Dev Anand & R.D Burman

song : ek roop kai naam (one concept different names)

singer : Kishore Kumar

music : R.D Burman

lyrics : Anjaan

album : Swami Dada (1982 Hindi movie)

produced & directed by : Dev Anand

Trivia: Dev Anand have always explored the themes of spirituality,mysticism and religious-cults in his movies [ eg. Guide(1965), Hare Rama Hare Krishna(1971), Swami Dada(1982)] with out being too judgmental or patronising. 'Swami Dada' is not a real life character but loosely based on the notable 20-th century holymen like Osho,Yogananda,Meher Baba etc. who had large following in the West. (But they should n't be mistaken with their 21-th century counterparts, who are mostly after money and fame.) Dev Anand with his in-born charisma & unbridled energy was tailor-made to play the holyman. The Western female disciple reminds me of Kate Winslet in a much later movie 'Holy Smoke'(1999).

Swami Dada did not do well during the time of release because, like many other Dev Anand movies, it's theme was well ahead of times. And like any other Dev Anand movies ,it had great music from the Burman - this time Burman junior - to be precise, the incomparable R.D Burman !

Dev Anand : romancing with life

Dev Anand - on or off-the-screen - was always immaculate in his attire. One can never imagine him in an informal attire. The same goes with his on & off-the-screen persona too. They were never at odds with each other.

The boyish-looking romantic hero of 1950s & 60s re-invented himself as a dashing & debonair hero in the action-flicks of 70s and 80s.

Dev Anand and Geeta Bali in the movie Baazi(1951). The movie was directed by Dev's life-long friend Guru Dutt. Dev Anand produced the film. Guru Dutt later spearheaded the Golden Era of Hindi cinema of 1950s & 60s and made unforgettable classics which earned him the name among the top 25 Asian directors of all times. Guru Dutt is also known as the Orson Welles of India. Dev Anand with his wife & actress Kalpana Kartik (above)in Baazi(The Gamble).They got married in 1954.

Dev Anand with his idol (above) the great Gregory Peck (who's my favourite Hollywood actor too).

Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman(above)in the super-hit movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna(1971) written, produced & directed by Dev Anand. The movie is about a brother in search of his sister who was lost among the hippies.

Dev Anand was a well-read and articulate individual who could make a conversation on any subject. In this mid-1990s photo, Dev Anand chats with Hillary Clinton, then the first-lady of U.S.

Dev Anand and Mira Nair. As film-makers, they are different as chalk and cheese. Dev was a pure entertainer while Mira Nair is world-renowned for her realistic, artistic movies. But both were pioneers in documenting the lives of overseas-Indians in their movies.

Dev Ananad : a journalist remembers

Ten things you didn’t know about Dev Anand
Rubina A.Khan about the legend in her article in firstpost.com

I’ve had the rare honour of knowing a legend like Dev Anand personally over the years, way before I was a journalist. I have spent many an early evening with him at his office on Pali Hill, listening to the glorious history of his life, first hand. As I would walk up the hardwood stairs leading up into his office, he would say, “Come in Rubina! The door is open” even before I’d reached the door. It was surreal sometimes that Dev Saab knew my name and addressed me by it! My grandparents, huge fans of Dev Saab, were suitably impressed that the great actor gave me an audience, not once, but on many occasions. My grandfather would actually think I was pulling a bluff when I’d say I was going across to meet him. Had there been Twitter and Facebook back then, I would have been spared some of the sardonic wit of my grandfather, with my pictures and status updates doing all the talking. He would often wonder, aloud mostly, what in the world Dev Saab would want to meet me for. It was simple – Dev Saab’s desire to feel and see the world through younger people and interact with the real world outside was insatiable.

He was not one of those stars who liked to live in their own world, without an inkling of outside realities. He would ask questions about the Internet, the way we communicate, write, think, what we read… everything about a generation he didn’t belong to biologically, but in spirit, was younger than most teenagers at the time. His optimism, enthusiasm and zest for life was awe-inspiring, and I remember leaving his office feeling invincible every single time. Also, the fact that I’d just had a conversation over popcorn and sookha bhel with one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema left an indelible high on my soul each time. Our ages never came in the way of our life exchanges, if anything, it was comforting to think of him as a friend, even though he was closer to my grandparents age than mine. I met Dev Saab as a star, completely struck by his charm and polite demeanour and got to know him as a person subsequently – one that I would like to describe as one of the most honest and clean souls in the world, aside from a very talented actor and super star. I learnt a lot from him. RIP Dev Saab!

