same effect with the accordian as Shankar Jaikishan used to have in RK films.That led to LP pair ruling the film industry in the 1970s when most of the legendary music directors died and his only rivals included RD Burman and Kalyanji Anandji. In a very action pact scenario when the films of Amitabh Bacchan, Vinod Khanna had more concentration towards violence, LP pair created soft songs for Rishi Kapoor. Rafi's songs "Dafli wale", "Ramjiki nikli sawari" in the film Sargam, 1978 and"Parda hai Parda", "Shirdiwali Saibaba" in Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977 and "Darde dil" in the film Karz, 1979, had brought filmfare awards for Laxmikant Pyarellal one after the other. He had tremendous combination with Rishi Kapoor and Mohammad Rafi and balanced romantic songs with the popular taste of film music.As they survived for the longest period of time, substantial number of Rafi's songs are composed by them. So the creations of Laxmikant Pyarelal involving should be preserved in the aarchives where Rafi's other songs are restored.

Article By Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, Coventry, UK.
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve Univerwsity, Cleveland, Ohio,USA.

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Mohammed Rafi Songs

Immortal Ghazals sung by Mohammad Rafi

Mohammed Rafi

Mohammad Rafi is a name which has galvanised the Indian firmament during golden age of Indian film music. As his dimension was as wide as the horizon of creative arts, various categories of his songs has been remembered by generations for the last 50 years, including ghazals, Hindustani classical songs, bhajans, folk songs, songs on the freedom movement of India, qawallis, najrul geeti and many more types of geet. Among them ghazal is one category where Rafi’s sweet voice has brought life into the sensational lyrics and outstanding music compositions of the Golden era.

The ghazal is a common song form in India and Pakistan today. There are different definitions of it, but simply it is a musical form, but having a poetic recitation. Today, however, it is commonly conceived of as an Urdu song, with prime importance given to the lyrics.In some modernized ghazals the poet's name is hidden somewhere in the last verse, usually between the front and end of a word.

In the 1950s and 60s, the song picturised on the different films were based on different moods of the characters depicted in the stories. As the lyrics of the ghazals were quite rich, having immense literary and poetic value they generally captured the pensive moods of the major characters of the stories.Most of the films had ghazal in one form or the other composed by the musical giants of the golden age.

Madanmohan used to be considered as the king of ghazals. His most outstanding creations were composed for Mohammad Rafi , including “Tumhari Zulfke sayeme sham karlunga, safar is umraka palme tamam karlunga” from the film Naunihal, 1967, “ Baad muddat ke yeh ghari aayi, aap aye to zindagi ayee”, from the film Zahanara, 1964, “kisiki yaad mai apna ko hai bhulaye hue”, from the film Zahanara, 1964, “ Rang aur noor ki barat tujhe pesh karu, in muradonki hassen raat tujhe pesh karoon,” from the film Ghazal, 1965, “Barbad muhobaat ka dua saath liye ja” from the film Laila Majnu, 1977, picturised on Rishi Kapoor (1).

There were very dignified ghazals composed by Roshan during that era. Some of them include “ jane who kaun hai kya naam hai in aankhoka” from the film Bheegi Raat, 1965, picturised on Pradeep kumar, “ Hum intezar karenge, tera kayamat tak, khuda kareki kayamat ho, aur tu aye,” from the film Bahu Begum, 1967, “ Aab kya misal doon mai tumhare shabab ki,” and “aapne yaad dilaya tha to mujhe yaad aya” from the film Aarti, 1963, picturised on Pradeep Kumar.Roshan composed one of the most evergreen hit titled “ Zindagi bhar nahin bhulenge woh barsaat ki raat,” from the film Barsaat ki raat, 1960, picturised on Bharat Bhushan.The legendary lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhiyanvi (2).

S. N. Tripathi composed few immortal ghazals based on the life of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. The songs included “ Na kisisi ki aankh ka noor hoon” and “lagta nahin yeh dil mera” from the film Lal Quila. Jaidev composed one of his master pieces, “ kabhi khud pe kabhi halaat pe rona aya, baat nikli to har ek baat pe rona aya” from the film Humdono, 1961.

Shankar Jaikishan is known to create songs of diverse range of subjects.Even amongst his stylish western compositions the best ghazals were composed for Mohammad Rafi. Some of them include “unke khayal aaye to ate chale gaye” from the film Lal patthar,1971, picturised on Raajkumar, “ Chalke teri aankhose sharab aur ziaada” from the film Aarzoo,1965, picturised on Rajenderkumar, “O Mere Shahe Khuba, o meri Jan- e- jajana” from the film Love In Tokyo, 1965, written by Hasrat Jaipuri and picturised on Joy Mukherjee.

Ravi has composed few unforgettable tunes like “chaudavi ka chand ho yah aaftab ho, jobhi ho tum khuda ki kasam, lajawab ho” from the film Chaudavi ka chand, 1960, picturised on Gurudutt, also “Chulene do nazuk hoton ko, kuch aur nahin hai jaam hai yeh” and “yeh zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye to accha ho” from the film Kaajal, 1965, picturised on Raaj Kumar.

