Remembering Rajesh Khanna

He was one of those 'once in a lifetime' superstars for a generation and a movie star in every sense of the word. His unbroken string of 19 hits from 1969's 'Aradhana' to 1972's 'Shehzada' is an unduplicated feat that stands to this day and cemented his status as one of Bollywood's elite. My parents were still in India during his heyday and long have told me that Rajesh (at his peak) was a bigger star than Amitabh - something that this Amitabh Bachchan loving child of the 80's simply could not comprehend. It's only recently that I have come to appreciate the legacy he left behind. Science defines a supernova as a star that is extremely luminous and causes a burst of radiance that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over weeks or months. It's a very accurate description of Kaka's ('uncle' as he was affectionately known) career in the Indian film industry. His fans were overwhelmingly female and they swooned over him like no other hero before or since - often 'marrying' his picture before their own weddings. His flaring nostrils and subtle head movements in romantic tear jerkers was something the audience had never seen before but his limited acting ability and narrow range was something that they tired of just as quickly. But for those 3 years he owned the industry like no one before him as he was as handsome/romantic as Dev Anand, roguish as Raj Kapoor and tragic as Dilip Kumar. Interestingly enough, Amitabh Bachchan's first film debuted in 1969 but he didn't have a breakthrough hit until 1973's 'Zanjeer' - coincidence? Maybe so but considering his biggest role before that was a supporting actor in 'Anand' - maybe not.

To be honest, I never really was a Rajesh Kumar fan or at least I thought I wasn't. I first started watching Bollywood films in the 1980's and a steady diet of Amitabh Bachchan & Shashi Kapoor movies were pretty much all this NRIT (non resident Indian teen) needed. Sure, there were other heroes - namely Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Vinod Khanna etc - but Rajesh Khanna's filmography never registered much in my list of must see movies. They were always a fringe movie watching experience for me as in that they were VHS rentals by my parents from our local Indian grocery store that served as quaint background chatter in my world. But something interesting happened, I realized that the actor that I knew as "that guy from Haathi Mere Saathi" was the same one that kept popping up on the 'Best of Kishore Kumar' VHS compilations from those same grocery stores. Kishore Kumar was my favorite singer but what I didn't know at the time was that his career had all but stalled in the late 1960's. That is until the 27 year old Khanna broke through with 'Aradhana' and in doing so resuscitated Kishore's career with it. Kishore flew to the top of every actor's playback wishlist after that movie and he was unmatched in his popularity until his death in 1987. Would Rajesh Khanna been as big a star if not for the overwhelming popularity of his movie's soundtracks? The world will never know but he had this to say in an interview from 2009 "I will just sum this up in one sentence. I told Shakti Samanta (the director of 'Aradhana') that Kishore Kumar was my soul and I was his body." The world of Bollywood is indeed a wonderful one and it's ability to make new fans out of the stars of yesteryear through it's evergreen songs is one of the myriad of reasons why.

You don't have to be a great actor to be a star and no one embodied that more than Rajesh Khanna. He wasn't a bad actor mind you, just not a great one but then again he didn't have to be. Even his most hardcore fans would admit that his acting chops left something to be desired but the bottom line was that he was very good at what he did. His style was unmistakable, fun to watch and continues to remain so to this day. And then there are those wonderful Kishore Kumar voiced songs which will continue to speak to new fans of Bollywood for years to come. S.D. Burman had composed all of the songs for 'Aradhana' to be sung by Mohammed Rafi but after recording only two of them, Burmansaab fell ill. The work of completing the soundtrack fell to his son (and relative newcomer) Rahul Dev Burman. R.D.'s vision of the remaining songs were to have them sung by Kishore and it seems like they were tailor made for his voice. Roop Tera Mastana is the song selection from that movie for today. Kishoreda won a Filmfare Award for best song of the year and it's video is memorable for more than just the remarkable show of unspoken lust between the actors for that day and age. As a fan of cinema it has always impressed due to the fact that the whole song is done with one continuous shot - without any lip synching, costume changes or fancy sets. No wonder Rajesh Khanna's trip to superstardom was launched by this movie.

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese

This song is so bloody awesome that it just barely qualifies for 80's cheese but then again the word cheese is used to convey oodles of love and not an ounce of disrespect. This week we present Jab Chaye Mera Jaadoo sung by the inimitable Asha Bhonsle. The funky/addictive music was composed by no less of an authority than Rajesh Roshan (Hrithik's uncle) and although I don't know who the two lovely young ladies are in the song itself - their enthusiasm makes the experience complete and for that we thank you.

~ The song starts off in yet another one of those 'I want to party there with every friend I have in the world' clubs deep in the seedy underworld of Bombay.

~ The slow motion jumping? Great touch Mr Dev Anand (who starred, directed and produced this craziness)

~ :30 second mark, item girl #2 makes her entrance and what a grand entrance it is! Most movies (both now and back then) were content with one item girl but this is one of those rare occasions when two is SO much better than just one.

~ I am not a fashionista by any stretch of the imagination but the magical color combinations worn by our two item girls (hot pink & bright red) could easily be reproduced today and look amazing. I am talking to you Ayesha & Nafisa!

~ 1:15 mark - love love love the mullet here! In fact, I love all the background dancing in this song, guys and girls alike.

~ 2:00 mark - nice shot of our item girls through the legs of other dancing girls while our hero, Wing Commander Bhagat (alias Jim Darcy) played by Dev Anand walks in.

~ 3:00 mark - great special effect when our esteemed Wing Commander lights a cigarette that magically makes every strobe light in the place come on at once.

But like most songs that get mentioned in this segment this one holds up exceptionally well even today. The lyrics are actually quite poetic and the music composition is just fantastic even if you don't have a clue as to what they are singing about. And of course the top reason to re-introduce these songs 30 years on is that you could play this at any party and you will be guaranteed a stampede to the dance floor.