Some things I observed about him, which are not known to many, are listed here:
1. He picked up his office phone himself and greeted you with the most charming Hello.
2. He never forgot anyone’s name once he’d met and interacted with them.
3. Birthday flowers along with a personal note was protocol for his friends and family.

4. He liked soft lights in his office, which was a penthouse on 42, Pali Hill, Bandra, situated above his dubbing studio, Anand Recording Studio.

5. The penthouse was covered from floor to ceiling with a vast collection of books and scripts with just enough space for his couch, which incidentally was his favourite spot in the room.

6. Soup was his preferred dinner as he was a very spartan eater and his favourite snack was a bowl of unsalted and unbuttered popcorn.

7. He never gossiped about people – always analysed things and deconstructed them, never degrading anyone in the process.

8. He wasn’t a big spender.

9. He always invited people to his parties personally over the telephone, which was then followed by a formal invite.

10. He was an extremely well read and articulate man and could converse on any subject with as much ease as films and filmmaking.

courtesy : www.firstpost.com

Dev Anand : Guide (1965) - title song

song : musafir (the traveller)

singer/composer : S.D Burman

movie : Guide (1965-Hindi movie based on novel by R.K Narayan)

starring : Dev Anand, Waheeda Rahman

Produced by : Dev Anand

written & directed by : Vijay Anand

trivia : Dev Anand's most critically acclaimed movie 'Guide' is based on R.K Narayan's novel and directed by Dev Anand's brother Vijay Anand. The title-song is composed & sung by S.D Burman in the Bengali folk style. For the music of his own productions, Dev Anand have consistently used the Burmans - S.D Burman & his equally talented son R.D Burman. No surprise, the music of Dev Anand movies were a great hit !

Dev Anand : Actor, Film-maker & 'Guide'

I grew up watching his movies - in the 80s & 90s. My father grew up watching his movies - in 60s & 70s. My grand-father grew up watching his movies - in the 1940s & 50s. Is n't that incredible ! I 'm sure, many others could say the same way too. That's the most remarkable achievement of Dev Anand who has passed away on December 4th, at the age of 88. He entertained generations !

Well known for his old-world charm and feverish energy, Dev Anand's career spanned over 6 decades. When most of his contemporaries were retired or limited to side-roles, Dev Anand continued to play hero & make movies till the very end. Infact, his last movie 'Charge Sheet' was released only a few months ago. Dev Anand was known, esp. early in his career as 'Indian Gregory Peck'.

His most critically acclaimed movies came in the 1950s & 60s, known as the Golden Era of Hindi cinema. Prominent among them was 'Guide'(1965) based on the novel by R.K Narayan , made by Dev Anand's own production house 'Navketan'. This super-hit movie is a land-mark film in the history of Hindi cinema. Later he ventured into screen-writing & direction and made many super-hits, including 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' (1971) which is based on the prevalent 'hippie' culture. In this film, he launched Zeenat Aman - the former miss-India and model - who later

became well-known actress of the 80s. Dev Anand as a film-maker is instrumental in lauching the career of many new-comers - a tradition he continued till his later movies.

From the boyish-looking romantic hero of 1950s & 60s, Dev Anand re-invented himself as a dashing & debonair hero in the action-flicksof 70s and 80s. In his later career (from 1990s onwards) he acted only in his own productions. As Hindi cinema evolved into 'Bollywood' with songs & dance spectacle gallore, Dev Anand remained aloof to this trend and made his own small-budget 'indie' movies (a la Woody Allen). He recieved a lot of brick-bats and ridicule at this time for not 'following the herd'. Dev Anand was also a pioneer in making movies abroad, highlighting the lives of overseas Indians.

As a film-maker, Dev Anand movies were pure entertianers which can be termed as 'kitsch' (by world standards). But kitsch is also an art form and is better than plagiarism , which is rampant in Bollywood now. Infact, Dev Anand was a complete anti-thesis to the current image of a stupid and ignorant Bollywood hero. This M.A (Master of Arts) in English Literature was extremely well-read and articulate individual. During his launch of autobiography 'Romancing with Life' in 2007 ( released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) he told the reporters : "Every word of the book is mine. Come on, I'm an educated man !"

Who is the Greatest ?

