Sharaabi (1984)

A perk of running this little blog of mine, this labor of love and respect, is that I can go and on and on about the movies I hate, but more importantly, the movies I love.

When someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I answer in lists, not singular movie titles because I can’t pick just one. Amitabh Bachchan’s beautiful Sharaabi from 1984, directed by Prakash Mehra and co-starring Om Prakash as Munshiji and Jayapradha as Meena, this movie is timeless, and a masterpiece that I feel doesn’t get enough attention. The movie is funny, dramatic, it teaches a lesson, and it shows a lot of love. It is the Hindi movie experience that everyone craves. It puts you on a roller coaster ride that fills you with joy, dread, hatred, passion and undeniable hope. Sharaabi makes you think, it makes you feel something deep inside yourself, and you find yourself really wondering how crucial money is to happiness…or how unimportant it is, rather.

The story is about Vicky, ek sharaabi (a drunkard), who is surrounded by endless wealth, but turns to the bottle day and night because he craves his father’s affection. But his father is so consumed by his wealth that he neglects his only son, and doesn’t see the tears that his fake laughter hides. Vicky has a heart of gold, in several instances he is seen spending his wealth, sometimes his father’s wealth, on the poor. One of my favorite scenes is when Vicky goes to the corporate office for a meeting and all the workers have stayed back after their shift, off the clock, simply to say hello to Vicky, because they missed him. Two characters emerge, the unforgettable Mr. Natthulal and his mustache who asks money to marry off his five daughters. And Mr. Lobbo, whose problem is that he can’t afford his sick mother’s expensive operation. Vicky freely gives away his money to those in need, and when thugs try to take advantage of his golden heart, his retaliatory style is unforgettable.

As I said, the movie has some moments that are undeniably hilarious. A running theme in the movie is Natthulalji’s glorious mustache, “If you want to have a moustache, keep it like Mr. Natthulal, or else don't!” And for Vicky’s birthday, when all the worker’s show up for Chotta Malik’s (Junior Boss) birthday, they’ve all grown mustaches similar to Natthulal’s to make their favorite boss happy. Another scene that always makes me laugh is, after getting robbed by thugs, looking for his Meena, Vicky comes back for an epic fight that he narrates with a dry style that never fails.

The songs in this movie are just as amazing as the script. The first is “Jahan chaar yaar”, with Vicky singing in the streets with some random dudes. The song starts about a cat and mouse chasing each other, and moves on to a “drunkard husband, fighter wife” with Smeeta Patil making a guest appearance as the wife in the song. Then comes the title song, when Amitabh Bachchan’s character falls in love with the aspiring singer, Meena played by my favorite, Jayapradha. The sequence in the song where Vicky is beating the ghungru in his hand and it begins to bleed is actually Mr. Bachchan’s real blood from having the ghungru’s beating against his hand. The two versions of “de de pyar de” never get old, and I’ve been known to run around the house screaming “de de pyar de”…give me my love!

The drama, as with any Amitabh Bachchan movie, will no doubt leave you in tears. The anti-climax scene with Om Prakash was so powerful, that the director Prakash Mehra decided not to re-dub it. Which is why, if you watch this beautiful masterpiece of a movie, you’ll notice the volume doesn’t sound quite right when the scene rolls by. There’s also a scene where Vicky, driven to the point of madness when his father forbids his marriage to Meena, and begins to break the things in his room that will make you hold your breath. Beautiful, wonderful Sharaabi.

Mr. Bachchan in this movie is recovering from his illness, caused by the infamous Coolie accident and his hand is still recovering from the Diwali accident that left his hand aching and burnt. He attributes Vicky’s style of keeping his left hand in his pocket to attempting to cover up the burnt fingers. But it somehow became a part of the character, and the drunkard roll in his gait and stance. As a fan that pays close attention to the details, who knows how much danger Mr. Bachchan’s life was in health wise, I’m glad to say that in Sharaabi, he looks healthy. He looks like his own self, and is at one of his best.

The movie is said to be the Hindi version of Dudley Moore’s Arthur, but I doubt Arthur can compare to Vicky in intensity, in heart, and soul of a character whose only need in the world is love.