'Lootmaar' was expected to capitalize on the mega success of 1978's 'Des Pardes' which was also a Dev Anand production but despite a cast comprising of a virtual Who's Who of Bollywood stars & villains - Dev Anand, Tina Munim, Mehmood, Nirupa Roy, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor, Simple Kapadia, Shreeram Lagoo and Rakhee - it underwhelmed at the box office. Fortunately for us, the movie left behind this amazing song to be enjoyed for many years to come.

Mahaan (1983)

1983 was arguably the peak of Amitabh Bachchan's (super)stardom and I can just hear the powers that be in Bollywood thinking out loud as to what he needed to do to get even BIGGER than what he had been for the past decade. Cast him with the top leading lady (or two) in Bollywood? Been there done that. Have him serve as playback singer for himself? Done as well but maybe a new spin on that might be good. A double role? Amitabh was a master at that, having done it eight times already - most notably in Don. Well how about all three of those previous things but go to the proverbial next level on all of them? Cast him with three of the top leading ladies of Bollywood including one from it's Evergreen days with Waheeda Rehman, Zeenat Aman and my personal fave Parveen Babi. Let him sing a song but do a slow version of one that was sung earlier in the movie by Kishore Kumar. And finally - double roles be damned - let's have him in an unprecedented (and yet to be duplicated in Bollywood) triple role therefore ensuring that he be in every scene of the movie.

The plot of course is nonsensical and having so many tasty ingredients in it makes it almost too rich for someone not a true Bollywood or Amitabh Bachchan fan (plot summary here). The real reason to see this movie of course is to see the Big B playing three very different characters and doing a surprisingly good job at all of them. The 'aspiring actor' Amitabh character is the most fun to watch and has some great comedic scenes although they are absurd even by Bollywood standards. Most importantly however,in our opinion this movie marked the end of Amitabh's golden era. The notable exception being 'Sharaabi' the following year for which he received a nomination for a Filmfare Best Actor award. The injury on the set of 'Coolie', questionable movie choices and the great equalizer of age started his inevitable decline but his was a flame that refused to be extinguished. After realizing that he could no longer do the leading man roles that his audiences expected from him, he has made a graceful transition into more mature roles. 'Main Azaad Hoon' and 'Khuda Gawah' were the standout beginnings in that era with 'Mohabattein' putting the finishing touches on it. But for those fans of Amitabh of yesteryear and Bollywood masala at it's zaniest I would heartily recommend 'Mahaan' as one of that era's swansong films. The bonus video for today is Yeh Din To Aata Hai sung by the music composer and his real life wife - R.D. Burman and Asha Bhonsle. The serious Amitabh (a police inspector) and Parveen Babi do the song justice as you can see in the video above. Today's song is a gorgeous love song sung by the first Amitabh character we see in the movie,i.e. the father of the twin Amitabh progeny. Jidhar Dekhoon is sung by Kishore Kumar and the video below shows Amitabh with Waheeda Rehman (actually six years his senior) but who looks just as ravishing as the other two heroines in the movie. Pick your favorite (if you can) - there are lots of songs (and Amitabhs) to choose from in this Bollywood classic...

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese

Two months have come and gone in 2012 and the dearth of 80's cheese on this site is just appalling. Therefore we knew that the first post on this topic had to be something... epic. And what could be more epic than the Big B in his prime in not just a single, not just a double but in an over the top (yet to be duplicated in Bollywood) TRIPLE ROLE. The movie review is coming soon but for now we will concentrate on the delicousness of one of R.D. Burman's craziest songs that sounds like he was channeling his inner Bappi Lahiri.



~ The song starts out with some crazy xylophone music along with the sound of a gun firing (often). Add in the fact that this is done in front of large crowd AND on the grounds of a temple(!) and you know this is going to be something special. Bathroom break be damned.
~ Notice the awesomeness of Amitabh's white pants AND his black leather jacket completely covered in holes. Bullet holes I would like to think.
~ The yellow fiesta dress is proof positive that Zeenat Aman looks good in anything.
~ AB doesn't really have great dance moves throughout the song but the slow motion special effects more than make up for that fact.
~ Great touch... Amitabh's gun goes off by itself right when he is about to kiss Zeenat. Hehe.
~ At the 2:00 mark we have some comic relief when AB sits down to flirt with two girls who are watching the filming. Kind of tough to swallow considering who his gf is on screen :/
~ Surprisingly there are no costume changes whatsoever during the song but at the 3:23 mark AB rocks some totally cool Terminator shades.
~ During the dance sequence that follows I find that I am watching AB with much more attention than Zeenat. The man has mad skills, what can I say?
~ And near the end of course comes the same thought that I always have when watching some of these videos... I have got to figure out where they shot this and go there to re-enact it the next time I go to India.

Farewell to Dev Anand

And then there was one... Dev Anand passed away earlier this week at the age of 88. That left left Dilip Kumar as the only surviving member of the original "Big Three" leading heroes of Bollywood (the third member, Raj Kapoor, passed away in 1988). Dev got his big break after being spotted hanging around the Bombay Talkies studio by Ashok Kumar who recommended him for the 1948 film 'Ziddi'. Dilip Kumar may have been considered the better thespian and Raj Kapoor may have been the greater showman but Dev Anand was a genius in his own right. Just one year after his debut film, he launched Navketan Films as his own production house and got none other than the legendary Guru Dutt to direct it's first offering - 'Baazi' in 1949. That movie literally made him an overnight star and he never looked back continuing to act, direct and produce prolifically for the next six decades.



His critics often dismissed him as playing the same character in every role but his fans didn't care and rewarded him with hit after hit for his penchant to create memorable and endearing characters (sound familiar SRK?). He unabashedly copied Gregory Peck in regards to his acting and wardrobe but later became known for a style all his own. His attention to detail when picking hats and scarves as well as slightly tilting his head while delivering dialogue were just a few of the reasons audiences returned time and time again to see his films. But it was his movie 'Guide' that cemented his fame worldwide. He was responsible for the discovery of both Zeenat Aman and Tina Munim who both remember him fondly and even Hollywood luminary Shekhar Kapur wrote about Dev Anand's unshakeable optimism in regards to his art as well as his life.



