Patthar aur Payal - that lucky mistake..

You know, once I was recommended this film called All About Eve. You've probably heard of it, pretty well-known picture. But I completely misremembered the title of the film, and ended up getting my hands on another Hollywood oldie called The Lady Eve, which is an excellent comedy starring Barbara Stanwyck as a whipsmart conwoman. The latter ended up being one of my favourite films of all time.

The same sort of thing happened with Patthar aur Payal (Stone and anklet). I read about Hema's rather interesting role in a film called Laal Patthar (Red stone), which I reviewed here, but when I was browsing my usual online DVD store, I misremembered the title and ended up ordering Patthar aur Payal instead. This was very early days in my Indian film watching, I should point out.. Remembering film titles precisely was not yet a strong suit of mine!


Fairly lucky accident, as it so happens. This was probably the fourth or third Dharam-Hema film I watched, and it became my introduction to Vinod Khanna, who plays the smug-faced villain in this one. The story itself is one of reformation - Dharmendra is a dacoit who falls in love with Hema, and decides to give up crime for her. Ajit portrays the leader of the gang of dacoits, and Dharmendra's father, and Vinod is the brother who eventually takes over the gang.

It's a rather standard 70's flick which I remember fondly because of the lovely dance numbers and perhaps because I saw it so early in my Hindi film watching career. It introduced me to Vinod in his vicious villain avatar, made me like Dharmendra even more as he delivers those bizarre bloody-thirsty "I will avenge this to you, villain!" dialogues. I should honestly rewatch this one of these days, as I've got no idea how I'd rate it now - I have rewatched the songs numerous times, particular this one, where Dharam imagines a dancing girl as Hema..

It's funny how films becomes not just a viewing experience but also a part of a story; in this case, the story of a mistaken find that lead to so many more films, and experiences.

Have one more Hema screencap for the road:

Dharmendra-Hema - simply the cutest pair!

This one is a pretty precious behind-the-scenes shot from the filming of Sholay.. What a find! Adore everything about this.


This is what they did before Photoshop, ladies and gentlemen...


The fashion is questionable but isn't this just adorable otherwise?


Hee, Dependable Duo indeed!


This picture feels almost entirely too intimate. It's either very genuine or very well posed/acted. Regardless of what the surrounding circumstances were - already in love or just playing it on-screen? - I do love this shot. It's just amazing.

A different perspective: Jugnu is Batman.

I was rewatching the 70's darling Hema-Dharmendra masala romp by the name of Jugnu and just before my (brand new) DVD stopped co-operating with me, something occurred to me.

Dharmendra's character is a millionaire with the secret identity of Jugnu (translates glow worm), a moustached crime-fighter and con artist, outwitting baddies left and right. In the eyes of society, he's merely  a wealthy and polite philanthropist, running a school for orphaned children. The trauma of losing both of his parents lingers, as do memories of his patriotic father standing up against his English-loving grandfather..

Sound familiar to you? Of course, Mr Wayne never had a school for orphans and never thought that a disguise could be made up of just a moustache and a wig. And because Batman's father was never played by Pran, we know for sure he's dead and not coming back, resurfacing at a moment when you'd least expect it. In Jugnu, it's a bit of a different story in that regard.. (Lesson: Pran never dies.)

I also realised how much I like this film, how rewatchable it is, and how sad it is that now that I finally got a copy of it, the damned thing broke in an instant. I don't expect cheap DVD's to last a forever, but at least one or two watches should go without a hitch. Otherwise, why even bother? 

Desperately seeking: Kinara.

Years and years back, I discovered there is a film called Kinara.

With Hema Malini and Dharmendra (and Jeetendra, but not a huge fan of him), directed by Gulzar in 1977.

Featuring classical dancing.

Every now and then I try to find this on DVD, VCD, illegal download, anything, and always fail to find it! So far I've only seen of what little there is of it on youtube (featuring some glorious dancing by Hema, which only makes me want to see it more).

So ...

If you know where Kinara is available, please let me know! I'd love to be able to just watch it, even if without English subtitles, just to see it. I generally like Gulzar films, and absolutely love Hema, and dancing, so the one or two clips just aren't enough. I want the context, too.

