Karanvir Gupta

3rd May 1913 was the day when the first indigenousIndian film 'Raja Harishchandra' was shown publicly inCoronation Cinema, Mumbai (Bombay then). It isbelieved that Pundalik was released the preceding yearbut couldn't make it to the title of first because it hadBritish cinematographers. Now this is what you callpatriotism! Well the man behind the dawn of Indian Cin-ema is DhundiRaj Govind Phalke aka Dadsaheb Phalkeafter whom is instituted Dadsaheb Phalke Award givento the outstanding film personalities in each calendaryear with the recent one been given to Pran, the famousvillain and the first one given to Devika Rani in the year1969.

CINEMA IN DECADES:

Come, let's take a dip into this glorious past and seehow the tale of Indian Cinema was penned down. Thoughit started with Raja Harsihchandra(1913) and while AlamAra, the first talkie was released in 1931, there were intotal 209 silent films made in the span. LankaDahan(1917) and Kalia Mardan(1919) were the biggesthits of the time. 1935 was the year which witnessed megablasters like Devdas-the story of wasted love and AchhutKanya-the story of a Brahmin boy falling in love withuntouchable girl. It kick started the love and romancestories. Coming to the 50's; Dilip Saheb, Dev Saheb, andRaj Kapoor had stolen the show. The Silver screen wasbuzzing with their super skilled acting, impeccable dia-logue delivery and above all their off screen good image.Mother India (1957), Naya Daur(1957) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960) were blockbusters. Then came the timesof elicit love of "Ya-hoo". Yes, Shammi Kapoor dawnedthe screen. Along with, Rajendra Kumar and RajeshKhanna became the names of household. Ganga Jamu-na (1961), Sangam (1964), Araadhna and Do Raaste(1969) and Mera Naam Joker (1970) were all the moviesof 70's. And then Bollywood dumped romance for actionwith the angry young man(Amitabh Bachchan) makingan entry into the industry. Bobby(1973), Sholay(1975)and Muqaddar ka sikandar (1978) were the biggest hitsof this time. 80's was the time when industry was pre-carious because of the video piracy. And there weremany flops during this time. Still, our actors made it andwe had Kranti(1981), Ram Teri Ganga Maili(1985) andMaine Pyaar Kiya (1989) which won the hearts of Indi-an audience. Now started the family drama in the 90'swhich was actually applauded by many. Hum Aapke HainKaun (1994), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayegne (1995) werechartbusters. And after that came the decade of Khans,which needs no mentioning and is still ruling on!

SPICED UP:

Spanning over the times Bollywood generated lot ofspice inside the industry with the alleged affairs someof which include Dev Anand-Suraiya; Randhir-Babita;Dharmendra-Hema; Amitabh-Rekha; Rishi Kapoor-Neetu and there were many which died their own deathor found solace in real life too. One such esteemed pairis that of Dilip Saheb and Saira Bano (the lead actressof "Yahooo" song). They are happily married till now.Hats-Off!! But then it became too common for the indus-try to witness such link-ups and move on.

It would be unfair on my part if I do not take you acrossthe baddies without whom I guess our industry wouldhave been so incomplete. Pran, Prem Chopra, AmjadKhan, Ranjit, Amrish Puri, Kader Khan, Shakti Kapoorwith their peculiar style of oratory and screen presenceadded salt and pepper to the whole story. Women wereno less; Bindu, Aruna Irani were all time favourite. Andone who can't be forgotten ever is the 'golden girl'-Helen. She danced, she was quixotic, She would lovethe actor more than the actress and die at the end for

two of them to lead a happy life. She was charismatic.She despite the fact doing so sensuous numbers gainedrespect from nook and cranny of India. She is the onewho devised the formula called 'item-number' which ourmodern girls have not been able to catch, not even a biteither of her oomph or style.

DIALOGUE BAAZI:

We absolutely have no doubt about their surpassedand unmatched dialogues. If songs were the catch ofthe movie, dialogues were the punch lines. Dialoguesare what made the movies so distinct and rememberedfor their uniqueness.

Here are some the evergreen dialogues:* Devdas (Dilip Kumar): Kaun kambakht bardasht karne ke

liye peeta hai, main toh peeta hoon ke bas saans le sakoon.* Waqt (Raj Kumar): Chenoy Seth...jinke apne ghar sheeshe

ke hote hain, woh doosron ke ghar pe pathar nahi fenkakarte.

