Sharmila Tagore won the Silver Lotus Award for her acting at the 23rd National Film Festival and the film itself was awarded the Second Best Feature Film that year. The film was nominated in eight categories at the 24^th Film fare Awards. Sanjiv Kumar was nominated for the Best Actor category but did not get it but Sharmila got her Best Actress Film fare Award for Mausam. Gulzar has mentioned in one of his interviews that the song ‘Dil Dhoondta Hai’ is one his most memorable songs and he cherishes his own lyrics.

Sanjiv Kumar broke all the myths of being actor and of stardom; he did not have the physique of a star, he was not ‘‘handsome’’ like Vinod Khanna, Dharmednra or Firoz Khan his contemporaries of the 70s and 80s, however, he did some of the best romantic roles, most challenging roles and he personified the ‘all-rounder concept’ as an actor. He left for the heavenly abode at 47….which is no age for exiting. He is remembered even today as one of the brightest talents of Hindi cine- world.

In the song DIl Dhoondata Hai…Bhupinder Singh’s voice aptly suits Sanjiv Kumar; he emotes the yearning and longing so well, his expressions of deep pining, a strong desire, tenderness and sadness in his singing. On the screen Sanjiv emotes all of this with par excellence. The flashback is captured excellently in song adding significance to the tune and lyrics of the song. Also, the younger Sanjiv Kumar and Sharmila Tagore’s onscreen romantic meetings add fantastic chemistry to the song.  Sanjiv Kumar portrays nostalgic feeling impeccably; the flashback shows shades of pleasure while his loneliness visiting the same spots where he met his love in past. Feeling nostalgic describes pleasurable emotions associated with a longing to go back to a particular period of time.

Life is a cycle of losing and gaining; we sometimes desire to live some pleasant moments of past. We all feel nostalgic sometimes but nostalgia creates dilemma. Past love especially is remembered without creating nagging doubts and niggling details. Consequently, the details of breaking the relationship for whatever reasons come back repeatedly which adds anxiety. This song shows the feelings of nostalgia so well and it tells the story of the movie.

For me, the song is melodious and timeless, I love watching the song again and again on YouTube.

This song plays at the very start of the movie showing the titles of the movie and a bewildered Dev Anand who played the role of Raju Guide – the protagonist of the movie who is released on parole from jail for his crime of forging the signature of his lover. Raju guide rescues Rosie (Wahida Rehaman) a dancer from a toxic marriage and he motivates her to follow her passion for dancing. She rises because of the constant motivation and backing of the protagonist.

The story of Guide is set in a small village with archaeological unexplored ruins which brings together three very different characters who are passionate about their vocations; an eccentric archaeologist Marco who cannot look beyond his work, and his beautiful wife who is an accomplished dancer but is frustrated and trapped in a loveless marriage and is forced to suppress her passion to dance and an adventurous and lively tourist guide Raju, who takes on the task helping Marco in exploring the pre-historic ruins (caves). Raju ends up as Rosie’s friend, confidante and guide.

In 1965 Guide became a path breaker movie in more ways than one. It is a film adapted from the English novel The Guide written by R K Narayan. Hindi films in the fifties and sixties were usually based on film scripts or stories adapted from Hindi, Bengali or Marathi literature. Rosie’s relationship with Raju starts on a note of sympathy and support and develops into love. A live-in relationship was unthinkable in the sixties and, Raju’s inner transformation in jail.

The song ‘wahan kaun hai tera’ in fact tells the story of the movie. The song is philosophical which conveys that this world is an illusion. According to cognitive scientists such as Donald Hoffman we are being tricked into believing our own reality. We all are seeing around us a   façade that guides our way around a far more complex and hidden background. We are all travellers in this beautiful yet wild world; each one experiences a different journey.  The song tells that traveller must rest under the shade for a few moments. Here the lyricist Shailendra perhaps wanted to emphasize taking a pause for rejuvenating and restarting the remaining travel. Pausing increases productivity, and pausing works miraculously. In your travel you will meet a lover, a companion, a guide, friends, partner, dependents, and enemies so on and forth. But nobody will cry for you in your sorrow.

I love one stanza in the song ‘kehete hai gyani, duniya hai paani, paani par likhi likhai’ earth is a watery planet because 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Whatever is written on water does not hold significance because the writing will never last as water keeps flowing. Nothing is permanent in life; name, fame, and fortune do not stay permanently. We come into the world empty-handed and leave empty-handed.  It’s 2022 and I still can’t get over S.D. Burman’s voice and Shailendra’s lyrics, it is one of the finest songs.

I see a great actor whose name is Vicky Kaushal. This young actor has something unique in him; he literally lives the character he plays on screen. I have seen three of his movies so far: Masaan, Razi and Sanju. He mesmerizes the audience with his performance.

