Repositioning

 For a brand of any kind, repositioning involves changing its perception by the targeted market segment. 

For Hindi films, these are some examples-

the character of a bandit/daaku/dacoit used to be a dhoti clad, moustachioed character carrying a longish rifle for many years -until Gabbar Singh came along in Sholay. Tht changed the perception of the villager-dacoit. This one was more sophisticated.

The hero never got into comedy..there was always a separate character doing comedy, until Amitabh and his drunken solos came along. The hero became an all-rounder, and did everything himself- dancing, comedy, action.

Same with the heroine, to some extent. She also tried out her vampish side, becoming a grey character, a seductress, etc. And did 'Item' numbers in others' films too.

Indian films themselves used to be technically backward in special effects etc. Bahubali and the recent crop like Robot, RRR etc. have changed that perception too. Though song and dance rules, as before. Natu, natu..

Are O Sambha

 Kitney aadmi they?

Do, Sardaar.

Iconic stuff, the dialogues of Sholay.

Mausi being 'wooed' for Veeru, by his bosom pal Jai.

The water tank scene, in which mausi goes jail, chakki peesing and peesing.

Asrani's Hitler mouche. And agrez ke zamaane ke dialogue!

Jagdeep as Soorma Bhopali, speaking in that lingo..aese hi nahi etc.

Sanjeev Kumar's voice..not sure what they did, but it was deep, and impressive.

Basanti talking non-stop, versus A.K. Hangal's voice full of pathos..

Jai's laconic dialogue delivery.

Gabbar's self-absorbed persona. 

Helen and Jalal Agha in just 3 minutes of mesmerising song and dance.

Hats off to Ramesh Sippy and his team. Dwarka Divecha, the cinematographer in particular. And dialogue writers, Salim and Javed.

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. 

Adapted Dialogues From Hindi Films

Elon Musk ko maska lagaana mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai (Don)

Gates kabhi apna gate khud nahi kholta, Dawar (Deewar)

Branson ko Wheat Bran khilaoge? Bahut beinsaafi hai (Sholay)

Bezos hamare pehle pahunch gaya wahaan? Afsos.

Anhoni ko honi karde honi ko anhoni, ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, Tata, Birla, Ambani. (Amar Akbar Anthony)

Movies and Memories

Where I saw a film..sometimes, these are finely etched memories. I saw Jewel Thief for the first time when we lived in Kothagudem, my birthplace in A.P. Abhinetri, Hathi Mere Sathi and Hare Rama Hare Krishna  in Bellampalli.(a pic of the railway station below).

Sholay (and Guns of Navarone, and Shareef Badmash), at Ramakrishna 70 mm. in Hyderabad. Chitchor at Ramakrishna 35 mm. Don at Tarakarama, and Namak Halaal at Maheshwari 70 mm. Mohra at Venkataramana. Karz at Santosh. Silent Movie (Mel Brooks) and The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu in Srinivasa, Narayanguda. Where Eagles Dare at Farheen 70 mm. Ijaazat at Zamarrud. Khel Khel Mein at Skyline. Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars at Sangeet, Secunderabad. Darr at Manju, Secunderabad. Paheli at Royal. The Pink Panther series, Murder on the Orient Express at Liberty, Hyderabad.

DDLJ at Davangere. Akele Hum Akele Tum at Harihar. Sharaabi at Delhi. Love 86 in Mumbai in 1986. Mungaaru Male (Kannada film) at Bangalore.

Baazigar, and much later, Shivaji, the Boss (Rajnikant) at Nagpur. Mission Kashmir at Rajmahal in Jaipur. Chandni Chowk to China at Amritsar (!!). Taraana while visiting an aunt at Satna (M.P.). 

In the U.S., A Fish Called Wanda, The Naked Gun, Dick Tracy. One Bond film (don't remember which one).

Finding Fanny in Indore. Bahubali also. Masaan in Mumbai. Chennai Express at Trichy.

