Roads to Mohanlal

[I started off writing this comment in the Uttam Kumar thread just below this but then thought it deserved its own thread. I have mostly used this opportunity to expand on my 'sense' of Mohanlal. I have said very much on Bachchan in very many contexts and this does not need to be repeated. Therefore I've been relatively brief on him. The 'pleasure' (if you will) here has been afforded by this tentative response to Mohanlal's singularity..]

Sometime back I put up a piece on Dilip Kumar that sparked much debate. But if one wants to understand what I find problematic about Dilip Kumar watch Uttam Kumar! The latter is a true ‘natural’ actor while with Dilip Kumar there is always a ‘stylization’ of the natural, an intense exaggeration of it over time. Both stars were considered refreshingly natural alternatives to the very theatrical acting styles prevalent before them. However Dilip Kumar does this in a much more showy way, certainly so after the initial few years, and Uttam Kumar on the other hand can often seem like a character actor in his restraint. Which is not to say the latter could not be star (in terms of the proper gesturality) when he wanted to be so. The great thing about Ray’s film (Nayak) in this context is that he brings to the fore this entire ‘history’ of the star. I would not place Uttam Kumar as a pure actor with the likes of Bachchan or Mohanlal but he is quite remarkable in his own right (though this kind of statement would get me lynched in Bengal where he is their MGR). Having now seen a few dozen films of his (from his very first hit to some of his late films more than 20 years later) I’d say that there are only a handful of Indian star-actors I like more than him.

The Left and Bengali Cinema after Uttam Kumar (Caravan)

LINK

ON THE EARLY MORNING of 25 July 1980, Bengali matinée idol Uttam Kumar’s unexpected death at the age of 54 shook West Bengal. By the following morning, it seemed all of Calcutta was on the streets. Howling millions followed the vehicle carrying his remains. Not far from the scene, in a closed room filled with cigar smoke on Alimuddin Street, the headquarters of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Pramode Dasgupta, the party’s powerful general secretary, asked his comrades, “Is our government associating itself with the funeral of a Tollygunge matinée idol?” The resounding answer was ‘no.’ The government of the people was not going to associate itself with the commercially elevated leading figure of bourgeoisie cinema. Later that day, Dasgupta harrumphed, “Tell Buddhadeb [Bhattacharjee, then minister of culture and information] that the decision to stay away is right. But Jyotibabu wants a wreath to be sent. Go ahead. I have no objection.”

Uttam Kumar with Suchitra Sen in Nabarag (1971)

Cinema and the Underdog (Caravan)

LINK

THE YOUNG MAN LOOKS AT THE CAMERA and points at two trees growing by a wall across the railway tracks. That’s where our video theatre used to be, he says in Mumbaiyya streetspeak. And this is where the entrance was … (the camera pans to record the empty space, as if daring the viewer to imagine the demolished theatre back into existence).

“Yeh hum log ka set-up tha. Idhar se entrance dikhaane ka. Magar raid ho raha hai toh back-side se jaane ka. Saamne se bhaagega toh idhar patri hai, bhai—mar jaayega.” (“If people ran out from the front entrance during a police raid, they could get killed because of the rail tracks,” read the subtitles, catching the gist of his monologue but little of its colour.)

Rare Pic!

Images from Dirty Picture (updated)

Punjabi folk singer Manak passes away

Punjabi folk singer Manak passes away

Vaivasvat Venkat Vaivasvat Venkat, TNN | Dec 1, 2011, 02.05AM IST
LUDHIANA: Legendary Punjabi folk singer Kuldeep Manak died at here on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. The last rites would be performed at his birthplace and native village Jalal in Bathinda on Friday.

Manak had celebrated his 62nd birthday on November 15. His illustrious career in music began when the 17-year-old was chosen to sing alongside famed vocalist Seema in 1968. This proved to be his lucky break and he went on to forge a successful career in the music industry. He is credited for popularising the traditional Punjabi songs called kaliyan. His hits songs include “Tere Tilley Ton”, “Chheti Kar Sarwan Bachcha” and “Garh Mughlane Dian Naaran”.

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Image from Kahaani

thanks to Ami..

Shame trailers (updated)

Dirty Picture trailers (updated)

Nanban trailer

Desi Boyz, Rockstar (ongoing), the rest of the box office

last week’s thread

Dam 999 banned in Tamil Nadu

On Rockstar (once more) and its flunking audience..

[the following 'completes' my older piece on the film. In fact this was initially meant to be a comment in that thread!]