Naushad had done proper justice to each and every raaga he has used to compose his songs. His notable ghazals include “ Mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam” and “ tumse ishar – e –haal kar baithe” from the film Mere Meheboob, 1963 picturised on Jubileekumar Rajender Kumar” written by Shakeel Badayani, “ koi sagar dil ko behlata nahin” from the film Dil Diya Dard liya,1966, and “aajki shaam mere dilki salaami lele, dilki salaami lele, kal tere bazm se diwana chala jayega, shamma rah jayegi, parwana chala jayega”, from the film Ram Aur Shyam,

1967, picturised on Tragedy king Dilip Kumar (3).

OP Nayyar had made a very unique use of the santoor with the sarangi, and he too while making his western blend thought about ghazals for Rafi. His best creations include “ aapke hasin rukh pe aaj naya nur hai, mera dil machal gaya to mera kya kusur hai” from the film Baharen phir bhi ayegi , 1966,picturised on Dharmender, and “Aachal se sajane lena dilko” and “Zulf ke chayon me chehere ka ujaala lekar”from the film Phir Wohi dil Laya Hoon, 1963, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and picturised on Joy Mukherjee.

There were ghazalas from other Classical composers also like “Kahin bekhayal hoker yuhin chuliya unhiko,” and “ Aise to na dekho, ki humko nasha ho jaye” by SD Burman in the film Teen deviya, 1965, “Theheriye hosh me aaloon to chalejayiega” by Khayyam.As these songs are soft in nature, they create an everlasting impact on the souls of numerous music lovers of the country who find themselves associated with Rafi. It is very difficult to mention the notable ghazals sung by the maestro who has around 26000 songs in a span of 35 years.An archive should be created where Rafi’s creations are restored, categorised and preserved for future generations to know the noble hertitage of ghazals India had during the golden age.

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(1) Noted and renouned Ghazal Singer, Ghulam Ali had said that Rafi’s songs had reflected the truth that the man possessed and the sweetness of the songs depict his generousness and kindness of heart.

(2) My father Ex Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall court, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court interviewed Monobendra Mukherjee, the Bengali Classical Singer composing Music for Bengali films Mayamrigo 1960, Joyjayanti,1970, Badhu,1962, and singing more than 1000 nazrul geeti, who said that he used to do the riyaaz everyday for several hours to do justice to his thumris, tappas and he is amazed about only one singer in India, Mohammad Rafi, whose voice floats like a river and the harkats in the songs are so accurate and effortlessly sung like the way clouds flow in the sky.

(3) Jagjit Singh, one of the most legendary ghazal singers of the present century, said some of the very melodious Ghazals were sung by Rafi during the Golden age, listeners heard them and appreciated them even sometimes not knowing that they are categorized as ghazals. Jagjit Singh composed music for noted film Saath Saath and TV serial Mirza Ghalib starring Nasir uddin Shah and directed by Gulzar.

Article By: Souvik Chatterji

Master of Law from Warwick University, UK and
Master of Law from Case Western Reserve University,USA.
Assistant Director, CUTS International
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation
D-217, Bhaskar Marg,Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
http://www.cuts-ccier.org

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Shankar Jaikishan

Shankar Jaikishan

Shankar Jaikishan image courtsey: downmelodylane.com

The most versatile Musical Giant of the Last Century.

Shankar Jaikishan are probably the most versatile music –duos that hailed the music of Bollywood during the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, the 40s, 50s and 60s.The golden era of Indian film music can be associated with the musical giants of different capabilities and specialisations.The Legends include Roshan- the king of melody, Madanmohan- the shahenzah of ghazals, Naushad- the Genius of Hindustani classical ragas with a blend of Lucknow Gharana, Salil Chowdhury –the Master of Westernised chorus with Eastern folk and poetic excellence, O. P. Nayyar – the Master of Westernised Tunes with Eastern flavour, Jaidev – the Legend of Urbanised Folk and Rural tunes, and many other Classical composers who have become immortal with their everlasting tunes. Shankar Jaikishan emerged in that arena with a range of tunes and compositions which could not be categorised under a single head. There were folk songs like “ chalat Musafir” sung by Manna dey in “Teesri Kasam”( 1966) to ghazals like “Chalke Teri Aankhose sharab aur ziada” sung by Mohammad Rafi in “Aarzoo”(1965). There were rock and roll compositions like “aajkal tere mere pyarke charche har jawanpar” in Brahmchari(1967) to pure classical composition like “Sur na saje kya gayun mai” in “Basant Bahar”(1957).


They had composed music in almost 200 films in a tenure of around 22 years (1). So great was the impact of their creative genius that it had a lasting impact on the music of the Hindi films. Shankar-Jaikishan understood the taste of the masses, were able to cater to them, as well as moulded their tastes. No wonder then that during their tenure as music directors, they were exceedingly popular and 75 per cent of the films for which their scores were everlasting hits - many have celebrated silver jubilees.