The maestro and the protege : who is the greatest ? A.R Rahman or Ilaiyaraaja? This debate about the great sons of south-Indian music have split their fans for long. The heated discussions which started in school & college campuses in the early 90s, have now shifted to message-boards and chat-rooms and even YouTube. After his Oscar triumph in 2009, A.R Rahman-fans now seems to have the upper-hand. The following article is my 'expert opinion' on what I think about the subject :

I don't highly rate A.R Rahman as a music composer. He is more of a good music-conductor than a composer. His stock of tunes are rather very limited. Nor he is very prolific or spontaneous in his output like Ilaiyaraaja. What makes A.R Rahman click is that he packages his limited tunes well. Perhaps his early experience in the ad-world may have come handy. He often comes up with some 'jingles' that catches the instant imagination of the youth. But they didn't have a longer shelf life. Most of his compositions are mediocre, with an occassional flash of brilliance here and there.

In case of Ilaiyaraaja, vise-versa is true. Even his mediocre works are now considered world-class. From start to finish, there is no irrelevant or insignificant piece of notes in his composition. Any portion of his music can make a beautiful 'ring-tone'. There are many movies (musicals) which became super-hit by his music alone. Even instrumental albums based on Ilaiyaraaja's music still sell like hot-cakes.By the sheer number of hits, creativity,innovation, consistency - A.R Rahman is no match to Ilaiyaraaja. while A.R Rahman is more of a pop-composer, Ilaiyaraaja has shown complete mastery in all area of music - folk, pop and classical.

(to be continued) ...

music of ILaiyaraaja

song : Dilwaale Raat Hai Jawan

singer : Asha Bhosle

album : Mahadev (Hindi movie 1987)

lyrics : Farooq Kaiser

music : Ilaiyaraaja

Trivia: Another great hit from the entertaining 80s! The model featured in this video is the former miss-India and actress Sonu Walia.

The singer needs no introduction. Any music-lover from the Indian sub-continent can easily recognise her sweet voice. She is the living-legend Asha Bhosle.

The music composer Ilaiyaraaja may not be as well known as his protege A.R Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame.) Infact A.R Rahman was a key-boardist in Ilaiyaraaja's orchestra.And Ilaiyaraaja himself started off as a guitarist under the great composer Salil Chowdhury.

In his appearence, Ilaiyaraaja(below) may be mistaken as a south-Indian monk or 'swami'. But it was this soft-spoken & introverted 'swami' who composed all those peppy,chartbusting, Hi-NRG dance hits of the 80s! Though busy in south India, Raaja has also occassionally worked in Hindi music scene.

'Ga Ga' Lady

(photo - Washington Post)

Lady GaGa has dominated the MTV Europe Music Awards this week, winning the best song, best female-artist ,best video and special award for the artsit with largest fan circle. Also known for her neo-burlesque persona & attire, she gave a scintillating stage performance at the venue in Belfast.
Prior to this event, Lady GaGa toured India where she is seen sipping tea (above) during the press conference. She had an interesting revelation to make for her Indian admirers. She said that in Hindi the word 'Ga' means 'to sing'. So her name GaGa - ie. 'to sing-sing' will be specially make her appealing in India. As for hosts, it was a welcome change , especially for a nation where entertainment of 1.2 billion hapless souls are firmly in the hands of one or two Bollywood families and a few cricketers.

Kulfi : the mughlai ice-cream !

Here are a few pictures I picked from the web on Kulfi , an extremely delicious mughlai dessert.

Fatima Bhutto @ Kovalam Literary Festival

The famed Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto was the star attraction of this year's Kovalam Literary Festival. It was her first visit to the place where another renowned Asian author Mr.Shashi Tharoor is the elected MP of Thiruvananthapuram - the capital of Kerala. This ancient city was recently in the news due to the rich haul of temple treasure. Ms.Fatima Bhutto's itinerary included a visit to the ramparts of this temple (does she plans to write an adventure/mystery novel? ) and the near by sufi mosque. She also took time off to relax at the famed Kovalam beach.

At the press conference, Fatima refuted the stereotype that her nation is a failed state. She said her nation is rich in natural resources, but also added that successive politicians have let them down. Regarding the events in West Asia (known as Arab spring) she said the whole Islamic world is going through a transitional period, similar to the 18th & 19th century Europe. About her on-line presence, Fatima said she hates social networking sites like face-book due to lack of privacy. ( I can't agree with you more! After all, why should one parade your friends & well-wishers like a gizmo or gadget? ) Fatima denied that she has political ambitions but also added she's proud of the great sacrifices of her family. 'I'd rather stick to what I'm good at - ie. writing ' she concluded with a smile.