Having watched Rockstar a second time I must say the film holds up quite well. Didn’t have a problem at all in this sense.The interesting thing here is that this film has more or less been rejected if one leaves aside the obviously impressive initial weekend. The fact that it’s ending up loosely in the range of TMK underlines this. But what is curious here is that the film isn’t either a whole or partial spoof like JBJ or Tashan or CCTC to be outright rejected nor is it something completely ‘different’ for a commercial audience like D6 or Raavan (irrespective of initial expectations). Sure Imtiaz Ali does some interesting things here to his credit but ultimately this is very much a film playing to a multiplex base in terms of the director’s track record, that of the lead star and finally the soundtrack. In other words what’s surprising here is that even the younger demographic within the multiplex audience didn’t take to it otherwise the numbers would have been better than this. We’ve seen ZNMD maintain very well (this ten years after DCH was clearly a ‘universal’ film for the multiplexes, which is to say a large segment of the family audience could also be on board) but we’ve also seen to my mind garbage like MBKD do very well also (for a week or more it actually kept pace with the ZNMD numbers). And to further prove the point DB opened well and trended well and this obviously only played to a younger demographic. Rockstar falls in none of these categories even though it opened better than all of these films and most creditably it opened significantly better than ZNMD (MPKD was on par with ZNMD for the opening).

Images from Desi Boyz (updated)

Aamir’s and Hirani’s ‘Peekay’ on ‘godmen’? (older post updated)

thanks to Bhuvan..
LINK

Boy!! The Perfectionist Aamir Khan will be seen in saffron/white dhoti and kurta with beard and those malas… next year… yes.. we already told you that Aamir and Raju Hirani next is titled ‘Peekay’ which also stars Sharman Joshi and now we bring to you more on that…

The movie is based on godmen and Rajkumar Hirani is taking special care to see that nobody gets hurt… Smart individual this Hirani is we say… First he took on the medical department in Munna bhai, then revived Mahatma Gandhi in its sequel then came the turn of educational department with ’3 Idiots’ and now it’s the turn of godmen in ‘Peekay’.

India’s first cinema!

This was built in 1907 as Elphinstone Picture Palace in Calcutta. Later on it became Chaplin cinema though I’m not aware of the year in which the change came about. Tragically, this historic building (closed for a while) is now being pulled down to make way for a new complex which will include office space, a mall and a multiplex. But the same is true for many such memory sites across India

Bharathi Pradhan on Vinod Khanna (Film Street Journal)

thanks to Kash..
LINK

At home with self-made actor, caring star-father and celebrity politician Vinod Khanna

The squally-sunny Mumbai monsoon sets the stage for an afternoon of contrasts.
It’s sunny when you set out for the 13th floor apartment of an elitist address in south Mumbai, the residence of seasoned actor-politician Vinod Khanna, whose film work took him northwards of the city for years.

A dyed-in-the-wool Punjabi, Vinod disappointed his father with his clear disinterest in the family business and his marked keenness to become a film actor. But when he chose a spouse early in his life, Vinod married Geetanjali Talyarkhan from an established Parsee business family, far removed from the film world where he sought his fame and fortune. The marriage gave Vinod Khanna two sons, Rahul and Akshaye Khanna, both of whom followed their dad into films when they grew up. Happy ending?

Ladies v Ricky Bahl trailers (updated)

Bachchan — 1313 & 1314 & 1315 & 1316 & 1317 & 1318 & 1319 & 1320 & 1321 & 1322 & 1323 & 1324 & 1325 & 1326 & 1327 & 1328 & 1329 & 1330 & 1331 & 1332 & 1333 & 1334 & 1335 & 1336 & 1337 & 1338 & 1339 & 1340 & 1341 & 1342 & 1343 & 1344 & 1345 & 1346 & 1347 & 1348

1313
“She is home ! And nothing could give us all greater joy and happiness ..”
1314
“There is, in those, a very dismantled attitude of uncertainty and ill will. And nothing in the world can make one alter its course !”
1315
“Why this kolaveri kolaveri kolaveri di .. Ahh … just not leaving the lips and the mind and the system .. such an endearing experience. Brings a smile and laughter and rhythm instantly to the face .. get to YouTube, type Dhanush and Kolaveri di .. its his latest song that has become a rage all over.”
1316
“The news as you flash past on the tread mill during the cardio resembles a tale of unimaginable proportions. The topics, the background score, the slow motion emphasized shots, the accusatory tone of the anchor and the final verdict on the mobile service that phones in to the question put forward. All in line with a well crafted Shakespearean play that envelops one and refuses to free you and your mind.”

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