Take my advice. Watch this movie. Right now.

Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi (1988)

Since the last movie I wrote about was of one that I didn’t particularly like, despite everyone’s positive reviews of it, I’m going to talk about Gangaa Jamunaa Saraswathi, where everyone else hated it but I loved it. The movie is from 1988, directed by the great Manmohan Desi, starring Amitabh Bachchan as Ganga, the incomparable Jayapradha as Saraswathi, and Meenakshi Sheshadri as Jamunaa.
The title of the movie does a wonderful job of basically giving away the plot, and the user review on IMDb explains it best, “Crocodiles, An Amnesiac Gypsy, A Virgin Prostitute, A Milk-Drinking Snake, A Truck Driver That 'Dances' Like Michael Jackson and much more of this...What's not to enjoy”. The three main characters are named after the three mystical rivers that merge together at a point known as Sangam, outside Amitabh Bachchan’s home city of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. And as it is pointed out in the movie, though the three rivers meet, one river must leave the others behind at one point. The movie centers around this love triangle that includes treachery, delivered by the deliciously evil Amrish Puri, alligator pits and, I believe, Amitabh Bachchan at one his best.A lot of people have criticized this movie, for different reasons. Sometimes it’s because the plot is so predictable, and the actors are put into the same kinds of roles. Mr. Puri in the same villain role, Nirupa Roy the same old abused mother, Amitabh the same angry young man. I do have to agree that the plot is mostly predictable, but the characters are colorful enough to keep you entertained and the absurdity of the plot, unlike Mard, is bearable because there are enough twists to keep your attention. The best, and most shocking scene to me, is when Ganga uses his own body heat to warm up Jamunaa after she falls into an ice lake. The scene is actually incredibly sensual and artfully accomplished.The movie might not be the greatest in Mr. Bachchan’s career, but I wouldn’t skip it if you begin to do what I’m doing….which is, watch every Bachchan movie.Give this movie a chance! It’s pretty mindless entertainment!   

Mard (1985)

I’ve realized that the first few posts have been nothing but praise for Amitabh Bachchan’s movies. I do believe he is an amazing actor, a performer and singer. He is talented, and the movies that I have logged so far as masterpieces of his that I have managed to write about. This may cause you to think that I am biased, so prove that I am not biased, today, we’ll discuss the first Bachchan movie I watched that made me exclaim “what the beep is going on!” and not in a good way, like when you’re praising a plot twist. No, the exclamations that accompanied my watching 1985’s Mard (Man) were mostly of utter terror at the horrible movie, directed by the great Manmohan Desai, starring Amitabh Bachchan as Raju Singh aka Mard, Amrita Singh, Neerupa Roy and the late, great Dara Singh as Mard’s father, Azad Singh.

This movie had a good plot that, I believe, that got destroyed in the late 80’s stereotypes.

But before I rip the movie into pieces, I do have to make a few points about the movie. From what I have read and heard, Mard is the first movie that Mr. Bachchan shot after his horrendous and life-threatening accident on the set of Coolie. And it was during the filming of this movie that he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease that effects muscle movement and control. When writing about the aftermath of the accident, Mr. Bachchan related on his blog about the scars that marred his forehead as a result of the medications while he had been hospitalized, and throughout the movie there’s an attempt to cover the scars on his forehead with his overly shaggy hair. He also said that, as a result of the accident, many thought his career to be over, but Manmohan Desi had stated that he would make a movie with Mr. B., even if he was confined to a wheel chair.

And that’s what they did!

The movie…is not all bad. I think the movie in hindsight, being watched and analyzed by an 22-year-old American in 2012, with a television capable of showing 3D movies downstairs, is not fun to watch.

The plot is good, the story is a class Desi lost-and-found tale, with a horse and dog that add mythical and comical elements to Mard’s character. Mard himself is, in fact, one of Amitabh’s more creative characters. And Dara Singh is in his element as the righteous Raja Azad Singh.

But other then that….

Amrita Singh makes me want to strangle something with her every appearance on the screen. The villains in this movie only lack a mustache to twirl and flashing neon signs that state “EVIL DUDE” hanging over their heads. The use of tanks and whips in this movie reach a level of epic annoyance, as if the producers thought “we’re renting the tanks for the next few days, might as well put them to good use! Use them in every shot boys!”

