by Yusuf Tabatabai

Though it is true that no film starring Ayesha Takia has worked commercially till date,  yet, she is not the reason why 8 x 10 Tasveer will flop. Actually, it already has.

There are so many things in life that I am still trying to understand. One of those is that how come a sane, sensible person can make such blunders that should be obvious to any average person.  Till the other day Nagesh Kukunoor was best known for IQBAL and generally known for making sensible films. All his films before this misadventure were small budget. This was the first time he was working with a big star and having big money to spend. This was also the first time he was trying his hand at a thriller. He has failed on all three fronts.

One more thing, Kukunoor is both director and writer here.  If you wear two hats do you fail to see clearly?  Many a big and established names have faltered when executing dual responsibility.

The movie starts engagingly and remains more or less on track in the first hour. But the second hour is nothing but a series of mistakes and the climax is so poor that I actually felt pity for the producers. Why they needed one more Akshay Kumar? Because the viewers are least likely to be able to guess it? Fine, but what about the bundle of unexplained questions that it throws at the viewers? For example where this Mr. Jeet was living all this while? Did his parents know about him being alive? How come he too was in Canada? And most simple question: Why he went around killing so many people when all he wanted was money? So all he needed to do was to kill Jai and take his place. Simple, no?

And why name the film “8×10 Tasveer”? Why not just “Tasveer” since nowhere in the movie the hero has pondered about the size of the tasveer before jumping into them?

What problems Kukunoor was facing that he made such a poor film I do not know but I do know that we, us poor viewers, do have a problem at hand. We do think. And therefore cannot digest such films. How I wish we were also smarter. Why didn’t I give it a miss?

http://passionforcinema.com/khaffa-vs-khaffa/

by Yusuf Tabatabai

First of all let me explain the title. When I write KHAFFA I mean the correct pronunciation of the word and the other one represents the incorrect pronunciation.  KHAFFA  (خفا)is an Urdu word and if not pronounced correctly, loses its meaning and effect, of course, and also, sounds jarring to the ears.

As we all know the language of Hindi films contains a lot of Urdu words. Usage of Urdu in the songs’ lyrics is even more common. That’s absolutely fine, welcome and natural. Urdu is such a sweet language and a lot of Urdu words are anyway an integral part of commonly spoken version of Hindi. But there is one hitch. Some Urdu words are a little difficult to pronounce. You need to practice diligently in order to perfect the pronunciation.

This is not to suggest that use of Urdu should be discontinued in songs. Hell, no. In fact such a thought should not even come to mind. What I am trying to say instead is that the playback singers (and composers and directors etc) must take care that all words (whether Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi or English, yes, they are all a part of today’s songs) are pronounced correctly.

There is a song in the movie BEMISAAL sung by Kishore da. Its wordings are: KISSI BAAT PAR MAIN KISSI SE KHAFFA HOON. Please listen to it and then try to imagine what would happen if Kishore da had mis-pronounced KHAFFA. Won’t the song be robbed of its entire beauty and effect?

Over the years Hindi films have improved in so many ways. There is variety in stories and story-telling. There is variety in music too. And there are more singers, more lyricists; experimentation, innovation. Technically our films now compete with the best in the world. They are well made and well marketed. Almost every aspect of filmmaking has undergone a positive change.

But somehow along the way the attention to detail in the playback singing department has fallen by the wayside. May be, and I repeat may be, the reason is that a big majority of today’s film makers have absolutely no touch with Urdu. In one episode of OYE! IT’S FRIDAY Shah Rukh Khan was asked to explain the meaning of his name. SRK explained that SHAH means Prince and RUKH means face. But before he could complete his sentence, the show anchor had already uttered his own interpretation of RUKH. He said it means ROOH (Soul).

So, even such accomplished directors of today do not know ROOH from RUKH. Fine, but they can still get someone else to take care of the language. After all they do hire professionals to take care of every other department of filmmaking. But in a setup where the producer, director, composer, singer everyone belongs to the same generation and/or background it is quite possible that none of them are even aware that something has been missed. In such a scenario who will point out the mistake? Well, logically thinking the lyricist should be able to do that. I think the lyricists, even those belonging to today’s generation, would be aware of the correct pronunciation. God help us if even they are not.

I have been noticing this unchecked trend of incorrect pronunciation for several years now and I have some observations.

