’84 riots on big screen
Pradeep Sharma
Big budget film-making has finally come to Chandigarh, derisively dubbed as a culturally dull city. And the man behind the project is none other than one-time assistant to noted actor, director and producer Manoj Kumar—SP Singh(Satto Singh)

Holi scenes in Hindi films
O. P. Bhagat
Once an elderly townsman went to a village. He wanted to see a certain girl and fix his grandson’s marriage with her. While he was passing through a lane, a group of girls, armed with pichkaris, surrounded him. It was Holi, and they wanted to spray him with colour. The visitor tried to threaten them off, but in vain. The girls sprinkled him all over.

AUDIOSCAN

Anu Malik changes his tune
ASC
RAHUL (Tips): One hears so many loud songs from Anu Malik that sometimes it is easy to forget that he is capable of composing soulful songs also. However, for Subhash Ghai’s "Rahul" he has changed his tune, with hardly a boisterous note.


 

SIGHT & SOUND

Time for media to repay women
Amita Malik
International Women’s Day was celebrated with great eclat on Thursday (March 8), not only in India, but all over the world. And I was reminded of the famous John Kennedy saying about not asking what your country can do for you, but what you can do for the country.

’84 riots on big screen
Pradeep Sharma

Big budget film-making has finally come to Chandigarh, derisively dubbed as a culturally dull city. And the man behind the project is none other than one-time assistant to noted actor, director and producer Manoj Kumar—SP Singh(Satto Singh)

Launched under the SP Singh Productions, "1984—the Fire" will endeavour to recreate the agony of the second largest tragedy after Partition, the ‘84 riots on the big screen. "Nobody had dared to make a film on the subject in the past 16 years on account of the sensitive nature of the topic. The film will convey the message that such a thing does not ever happen in future," informs SP Singh.

In fact, for SP Singh, who has to his credit mega productions like "Beti","Pathar aur Payal", "Warrant", "Kachee Heere","Saawan" and ‘Hum to Mohabbat Karega" the film will be a dream come true on his home turf. Born in Palwal in Haryana, SP Singh left Mumbai after working there for over 33 years and set up a film and TV training institute, "Groomers" in Sector 35 of Chandigarh last year with a dream of gifting new talent to the industry from North India.

The cast of the big budget film is being finalised and it will be shot in Mumbai, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh besides other places. The mahurat of the film was held in Chandigarh recently with 15 trainees of "Groomers" taking the mahurat shot. Brig KS Chandpuri (retd), hero of the Longewala battle in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, gave the clap shot and Nek Chand, creator-director of the renowned Rock Garden, rolled the camera. A noted producer, Amitabh Chandel, broke the ceremonial coconut.

"Humanity died at the time of the ‘84 riots and the film’s sole message will be to drive home the point that history does not repeat itself," opines the director, Sunil Babbar, who has to his credit much-acclaimed documentaries on Chandigarh and the Rock Garden.

Babbar informs that five songs of the film have already been recorded in the voices of Alka Yagnik and Sonu Nigam and the shooting will start in April.

Holi scenes in Hindi films
O. P. Bhagat

Once an elderly townsman went to a village. He wanted to see a certain girl and fix his grandson’s marriage with her.

While he was passing through a lane, a group of girls, armed with pichkaris, surrounded him. It was Holi, and they wanted to spray him with colour. The visitor tried to threaten them off, but in vain. The girls sprinkled him all over.

Wet and angry the townsman reached the house he had set out for. His host comforted him, but the elderly man fretted and funed. Just then one of the girls, pichkari in hand, turned up there. Seeing the visitor with her father, she looked embarrassed.

At the sight of the girl, the expression changed on the townsman’s face too. But it was to one of liking — so much liking that he at once said yes to his grandson’s engagement with her.

The episode is from the 1944 "Jwar Bhata" in which Dilip Kumar made his debut as an actor. But that is not what matters here. The point is that this is one of the first Hindi films with a memorable Holi scene.

Holi has inspired scenes and songs in many movies. Some are passing incidents or interludes. Some others are links in the story. At least two pictures have been named "Holi". Another is "Holi Ayee Re". Two more are called "Phagun," after the month in which the festival comes.

Most of the Holi scenes are song-and-dance sequences. Even if they are not crucial to the story, they are pleasing or entertaining. For many of the festival songs are merry and melodious.

Of some the tunes seem to be imbued with Holi tints. Some others have the colouring of love and longing. A few are naughty as some Holi moments are. And a few others have a moral tone, or have a sort of moral tag somewhere.

