Use of Colours

 On the way to work today, I saw a colourful guy near a construction site. Reminded me of some colourful Telugu film heroes of the 70s. They would wear bright colours- yellow, green, red orange, with zero regard for matching them. 

But seriously, we could have colourful clothes for some professionals at least. It's so boring to have the suits at all meetings wearing the same old black or dark blue, with a light coloured shirt. The women at least try to be different, and dress up for the occasion, no matter what the occasion. I have evidence.

Let us bring more colour to life, at work and elsewhere, starting with clothes. Men, particularly.

Unintended Comedies

 My top choices from films, Youtube- 

Randhir Kapoor as a dancer..his belly pops out from time to time.. in the song Tujhsa haseen dekha na kahin.. in the film Harjaee.

Deb Mukherjee in the film Ek Baar Muskura Do, sings Tu auron ki kyun ho gayi.. a song supposed to be full of pathos... hilarious. Just watch it.

Taher Shah. Angels is the song, and he is funny as hell (that became a pun!) -he was a Youtube sensation, at least for me.

NTR in his later films (Telugu) cavorting with females half his age was fun to watch on screen. I enjoyed the entertainment on offer.

The English dialogues in Telugu films were also a source of mirth- like "Rutherford, look up once" from Alluri Sitaramaraju, a good film otherwise.

You may have your favourites..

Andhra Pradesh- Telangana Et Al.

 To me, it's still one state, and not two. I was born at Kothagudem, Khammam district. Railway station was called Bhadrachalam Road. Singareni Collieries, a Centre-state joint venture coal-mining company, was the reason we were there. I learnt Telugu, and still speak a little, when I find a few who also do, like Siri Adi, my ex-student. Or Jayanti Ranjan, who was a colleague and friend from IMT G.

Anyway, we had a British-built bungalow with a sprawling front and back garden, for a house, the first few years on the planet. I climbed trees, watered plants, and picked mangoes by the bucket in a storm. Learnt photography by observing my parents use a German folding camera, and later, in school, learnt how to develop black and white pics in a lab. 

After 1982, did not see much of the state, though we stayed till 1989. I was away getting an MBA, and later working, or getting a Ph.D. abroad. But my memories of those days -22 years- is still strong, and many of my childhood buddies from those years are in touch, at least on facebook. Met a few over the years too, last in Pune last November. Also had a record player, and lots of records. Developed my taste for Hindi film music by listening, and watching films- my parents were buffs, and we drove to cinema halls in town whenever a new film released. Jewel Thief was one of those, I remember.

Mahanati - Movie Based on Savitri's Life

Savitri was a big heroine of Telugu and Tamil films, from a time when Telugu films were entirely shot in Madras. She acted with NTR, ANR, Sivaji Ganesan, and other big heroes, one of whom she also married-Gemini Ganesan, also the father of Rekha through another relationship.

Mahanati is a well-made film, sympathetic to the life and times of Savitri, who came up solely based on her talent, and made a name and lots of money. Her meteoric rise was partly due to her being spotted by Gemini Ganesan, then a production executive at Gemini studios. They married, and then, the story took a turn like Abhimaan (the Hindi film), with her becoming more successful. He could not handle it, and they grew apart, never to reunite.

She was a good soul, and helped everyone she could. Was taken advantage of financially, and died of a drink-induced diabetic coma-probably suicidal, after income tax raids made her penniless. Tragic story, involving many big names of that time, and glimpses of scenes from Maya Bazaar (Mohan Babu plays the SV Ranga Rao part), and a couple of other classics.

Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salman play the main roles well. Also, the kid who plays her childhood part. Her uncle played by Rajendra Prasad is also good. A bit long, but worth a watch for many reasons-history of cinema, for one.

Lost in translation?

What would some global characters/people/films translate to, if they were Indianised?

James Bond would be Janu Bande and 007, shunya, shunya saat. M would be Ma, in Hindi.

Star Wars would be Sitaron ki Jung.

Star Trek could be Chalat musafir taron ke sung.

Herbie Goes Bananas would be Haribhai gaye kele lene.

Mackenna's Gold, (in Telugu)- Venkanna Bangaram.

Game of Thrones- Singhasan pe siyasat.

and the reverse.

Anarkali would be Pomogranate-bud.

Chacha Chaudhary would be Uncle Chow.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam would be  Baby, I gave you my heart.

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, would be That guy Prem gets the pie.

Octobered

The word is an original coinage, and though it rhymes with butchered, it is non-violent. It is usually in and around this month that a lot of people I know have their birthdays (including Gandhiji, to whom I owe special gratitude, having half-filched his autobiography's title for my own). Therefore, I am forced to think thoughts that I normally don't (some would say that I am forced to think, period). In other words, about life, and the long term. Beyond the week, at any rate.

I am not so good at thinking long term, I must admit. But I try. I am trying. No thoughts as of now, but one or two stray ones..

How do you make Gultis  (word used for Telugu people) lose their innocence?
You add an 'i'- makes them Guilty.

What would be the common problem faced by a  Verma?
Worms.

.....a Sharma?
Sharm. (this is a Hindi word meaning shame)

Which Indian State would William Tell settle in, if he had to?
Tel(l)anngana.

Tollywood of the East

I thought Tollywood was a word used for movies from the south- Telugu films. Therefore I was surprised to find a new Tollywood rising in the east. The rising Bengali film industry is referred to as Tollywood in today's newspaper - I suppose it arises from some of it being located in Tollygunge (my assumption).

These various 'woods' gave rise to some pertinent thoughts. What's a new wannabe heroine in one of these film industries likely to be? A babe in the woods? Also, what's an actor who has no expression on his face- like Manoj Kumar of yesteryear or John Abraham of current years, likely to be called? A block of wood?

Given that starlets now debut in one neck of the wood and migrate to others, would we consider these as bridges being built between various woods? And with jingoistic controversies over dubbed films from Hollywood being released in Indian lingo, are we trying now to burn the bridges between the original wood and our various variations?

Maybe our contribution to global afforestation and all the pleasant consequences therefrom will be in the form of the many 'woods' we have created- Kollywood (Kerala), Mollywood (Madras of yore), the two Tollywoods, and the Big Daddy of them all, Bollywood. Not sure if Bhojpuri films and others have the respectability of a 'wooden' tag yet.

Telugu Bidda

I always wanted to know Telugu Biddas better. So I set about interviewing a young one.

"What do you want to become when you grow up?"

He said, "Go to the US."

I said, "No, I mean, what kind of work? Profession? Career?"

He said, "It doesn't matter. It should be in the US."

I asked "But don't you like something? Arts, Science, Flying a plane?"

He said, "I don't know, I never thought about it. My parents always told me I should go to IIT, and my friends said after that you can go to the US."

I enquired, "What will you do after going there?"

"Study, get a job, marry a girl from Hyderabad."

"Why do you want to live in the US?"

"They are the Bosses of the world. Everyone listens to them. And if they don't, the drone attacks start. Soon, the drones drown the opposition."

"But, isn't that something like colonial masters' behavior?" I am puzzled.

"No. The colonial masters tortured and enslaved people. Here, they are only bombing the military targets."

"But what business is it of the US anyway?" I want to know.

"How will they protect the world if they keep quiet?" my young friend replied.

I let it go at that, my mind full of images of Quick Gun Murugan policing the world, making it a better place for all of us.