I can pinpoint to you exactly the moment when I decided Mard was an awful movie…not that long after Amrita Singh’s character is introduced in the movie does she have Mard chained, and begins to whip him for the insults he had hurled at her earlier in the day after she’d run over an old woman with her car. But when she’s that Mard isn’t reacting, she rubs salt into his wounds.

And this whip and salt routine happens twice.

There’s a villain who draws blood from his slaves and sells it. There are masks that are used to confuse Azad Singh and Mard. There are bejeweled capes worn by villains. An evil white guy and an evil British government.

The social and political commentary in the movie is significant, and accurate. There’s a lot of voice given to the “dogs and Indians not allowed” sign that adorned a posh club that Mard crashes in his horse carriage.

I can even deal with a whistling and winking dog and a loyal horse, lending the movie a Disney kind of feel to it. Think Snow White, but violent…

And usually I can stand Neerupa Roy as one of Mr. Bachchan’s mothers but this time, she really annoys me. And I can usually make up excuses why the mother can’t recognize her son, with all the signs that are around her. But this time it got ridiculous.

The music…no.

The only scene that I love is the song in which Mard makes an appeal to the goddess to help him reach his mother. The tragedy in Mr. Bachchan’s eyes, the lost and lonely look that conveys almost make the rest of the movie worth enduring. 

And even Father Anthony (from Amar Akbar Anthony)  making a special appearance in one of the songs can't salvage this movie or me.

See? I’m unbiased. If I don’t like something…you’ll know! And I don’t go with the flow. I like movies that have hated, and hate movies that most have loved. Go figure. And watch Mard only as a lesson on how not to cast for a movie, and how to avoid stereotypical, Dr. Evil villains. It can also be a lesson about how crucial casting can be. 

Khuda Gawah (1993)

Since I’ve been listening to the music none stop, today, we’re going to talk about Khuda Gawah (God is Witness) from 1992, directed by Mukul Anand, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Sridevi in a dual role, and Danny Denzongpa as Khuda Baksh. 

There are so many striking things about this movie that has somehow gotten buried throughout the history of Hindi cinema. As mentioned in the post about Hum, I have a strange hesitation when it comes to Big B’s movies in the 1990’s. I was, as always, hesitant about watching this movie but once I got going…I couldn’t stop watching. And I couldn’t believe how much I loved the music, the plot and the way Mr. Bachchan portrays the Afghan lord Baadshah Khan.
In one of the first great monologues of the movie, he states: “Oh land of India, I greet you. My name is Padsha Khan. Love is my religion, loving is my faith. Love for which Farhad dug out mountains and tore the oceans. Love for which Majnu searched the lands. For that same love, the king of Kabul has come to the land of India for the same love. The task is difficult, the test is hard. But my passion is strong. But it is love that always wins. It has always happened, and will again happen today. God is witness.” The epic quality this movie has, the timeless love story that does compare with the old love stories like Laylee and Majnu, is striking and addictive. 

It’s a story about endurance and about loyalty. And above all, it’s about the different types of love we encounter throughout our existence. The love between friends, it’s about the love between a woman and her man, and the relationship between a father and daughter, and the love of a man for honor, for keeping his promises. One of my favorite dialogues in the movie is before Baadshah Khan leaves for India again, and his new wife is begging him to break this one single oath he made to the Hindustani police. And he answers that she might as well kill him, because what is loyalty and honor even if one oath is broken. 
The story is cut between two times, young Baadshah Khan and old Baadshah Khan, with Sridevi in a dual role as Benazir and Mehndi, their daughter. It’s a remarkable flow of events, a story that again shows the way God and destiny move through our lives. It’s also a tale that teaches what it means to be patient with God. If you are good, if you are righteous, then no matter how horrible your circumstances seem to be, God will show you the right way.
Because this story centers around Afghani characters, the speech and songs in the movie reflect this root. There’s more Urdu mixed in with the Hindi, and the music is Middle Eastern, it’s music that’s familiar to my ears being from Iran. And one of the first things that really sucked me into this movie and had me basically, and uncharacteristically, fan girling all over myself, was the way Amitabh Bachchan’s character says “Benazir”. The rhythm of his speech throughout this movie is to die for, there’s an familiar arrogance in the way he speaks, in the way he carries himself as Baadshah Khan is amazing.

