 |
|
| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, September 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
Amita Malik If CNN brought the Gulf War right into our drawing rooms for a ringside view, what happened in New York on Tuesday evening was even more shattering, because it involved an attack not upon armies and professional fighters, but upon people like us. Not in the masala movie mould AUDIOSCAN |
|
SIGHT
&
SOUND If CNN brought the Gulf War right into our drawing rooms for a ringside view, what happened in New York on Tuesday evening was even more shattering, because it involved an attack not upon armies and professional fighters, but upon people like us. People who work in New York, including my nephew, over whose safety we spent terrible moments of anxiety and anguish as did other Indians with brothers, daughters, close relatives and friends there. And the Americans included journalists, policemen, firefighters (the chief and deputy chief of the NY fire services were the first to rush in and got killed), tourists visiting famous museums in the area, mothers with children to take to school, commuters coming in from the suburbs, all those poor people in their thousands holed up in offices on the 110 floors of the mighty Towers which disintegrated and we watched in horror as they jumped to their death. At first one could not believe it and then the mind could not absorb it. The world’s super power, with all the resources at its command, had obviously let the hijackers through to the places because of lax security at airports, something from which we in India have also suffered. So obviously it was not just a question of what was happening to Americans but to humanity itself. As Mr L. K. Advani, our Home Minister, underlined in his exclusive interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on Wednesday, we in India have been suffering from terrorism for a whole decade and here was the world’s greatest power reeling from it on one incredibly horrific day. If any good is to come from this terrible event, it would be the focus on which governments are also going along with terrorism — Pakistan was named in one official American statement. Those who have so long not taken India’s fight with terrorism as seriously as they should, and tried to keep the balance even with those who support it, should open their eyes at last and face the truth. And all those who let Iraqi babies die of malnutrition and elderly cancer patients die for lack of drugs also have a lot to answer for. Power, when not accompanied by compassion, can create hatred of a kind that can destroy humanity. I know all this sounds very lofty, but it concerns all of us and the whole of humanity if this world of ours is ever to return to some semblance of sanity. The press and media have a very large role to play in this, because when we watch terrorism at work on the screen and it comes right into our homes, it reminds us that it is time to act in however small a way. Because those terrible images of planes with innocent people in them going through mighty buildings and office workers jumping to certain death will haunt us for the rest of our lives. And the media, which did a splendid job and some laid down their lives in the process, have come through with top honours. We salute our colleagues. In this context, to mention how our TV channels made a mess of Mira Nair winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival seems trivial, but part of our return to normalcy. I was woken up early on Sunday morning by the BBC which interviewed me on the phone about the award. A pleasure, because the interviewer at the other end knew what he was talking about and understood what I was talking about. But our filmi-ridden TV channels fell flat on their faces when it came to facts. With feature films every hour on some channel or other, with filmi song and dance programmes, with film stars as anchors, with film quizzes, with little children doing erotic filmi dances on screen, it seems our newscasters, reporters, TV film anchors and experts can’t get much beyond Hrithik Roshan’s muscles when it comes to basics. So they all forgot Satyajit Ray. First Star News led off in the morning by saying that Mira Nair was the first Indian to win the Golden Lion. They said they had their doubts, but since Reuter’s had said so, they decided to go along with it. Of course they made a correction, but Star News ended with another faux pas in their night bulletins. Zee, when corrected, ran a caption all day saying Nair was the first Indian after Satyajit Ray, but their newscasters kept on saying Nair was the first. Time our young colleagues boned up on Indian cinema history and followed the old media adage: When in doubt, leave out. |
Not
