18 at 80! An enigma called Yash Chopra!

In 1984, I was just 13 and way too young to know about a man called Yash Chopra. Having been brought up on just three films – The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and Sholay (my brother, sister and I were allowed to watch the first two almost every Sunday if we wanted to, and Sholay whenever dad was in an exceptional mood!) – Mashaal was unbelievably only the second Hindi film we had been allowed to watch. Mashaal was like a cult classic! Dilip Kumar was like my father, high on principles and therefore always winning enemies; and those days, I was often made to feel like the vagabond that Anil Kapoor played in the movie. The film made me feel good, for, as Anil Kapoor changed and became a hero, I felt I also had a hero inside. My dad liked the movie not because he ever believed that he would have a role reversal in his life like Dilip Kumar had in the movie, but because watching such a role reversal at least made him happy somewhere deep inside, for very often, we all feel like hitting back with a vengeance. He also loved the dialogue, “Zamana bahut kharab hai Tolaram.” It was only the second Hindi film he had ever liked, and we added another Hindi film to our really short list of films to be watched when we were being good children! All other times, our black and white portable TV set used to be kept locked up inside a big Godrej almirah that we, like most middle class families, had those days. Slowly and steadily, over the years, we were allowed to watch more movies, especially once I had given my class tenth boards. And we started to catch up on all good movies with a vengeance.

Deewar, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Silsila and Kabhi Kabhi followed soon and they, along with Mashaal, became six of my top ten personal favourites! It was only in 1988, when I was watching another movie Vijay (a remake of Trishul) and loved that too, that I suddenly realised that all my favourite films had one factor in common – a director by the name of Yash Chopra! There were traits through all these movies which were common! They had extremely hummable songs. A tune already established in one movie would go on to become a full fledged song in the next. The movies had exceptional storylines with great love stories enmeshed within. They were all attuned to the times they were made in. As India liberalised, the theme shifted from the angry young man and the rich versus poor fight to the Swiss valley love stories of the affluent class. And of course, all his movies always had the biggest element required for assured commercial success – the biggest stars of the day. The ones who were passé were ruthlessly dropped. Sharmila Tagore paved the way for Rekha; Rekha for Sridevi; and Sridevi for Madhuri. But they were all the most gorgeous of their times. If Shashi Kapoor was in Dharmaputra and Waqt, then it was Dharmendra in Aadmi Aur Insan, Rajesh Khanna in Ittefaq and Daag and the Big B in all those five I just mentioned; and then Anil Kapoor from Mashaal till Lamhe; and thereupon, only King Khan, from Darr to the latest in the offing!
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Don’t see “Slumdog Millionaire”. It sucks!

A phony poseur that has been made only to mock India for the viewing pleasure of the First World!! The emperor’s new clothes! That’s “Slumdog Millionaire” for you… Five minutes into this celebrated patchwork of illogical clichés and you are struck by the jarring dialogues. The cumbersome delivery in a language which doesn’t come naturally to most of the actors sounds like someone scratching on walls with one’s finger nails; it ruins the possibility of a connection… Had this film been made by an Indian director, it would’ve been trashed as a rotting old hat, which literally stands out only because of its stench, but since the man making it happens to be from the West, we’re all left celebrating the emperor’s new clothes. The film borrows an undoubtedly interesting narrative style – from films like “City of God” – but then uses it to weave in a collection of clichés from the Third World’s underbelly for the viewing pleasure of a First World audience. The real slumdog in the movie is not ...

HATS OFF TO SHAH RUKH KHAN FOR STANDING HIS GROUND! IT’S NOW TIME TO END THIS HOOLIGANISM ONCE AND FOR ALL AND MAKE MUMBAI A UNION TERRITORY!

SRK is great! Not just because he is such a star, but because he genuinely is the most amazing person and has such a logical and sound brain. And now the entire nation idolizes this man all the more because he has become a symbol of sheer courage as well! And I think all it required was someone like him to stand up coolly and say, “This is not right, I’ve done nothing wrong and I won’t apologise.” When he was saying this, one could almost see the schoolboy rebel in him – not ready to cow down to an illogical man trying to act as the school headmaster. I am writing this editorial immediately after coming back from a show on NDTV 24x7, which was on the topic, “Is Sena the real power in Mumbai?” I was one of the speakers. It was sad to see Uddhav Thackeray, who was another speaker in that show, sticking to a stance that cannot be defended by any sense of logic. When questioned on the show by the NDTV anchor on his tendentious comments against SRK, Uddhav’s reply was that one should ask th...

Chinese investments in Africa, a lesson for the world!

As London burns and USA is downgraded with fears of another recessionary wave hitting the world, there is one thing that becomes amply clear. You can’t have a world full of inequity and live in peace. Never before in its history has the gap between the rich and the poor widened as it has in the last 40 years in America. And every right wing party has only worked hard to enrich the rich. Every time the Democrats have come back and tried to increase even half a percent of tax on the rich to use it for those marginalized by the markets, the Republicans have screamed hoarse. No doubt, Obama has knowledge about economics, but what is happening in America right now is a shame, especially the way right wing fanatics are making the scene look worse than it is. The problem in UK is however another side of the same coin. The whites were sitting happily claiming that the blacks and other minorities live better in UK than they would have in their country of origin. However, happiness is a comparat...

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