It’s a “typical” Hindi movie, it is a predictable plot to a certain degree, although you can’t guess the ending. But there’s something so beautiful in this movie, a combination of the visuals of the movie, the epic dialogues and the music coming together in a medley of perfection that ended up being Khudah Guwah.
One of the interesting facts about this movie, according to IMDB, is that a large portion of the soundtrack was recorded at the Bachchan residence in Juhu. And this movie has one of the most amazing soundtracks I have ever heard. I can’t get enough of the songs, nor the dances, especially the handkerchief dance that is in the song “main aisi cheez nahin”.
Amazing movie! I highly recommend this!

Deewar (1975)

I’ll say it today, in public, on the internet where the records will be kept.

Deewar is better then Sholay.

I feel as if this is an age old argument among Hindi cinema fans, particular Mr. Bachchan’s followings. But this is the day of the blog that’s dedicated to Deewar, and I thought I’d share my feelings, and the oddly gripping internal struggle to decide whether I like Sholay or Deewar better. I have decided that I will set this in stone, that I believe the latter movie is better than the former. They are both masterpieces, to be sure. Both changed Hindi cinema dramatically.  

However, personally, Deewar is the movie that always makes me think. And I like movies that never fail to make me think, make me put things into perspective.

Deewar was released in 1975, directed by Yash Chopra, written by Javed Akhtar and stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor as brothers Vijay and Ravi, and Neerupa Roy as their mother. The story revolves around the two brothers, and the wall (deewar) that is built between them when Vijay, the eldest brother, becomes a high ranking Bombay mob boss, and Ravi becomes a police inspector. 

The movie is the way they move around the wall, the way their lives have drifted apart, and how there is a “right” and “wrong” that separates them. But what’s interesting about this movie is that there is no clarity between rights and wrong, there are a lot of shades of gray that reflect India in the 1970’s, perhaps even today’s India, with corruption running rampant throughout the country, broadening the gap between rich and poor. The movie is a wonderful social commentary on the times, and the lessons it teaches are endless.

The ideal lesson one must learn from this lesson is that no matter what, justice and what is right and lawful, will always prevail. Ravi’s character, the upstanding citizen, the police officer who goes after his own brother to stop his illegal activities, the pious, righteous life leading people like Ravi will always come out on top in the end. And the people like Vijay’s character, who step on as many toes as they need to, to obtain wealth, will always lose because they’re on the wrong side of the wall.

However, for me, because of my own history, my own background, I always find myself siding with Vijay’s character in this movie, and find myself scolding Neerupa Roy’s character for siding with her youngest son as well. In the beginning of the movie, we see a young Vijay, who gets harassed and has the words “my father is a theif” tattooed on his arm, works day and night alongside his mother to send his youngest brother to school. Vijay grows up, working as a dockhand while Ravi goes around town looking for a job. When he finally finds a job at default, because the guy it was promised to shows up late, Ravi gives his job away to the guy who shows up late due to a late bus. While Vijay struggles on the docks, and one day finally opportunity presents itself, and Vijay becomes a smuggler and moves his family from the slums to a plush bungalow where the family lacks nothing.

I came to this country as a child of 8 years old, with two older sisters who were 20 and 18. My oldest sister gave up school, gave up her own dreams and worked day and night (no exaggeration) to provide for the family, to help my dad build our family a home, a livelihood in this foreign country. My own situation isn’t and never was as drastic as the story of Ravi and Vijay, but I always feel that had I been in Ravi’s shoes, I would help my brother. I would do whatever was in my power, because I would remember that he was shining shoes on the streets to send me to school, to put food on the table.

For me, loyalty to family is more important then loyalty to law or society. And I think in that, I miss the point of the movie.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t love to watch it…over and over and over again.