(I know the film probably won't be an amazing, given it's not really discussed or noted all that often, but like I said, I'd just love to see it, and have for years and years.)

Old Hema Malini pictures, part two.

The eyeliner in this is just gorgeous.

The Radha to Krishna?

Somewhat rare picture of Hema with her hair open.

Gold!

Archery is awesome. Just awesome.

30 Days of Film - Day 14.

14. A movie that no one would expect you to love

This was a tough pick, because I'm pretty predictable in my choices. Films with favourites rate higher for me than films with no favourites, and films that made actors a favourite obviously usually become insta-favourites altogether. But I think Meera, at the time when I watched it, was not a film I expected to really enjoy all that much. Sure, I liked Hema Malini, but I didn't think this slow-moving biopic of Mirabai, a Hindu saint, would precisely be my thing. Of course, the visuals are great, the music is pretty good as well, and perhaps best of all, the film has solid performances from both Hema and Vinod Khanna, who I didn't really know when I first watched it. 

I confess I'm still not huge on arthouse, and will usually only give it a go if a film piques my curiosity for whatever reason. Gulzar's films are never quite arthouse, but they straddle the inbetween area betweent art and commercial cinema, and I think Meera being a favourite of mine is still definitely the exception, not the rule.

Are wah! Old Hema Malini pictures, part one.

I'm pretty sure this might be from Meera..


No idea where this might originate from, but adore the shot nonetheless.


I just love old black & white photography in general.


(Truth be told, I wouldn't have found any of these if it wasn't for Tumblr's "hema malini" tag, so credit to all those who find&post wonderful pictures there.)

Oldie photos.

I feel like my brain is completely running on underdrive thanks to doing so much studying. Me and some friends did watch Andaz Apna Apna and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, confirming once again that I can watch those two as many times as possible and they'll still stay favourites. And I have some newer films I need to review but like I said, too brainless. So have some oldie photos for the lack of actual substance.

Mini-reviews, part eight.

[Previous mini-reviews here. In short, the idea is to write miniature film reviews out of a randomized list of what I had watched at a certain point in time. Nowadays the list would be about 30 films longer but I'll continue to do these until the list is finished..]

71. Meera (1979) - This Gulzar-directed gem was quite possibly the first or the second Vinod Khanna film I ever saw, about the life of Hindu saint Mirabai, and I fell in love with it. It's a bit slow in pace so might not be everybody's cup of chai, but I love it, for the haunting atmosphere, for Hema Malini's performance, and last but not least, Vinod.

72. Sethu (1999) - Vikram's first big break in films, a tale of obsessive love, later remade in Hindi as Tere Naam (which I've not seen). It's certainly a good film and a good performance by him, but doesn't really make it to my top favourites.

73. Tashan (2008) - It's complicated between me and Tashan. Some days I think it's a criminally underrated gem, other days I think it's a flawed but fun masala rollercoaster ride. Most often I think that regardless of its bad reputation and its a little too tryhard plot, people really ought to give it a chance. Akki is awesome in it, as is Bebo. The fact there's too little Sakshay in it kills me, but it's something I've learned to get over.

74. Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) - It probably pales in comparison to the Southie versions of the story but it's a decent Priyadarshan film anyway. A little masala, a little ghost story, excellent climax and somewhat memorable performances from Akshay and Vidya Balan.

75. Parineeta (2005) - This is one of those films I probably should have watched once and called it good. But then I rewatched it like three or four additional times and was considerably worn out. It's a good romantic role for Saif and an excellent debut by Vidya Balan, but it is still a flawed film and the flaws become more and more distracting the more I've watched it.

76. The Namesake (2006) - Tabu and Irffan together! Kal Penn being his awesome self! This film was so good when I initially saw it, pitch-perfect at every step, but the more time wore on, the less I liked it. It's a strange one, but as one of those films that people who normally don't watch Indian films see, it's worth seeing.

