Tough Films to Remake

 My list includes Hindi films here-

1. Chupke Chupke

2. Padosan

3. Sholay

4. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi

5. Guide

Each of these was magical, in its own way. And that magic, I don't think anybody can re-create. The casting, particularly, was bang-on. I can't picture anyone other than Waheeda and Dev Anand in Guide! Or anyone filling the shoes of Mehmood and Kishore Kumar in Padosan. Or Om Prakash in Chupke Chupke. The three brothers with their own quirks brought so much to the table in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, along with the Mesmerising Madhubala. Sholay had Asrani, Jagdeep, A.K. Hangal, Viju Khote apart from Amjad Khan in unforgettable roles. Mac Mohan too, with just one dialogue.

Of course, the music too. 

Hrishikesh Mukherjee- Birth Anniversary Tribute

He was, in my view, one of the finest directors of films. His sense of what worked on screen was impeccable. Watch any of his classics, and you might agree. Anand, for instance, is forever etched in my mind, though I first saw it in the early 70s when it was released. Every scene is a lesson in film-making. The dialogue, the acting, and everything else seems perfect. He was minimalistic, and no scene stretched beyond what was needed.

It is no joke to make a comedy. It was not one, but many that he made, in a fashion I have not seen since then. Gol Maal with Amol Palekar in a "double character" (and a manic Utpal Dutt) can make you roll on the floor. So can Chupke Chupke. He was also good in serious cinema, like Namak Haraam, or Abhimaan.

His early films, like Biwi aur Makaan were good, though not as popular as his other films. Satyakaam was one about a man who never gave up his principles in life-played very convincingly by Dharmendra. Bawarchi was a later film about a warring joint family brought together by a jolly cook who works for them, brilliantly played by Rajesh Khanna.

Hard guy to follow..he set very high standards. 

Endearing Film Characters

The two profs in Chupke Chupke are not professorial at all, and are funny in the extreme. Dharmendra and Amitabh in  roles that paralleled Sholay in quality, for me.

Sunil Dutt as Bhola in Padosan, Saira Banu as his haughty but music-loving neighbour.

Mehmood as a Charlie-Chaplin look-alike in Aulad. He sings "Jodi hamari jamega kaise jaani, hum to hain angezi, tum ladki Hindustani"with Aruna Irani in the film.

Om Prakash as Jijaji in Chupke Chupke, a lover of Shuddh Hindi.

Ramesh Deo and Seema Deo in Anand. Very real, and beautifully portrayed.

Jaya Bhaduri in Mili-slightly over-the-top, but her character was like that.

Keshto Mukherjee in all his films, playing a drunkard.

Soorma Bhopali aka Jagdeep in Sholay.

Pran as a Pathan in Zanjeer. Yaari hai imaan mera yaar meri zindagi, he sings in the film, and how!

Rajesh Khanna in Bawarchi-the goodness of his character comes through in each frame.

Deven Verma and Sanjeev Kumar in Angoor. Fabulously innocent.

Naseer and Ravi Baswani in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Satish Shah in the same film.

Saeed Jaffrey in Chashme Baddoor.

Zeenat Aman in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, as the girl who gets into drugs.

Shreyas Talpade in Iqbal.

Circuit (Arshad) in Munnabhai MBBS.

Aditi (Genelia D'souza) in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na played an easy-going teen. Reminded me of Ayesha Takia in Socha Na Tha.

Abhay Deol and Diana Penty in Happy Bhag Jayegi impressed me a lot.

The two girls in Dangal were great.

Kangana in Queen was also one of the best.

The World of Hrishikesh Mukherjee- Book Review

I thought I knew everything about him. But this book was revealing, to say the least. Many of his movies I have seen, but many others I came to know about. Musafir, Biwi aur Makaan (delightful comedy available on Youtube), Anuradha (starred Leela Naidu and Balraj Sahni), Anupama (this has my favourite song- Dheere dheere machal aye dil-e-beqaraar), and many more.

Dharmendra plays hero in his Satyakam, a story of an idealistic man who will not compromise on his values, and suffers in a world of corruption and compromise. The same Dharmendra plays a comic role (role of his life?) in Chupke Chupke, an all-time favourite film of mine.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee appeals to me for one more reason. He was a GREAT editor. His movies have an economy of shots that you rarely see in Hindi films. Many films are classics, and can be watched multiple times, such as Bawarchi, Gol Maal, Naram Garam, Khubsoorat.

The author brings out many little things about his films and working style- David playing sutradhaar (narrator/link-man) in many films, smaller characters getting prominence along with lead actors (Lalita Pawar or Johny Walker in Anand), his discipline on the sets.

Anari (typical Raj Kapoor) was directed by him, and so was Buddha Mil Gaya, a muder mystery! He used Deven Varma well in many films. He also used many different music directors in his films, and was modern in his thoughts about relationships (In Khubsoorat, Rekha calls the elderly Ashok Kumar 'boyfriend'). His characters had an everyday feel, you find them believable, and sometimes outrageously funny. He never had villains in his films-didn't need them. People with quirks were good enough (Utpal Dutt the moustache-worshipper in Gol Maal).

A superb read!