Mr. Bachchan, the focus of this entire project, is at his finest in this movie. He delivers the gangster Vijay with such ease and grace yet his eyes manage to hold on to the look of a lost and lonely child who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. There are two dialogues in this movie that have become famous, but my favorite is the last in the movie, in the temple where he is begging his god for his mother’s life. Every time I see that seen, or hear that portion, I get chills. He proves his worth, his abilities as an actor in this movie to deliver the character, and make him stick.

Vijay is an iconic figure in Hindi cinema, from the badge number 786 to the blue shirt he wears.

Now though, my favorite thing to do with my favorite movies is to find fun stories or facts about them. And I lucked out because Mr. Bachchan recently wrote on his blog about shooting Deewar.

So here are a few little fun facts about Deewar:

1.      The blue shirt Vijay wears as a dock worker has become iconic in the way he knots it in the front. In an interview that I’ll post below, Mr. Bachchan recalls that the shirt had simply been too long on him and they had knotted the front to disguise this fact.

2.      The character of Vijay Varma is loosely based on Bombay mob boss and smuggler Haji Mastan.

3.      Amitabh Bachchan shot Sholay and Deewar simultaneously. As he recalled recently, he would shoot for Sholay in Bangalore during the day then fly back to Bombay to shoot for Deewar.

This movie is cinematic legend. I think everyone should watch it just to experience it.

Lawaaris (1981)

            Today, is dedicated to one of my favorite Amitabh Bachchan movies, directed by Prakash Mehra in 1981, Lawaaris (orphan). This is one of those movies that I can watch over and over again and still find it gripping, entertaining, and wonderful to watch.

            The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan as Heera (diamond), who stumbles through the world looking for his parents, and discovering his true identity. He gets a job working for the despicable Mahinderbabu, played by Ranjeet, and discovers what having a family means,  what loyalty means, and finds his own parents along the way. As with many of the “lost and found” movies that Prakash Mehra is renowned for, this story weaves social commentary throughout. Heera gives a wonderful speech about how the rich put trash bins in the street corners to keep the cities clean, and in the same way, they build orphanages and hospitals to hide their sins, their illegitimate children.

            The three elements that really make this movie a part of the “watch it a million times” club:

1.      The music.

2.      The blend of comedy with tear-jerking drama.

3.      The recurring theme.

           

The Music.      

            I have each and every one of the songs from this movies soundtrack on my iPod and listen, and sing them all shamelessly at every opportunity. The second song is sung by a beggar when Heera is still a baby, being carried away by a drunk after his mother’s death, and his father’s assumption that the baby was dead. The beggar is played by Vikas Anand, the song he sings by Lata Mangaskhar “Jiska koi nahin”. The lyrics that follow Heera through to childhood are a praise, a prayer, a plead to God. “jiska koi nahin, ooska to khoda hai yaroo”. One who has no one, has God as his friend. It is repeated by a mature Heera, one who understands his responsibilities and understands how God works through your life. The first song that is sung in the movie is by Alka Yagnik, performed by Rakhee Gulzar, Heera’s mother. Years later, Heera sings the songs at his father’s house. “Mere Angne Mein” has got to be one of Amitabh Bachchan’s most memorable, and sweetest songs. The three other songs in the movie are just as wonderful as well, especially the love song between Mohini (Zeenat Aman) and Heera. But what I love about the songs mentioned above is the recurring theme, the chills you get when you realize Heera is singing his mother’s song in front of his father (Amjad Khan).

 

The Laughter and Tears:

            The thing that immediately pops into my head whenever  I think of Lawaaris is a particular scene that involves Heera, a puppy, and a hot green pepper. “Hello puppy, stupid little puppy” is a simple line, but it is my favorite line. There’s also a wonderful action sequence that blends comedy with the rough and tumble aspect of Hindi cinema, where Heera discovers a gang that’s tasked to “silence” him permanently, and the gang members find themselves individually confronted by Heera in the woods.

            The other scene that always comes to mind is Dr. Goel coming to Heera’s aid after another gang is through beating him to a bloody pulp. I have a soft spot for Om Prakash, and his angry, distraught words here of “beat him, beat him for telling the truth, beat him for standing up for your rights” always create a lump in my throat. And Amitji goes from off-the-wall young man from the 70’s swagger with a arrogance about him to a lost young man who cries when he finds out his father isn’t his own, will grab anyone’s attention. And hold it.

