The Masters: Sohrab Modi

02.11.1897-28.01.1984
Pic. Courtesy: Upperstall.com

Sohrab Modi. The name brings to mind a man with a powerful voice, whose movies were larger than life. The veteran actor-director was one of the many who joined the fledging film industry and helped it grow and flourish. He brought Shakespeare from stage to film; he made extravagant historicals that brought him international recognition; he made progressive films on social issues. A pioneer by any definition, Sohrab Modi was an auteur who lived for cinema.

Kabuliwala (1961)

Directed by: Hemen Gupta
Music: Salil Choudhury
Lyrics: Prem Dhawan, Gulzar
Starring: Balraj Sahni, Sonu, Sajjan, 
Usha Kiron, Asit Sen

2 October 2024 was the legendary Bengali film director, Tapan Sinha’s birth centenary. Though not as well-known outside Bengal as his peers, Satyajit Ray or Mrinal Sen, Sinha holds a special place in the hearts and minds of  Bengali cine aficionados. Back in March this year, Antara Nanda Mondal and Amitava Nag asked me if I would contribute a piece for the series on Tapan Sinha that they were curating for their literary magazine, Silhouette. I was more than happy to. I chose Sinha’s Kabuliwala, considered the seminal adaptation of Rabindranath’s short story of the same name. Since the story is so familiar to most people, Nag wanted me to do a rather more critical analysis of the film rather than a straightforward review. You can read that article here. [Fellow blogger Madhulika, over at Dustedoff, wrote an excellent essay that compared and contrasted Khaniker Atithi and Zindagi Zindagi, both directed by Tapan Sinha.]

Coincidentally, Tom Daniels, for whom I occasionally subtitle old Hindi films, sent me the Hindi version of Kabuliwala to clean up the subs and create additional ones. It seemed like fate.  

The Masters: Hemant Kumar

16.06.1920-26.09.1989

This post has been a long time coming. I first intended this to be posted on Hemant Kumar’s birth anniversary in June, but blogging has been, of necessity, an intermittent affair this year. But it is rather baffling that in my many years of blogging, except for one post, I’d never written a standalone post for a man who was not only a great singer, but also a music director, producer, and a major exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. It is an unintended error that begged to be rectified. But, the question was, what should I focus on? His career as a singer? Or as a composer? He had been eminently successful in both fields. Since I don't know enough about his work in Bengali films (and non-film music), this post will only focus on his Hindi film output.

Remembering: PL Santoshi

Once in a while, I like to write about those in the film industry who have left a wonderful body of work behind as their legacy but are not as well-known as some of their more successful peers. Today is the birth anniversary of one such person – a man who doffed many hats during his long career.

07.08.1916-07.09.1978

He is Pyarelal Santoshi, a.k.a PL Santoshi. Santoshi was a director, producer, dialogue and screenplay writer, actor, singer, and lyricist, though he’s best known for being the last listed. His long and successful association with C Ramchandra has ensured that his name rings a bell in the minds of music aficionados.

At The Crossroads

The Malayalam film industry is facing a moment of reckoning. The release of the Hema Commission Report has sent shock waves through the nation, but as a Malayali, 'shock' is not the emotion I am feeling. Nor is it surprise at how many skeletons are tumbling out of the closet. Because, for years, nay, decades, I, like several others, have known the truth. Women are blatantly exploited; pay parity is a joke; workplace safety is non-existent; there is a power structure that no one may question, let alone call out. 

Nothing in the Hema Commission Report is 'new'. 

What is new (and news) however, is that, for the first time, it has been set out in black and white. It is the findings of an independent commission, not just 'she said, he said'. Powerful (male) voices can no longer dismiss women artistes, technicians, and junior artistes' allegations as 'These things happen." 

Italiensk for Begyndere (2000)

Italian for Beginners
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Anders W Berthelson, Peter Gantzler,
Lars Kaalund, Ann Eleanora Jørgensen,
Sara Indrio Jensen, Annette Støvelbæk,
Lene Tiemroth, Jesper Christensen,
Bent Mejding

When the Criterion Channel uploaded Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners), my husband decided it was time to watch this 2000 movie. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat down to watch as well.

Dholak (1951)

Directed by: Roop K Shorey
Music: Shyam Sunder
Lyrics: Aziz Kashmiri
Starring: Meena Shorey, Ajit,
Shyamlal, Ved Puri, Shakuntala,
Yashodhara Katju, Majnu,
Tun Tun, Manmohan Krishna,
Rajni, Amir Banu

The lockdown period and my ill-health were only made bearable by a series of ‘watchalongs’ with Shalini. We rewatched our favourite Shammi, Dev and Amitabh movies, watched some new films and many old ‘new’ films – older films that either one, or both, hadn’t watched before. So, on one of those occasions three years ago, we watched Dholak. Once we realised that the story was by IS Johar and that the film was a Roop Shorey production (heroine Meena Shorey’s husband), we settled in watch a film that promised to be both entertaining and thought-provoking). As is always the case with our ‘watchalong reviews’, there will be many comments on the film, and many, many comments on just about everything that crosses our mind. Be warned.

Laapataa Ladies (2024)

Directed by: Kiran Rao
Music: Ram Sampat
Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire, Divyanshi Sharma,
Prashant Pandey
Starring: Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta,
Sparsh Srivastav, Chhaya Kadam,
Ravi Kishan, Geeta Agrawal Sharma,
Pankaj Sharma, Daood Hussain,
Satendra Soni, Ravi Kapadiya
Durgesh Kumar, Kanupriya Rishimum

I very rarely write about new Hindi films. Except when they are ‘so bad they are good ‘ or when they are so entertaining that I want to share the film with my readers.  So, yet another exception, this time for a film-maker whose debut film I thoroughly enjoyed.  

Basant (1960)

Directed by: Bibhuti Mitra
Music: OP Nayyar
Lyrics: Qamar Jalalabadi, Shehzan Rizvi,
SH Bihari
Starring: Nutan, Shammi Kapoor,
Pran, Johnny Walker,
Minoo Mumtaz, Murad, Kammo

Shalini and I hadn’t watched a movie together in a long time, so when Fighter dropped on Netflix, we decided to watch it. The movie was so-so [I might do a ‘review’ of it sometime], and while I like Hrithik Roshan [and Shalini doesn’t] we both felt the need to watch some ‘real’ men – not steroid-injected, jacked-up ‘Masters of the Universe’ He-Men. We dithered between rewatching Don [classic Amitabh Bachchan] or watching Shammi Kapoor in this film. Basant won the toss because neither of us had watched this before. Shalini, at least, knew that the film was a cross between It Happened One Night and An Affair to Remember; I had no clue what the film was about except that I loved one of the songs from this film. But… it was a ‘new’ Shammi Kapoor movie, and it co-starred Nutan, and that was all that mattered.

Warning: Since this is a ‘watchalong’, this ‘review’ will be peppered with our comments, most of which may well be along the lines of: “Isn’t Shammi gorgeous?”

The Masters: Shakeel Badayuni

My love for old Hindi film songs is familiar to all those who have read my previous posts. And those who are familiar with my writing know that lyrics play a very important part in that liking. While the melody might initially draw me in, it is always the emotions that the words express that appeal to me, and make the song worth listening to, repeatedly. In the past, I have written about other wordsmiths - Sahir, Shailendra, Majrooh, Hasrat... today, on his 54th death anniversary, I pay my tributes to one of the finest romantic poets who worked in Hindi cinema.