They were probably the only musical pair, who have given music to all the leading giants who had glorified the silver screen during the 1940, 1950s, and 1960s.They have given music to Dilip Kumar in Yahudi,1958, Rajender Kumar in Suraj,1966, Bharat Bhushan in Basant Bahar,1957, Balraj Sahani in Seema,1956, Pradeep Kumar in Raat Aur Din,1966, Dev Anand in Asli Nakli,1961,Manoj Kumar in Hariyali Aur Raasta,1962, Shammi Kapoor in Professor,1962, Shashi Kapoor in Kanyadan,1969, Biswajeet in April Fool,1964, Joy Mukherjee in Love in Tokyo,1965, Dharmender in Pyar hi Pyar,1968, Jeetender in Mere Huzur,1967, RajKumar in Lal Patthar,1971.

The team of Shankar Jaikishan consisted of Shankarsingh Raghuwanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal. Shankar (October 15, 1922 - 1987) was born in Punjab and trained under the famous Husnlal Bhagatram. He later settled down in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Jaikishan (1929 - 1971) hails from Panchal, Gujarat, India. Before the duo met, Jaikishan worked as a carpenter. Their career started as music directors for Raj Kapoor's 1949 film Barsaat. Songs like "Jiya beqaraar hai" and "Barsaat mein humse mile tum" became a rage. Barsaat was also the starting point of the pair’s long and successful association with the R.K. Banner. Hit music in films like Aah and Awaara followed in the early 1950s. The song "Ghar aaya mera pardesi" went on to become a benchmark for dream-sequence songs. Their music for most R.K. films was considered a huge success, but two films stand out, Shree 420 and Sangam. The songs "Pyaar hua ikraar hua" and "Ramaiyyaa vasta vaiyya" from Shree 420 and "Dost dost na raha" and "Har dil jo pyaar karega" from Sangam were popular favorites (2).

They were honored with the maximum number (nine) of Filmfare awards in the Indian film industry. In 1968, Shankar Jaikishan released an album, "Raga Jazz Style : Shankar Jaikishan with Rais Khan." Shankar Jaikishan made a great impact on film music from the start. Their tunes range from pure classical Indian themes to more westernised tunes.They had a distinct style, which was adaptable to different stars and films.In the West, they are best known for the song "Jaan Pechan Ho", which originally appeared in the 1965 film Gumnaam. The musical number was replayed in the American film Ghost World and helped to catapult the popularity of Indian film music in America.

However, according to Raj Kapoor, the pair's most notable score came in the film "Mera Naam Joker" in 1970 which has landmark songs like "Jaane kahan gaye woh din", "Jeena yahan marna yahan", and "Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo". Arguably, the background musical scores of "Sangam" and "Mera Naam Joker" are considered to be among the best ever in the history of Hindi film music. Of the two, Shankar's speciality was dance-based compositions, whereas Jaikishan's forte was the background musical score. Both of them preferred Raaga Bhairavi over other strains of classical music.

Shankar Jaikishan created few classical oriented tunes fit for the Golden voice of Mohammad Rafi. In the film “ Lal patthar”(1971), Shankar Jaikishan had composed for Rafi “ unke khayal aye to ate chaale gaye”in raag gara. There the nostalgic mood of badshah was presented by Rafi. Other quality creations of Shankar Jaikishan included “ Aji ruth kar ab kahan jaiyega” in raag desh in Aarzoo(1966) starring Rajenderkumar, “ Khudabhi asma se jab zamin par dekhta hoga” in the film ‘Dharti,” “mujhko apne gale lagalo ai mere humrahi”( Humrahi, 1962) “surahidar gardan koel sihi awaz”in the film “ Aman”. The lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri (3).

One of the other shades of the character of the Legendary duo was that they had encouraged a number of singers both male and female, at an era when the other Music Directors preferred only Rafi and Lata. They have composed songs for Subir Sen, “ Dil mera ek aas ka panchi” in the film Aas ka panchi,1960, Suman Kalyanpur , “Dil ek mandir hai,” in the film Dil Ek Mandir,1963, Manna Dey, “Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi” in the film Chori Chori,1956, Asha Bhosle, “Mur Murke na dekh Mur Mur ke” in the film Shri 420,1955, Sharda, “Titli Uri” in the film Suraj,1966, Mukesh, “Yeh mera diwanapan hai” in the film Yahudi,1958, Talat Mehmood, “Koi nahi mera is duniya mai” in the film Daag,1955, Kishore Kumar, “Zindagi ek safar hai suhana” in the film Andaz,1971. The songs were complimented with brilliant orchestration which had added lights to the composition of the giant.