All Blacks : the winners

The All Blacks performs 'Haka' dance before their game against France in the final. New Zealand won the match 8-7. (photo - Sydney Morning Herald)

When the semi-final line up was completed, the winner was a foregone conclusion. What remained was how the opposition going to fare. The Wallabies (Australia) were demolished in the semis. The final against France expected to be a piece of cake. But France, the third time finalists gave a brave fight. Finally, the All Blacks scraped through to emerge as the winner of the Rugby Worldcup 2011.

Being hosts does not takes away the brilliance of All Blacks - the 'Brazil' of rugby. Like Brazil in football, it is a joy to watch the All Blacks in full flow. While other top teams rely heavily on their physical prowess, New Zealand always had a fine combination of power and finesse. Who can forget the exploits of Jonah Lomu & co. in the 1995 Worldcup ? Despite their great show and depth of talent, the All Blacks could not always translate it in the Worldcup. This truimph is only their second, and that too after a long gap of 24-years.

I completely missed the 2007 edition of Rugby Worldcup held in France, because then I was working in Saudi Arabia. This time too, I missed some of the action, mostly due to the odd time schedules. Nor was there a re-telecast (so far) on TV. The sports-channel Neo, after their initial excitment seems to have lost interest in rugby. Or is it that they have already sold time & space to money-spinners like football and cricket ? I hardly follow these games which are so numerous, boring and predictable.

Rugby may not be a 'cash cow' like football,cricket,golf, F-1 racing etc. Nor it has superstars, earnings and rankings to speak of. The nature of the game does not allow too much of individual effort. It's truly a team game. Let's hope it will remain that way. Atleast, there are sports that exists just for the sake of sports.

Road to the Finals

Quarter-final results :

Ireland 10 Wales 22


England 12 France 19


South Africa 9 Australia 11


New Zealand 33 Argentina 10



Semi-final line up :

Wales vs France (Oct.15 Auckland)


Australia vs New Zealand (Oct.16 Auckland)


FINAL (23rd Oct. Auckland)

1995 Rugby World Cup

Nelson Mandela congratulates Springboks captain Francois Pienaar after their triumph in the 1995 Rugby WorldCup. The story of South Africa's sporting triumph against all odds were the theme of Clint Eastwood's latest movie Invictus(2009). South Africa is also the defending champion, winning the 2007 edition as well. .

Rugby WorldCup - New Zealand

Rugby WorldCup 2011 has been kicked off in New Zealand , scheduled to be held from September 9 to October 23rd.

POOL A:
New Zealand ,France,Canada ,Tonga,Japan

POOL B :
Scotland,England,Argentina,Georgia,Romania

POOL C :
Australia,Ireland,United States,Russia,Italy

POOL D :
Samoa,Fiji,South Africa,Wales,Namibia

ABBA

Hasta mañana - chords & lyrics
intro: F Am B# C

VERSE:
(F)Where is the (Am)spring and the (B#)summer (C)
(F)that once was (Am)yours and mine.(B#) (D7)
(Gm)Where did it go, (B#)I just don't know,
(Gm)but still my love for you will (C)live forever.

CHORUS:
(F)Hasta mañana 'till we (Am)meet again,
(Dm)don't know where, don't know (Gm)when.
(Gm)Darling our love was much too (C)strong to die,
(Gm)we'll find a way to face a (C)new tomorrow.
(F)Hasta mañana say we'll (Am)meet again,
(D7)I can't do without (Gm)you.
(B#)Time to forget, send me a letter,
(Bm#)Say you forgive, the sooner the better.
(F)Hasta (D7)mañana baby, (Gm)hasta (C)mañana until then. (F)

R.D Burman

song : Shono Ei To Somoy (1986)

album : Modern Bengali Songs of R.D Burman

singer/composer : R.D Burman

Trivia : R.D Burman made this song during the twilight of his career. But it is difficult to believe !The song has such energy and passion typical of the 80s, as if a teenage-band has created it! That speaks much about R.D.B - always well ahead of his times.

Amy Winehouse joins Club 27

Here goes another meteor ! .... Not only in her looks, in her real life too, Amy Winehouse lived very much in the 'spirits' of 60s & 70s.

I am not a fan of her nor I am familiar with her music. From the few tracks I have so far heard here and there, Amy Winehouse is a singer & song-writer of considerable talent. But I always liked her for being different, with her devil-may-care attitude. At a time when even an occational bath-room singer can become an 'idol' or an 'icon' by gate-crashing into some venues of reality TV-shows, and claiming thousands of fans & followers instantly, Amy Winehouse was a throw-back to the bygone era. An era where art and creativity were pursued with unique craze & passion, even leading to self-destruction.