Khaas Indori Conversation

An Indori guy just walked past, so I thought I would find out what he was up to.

"Where are you going, my friend," I asked.

"To have a poha, come along," he said. We ended up having a kachori alongside the poha..but that's another matter. I wanted to know where he planned to go next.

"Angrezi (English) Classes hain yaar, he said. Aajkal angrezi seekhna bahut zaroori hai."
I agreed wholeheartedly, in English.

I asked him what his ambition in life was. He was pretty clear - "a government job," he said.

"What kind of a job? What do you want to do there?"I wanted to know more.

He looked surprised. "I'll do what others do in a government job."

I started having nightmares. I saw Soorma Bhopali of Sholay fame saying something like "Do rupaye mein license banwaane aaya hai? Kahaan kahaan se chale aate hain..?" to a visitor in a government office, chewing paan while he said it..luckily, I woke up before the nightmare became more graphic. This conversation actually never happened.

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)

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.

Background Music in Films

I still remember the music from The Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers. (You can listen to it here from the later version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus) The series was remade with Steve Martin playing Inspector Clouseau.

The James Bond theme also is distinctive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ebAssCr990), and helps engage the viewer in the super spy's exploits at the start. In general, background music has the ability to enhance the appeal of the visuals in cinema. Sometimes, it becomes memorable, like the ones mentioned.

Among Hindi films, I liked the theme music of Sholay by RD Burman (listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc1-5ftVHD4). This was also unique, and you may like to listen to it for its own sake.

But much of the Hindi film background music is cliched, and was even more so in the 70s and 80s. The sitar used to play in sad situations, or emotional ones tugging at the heart, and loud percussion was used in chases. Amateurish music kills the joy of watching an interesting segment.

Particularly, suspense films can benefit a lot from good background scores. Using sounds like a door creaking, or a utensil falling, etc. can create a very effective supplement to the action, increasing anticipation about what is coming next.

Sholay Ke Chaalis Saal

These are some dialogues I remember, almost verbatim, from Sholay, 40 years after..

Arey o Sambha, kitna inaam rakhein hai re sarkar ham pe?
Poore pachaas hajaar..

Hamara naam Soorma Bhopali aese hi nahi hai..

Itni badliyon ke baad bhi, hum nahi badle, ha, ha..

Gaonwalon, ...budhiya going jail..in jail, budhiya chakki peesing, and peesing,..

Yeh suicide kya hota hai?

Kitne aadmi the? ..Woh do the, tum teen,...phr bhi wapas aaye, khali haath..  bahut beinsaafi hai..

Mujhe Gabbar chahiye,..zinda..

Holi kab hai? kab hai Holi?

Yeh Ramgadh wale apni ladkiyon ko kaunsi chakki ka aata khilate hain re?

Basanti, in kutton ke saamne mat naachna..

Bahut yaarana lagta hai re..

To, mausi, main yeh rishta pakka samjhoon?

The posters for Sholay said, "The Greatest Star Cast Ever Assembled, The Greatest Story Ever Told.."  ..just a little bit of exaggeration there, but it was a movie like no other. 

Item Numbers

These are the hot numbers in a Hindi movie, which at one time used to be called cabaret songs. The come-hither types performed by suitably clad female actors (sometimes with male accompaniment)- Jayashree T., Mumtaz, Helen, Padma Khanna were some who became the face of the 'items.' Helen, in particular, became known for these, and she was one of the best. Her number in Don appears a classic when you see Kareena's pathetic imitation in the remake. Here is a list of a few good ones I remember. Of course, along the way, the vamp has disappeared, and the heroine now fills in when needed.

