Famous Dilaogues

 I came, I saw, I conquered.. Julius Caesar. (Veni, Vidi, Vici)

Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar-- Ditto

Isey Liquid Aaxygen mein daal do.. Liquid ise jeeney nahi dega, aur Aaxygen ise marne nahi dega- Ajit

Bahut beinsaafi hai- Gabbar

Saara shahar mujhe Loin ke naam se jaanta hai- Ajit

Poore pachaas hazaar- Sambha.

Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi- Anand

Mogambo Khush Hua- Amrish Puri

Thoda khao, thoda phenko.. yeh Switzerland ka cake hai- Naseeruddin Shah and Satish Shah.

Ye kya ho raha hai?- Dhritarashtra.

Comic Dialogue

Hindi film comedies or otherwise from which I remember funny dialogues-

From Sholay

Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti?

From Jaane Bhi Do Yaro

Yeh kya ho raha hai?

Aadha khao, aadha pheko, yeh Switzerland ka cake hai.

Bahut advanced country hai- hum dekha, udhar peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag.

Shaant, gada-dhari Bheem, shaant.

Hum honge kaamyaab, hum honge kaamyaab ek din..

From Padosan

Tum humko ghoda bola?
Ek pe rehna jee, ya ghoda bolo ya chatur bolo

Mogambo khush hua (villain Amrish Puri delivers this)

Aap hamara kitna khayal rakhti hain..Nahane ke pani mein kewda, peene ke pani mein bewda (Mehmood in Naukar)

In Praise of Pankaj Kapur

I find him one of the most under-rated and under-utilised actors in films. Most films in which he appears, he leaves an indelible mark. Even the not-so-successful ones. He is a trained theatre actor, and continues to act there.

A cult movie which was successful, and first drew my attention to him, was Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Along with Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani and Satish Shah, it was a laugh riot. Then came TV serial Karamchand Jasoos in 1985 or so, which was a big hit among kids in particular. He played the title role. We as an M.R. agency had done some research on the show in Mumbai. He dubbed for Ben Kingsley in Attenborough's Gandhi.

Recent films of histhat I have seen were Matroo ki Bijli ka Mandola and Finding Fanny. In both, the film has gone a few notches higher because of his acting. I don't remember many of his serious roles, like Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, and others, but in comic roles, his dialogue delivery, expression, and timing are superb.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro- Second Viewing

In my teenage years, old movies regularly re-ran at theatres in Hyderabad. Why this practice was discontinued I don't really know-must be the DVDs that are rampant, and downloads, legal and illegal. But it is fun to watch some old movies in a theatre for the experience. We had one such recently, watching Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro at Pune's new PVR in a mall at Nagar Road.

The antics of all the characters are amazing- Satish Shah as DeMello, the Commissioner who takes commissions, eats Switzerland ka cake (Thoda khao, thoda phenko), and lives and dies for the gutter, the perpetually drunk Ahuja (Om Puri) in a perfect Punjabi accent, Pankaj Kapur as Tarneja the builder who gives good logic for extending buildings beyond permissible limits, Bhakti Barve the 'saviour' of society and editor of Khabardar, Satish Kaushik as Namboodripad the bumbling assistant to Tarneja, Neena Gupta as his sexy sidekick, and so on.

And to top all this, the lead characters played beautifully by Ravi Baswani and Naseeruddin Shah. Script, direction and dialogue are absolutely brilliant, and I think deserve an Oscar-equivalent recognition. Of course, the viewers have already recognised it as such. Kundan Shah, the maker, you are immortal just for this creation. So many dialogues are immortal. Wahan hum dekha, peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag (about America which DeMello has just visited), Or Dhritarashtra's lament, "Yeh kya ho raha hai", through the twists and turns that Draupadi's cheerharan takes, or "Shaant, gadadhaari Bheem" in the same scene. Bhakti Barve also plays her part of seducing Naseer into doing her dirty work to perfection. All in all, a heady cocktail, though it was made in 1983- by a bunch of talented FTII alums (Sudhir Mishra and Vidhu Vinod Chopra are also in the team). Definitely should be on everyone's bucket list. My daughters liked it too, and they are in their 20s.

Obama, India, Fog and Storms

Quite a diverse set of topics to deal with. If Obama makes it to the White House again, he would be the longest Black president to live in the White House. How's that for a new take on the elections? I think he is a smart guy being ed astray by the 'establishment' which is into routine things like finding the next country to bomb and so on. No novelty, or out-of-the-box thinking.

India has elections going in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and I have no clue about the issues there. FDI in retail appeared shortly in TV debates, but disappeared just as quickly. Prices of apples, maybe?

Delhi had a few fogged-out days, which was the result of some unusual weather, and it was not a reflection of our fogged-out brains. The Chennai storm Nilam had something to do with it, plus other things.

Now, if only we had something more interesting on the anvil- actually, there is. The old classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is re-releasing. Should do a world of good in a humourless world. Go see it at a theatre near you. I somehow don't feel enthused by the new Bond.

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro- The Making

I am simultaneously reading two books. The first is about the Kundan Shah cult comedy- Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, the making of it, by Jai Arjun Singh. Lots of nuggets about the inside story. The guy who made it apparently looks like an accountant, and is not at all funny at first. There are a lot of script changes from the first draft. For example, it did not contain the Mahabharat climax scene with the immortal Dhritarashtra dialogue- Yeh kya ho raha hai?

Second major change was that the gorilla scene was axed. There was a gorilla who turns up to give some gyaan to the heroes- a talking gorilla, in a scene. It was axed to give a crisper run to the film. And the famous scene where Om Puri finds the corpse of the Commissioner on the road was modified to make it easier to shoot. The original was too complex.

NFDC, a govt body, was the producer of one of the greatest comedies in Bollywood. You dare not say that the govt. lacks a sense of humour!

The second book I am reading is called The Sky is Crazy by Yvonne Lee, a Malaysian air hostess who narrates funny incidents from her career. As you can imagine, they range from groping 'uncles' to a guy who pisses on the cockpit door in a drunken stupor, and many more in-between, including a guy going to Mecca who refuses to let the crew revive his wife after a heart attack, claiming God wants her to come to him. An air hostess has to be a counselor, baby-sitter, weather forecaster, and a gourmet guide, among other things, according to the author. A well-written book!