Amy Winehouse too lived on the edge, choosing a lonely, risky and self-destructive path. Music world has lost a great talent. May her soul rest in peace.

All members of Forever 27club (from left): Jimi Hendrix,Kurt Cobain(Nirvana), AmyWinehouse, Janis Joplin and my most favourite among them, Jim Morrison.

M.F Hussain (1915-2011)

The world renowned artist M.F Hussain passed away on June 9th at the age of 95. The Mumbai-based painter has been living in exile for the past few years, in Dubai, Doha and finally in London.

M.F Hussain started off as a hoarding painter for movies in the 1940s. This product of prestigious J.J School of Arts went on to exhibit his works in Europe in 1950s which won him many accolades. In subsequent decades, he became the most valued and sought-after painter of modern India. Also known as 'India's Picasso', no drawing-room of the elite was complete with out an 'M.F Hussain'. Till the 1980s, he was largerly known among the art-lovers,the elite and intelligentsia.

M.F Hussain and his muse , the renowned Hindi movie-star Madhuri Dixit during the 90s. Both had great respect for each other.

The advent of 1990s saw M.F Hussain making news for all the wrong reasons. With the rise of Indian extremism, where each and every issue has been viewed through a communal angle, M.F Hussain became their favourite punching-bag. The centre of the controversy were his few paintings, he did decades ago, now misinterpreted as ' hurting religious sentiments'. The shows of his paintings were attacked and destroyed, numerous law suits were filed against him and there were even threat to his life. In such an atmosphere of blind-hate, even a genuis like Albert Einstein had to flee for life. M.F Hussain too fled from his country for good.

M.F Hussain made foray into film-making, directing two avant-garde movies . Gaja Gamini (2000) starred the legend herself : Madhuri Dixit.

Even during the times of persecution and intimidation, M.F Hussain silently continued his work and let his brush do all the talking. Infact those who were familiar with his works did not doubt his integrity and the artistic circles of India stood firmly behind him. He continued to produce many classic works even during the twilight of his career and made foray into the movies, directing 'Gaja Gamini'(2000) and 'Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities' (2004). He accepted Qatari citizenship but his home-country, especially his home-state Maharashtra where he spent most of his life, was always dear to him.

The second and final movie he made - Meenaxi : Tale of Three Cities (2004) was also in the genre of avant-garde.

The M.F Hussain episode is a example for those who spread hate and intolerance to advance their own causes. As the old saying goes, 'a lie has no antique value and truth will prevail sooner or later'. About a 100-years ago, Hitler unleashed a campaign against Jews based on some false allegations and propoganda. Now where is Hitler and where are Jews ? The former has been dumbed into the dust-bin of history, while the later became powerfull and influencial group in the world.

The great master's long eventfull creative life came to an end. But his art-works will continue to tell many tales in the years, decades and centuries to come. As M.F Hussain said in a recent TV interview : "Only the titles of the paintings were told, the real story takes a life time".

Frontline magazine has issued special features in their latest issue remembering the great M.F Hussain, which can be seen here:
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2813/fl281300.htm

Asian challenge

China's Li Na becomes the first Asian -male or female - to win a Grand slam title. She defeated the defending champion Francesca Shiavone 6-4,7-6(7-0) to win the French Open. Early this year Li Na came close to winning this distinction in the Australian Open but Kim Clijsters dashed her hopes. It is remarkable that Li Na's top form has not affected by the change of surface - from hard-court to clay-court.

But is Li Na the first ethnic Chinese to win the Grand slam ? I doubt it. If my assumption is right, that distinction goes to Michael Chang of U.S who won the French Open way back in 1989.

Mean while, Sania Mirza came close to become the first Indian woman to win a major doubles title. Infact, she was having a great run this year in the doubles partnering Elena Vesnina of Russia. So their presence in the finals hardly came as a surprise. But in the final they were beaten by unseeded Czech pair Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in straight sets 6-4,6-3. Anyway, best wishes for the rest of season, including Wimbledon and U.S Open.

Tagore : a romantic ?

Danseuse Sudha Chandran and renowned Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta in a recent event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Interview with the great Bengali film-maker of yesteryears, the mercurial Ritwik Ghatak (Excerpted from the book Ritwik Ghatak On cinema.) :

Tagore music (Rabindra Sangeet) has an important functional role in most of your films. Could you explain your affinity to Rabindranath Tagore ?