(1)    This phenomenon has started, generally speaking, in this millennium only

(2)    Mostly the culprits are the newer generation of singers. The newer, the more prone

(3)    Two probable reasons for the mistakes viz., (a) a genuine inability to correctly pronounce certain words, and (b) inconsistency due to carelessness

Some of the culprits are very new entrants and belong to the generation that thinks in English. It is quite possible that these guys actually fail to pronounce certain words (In Zoya Akhtar’s LUCK BY CHANCE this deficiency in newcomers has been pointed out in a nice way). But there are some instances where a singer mis-pronounces a certain word in one song while the same person does a fine job of the same in some other song. This is curious. This inconsistency can only be explained as carelessness.  Even more intriguing is the case where in the same song some words are pronounced perfectly and some others in the wrong way. What would you call that? One example is the song AGAR TUM MIL JAAO from the movie ZEHER (2005). Here Shreya Ghosal pronounces QASAM as QASAM and also as KASAM. She also pronounces TAQDEER as TAKDEER and RUKH(رخ)  as Rukh (رک‌ذ) . But she has no problem in pronouncing KHWAB (خواب). I fail to understand the reason behind this inconsistency because it is clear that she has the ability but is, at times, choosing to not use it.

I have read in many magazines from many sources that till the 1970s and even 1980s the new entrants to the industry used to appoint Urdu tutors to improve or master the language. I hope our newer playback singers (and actors) do pay attention and do not neglect this, such a vital aspect, of their profession.

I am entertaining this hope for so many years and am coming across more and more cases every year. Somehow it seems to have become acceptable to carry on with incorrect pronunciation. There are so many examples, in fact a little too many to mention. But the one that … well, hurt me is when I found it in a song sung by Lata Ji. Yes, Lata Ji, no less. Can you believe it? I could not the first I heard the song HUM TO BHAI JAISE HAIN WAISE RAHENGE in VEER ZAARA. In fact, after watching the film I had to buy its audio to confirm that my ears had not played tricks on me inside the theater. Lata Ji has actually pronounced KHAFFA as Khaffa here.

How could it happen? After half a century of perfect singing (in all aspects) Lata Ji mis-pronouncing in a Yash Chopra film? Unbelievable but true. Unbelievable because both Lata Ji and Yash Ji themselves have full command over the language. In fact Yash Ji used to be a big lover of Urdu poetry (especially that of Sahir Ludhianvi). Then how come they can neglect it. I tried to look for some justification for it in the film’s script and character sketches but Preity Zinta’s character (on whom this song is filmed) is a Pakistani girl; so all the more reason for a faultless pronunciation of Urdu words. Then I also noticed that in VEER ZAARA even Rani Mukerjee’s character, another Pakistani girl, has delivered several dialogues with atrocious pronunciation. Till date I am at a loss to understand it.

Perhaps it is just a measure of the extent to which the “chalta hai” approach has crept in in every walk of life. Even the icons and the masters are no longer un-touched by this attitude. But I am not ready to accept it. I find it sad. I am disappointed. I am KHAFFA.

http://passionforcinema.com/a-take-on-titles/

by Yusuf Tabatabai

Almost as much as the films themselves I am fascinated by their titles. No wonder then that I have some observations. Let me share those with you right here right now.

Everyone is aware that film titles come in several varieties. There are short titles, long titles, and those in between. There are titles that are meaningful, sensible, catchy, indifferent, misleading and even repulsive (subjectively, of course). Hindi films titles need not be in Hindi only. They can be in Hindi or English or a mix of two. Of late titles are coming with taglines __ some people though treat them as if they are part of the title; well, I am not sure either way __ which can, again, be in English, Hindi or a mixture. Mind you when I say Hindi I actually mean anything other than English. So it could even be Punjabi e.g. “Hadippa”.

Till just recently the trend was to have a Hindi title with an English tagline. It was probably started by Raj Kanwar in 1999 with his curiously titled “Daag – the Fire” (for a moment I thought that by Daag he meant The Aag). Then in 2001 Suniel Darshan came out with “Ek Rishta – The bond of love”. And before we knew it the trend was upon us. In subsequent years we had had to face titles like “Deewar – Let’s bring our heroes home” and “Baaz – A bird in danger”.

Frankly speaking, I am still not sure if the tagline was just that or a part of the title itself. Way back when Vidhu Vinod Chopra had announced “1942 – A Love Story” he had taken pains to emphasize that the whole thing was the title. But in all other cases one has seen and read such titles being referred to with and without the __ supposedly __ taglines.

Currently, though, English titles or offbeat names with a mix of English and Hindi are more like a norm. The year 2009 has seen maximum films belonging to this category. Samples: well known films like LUCK BY CHANCE, LUCK, LOVE AAJ KAL, LIFE PARTNER, WANTED, WHAT’S YOUR RASHEE, WAKE UP SID, DO KNOT DISTURB, BLUE, LONDON DREAMS etc and little known ones like LOVE KHICHDI, LOVE KA TADKA, TOSS, FOX etc.