The other aspect of their creation include blending the Indian flavour with the foreign tunes wherever the films were picturised. Best examples can be the song “Sayonara sayonara” in the film “Love in Tokyo”, 1965, had Japanese orchestration, the other being “Raat ke humsafar” in the film “An Evening Paris”,1967, had French flavour. Besides their use of few instruments showed the class of their own, Accordion in “Sub kuch sikha Humne na siki hoshiari” in the film Anari,1959, Saxophone in “Ai sanam jis ne tujhe chand sa surat di hai” in the film Diwana, 1967, Synthesized Harmonium played by V. Balsara in “Awara Hoon” in the film Awara, 1951.

One of the reasons why Shankar Jaikishan did not get the acknowledgement of providing immortal tunes in that era is because it could not be identified as which song is composed by Shankar and which song is composed by Jaikishan. Otherwise Naushad was awarded with Dada Saheb Phalke for his brilliant contribution to Indian music, Majrooh Sultanpuri also received the same award in the lyricist category, Shankar- Jaikishan was deprived of that honour. The other reason may be that they had worked with Raj Kapoor for the longest period and most of the credit of the unforgettable tunes were taken away by Raj Kapoor himself. An archive should be created for the rich and classical creations of Shankar Jaikishan where the works can be preserved for future generations to take inspiration from.

*****
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**
*

(1)

Dattaram, their Assistant also made immortal tunes like “Ansu Bhari Hai” in the film “Parvarish”, 1959, starring Raj Kapoor


(2)

My father Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, Ex chief Public Prosecutor, Bankshall Court,( CMM Court), Kolkata had solved a case relating to Music Rackett in HMV in the early 1980s. The Zonal manager of HMV, Mr. SriDaure gave him a present of HMV discs of film “diwana-composed by Shankar Jaikishan” and Disc of “ Pakiza- composed by Ghulam mohammad”. Mr. Sri Daure was involved with numerous immortal recordings of HMV and he mentioned that there was a song in Diwana, titled “ tumhare bhi jai jai, humare bhi jai jai, na tum hare, na hum hare”. The song was picturised with Raj kapoor staying in the railway station and Saira Banu travelling in a train. The song beat that was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan synchronised the actual sound of the movement of the train. It was only possible from Shankar-Jaikishan.It was reported in AnandaBazar Patrika, the Bengali Newspaper under the column of Ashis Ghosh.

(3)

Noted Music Director Anu Malik says that Raj Kapoor had dug a well full of everlasting music and Shankar Jaikishan drew water out of it

Article By: Souvik Chatterji

Assistant Director

CUTS International,
Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic Regulation
D-217, Bhaskar Marg,
Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India
Ph: 91.141.2282821 (Board)
http://www.cuts-ccier.org

Detective Stories of Satyajit Ray

Detective Stories of Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray was India's first internationally recognized film-maker and, 15 years after his death, still remains the most well-known Indian director on the world stage. Ray has written that he became captivated by the cinema as a young college student, and he was self-taught, his film education consisting largely of repeated viewings of film classics by De Sica, Fellini, John Ford, Orson Welles, and other eminent directors. With the release in 1955 of his first film Pather Panchali ("Song of the Road"), whose financing presented Ray with immense monetary problems, compelling him even to pawn his wife’s jewellery, he brought the neo-realist movement in film to India. Little could anyone have imagined that this first film would launch Ray on one of the most brilliant careers in the history of cinema, leading eventually not only to dozens of international awards, India’s highest honour, and a lifetime achievement Oscar from Hollywood, but the unusual accolade of being voted by members of the British Film Institute as one of the three greatest directors in world cinema.


Being a versatile genius of his times, much has been said about the skills used by Ray in transforming Celluloid from only a medium of entertainment to an arena of creative arts. Well known Directors of India namely Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and others have seen his first film Pather Panchali a number of times and learnt huge lessons relating to story telling in cinema. But much less has been said about Ray’s literary skills. Being a maestro of numerous number of Arts, including scripts, illustrations, music, his literature which predominantly was filmic got unnoticed. My entire childhood was flooded with crime thrillers of Ray being simplified for the children in series of stories of Feluda and Professor Shanku. [Feluda is the Private Investigator created by Satyajit Ray named “Pradosh Mitra” just like Fiction Character “Sherlock Holmes” created by Arthur Conan Doyle.] There were other writers of Bengal namely Premendra Mitra ( who have also made films on suspense thriller titled “Chupi Chupi Ase”, “Hanabari”), Hemendra Kumar Ray, Sunil Ganguly, Saradindu Bandopadhyay( Satyajit Ray’s film “ Chiriakhana” was based on his story where Uttamkumar played the role of Byomkesh Bakshi, a famous detective who solved a number of mysteries) [Chiriakhana was released in 1967 and won the National Film Award for Best Direction. Also Uttamkumar won the best Actor for playing the role of Satyanyeshi meaning founder of the truth] to name a few, who had attracted the attention of young readers and made a notable impact of stories relating to crime and punishment. But what was different in case of Ray’s literature was that he made the incidences cinematic. He always used to give description of the characters through ‘tapesh’ so that the chain of thoughts of the readers did coincide with the thoughts of the characters in his story.