I cannot speak without him. That man has culled all my feelings long before my birth. He has understood what I am.

In spite of the considerable influence of Rabindranath Tagore on you, we find that there is a qualitative difference between the works of Tagore and your films. Don't you think that he was excessively romantic ?

Romantic ! What do you know about him ? Rabindranath is not a romantic, his is a completely variegated affair. He is the performing monkey of Bengali literature. And you call him a romantic ? Have you read Chaturanga ? He is a mystic, agnotic, everything. He was also a great rogue and a great one for using vile language. He also wrote in the language used by street urchins. So do not try to sidetrack him as a romantic. Read the full range of the man's work. The structure of his writings is extremely tight. He is, as I said before, the performing monkey of Bengali literature. You must have seen the toy which has a ladder and a small monkey on the top. When you hold this toy upright the monkey rolls down. When inverted it slides down again. Rabindranath is like this toy monkey.

He can get to the top, step by step, and climb upside down as well. So, it is a great blunder to label him a romantic. There are some people who want to sell Rabindranath, and that is why you have this image of him impressed on your minds. You people have not read Rabindranath. You are yet to know of his anger. From the lowest rung of society to the highest he spared none. You can call me rogue, a rascal, but he was a greater one. Maybe he knew more four-letter words than I do. Do not have a distorted notion about him.

book : Rows And Rows of Fences - Ritwik Ghatak on cinema.

Haiku on celluloid :

the films of Yasujiro Ozu

Friday Review interview with Donald Richie :
When did your interest in Japanese cinema begin ?

Ever since I went to Japan in 1947, I have been watching Japanese films. Even before I had met Kurosawa and Ozu in person, I was well-acquinted with Japanese cinema. I was then the film critic of the newspaper "Stars and Stripes". After the war, I joined "Japan Times". By then , I had fallen deeply in love with Japan. Moreover, I was not much interested in returning to Ohio, my homeland for several reasons.

In 1968, I returned to the U.S to join the New York Museum of Modern Art as film curator. Six years later, I flew back to Japan. I like the Japanese. They are orthodox as well as progressive.

I took only two months to write my book on Kurosawa. I stayed at the Hot Spring Resort at Kyosho in southern Japan to work on it. It took me much longer to finish my book on Ozu. I admired Kurosawa, but loved Ozu. It is difficult to write about someone or something you love. Your emotions stand in the way of your intellectual evaluation.

Ozu himself had believed that his subjects were too abstruce for the West to follow ....

True. Ozu had once said that. But on another occasion, he had told his cameraman that foreigners will one day rave about his style.

Why did the Japanese like Ozu ? Because they could see themselves in Ozu's films. Stylistically, he was unparalleled. I took Satyajit Ray for a screening of Ozu's "Tokyo Story" in Japan. I heard Ray sobbing as the reels rolled on.

Ozu has been a great influence on film makers in several countries. He has inspired some Kerala film makers. I am currently compiling a package, titled "Ozu's children", consisting of the works of such film makers as Jim Jarmusch and Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who had been profoundly influenced by Ozu.

A still from Yasujiro Ozu last movie An Autumn Afternoon (1962)

Had not Ozu, for whom oriental culture was as precious as his breath, been little incomprehensible for the westerner ?

So had been the belief. But I have proved that it is not so. My book shows how much I have understood Ozu. Infact, foreigners understand Ozu better than many young Japanese of today

do.

Compared with Ozu, Kurosawa was less popular in Japan....

Ozu was quintessentially Japanese, so people liked him. Kurosawa was also a genius.

I first met him in 1947. He was then shooting "Drunken Angel". Once I was with himon the sets. He was fiddling with a faulty pen. Yet, he would not give that upand use a new one.

Toshiro Mifune (actor in most of Kurosawa films), who was with us, called me aside and said, " I am that pen. See how carefully and painstakingly he works on it."

What is your assessment of contemporary Japanese cinema ? (as in 1998)

There are a few good serious film makers, who include Mitsuo Yanagimachi("Fire Festival") , Hirokazu Kore-Eda ("AfterLife") and Makoto Shinozaki ("Okaeri"). But they are quite a small group. People seem to prefer Hollywood movies to native ones.

But during the time of Ozu or Mizoguchi, there was an audience for serious cinema....

Ozu and Mizoguchi belong to the pre-TV era. Cinema was then the sole means of entertainment. They lapped up the movies and thus production companies ran profitably. As the money was coming, the companies gave an Ozu or Mizoguchi a carte blanche.

courtesy : Friday Review - The Hindu Daily 1998.