He plays Deepak Kumar, a Varanasi boy from the Dom community who works with his family in cremation ghats by burning funeral pyres. Deepak wants to rise above the restrictions of a casteist society. He studies civil engineering at a polytechnic college where he meets and falls in love with Shaalu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) who is a high caste Hindu girl. Deepak and Shweta spend a lot of time getting to know each other.   Vicky Kaushal, delivers an outstanding performance as Deepak. He is a delight to watch in his solo scenes as well as shared scenes. What wondered me about him is that he shares a fantastic rapport with the added extras that play his friends. Massan is a story of five characters; but, Deepak’s story melts your heart. Vicky is so real and engaging that you feel like watching more of the Deepak-Shaalu story.

In Razi he honestly supports the protagonist of the movie Alia Bhat. People were apprehensive about Alia’s pairing opposite Vicky, the industry felt it was an unconventional pairing. He plays a Pakistani Major in the movie. Though he has few scenes in the movie, he has left a mark in each scene of his. He steals hearts of the audience as a Pakistani Major. In most part of the film, he is wearing the uniform and he looks striking. He had to portray few vulnerable scenes in the film: as a son, a brother and a husband. Though Alia Bhat plays the protagonist of the film as an Indian spy called Sehmat, Vicky dominates the hearts of the audience as Iqbal. He plays a gentleman who does not force himself on her after they are married, he gives time to Sehmat to get familiar with him, his likes and dislikes and his house. He takes care of her needs. Vicky has played every woman’s dream man. His role as Iqbal is charismatic.  It seems Kaushal thoroughly enjoyed playing Iqbal because the character had a lot of novelty in defying the stereotypical notion of a Pakistani soldier as a crude, cruel man. Iqbal is stern as an army man, but also has a soft heart for his Indian wife. He plays the contradiction simultaneously in each scene very convincingly.

For an actor, seeming real on the screen is a vital requirement. An actor’s job is to know the breadth of emotional leeway and reaching the depths of his own acting skills. Vicky Kaushal gets deep into the skin of the roles he plays. He shares the screen with his co-stars with ease. He emotes his characters nakedly, without any guard. It is very difficult to fake emotional nakedness. In Masaan as Deepak Kumar he churns himself inside out and squeezes out all pain felt by Deepak Kumar.

I have seen this clearly in all three movies of his: he knows how to listen. It’s intriguing to watch actors when they’re not speaking, but are listening and while emoting facial expressions. He plays Kamali in Sanju and in few scenes he is just listening to the protagonist played by Ranbir Kappor who is another good actor of today. I am not a Sanjay Dutt fan, but went to watch the movie for Ranbir Kapoor. I felt that Vicky Kaushal has supported unbeatably Ranbir Kapoor in the movie. He steals every scene with Ranbir playing his best friend as Kamli. In fact, just the friendship between Sanju and his best friend Kamli would make an interesting story in itself; both Ranbir and Vicky Kaushal leave you spellbound. Ranbir is an established actor, what enlightens is Vicky Kaushal’s strong support to the central character.

A good actor is well-honed, means he knows how to use his voice and body to serve whatever role he is playing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he should have a great physique, blond look, six packs, is tall and handsome etc, etc. In all the three movies that I watched of Vicky Kaushal, he has used his body well. He knows how to move and talk in expressive ways. I didn’t see his voice and body fighting him or holding tension that’s inapt to his role. He surprises the audience with the ease he carries. He is truthful while playing multiple and contrasting roles. He is vocally and physically gifted. He is slowly and steadily climbing the charts. I see a shining star in him.

Helen, Aruna Irani, Bindu, Padma Khanna, Jayashri.T, Prema Narayan and Asha Sachdev are few actresses who have danced to some of the most sizzling cabaret songs in Bollywood. Cabarets became most famous in 60s and 70s. These heroines and even some of the lead heroines have grooved on some of the most famous song numbers.  The ladies lent a level of artfulness and sensuality and made the cabaret songs very famous.

Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment which features music, song, dance, recitation and even drama. The form of the cabaret depends on the venue; usually a pub, a restaurant, night club, at times even on stage performance. The audience is often dining or drinking; they do not typically dance but usually sits at tables. Performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies. The cabaret is accompanied by a band and the numbers are very and catchy and haunting because of their stunning rhythm. The typical cabarets styles are striptease, jazz sung by solo or duo vocalists with a pianist. The venue is usually romantically set.

The cabaret numbers can be characterized as excitingly paced, youthful exuberance and upbeat rhythms. The cabaret songs are composed with wide range of influences from several genres. O.P. Nayyar and R.D.Burman gave most of the cabaret songs to Hindi film industry followed by Shankar-Jaikishan and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Cabaret songs tunes were often lifted, either openly or partially, from Western compositions. These songs were influenced by Western, Latin, Oriental and Arabic music.