I personally like short, crisp titles. I feel they signify clarity of thought and focus. Well, this can’t mean that longer titles do not. But … well, as I said, I just like short, specially the single-word titles. No wonder then I have at least one reason to admire the likes of Gulzar, Mahesh Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar and of course Ram Gopal Varma. RGV in fact holds the distinction of producing a film with the shortest title possible __ ‘D’. The honor for the longest title probably would go to Saeed Mirza for his ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai’.

If you go back to earliest films the titles generally used to be short and meaningful. Most hit films of those days have short titles only; just a single word (e.g. Pukar, Kismat, Mela, Dagh, Dard, Jogan, Deedar, Mahal, Jaal, Baazi, Devdas, Madhumati, Awara, Aag etc) or lengthier than that but not a long one (e.g. Achhut Kanya, Jwar Bhata, Mother India, Jagte Raho, Munim Jee etc).

The first famous movie with a long title, probably, is “Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani” (1946) by V Shantaram the doyen of Hindi cinema. He in fact is among those few who actually seemed to have a thing going for long titles. The other distinguished members of this club include names like Raj Kapoor, Nasir Hussain and Saeed Mirza. Some other memorable long titles from V Shantaram include “Do Aankhen Barah Haath”, “Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje” and “Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne”.

The first non-V Shantaram famous long title I remember is “Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi” (1958). Two years later Raj Kapoor, so far known for short and crisp titles, went for a 6-word title ‘Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai’. It is said that the title was criticized and ridiculed in the beginning. But the very next year (1961) Nasir Hussain came out with his 6-word maiden production ‘Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai’. It succeeded big time and long titles became quite acceptable. Nasir saab himself continued with long titles like ‘Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon’, ‘Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin’ and ‘Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai’. In fact, except for ‘Caravan’, ‘Zabardast’ and ‘Manzil Manzil’ Nasir Saab never went with less than 3-words.

Except for these three I can’t think of anyone else who made long titles their trade mark, i.e. until Saeed Mirza arrived on the scene in 1978. His “Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan”, “Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai”, “Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho” and “Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro” were off beat in content and narrative as well.

A mix of short and long titles continued till the end of the last millennium without any further significant new development … and without any sweeping trend in title naming. The number of people having any particular likeness for long titles did not register any new followers.

But another trend, which had been there for quite some time, continued and in fact attracted more followers. Yes, I am talking about some producers’ tendency to use the same initial for all their titles (some cases) or for most of their titles (many cases). J Om Prakash, Mohan Kumar and Shakti Samant all favored the letter “A”. Rakesh Roshan, Karan Johar and, of course, Ekta Kapoor showed a weakness for the letter ”K”. As of now Karan and Ekta have moved on but Rakesh Roshan is yet to abandon his love for this letter.  Just of late Ravi Chopra has begun to show that he too might have picked up a favorite letter (BAAGHBAN, BABUL and BHOOTNATH). But the most curious case is that of Arjun Hingorani. His titles must have three words and all three must start with that most favored letter … “K”. Examples:  KAHANI KISMAT KI, KAATILON KE KAATIL, KAUN KARE KURBANI etc.  He did deviate from his fixation at least once. But SULTANAT was a disaster and he went back to the shelter of 3Ks. His last produced (but not directed) film, though, had words with other letters also. It was titled KAISE KAHOON KE … PYAR HAI

Another practice, that of using the story’s central character’s name as the title of the movie, which had been there earlier also, showed up most significantly during the 1970s. This was the decade which gave you maximum number of titles belonging to this category. For example KALICHARAN, VISHWANATH, GAUTAM GOVINDA, RAJA AUR RANA, AATMARAM, BILLA AUR RANGA, JANTA HAWALDAR, JUGNU, AZAD, ZORRO, MR. NATWARLAL, SHAKA and many others. The female versions of this category are few and far between. But almost all of them are most memorable e.g. PAKEEZAH, NOORIE, UMRAO JAAN, CHANDNI etc.

 With certain stories like the legends of Laila-Majnu and Shirin-Farhad such naming is the obvious choice. But other than that if I try to trace the origin of this practice, I am not able to go beyond Dilip Kumar’s GANGA JAMUNA. There may have been earlier films also but I think GANGA JAMUNA and RAM AUR SHYAM definitely gave this category of titles the popularity that made other filmmakers to follow suit. Dilip Saab himself went on to do GOPI and SAGEENA when the trend caught up.

This category started losing steam in the 1980s itself but has never been completely abandoned. In the 1980s there were fewer cases (ROCKY, KAALIA, SHAHENSHAH, RAM LAKHAN) and still fewer in the 1990s (TEJA, KARAN ARJUN) but sporadically this category still appears. The last big hit (which turned out to be the biggest hit of all time) of this category was GHAJINI though here it was named after the villain which is a first in the history of Hindi cinema, I believe.