* Sholay (Gabbar Singh alias Amjad Khan): kitne aadmithey....??

* Deewar (Shashi Kapoor): Mere paas maa hai.* Kalicharan (Ajit): Saara shahar mujhe loin ke naam se jaan-

ta hai.* Mr. India (Amrish Puri): Mogambo khush hua*I shqiya (Arshad Warsi): Tumhara pyaar pyaar, humara

pyaar s*x.It was a fashion in our industry to tag the actors and actress-

es such as Asha Parekh was the tragic queen, Hema Malini-The Dream Girl, Helen-The Golden Girl, Madhuri Dixit-TheDancing Queen, Amitabh Bachchan-The Angry Young Man, etc.

Such epithets would make them even more special and classapart. The names conferred to them by the local masses andtheir fans have been etched in the history of industry for ever.

DID YOU KNOW?

Do you know that Madhubala started acting at theage of 9 due to financial constraints at family and to sup-port her huge family. Out of 70 films she worked in, only15 were successful but yet her demand by producersand directors were exorbitant and Jwala is the onlycoloured movie she has worked in except for Technicol-or sequences in Mughal-e-Azam. Also, can you imag-ine that quite a part of the movie was shot when DilipKumar and Madhubala had split-apart in real life? Welltill date Mughal-e-Azam ranks second in all time box-office hits in Indian cinema after Sholay. Do you knowreal name of Meena Kumari was Mahajabeen Bano andshe wanted to study rather than to act? It took sixteenyears to complete filming movie Pakeezah due to dif-ferences between her and the director who was her hus-band too, Kamal Amrohi. Dev Anand fell in deep lovewith Suraiya after an incident where boat was capsizedwhile shooting for a song in movie Vidya and he savedher life but due to objections at Suraiya's family, theydecided not to marry and Suraiya spent the whole lifeas spinster. It is fun to know that Dev Anand and GuruDutt became friends when they wore each other shirtsexchanged by common dhobi and met at Prabhat Filmstudios at Pune. Guru Dutt is the person who first usedthe song to further the narrative of the story and used100mm lens for close up shots. This was first used in

the movie Baazi in the year 1951. There are many suchstories which astonish you in bewilderment and evenincrease the craze for the film world. (It is a deliberateattempt to narrate incidents from earlier era as post 70'smedia became more active and today's populace wouldbe aware of quite a few anecdotes.)

BUT WHAT MADE THEM DIFFERENT?

What amazes me most is what was so special aboutstars of that day that made them so distinct, unique andlikeable. What is that our stars of today are not able to gethold of. No doubts that the industry has corporatized andit has become more of business rather than an art formand we have lot of fan clubs but there was a mystique andclass attached to the actors of yester years. Why the starshave not been able to secure a place so secured as thestars of those times were able to do. The prime reason Ifeel is the habit of stars then to be themselves. Be it RajKumar with his peculiar voice and tone, be it Ajit, ReenaRoy, Shabaana Aazmi, Rekha, Nutan, Keshtu Mukherjee,Mehmood, Israni. They were all just themselves. Thismade them all unique. It can be said that if same scriptwas given to different actors of that time, each moviewould have been a different view altogether.

CINEMA WORLD TODAY?

The Indian cinema has undergone major changes.Now it is not just about On-Screen people but also aboutthe people back stage, technical staff, lyricist, singers,choreographers, etc. All have their share of fame andapplaud. This is one good thing which has happened inthe industry over the years of its evolution. There is ascope for off-beat movies like I Am by Onir, Dev D byAnurag Kashyap, Vicky Donor by Shoojit Sircar, Gangsof Wasseypur, etc. With each passing year we areadding new things to the kitty. Contrary to this, there arechanges which are not much appreciable like doingaway with the songs which have become impositionsrather than part of narrative. Songs is what makes Indi-an cinema separate from the rest of the world. So it isbetter not let them go. Then there is so much of sequeland remake going on which somehow reflects dearth ofideas. The originality is somehow missing. The movieshave less impressive dialogues, less of original play-back singing, less of content and more of money mint-ing techniques. You mint and enter "the club" but let'snot hurt the sanctity of the industry which has come sofar treading a path for itself which people still want toenjoy and cherish.