When the same stories which were written, depicted by Ray were later made Films, they ended in excellence by their standards. The best example can be Sonar Kella ( The Golden Fortress). [Sonar Kella was released in 1974 , the film where Ray introduced the character “Jatayu” for the first time which was played by Santosh Dutta on who demise Ray stopped making any more films on stories of .Feluda ] Mukul, a young boy, was being haunted by memories of his previous life. He was taken to Dr. Hajra, a parapsychologist, for treatment. On discovering some drawings by Mukul that represented scenes from the past, Dr. Hajra believed that a Fortress in the drawings may be in Rajasthan. Dr. Hajra decided to take Mukul on a trip to Rajasthan in the hope that it might be a cure. A newspaper report caught the attention of two bandits. They kidnapped Mukul in hope of getting their hands on the treasure. The detective Feluda was engaged, along with his assistant Tapesh, to recover the child.

Sonar Kella was a bewitching comedy-thriller for children of all ages. An exciting and fun-filled journey that took audiences from Calcutta to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan including Felu and friends chasing a train on a camelbacks. It included beautiful color photography and use of color for dramatic effect.


The greatest skill of story-telling which was made evident by Ray was the use of coincidence. There is a scene where Feluda while travelling in a train from Kolkata to New Delhi was anticipating that the two Bandits to be in the same train with Dr. Hajra and Mukul if they have stayed in Delhi for one day and he anticipated any harsh step to be taken by the bandits. In the next scene Ray shows that Dr. Hajra is being pushed by Kamu Mukherjee who played the role of Mandar Bose from the cliff of Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur. [Nahargarh means the abode of Tigers. In Jaipur it is one of the most eminent tourist attractions. Satyajit Ray discovered that entire Jaipur can be seen from the summit of Nahargarh Fort. So he shot his sequence where Mandar Bose throws Dr. Hajra from the Cliff to kill him.] Ray realized that every reader while reading a story generally paints a picture of the person in their mind who is referred to in the story. So the writer or the novelist is supposed to give the details of the looks of the character to the readers .It became easy for him as he reached a level of excellence in illustration. The character “Jatayu” was intitially drawn in a different way. When Ray saw Santosh Dutta, the actor who played Jatayu in “Sonar Kella” and “Joy Baba Felunath”, he started drawing the character identically like Santosh Dutta. Seeing Satyajit Ray’s script full of illustrations is a treat for the eyes *. The film Sonar Kella was made for the children, but ended up in catching the attention of intellectual adult viewers, there were so many scientific aspects like telepathy, hypnotism employed in the film with justifications who reshuffled the knowledge base of viewers of different age.


Those readers who are addicted to read novels, short stories of Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle were also attracted towards literature composed by Ray. Besides the pictographic description of the places Ray used to describe ( Description of Lucknow in “ Badshahi Uncty”, description of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer in “Sonar Kella”, description of Benaras in “ Joy Baba Felunath”) was simply brilliant. Rays standard of perfection has given a new light on the historical, geographical, social and other aspects of every part of the world on where his stories were based. These days Sandip Ray makes films based on Satyajit Ray’s stories. [Sandip Ray had made films “Baksho Rahasya”, “ Bombaiyer bombete” and other films and TV serials on the stories of Satyajit Ray.] But the readers basically miss Ray’s literature which flooded the hearts of youth of the country with treasure of knowledge of different fields, subjects,dimentions. Research should be done on the literature of Satyajit Ray with same priority as the way his films are scanned. Detailed analysis of his literature can throw new light on the upcoming fresh talents of India who use their pen as a sword.


* [My Father, Sri Chitta Ranjan Chatterji, the then Chief Public Prosecutor of Bankshall Court, Kolkata was handling the brief of Sandip Ray ( son of Satyajit Ray) in a case where Uday Acharya, the brother of Nirmalya Acharya, denied to give Rays scripts which were with him, which were supposed to be kept in Nandan Archive under the supervision of Dr. Sur. The trunk containing the scripts of Ray were opened in Lalbazar, Kolkata Police Headquarters, where the scripts were unfolded. It included even the demi-newspaper called “ chandipurer Barta” used in the film Ganashatru by Ray . The case was reported in Anandabazar Patrika, Pratidin, The Statesman,etc in 1994.]

Article By Souvik Chatterji.

Master of Law from Warwick University,UK
LLM from Case Western Reserve University,USA

Assistant Director,
CUTS International Centre for Competition Investment and Economic Regulation, Jaipur, India
souvik_chatterji2000@yahoo.co.in

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• Satyajit Ray - A Visualizer and His Films

The Bollywood Curry Western

The magic of Sholay

Image courtesy: 216.168.37.61

It is often said that other than war, only three other things unify this vast and diverse nation of ours. They are Elections, Cricket and Movies. Of the movies, the one that must have been watched by the largest number of Indians to date would be “Sholay”. The movie is a cult classic, a trendsetter and an evergreen entertainer. Its impact in the popular culture of the country can be felt even today. One can find ads spoofing it or it being referenced in one way or the other in every Indian’s daily life. The excitement about the movie is expected to reach a crescendo with the imminent release of its remake by a prominent Bollywood director.