Now, coming to the importance and effectiveness of a film’s title, of course titles are most important. Sometimes the title makes you connect to the product instantly. I personally took a liking for some movies almost as soon as I saw the title e.g. CHANDNI, LAMHE, BATWARA, PARINDA, MISSION KASHMIR etc. Similarly I was almost instantly put off by titles like PYAR MEIN TWIST, ALOO CHAT, DIL BOLE HADIPPA and a few others.

Every writer agrees that finding a right title is never easy (no wonder so many films go on the floors with a working title only). Hence, those who do get it right deserve our appreciation. But there are very few who really make their titles count. Gulzar’s KOSHISH was a title that was not only apt but also had a philosophical appeal. Ditto his MERE APNE. A cursory observation suggests that better filmmakers / writers, generally, come up with better titles. Here by better I mean titles that give you a more accurate idea of what the film is all about. Look at the works of the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Salim-Javed, Yash Chopra, JP Dutta, Raj Kumar Santoshi etc and you will know what I mean.

http://passionforcinema.com/a-wish-list-of-comebacks/

by Yusuf Tabatabai

I am sure every film buff would want to see Gulzar saab return to film making as a director. It has been eleven long years since his last film HU TU TU. Of course, he is active as a top lyricist and regularly appears on the charts. But don’t you think it is high time he returned as a director? The present time is the best time for film makers like him. Takers and Backers both are available. He must return. Just recently there has been some talk about his signing Vidya Balan for a film to be directed by him. Hope it is true.

Similarly, there are many other names, in various walks of cinema, have gone inactive for various reasons, but their fans have not had enough of their work … and would like to see them return to do what they do best.

Why not compile a list of such names. Here is my take. Readers may add their own wish list, if they like.

Dilip Kumar

QILA (1997) should not be his last film. He simply does not deserve that. For just this simple reason, if not for anything else, he should consider returning. Sometime back there were unconfirmed news about a Subhash Ghai project starring the legend but nothing materialized. Let’s hope some other project does; and that Dilip saab has the energy and the inclination to regale his fans once again.

Rajesh Khanna

One is really at a loss to understand what this man did to deserve such a royal ignore from literally every quarter:  film makers, co-stars and media. In today’s time when many old timers are finding a receptive film maker and we have an audience open to anything and everything, how come there are no takers for Kaka? I’m really puzzled. There have been one or two very small projects where he appeared in insignificant roles. JAANA – LET’S FALL IN LOVE (2006) is one such film. This shows that he is willing. Let’s see if someone would want to make a decent film utilizing his talents. 

Sridevi

Well, well … logically thinking there is nothing to stop her from coming back. Actresses of her caliber are not really in great supply. Her versatility is rare. Her children are old enough now (to allow her to return to work) and … Boney Kapoor is a frontline producer himself. Then what must be keeping her? We wouldn’t know. But we certainly hope she does return … sooner rather than later.

Ramesh Sippy

It is not good to rest on your laurels. We all know that we should not expect another SHOLAY. But he has also made SEETA AUR GEETA, SHAKTI and SAAGAR. So a good, slick product can definitely be expected … even demanded. The question is, will he oblige?

Mansoor Khan

He has really hurt yours truly (and scores others, I am sure) by his, such premature voluntary retirement. Great things … really great things were expected of him. He had come on the scene like a breath of fresh air. His films were sincere and sensitive. And what imaginative poetic titles he used to think of: QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK, JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDAR and AKELE HUM AKELE TUM. Agreed, JOSH, his last work was probably not as impressive … but that should be one more reason for him to come back and improve his record.

Shekhar Kapur

Oh! What to say. For God knows how many years we are hearing about PAANI apparently his dream project, which is still not shelved. Every time you start getting convinced that PAANI is dead some new talk surfaces about it. But somehow it have never progressed beyond that … just talk. In fact Kapur has a history of helming projects that did not see the finishing line (or were completed by others). JOSHILAAY, TIME MACHINE, DUSHMANI are well-known examples. There was also a TA RA RUM PUM which didn’t progress beyond announcement. Much like PAANI.

By now it must have become clear that I am angry with him. But I am still hoping he will return to make some Hindi film. One day … soon.

Yash Chopra

His last film as a director VEER ZARA was good. But it came in 2004 and now we are in the third month of 2010. Don’t you think it is time his next directorial venture was announced? There was a gap of seven year between DIL TO PAGAL HAI and VEER ZARA. Even by this standard his next must release next year. I hope he works with Sanjay Dutt this time. They were supposed to work together back in 1993 but suddenly Sanju Baba got busy with legal issues and YRF found Shah Rukh Khan. Well, everybody loves SRK and YRF combo but I feel Yash Ji can really show Sanjay Dutt in a way that no one else can. A dapper Sanju in a mature love story?