in the masala movie mould He went to Mumbai to pursue a law degree, but could not stay away from the pull of the arclights for long. He started off as assistant director to Ravinder Peepat in the film “Lava”, produced by Iqbal Singh and starring Rajiv Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia and Raj Babbar, which was released in 1984. Now making movies as an independent director, Krishan Lamba is working on producer Manjit Mani’s film “Gumshuda”, which he intends to enter for the Berlin Film Festival. He is giving a chance to newcomers Jonita Doda and Sahib Singh in the movie, which is based on the story of a householder who becomes a hermit, only to realise that God can be attained even at home. Lamba is also working on another off-beat movie “Jhahar Veer”, which is based on Rajasthani folklore and will be extensively shot in and around Patiala. Here again he is giving a celluloid break to two models, Azad and Suresh Malik, who have featured on television channels. He intends doing films with social relevance and has no liking for run-of-the-mill stuff. Not in favour of running from the sets of one film to that of another, Lamba feels that doing one movie at a time with bulk dates of the cast helps in concentrating on the subject and the narrative. Though a strong believer in the adage that art films give satisfaction and not money, he does have a few concepts of commercial movies in mind. He considers Subhash Ghai as his ideal for the emotional treatment he gives to the subject. The film “Waris”, which had an unforgettable performance by Smita Patil, had Lamba as associate director. He has also directed jubilee star Rajendra Kumar in the serial “Vansh”. A few recent films having his expertise are “Qaid Mein Hai Bulbul”, starring Bhagyashree, and “Aao Pyar Karen”, with Saif Ali Khan in the lead. His favourite artistes are Sunny Deol, Madhuri Dixit, Aamir Khan and Preity Zinta. Having done a crash course from the FTII in Pune, Lamba has to his credit a Punjabi film “Bhabho”, starring Preeti Sapru and Bharat Kapoor, besides 16 or 17 advertisement campaigns. He made his first foray into serials with “Lok Lok ki Baat”, which was telecast on Doordarshan in 1987. The first film he directed was “Lal Dupatta Malmal ka”, followed by its sequel, “Phir Lehraya Lal Dupatta”. He has also assisted Bollywood stalwarts like Raj Kapoor, Shakti Samanta, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and K.C. Bokadia. Lamba believes that television is a better medium than movies for conveying a message to the viewers. His serial “Apni Mitti”, based on the lives of some Indians settled abroad, has been greatly appreciated. He is working on “Asmat”, a serial for Zee TV, which is the poignant portrayal of the story of a rape victim who is subjected to exploitation by various persons in power for their vested interests. He contends that novel ideas certainly have takers among television channels. Though he intends to continue making serials on good subjects, he also has the desire to work with big names in the Bollywood firmament. Admitting that stars tend to have an overbearing influence, he asserts that the film turns out to be good only if the director is the captain of the ship and maintains a balance between various artistes. |
AUDIOSCAN MAST QALANDAR (Sony): Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the uncrowned king in the classical and mystical Islamic tradition as long as he lived. Now that he is no more, Begum Abida Parveen is considered the foremost Sufi singer in Pakistan. These two legendary singers come together in this album. Included are some of the most revered Sufi songs indeed, written in an ornate language and with an esoteric dimension. The album opens with Nusrat’s immortal Allah hoo Allah hoo … which has the great voice transcending all boundaries of religion and language. The frenzy that he generates when the song reaches its crescendo is quite an experience. Two kaafis of Baba Bulleh Shah have been sung by Parveen. These are Tere ishq nachaya and Sade verhe aaya kar. She is even better in the traditional Sufi song from Sindh, Duma dum Mast Qalandar …. Many other singers have sung this in the same mould, but she simply stands out. Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s Aaj ran hai … and Harat Nizamuddin Aulia’s Main jaagi piya ke sang … move to a different level with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Abida Parveen proves why her father Ustad Ghulam Haider had considered her to be the most deserving recipient of his mantle (at the age of five) when she sings Yaar di gharoli …, a Kaafi by Sachal Sarmast, and Ghoom charakra … by Shah Hussain. ALTAF AND ADNAN EK SAATH (Venus): Adnan Sami has got tremendous lift from Lift karadey …. One would have expected him to come up with a new album and cash in on the surge in popularity, but here he is sharing the credit with Altaf Raja in an album which only repackages some of his old numbers. Besides the Lift number, there are the solo Bheegi bheegi raaton mein... and the duets Kabhi to nazar milao … and Pyar bina … he had done with Asha Bhosle. Lyrics are by Riyaz-ur-Rehman Saghar and music by Adnan Sami. Featured on the other side is Altaf Raja, his offerings marked by mediocre lyrics (Munnawar Rana, Arun Bhairav) and slightly better music (Altaf and Vaishnav Deva). Altaf sings with a monotonous twang which has not changed since Tum to thehre pardesi … one bit. But he has a committed clientele which ensures that he continues to be among cassettes. KUDIYAN (Tips): Since his "Yaari Yaari" album, Shankar Sawhney has done some playback singing and the experience has helped him iron out rough edges in this second album. This one is an out-and-out dance cassette, with foot-stomping numbers following each other. Even the traditional Lohri diyan boliyan … and Turu turu … have been converted into the pop mould. There are two slow numbers as well, Dhokha … and Tera surma …. Songs have been composed by Anand Raj Anand, except Ek mangya si yaar … which is by Jawahar Wattal. Four
of the songs have been written by Shankar himself. Other writers are
Dev Rishi, Anand Raj Anand, Vicky Sahni and Babu Singh Maan. |
 |