77. Keemat: They Are Back (1998) - An absolute Sakshay classic. I'm proud to say the cheesiest film poster on my walls is of this one, and it's an utter winner with the pleather worn by the guys and the random musical instruments shown off by the girls. The above DVD cover is no less of a winner. Keemat is .. well, it's probably an average funtime 90's cheesefest. But to me, it's something else. Namely, it's a Sakshay film where I also really like the heroines (Sonali and Raveena kick ass in this!). But you know..

78. Dillagi (1978) - It's a very sweet, low-key romantic comedy with Hema Malini and Dharmendra. I think it's most memorable for the fact Dharam plays a poetic Sanskrit teacher, and not a He-Man type of character. Never the less, I've never actually rewatched this one. Time might just golden memories..?

79. ...Yahaan (2005) - Filmed through a million blue-hue filters, this is quite a lovely film about Kashmir conflict, and the story of one soldier (Jimmy Shergill) and a local girl (Minissha Lamba in her debut role!). It's another one I really ought to rewatch... I own it so I guess I must've liked it but cannot for the life of me remember why.

80. Dhool (2003) - Absolutely stellar comedy/romance/action flick in Tamil; my first Tamil masala; my first Vikram film; one of my all-time favourites. I could watch the picturizations until cows come home. It's just so good and so much fun and Jothika is an awesome spunky sort of heroine here and Vikram just looks his best and yeah. Watch it. Watch it again.

Closing Khanna-o-Rama with a picspam.

My favourite picture of Akshaye.

I'm going to employ virtual CPR on you because I know you just DIED.AT.THIS.CUTENESS. And why wouldn't you.

All Bollywood magazines should remake this photo shoot. Bollywood stars - EATING. I'd buy the magazine. Twice.

No idea what is happening here but I dig it. I dig it a lot.

Film poster of Gulzar's Meera (review here) which is my most favourite movies with Vinod. And gorgeous Hema, what's not to love.

Thanks for participating in Khanna Week, even if it was just by reading all of our posts! And eternal thanks to Beth for coming up with the idea of the love fest!

EEEDIT: Well, turns out Khanna Week isn't over in a week! Joy of joys! Except .. I have no more posts scheduled up. I might spin some more, I'll definitely keep following all of yours but this may or may not be the end of Khanna-o-Rama for me, for now, anyway. Still, the Khanna love never really stops on these here parts!

Naseeb - or thoughts on various negative factors.

Naseeb, a 1981 Manmohan Desai masala has it all, like a typical Desai masala would - the name means destiny, and there's a heavy sense of that, familial bonds breaking and being tied back together, epic dosti, lots of messy love and villains galore. There's Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha. There's funky fashion, kickassery, cool women and people falling out of windows onto two-decker busses:

Yeah.

The plot goes a little something like this; Daddy'O (played by Pran, not the character's actual name but work with me here, I'm lazy) gets screwed over by his two friends (Amjad Khan, Kader Khan) and framed for murder. His friends become rich villains with evil sons, lairs and fancy stuff. Daddy'O flees the country, assumed dead or something. Amjad Khan's son Vicky (Shatrughan) is a successful businessman who is returning from London to India to meet his father and his friend Johnny (Amitabh), incidentally Daddy'O's son. The friends fall for the same girl, Asha (Hema Malini), while Vicky's childhood friend (Reena Roy) is hopelessly infatuated with him. Meanwhile, Johnny's younger bhai Sunny (Rishi Kapoor) romances Asha's younger sister, villains plot away, Amrish Puri makes an appearance.

But even though I liked the movie, and all it's zany components, I wasn't in love with it. So what gives?

By Hercules and his tight velvet vest, I can't figure it out. Then I screencapped the movie and it hit me - the DVD just may be really crappy. The BABA DVD makes all the colours look drab, and the film appear more meandering and dull than it actually was.

Or maybe it is the period? This is early 80's, not late 70's and in Hindi films, that can actually make a world of difference. Maybe the film, as it was shot, was not as full of colour and exciting visuals, somehow darker in tone (literally, not metaphorically).

Because try as I might, I can't say there's anything particularly wrong with the film. Hema's character is pretty fun, Amitabh's is a little too Anthony throwback-like but then again, who cares? Rishi plays far too small a role but is still good and the plot has enough drama and twists in-tact.