Asha Bhosale’s smooth, velvet vocals are a milestone in the evolution of some of the best cabaret songs in Hindi films. She sang some solos with great zest and sometimes she was accompanied by the incomparable Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. Geeta Dutt sang few cabaret songs which are energetic with great music to which even today’s generation take to dance floor. Lata Mangeshkar has few numbers to her credit, though she liked singing songs of other genre. Lata symbolizes the serious, pristine, and classic flavours of Indian music while Asha and Geeta represent the western, naughty, and seducing flavours. How can we forget Rafi saab and Kishore Kumar? Both of these versatile singers could portray all of these flavours and much more.

Few of my favourite cabaret songs are listed below:

Jaata Kahan Hai Deewane…

Movie: C.I.D (1956) Music Director: O.P.Nayyar, Singer: Geeta Dutt

Aaiye Meheraban…

Movie: Howrah Beidge (1958) Singer: Asha Bhosale Music Director: O.P.Nayyar

Tumko piya, dil diya..

Movie: Shikari (1963). Music Director: G.S.Kohli, Singers: Lata Mangeshkar & Usha Mangeshkar

Huzurewalla jo ho izazat…

Movie: Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1966) Music Director: O P Nayyar Singers: Asha Bhosle & Minoo Purushottam

Kalrle pyar karle ke din hai ….

Movie: Talash (1969) Music Director: S.D.Burman Singer: Asha Bhosale

Aa janeja….

Movie: Intequam (1969), Music Director: Laxmikant-Pyarelal Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Tune, tune oh sanam….

Movie: Humjoli (1970) Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelala, Singers: Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammad Rafi

Watch this space next week for few more cabaret songs!

Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Suman Kalyanpur, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mukesh have been the magnificent pillars of our Hindi film;  their invaluable contribution to playback-singing  is eternal. Their singing has laid the foundation of the ‘Golden era’ of Hindi cinema. This was the era when melody reigned supreme and songs formed an integral and inseparable part of our films. Music directors such as Salil Chowdhary, S.D.Burman, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Roshan gave unmatched music to lyricists such as Pradeep, Bharat Vyas, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Kaifi Azmi, Sahilendra, Majruh Sultanpuri and many more lyricists penned songs of various human emotions, abundance in nature, human life cycle, flowers, birds, sunrise, sunset, rives, hills, mountains, seasons and so much more. The singers, music directors and lyricists together gave us several incomparable solos and many remarkable duets which are set in in the psyche of every person.

Often in our films one song has been sung by two different playback singers and is woven into the narrative in such a way that they appear at different times in the course of the film depending on the story and the mood of the characters involved. The title song of ‘Raat Aur Din’ (1967) has been heard on radio more in  Lata’s voice than in Mukesh’s and has never lagged behind the male  version. Similarly, Rimzim gire sawan from film Manzil is a twin song sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. There are many classic twin songs sung by both male and by female playback singers. These songs are normally used in Hindi Films with an intention to express similar-sounding sentiments under different circumstances. When two singers sing the same song with little differences may be in tune or lyrics here and there people do lot of comparison in terms of who sang it better….. At times the versions differed – one sad and one happier. In some songs the male version sounds superior while in some the female version sounds better. I give here below five twins – evergreen dual songs:

Rangoli (1962) ‘Choti si ye duniya,pehchaane raaste hain…’

Kishore Kumar gets to sing the happy version while Lata Mangeshkar sings the sad version. Once again, it was Kishore Kumar’s version which hit the popularity charts. Sad version or happy version, Kishore’s magic was unbeatable.

Baat Ek Raat ki (1962) Na tum hume jano, na hum tume jane

This song is sung very melodiously by Hemant Kumar picturised on Dev Anand and by Suman Kalyanpur picturised on Vahida Rehman. Till date this song is considered a timeless cult classic an evergreen beautiful romantic song.

Hum sab ustad hain (1965)  ‘Ajnabi tum jaane pehchaane se…’

In this song, Kishore Kumar gets to sing the sad version thus adding a lot of pathos to his emotions while Lata Mangeshkar’s version is breezier and obviously sung in happier times. But the beautiful tune composed by the duo of Laxmikant-Pyarelal  stands out in Kishore’s voice so much so that for years people were not even aware of the female version.

Chiraag (1969) ‘Teri aankhon ke siva…’

While the happy version is sung by Rafi where Sunil Dutt describes the beauty of Asha Parekh’s eyes, the sad version is sung by Lata after Asha Parekh loses her eyesight in a tragic way. In this song, Rafi’s version became more famous.

