Mr. India

Submitted by sorabh on Wed, 12/31/2008 - 14:11
in

Some time back I revisited those "Sunday-Afternoons-On-DD" times  ... or ... those "Watching-Movies-On-VCR" times ... when accidently I stumbled upon the Filmy channel ... showing  Mr. India. 

There are some things Mr. India has in common with the western superhero scripts:

  • a normal, true citizen assumes powers by serendipity;
  • the lead lady is in love with the super-hero but has no idea who he is;
  • the lady, though, knows this guy in real life;
  • the lead-lady works for a daily ...

... but this film is so bollywood-ish and yet so enthralling. One of today's kids might write the same thing about the movie Krissh ... but for me, Krissh is, simply, a third-class super-hero movie when compared to Mr. India. Rakesh Roshan might be a director in his own right - but Shekhar Kapur's Mr. India is a timeless piece ... 

Coincidently, I also saw one of those television magazines ask Shekhar Kapur if he will make a sequel to Mr. India ... to which the man replied, "Can't ... without Amrish as Mogambo ... just can't." How very true .. isn't it?

I can never imagine a director of today ever trying to put these things in one film - and make it atleast watchable. These following things are also my cherry-picked, most-memorable items from the movie:

1) Mogambo! It's been around a score of years, and it might take another score to create a legendary villain like Mogambo. Credit to Amrish Puri, or the writers (Salim-Javed, who also created Gabbar Singh), or Shekhar Kapur - but the reality is - there will be no one like him!
2) The funny missiles located at some weird island - all pointing towards the 4 corners of India! :)
3) The bunch of innocent children (where's the innocence gone from the children of today??)
4) The parody of old Hindi numbers that becomes, and remains till today, the best parody of all. All know that Aftab played a cool role in this movie, but you can also see Ahmed Khan, today's big-time choreographer, dancing in this song (the child with the ever-smiley face ... which has stuck with Ahmed Khan till today)!!
5) Calendar! (Reminds me of another one very funny name in Rekha's Khoobsurat. The role was played by Keshto Mukherjee ... and the name was, "Asharfi Laal")!
6) Anu Kapoor - the editor! You just can't forget the famous scene when Mr. India steps into his office, can you?!
7) Jai Bajrang Bali - need I say more about this scene?! 
8) Sridevi as Charlie Chaplin - Think about it - can you imagine any actress from today's bakwaas era doing a Chaplin like Sridevi did it?! 
9) Kaate Nahin Kat-te - Again, the least said about this 'chiffony' song, the better!
10) Zindagi Ki Yahi Reet Hai - Kishore's very memorable, and pleasing song. The lyrics are as true as they are simple. 
11) The Hawa Hawaii song! Again, hats off to Sridevi's sense of comic! It probably runs in her blood. Bring her on today and she will do it again! Probably this was one of the best songs sung by Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, and she sung it with such a tickling voice! But here's something equally tickling - the lyrics of the opening stanza - look what all was penned by Javed Akhtar to make things sound Chinese,
 
"Chee Haw Haw Honolulu Lu Lu Lu Lu Honolulu,
 Hing bi ki, Hong Kong, King Kong,
 I see Nucy, you see Lucy,
 असि तुसि लस्सी पिसि (I lyuvvv this one!!!)
 Mombasa, Ping Pong!!"
 
God!! 
 
12) The Bracelet - The multi-gemmed, disco-lighted gadget!
 
Have been waiting to write about Mr. India for quite some time - and for some reason I felt like writing today. Out of the 3-4 people who read this blog, I dedicate this post to Chadha on his birthday! 
 
Chadhe! Happy Birthdays to you and Ishmeet - and probably you can drink lassi together and sing, "असि तुसि लस्सी पिसि!!"
 
Here's the signoff:
 
Egotist: a person more interested in himself than in me.
- Ambrose Bierce
 
 

Previous 5 Posts

If You Love Football ...
After a long time, Sari and me farted on the sidelines of the footer field. Those were the days ...!

The Brilliance of Life Continues
If there's one thing I value the most in life, it's my health. If there's one thing that I can devote completely to, it's sports. The last week or so has been the most demanding, most torturous collection of days in recent times - all because of the amount of physical activities I am taking my body through. Life is so good!

Few Reasons Why I Miss Bangalore
I will never understand why people like Bangalore so much ... probably it's those people who are well settled in some North Indian residential society, with a secure IT job, and a weather to kill for. For random products like me, Bangalore was faaaaar from satiating ... it wasn't even close to pleasing. However, there were a few things ... things that helped me sustain/tolerate Bangalore for 3 years (almost).

Indian Merchandising - Those Apes!
Merchandizing, in India, is still in the concept stage - and a few bodies who are trying to execute their strategies are getting it all wrong - as it seems to me. I use this post to vent my vehement frustrations on how our sports bodies have stopped thinking much about how to approach the entire merchandising concept.

Cracked! This Is What Women Want
While the world's been wondering on what women really want in life, I have it all figured out over here! And whom do I have to thank for this ...? A typical, normal, stinking street dog! I think street dogs are amazing ... they live life on their own terms, sleep when they have to, wherever they want to, and roam around like lions on the streets at nights. Plus, the have some weird cute quotient that extracts all those "oohs" and "wowwwws" from the women.

My Current Fav. Number!

Mere Bina - Nikhil D'Souza - Crook
(before you read on, listen to this song here ... opens in a new window).

Emraan Hashmi (exactly one day younger to me in life ... 24th March 1979 - 23rd March 1979) seems to get all the wonderful songs of this era - well almost. It's not co-incidental, though ... he literally works for the Bhatt banner, and the Bhatt banner keeps it simple with its films: thriller scripts woven by an erotic thread, and different-plus-good music (original or whatever) ...
(read more)

Idiots Love Idioms!

Play by Ear

Submitted by sorabh on Mon, 09/12/2011 - 22:37
When I first heard this phrase (that was yesterday, when I finally downloaded and watched the movie ... oops ... the brilliant Korean movie, "In Mood For Love" ... recommended vehemently by Parle urf Prateek Mehta), I thought that probably a word was missing. Grammatically, it should have been, "Play by the ear", no? I thought may be the subtitles guy had got it wrong ...

A little bit of etymology research revealed that the phrase was first spoken in the Shakespearean era ... and I would rather not talk about the grammatical ways of those times. So, "Play by ear" it is!

The phrase holds a similar meaning to the phrase, "Cross the bridge when it comes" ... as in, act impromptu as per the situation's demands ...

Neat, methinks! Next time someone asks me about my plans regarding whatever, I would probably be blahing, "Hmmm ... no plans ... I'll play by ear ... " ... and then show-off at length about my love for idioms/figures-of-speech ... :P

(see all the idioms cherry picked by me)!