Some of the songs are solos. But most are duets, in which several other voices join in when it comes to the refrain. A few are gay choric songs.

Holi falls on the full moon day of Phagun. Spring has already set in. Or, as the songs put it, it is "rangila mausam" or "rangili ritu" For the colours of nature are coming to the fore.

Of the two movies called "Phagun," the first, a Bharat Bhushan-Madhubala-starrer, is a musical romance. The other, in which Dharmendra and Waheeda Rehman are the lead pair, is a domestic drama, hinging on a Holiday tiff.

The films may have been forgotten, but the theme song of the second is still hummed or played at festival time: Piya sang khelun Holi, Phagun ayo re...

For further colour or gaiety, some films show glimpses of our festivals in a song-and-dance sequence."Guide" has a lovely such scene, with a Holi ditty of birha or separation:

In the "Holi Ayee Re" theme song, the coming of the festival is like that of a female who walks in singing and swaying:

How many Holi colours are there? the girl in "Aap Biti" lists those with which her boy doused her:

But these are not all. As the "Phool aur Pathar" song says, they run into thousands:

Yet, not all colours are for the body or clothes. Some are for the mind or soul. This gives Holi a deeper meaning. The idea is repeated in "Kohinoor":

With love and fun is sometimes blended a preachy tone, as in "Sholay":

At least three movies have offbeat. Holi scenes or episodes. In "Kati Patang" the strange turn of events forces the girl to leave her home and live in another town as a widow. There she is drawn towards a gallant young man.

Comes Holi, and leading a band of revellers, the guy sings:

To this, and his other merry chantings, the girl sings back in melanchoy tones. Or you may say this Holi song has both bright and gloomy shades.

This is the "Darr" girl, singing blithely in a big Holi crowd. But her joy is marred when she discovers that the chap who is beating a drum is the one who has been making cryptic phone calls to her and is the cause of her "darr".

The third film is "Damini". Here too the Holi day takes an unexpected turn. A young wife, Damini, finds that a girl has been gang-raped in her new home. One of the assaulters is her husband’s younger brother.

Interesting is the song Amitabh Bachchan sings when he meets his old flame in "Silsila":

It turns naughty when in each couplet that follows he has a dig at his former beloved’s husband.

Also a naughty is the "Souten" festival song.

Perhaps, the most rollicking Holi number is the duet in "Navrang". A gaily dressed village girl warns a youth who tries to make advances towards her: Mujhe samjho na tum bholi bhali re....The youth attempts to win her over by chanting: Aj meethi lage hai teri gali re.... As this gains him nothing, he pleads:

This has the desired effect, and they sing and dance merrily together.

What is remarkable about the duet is that both the girl and boy are played by the same actress, Sandhya. She wears a male mask on the back of her head.

Since "Navrang" was released in 1959, the song has been on top of the Holi film songs. Other Holi songs may come and go, but this one, you may bet, will go on forever.

AUDIOSCAN
Anu Malik changes his tune
ASC

RAHUL (Tips): One hears so many loud songs from Anu Malik that sometimes it is easy to forget that he is capable of composing soulful songs also. However, for Subhash Ghai’s "Rahul" he has changed his tune, with hardly a boisterous note.

The cassette is set apart by its hummable duets. Among the most seductive is Chhed na mujhko mere mehboob jane de...by Kavita K. Subramaniam and Hariharan. Chalti hai purvai… (Alka Yagnik, Mahalaxmi) is also uncluttered and sweet.

By way of contrast, folksie Main apne piya ki jogan … (Sunidhi Chauhan and Richa Sharma) comes immediately after it. Vah re vah … by Roop Kumar Rathod and Deepali Somaiya is well sung but does not leave much of an impression.

In fact, most of the other songs are woven around the central character who is a young boy. Among them are Tu mujhe kaise bhool jaata hai … (Alka Yagnik) and Kaise bhool jaati hai ... (Sonali Vajpayee). Give me a song to sing … (Calishe, Maria and Jishe) should go down well with the kiddie brigade.

Much was expected from Ustad Sultan Khan, but he sings Eh kaash aisa hota … in a rather flat voice. Anand Bakshi’s lyrics are no great shake either.

KHOYA KHOYA CHAND (Tips): Babul Supriyo is known for remixes than original numbers. So, you can be forgiven for thinking that this too is an album of rehashed old hits. The title too refurbishes that image. But, mercifully, it is not. It is a rather well-sung cassette of original songs by Babul and Alka Yagnik, written by Sameer and set to music by Sajid-Wajid.