Muzaffar Ali

Now this might be a tall order. I realize it even as I write it. But then I am preparing a wish list. But it will really be great if he could revisit his HABBA KHATOON project and make it with some young talent (Priyanka Chopra would seem to be a suitable choice). By making UMRAO JAAN he has already shown that he has a grasp of this kind of subjects.  Let’s hope.

Randhir Kapoor

Henna (1991) was good. It was a quality product and I think it was regarded as commercially successful too. Yet he has never directed again. One by one his brothers took a shot at direction. Rajiv Kapoor made PREM GRANTH (1996) and Rishi Kapoor made AA AB LAUT CHALEN (1999). After that it was supposed to be Daboo’s turn again to get behind the camera. I would have loved to see the RK Banner active. Have the impression there are many out there sharing this view.

Juhi Chawla

Yes, yes … I know she is very much around. But her fans like yours truly strongly believe she could do better. Sometime back there was a piece of news (or rumor) that somebody was going to make a film based on the famous TV serial THE LUCY SHOW starring Juhi Chawla. That would have really been something. Juhi is simply great in light hearted, humorous and comic roles. She has some inherent talent for this variety and given the right kind of resources can do wonders, any day.

Well, I have exhausted my list. The waiting resumes.

http://passionforcinema.com/majrooh-%e2%80%93-a-tribute-from-a-fan/

by Yusuf Tabatabai

Note: This is a hastily written piece when I suddenly realized that 24-May is his death anniversary. I am just penning down what comes to mind. Hope it makes it to the readers.

Main akela hi chala tha jaanibe-e-manzil  magar

Log saath aatey gaye aur kaarwan banta gaya

(I was alone when I started; on the way it became a caravan)

It is said about the above-mentioned couplet that if this was all Majrooh Sultanpuri ever wrote he would still be regarded as great a poet as he is.

Perhaps it was 1991 when the annual Mushaira held in Dubai was dedicated to Majrooh Sultanpuri. Majrooh saab, naturally, presided over the function and was given the privilege of addressing the mushaira as the last poet (as per the tradition the presiding poet recites his work at the very end). Unfortunately for Majrooh saab by the time his turn came it was later than three a.m. so the audience was rather tired. Moreover, the poet immediately preceding Majrooh saab was the glorious Khumar Barabankvi. And Khumar saab that morning had delivered a truly fantastic new ghazal which was in a very easy language and which had reached every single audience. So, the audience was in a state like you are in when you have just feasted on your favorite dish and for some time you want to just savor that taste and are not interested in anything else … not even another great dish.

So, Majrooh saab received a ‘thanda’ response even though he was reciting his select poems but, though truly great work, they were not about common themes like love or separation and the language too was not as common as that of Khumar saab’s . I personally was enjoying Majrooh saab’s recital but was feeling lazy to express an appreciation. I guess it was the same with most of us in that gathering. We would mentally applaud and merely nod. This behavior of the crowd finally bugged Majrooh saab and he said “agar samajh mein aa raha ho toh daad de deejiye warna maaf keejiye” and he folded his hands in “namastey” fashion and was going to stop reciting when the anchor persuaded him to continue. The crowd too now woke up and demanded that Majrooh saab should continue. He did, for a just a few minutes more but, clearly, his heart was not in it anymore.

I had always considered Majrooh saab as one of the greatest lyricists of Hindi cinema. And in certain respect I regard him as the best. But after attending this mushaira I started reading more about Majrooh the poet and came to realize that he was truly great in that avatar too. And he was not just a good/great poet. He was a progressive poet who truly believed in his convictions … and stood by them. That’s why he had refused to apologize when he was arrested for his writing the nazm “maar lo saathi jaane na paaye”. He had to endure two years in jail.

Just for the record Majrooh’s real name was Asrar-ul-Hassan. He was born in __ no points for guessing __ Sultanpur, U.P. on 01-Oct-1919 and left this world on 24-May-2000. His first profession was that of a Hakeem (practitioner of Unani medicine) before he discovered his talent for poetry. Majrooh saab came to Bombay in 1945 to participate in a mushaira, happened to meet Ali Sardar Jafri and got involved with the Progressive Writers’ Movement.

Like many of his comrades in the PWM he too felt that by being associated with the film world he will be able to reach a wider audience for his expressions. He accepted A H Kardar’s offer and wrote lyrics for SHAHJAHAN. Music was by Naushad and it starred K L Saigal. The song ‘jab dil hi toot gaya’ from this film is popular till date.