And the amount of classic villain actors in this movie is mind-boggling! Amrish Puri, Pran, Shakti Kapoor, Amjad Khan, Kader Khan, oh my. Desai loves his plentiful villains (see also: Dharam-Veer) and I love him for it!

And in the first song we get the proto-type of Om Shanti Om's Deewangi Deewangi (ie. star guest appearances galore!), where Amitabh's character learns the First Rule of Dharmendra - Don't mess with Dharmendra.

And you got fashion like Shatrughan fishing in cowboy gear (what all sophisticated Englishmen do), or ..

Hema being excessively sparkly.

Okay, so maybe the problem doesn't lie with the fact that this movie is unexciting on the Desai Masala-meter, but rather that it just doesn't fall in line with some of my other overwhelmingly amazing Desai favourites, like Dharam-Veer or Parvarish or AAA. And it's not really so much a flaw as it is a shame - I'll rewatch this movie but mostly for the songs.

But seriously, if you can avoid it, don't buy the BABA DVD of this. It makes me sad to think the bad DVD might've affected my Desai enjoyment and I don't want that to happen to anybody else!

What if Rancho was Radhika? Genderswitching Indian films.

The recent hullabaloo regarding Disney's Rapunzel changing its title to Tangled (along with other changes) to attract boy viewers have made me think about gender in cinema and television, once again. When even Disney's dreamy princess fairytales (which have been critisized for providing regressive portrayals of gender; girls are there for boys to rescue) are being sold to attract boys, because apparently only boys matter as viewers, it's like, what gives?

This lead me to thinking about Hindi cinema, or most of what I've seen of Indian cinema on the whole, and how much of films are men's stories and purely men's stories. This is the sort of thing one comes to accept as a fact, so much that I tend to forget about it, and then I see something that is an exception and it's a jolt, a surprise. In Hollywood we've got problems of a different set; women directors not being taken seriously, thinking they can only make a certain genre, and female characters only on-screen to talk about men (see also: Bechdel test).

I look at my DVD shelf and do a count of films I own that could be considered women's stories; Seeta Aur Geeta, Meera (70's film), Aaja Naachle, Chak De India, Dor, Ek Hasina Thi, Dil Bole Hadippa (kind of? maybe?), Namastey London (again, kind of).

Then there are a bunch of romantic movies which I really enjoy, because the heroines in them are active and brilliant, and nicely fleshed out characters, like Hum Tum, Bunty Aur Babli, Jab We Met, Kaminey. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, which most people hated but I loved, could also be considered a semi-female-centric movie.

On the Southie side, I can't see much -- though I enjoy some characters a lot, like the spunky Jothika character in Dhool and Kaadhal's awesome heroine who actually pursues the hero and is not afraid to show her sexuality.

But why am I bringing this up? Because I like to play a game of genderswitch - "what if so and so film had female leads, not male ones?" Just like Ramesh Sippy did in the 70's, when he decided to remake Ram aur Shyam, not starring Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor or Amitabh Bachchan, but with Hema Malini as the twins. A good show of how this "what if" game can actually wield results. So let's get to it.

Dil Chahta Hai is the first one I've seen people long for - show girls having deep-rooted friendships, show them break up and make up, and find love and then rekindle their friendships with one another. The closest we ever got to this was Chak De India, a rare film where we see girls have the same epic, complex relations that are usually reserved for boys in films.

A genderswitch version of Dostana would probably be the boldest mass entertainer in recent years. Showing girls pretend to be lesbians because they like a guy they moved in with? This would be a much more interesting film than the actual Dostana, but also questionable - there's a lot of sexist and homophobic thinking out there that all lesbians need is a love of a man to make them straight (ugh). So perhaps it's best to change the ending somehow - maybe the girls really fall for each other, but being competitive as they are, they end up in a matchmaking competition, each trying to set up their male flatmate with a girl of their choice. Eventually the flatmate gets fed up with this, confronts them, the girls make up, and they continue living together in harmony. Happies ending!