Released in 1975 and directed by Ramesh Sippy, Sholay is the story of a village where people live in perpetual fear of a bandit gang led by the infamous Gababr Singh. A retired police officer of the village named Thakur Baldev Singh, himself a victim of Gababr’s atrocities, enlists the services of two convicts to capture Gabbar. The two convicts Jaidev and Veeru learn during the course of their stay at the village that Thakur’s entire family was murdered by Gabbar (with the exception of his daughter-in-law, who was not at home at the moment). Thakur however is unable to take revenge upon Gabbar as the latter had cut off Thakur’s hands.

In the village, Veeru falls in love with the chatterbox Basanti who makes a living by riding a horse-cart. While the more serious Jaidev feels drawn to Radha, the reclusive widowed daughter-in-law. The duo of Veeru and Jai constantly thwarts the plans of the bandits when they try to raid the village. However matters come to a head when Viru is captured by the bandits when he tries to rescue a kidnapped Basanti from their clutches. How they overcome Gabbar and how Thakur extracts his revenge forms the rest of the story.

Image courtesy: sulekha.com

Sholay is considered a masterpiece mainly because it got all the ingredients of a blockbuster right as far as Indian movie audiences go. It had a high power star cast with some of the big names of the time in the industry collaborating in the movie. It even propelled the careers of future big names like Amitabh Bachan and Gabbar Singh. Often multi-starrers take away the focus of the director from telling the story to making the stars look good. However in this case though all the actors give powerhouse performances that enriches the movie to no end.

Sanjeev Kumar as the Thakur desperate for revenge is riveting and lends credibility to the character and his emotions. Dharmendra as the extrovert Viru is colourful and essays the role with ease. Amitabh Bachan as the serious Jaidev essays a role that would become a template for his future career defining roles. He would later go on to become a superstar on the back of those roles. Unusually for a movie of this kind the women are not degenerated to mere show pieces but have characters with substance to essay. Hema Malini essays the role of Basanti with such conviction that nobody hence has been able to essay the role of the chatterbox village belle with such aplomb. Jaya Bachan as the ill-fated widow gives a performance where her silence is as memorable as any of the great dialogues in the movie.

Image courtesy: dvdtimes.uk

But the tour de force performance of the movie definitely comes from Amjed Khan as the evil Gabbar Singh. It is ironic to think that he was not even the first choice for the role. He gives the character, which not just enjoys evil but actually revels in it, a larger than life attribute that makes both the character as well as his performance truly memorable. He gave such a great performance that all his subsequent performance never seemed to achieve the same heights.

The movie as said earlier had all the ingredients of a Bollywood blockbuster: good music, a comedy track and drama. The background music by R.D. Burman enhances the underlying tension in the movie manifolds. But the real stars of the movie are the script-writer duo of Salim and Javed. Sholay was one of those movies which had its dialogues released in audio cassettes. It went on to become bestseller on its own. Every kid in India even today knows at least one memorable dialogue from the movie.

Image courtesy : thirdi.org

The technicalities of the movie too were brilliant for the time it was released. Ramesh Sippy captured the mood of the movie to a T by shooting it in the rocky taverns of Ramanagaram. The place is so much identified with the movie that a part of it was later renamed ‘Sippynagar’. His techniques were innovative. As part of the story he would have been required to show some brutally violent scenes. His use of symbolism not only helped him get past the strict censors of the time but also gave the movie that masterly feel of leaving the more brutal scenes to the imagination of the audience. This in fact made those scenes even more terrifying without actually showing any gory details. It also helped that the great action sequences in the movie were conceived by someone from Hollywood. It was also the first 70mm stereophonic Indian movie that enhanced the theatre experience of the film.

When the movie got released it was not met with favorable reviews or response. Many felt it was a flawed attempt at making a Spaghetti Western with Indian values. Theatre owners wanted the length of the movie to be shortened. Many trade insiders and columnists even started declaring it as an expensive flop. Then slowly the cinema halls started to fill up with people who came to watch the movie because their friends liked it. All of a sudden the movie became a cult craze and queues that stretched more than a kilometer began to be formed outside the theatres. People began to watch the movie multiple times and it became usual to meet people who have watched the movie 30-40 times. So much so that later on the shows became a karaoke experience with the entire audience mouthing dialogs in unison with the actors on screen!

Image courtesy : thirdi.org

The movie was later declared a superhit and went on to become the highest grossing film in Indian movie history. Some claim that it still is when you consider inflation and other factors. It created history when it ran in Bombay’s Minerva theatre continuously for 5 years. In its wake several films were released that tried to cash in on the trend of multi-starrers and male bonding. But none of them were able to recapture the magic of Sholay. When it was shown on Indian televisions for the first time in 1994 it is said that streets became empty during its screening. Sholay epitomizes the magic of the Bollywood even today.