Majrooh saab took very little time in getting established as a successful and popular lyricist but it were still early days when, in 1949, he had had to go to jail for two years. When he returned he had no problems in getting accepted again but in the meantime Naushad saab had formed his ‘jodi’ with Shakeel Badayuni and it was quite some time before the two (Naushad and majrooh) worked together again.

Majrooh’s true greatness lies in his versatility. From 1940s till the year 2000 __ for over half a century __ he never really went out of sync with the changing times. He wrote “c a t cat, cat maaney billi” (DILLI KA THUG, 1958) when writing such a thing was virtually blasphemous for the purists. In probably another first for Hindi films, in KHUDDAR released in 1982 he used words from several languages in the song “angrezi mein kehte hain ke I love you”.

There are multiple instances where Majrooh saab has lasted long enough to work with two generations of composers. SD Burman and RD Burman, Roshan and Rajesh Roshan and Chitragupta and his sons Anand and Milind.

Unlike most of his contemporaries Majrooh had no ego. He only had self confidence. Hence he was every ready to work with new composers. Many a big names started their career with Majrooh lyrics. Most prominent among those are RD Burman, Usha Khanna, Rajesh Roshan and Jatin Lalit. Even Anand Milind tasted big success only when they did QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK, a Majrooh film having that cult song “papa kehte hain”.

Majrooh saab made successful composer-lyricist pairing with several composers viz., SD Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Rajesh Roshan, Anand Milind, Jatin Lalit but his association with RD Burman was most formidable. Together this Jodi produced such all time hit scores as TEESRI MANZIL, PYAR KA MAUSAM, CARAVAN, BAHARON KE SAPNE, YAADON KI BARAAT, HUM KISSI SE KAM NAHIN, ZAMANE KO DIKHANA HAI (all Nasir Husain films), SAMADHI, ANAMIKA and KUDRAT and scattered gems here and there in films like BOMBAY TO GOA, ZAHREELA INSAAN, DHARAM KARAM and many more.

It is not that his form never deserted him. But he used to bounce back. Like his did with QSQT in 1988. But in the 1990s he wrote less and less, probably the advancing age was a factor too, and failed to make any big time waves. The last successful film that he wrote for was KYA KEHNA released the same year as he breathed his last.

http://passionforcinema.com/lyrics-revival/

 by Yusuf Tabatabai

“Let’ s put a moratorium on the use of words like dil, jigar, pyar, mohabbat in the lyrics for a few years.  This might bring about some improvement in the quality of lyrics”

Javed Akhtar in an interview on a TV channel a few years ago

It seems Javed Saab’s wish has been fulfilled. Stock words like ‘dil’, ‘pyar’ etc do not appear with that sickening regularity nowadays. A revival in the quality of Hindi film lyrics is definitely underway. It is quite visible (or should I say audible).

I am so happy to hear words like “sifarish”, “shagufta”, “zarra”, “be-shubah”, “guzarish” etc being used in the lyrics __ and was absolutely delighted when I heard “dafa’tan” in a song from Delhi-6 (Prasoon Joshi, take a bow). The pronunciation though is not always correct, and sometimes is even atrocious, but that is a different matter altogether.

For those of us who have crossed 40 good lyrics hold a lot of value. We grew-up in a time when Sahir Ludhianvi, Kaifi Azmi, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh and Anand Bakshi were still around. And though Shakeel Badayuni and Shailendra had already passed away, their lyrics were still very popular.

Till the end of the 70s, I think, no significant deterioration in quality was spotted. It began showing up only after Sahir had passed away, Kaifi had virtually retired, and some great filmmakers of the past two decades had suddenly lost their ‘touch’ (Nasir Husain, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manoj Kumar, Shakti Samant to name a few). So, by the time Bappi Lahiri brand of music came on the scene and lyrics’ quality started going south (in the early 80s) we already had acquired a taste and were displeased with this ‘development’. But I personally had thought that this is just a passing phase and that the quality is bound to return.

The phase lasted much longer (till the mid-90s) and though the quality did return, it did so in bits and spurts, and not in any sweeping way. Javed Akhtar debuted as a lyricist but did just a few films in his first innings (SILSILA, MASHAAL, SAATH SAATH). Hasan Kamaal did a few BR Chopra and JP Dutta films (NIKAAH, BATWARA etc). He was good but did not last long. Shaharyar came to the movies with Muzaffar Ali’s UMRAO JAAN but was not heard much thereafter. Late S H Bihari made a comeback and had had a short burst of glory post PYAR JHUKTA NAHIN. Ditto Late Asad Bhopali in MAINE PYAR KIYA. Anand Bakshi replaced Sahir Ludhianvi in the Yash Raj camp and became more quality conscious. Though the great Majrooh Saab was there but he was not very prolific.