Fortunately, in the world of Indian cinema, not only are we left with the movies to remember Dev Anand but we also have the countless hit songs which were penned by some of the greatest composers of the time. Indeed, even though his popularity waned in the late 70's after he refused to acquiesce to age and give up leading man roles - the songs from his films were never absent from the annual Binaca Geetmala Top 10 Countdown. If you are in the Atlanta area and would like to go to a free event on 12/9/11 celebrating Dev Anand's legacy, details can be found here. And finally our song for today from the 1970 film 'Prem Pujari'... Phoolon Ke Rang Se is sung by Kishore Kumar (who was the preferred singer for Devsaab) and it's score was composed by S.D. Burman. The music and lyrics make it a love song for the ages but in classic Dev Anand style he is singing to no one in particular and to everyone as well - all at the same time. He was one of the first Bollywood stars to film many of his movies in Switzerland and the below video is an early charming blend of his vision of both East & West.

Navratari/Garba-celebrating Mother Nature

My wife getting ready for garba in Baroda (Gujarat) circa 1975


Navratari began this weekend & will be celebrated over the next nine nights (in Sanskrit, nav-nine & ratri-nights). It honors the female spiritual force in nature & the goddesses associated with it. The farming communities of ancient India had much free time after sundown as the days were busy spent tilling the fields. Thus evening was chosen as the ideal time to celebrate the counterpart to the male (purush) forces that Hindus believe created the universe.



My sister-in-law doing the same


The nine nights are dedicated to the goddesses Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati. On the first 3 days the goddess Parvati is invoked as a powerful spiritual force to help destroy one's impurities, vices and faults. For the next 3 days, Lakshmi is worshipped in her various forms as the goddess of peace, wealth and bliss. However, fulfillment here is more important than wealth itself. As the goddess of wealth she governs not just monetary goods but also spiritual wealth such as friendship & peace within. The final 3 days are for Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom. She is the goddess of the spiritual knowledge and the knowledge that frees us from this bind of Samsara or the material world. A period of introspection and purification, Navaratri is traditionally an auspicious time for starting new ventures. On the tenth day of Navratri (Dussehra) an effigy of Ravana is burnt in parts of India to celebrate the victory of good (Ram) over evil.



This festival is celebrated differently depending on which part of India one is from. In my native Gujarat it is as garba & raas - folk dances with complex circular formations to represent the design of the lotus and other configurations considered mystical & auspicious. The word garba comes from the Sanskrit word garbha deep. Garbha is translated as a womb & Deep means light. This garbha deep is placed in the center of the dance circle with a flame (symbolizing life) in a pot (symbolizing the womb of mother nature). Although dandiya raas is associated with garba, it's origins are slightly different - it was traditionally performed by men patterned after sword fighting but is now a highlight for all during Navratri.



The two songs for today are traditional Gujarati garba songs whose simple yet elegant arrangements are a contrast to the Bollywood songs we are used to hearing (although the above Bollywood song is played alot during the season towards the end of the night). The first tune is a traditional one Ramo Ramo by Meena Patel, a truly joyous song that helps paint what Navratri in India may feel like if you were actually there. The second song is Pankhida by Praful Dave and is my favorite garba song.

Des Pardes (1978)

Having already served as a producer to many of his movies from the 1950's, Dev Anand added directing to his formidable role of entertainer extraordinaire in the 1970's and 'Des Pardes' was one of the biggest hits of his career. Dev was always fascinated by all things European and sought to include those things in his films whether they consisted of shooting locales or background extras. Sometimes he just up and moved the whole movie to a European country as he did halfway through this one when he had the topsy turvey plot move the adventure to England. This movie comes very close to being in the genre of Bollyweed but takes itself a little too seriously and (with the exception of some great song sequences) is just not crazy enough. The plot is fairly straightforward - at least as far as 70's Bollywood movies go. It involves the elder brother of a poor Indian family striking it rich and getting a job opportunity in England. At first the job seems to be going well but suddenly the brother stops writing his family and his younger brother (Dev Anand) gets the call to go find him. What he finds when he gets there are thousands of other Indians (his brother is MIA) who are living in squalor on fake passports and being held hostage by other Indians who are garnishing their wages and threatening them with deportation should they get out of line. And his brother? Well nothing good can come of such nefarious folk and after some time he realizes that very bad things may have happened to him and to say anything more would violate the spoiler-free rules of Doc Bollywood!



While this movie comes in a tad too long at just under three hours, there are some things that I just love about it. For starters, it serves as the debut film of one of my favorite actresses - Tina Munim. She was not only a natural beauty but effortless as an actress as well. She had the girl next door naivety on the surface about her but was able to stand up to even the fiercest 'goonda' if need be. She ended her movie career after only a few films but went on to even greater things marrying the billionaire Anil Ambani and dedicating her post Bollywood life to humanitarian and social causes.



'Good' Pran. It's no secret that Pran is one the most beloved actors in Bollywood but there is something even more special about him when he appears in films as a good guy. His life plays out much like a Bollywood movie as his career started out his career in the Hindi film industry in 1942 opposite Noorjehan after he had established himself as villain in the burgeoning Punjabi film industry of Lahore. After Partition he moved to Bombay nearly penniless and had to establish himself all over again eventually ending up with both a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and the Padma Bhushan Award from the government of India.



And of course the raison d'être of this whole blog - the wonderful soundtrack by Rajesh Roshan (uncle of Hrithik) with songs rendered by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. Dev Anand was the earliest star to begin to use Kishore as a playback singer and Kishore never forgot the favor and often seemed to reserve his best song renditions for the evergreen actor. Today's selection is Nazrana Bheja Kisine Pyar Ka and in addition to being a great song it also has a nice flashback to perhaps the only Pran wedding scene ever filmed! The previous post on this movie has the crazier song filmed in a rockin' British pub that was to be purchased by Pran (you gotta see the movie to understand), also by Kishore Kumar...

