Favourite Actors

First, the women.

Smita Patil was really classy, in my view. Top spot.

Tabu comes close. I liked her in Cheeni kum, Hera Pheri, The Namesake,..

Vidya Balan. Takes your breath away, in some of her roles, like Parineeta.

Deepti Naval. Chashme baddoor!

Nimrat Kaur was very good in The Luchbox. Taapsee Pannu in Pink. Nandita Das in Fire.

Rekha in Khubsoorat.

The Men.

Irrfan in almost any film of his.

Naseeruddin Shah in Masoom is the one I remember the most..and Jaane Bhi Do Yaro, the greatest black comedy.

Om Puri in Ardh Satya. Ditto.

Amjad Khan in Sholay.

Abhay Deol.

Rahul Bose.

There are favourite stars too, for different reasons.

My Ideal Person

I am an evolved being- at least that's what I like to think, after all these years on the planet. So my choice of humans is those with some or all of the following qualities-

Fun, not overly serious about every little thing going on.

Good singers- I like music, so Cacofonix is certainly not a favourite. Actually, good atany creative arts.

Courteous, and not just to the boss or superior. Just naturally.

One who laughs a lot. Related to no. 1, but not exactly the same thing.

One who clearly prefers a human to a mobile phone (it's a thing for me).

Sensible too, if possible, but that's not essential :)

Dimple and Not so Simple

This is a list of my favourite heroines from films. Naturally, from my era-mostly.

Tanuja was a natural, and acted well -at least occasionally. Hathi Mere Sathi, Mere Jeevan Sathi and Jewel Thief are three films I remember her from.

Mumtaz was cute, and paired well with some. Rajesh Khanna, for one. Aap Ki Kasam and Roti come to mind. Feroz Khan too, with Apradh being one film of theirs I remember.

Dimple Kapadia, who broke a lot of records with Bobby, and a few hearts after that by marrying the aforesaid Mr. Khanna. Saw her in Finding Fanny last.

Saira Banu, who was also a looker, and did the haughty roles really well-watch Padosan again if you don't believe me. Shagird was good too.

Smita Patil, for the real desi, dark and smouldering realism. All her films are recommended, highly.

Hema Malini. The Dream Girl (good marketing!) paired best with Dharmendra in many films, Sholay and Jugnu being ones I remember the most.

Rekha in Khoobsurat was my favourite for many years.

I liked Chitrangada Singh based on Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi, but her career did not take off. Khwahish to see more of her films remained just that.

Vidya Balan had a couple of outstanding performances like Parineeta, Kahani and Paa.

Kajol, who like her mom, was a natural, and paired well with DDLJ co-star, Shah Rukh Khan.

..and of course, Madhubala.

Some Favourite Films

I have favourite films of almost all actors- will try and list some of these.

Rajesh Khanna- Kati Patang, Anand, Amar Prem and Aradhana.

Dev Anand- Jewel Thief, Des Pardes, Shareef Badmash

Amitabh- Chupke Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don, Namak Halaal

Shah Rukh Khan- Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge, Baazigar

Aamir Khan- Dangal, 3 Idiots, Taare Zamin Par

Biswajeet- Kismat, Bees Saal Baad

Kishore Kumar- Jhumroo, Chalti ka Naam Gaadi, Padosan

Navin Nischal- Dhund, Sawan Bhadon, Victoria No. 203

Dharmendra- Jugnu, Sholay, Satyakaam

Anil Kapoor- Woh Saat Din, Mr. India,1942- A Love Story

Jeetendra- Parichay, Humjoli, Farz, Geet Gaaya Pathharon Ne

Sanjeev Kumar- Aandhi, Manoranjan, Koshish

Sanjay Dutt- Munnabhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai

Shashi Kapoor- Namak Halaal, Kabhi Kabhi, Sharmeelee

Shammi Kapoor- Prince, Bramhachari, An Evening in Paris

Amol Palekar- Gol Maal, Rajnigandha, Chitchor, Chhoti si Baat

Rishi Kapoor- Khel Khel Mein, Rafoo Chakker, Hum Kisise Kam Nahin

And now, the actresses-

Hema Malini- Abhinetri, Johny Mera Naam, Kinara

Tina Munim- Des Pardes, Baaton Baaton Mein, Karz

Mumtaz- Roti, Tere Mere Sapne, Aap ki Kasam

Saira Banu- Padosan, Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan, Victoria no. 203

Smita Patil- Arth, Baazaar, Aakrosh

Vidya Balan- Kahani, Parineeta, Paa

Neetu Singh- Khel Khel Mein, Rafoo Chakker

Dimple Kapadia- Bobby, Sagar, Dil Chahta Hai

Nimrat Kaur- The Lunchbox

Deepika Padukone- Finding Fanny, Bajirao Mastani 

Wisdom on a Tee

Tee shirts can carry a message across faster than a lot of fat philosophical tomes, or boring lectures on the subject-or any subject. A smartly designed set of words or a picture is all it takes. For instance, Sula (the wine maker) has a few that promote wine- Drink some wine, become a Winestein, with a pic of the great man. There's one going around on fb right now, a Mexican/Spanish woman wearing one that says-Relax, GRingo, I'm legal, referring to Trump's immigration policy.

A lot of things that need saying can be said easily on a tee-shirt without offending anyone (oh, that's so easy to do on some media). I just found something that fits me to a T- "You can't scare me-I have two daughters."

Just got one the other day that says "Rajni inside" -obviously, in Chennai. Makes me feel like a superstar. Got to wear it more often.

Favourite Phrases of Teachers

We forget the courses, but still remember catch-phrases used by the teachers who taught us, as far back as high school. Why, I don't really know, you know- incidentally, 'you know' is also one.

We had a Hindi teacher in school who always began a discussion of some verses from poems with "Bahut sundar kaha hai kavi ne" (the poet has beautifully described....)

Another English teacher was famous for his unique way of presenting Keats' Ode to a Nightingale with the "littul birdae" and the important passages from Julius Caesar, not to mention the poem Ulysses which exhorted us to 'drink life to the lees'.

The Chemistry teacher in school was very strict and what we mostly remembered was his threats-       "I'll cut your tail, I say" being a constant one.

The Maths teacher was generally recognised by her pronunciation of 'which' as 'huch' ( luckily not hooch), and that was a great distraction when the theorems went over our heads. Incidentally, a mathematical romance of many dimensions called "Flatland" is highly recommended for readers who are into that sort of thing. Amazon has it, I think.

A Marketing prof. in IIMB was famous for a dramatic pause following a serious discussion of something, and then the inevitable question, " Is that the only kaas (cause)?"

Another OM (we called this POM for a very good reason that I shall explain another time) prof. had this habit of mumbling, and rocking the chair he held on to, standing behind it and holding on most of the time.

Memorable stuff all.

Fave Dialogues

People usually have one or more favourite phrases they keep using. Some of these I have encountered over the years-

She is like Lakshmi/Saraswati..

When I was in ..(London, Timbuktu, or Tikamgarh..take your pick..my choice is Harihar where I worked with Kirloskar a long time)

Hamare yahan aisa nahin hota hai..or the reverse, hamare yahan to ais hi hota hai.

You know...

Why you want to do like that?

Please.....not for asking permission or requesting, but as an expression of exasperation!

Whatever...this is one I use a lot too.

and the facebook/SMS favourite...Lol!