Bollywood for the NRIs

But is quality suffering?

Image Coutesy : nriinternet.com

Bollywood over the last decade has made some great strides as far as theme and quality of movies goes. Over the same period we have also seen an avalanche of movies catering to the Non Resident Indian market. With a very large Diaspora of Indians all over the world Bollywood has gained by playing to these audience’s sentiments about their homeland. With mushy patriotic fares which preach about Indian values and culture Bollywood has managed to hit the nail bang on the “heart” as far as the NRIs are concerned. But is it all at the expense of quality?

Bollywood began catering to the NRI market with movies that dealt with large Punjabi weddings. ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ (or more popularly called DDLJ) showed the vast possibilities of the NRI market to Bollywood. But the movie that really exploited its true potential was the movie ‘Taal’, which did more business overseas than in the domestic market. From then on we have seen movies made specifically for the NRI market especially the US and UK sectors. We now have movies about the lives of NRIs, shooting locations all over the world, premiers and award ceremonies all over the world with the intention of giving Bollywood more exposure globally.

Image Coutesy : tribuneindia.com

But have we really made any inroads globally? Indian cinema still fails to capture the imagination of audiences who are not of Indian origin. It is still looked upon as elaborate song and dance, melodramatic affairs with little meaning or substance. The only mainstream Bollywood movie to make any sort of inroads in the west was ‘Lagaan’. The reason it did was because it had the technical brilliance and the backing of a brilliant screenplay to make it big anywhere in the world.

In the last one year alone we have had movies like ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehana’, ‘Namastey London’ and ‘Ta Ra Rum Pum’ based on the lives of NRIs. All these movies have had varying degrees of success. This is all fine. But what Bollywood should realize is that movies make it big not by targeting a particular audience but by telling good stories. Movie makers should be more concerned with telling a good story in as entertaining a way as possible rather than being concerned with what their audiences would and would not like.

Image Coutesy : sawf.rg

Please do not get us wrong. We are not saying that Bollywood should never make movies about NRIs. What we are saying that they should not be trying to make movies for NRIs alone. By concentrating on a particular market segment alone they are foregoing the opportunity to grow. Such short sighted methods may yield dividends over the short run but it could be harmful in the long run. By concentrating solely on the lives of the affluent classes of the society Bollywood is denying itself the chance to explore the rich and vibrant stories from the other strata of society.

Currently Bollywood is selling itself short by jumping onto one particular bandwagon or the other. They should try to break free of the submissive mindset that has been dogging them and should try to take some calculated risks. For that first of all the industry needs to start dreaming big. Bollywood is just one step away from making it really big internationally. All it needs is just one breakthrough and then the floodgates would open as far as good quality movies go. And they should also learn that the word international does not mean the NRIs alone. We should dream of a day when our movies too are able to break geographical and linguistic boundaries and is watched by everyone and not just NRIs all over the world.

Nishabd – Movie Review

Bollywood moves one step forward

Image Courtesy: IndiaFm.com

Ram Gopal Verma always tells a story in a very realistic way. He is able to bring strong and controversial themes on to the screen and has to catch the audience unawares. From Rangeela to Satya to now Nishabd. He has shown both versatility and courage in trudging the path not much traveled in bollywood.

Nishabd is the story of an elderly man’s love towards a young girl who is still in her teens. More disturbing (by Indian values) is that she is his daughter’s friend. Jia (Jiah Khan), the girl in question comes to Vijay’s (Amitabh Bachan) house on vacation from Australia. Vijay, a photographer by profession, is attracted to the spirit of this brash, in your face, carefree girl, as well as her legs. As he makes it abundantly clear, this is not a ‘love at first sight’ affair that we usually find in regular bollywood movies.

As for Jia, the movie doesn’t make it clear what her true feelings are for the older man. Maybe she is attracted to his intelligence, as any younger person in a relationship would feel towards an older partner. Maybe it’s just an infatuation born out of a lack of father figure in her own life or maybe it could be just that she truly loves him. We are none the wiser at the end of the movie.

Image Courtesy: hindu.com

The reason we do not find this out is because the movie is entirely told from Vijay’s viewpoint. We therefore know more about his feelings for the girl than her feelings towards him even though she is seen as encouraging his feelings and certainly as making the first advances towards him. We understand his inner turmoil and almost feels sorry for him.

RGV’s direction is very efficient. He tells the story at a pace that suits the overall pace of the movie. He has picturised the whole movie in a tinge of grey perhaps symbolizing the theme of the movie itself. He plays around with the camera angles giving us a topsy turvy view of the doomed relationship, not to mention the legs. Yes, legs play a huge part of this movie to the point of being obsessive.

