Potential Quizzes

 What/Who comes to your mind, when you see these words?

1. The Skull Cave/Col. Worobu/Guran

2. Gestures Hypnotically

3. Ina Mina Dika

4. Chupke Chupke Raat Din

5. Ek taraf uska ghar, ek taraf maikada

6. Gori tera gaon bada pyara

7. Ye kya ho raha hai?

8. Bindiya chamkegi, choodi khankegi

9. Woh kagaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka pani

10. Made in India

11. Shola jo bhadke dil mera dhadke

12. Hum kale hain to kya hua dilwale hain?

13. Tu auron ki kyun ho gayi?

14. Dil mein ek lehar si uthi hai abhi

dialogue

1. Mogambo khush hua

2. Peene ka pani alag, gutter ka pani alag

3. Behno aur bhaiyon..

4. Lilly, don't be silly

5. Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, naamumin hai

6. Babu moshai,...

7. Ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jano.

8. Ye kya ji, goda chatur, goda chatur? 

9. Pushpa, I hate tears.

10. kkk..Kiran..

Branding in Bollywood

 I have been a movie-goer since I was around 10. But I learnt about branding only during my MBA. So this is about looking back at some of the big brands that Bollywood has had over the last five deacdes, with emphasis on the earlier times.

Directors- Vijay Anand directed some of my favourite films- Jewel Thief, Johnny Mera Naam and Teesri Manzil. He was known for a slick script, good picturisation and music in films he made.

Manmohan Desai did potboilers very well, with a mix of all masalas- comedy, action, drama and emotion. He used Amitabh well in Amar, Akbar, Anthony.

Ramesh Sippy made Sholay on a scale only recently matched by Bahubali, RRR and others. This was in 1975, without too many computersied special effects- sound effects were used well. 

K. Asif, likewise, for Mughal-e-Azam. Made on a scale that was unprecedented.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee with his unique style of comedies (Golmaal being a great example), Basu Chatterjee with his own realistic films (Rajnigandha, Chitchor), Shyam Benegal on social issues (Manthan, Ankur)

Actors

Madhubala for versatility- she dominated tragedy (Mughal-e-Azam) and comedy (Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi) with aplomb. Matched by Kishore Kumar - he was serious in some of his home productions.

Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Each very different, and projecting a different association- Romance, Tragedy and the plight of the Common Man (done in a Chaplinesque manner).

Rajesh Khanna the romantic hero, Amitabh, the Angry Young Man. Aamir Khan, the perfectionist with a variety of roles

Singers

Shamshad Begum, with a nasal twang, Lata Mangeshkar with an amazing voice and range, Rafi who had a great voice and trained in music, Kishore Kumar who was an untrained or self-trained genius, Asha Bhosle who had the best cabaret songs requiring a come-hither quality, Manna Dey who excelled at classical and light songs (he sang many for Mehmood), 

Defining Songs

 There are songs that define actors and singers, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes, more than one song. But at least one.

Yahoo, chahe koi mujhe janglee kahe for Shammi Kapoor. 

Beqarar dil, for Sulakshana Pandit.

Yeh dil aur unki nigaahon ke saye.. for Lata M.

Piya tu, ab to aaja for Asha B.

Yeh shaam mastani and Zindagi ek safar hai suhana for Rajesh Khanna

Yeh dil na hota bechara for Dev Anand, and Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya.

Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai for Waheeda  Rehman.

Gori tera gaon bada pyara for Amol Palekar

Zindagi ittefaq hai for Mumtaz.

Muskurata hua, gul khilata hua mera yaar for Vinod Khanna

I am a disco dancer for Mithun Chakraborty

Ankhiyon ke jharonkhon se for Ranjeeta

Main jat yamla pagla deewana for Dharmendra

O meri o meri o meri Sharmeelee for Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee

Main chali main chali for Saira Banu

Oye Oye for Sonam

Churake dil mera for Akshay and Shilpa Shetty

Tu cheez badi hai mast mast for Raveena Tandon

Raj Kapoor- Sab kuch seekha hamne na seekhi hoshiyari..

Govinda- Kisi disco mein jaayen.

Parveen Babi- Jawani janeman haseen dilruba. 

Biswajeet- Lakhon hain yahaan dilwale

Sunil Dutt and Nutan- Saawan ka maheena, pavan kare sor.

Mehbooba, mehbooba, -RD Burman the singer

Wahan kaun hai tera, musafir, jayega kahaan.. SD Burman, singer

Ek pal ka jeena, phir to hai jaana.. Lucky Ali

Hrithik Roshan.. Kyun chalti hai pavan

Leena Chandavarkar- Haye re haye neend nahin aaye

Jeetendra (Jumping Jack)- Mast bahaaron ka main aashiq .. 

Meri bheegi bheegi si.. Sanjeev Kumar

Navin Nishchol- Ratkali ek khwab mein aayi.

Yeh jawani hai deewani for Randhir Kapoor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 :)