Manzil (1979) ‘Rimzim gire sawan’

This melodious composition by R D Burman had two superb versions once again by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. While the Lata version picturized in a unique manner on Amitabh Bachchan and Moushmi Chattetjee captures the essence of romance during Mumbai’s monsoon, Kishore Kumar’s version is a simple rendition sung by Amitabh in the film at a friend’s engagement ceremony with just a harmonium to give him company. The kind of popularity attained by Kishore Kumar’s version was phenomenal yet not surprising because there is something so unique about his simple rendition that it touches the soul right away from the very first note of the song. Somehow Lata’s version just could not whip up that kind of emotion in the listener’s hearts and had to settle for the second position.

What is very important to make a movie successful? The script, the actors, the editing, cinematography, production, direction, music, animation……….can we really pinpoint on one of the elements? When considering the most important elements in a successful film, it is practically impossible to separate the actors from the script, to consider the screenwriter more important than the actors or to minimize the role of the director is absurd. The making of a movie is a creative process, reducing any of the processes diminishes the product and thwarts its existence. From a commercial angle, the producer and the financers are most important; because without them, the movie wouldn’t be rolled out.

India is one of the few countries in the world where Hollywood doesn’t reign supremacy. This is because India has many regional film industries besides its main industry Bollywood. Indian viewers demand movies with Indian sensibilities and cultural intricacies. The regional film industries are coming into increasing focus for a number of reasons: the Marathi and Malayalam film industries have been going through a revolution of sorts in recent years regarding the quality content and kinds of movies being made. They are gradually getting national and international recognitions. What is worth noting is regional films are known for their smaller budgets and are less frenzied about their star culture. I think this allows filmmakers to put the content and story at the center of the films and experiment with different kinds of movies.

The best example is 2016 blockbuster Marathi film ‘Sairat.’ It is the highest grossing Marathi movie ever. Based on a very sensitive matter of casteism, the story is based on innocent love affair. The movie has two new faces, no leading actors are roped in the movie, shot at simple locations. The movie emerged a strong winner in 2016, becoming the first in regional language to cross Rs 100 crore in box office collections. The revenue model was designed to link performance of the film to the remuneration of talent. Though this practice is increasingly adopted by Bollywood but was never heard of in regional cinema.

In 2015, Rajinikath-starrer Kabali, Bengali romantic film Praktan, Telugu film A Aa and Punjabi movie Sardaarji 2 are some names which have a big share in growing the share of regional films at the Indian box office from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The movie content is credited as the main reason. It is also because regional cinema caters to the audience’s more immediate cultures, given that we are a nation rich in regional heritage with so many cultures and languages coexisting. Regional cinema has started witnessing prosperity significantly pan-India. It’s worth noting that movie like Sardar Gabbar Singh, Sairat, Kabali are given a huge release platform outside of the regional market and foreign markets.

Another interesting fact is that, while the regional film industry has been flourishing, big production houses, which have been investing in Bollywood films, seem to have taken an interest in regional films too. Eros, Viacom 18 and Zee are some names who are looking at good regional content. It is also a good sign that corporate houses are entering the film industry.

2016 saw some of the best Bollywood movies: Pink starring Amitabh Bachchan and some new faces, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, the film is a slap in the face of those who question the way modern women choose to live and dress. This movie’s greatest strength is its strong stand against gender inequality and sexual violence.

Akshay Kumar-starrer Airlift was inspired by the heroic tale of an Indian businessman who helped rescue around 170,000 of his compatriots in the face of looming war crisis in the Middle East. And, Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Dear Zindagi is a story of a young girl who changes her perception about life after meeting a therapist. Movie Dear Zindagi takes viewers on a joyous tour of soul-searching.

Aamir Khan’s Christmas release ‘Dangal’ made a roaring profit at the box-office with collections of Rs 155.53 crore after a five-day run. It’s a biopic on Indian wrestler and Coach Mahavir Singh Phogat, ‘Dangal’ had opened with an astounding figure of over Rs 25 crore and made its way into the prestigious Rs 100-crore club within the first weekend. What’s interesting is that even if we take the film’s five-day collections into consideration, it is already the biggest hit of the year. The film again revolves around female protagonists.

After content, budgeting has been another factor in guaranteeing growth. Movies making is drastically changing. Of late, we see that both Bollywood and regional movie business is not particularly star-driven. This means the talent cost is fairly rationalized. Secondly, the newcomers give their best, they don’t throw tantrums. One doesn’t need the world’s greatest line producer; a good script, some unknown actors, no flashy location, you can make a good film in a small budget.

The business model of movie making business is technologically driven, both pre-production and post-production. The impact of technology is in new cameras that allow cinematographers to shoot in a higher definition, letting viewers take in more of the amazing work in set design. Shooting in digital is much easier because you can do more in less time. Multiple cameras can run on the same shot, so you always get the angle you want without having to waste time on retakes.