The Recurring Theme

            Most of the recurring theme in this movie has to do with the songs, and how they weave through the story. Sometimes the music doesn’t fit well with the story line of the movie, other times, they meld together perfectly. The music in the movie succeeds in driving the story, and proving its point that no matter who you are, where you are, what you are doing, and how distraught you are, God is with you, He will protect you. Heera’s clothes in the movie also seem to become a character of their own. A light brown jump suit with a black cloth he calls his death shroud. His black death shroud.

            As I watch this movie,I am again moved by the scene with Heera outside Ranvir Singh’s house, his father’s though neither know the truth, and the soul that Amitabh Bachchan portrays as he screams of the injustice, of sometimes being called “son” and sometimes being treated as a street rat.

            As with Om Prakash, Amjad Khan holds a special place in my heart. The man that portrayed the horrendous Gabbar Singh in this movie plays a reformed man who’s social responsibilities keep him from acknowledging his son, Heera. Amjad Khan in this movie is beautiful, and after Big B, I watch this movie for Amjad Khan.

Hum (1991)

            So, this is going to be the first movie I’ll actually be posting about right after watching it. From 1991, Mukul Anand’s Hum (English: We), staring Amitabh Bachchan as Tiger/Shekhar, Rajinkanth as Kumar and Govinda as Ajay. The movie centers around Tiger, who gives up a life of violence on the docks of Bombay to raise his three younger brothers to be educated, righteous men with good futures. I can’t really elaborate more than that, because I feel like it’ll ruin the story.

            I’ve found myself slightly hesitant about watching any of Mr. Bachchan’s movies from the 1990’s, and I don’t know why. Two of my favorite movies by him, Agneepath and Khuda Gawah, which will be discussed accordingly as we go along, are from the 1990’s. But I skimmed the movie on IMDB, and when I saw Mr. B’s name was “Tiger” in this movie I almost threw up my hands and didn’t watch it. But, since I’ve vowed to try and watch every Bachchan movie, I had to watch Hum, and found myself in love with this movie!

            Mr. B’s character emerges on the docks as a throwback to his Vijay character from Deewar, with a scarf hanging off his shoulder instead of the rope, the same knotted shirt, unbuttoned almost completely.Actually, I don't know if the illusion to Deewar is done on purpose or not, and if Mr. Bachchan every accidentally stumbles upon this little project of mine, I'd love it if he answers the question of Tiger's ties to Vijay Verma. And then as the story progresses and he morphs into Shekhar, the actor manages to play two completely different characters. Gone is the goonda (hooligan) from the docks and is replaced by a responsible big brother, trying to set an example for them, and unites the little family he has with love. He manages the switch between Tiger and Shekhar with beautiful ease, and the audience feels the difference between the two characters.

            The only thing I could’ve done without was Kader Khan…but he actually wasn’t too too bad. And, if you’re reading this, you’ll discover I have a deep rooted hatred for Kader Khan. Haven’t figured out why just yet, but it’s definitely there.

            The music! Well, a particular song, “Jumma Chumma De De”, the first song in the movie, has me…mesmerized. I watched this movie last night, finished around 3AM, had the song stuck in my head throughout my dreams. And have been singing it and dancing with it all morning! I vow to sing this song from now on, on every Friday, since it’s basically about getting his girl to kiss (chumma) him on Friday (jumma). And I will do it as enthusiastically as Mr. Bachchan! The very beginning where he's on the swing, screaming "JUMMA JUMMA! MERI JANEH MAN!" is freakin' to die for! I am fan girling....

            I promise, if this song doesn’t get you hyper, nothing else will! 

Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

            I feel like simply starting off this little venture of mine with every “first” that I can think of. Yesterday was my first conscious encounter with a Bollywood movie, today I’ll show you my first encounter with Mr. Bachchan as a young man, and my first encounter with an old school “masala” movie. The masterpiece and blockbuster from 1977, from director Manmohan Desi, Amar Akbar Anthony.