Instrumentation is not as loud as in films. That lets the flavour of the lyrics waft around. Alka Yagnik is particularly good in singles like Uski aankhon mein … and Khoya khoya chand…. Babul Supriyo, on the other hand, fares better in duets such as Zindagi mein ek bhi … and Yeh sama pyar ka ….

GORIYA MERA DIL (Venus): Jawahar Wattal continues to promote new talent. The new man in is Rishi Prasad. He is yet to acquire to sing the fun songs with effortlessness but does display promise.

Interestingly, several songs have been penned by Shankar Sahney who has recently cut an album as a singer under Jawahar Wattal’s baton and has also bagged a few film songs.

International Women’s Day was celebrated with great eclat on Thursday (March 8), not only in India, but all over the world. And I was reminded of the famous John Kennedy saying about not asking what your country can do for you, but what you can do for the country.

I would like, in the context of women, to reverse this statement and ask the Indian media not what women can do for them, but what the media can do for women. Because, since the media started in India, whether print or electronic, women have done more than their bit for the media. They have overcome gender bias to lend grace, courage and professional skill to the media. They have done everything, from covering war to reading the news. Young girls like Ekta Kapoor have produced serials which have even beaten the ratings for Kaun Banega Crorepati. They have made mature, credible serials, like Kavita Choudhury did, on women in the police. Juhi Sinha has done some touching programmes on the physically challenged. Priya Tendulkar in an earlier avatar, caught the eye of Japanese and Chinese television with her spirited performance as Rajani, the housewife taking up the cause of civic justice. One can go on.

But when it comes to daily fare, the dal-roti or, if you prefer, the dal-bhaat of women’s programmes, not one channel can claim that it has gone much beyond catering to the urban woman and that, too, the elite. There are more programmes on beauty care where beauticians and manufacturers of beauty products get a good puff, than about professional women or under-privileged women. A lot more about mothers, babies and Agony Aunts with famous names but little knowledge of psychology advising pampered women about trivial marital problems. We even have immature teenaged anchors giving frivolous advice to other teenagers about dating and lovers’ spats. There are elaborate programmes on embroidery, fashion, lkebana and the rest. And, of course cookery by chefs from five-star hotels who get their free publicity too.

DD has by far the longest reach, being terrestrial. It has gone a little beyond the eternal Bahenji and Bahu image, but it cannot really claim that it does for rural women even a fraction of what it does for city women. Some channels do good stories from the field. There is Star TVs India Matters, where reporters like Radhika Bordia and Shikha Trivedi keep on steadily plugging away about injustice to women in far-off places and many concerned women lawyers like Indira Jaisingh explaining the law as it relates to women when some unusual case warrants it. But what is missing on most channels is a steady flow of in-depth stories about women.

I kept a sharp eye open for anything on those lines during the week because of International Women’s Day. And I am happy to say I came across two programmes on two different channels about how women are exploited, sexually and illegally and put to life-long marital suffering in places as far apart as Punjab and Kerala. Bobby Nair’s was a shattering story about what are called "Arab weddings". It seems men from the Arab countries who come to Kerala for short periods enter into "marriages" with women of poor families. Their parents literally sell their daughters for four-figure sums, sometimes to elderly men, which help their expenses and to clear family debts. After living as the poor girl’s husband for three or four months, the Arab "husband" just disappears forever. Many of the girls, and some now-middle-aged women narrated pathetic stories how they were just abandoned and had to bring up children resulting from the liaison under impoverished circumstances. As they were not divorced even by talaaq, they could not re-marry. A lawyer explained that nothing could be done legally, as the women had been married by a proper mullah (who is fully in the racket) and the parents were willing sellers of their daughters and entered into the financial arrangment with their eyes wide open. The money is all.

Zee News also did a much longer and shattering report from Punjab in its series Inside Story with first-hand interviews with parents and girls who had been duped by NRIs. The girls are married off with huge dowries and expensive jewellery to NRIs who claim they have come to India to find Indian brides. They, too disappear and are either untraceable, because they give false addresses abroad, or because the parents are trustful rustic and small-town folk who cannot manage any legal redress. And often the NRI has got a green card by marrying a foreign wife and commits bigamy as well. And an innocent girl is ruined for life, like the Arab brides in Kerala. What price International Women’s Day?