Your weekly dose of 70's Bollywood mayhem

This is a new feature from your friends at Doc Bollywood and we racked our brains trying to come up with an appropriate title and in the end settled on the only word that would really apply to this decade - mayhem. The outfits, plot twists, sets, hairstyles and most importantly the incomparable tunes were all just over the top madness and of course our favorite Bollyweed movies came out during this time period as well. Encompassing the works of maverick film directors from the West along with infusing the songs with a healthy dose of disco gives this decade it's own look that was leaps and bounds different than the one that preceded it. It was the decade that brought us Bollywood's arguably biggest star in Amitabh Bachchan and was the heyday of my favorite singer Kishore Kumar.



But the inaugural song in this series is from a lesser known movie of the era - 'Des Pardes' (1978) starring Dev Anand and the much under appreciated Tina Munim. Dev Anand was one of the original 'Big 3' of Bollywood (along with Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor) whose movies shaped Indian Talkies from the 1940's onward. Starting in the 1960's he started making avant garde art movies and in the 1970's he went gloriously overboard and made a series of memorable films that continue to define that era to this day.



Nazar Lage Na Saathiyon sung by Kishore Kumar and Mehmood has ALOT going on in it - else why would we begin the mayhem series with it in the first place? A great song on it's own the bonus features include (but are not limited to) - set in a bar in Switzerland(?) complete with European tourists, bad guys getting the tables turned on them via copious amounts of booze, a trapeze swing IN THE BAR and Dev/Tina doing their thing like few others could. Let the mayhem begin and full review of the movie coming next time...

Roti (1974)

Fresh off a group watching of 'Naseeb' I was inspired to check out another one of Manmohan Desai's movies with 'Roti'. The man responsible for the venerable holy trinity of glorious/over the top 70's masala movies ('Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Suhaag' and 'Naseeb') did not disappoint. But not having his muse Amitabh Bachchan along for the ride didn't make for the all out insanity I was expecting although it was chock full of crazy plot twists, mathematically impossible coincidences and ruthless gangsters. Mangal Singh (Rajesh Khanna) grows up as a criminal and through an unfortunate series of poor career choices he ends up being sentenced to hang for his deeds. Suffice it to say the plot really doesn't matter after this point as he gets rescued (for reasons that are still a mystery to me) by an underworld Don and ends up in a small village where he meets and falls in love with Bijli (Mumtaz).



These evergreen Bollywood movies always stay golden for me not so much for the story but because I love watching the stars and grew up loving the soundtracks. Rajesh is not really that great of an actor but he consistently used my favorite singer Kishore Kumar as his playback voice and thus I have seen alot of his movies. Mumtaz though is another story - for those of you who have never seen her in her much too short career in Bollywood, you are truly missing out. She had 'it' whatever that is and that made watching her a true joy. And the fact that she could hold her own against the reigning superstar of the day showed that like her name in the movie (Bijli = lightning), she wasn't one to be messed with. Indeed, Rajesh and Mumtaz were actually good friends offscreen as well as neighbors in Juhu Beach. Khanna later recounted that he tended to be bossy with his female costars but could never get away with that kind of behavior with Mumtaz and loved working with her.



Our friends over at Music from the Third Floor have graciously put up the vinyl tracks for this movie (as well as hundreds of other classic Bollywood flicks) available for free downloads. The whole soundtrack is great but my favorite song by far is the wonderful Kishore/Lata duet Gore Rang Pe picturised below. A cute back and forth (complete with the standard Bollywood rainstorm!) about how Bijli needs to not be so enamored with her gore rang (fair skin) because it won't last forever. She retorts back with some cute stuff of her own and the song is simply perfect in every way. Great stars, catchy tunes, a director with a flair for well - everything. 'Roti', a movie that will go far in satisfying your 70's Bollywood cravings. You can watch the full movie for free and legally here

Outsourced/NBC (2010)

Being the first American sitcom with a predominantly Indian cast was not going to be an easy thing to pull off and judging from the first episode it looked like 'Outsourced' would be an epic fail. Like most Indian people here, I tuned in and for the first few episodes I was mostly... indifferent. Granted, it was nice to have a show I could call my own considering the only two other prominent Indian figures on TV were Apu from 'The Simpsons' (voiced by Hank Azaria!) and Raj from 'The Big Bang Theory' (playing the stereotypical Indian physics whiz). But even before 'Outsourced' had even aired a single episode, it was derided by nearly every (American) reviewer for being "racist" and "trite". Although I have never noticed anything outwardly racist (the name Manmeet is amusing even if you are an Indian that grew up here), early on the show just wasn't that funny. But then an interesting thing happened - the show found it's sweet/quirky groove, the characters came into their own and 'Outsourced' quickly became a favorite of mine. Preview below



When 'Good Times' came out in 1974 it received much of the same criticism that is being levied at 'Outsourced' today but then as now, the sentiment of the people it portrayed was basically the same - it may not be perfect but at least it's a start. The first few episodes of 'Outsourced' did get a little too much into the whole fish out of water "wow your culture is SO weird" but you know what? The two cultures are very different and while that may be glaringly obvious to me it may not be to others. The show never strays too far from it's comedic roots but over the past few weeks has given the viewers short but insightful introductions to: Diwali, arranged marriages, Indian food, paan, Bollywood, socially inappropriate touching, trains and Indian vs American mentality when it comes to work. The employees in 'Outsourced' genuinely love their jobs, unlike the employees at my other Thursday night TV staple 'The Office'. And at the end of the day their American boss (Todd) learns something about India and his employees learn something about America. Nothing earth shattering but quite endearing nonetheless...



