An Ode To Kumar Sanu

There is something inherently simple and sweet, yet indescribably poignant, about the early melodies of Kumar Sanu, the ones that turned him into an overnight phenomenon 29 years ago, and by a few light years at least, the most influential (playback) singer of India after Kishore Kumar. It is interesting to note that, like Rajesh Khanna and SRK, it is the first 5-6 years of his career in the 90s (he had made his debut with Yeh Desh in 1984, but we can disregard the years leading up to Aashiqui in 1990) that really made Sanu who he was, who he is, and who he shall remain forever: the voice that came the closest to Kishore Kumar's throne, beating all other legends and gods in the race to musical immortality through sheer dominance on public memory.

[Image courtesy: Google Images]

Personal favourite: the achingly heart-touching "Bas ek sanam chaahiye Aashiqui ke liye" (Aashiqui, 1990), with its will-o'-the-wisp-like hint of anticipated romance. There is hardly another song in all of the 90s that encapsulates the unbearable lightness of being that the free-est, happiest of virginal young souls experience in the carefree moments when they are on the verge of starting their journey on the perilous path of Love as-yet-unexperienced, without a worry on their brows. Masterly, delectable, piquant.

There have been so many absolutely marvelous Durga Puja songs/albums (i.e. released during the festive season) over the years, but I still keep associating Puja music primarily with Kumar Sanu and Aashiqui (the original one, of course, not the snivel-fest from a few years ago).

[Image courtesy: Google Images]

Happy 62nd, Sanu da. You made the 1990s almost singlehandedly super-memorable.

Legend. King. God.

Every actor worth his salt plays a particular type of character really well; so well, in fact, that it becomes nigh on impossible to think of anyone else in such roles. His performances in these roles become the index on which others are judged...and more often than not, failed.

Examples are aplenty. Rajesh Khanna made the intense, emotionally-torn-between-love-and-duty character entirely his own (and make no mistake, it still remains his, despite the best efforts of Mannatian pretenders); Amitabh Bachchan shall remain the last word when it comes to portraying the volcanic, superhot rebel with a greater social justice in mind till kingdom come; and hardly anyone can beat Mannatians when it comes to snatching other people's girlfriends and fiancees (Rolls Royces and Tata Nanos don't mix too well, but you get the drift...and hopefully the sarcasm too).

But when it comes to portraying the elder brother who holds together the mainmast of a middle-class family sailing through troubled waters - and here, an interview of Soumitra Chatterjee comes to mind - even god bows before Uttam Kumar. As Chatterjee had astutely observed, the character came so naturally to UK because he *was* that man in real life.

[Image courtesy: Google Images]

Even in an otherwise none-too-sparkling film like 'Dui Prithibi' (The Two Worlds, 1980), UK is the living, breathing embodiment of the eldest son/elder brother who stands tall amid the ruined moralities of his rapidly-disintegrating-in-values family that has tasted the sweet taste of money after several years of hardships and won't let go. The pregnant pauses, the sad headshakes, the silent, shadowed eyes...really, there's hardly anything more worthwhile than watching The Greatest Master of All going about wielding his craft even on an ordinary day in the field.

Street Fighter

Q1. Do you think Mamata Banerjee's latest dharna act is suicidal?
Q2. Who do you think poses the biggest threat to #Modi in the upcoming #LS2019 elections?

If you think that the answer to the first question is "Yes" and the answer to the second question is "raga", well, then you don't know Mamata Banerjee very well.

