Sridevi Passes Away

An unfortunate accident took her away at 54, it seems. I was not exactly a big fan, but I enjoyed quite a few of her roles. She had star power, and a great screen presence. I particularly liked her in the exuberant roles such as Chaalbaaz and Mr. India, than in the serious ones.

Along with Rekha and Hema Malini, she was one of the South Indian actresses who held their own in the otherwise male-dominated film industry for many years. I think that-being a strong woman- was itself a contribution she made to films in Mumbai.

Her return in the film English Vinglish was noteworthy because she played a character her age, and played it well. This was written and directed by Gauri Shinde, a good woman director of recent times. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is another woman director whose work I liked a lot- Bareilly ki Barfi and Nil Battey Sannata were her films.

Anyway, she is now one with the stars above, and I hope she is doing well someplace.

Review of the Movie Inquilab- Amitabh, Sridevi

This movie, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi, and Shakti Kapoor, was released during 1983. Reviewed for the IIMB wall-mag by yours truly. Recycled for the good of society-and MBAs.

INQUILAB: The attaché is missing

Refreshing…..when you wake up! –Ambade

Time-pauss- Dazy, Sardie, ROI in unison.

Wished I was in Colombo- Tharan (from Sri Lanka)

Sridevi had such a small role- unfair! – IIM Junta

The film is all about an attaché which is lost- a lost attaché- Khoya hua attaché. What happens when the attaché is lost? Its parents, M/s. VIP and Aristocrat, launch a worldwide search. And guess where they locate it?

Bees saal baad…Delhi’s Palam airport. The attaché is found masquerading with a beard. Not only that, it has cleverly switched its name. The alias is Koya Koya attaché (note the Oh so subtle change of spelling and the duplication of the word K(h)oya).

The distraught parents are about to pounce on their wayward ‘attache’ when it suddenly disappears, and is later found murdered, after swinging to some rock beats with Amitabh in a disco. And VIP and Aristocrat are left wishing they’d never invented the wheel (for the attaché).

Then there are other attaches. One is a young lass Sridevi who is very traditional and believes in rituals. Like getting herself saved by Amitabh from a bunch of grape-growers. And giving a complex to leeches-from the way she attaches herself (literally) to Amitabh, every chance she gets. The leech would probably go red in the face-and not because of sucking blood.

Amit the Ass. Commissioner decides halfway through that the other side of the fence is greener, and turns to smuggling for a couple of politicians. It is only incidental that one of them is Sridevi’s dad (and hence, his pa-in-law).

Halfway through the second half, he again switches roles- this time, to a candidate for the Garibi Hatao party. One may like to ponder over the speedy movements of our hero from one role to another- will it not lead to a role conflict? Or to his mass reducing to zero as he gains speed as per the formula E = mc square.

The Message: The film’s message comes early in the second half, when Koya Koya Attache gives a dying statement. It claims the reason why it ran away from home was the feud between its parents, VIP and Aristocrat.

The message for you, dear budding executives, is as clear as the sky on a clear night- (Price) wars don’t pay!

Comebacks and Go-outs

Comebacks are of different kinds. Some work, some don't. Go-outs are also of different kinds. They always work. Some of the recent ones, summarised for your eyes and ears.

Madhuri Dixit in Aaja Nachle, and a TV show on arranged marriages. Both bombed. But she continues to smile, and another TV show is in the offing. Moral: Be a judge, not a star. After a point, a wise thing to do.

Sridevi, in English Vinglish. Cute film, and it worked. Moral: Play your age. It just might work.

Karisma Kapoor, Mumtaz, Sharmila Tagore, ...what was the comeback?

Go-outs can be temporary, or permanent, as in going to heaven. But on earth, they are usually prompted by non-performance, or super performance.

Deols have been gone for years. Male and female Deols. Better than making people pagla, deewana I guess.

Karan Johar. People wish he was gone, the kind of films he now makes.

Male Kapoors can't actually go out because the doors are too small for the likes of Shashi, Randhir, Rishi etc. So they stay by default.

Deepti Naval, Raj Kiran, Vidya Sinha, Mallika Sherawat, Adnan Sami, Bappi Lahiri, are examples of go-outs that worked.

People in BCCI don't know how to go out. So they just go on, like a spoilt record of yore, or like some boring teacher..

English Vinglish

The central idea of self-esteem being tied to one's ability to function reasonably well in the world of Queen's English is spot-on. In many cases, it opens a new world of opportunity to anyone from any background. The elite who have always spoken it or learnt it have a natural advantage, but others can overcome class barriers and maybe other barriers with training in spoken English.

My Fair Lady, based on Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion was also based on this premise, and Dev Anand made his own Man Pasand on the same theme. Gauri Shinde uses a clever situation in the life of Mrs. Godbole (Sridevi) to take you through the trauma of a non-English speaker in daily life (a PTA meeting at school) and in a visit to New York, where she feels humiliated at a coffee shop encounter.

The movie succeeds in telling an unusual story- the fight for self-esteem by doing what it takes- in this case, it involves learning English. The scenes are mostly normal scenes from the life of an upper middle class household, with the children being spoilt but educated in English, a loving grandma providing some support to the lady and kids, and so on.

But with astute screenplay, dialogue and acting, the story comes alive. The smaller characters in my view are critical to the film. All the bunch in the English class in New York are very good, and bring the story a lot of credibility, including the gay, funny teacher. Photography is really good, and even New York manages to look beautiful. Amitabh has a nice cameo.

Marathi song lyrics seem to be catching on-there are some in the wedding song, which is quite catchy. I would also rate the role of Radhika, the niece who helps Sridevi in her quest, as one of the best supporting roles, played very well by the youngster. A feel-good film, unless you were the husband who must feel like *** when she suddenly spouts a whole speech in English, or the kids who taunt her all the time. Thumbs Up!