But as they say, the devil is in the details and the fact that they get the music just right in all the episodes showed me that they really are putting some time and effort on the show. A variety of great Bollywood songs are playing in the background on nearly every street scene and in the latest episode on board a train Chaiyya Chaiyya is playing in the background followed immediately by The Monkees song Last Train to Clarksville. Not only that but the audience is introduced to the concept of 'Ladies Only' train cars, professional gropers and a little Hindi thrown in just for authenticity. Below is the song for the day and represents the SECOND time a song by my favorite singer was used in an American sitcom. Considering Kishore Kumar passed away nearly 25 years ago, it's safe to say his legacy is alive and well in Bollywood as well as in Hollywood. Below you will find the clip in which 'Gupta' is having a Bollywood daydream to Bachna Ae Haseeno sung by the master himself originally from the movie 'Hum Kisise Kum Naheen'.

Video

Karz (1980)

~ Rishi Kapoor at the top of his game in fabulous outfits? - Check.

~ Tina Munim in all her glorious beauty and girl next door charm? - Check.

~ Filmfare Award for best music for Laxmikant Pyarelal? - Check.

~ Legendary director Subhash Ghai (Hero, Taal, Om Shanti Om)? - Check.

~ A gangster don who just happens to be mute and communicates through his henchman by tapping his fingers on glass tables in code? - Um, ok, check.

~ The above henchman played by actor Mac Mohan and whose screen name just happens to be Mac in EVERY SINGLE ONE OF his movies? - Now just wait a second...

~ The above mentioned gangster recruiting someone to do an evil deed that ends in deception, murder and eventually... reincarnation and revenge? - Yowza!



'Karz' is fondly remembered even today, considering that the title of it's most famous song was used for Shah Rukh Khan's movie 'Om Shanti Om'. SRK's film is considered a loose remake of 'Karz' as many critics acknowledge that the original was well ahead of it's time. The movie is a masala flick of legendary proportions in that it crams so much damn stuff into 159 minutes of madness that it's almost too much. But as is the case with most masala movies, the trick is to cram just enough with the use of big stars, amazing songs, crazy plots and in the case of 'Karz' - bringing back a legendary actress (Simi Garewal) in a deliciously evil role. It's a Rishi Kapoor star vehicle through and through and he carries the masala thali like only a select few can. Watch (or re-watch) the movie all over again - but since it has reincarnation as it's central theme - maybe you already did ;)

The film's famous (and Filmfare nominated) title song was actually posted last time around thus today's song is the Bollywood version of "I am sixteen going on seventeen". An uber cute duet sung by Kishore Kumar & Lata - Tu Kitne Baras Ki (video below)

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese

What better way to celebrate the holidays and the coming of old man winter than with another installment of 80's Bollywood Cheese? Today's song is a true classic that not only was one of the biggest hits of it's day but was the inspiration for a modern day Shah Rukh Khan movie. The song? Om Shanti Om from the 1980 movie 'Karz' (in debt). The movie stars two of our all time favorites here at Doc Bollywood - the incomparable Rishi Kapoor and the luminous Tina Munim. It also scored a coup with the casting of Bollywood legend Simi Garewal in a role that earned her a later career Filmfare Award nomination.



This movie has all the necessary elements to be one of those great group watching experiences - great stars, a maddeningly twisted story involving murder/revenge/reincarnation, an amazing soundtrack and fabulous fashions. The official movie review will be coming shortly but until then just sit back and enjoy Kishore Kumar's ten minute opus of the song mentioned above. The video has furry dancing shoes, bongos, a four way split screen, a giant spinning record player and Rishi Kapoor coming in on the needle of that very giant spinning record player. And that's just in the first MINUTE. As I have dared you in the past - just try to sit still while the song is playing, just try...

Happy Birthday to Amitji

Today marks the 68th birthday of arguably the most popular actor in Bollywood history. Born the eldest of two children and initially was given the name Inquilaab (inspired from the famous phrase Inquilab Zindabad during the Indian independence struggle) but eventually named Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off." The name certainly rang true as he ruled the silver screen during the 1970's and most of the 1980's. After taking on a series of questionable roles during the 1990's he rebounded for the second act of his fabled career by hosting the Indian version of 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' and with the hit 'Mohabattein' alongside Shah Rukh Khan. His star continues to shine brightly with brilliant turns in unique movies such as 'Paa', 'Black', 'Cheeni Kum' and 'Sarkar'. Not bad for someone who applied for his first job as an announcer for All India Radio - and was summarily told he "did not have a suitable voice" for such a vocation.



Growing up in the 1970's in America, Amitabh Bachchan was the first Indian actor I was exposed to and he quickly became my favorite actor as well. Thus the films from his heyday remain my favorites but I still enjoy his later work immensely. However when it comes time to re-watch a film by the Big B nothing scratches that itch than the great masala films he made in the 1970's. And to this day, 'Sholay' remains my favorite movie of all time while 'Abhimaan' (which stars his wife to be Jaya Badhuri) remains my favorite soundtrack and is in my top 10 of movies as well.



The scene above is one of the most famous of his career and is reenacted in all of his concert performances. It is from the classic movie 'Deewaar' (1975) and starts at the 5:00 mark with English subtitles. Major spoiler if you haven't seen the movie (a must see for any true fan of Bollywood and here is write up on it by yours truly) and showcases why, imho, he remains unmatched as an actor to this day.

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese

Sometimes the video and song are just so insane, so over the top, so much fun that they transcend mere cheese and become something much MUCH more. Today's song from the 1985 film 'Baadal' starring the disco dancer himself Mithun Chakraborty is one of those. Sung with great gusto by the great Kishore Kumar, this song just dares you to not sit up and take notice of the insanity. And when you have copious amounts of bhang, the voice of Kishore, the music of Bappi Lahri, the charisma of Mithun set among the backdrop of the Vale of Kashmir the result is nothing you can really explain - you just have to watch it to understand.