The process of distributing film also has gone digital. Distribution through YouTube has been the most common form of marketing for quite some time. Studios have released big-budget trailers. This has made the method for film to outlive its usefulness. Digital films can be stored on company servers, without taking up too much space. The costs to maintain this infrastructure are also lower than the costs to store and re-master film.

Going digital largely means foregoing the large containers of film that used to be synonymous with film making. It also means production companies complete their shoot schedules with less waste, keeping the entire project under or close to budget.  Adding visual effects to film was often a precise art, where the effect had to blend seamlessly with what was being shot. This was a painstaking process that editors no longer go through. Digital effects are created and added to the shot, this software also allows editors to work on entire sections of a film, easily piecing scenes together after the post production effects are added in. That includes audio, which now has a high definition digital file that ensures the audience will hear every word and action that they see.

The number of technology-based jobs has increased.  The post-production jobs are easier to offshore and move overseas than on-set roles. Yes technical jobs in the movie making are on rise: automated dialogue editors, aerial camera assistants, aerial photographers, lighting technicians, archivers, sound recording, art department assistants, armourers – there are few more.

One factor needs a special mention here. That is Luck. To release a movie at the right place, right time, with the right promotion requires luck factor with it.  A lot of famous actors, directors and producers believe in taking help of astrologers for seeking the right time to release their films. Success in the film industry is heavily dependent on luck.  We cannot reduce importance of actor’s, director’s talent, dedication and hard work, but it is pretty obvious that those things are not enough on their own.  There are number of extremely hard-working, talented people out there, who are yet to get the recognition they deserve.

This post is dedicated to some music directors who have skilfully used ‘tonga beats’ in their compositions and brought in a melodious style. While riding horse, rhythm is the rider’s ability to feel the movement of the horse, and that comes from the horse’s feet. Each gait of the animal has its own rhythm. This is excellently captured by some music directors like O.P.Nayyar, Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan; these music directors used the ‘tonga beats’ and created some great gems which are still loved by listeners decades of their creation. They pep up the listener’s mood.

These and many great composers like S.D.Burman, R.D.Burman, LP, Chitragupta, Salilda drew their inspiration from everyday life; they found music in flowing water, lightening, air, flying of birds, running, walking in many chores of our daily lives. They had a vision. Even we see things, but we don’t imagine music out of it. Composers like O.P.Nayyar or R.D.Burman could feel profoundness in each beat.

We are all aware that music and atmosphere are interwoven – they go together. When we listen to relaxing music for a quiet dinner, we digest food easily. And, when we listen to something livelier while doing some physical work or exercise or when out socialising in larger groups, our moods pep up. It’s been observed that when music is played on farm lands, the production or yield increases. Yes, these are few evidences of what music can do to us.

In 40s, 50s and 60s Victoria which was also called a Tonga or Baggi which was pulled by or trotted by one or two horses – it was common scene. You would see tongas, cycles and few cars on the roads. The Tongawala (baggi driver) would hold the reigns and 3 to 4 travellers would be accommodated in the baggi. As a child, I remember enjoying tonga rides in Kalyan, Thane District where my maternal grandfather lived in a wada (big chawl-like mansion) and we kids would visit him in vacations. Those childhood memories and the musical notes of a horse’s galloping have remained etched in my memories even today.

Horse beats or Tonga beats are synonymous with speed, happiness and joy. You will rarely find a sad song composed in horse beat background. These songs simply lift your mood. The horse’s hooves make a musical note as they plod along the cobbled/paved roads. “Tic toc,tic toc,tic toc or tabdik, tabdik,tabdik.”

I am listing herewith some very nostalgic golden numbers which I am sure even you will enjoy:

• Piya, piya, piya mera jiya pukare Film Baap Re Baap (1955) Music Director O.P.Nayyar

• Maang ke saath tumhara Film Naya Daur (1957) Music Director – O.P.Nayyar

• Yeh kya kar dala tune – Film: Howrah Bridge (1958) Music Director – O.P. Nayyar

• Mein Rangeela pyar ka rahi – Film: Choti Bahen (1959) Music Director: Shankar Jaikishen

• Banda parwar thamalo jigar Film: Phir wohi dil laya hoon (1963) Music Director O.P.Nayyar

• Chand ko kya maloom, chahta hai use koi chakor Film: Lal Bangla (1966) Music Director – Usha Khanna

In the words of Richard Bach – the author of ‘Illusion’ a movie is nothing but an illusion which requires space and time to be experienced. So you pay for the ticket, you settle on in a seat and forget what is going on outside the theatre.  People watch movies and dramas for fun, for learning, for taking some lessons, and most importantly they identify with one of the characters in the movie. Same is the case while reading a book; we identify ourselves with one of the characters in the novel.