1. Husn ke lakho rang, kaunsa rang dekhoge..Johny Mera Naam
2. Zindagi ittefaq hai- Aadmi aur insaan (Mumtaz)
3. Mehbooba, mehbooba- Sholay
4. O haseena zulfon wali jane jahan- Teesri Manzil
5. Piya tuuu, ab to aaja- Caravan
6. Aa jaane jaan- Inteqam
7. Raat akeli hai- Jewel Thief (Tanuja is the actor)
8. Main kya karoon ram mujhe buddha mil gaya-Sangam (Vyjayantimala!)
9. Jab chhaye mera Jadu- Lootmaar (Simple Kapadia did this)
10. Maar diya jaye, ke chhod diya jaye - Mera Gaon Mera Desh (Laxmi Chhaya, I think)
11. Aaiye meherbaan- Howrah Bridge (it's Madhubala playing a club dancer with a dapper Ashok Kumar and K.N. Singh of the evil eyes in the audience)

Election Speech 2

This is in the tradition of the Sholay-Dharmendra-Water Tank episode. In Hindi..

Gaonwalon, agar aap log (AAP log nahin, aap log) hamari party ko vote denge, toh hum sab har roz Holi aur Diwali manane lagenge...taaki Gabbar phir se kabhi yeh sawaal na kar sake, ki "Holi kab hai?"

Gabbar ne aapse loota hua sara rupaya kisi doosre gaon ki tijori mein chhupa ke rakha hai, main aur Jai use wapas Ramgadh layenge, aur gaon ke saare taangon ki marammat mein lagayenge. Basanti, mausi, sun rahi ho na?

Ye shaharwale (aur ye angrez) hamesha laptop ki baat karke hamein neecha dikhate hain. Hum itni khush-hali layenge, gaonwalon, ke hamare har ghar mein bachche 'laptop' yaane maa ki god mein khelenge.

Gaonwalon, McDonald's ki dhoom jaise videsh mein chalti hai (aur Coffee Day ki shaher mein), bilkul waise hi hum har sadak par chai ki dukaan khulwa denge, taki sab log aram se apni baaten kar sake. Hamari line hogi, "Bahucharchit chai."

Hum gaon ki khush-hali chahte hain, isliye yahan ke khet hare-bhare karne mein koi kasar nahin rahegi. Jab Kaalia aur Gabbar ke aadmi use dekhenge to apne bare mein sochenge ki woh kis khet ki mooli hain? Aur dakaiti chhod ke woh bhi kheti karne lagenge.

Gaonwalon, mujhe yakeen hai, jeet hamari hi hogi. Mera gaon, mera desh Zindabad!

Sholay Revisited

Celebrating 60000 views of my blog (and 900 posts too)..

I first saw it at a grand theatre, Ramakrishna 70 mm, in Hyderabad along with my dad and brother. The effect was mind-boggling. This version was in 3D, and some scenes had an added zing, when objects like bullets or logs in the train robbery sequence flew at us.

But this is a tribute to a legend of a film. The editing is first rate, and won for M.S. Shinde a Filmfare award. Truly well-deserved. Maintaining the tempo for three and a half hours is tough, and he along with the Director, Ramesh Sippy, achieved what few others in cinema have. 

The story is quite ordinary, but the characterisation (with unique mannerisms, accents etc.) and treatment enhance the effect so much that you are engrossed, captivated and cannot take your eyes off the screen. The acting is superb. More so from the first-timer Amjad Khan. What a dream debut he had! Even the bit actors like Keshto, Jagdeep, Hangal, Sachin, and Kalia and Sambha (screen names of Viju Khote and Mac Mohan) are wonderful. Asrani for me had the role of a lifetime as a Chaplinesque jailer.

The dialogues are cutting-edge, and add a lot to the enjoyment.  Even simple lines are well-written, like Ab aayega mazaa. Or Kitne aadmi the? Or Budhiya going jail, jail me budhiya chakki peesing, Hum angrezon ke zamaane ke jailer hain, Holi kab hai? etc. have become classics. Every scene blends into the next seamlessly. Actors seem to have enjoyed the process, and it shows.  The background music is very good, particularly during the initial Basanti tonga ride sequence. And Mehbooba, mehbooba is a rocking number. Even ten of today’s item songs together can’t equal it for effect. Great fun revisiting Sholay.