The song is about how Mithun's love interest (played by the adorable Poonam Dhillon) has now become his bride instead of merely the love of his life. How did it happen? I am still not sure. Does everyone in the video partake in the bhang and join in the celebration? You bet they do. Will you be able to sit still and unable to fight the urge and start dancing yourself when you hear the song and see the video? I seriously doubt it. So sit back (while you can) and enjoy this week's edition of glorious 80's Bollywood Cheese with a side of all you can drink bhang... video

Himmatwala (1983) - Sridevipalooza continues...

Our friend Amaluu over at Bollystalgia is doing a tribute to the lovely & talented Sridevi this week. Being a huge Sridevi fan myself I had to join in the fun with a review. First though, a confession - I really did not like Sridevi when I first saw her in 'Himmatwala'. I consider her one of my favorite actresses now but back then... eh. She kind of annoyed me and maybe I just didn't find the characters she played all that endearing. But there was something about her that did intrigue me and over the years I became a huge fan. So why didn't I pick one of the movies that turned me into that Sridevi fan like 'Khuda Gawah' (in which she spoke flawless Urdu and held her own against the big AB) or 'Mr. India' (one of my wife's favorite movies of all time) or even 'Judaii' (her final film in Bollywood in which she brought depth and warmth to basically a one-dimensional character)? Because we here at Doc Bollywood are infatuated with beginnings and Kishore Kumar - both of which are reasons why this movie was chosen for Sridevipalooza week.



Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Sridevi joins a long list of South Indian actresses who made it big in Bollywood and were known for their beauty as well as their graceful dancing abilities. Vyjayanthimala, Hema Malini, Jaya Pradha, Aishwarya Rai as well as Sridevi are just a few of the actresses from 'down under' that made it big in Bollywood. The transition was sometimes difficult as they not only had to introduce themselves to an audience that had (for the most part) never heard of them as well as master a language (Hindi) that was pretty foreign to them. In 'Himmatwala', Sridevi's entire dialogue was actually dubbed after the movie was completed as distributors were not satisfied with her pronunciation and balked at releasing the film. But as stated above, she continued to work hard at her acting as well as learning Hindi and did a pitch perfect job with the Urdu script of 'Khuda Gawah'. Her performance did not go unnoticed as she snagged a Best Actress nomination for her efforts.



As far as the movie itself goes, I saw it on the big screen in India when it first was released so the review is going to be quite short as I honestly don't remember much (if any) of the plot. I do remember reading in Filmfare Magazine that the movie (along with several other Jeetendra/Sridevi starrers of the era) were remakes of her successful Telugu movies. And that they were shot in record time with a specific masala formula in mind - broad physical comedy, gallons of melodrama, simple plots and the reason why they are still remembered by yours truly so fondly... fantastic songs. The songs were often paired with awesome dance numbers, any one of which could make it on my 'weekly dose of 80's Bollywood cheese' posts. And thus your song of the week is my favorite from the film, Naino Mein Sapna sung with great gusto by Kishore Kumar & Lataji. I dare you to sit still while listening to it, just dare you. The video is below and begins with Jeetendra giving our young Sridevi a serious tongue lashing about, well, I am not exactly sure. But it did cause her to magically fall in love with him and that of course led to the dream sequence of 1000 pots of water that are used as sound effects at the beginning of the song all set along the beach. I dare you to make sense of that scene as well ;)

But all that glitters is not necessarily new either...

Last month I wrote about the original version of Mile Sur Mera released over twenty years ago and still fondly remembered today. At Doc Bollywood we are not the biggest fans of remakes - the originals of 'Don', 'Sholay', 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Devdas' (just to name a few) are far superior to the modern day re-imaginings. But we do understand the need for remakes because no matter how good the original was - there is an entirely new generation of fans that won't ever see it because it's considered old news. The remake is a way to get a classic seen again and often done as a tribute to the greatness of the original. In fact, Dilip Kumar's version of 'Devdas' (which is considered the definitive one) is itself a remake of the 1927 & 1936 versions, the latter starring K.L. Saigal. I guess it just depends which version you see first because that's the version that will forever be the 'original' one for you.



Thus it was with great fanfare that an updated version of Mile Sur Mera was released as Phir Mile Sur Mera earlier this year by none other than the Big B himself. Since he was the only person who starred in both versions it was a no brainer to have him launch the new one. Despite having a lot more star power than the original it was met with alot of criticism, most surprisingly from the very people it was targeted to - those under 25 who had not grown up with the original. It was said to be too 'Bollywoodized' due to the plethora of stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Juhi Chawla, Mammootty and various other actors from across India. The music was updated and contributors to it included AR Rahman, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Yesudas, Louis Banks, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Anoushka Shankar and Zakir Hussain.



So was it as bad as advertised? I personally liked the original but to my surprise enjoyed the remake as well. I especially liked the inclusion of the second generation of performers that were brought together with the maestros: Shiv Kumar Sharma performs along with his son, Amjad Ali Khan appears with both of his sons as well. It was also nice to see Rashid Khan perform as part of the ensemble, whom I think is one of the finest exponents of Indian classical vocal music currently. Also, the man who has done the most to make the tabla globally known, Zakir Hussain appears with his two tremendously talented brothers Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi displaying the matchless percussion energy of their sibling. All in all not a bad job and certainly not the worst way to update the timeless message of the original. Check out the updated video below...

All that glitters is not necessarily Bollywood

It may be hard to believe in today's internet ready age complete with literally 1000's of television channels available on demand. But there once was a time in India that there was exactly ONE television channel for the public's viewing pleasure. That channel was Doordarshan and it was started in 1959 and remained India's only television channel until privatization hit the industry in 1991. To celebrate Independence Day in 1988, a decision was made to create a song (with an accompanying video) to instill a sense of pride and promote unity amongst Indians, highlighting the different linguistic communities and societies that live in India - India's unity in diversity, so to speak. It was first shown on August 15, 1988 and quickly captivated India and has maintained national anthem status ever since. The song's lyric contain one phrase, repeated in fourteen Indian languages: "Milē sur mērā tumhārā, tō sur banē hamārā", meaning "When my musical note and your musical note merge, it becomes our musical note".