3 Idiots is another obvious one; a movie centered around guys in an all-male institution, learning important, epic lessons about life and learning itself. A movie like this being genderswitched might result in some interesting discoveries about the value of female education (and how it is being consistently undervalued by some), parental pressures of a different sort (both to a career choice and to get married) etc. But at the core the message wouldn't change much - female students also need to begin realizing their full potential by going for what they desire in life, not what they are pushed towards.

Some movies would be so starkly different they wouldn't work on the same level. Consider for example any film where a hero goes through consider amount of violence. The heroine who could withstand that, fight back physically, and come out on top would be exceptional and that would change certain things about the movie. However, it's not impossible - Mumaith Khan and some other heroines have done full-on action roles in the South industries.

I'm not sure if I have a closing thought. I guess I wish somebody in current Indian cinema would do as Ramesh Sippy did; spin a male-centric story into a female-centric one, and make gold. But something's stopping them, and I am not interested in hearing excuses (it wouldn't make any money, none of the current crop of heroines are good enough, people go to see heroes, not heroines..), I just want to see the film happen. If you make a good enough film, it'll be a hit. But who's brave enough to make the effort and take that leap?

Here's to hoping somebody is.

[Ladies in this post; Jothika, Katrina Kaif in Namastey London, Hema Malini in Laal Patthar, Konkona Sen Sharma in Omkara, Vidya Balan in Guru.]

70's week: Romance and awesome heroines.

Sometimes, perhaps unfairly, I contribute most of my initial interest in 70's Hindi cinema to the Veeru-Basanti storyline of Sholay. I saw it and just like when I first saw K3G and Kajol-Shahrukh, I thought, "This? I really like. I want more of this." If I hadn't had that initial overwhelming interest to see more of the two actors, I might've never explored 70's films as much as I have so far. So in the humble beginnings of my golden oldies watching were these two things: romance and awesome heroines (because Basanti certainly is that).

I took a class on Bollywood cinema once and even though I'd seen nearly 200 films when I took it, it really helped me see some of the broader lines of Hindi cinema history to this day. One thing our teacher (very sweet female filmi fan who had majored in Hindi/Urdu, not Film Studies) brought up about heroines when we discussed character archetypes was that the heroines could be seen as corresponding to the hero character. When the hero is an angry young man type, this active hero of the 70's, the heroine must be an ally to his cause. (As opposed to being the indignant young lady who gets teased by the Krishna-type hero, or the independent woman who deserts the tragic hero.)

The girls in Parvarish wield guns, have plenty of wit to themselves (I mean, they are thieving sisters who sing about everything being the public's property!) and seek revenge the same as any hero would. They do have their share of damsel-in-distress type moments, but it's clear that often they're the ones running the show.

Consider first meetings, for example. Kishan (Vinod) runs into Shabbo (Shabana), who pretends to be blind to lift his wallet. She spins a tale about a tragic life, along the lines of the one she later tells Kishan's mother at the temple, and the one Neetu (Neetu!) recounts to both Amit (Amitabh) and the family's father. The beginning of the movie where the girls shamelessly steal is an absolute riot.

Of course, Neetu gets caught by Amit and placed in lock-up, where she tries many a strategy to talk her way out of behind the bars. Including one where she hilariously suggests marriage to Amit, because, as she tells him "When girls get spoiled, they should be married. Why don't you try to find somebody [to marry me]? If you can't find anyone, marry me yourself! If the law embraces crime, then crime can be eliminated forever!".

Flawless logic there, Neetu. Unfortunately this tactic doesn't bear fruit ..at least in this scene.

The glitch in the romances for the guys seems to the girls' thieving - which is pretty rich on Kishan's part, considering he's leading a double life as a crook smuggling diamonds in toys and god knows what else. But once the girls promise to correct their ways, this problem is out of the way.

This post would be incomplete without the mention of Seeta Aur Geeta, in many ways the heroine film of the 70s, starring none other than Hema Malini as two sisters. If you're a newbie when it comes to 70's cinema and want to start with something that has awesome heroines, go for that one.

Tomorrow's post will be about music!