            I think I have watched this movie a couple of hundred of times, and if you ask me to watch it again, I’ll do it happily. In praising it, I have absolutely no clue where to start! But be warned, I will make fun of Vinod Khanna, who plays Amar. And express nothing but love for Rishi Kapoor as the youngest brother Akbar. In poking fun, I do have a few things to poke fun at…that aren’t Mr. Khanna.

            The story, I think, teaches each and every one of us religious tolerance. In a world where religion has become the sword with which we attack each other, where holy wars are declared on whims, in a world where my God is better than yours…Amar Akbar Anthony stands as a beacon of light that proves separating my religion from yours is an idiotic notion. India itself is famous for its ability to tolerate any and all religions, then this movie comes from the country as lesson of its lovely message of respect and tolerance.

Anthony (Bachchan), Amar (Khanna), Kapoor (Akbar)

 The plot is about three brothers, Amar (Vinod Khanna), Akbar (Rishi Kapoor) and the memorable Anthony (Amitabh Bachchan), who are separated from each other at a young age, adopted by three different families with different religions. Amar is found by a Hindu police officer, Akbar by a Muslim tailor and Anthony by a Catholic priest. Their mother is alive but blind, their father driven mad by vengeance against his former boss for ripping his family apart. Basically, nobody knows who the other person is, and the plot is the story of how they move towards each other, and how blood is thicker then water.

The songs in this movie…they’re all on my iPod, and I listen to them happily. But the staple of this movie, and the tune that has become legend to those who love Hindi cinema, is Anthony’s introduction, “My Name is Anthony Gonsalves”, where he arrives in a giant egg at an Easter party to impress Jenny (played by the….eccentric Parveen Babi). Two songs in the movie, that are performed by Rishi Kapoor as Akbar, with Mohammed Rafi’s singing talents, are also delightful. 

            

The “parda hai parda” number with Anthony (Mr. B.) sitting on the floor in red leather, and giving into bursts of passionate and brotherly encouragement, never gets old for me. There’s such energy in all the songs, good ol’ fashioned Hindi songs you can easily lose yourself listening to.

        Before we move on to gushing about Anthony however, I do have two things I need to make fun of.  Jenny’s bodyguard, Zibesko as portrayed by Yusuf Khan, is ridiculous. More than ridiculous. The scene with Anthony at the Easter party where he keeps saying “Jenny you leave me I show this man” cracks me up every time. I can’t say if he’s being comical or not but it cracks me up nonetheless. And…I don’t know what it is about Mr. Khanna, maybe it’s his mustache, or his failed attempt at looking “cool” but I can’t, for the life of me, take him seriously.

            Now!

            On to Anthony Gonsalves.To hook anyone up to this movie, just show them the song named after him. Or the drunk scene where he talks to himself. “Steady…s-s-steady”. On his blog recently, Mr. Bachchan recalled how he had done the entire scene in one take. And when you watch that particular scene with that snippet of information in mind, you will see just how fantastic he is. 

The scene also helped me learn a new phrase, “daroo bohot kharab chees hai” (booze is a very bad thing).

 The character of Anthony captures Mr. Bachchan’s style at the time. The cool, calm, gold-hearted thug. A Robinhood of sorts. As a Catholic, the relationship Anthony has with the Virgin Mary, his partner as he calls her, make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Anthony is one of Mr. B’s greatest characters, and a character that is often paid tribute to.

            

Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham (2001)

One of the first movies that actively sparked my interest in Hindi cinema was Kabhi Khushi, Kabhi Gham (English: Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness) from 2001, directed by Karan Johar. Mr. Bachchan led the star studded cast that included Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and, lest we forget, Mrs. Jaya Bachchan.
My brother-in-law brought the DVD home I remember, and after being apprehensive about watching a Hindi movie (I was 14 or 15 at the time). I vaguely remembered watching Aami Khan’s Dil and Love Love Love in Iran, when I had been very small. Nonetheless, I sat down and found myself pointing at the tall guy with the voice. I remember my oldest sister nodding and telling me “that’s Amitabh Bachchan, dad used to bring home all his movies, you must have forgotten”.