In his 1991 blockbuster HUM, Amitabh Bachchan tells Rajinikanth: "You have learned about crime from the books of law. I have learned about crime, and how to fight it, from having lived my entire life among criminals." In many ways, this applies to Mamata. She is a street fighter of the highest order, one who, despite appearances to the contrary, uses her brain as much as she uses brawn. By declaring open war against Modi and the "Modi-led" CBI, she has effectively positioned herself as the mahagathbandhan's main PM candidate. If her "crusade against Modi" affects the election results in the MGB's favour, then Mamata, and not raga, Kejriwal, Akhilesh, Mayawati, or anyone else, will lay the biggest claim to the PM's seat. Every single person knows that raga thinks through his rectum; he is a laughing stock of the biggest order and his "EVM EVM Rafale Rafale" cries have no substance. Hell, the moment he opened his mouth in the Parliament about having "Rafale tapes", Jaitley shut him up. Not one single member of the opposition, including raga, has so far been brave enough to declare open war against Modi, thanks to his immaculate statesman image. Mamata is the only one to have done so. It's a brilliant tactical move, which is actually going to hurt raga more than Modi. Even if the MGB loses this time, as they are sure to, post-election it will reunite not under raga, but under Mamata. Once the polls are over, irrespective of the results, she is going to emerge as the opposition's foremost leader.

Also remember one other thing. Even today, despite everything, Mamata enjoys an incredibly enormous fan base in WB, and not just among rural or muslim voters, but among the urban educated Hindu voters too. She defeated the seemingly invincible CPM on their own turf and on their terms barely 8 years ago, and the people of the state have still not forgotten that. It wasn't an overnight thing: she planned it carefully over a period of 12 years, beginning in 1999. So strong was her image even back then that that mighty thug, Jyoti Basu, literally ran away from the CM's post in 2000, leaving an inexperienced and vulnerable Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to face the Mamata juggernaut in the 2001 elections. Mamata would most likely have made CM in 2001 itself, but that sudden decision to quit the ABV ministry didn't go down well with the state's voters. However, it gave her one full decade to plan CPM's demise better.

Another thing is that Mamata enjoys immense support among members of the opposition, which is why soga has always seen her and few others - nobody else, in fact - as the biggest threat to raga's chances of making PM. This support extends to the interiors of the CONg camp as well; remember her statement: "Even though I have left the Congress party, I can lay down my life for Rajivji even today"?

A third factor of Mamata's wile is that she hardly ever goes to Delhi, but spends almost all her time in Bengal. This puts her in greater touch with her voters than any other leader of the opposition. Even w/o the utter lawlessness that her cadres are going to unleash upon voters in May, Mamata is likely to remain least unaffected (among all the major opposition leaders) by the Modi wave.

So, no, I for one definitely do not think Mamata's anarchist acts are random, idiotic and suicidal. On the contrary, they are much better planned, targeted and orchestrated than anyone else in that camp can execute. I see her as Modi's biggest rival and threat in the entire country today, someone who knows when to strike, where to strike, and how to strike.

And that, for me, is a matter of grave concern.

P.S.: I don't think priyanka gandhi-vadra is going to have any effect on voters at all. In fact, I'm willing to bet that this time, Amethi will go to Smriti Irani.

Legend. Goddess. Superstar.

Note: This post is from the perspective of a true-blue fanboy. Do not come looking for any kind of objectivity in this one.

[Image courtesy: Google Images]

260+ films in a career spanning 51 years. An awards list longer than her own cascading-waterfall, raven-black locks. Regular—and effortless—eclipsing of her super-illustrious male co-stars like Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Mithun Chakraborty, Rajesh Khanna, NTR and Amitabh Bachchan. Being recognized by colleagues, critics and audiences alike as “the only female superstar of Indian Cinema” and “the best Indian actress of all time”.

All this together serves to describe but a little part of the phenomenon, the one-woman army that Sridevi was. For she was much, much greater than the sum of her parts.

The oval-faced, olive-eyed beauty who drove men to heights of such romantic frenzy that they would forget their marital status and pursue her (she ultimately married two of them over the span of a decade in her life, with the first ending disastrously). Actress par excellence, who incited such insecurity among her co-stars—heroes and heroines alike—that they would actually avoid being cast in a movie with her, for she left nothing for others to do once the camera was switched on. Refusing to accept inconsequential, glamour-only roles, even if they came with blank cheques and/or were opposite the mighty Bachchan. And driving millions of her fans, nay, devotees, to throes of ecstasy with her monolith-melting performances over and over again, with her unique blend of talent of a god-level prodigy, innocence of a child, face of an angel, and body of a supreme seductress.