Satyajit Ray & Akira Kurosawa

Two great film makers of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa and Satyajit Ray meets at a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo - Extracts from the book Our Films Their Films by Satyajit Ray.

Like Ray, Kurosawa was also an accomplished artist who designed his own posters & story-boards.

As it turned out, the venue for the meeting was a Chinese restaurant in a quiet back-street of Tokyo.

'A favourite of Kurosawa's' said Mrs Kawakita, my hostess and a close friend of the director. Atleast one could face the gastronomic hazards with more confidence here.

Kurosawa turned out to be that rarity - a tall Japanese. He also had a stoop, with an appropriate humility to go with it, kindly eyes which a ready smile thinned into more slits, and a hushed and gentle tone of voice - all of which was in unexpected contrast to the ferocious image derived from his samurai films. But then, it's not unusual to find schizophrenics among people of theatrical profession, and I knew Kurosawa had samurai blood in him. I had visions of his unbridled other self, pitching into that scene of combat with all the controlled fury of a samurai himself.

I started by talking of Seven Samurai, which turned out to be both his and my favourite amongst his films. 'It needs long and hard training to be a film samurai' he said. 'There was so much about the samurai that was stylised - his ride, his run, the way he wielded the sword. A samurai would never be hunched over his saddle when charging. He would stand straight up with feet firmly on the stirrups and knees pressed tight against the flanks of the horse. His body would not be perpendicular, but leaning forward at an angle to prevent being thrown backwards by the force of the charge.'

Kurosawa rose from his chair to demonstrate the stance of the charging samurai.

'And about the sword - it wouldn't cut at all if you only hacked with it. You would have to combine' (more demonstration here) 'a backing motion with a slicing motion. And when the samurai runs, his head shouldn't bob up and down with his footsteps. The effect should be like a swift floating. In other words, the head shouldn't trace a wavy curve, but a straight line'.

Rai and Samurai...Chips of the same block, Satyajit Ray & Akira Kurosawa during the later's visit to Delhi in the 70s.

A stickler for historical accuracy, Kurosawa in his period films, makes his actors put on period costumes obtained from museums.

'But you know where the snag is' he said with a twinkle in his eyes. 'The Japanese as a whole have grown smaller over the last five or six hundred years. It is difficult to find actors large enough for these costumes to fit'.

I asked if he had any more samurai films in mind.

'None' he said. 'And I doubt if I could ever make another one'.

'Why not ? '

'Because there's such a dearth of horses now. You see, most of the horses used in films came from farms. But now farm-work has been machinised, and horses are bred only for racing'.

I heard that Kurosawa had been signed up by the American producer Joe Levine to direct a film in the USA. The news intrigued me, because this would be the first instance of an Asian director with only a rudimentary knowledge of English making an English-language film in the States.

'I had a story in mind' said Kurosawa. 'I had saved up a clipping from an American newspaper which described how a goods train went tearing through Chicago at eighty miles an hour with three men on board but no one at the control. For some unaccountable reason, the driver had jumped off and killed himself. The train as well as the passengers were ultimately saved, and the film will show how'.

But there were snags. Kurosawa had stipulated that he would work with his own Japanese crew consisting of some twenty technicians. Producer Levine's drastic rerms permitted only one non-English speaking assistant. The fact that Kurosawa had to concede could be indicative of either his great urge to film the story at any cost, or of the alarming situation of the serious film maker in Japan. What is true of Kurosawa is also true of Ichikawa, Kobayashi and Shindo.

However, a truly gifted film maker - as has often been proved in the history of the cinema - can rise above his circumstances; so that one can look forward to the The Runaway Train - if it ever gets made - with all the pleasurable anticipation of an authentic Japanese Kurosawa. Let us hope that a charging train will prove just as inspiring as a charging samurai.

chapter: Tokyo, Kyoto and Kurosawa - 1967

book : Our Films Their Films [a compilation of Ray's articles & essays on cinema] authour : Satyajit Ray

The Oscars

BEST PICTURE
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

BEST EDITING
127 Hours, Jon Harris
Black Swan, Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter, Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech, Tariq Anwar
The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SONG
“Coming Home,” Country Strong, Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light,” Tangled, Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
“If I Rise,” 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman, Dido, Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
BEST ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKEUP
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING
Inception, Richard King
BEST SOUND MIXING
Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick
BEST ANIMATED FILM

Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
God of Love, Luke Matheny
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In a Better World (Denmark)

Bollywood : ripe for a revolution ?