Most of the songs during this phase were being written by the likes of Indeevar (in the 80s) and Sameer (in the 90s). I must add at this point that Indeevar, in fact, was a very good poet (his lyrics in films like POORAB AUR PASCHIM etc prove it) and Sameer too has done a lot of quality work, but this is also a fact that both these gentlemen have had a phase where they were the principal contributors towards mediocre, mundane and even un-savory lyrics.

Early to mid 90s perhaps was the worst phase of lyrics quality in Hindi films as double-meaning found its way in. Some songs churned out in those days really set the bar very low. A host of new lyricists had appeared in the last decade but none made any impact. In fact, I remember only Payam Saeedi (PARINDA) and Rahat Indori (KAREEB) as contributing something of quality. By this time Majrooh and Bakshi saab were not very active and Javed Saab’s appearance was still sporadic and Gulzar’s career as a lyricist had not yet embarked on a revival. One was really not sure how long this low tide will have to be endured.

But as they say the night is at its darkest just before the dawn. So it happened that soon after touching its nadir the quality took a turn for the better. Javed Akhtar took up lyrics writing as his main calling. Post MAACHIS Gulzar Saab and post DDLJ Anand Baksi hit top form again. Majrooh Saab’ career though, sadly, could not see another period of glory. His last best work before he passed away in year 2000 perhaps was the non-film album JAANAM SAMJHA KARO (1997). During his last days he was shunned by all his regulars including Nasir Husain’s son Mansoor Khan.

After Anand Bakshi saab too passed away in 2002 we were left with just two stalwarts in Javed Akhtar and Gulzar. There was a clear difference in the quality of lyrics penned by these two and the others. This big gap has now been filled after the arrival of the likes of Saeed Quadri and Prasoon Joshi. Both these gentlemen produce work that is very different from each other but both are maintaining good quality, consistently. In fact Joshi’s “Maa” from TAARE ZAMEEN PAR is, according to me, the most poignant song of the current decade.

Even otherwise too the quality of lyrics, in recent times, has generally gone up only. Almost every film from the Bhatt camp has good lyrics in almost every song. And, in general, every film has at least one song with good lyrics; and many have several. Some well known examples: LOVE AAJ KAL, JAB WE MET, NAMASTE LONDON, DELHI-6, METRO, FANAA, HUM TUM, MUJH SE SHADI KAROGI, AITRAZ, PARINEETA, RACE, NEW YORK, DEV.D and of course TAARE ZAMEEN PAR.  I have only listed commercially successful films; I have not gone back beyond 2004 and have not included Bhatt camp movies and works of Javed saab and Gulzar saab.

This is definitely a heartening trend that the lyricists, in general, are showing an inclination towards quality. Let’s also try to figure out what might have brought about this positive trend. Well, there could be a number of factors (a natural cycle, people got sick of mediocrity and wanted change, arrival of new talent etc) but, in my opinion, the single biggest factor is the new-found confidence that the film makers now have in their products. And this in turn has come about as a result of the new structure and style of film production.

Stories, plots and characters are no longer stereotypes that used to straightjacket an average filmmaker and made him demand some particular types of lyrics only. And most lyricists just used to oblige. They would still oblige if the compulsion was still there. But thank God those compulsions are a thing of the past. Now you can pretty much do your own thing. Once the project is backed by some established production house the filmmaker does not need to make compromises. Security brings in confidence. This confidence makes the filmmaker back quality and back the lyricists who want to experiment with new words.

Now the next frontier, in logical progression, should be for the lyricists to get the credit they deserve. Nowadays, except for two or three big names, others’ names don’t get used in the promos at all. In the 1980s, when the quality was down, they got a better rating. Every film poster used to mention the lyricists’ name (of course his name would appear last and sometimes in a smaller print, but nevertheless it used to be there). Now it doesn’t. You have to be alert to catch their names when the credits roll or have to read the labels on the audio media.

Another platform where their work needs to be acknowledged is in the award functions. Often the lyricist does not get to speak after the receiving the award. He should.

http://passionforcinema.com/life-in-a-village

by Yusuf Tabatabai

Though it is true that no film starring Ayesha Takia has worked commercially till date,  yet, she is not the reason why 8 x 10 Tasveer will flop. Actually, it already has.

They say more than 60% India lives in the villages. Hardly the impression you get watching Hindi movies of this decade. When was the last time you saw a village in a Hindi film? I think barring LAGAAN,  SWADES and MALAAMAL WEEKLY (which was a remake) I can’t recall too many in the last … let’s see how many years … 10, 15 or more? Isn’t there really a dearth of films depicting rural life?

Let me ponder on this in some detail and try to understand how this might have happened. Is it a case of the audience turning away or is it that the producers stopped catering to their tastes, or a bit of both?