Moviegoers and readers identify with stories through the characters. The most powerful way to reach an audience is through the characters’ emotions. For only when we connect with the characters on an emotional level, the communication becomes deep and meaningful. Well-written scenes that include characters’ emotions allow the audience to absorbedly take part in the story and bond with the characters. In our real life, we meet and interrelate daily with other people. Unlike in stories, many of these interactions are fairly apparent. While some audience rather enjoy a more distanced, intellectual challenge, many others want to engage with characters in books and movies on an emotional level. Through the character’s emotions, experience, learning etc the audience live their lives.  Writing, plotting, editing, etc is not a joke. It requires great talent to script a story, choose the right actors to emote those characters, a great writer to write dialogues, a great editor to edit scenes to reinforce significance of emotion in creating a persuasive story.

A movie requires developing the character’s emotional development as it leads to their ultimate transformation at the overall story level. It needs to portray the character’s more transitory emotional reactions at the scene level. Often writers get stuck by staying in the character’s head and “telling” what the character thinks. An emotion, on the other hand, has a strong physical component and is primarily felt in the body. The writer is able to “show” emotions through how the character relates or reacts to conflict. Emotions always tell the truth. Most of us in real life are capable of handling ourselves when things go well or working in our favour. But, when we are thrown in some sort of disaster, conflict, roadblock we find out who we truly are. This same principle applies in stories. Moviegoers and readers alike want to participate in dramatic stories to learn how characters respond emotionally when things turn disorganized, challenging, and stressful, when all is lost.

Storytelling involves more than lining up the action pieces, arranging them in a logical order and then drawing conclusions. Yes, dramatic actions pull moviegoers to the edge of their seats. Emotions such as conflict, tension, suspense and curiosity hook moviegoers. Yet, no matter how exciting the action, the character’s emotional reactions and emotional development provide an appeal. Any presentation with a strong human element increases the chances of audience identification. Why ‘Gone with the wind’ is still a great movie? The reason being – the Costumes for one, Vivien and Clark Gables performance, the way the movie shows hard times and a woman of great demeanour – the protagonist isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty to help herself and her family survive. The courage it takes to survive. The great romance between Scarlett and Rett Butler and it shows how a woman draws her strength through her feminity. The romantic pairing of the fabulous Clark Gable with Vivien Leigh is absolutely unparalleled in cinema history!

A Bollywood movie like ‘Hum Dono’ 1961 which Set in the period of World War 2 on the backdrop of India-Burma war, Hum Dono is not an out-and-out war film as might be the notion, but more of an emotional drama. The central plot had classic conflicts ranging from the rich-girl-poor-boy formula to the identity swapping in the double-role premise. However, while these may appear as clichés today; in the scheme of things in1961 these were still one of those innovative plot-points which went on to be trendsetter and subsequently stereotypes in Hindi cinema. Including myself I know at least another hundred people who love watching this trendsetting movie for reasons such as Dev Anand’s emotional acting, the storyline, songs, superb dialogues so on and forth.

In a compelling story line, the characters grow and change step-by-step because of the dramatic action. This growth is not meant merely on a physical level. Often, in their enthusiasm of showing off high-tech special effects, moviemakers and writers forget the power of character emotional development. The challenges a character faces must effect the character emotionally, and the deeper the better. An effective way to keep track of these strongly growing steps is with the use of a Scene Tracker. I would like to make reference of a great movie such as ‘zinadagi na milegi dobara’ directed by Zoya Akhtar. We can easily identify with one of the characters of the movie. That’s the power of powerful storytelling.

Movies often rely on star power alone without taking the time to develop the characters in the story. Even so, the audience may feel an emotional attachment to the star. Ultimately, however, unless they emotionally identify with the main character as a character, the audience will ultimately detach from the film.

Ultimately, the reason why we would want to live sensationally through the lives of others, be it a fictional character or a real person, is because we find others’ lives more interesting or exciting than ours. We find their roles interesting because we see the characters on screen achieving something that we want for ourselves and our life, but have yet to fully achieve that yet.

Men and women grow up expecting to be the hero of their own story. We are all characters in other people’s stories, and so other people are characters in our own. We all see the world through our lens in the end. We have a world where girls grow up identifying closely with male heroes and putting themselves into the heroes’ shoes, understanding and relating to them. Do you think boys grow up identifying with women characters at all? Yes, even they do.

Look at 1978’s Superman, what I can definitely say is that that movie has left a huge literary impact, even after all these many years. It still has influence around the world and has given studios the runway for future superhero movies to take place. I mean just look at the entire slate of movies lined up until 2020. For the most part, we have been given superhero movies with very similar story-lines, some just showing a guy and a group of people, gearing up for the final climatic fight against the BOSS level.