In his recent trip to India, the Russian President Dimitri Medvedev took time-off to meet the bigwigs in Bollywood and called for a closer co-operation between Russia and Bollywood. Sharing the podium with Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, President Medvedev even expressed his admiration for Bollywood song and dances. Last November, U.S President Barack Obama too came to Mumbai which has resulted in more joint-ventures between Hollywood and Bollywood.

While the local-media went ga-ga over this wooing of Bollywood by world leaders, the average movie-goer appears to be less enthusiastic. They are wondering how these joint-ventures could bring any visible change in the quality of Bollywood pot-boilers. They are already sick and tired of the 'escapist-entertainment' churned out by Bollywood. For a record, all the much hyped big-banner movies of the previous year - despite their agressive publicity campaign - have flopped. On the other hand, small-budget indie-movies, which deals with real life issues - targeting the middle-class/multiplex crowd - have done brisk business.

In any case , it's a wise move by President Medvedev to court superstar Shahrukh Khan - Bollywood's most talented and popular actors. He is an original actor with a solid theatre-background ( like most Hollywood actors) which enabled him to develop his own style, technique and confidence. Shahrukh Khan is also one of the few actors of Bollywood who is not part of any star-dynasty. But he also made his debut long ago (in the early 90s) much before the star-dynasties began to monopolise the film-industry. In the past decade (2000s), many original and talented actors like Shahrukh Khan have made their debut and where are they now ? Despite winning popular and critical acclaim, these newcomers have vanished (or banished ?) without a trace. In contrast, the good-for-nothing star-kids - in spite of their repeated failure and incompetence - are still clinging to their inherited 'stardom'. As a critique has put it, Bollywood have long ceased to be a film-making industry - infact it's now a 'star-producing' industry !

Once upon a time in Russia (and also in China and other parts of the world), Bollywood movies - or Hindi movies as it is then known - were very popular, thanks to the pioneering efforts of stalwarts like Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan, V.Shantaram, Kamal Amrohi, Bimal Roy etc. Their classics besides entertaining, also dealt with the issues concerning the masses. The current Bollywood , living in their 'castles' have not only lost touch with the common man, they now started looking down upon them. Most Bollywood movies now are either poor parody of earlier classics or a scene-to-scene, shot-to-shot copy of major Hollywood movies.

The present decadent state of Bollywood - with its 'Kings','queens' and 'king-makers'- resembles the Tsarist Russia of 19th century. It's indeed a shame that the largest film-industry in the largest democracy still functions like a bunch of medieval artisants - closely guarding their trade .The scribes of local-media (esp. the beneficiaries of a corrupted system) may claim the contrary, with phrases like - 'this is the most exciting times in the history of our film-industry'. But the average movie-goer cannot be kept under dark for long.

Unless merit and creativity is not given its due recognition, all the boasting and bragging about 'Bollywood becoming the next Hollywood' will always remain a day-dream.

Fairuz - the legend

singer : Fairuz

title : A Hadir il-Bosta (1999)

album : The Legendary Fairuz

trivia : This's a very popular Fairuz song. I first heard it while
at Dubai in 1999 - thanks to the friendly Syrian shop-keeper.
Fairuz sings about her crush on a man called Aliya and she
praises his beautiful eyes.

Kahlil Gibran

Painting by Kahlil Gibran

Song of Beauty

I am the guide of love
I am wine of the spirit
I am food to the heart.


I am a rose ;
I open my heart at daybreak; a maiden plucks me and kisses me
and puts me to her breast.


I am the abode of happiness
And the source of joy.
I am the beginning of repose.


I am a gentle smile on the lips of a maid ;
Youth beholds me, his toil is forgotten, and his life
becomes a stage for sweet dreams.


I am the poet's imagination
And the artist's guide.
I am teacher to the music-maker.
I am the glance in the eye of a child
Behold by a tender mother.
Before it does she pray and glorify God.


I appeared to Adam in Eve's image
And enslaved him.
I was revealed to Solomon in his beloved, and made
him poet and sage.
I smiled on Helen,
And Troy was destroyed ;
I crowned Cleopatra, and peace conquered the Nile.



I am as Destiny;
In this day I build,
On the morrow destroy.
I am God,
I quicken and make dead.


I am lighter than a sigh from the violet flower,
And mightier than the tempest.
I am a Truth, O people, yea , a Truth .

from the book A Tear And A Smile by Kahlil Gibran