Monday, March 31, 2008

The Tale

I watched Katha (anyone?) on the VCD last night. I'd watched it when I was a kid. A Sai Paranjape movie is always a heart-warming experience. Her characters are so true-to -life that you relate to them quite easily. You identify with the joys and sorrows, and trials and tribulations of the characters' everyday lives. Katha is no different. For the uninitiated, Katha is a simple story of a do-gooder, played by Shah and how his life changes when his smooth-talking friend, played by Shaikh, enters his life and almost snatches his neighbor, Naval—he has a crush on her. The story is very simple. What sets this movie apart is the background and setting. Viewers of today will find it difficult to visualize a chawl—for them, I must add that chawls are unique to Mumbai. The inter-personal (almost symbiotic) relationships among the residents of the chawl is well-etched out in the movie. Even small details such as a household which has the distinction being the only one with a refrigerator, and folding furniture have been well thought out. There is a scene where buckets are lined at the crack of dawn to fill water—so very true. Coming to the performances, the trio of Shah, Shaikh, and Naval are outstanding in their roles. Everybody will vouch for Shaikh—but it is Shah who steals the show with his body language and understated emotions. Watch the movie if you want to know a day in the life of a typical middle-class Mumbaikar in the sixties and the seventies—the chawls began to disppear in the eighties.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Raghuvaran

Raghuvaran passes away. I heard this news with utter disbelief. My memories went back to a Sunday afternoon some 20 years back when we watched the weepy Anjali. The whole world spoke about the precocious kid and her histrionics before the camera, what was not spoken was the understated potrayal of the patient father by Raghuvaran. That was Raghuvaran—everything was understated considering the man's potential as an actor. I watched Anjali on DVD recently and watched it intimately—this time for Raghuvaran. (I wish I had known that I was preparing myself for an obituary!) I was reading that he did only 80 movies in his lifetime—I calculated around 400 minutes of cinematic magic (he just needed a 5-minute role to weave his magic on the audience).

P.S. As I am writing this, the baritone of Raghuvaran is ringing in my ears. He tells Tabu when she approaches him for a job,"Y2Kellam mudinja pochcha."

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Indian hockey, RIP!

I follow Indian hockey—I have done that for years. My friends will hate me for saying this—they deserted the game when Indian fortunes began to go on a perennial southward dip! I somehow stuck to the sport like a all-weather friend.My reason is simple—they bring in flair and when they are winning, they look pretty on the field. Did someone mention West Indian cricket? The Indian hockey team and the West Indian cricket team have had similar paths of glory and then slid into paths of self-destruction. The West Indian cricket team reached their nadir some years back and don't look like coming out. If that is any indication, God help Indian hockey!