The star of the movie undoubtedly is Amitabh Bachan. For someone like me who has grown up watching his successful onscreen image of an angry young man, it was unnerving to watch him being so utterly vulnerable. And I am saying that in a good way. The Big B is now able to break free of the constraints and compulsions which used to bog him down his earlier career. He is now able to play roles which he could not have dreamed of earlier.

Image Courtesy: movies.sulekha.com

His vulnerability just pours out of the screen. He conveys most of the emotions very clearly without the use of his biggest asset, his voice. He does much of his emoting through his eyes. You can sense his pain, his lust and his love for Jia solely through his eyes. RGV makes much use of this with his trademark close-up shots. If in Sarkar he used that to convey power, here he uses it for a totally different effect. Big B even uses his formidable gait to convey the shame he feels while confronting his family with his feelings.

The rest of the cast does their job with aplomb. The newcomer Jia plays her role with sensuality and exudes rebellion in her every look. But strangely I did not find her as sexy as some of Verma's other heroines. Most notably Urmila. Revathy and Nazer too gives a creditable performance.

Image Courtesy: Photobucket.com

My only grouse with the movie is that the ending seemed a bit too sudden and forced. We are not given enough time to digest Vijay’s disintegration into nothingness. But still this is a brave step forward for bollywood. Eventhough we still have a long way to go in handling tough and uneasy themes, every step taken towards it should still be applauded.

Rating: 3.5/5

Bollywood

Bold New Bollywood

There has always been a set formula for any Bollywood movie over the years. It would either be a love story or it would be an action thriller (read revenge movie). In the love story, boy would meet girl and would promptly fall in love with each other at the drop of a hat. One of them would be poor and the other rich. Their families would fight tooth and nail over their pairing. Ultimately love conquers all and all is well that ends well. As for the action movies, some great injustice or crime might be committed against the hero and the rest of the movie would be his quest for vengeance, in which he would ultimately succeed. Add to this lavishly picturized songs and a ridiculous comedy track and you have your Bollywood movie made. All this has changed in the last one year.

If you look at the movies released last year they are vastly different form one another. From Bollywood’s first super hero in ‘Krishh’ to the thought provoking ‘Rang De Basanthi’. From ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ to ‘Kabul Express’ to ‘Dhoom 2’ the movies have been vastly different from one another.

In ‘Krish’ India received its own version of Superman and it immediately was taken to hearts by the kids of this country. The day of merchandising too arrived along with it and Bollywood made tons of money form the whole brand. If Krsih was an out and out commercial venture, ‘Rang De Basanthi’ proved that movies can in fact influence people’s thinking and get them motivated to raise their voices. It showed today’s generation not to take anything lying down and to raise their voice against injustice. The movie’s theme was so influential it had its repercussion in real life issues like the Jessica Lal, the Priyadarshini Mattoo and the Nitish Katara murder cases. The public outcry against the injustice in these cases were amazingly similar to the events depicted in the film.

‘Lage Raho Munnabahai’ made Gandhi cool to a generation who has now forgotten his values or even more shameful, has forgotten him itself. They re-introduced Gandhi and his philosophies to those who think that he was only a part of some bygone fable. The movie did this by showing Gandhi’s teachings in a package more digestible to the new generation and they lapped it up with open arms.

‘Kabul Express’ was one of those rare road movies in Bollywood. This movie was about two Indian journalists traveling to post 9/11 Afghanistan and the events and people they meet along the way. It was completely different from anything the Indian audience had witnessed before.

Dhoom 2, was a complete high budget commercial flick. It belonged to the action adventure genre and became the biggest hit of the year. It even had a much talked about kissing scene between Hrithink Roshan and Aishwarya Rai. Add to that some superb visual effects, by Indian standards, and the movie went on to become a nationwide hit.

Even the king of formula film making in Bollywood, Karan Johar, had to get out of his comfort zone to make ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’. Johar who usually deals with opulent love stories was forced to tackle a serious subject like infidelity and incompatibility in marriages. It is another matter that he still managed to candy floss the matter in his own way. The point is that filmmakers today realize that the audience requires something different and with substance to sustain their interest.

The shift from the formula films to these bold new ventures have not come overnight. It has been building up for quite some time. The main reason, one feels, is that Bollywood now is catering to a much more international audience than ever before. Films released abroad regularly collects as much, if not more than those released in India, thanks mainly due to the huge Indian Diaspora. The film makers know that to satisfy this audience, who has grown up on a steady diet of Hollywood movies, they will have to travel the off beat path of film making. Also the awareness of the Indian audience too has increased due to the accessibility of western movies via the numerous movie channels available here.

The recent movie Nishabdh is a prime example of the changing face of Bollywood. The movie which deals with the story of a 60 year old man’s love for an 18 year old is bold as well as daring by Indian values and conventions. Can anyone have imagined this movie being made some 5 years back?

These are interesting times in Bollywood. Even though we still have a long way to go in dealing with controversial subjects objectively in our movies, we seem to be moving in the right direction. Let’s hope we would continue in the same vein and deal with sensitive topics in a most sensible way.