THE STANDING OVATION:

Completing 100yrs of Indian Cinema; AnuragKashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and KaranJohar have come up with a movie called BombayTalkies released on 3rd May, the date of release andname of the movie very well chosen! All said and done,Ladies and Gentlemen, now is the time to give aSTANDING ovation to all our actors, producers, direc-tors, musicians, technical staff without whom it wouldhave been incomplete and a little less of a saga. Letus give a thundering applause to the industry that hasentertained us over the span of 100years with its hearttouching stories, fabulous narratives, finest playbacksinging, and overwhelming hard work. They have beenindefatigable in delivering to their fans the best of whatthey had in store. And we are all pleased to have themhere. With all respect, adulations and love, we requestyou to keep entertaining us in the years to come. Wewish that industry keeps its originality and sanctity andmay there never be dearth of ideas. We are alreadyvisible at the global platform be it Grammys or Cannes.We are known worldwide. Let's hope that we are knownfor The Best and the finesse. And this caravan goeson and on.....!!

SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2013 INTERNET EDITION : www.dailyexcelsior.com/magazine

CELEBRATING 100 YRS OF INDIAN CINEMA

What makes you popular even today?I have spread as much as love possible in the last 50 years via my

films, personal life … I have given only love to whoever I met in life.But I have received a lot more love from people.

What if one morning you wake up to realize that people havestopped loving you?

If people will stop loving me, I will climb on to a tank and then amausi (aunt) will come and reassure that you people still love me(recalling the famous scene from 1975 blockbuster Sholay).

You are the original He-Man of Bollywood. Do you think therewill be a second He-Man in Hindi films?

Now-a-days everyone is a He-Man … look at our heroes now … theyhave reached almost nine-packs these days. But if you have seen Dharam-Veer (1977), you will know that I was not into making packs but pegs.

Unlike your contemporaries, you were never seen running forthe top position. Why is that?

Trust me, in the 60s, 70s and 80s, had I wanted, then I won't havelet any hero move forward even by an inch ... I had that much caliber.You know this race to the No. 1 position only makes life complex foryou; then you tend to concentrate more on numbers than your work.It's better to be at ease and keep working honestly. I don't want to beinside people's brain that keeps comparing continuously, because I livein people's heart, a place from where no one can throw me out. This ismy guarantee. We must learn how to stay in people's heart … that'smore important than the number race.

Tell us about your upcoming film Yamla Pagla Deewana 2.We have tried to make it better than the f irst one (Yamla

Pagla Deewana, 2011). I am sure we wil l succeed in our efforts.As usual me and Bobby (Deol) are playing conmen. In this f i lm

I don't even spare my innocent elder son (Sunny Deol) somuch so that in the end he says "Papa, ab baas karo".

Whose idea was it to make a sequel to Yamla Pagla Dee-wana?

Now it has become a trend of our film industry that when-ever a film becomes a hit, its title becomes a brand. The mak-ers then want to take the franchise forward. Same thing hap-pened with Yamla Pagla Deewana 2. But I won't take the cred-it for coming up with the idea, rather the film belongs to us all- writer, director, actors, and the entire crew. Though the ideafirst strikes the father, but it is when the children start makingtheir contributions, we get a good harvest. Similarly, I had athought of making a sequel and then Sunny, Bobby andSangeeth Sivan (director) said "yes" and thus the project waskicked off.

Is it the same story moving forward?No. It is a completely new story only the three of our charac-

ters are same. Is there a higher comfort level when you are playing father

to your real life sons on screen too? When the camera rolls, we forget how we are in our private

lives. For example, during the shooting of Yamla Pagla Deewana2, I used to become chalu Dharmendra, Bobby aur bhi chalu andSunny the sharif baccha. And when the camera was turned off,all three of us used to go our way. I used to ask Sunny and Bob-by to sit with me and chat up, but they were more interested intalking to people of their age. So I used to go to the park and lookout for people of my age. And since I am quite young, many youthused to flock around me. —(TWF)

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‘I live in people's heart’Bollywood's original He-Man Dharmendra is all heart. The man is

unbelievably down-to-earth, hungry not for fame, but people's

love. Sreya Basu chats up with the veteran actor in Mumbai.