And indeed, I had forgotten Mr. Bachchan, as I tried to adjust to life in America, the shift from the Middle East to the United States unsettling, the burden on my shoulders heavy. But I remember watching this incredibly emotional movie with my family, and feeling the Westernized me slowly bridge the gap with my Eastern family.

I should have realized then that I had not heard the last of Mr. Bachchan.

The movie itself is…extremely close to perfection. The story and plot are throwbacks to the old Hindi cinematic tradition of highlighting the importance of family, and how important respect is and how it should always remain so. But one of the things that Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham does is to remind the audience that respect goes both ways, the children have to respect the elders, just as the elders have to respect the point of view, the ideals, of the children.
This blog is about papa (Mr. Bachchan), so let’s focus on him. When the first song in the movie, “say Shava Shava” came on, I wanted to dance. There was so much energy in the song, and Mr. Bachchan had such a wonderful attitude. Now that I am an Bachchan expert, I look back at the song and see the style of dance that has always traveled with him throughout his career.

There’s playfulness in his singing and dancing that some actors are missing. The scenes that feature him as a strict father are so wonderful, you resent him as much as his sons in the movie, but he wins you over completely in the final scenes with his boys. One scene that always sticks out in my mind is when his character Yash, calls his wife (Jaya Bachcan) to help him with his tie and draws over a step stool because she is so much shorter than him.

I will say this many times, and this theory has been proven countless times, but when Mr. Bachchan cries, the whole world cries with him. Something happen with his eyes…can’t describe it exactly but you know you’ll do whatever it takes to just get him to stop crying. Actors like Shah Rukh Khan on the other hand, can’t cry. And it annoys me greatly. You will witness my love/hate relationship with SRK as we go on.

Until next time fellow Bachchan lovers,

IS.

Useful Links

Twitter:
@SrBachchan- Mr. Bachchan's private Twitter account.
@ThisIsIshtar- My own twitter account, where I usually ramble while watching a movie. However, I am not always guranteed to make sense on there, or being completely logical when it comes to Mr. Bachchan. 


Mr. Bachchan's daily blog- Never disappoints! http://bigb.bigadda.com/
Mr. Bachchan's Wikipedia page, surprisingly accurate overview of the Man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amitabh_Bachchan
Mr. Bachchan's IMDB page...I get a lot of fun facts from the "Trivia" section that is available for some movies. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000821/

A Mission Statement. An Introduction.

This summer, and this blog and my twitter account @ThisIsIshtar will be dedicated to watching all movies Mr. Amitabh Bachchan has been in. 

Why? Good question...and there are so many good reasons for doing this, one can't decipher exactly where to begin listing the reasons.

An overwhelming fact is, however, that Mr. Bachchan has the ability to reach his audience who are beyond the boundaries of language, beyond country and culture. One of the most fascinating aspects of Mr. Bachchan is that, the more you read about him or watch his interactions via twitter or his own blog, the more you discover how much the people of his own country love him, but also find that he has large non-Indian fan base all over the world. I will discount my own story for this one moment to point out that I have two friends, "white" friends with no Eastern backgrounds like myself, who willingly and happily watch Sholay(1975) and Araakshan (2011). 

I went searching for a reason why this man can transcend culture and language and create fan girls out of actors of Johnny Depp's ilk. 

And while searching, I found that there is no singular, good answer.

For many, his abilities as an actor, as the "angry young man" of Kaala Patthar (1979) and Deewar (1975), representing the post-English restlessness of India. 

For others it's his stature, the way he carries himself that attracts them. An undeniable animal magnetism. 

For others, like me, it's the man's ability to endure. 

Whatever it is, its drawn me completely, and has me dragging friends and family into this incredible world where Mr. Bachchan reigns as Shahenshah of Hindi Cinema. And never fails to teach us something about family, about honor, and respect. 

So...the purpose of this?
To keep track of the movies I watch, to keep track of my thoughts on the movie, the music, the acting, everything. To track how much Hindi I've learned.

I promise to be completely honest and fair in reviewing the films I've watched....and shamelessly pick on Vinod Khanna and probably drool a little every now and then.

I invite you to come along with me to the ride, and watch me struggle to wrap my head and time around this loftiest of goals.