Au revoir, goddess. There shall be, there is, not one other like you. Not one other shall command our unswerving, unwavering devotion like you did. And do.

And shall keep doing. Forever and ever.

[Image courtesy: Google Images]

Oh Deepika, Why Couldn't You Talk About Your Acting?

I recently came across a bunch of old (late-2011/early-2012) magazines on Hindi Cinema and was leafing through them when I chanced upon an interview of Deepika Padukone that coincided with the release of Desi Boyz, her moderately well-received late-2011 release. The interviewer's last question to her was: "Who do you think has a better body than you in bollywood?" To which she replied - and the interviewer comments praisingly on the confidence in her voice as she answers this question - "None."

[Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepika_Padukone]

I wish the interviewer had asked her, and others of her ilk, questions on her acting prowess instead of her physical charms alone. I point this out for the simple reason that I do not recall ANY questions in that direction, i.e. Acting, anywhere in the interview, whatever little I remember of it.

[Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepika_Padukone]

And I wish that the actress herself had made an effort to veer the interview towards a discussion of her acting chops. Needless to say that like the interviewer, she made no such efforts either.

[Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepika_Padukone]

A telling comment of what sells in present-day bollywood. Sad.

Why, oh why couldn't you have focused on and talked about your acting, Deepika?

How raga Proved His Family's Non-Hindu Lineage

Over the last 5-6 years, the lineage of the nehru-gandhi family has been a matter of hot debate, esp. on social media. It has been debated ad nauseam how giyasuddin gazi became gangadhar nehru, how indira gandhi became maimuna begum prior to her marriage to phiroze jehangir khan, he of the muslim father-Parsi mother lineage (his mother's surname was ghandy), and how the union was blessed by no less than India's answer to Lord Voldemort, who turned fjk into feroze gandhi overnight, how indira (in)famously claimed to be the descendant of babur at the latter's grave (as mentioned by her Foreign Minister Natwar Singh on numerous occasions later), how nehru himself once claimed "By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim, and I am a Hindu only by accident of birth", and so on. Of course, there have been numerous counter-arguments to this as well.

But be that as it may, this latest act by rahul gandhi, it can be said with some confidence, rather firmly puts the stamp of endorsement on the tainted family's non-Hindu lineage.

The Somnath Temple has two guestbooks, one for Hindu devotees arriving at the temple and the other for non-Hindu visitors. By signing the latter guestbook, the scion of India's answer to the Cosa Nostra has effectively admitted that even without his Roman Catholic mother's religious roots, his family is not, and has never been, a Hindu family. Unsurprisingly, it also provides a strong pointer towards the reasons of the family's longstanding and continued hatred for the HIndus of India.

https://in.news.yahoo.com/rahul-gandhi-name-shows-somnath-114842772.html 

Triple Talaaq, Secret Superstar, And Some Random Thoughts on Women's Emancipation

Is the urban Muslim society in India heading for a change in sync with times vis-à-vis the role of its women in society and the arts?

The answer to that, hopefully, is 'Yes'.

The prime basis of this assumption is, of course, the overwhelming support Muslim women all over India have given to the central government's recent move to abolish the triple talaaq system, with a special five-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India endorsing the move and recommending that the government ban the unconstitutional practice by enacting a law. And in the midst of this sensational move to grant Muslim women their much-deserved emancipation from an age-old social evil comes another indication that India's urban Muslims may be opening up to the march of time: Secret Superstar, the movie.

With actor-filmmaker Aamir Khan throwing his weight behind the film as its producer and star, debutant director Advait Chandan's Secret Superstar is the story of brave and ambitious Insiya, a young Muslim girl - played by 17-year-old Zaira Wasim of Dangal fame - who aspires for musical stardom.

The urban Muslim society has often had to field accusations of not moving with the times, especially in providing opportunities to its women, though the last four decades or so have seen a marked improvement. The enforced cloistering of Muslim women in occupation and the arts is hopefully entering its final lap, and Secret Superstar, a league different from the orthodox Muslim socials popular in the late-60s and early-70s - Mere Mehboob and Mehboob Ki Mehndi come to mind - may serve as a clarion call heralding its end.