The task of putting this project together fell to an advertising executive of all people, Suresh Mullick. He succeeded in getting a mix of many different things — Hindustani music, Carnatic classical pieces, mixing traditional and modern melodies together, all done in fourteen languages into one magnus piece that was harmonious to both the ear and the eye. He consulted a wide range of the day's top musicians and artists of the day for the lyrics and they all brushed him off and stated it was not possible. At the end of the day he turned to a young accountant (Piyush Pandey) within Doordarshan itself who penned the lyrics on his own. To get the right fusion of music, Mullick enlisted the help of two very diverse Indian musicians: Louis Banks (a jazz player) and the late P Vaidyanathan, a classically trained musician. Working together, they created the score which was sung by three legends — Bhimsen Joshi, Balmurli Krishna and Lata Mangeshkar.



The song was complicated enough but the shoot was even more of a logistical dilemma. It brought together thirty influential Indians (actors, writers, musicians) in over twenty locations and had to make it look seamless with the natural beauty of India providing the background scenery. I simply love the song - it's timeless and flows from one musical style to another effortlessly. It's also fun to play 'spot the Bollywood celebrity' during various shots (especially towards the end). It is still played on television and radio on a regular basis and showcases the vastness of India's beauty with a soundtrack that fits it perfectly.

Namak Halal (1982)

There are just so many awesome things going for 'Namak Halal' that it boggles the mind, much like the movie will do to the senses. It is one of the true classics in the genre of masala (or Bollyweed) movies and one of my favorite movies of all time. What makes this movie so great is that it is not just as good as the sum of it's parts - it's better. As usual the plot is secondary to the awesomeness of this movie (and most masala movies in general as far as I am concerned) and it's a great watch for any lover of Bollywood so buy it or rent it without delay.



So what exactly does this movie have that makes it so awesome? Well first and foremost it's a Shashitabh starrer and any movie with my two favorite actors is worth it's weight in gold (especially smuggler's gold but that's a discussion for another day). They play off each other amazingly well whether it be a serious movie (Deewaar) or a comedy such as this one. Again, on their own they have given the world of Bollywood some amazing movies but together their contribution just goes to another level.



The movie boasts one of the true legends of India's art house scene in one of her few mainstream movies. Smita Patil was only 29 when she passed away from complications due to childbirth but left behind a legacy of classic films and memorable performances. Many actresses of today's generation including Nandita Das and Tabu credit her as a major influence for their careers. She elevated any movie she was in and this was one of the few masala movies she starred in.



The movie also stars one of my two favorite Bollywood actresses of all time (the other being Madhubala) - Parveen Babi. Parveen is a fellow Guju and was discovered while she was watching a shooting of a film in the city of my birth, Ahmedabad. She was never known as a particularly great actress and had little formal training in it. But she was just a joy to watch on screen (for me at least) and not just for her beautiful looks but because she was such a natural in whatever role she took on. She was known in the industry for her kindness and generosity which makes the mental illness that afflicted her in her later years even more tragic.



The above scene was one of the movie's many comedic gems. Amitabh's character (Arjun Singh) is a simple boy from the country and wants desperately to impress a potential employer with his knowledge of English. People were quoting this scene for months after the movie came out and I think it still holds up rather well.



The above song was one of the biggest hits of the movie and also was the Filmfare Award winner for best song for 1982 (Amitabh was nominated for his performance but didn't win). It was one of Bappi Lahiri's most complex and memorable compositions as he took a bhajan (Indian devotional song) and turned it into a hit pop song. In fact, the middle of the song actually showcases his singing as the fast tempo of the Hindi version of 'Do Re Mi aka Sa Re Ga' was too intricate for Kishore to handle. Nonetheless, it was great visually and musically as no one had really attempted to do this in Bollywood until this song came along.



But the song for the day is definitely the stand out tune in the movie, Aaj Rapat Jaye by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhonsle. Not only is it an amazing duet on it's own merits but it is one of the best 'rain' songs ever to be depicted on the silver screen. Sensual without being dirty and cute without being cliche. Smita Patil and Amitji both bring it for this song and it remains a true classic to this day.

Your weekly dose of 80's Bollywood Cheese

There is something simply magical about Parveen Babi and I just can't put my finger on it. Sure she was breathtakingly beautiful but there was much more that made her such a presence on the screen. Maybe it was the way she looked so doe eyed innocent yet had that fire in her that made you think twice about messing with her. Today's clip showcases all that made Parveen my favorite actress of all time with Jawaane Jaaneman sung by Asha Bhonsle. No one (not even Asha's more famous sister Lata) could do sultry quite like she did and when you add in Bappi Lahiri's rocking background score - well then you know why this song became an instant classic.



From the moment Shashi picks up the phone and hears those words made famous even to this day 'I want to kill you, I WILL kill you' it brings a bit of uneasiness even before the first horn blows. Then when the music kicks in with the echo of Asha's voice after every few words the song pulls you in for the long haul. Favorite moments include...
~Parveen's amazing hairdo & fantastic dance moves.
~Her gold costume complete with gold sarong.
~Amitabh hamming it up a bit in the middle with some moves of his own.
~Shashi going from alarmed to enchanted while watching her as only he can.
~The crazy sets with the spinning thorns of death everywhere.
~Colorful lights aplenty with virtual Parveens dancing with the real Parveen.
~As one astute fan on youtube pointed out, the song just goes to another level from the 3:30 to 4:05 mark.

And finally, why is it that every time I see a song from this era of Bollywood do I think - "I must make it my life mission to find this club and party there till the sun comes up with my near and dear ones'. Watch the video and you will see exactly why. Next week, a review of the movie itself and yes folks, it is indeed a return to the land of Bollyweed ;)

P.S. Nafisa - Happy Birthday and on your next one you must wear Parveen's outfit to your party and turn the surprise around on your guests!