Our lives are changing, we are all moving at a faster pace. Who knows, maybe in 50 years time we may have flying cars and Smartphone in our brains. How would superhero movies work in the future? Would we see Spider-Man swinging from flying car to flying car? Yes, maybe. Will we witness Captain America being awakened from a 60 year sleep to find him in our high flying future society? We may. As human we are imaginative, emotional, quirky, inquisitive, we love, we fear, we feel jealous, we want to shoot somebody, we want to experience romance and what not….. What we cannot do in a real life we sit and enjoy doing all that on screen in a reel life.  Whether watching a retro classic such as ‘Tere mere sapane’ or turning out for the opening weekend of Man of Steel, there’s something special about going to the movies.

At home, distractions such as nagging kids or parents, ringing phones, texts on mobile, ringing phones, cleaning, and many other chores do not allow us to enjoy a movie. The theatre gives us an excuse to switch off for a couple hours and surrender to a completely immersive experience. It’s through this uninterrupted story telling that movies deliver their full emotional and creative intent.

As humans we enter the darkened theatre seeking three things: one, to expand our emotional bandwidth – in sense to feel sensations that we rarely experience in our normal lives; to reconnect with our higher selves. Two, to be reminded of what humans are capable of, in terms of both good and evil, and to alter course if we’re steering more towards the latter than the former. And, three, to be reminded we are not alone; through the collective reaction of others in the audience we realise that we are not the only ones wrestling with life’s challenges – there are many other like us.  And, therefore we watch movies.

Marathi theatre has always been regarded as one of the most culturally rich theatre traditions in the country. Right from the 18^th century the Marathi theatre has been present. It seems King Patwardhan of Sangli requested novelist Vishnu Bhave to write an evocative play for entertaining his guests and Bhave wrote ‘Sita Swayamvar’ which was performed on November 5, 1843, in that princely state. It was inspired by Karnataka’s folk theatre form of Yakshagana.

The Marathi stage has evolved in Bombay (now Mumbai) because this city has always been a business city; it had the infrastructure and money which helped the formal performers to grow. Because of the majority Maharashtrian workers community in the city who lived in the chawls the free time was used to practice dramas, keertans, pravachans and powadas. The artists used to practice in whatever space was available to them; sometimes varandahs, staircases and the open grounds. Lavanis such as “Mumbai Nagari Badi Banka, Jashi Ravanachi dusari Lanka” by Patthe Bapurao and Annabhau Sathe’s “Mazi Mumbai, Arthat Muumbai Konachi” were super duper hits those days. People flocked to the theatres to watch these lavanis.

Maharashtra has had long theatrical tradition, one of its early references is found in cave inscriptions at Nashik. Marathi theatre started flourishing in the middle of the 19th century. It includes forms like Sangeet Natak (Musical drama), Tamasha (folk dance), Ekpatri prayog etc. It continues to have a marked presence in the State of Maharashtra. Marhathi theatre is not famous outside Maharashtra; maybe because Marathi as a language is quite difficult and a lot of stress is laid on the richness of the language by the writers; the gamut of Marathi dramas ranges from humorous social plays, farces, historical plays, musical, to experimental plays and serious drama. We have seen the likes of Annabhau Kirloskar, P. L. Deshpande, Vijay Tendulkar, and Mahesh Elkunchwar, Bhalaji Pendharkar, Raja Paranjape, Annabhu Sathe, Vinda Karandikar, Arun Sadhu, P. K. Atre, Daya Pawar etc who were known and are known even today for their par excellence.  But, there is one big problem in staging a drama and continuing it for long time. We find Marathi dramas live a short life span, though some of them have great content. They are forgotten easily. Perhaps it is because Maharashtra faces multiculturalism and therefore the Marathi theatre takes a backset. Most importantly, Marathi theatre faces many political and social undercurrents. There is a sea change in terms of quality and context which are changing like never before. The conditions today cannot be compared to the previous decade.

Marathi Theatre can be described as never-ending energy; live moments, live interaction, superb dialogues, and great backdrops of stage, superb background music scores, and a strong tradition of 150 years which can never die. Besides, Marathi dramas are sharp, witty and very rich in content. They make you think even hours after you’ve watched a show. Marathi theatre is evolving with newer ideas, newer concepts and much more experiments. The new breed of directors is experimenting with forms of theatre. No other place in India has so much of ‘commercial theatre’ like that in Maharashtra. If you have three movie shows in Plaza, the theatre bang opposite to it, Shivaji Mandir, has three shows of plays on the same day.

The various genres of Marathi scripts are also a reason for people to watch plays. Comedy, serious depiction of the society, political satires, musicals, romantic, tragedy, rags to riches stories and mission – it has it all. Marathi theatre fascinates its viewers with its large variety.

The cultural connection of Mumbai and Pune with its regional theatre shows that the stage is not dying, it is experimenting and it has long way to go. It has managed to carve a special niche and that’s reason enough to say that there’s plenty of hope for the art in the state of Maharashtra.

