Resolving Resolutioning

Ok, this may not exist as a word, but it's obvious by its timing that it's about resolution-making. I have  resolutely been against making any resolution of any kind, because I have no clue at all on how to make them see the light of day. The only one I can probably keep is to read a few more books. If they happen to be of the quality of Zorba the Greek, or any of the creations of Wodehouse, all the better. I have also managed to discover a few other good authors over the last few years, through browsing at bookstores, or through 'friend'ly recommendations.

Some of these are Haruki Murakami, Bill Bryson, Sadat Hasan Manto, Alain de Botton, Umberto Eco, Devapriya Roy (The Vague Woman's Handbook), Saurav Jha (The Upside Down  Book of Nuclear Power), Fritjof Capra (Uncommon Wisdom), Subroto Bagchi, Julian Barnes (his 'Nothing to be Frightened of', an autobiography of a kind), Raju Bharatan and Ashok Ranade (on Hindi films and music). Some autobiographical stuff was also very readable, as in Leela Naidu, Michael Caine, and Kishore Biyani (the story of his starting Big Bazaar). Currently, I am reading the autobiography of Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, the heroine of one of my favourite films- Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa. Someone recently recommended Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, and I resolve to read it sometime soon.

Other than these, I have also read some good blogs by Harimohan, Vinod Ekbote, Diamond Head and some others like Parul Kashyap Thakur, Meghna Sinha, Gowri Kishore and a couple of IIM Indore students. Also wrote quite a few blogposts, and was happy to see the readership climb in unexpected corners of the globe.

Hindi Film Song by Ashok Ranade

This is a book I am reading. What I find fascinating about it is that it exists, first and foremost. We in India have a tendency to treat film music as frivolous and unworthy of serious research- academic or otherwise. So mostly we have film journalists who have written about films or film music. Some are commendable, but here is an academically oriented book which talks about the great power of films and music, and its positive impact on people and culture. The reasons why film music had to differ from the classical or laid-out traditions are also nicely explained. There is an anecdote about Anil Biswas being offended by C. Ramchandra's (both composers) use of western instruments, and calling him up, to ask him what he thought he was doing. To which he replied, he was trying to sound like C. Ramchandra, and not like Anil Biswas!

I think the idea itself deserves praise. The book is a great ride into the history of Indian (and world) cinema, with a chronological listing of major world events like the silent movies, the talkie, and various ways in which music entered films. Charlie Chaplin was against dialogue in films originally, because it was restrictive, and preferred mime!

The history of major studios in Mumbai/Pune/Kolhapur like Prabhat, and Bombay Talkies, which took over from the original Calcutta based studios (yes, Hindi films started there), is also documented. There are also critical evaluations of music directors, singers and so on, which coming from a person with knowledge of classical music, sound professional and unbiased. Lots of specific songs, composers and singers are discussed, from pre-Saigal days to actor-singers like him and Suraiya, to A.R. Rahman. For music aficionados, it is a great read.