My Name is Khan (2010)

Shah Rukh Khan's first film to be partly financed and distributed by a major Hollywood studio (Fox Searchlight) borrows a bit from a few Hollywood movies and weaves in a couple American tragedies to craft an entertaining if somewhat inconsistent movie in 'My Name is Khan'. Equal parts 'Forrest Gump', 'Rainman' and Bollywood - if the director (Karan Johar) had just tried to do a little less he would have had a much better movie to showcase SRK's foray back into acting. I say back because I have gotten a bit tired of his portrayal of Rahul (from DDLJ, KKHH, Yes Boss and countless others). And his (over)acting was pushing him dangerously close to the career path of Rajesh Khanna whose adherence to the same sad sack roles doomed his career. SRK did an admirable job in his portrayal of Rizwan Khan, an immigrant from India afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome. My friend Regina pointed out that in the trailer it looked like SRK was portraying a blind man and in some ways individuals afflicted with Asperger's are indeed 'blind' to their surroundings and the individuals around them. I have seen many patients with the affliction in my practice and SRK nailed the nuances of the disorder without going overboard or overacting in the role. For a politically incorrect (complete with inappropriate language) yet accurate explanation of what I mean go here for a scene from the movie 'Tropic Thunder' ;)



The movie also marks the reteaming of SRK & Kajol - arguably the most successful pairing of actors from modern day Bollywood. The story revolves around Rizwan's move from India to the United States and how he met and subsequently fell in love with Mandira (Kajol). The love story angle is standard fare for an Indian movie but with a twist this time around as Rizwan is not your standard golden boy movie hero and Mandira is a Hindu with a teenage boy. Their lives (and those around them) are forever changed and scarred by the events of 9/11 and the movie takes a real look at how many Indians & Pakistanis were treated in the days/weeks/months after and continue to deal with the ramifications of to this day. The movie also looks into how ordinary people (both Indians & Americans) can resort to violence to deal with problems beyond their worst nightmares. It's all a little complicated and to add to the already tragedy laden plot, the story has Rizwan stop along in Georgia to deal with a Katrina like hurricane and help rescue a town that the federal government neglected. I lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit and obviously the scope of the tragedy was far beyond what the movie showed and the inclusion of the hurricane into the plot was a bit unnecessary. However borrowing a page from 'Forrest Gump' it did serve to put our very Indian hero smack in the middle of his second very American tragedy.



It all boils down to a very watchable and entertaining movie that fans of SRK and Kajol will most likely enjoy. The messages are somewhat heavy handed and like most Bollywood movies the film goes on for about 30 minutes too long. But like I said in my post prior to watching the movie, I was most interested in seeing if Shah Rukh Khan was going to step out of his comfort zone and actually act instead of going through the motions and he did not disappoint. Kajol does her usual Kajol thing and maybe it's her turn to step outside of her comfort zone and do a role ala Nandita Das or Tabu that stretches her abilities as an actor but that's a post for a different day. My main quibble with Kajol though? At the risk of sounding shallow I will say that seeing her on the big screen for the first time in years had me gasp a bit because of well... the sheer bushiness of her eyebrows. I know one is supposed to look past all that and she has gone on record to say that she refuses to wax or thread them to preserve a more 'natural look'. Well if you are going to do that then why shave your legs or wear make up? Why not just go natural for your whole look instead of just parts? Just my two cents but judging from what many people have said I am certainly not in the minority in my views on 'Eyebrowgate'.



The title song of the movie Tere Naina (sung by Shafqat Amanan Ali) is one of my favorite songs of the year and today's addition to the jukebox. Ali is a classically trained artist and founded the highly successful Pakistani band Fuzon. He left the band after being featured more and more in Bollywood movie productions and also sung the title song (Yeh Honsla) to one of my favorite Bollywood movies, 'Dor'. While the movie grossed the highest opening weekend and opening day overseas for a Bollywood film, only time will tell if the film is as fondly remembered as SRK's other hits. It's definitely worth a watch and very much more than just a 'time pass'.

SRK previews 'My Name is Khan' - no more Rahul?

I am going to see 'My Name is Khan' tonight on the big screen and have heard it's already breaking box office records in India despite the controversy associated with it's release. The build up to it's release has been huge considering that it stars Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and is directed by hit maker Karan Johar. SRK plays a man afflicted with autism and as a psychiatrist I have a very personal interest in seeing how he and the filmmakers pull this off in a Bollywood movie. I don't expect it to be the time honored song and dance movie that we are used to but for me that's a good thing.



Not that I mind the tried and true 'classic' Bollywood movie but I am not sure the subject matter (autism and the treatment of Muslims in post 9/11 America) would necessarily work with it. Plus, I would love to see SRK challenge himself and NOT play the character of Rahul for once - which he has seemed to have done in every film since DDLJ. Now I am not a SRK hater, in fact I go out of my way to see every one of his movies because he is an immensely entertaining actor and his movies are a joy to watch. Due to his status in Bollywood royalty his films have great production values and often turn out well.

But success has a dangerous way of making one complacent and SRK too often falls back on the tried and true Rahul in what seems like every role he takes on. Where is the actor who started his career with the little seen miniseries 'Fauji'? Or the one who played a psychopath to perfection in 'Darr'? I'll even take his art house experiments with 'Paheli' and 'Hey Ram' even though they weren't necessarily commercial successes. Rajesh Khanna's star once shone brighter than SRK's or even the legendary Amitabh Bachchan's but his insistence on playing the same sad sack character as well as his limited range as an actor led to his eventual downfall.



As evidenced by the clip above Karan Johar thinks he has something special with this movie and here's to hoping that SRK decides to go along with him and do something different with himself. Maybe King Khan thinks that if he strays too far from his formula for success his fans won't come along for the ride. But as another Khan (Aamir) has shown us - if an actor gives the audience a performance they can believe in, they will follow him and the box office grosses will follow.