Both cinema and drama are based on story. Both drama and cinema depend primarily on performers who resent and communicate the story to the audience. A stage play or a screenplay is like reading a novel. Dramas are livelier and thrilling as you see the actor’s performance right in front. The audience can clap and applaud the actors on the stage. The actors also in response give their best dialogue delivery, voice modulation, gestures thus bringing in more energy in the theater. Drama is on the spot. There are not takes and retakes; it delivers effect on the spot therefore it connects with the viewers more honestly. Drama is more difficult for an actor.

Both drama and cinema share certain common features; they both use sets, props, costumes, music and other sound effects. Communication is the essence in both drama and cinema. Even in the silent era, films relied heavily on human speech that was understood through contextual instinct; a combination of gesture, facial expression, and lip reading; and inserts of printed, projected text. If a drama is dull or boring viewers crate a commotion whereas if a cinema is boring they simply walk out of the theatre. Bothe cinema and drama have their fan following. Everybody cannot enjoy drama; an audience that has been raised on films, do not enjoy dramas.

Marathi theatre has come a long way. While Gujarati, Hindi or English theatre is ‘merely weekend theatre’, catering to the thinking and upper class, Marathi theatre is all about the masses mainly because of the way it gets people to relate to the script. Mumbai and Pune are hubs of Marathi plays. In Mumbai and Pune, there are these niche classes of people who usually do not miss watching a play every week. Mumbai is the economic capital and Pune is the cultural capital of Maharashtra state. There are at least 15-20 theatres in Mumbai which host only Marathi plays right from Prabhadevi to Thane: Rabindra Natya Mandir, Shivaji Natya Mandir, Ranga Sharda, Dinanath, Gadkari Rangayatan and many more theatres are witness to the love Mumbaikars have for this art form. And in Pune: Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Tilak Smarak Mandir, Bharat Natya Mandir, Sudarshan Hall, Moreshwar Hall, Yashwantrao Chavan Natya Mandir etc are famous for Mrathi drama lovers. Mumbai and Pune showcase the love for performing art relatively much more, compared to other cities like Bangalore or New Delhi which relatively have fewer auditoriums.

The amount of theatre that is being done on the commercial as well as parallel stage in Marathi cannot be compared to any other regional theatre today. It is facing some technical, political and financial problems today, which I am sure, will be sorted out sooner or later. The Marathi theatre scene is the most happening in the whole of India.

Phaili hui hai sapano ki baha aaja chalde kahi door…… my dreams have no boundaries, with open arms they can reach the sky, the mountains, the soaring high tree tops. This celestial song is from the 1955 film “House No. 44.” The song takes you for a quick look of the world over the rainbow. The lyrics are one of the finest of Sahir Ludhiyanvi. His style of emoting love in the surroundings of nature was simply awesome. The song shows Kalpana Kartik – the heroine of the film swinging and dancing around tall and picturesque trees surrounded with mist …..The scene is breathtaking. Every single line of the song is inspirational and stirring.

The music composed by SD Burman and song sung by Lata Mangeshkar; Burmanda has composed some of the gems for Lata Mangeshkar which were so unique. Their combination   established him as one of the greatest composers of the Golden Era regardless of whether he matched the commercial success of his peers or not. The song’s tone is identical to Bhoop Kalyan raga. Some refer Bhoop Kalyan as Shuddha Kalyan. The fact is that Shuddha Kalyan is used by very intelligent musicians as this raga is aesthetically challenging with melodic subtleties.

The team of S.D – Sahir – Lata has together given unforgettable songs. I think only S.D.Burman could give classic touch to Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s lyrics. Zoola zalkata, dhire dhire hum zhoole, amabar toh kya hai taronke bhi lab choole! How blissful the song is! Sahir Ludhiyanvi could create magical songs and Burmanda could suitably compose those songs. The song is sublime one feels like swinging in mountains and trees….just like Kalpana Kartik does. Close your eyes and this song takes you on a beautiful trip. Lata has sung the song very evocatively.

It seems Burmanda was sort of restless man; he would hardly sit down with harmonium to compose his songs. He had said in some of his interviews that his best tunes came to him in a flash of brilliance, invariably when he would visit seashores on a long walk or drive. He had soul of a poet. He had a very definite idea of what a song would eventually look like on screen and he’d set it to music accordingly. Often, he would get upset at the way certain songs of his were picturized.  Even though SD Burman was 23 years senior to Lata Mangeshkar, their debut in Hindi films was almost simultaneous. It is said that Dada Burman was so pleased with Lata’s amazing rendition of this song that he rewarded her with one of his precious paans, a gesture that was considered to be SD Burman’s ultimate sign of appreciation.

Listen to this timeless song.