Modern Sholay

No, it's not about Jay and Veeru, the heroes. Nor Basanti, the heroine, or Dhanno, her steed. Not even Asrani, the angezon ke zamaane ka jailor, or Soorma Bhopali, fond of spinning yarns. I am curious about the simple villager in the 1975 epic, who keeps asking mind-bending questions during Veeru's 'attempted suicide' scene. Apparently simplistic, but full of depth, in my view. Yeh Suicide kya hota hai, is one question (What is suicide?). Yeh Goodbye kya hota hai? (What is a goodbye?) is another gem. What would he say in 2012?

1. Yeh depression kya hota hai?

The answer might be- jab angrez gaddhe mein girte hain to usey depression kehte hain.

2. Yeh angst kya hota hai?

Jab angrez bahut pareshaan hota hai, to apne aapko angst ka shikaar kehlaata hai.

3. Yeh tensionwa kya hota hai?

Jab angrez ke paseene chhootte hain na, to use tensionwa bolte hain. Yeh Raamgarh mein sirf Gabbar ke aadmiyon ko dekhke hota hai.

4. Yeh road rage kya hota hai?

Jab apne ghode ke aage peeche doosre ghode aajayein, aur hamein raasta na dein, tab aanewale gusse ko road rage kehte hain

5. Chill ka kya kya matlab hota hai?

Jaise hum apni 'chillum' sulgaake uske kash ka mazaa uthate hain, to usiko yeh angrez chill kehte hain

Innovations To Kill Boredom

Here are some neat ideas (95 on a 100 point neatness index) for innovations that can kill boredom in common situations we face.

1. A nodding puppet which nods metronomically, to sit in front of an old relative repeating his/her tales of the past for the nth time, so you can slink away, do your own thing and come back in a while.

2. A smoke-generating toy which can be used to scare people and make a long line disappear in a crowded place - can be used in a bank, amusement park, or in a booking counter for IPL. Just for long enough to give you enough time to get to the front of the line.

3. A joke-telling device- the J-app, which you switch on in the most morose situations- like an airline journey, the most humourless of all. Will tell a joke at the click of a button, but only when electronic devices are allowed to be switched on, by the morose air host. Will make passengers jealous if you laugh too much, though. Use carefully.

4. An animated dancer that performs a dance of your choice on screen while you wait for your page to load on the computer on a slow day in cyberspace. This can also be adapted for your mobile if you have a bad connection.

5. A dialogue programmer where you can program the dialogue you want to hear and play it along with the TV, automatically muting the IPL commentators, or the talkative Arnab Goswami, or the garishly made-up ma-in-laws/daughter-in-laws of the various serials, or the tiresome judges of reality shows on TV. This gives you immense scope to test your creativity, and you may end up writing some masterpieces like 'Kitney Aadmi They'  or ' Phir Bhi Waapas Aaye? Khaali Haath?' from Sholay, one day.

Actual Experience Minus Expectation

There is a theory in Services Marketing that the Satisfaction of a Service customer for any kind of service is given by a formula Perception of Performance- Expectation. If Perception of actual service experience is higher than expectations, the customer is satisfied. Could be true of life as well. Karma with zero expectation would probably sound outrageous to most of us, but isn't that what the famous four lines from the Bhagvad Gita advocate?

But that (lowering of expectations) applies only to "rewards" that one expects, and not to the quality brought to the doing of the job. There are intangible gains from anything done well. A smile of gratefulness, a burp of satisfaction (from a belly you filled with your cooking), a hug from a child you told a story to, or a look of understanding (rare though it may be) from a student you have been teaching.

My favourite example of expectation and its impact is from films. Sholay was one of the best things to happen in the Hindi film industry. But expectations from Ramesh Sippy (the director of Sholay) were sky-high after that, and he could never again meet them, not with Shaan (not a bad movie) or any other film he made since. So, the flip side of doing well, be aware, is that it will raise expectations from you for the next time. Not such a bad thing, really, for quality improvement.