Well, over the last decade and a half the content in Hindi films has evolved and changed and at present is heavily urbanized. The themes, the ambience, the language … all these as found in today’s Hindi films are likely to be found unfamiliar by the Interior audience.  There is nothing wrong with that, though, and is all perfectly understandable. All this has happened not as a programmed move but in response to the changing realities all around us.

The economic progress of the last 15 years or so has resulted in more than just a digital divide. It has created blocks and pockets of citizenry craving for and upholding different tastes, trends, thought processes and value systems. Such blocks / pockets are bound to patronize different kinds of cinema, too.

Therefore, we now have any number of ‘hit’ films that do well in some territories but fail in some other.  In fact a large number of films get an overwhelming percentage of their gross returns from Bombay, Delhi – NCR and some other urban centers only. A few more might click big time in UP also. But the general trend remains that Bihar patronizes HUM TUMHARE HAIN SANAM while Punjab embraces SINGH IS KINNG. Twice or thrice a year we get a GHAJINI which opens big everywhere, otherwise it is mostly different cinema for different territories.

Clearly these are the times of niche cinema. Films are made for target audience. And the economics have been worked out so well that it is indeed now possible to make all kinds of cinema; from the most abstract themes to the most mundane ones; from a minuscule budget to a mega budget. They are making films for yuppie crowd, for the Diaspora, for the discerning audience, for the just-out-to-have-fun audience. Films are being made on 9/11 related issues, on terrorism related issues, on identity crisis, on the coming-of-age themes etc.

Then, one wonders, why not on the villages and the villagers! Do they have no issues worth looking into? Do they provide no material for interesting stories? Do they not form a niche of their own?

Perhaps the impression is that today’s overwhelmingly young cinema-going audience wouldn’t identify with and patronize themes espousing rural causes. But how do we know? Why just assume? Why not attempt and see. And in fact those few attempts that have actually come about have done rather well at the box office. For example the same movies mentioned at the beginning.

It is not that the villages have completely disappeared from the scene. No, they haven’t. They do make appearances … but they are mostly special appearances, guest appearances or friendly appearances; no main leads. Heroes / Heroines do visit a village but only to get married or to unite (or reunite) with a big Punjabi family. They leave the village, return to the village, or sometimes take a break there. But they do not stay there. I wonder why they can’t, at least occasionally.

Now, another interesting observation … during this same period (of last 15 years or so) the Bhojpuri cinema has seen a big revival. So much so that it is now well established and viable. In fact in places like Lucknow Bhojpuri films have substantial patronage and you can come across hoardings and poster s displaying titles like DAROGA BABU I LOVE YOU quite regularly. Well, my point is: has it anything to do by the neglect shown by the Hind filmmakers towards this niche audience?

Hindi cinema has certainly moved on and in doing so it definitely created a vacuum. It is quite possible that Bhojpuri cinema has moved in to fill that gap only. Whatever be the reason, the fact remains that, for the time being at least, we cannot expect a GANGA JAMUNA or a NADIYA KE PAAR, or even something like “Life in a … village”.

In February 2002 I was travelling from Doha to Lucknow via Delhi when I had a very brief accidental face to face encounter with Mr. Bachchan. At the domestic airport in New Delhi when I was standing on the small stand and being frisked by the security guy I suddenly heard a voice that sounded somehow familiar. Almost immediately Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav appeared on my right hand side and, without being frisked … naturally, moved to the other side of the security barrier. Another person followed him closely, this was Mr. Amar Singh. But both of them, having reached the other side, were waiting for someone. Then I heard Mulayam utter “Amitabh … aaiye”. But no one else emerged from behind me. Now, this made me turn back and yes, Mr. Bachchan was there. Unlike the other two gentlemen he had chosen to form a queque and was waiting behind me.

When I turned I found myself staring in Mr. Bachchan’s face not two feet away. Only an ordinary nobody can imagine what kind of expressions must have appeared on my face at that time. Though I had never considered myself so dumb but it actually happened that I found myself unable to utter a single word. Maybe the surprise of the encounter was too much. Well, I failed to greet him. But he didn’t. With a smile and a slight bow he greeted me as well as acknowledged my obvious shock. I, on my part, found myself even more startled and managed to just mumble God knows what and turn back to continue with the security check.

I am writing all this only to convey the fact that celebrities can win over people by their behavior also. Yes, I am not a big Amitabh fan (though I do acknowledge he is considered and treated as an icon) but this gesture of his (taking the lead in greeting an ‘aam aadmi’) has won my respect. The younger generation of celebrities would do well to learn that it is not only your work on screen but your acts in real life also that can get you new fans.

One more thing that I noticed and that impressed me was that so early in the morning (it was around 7 a.m. in Feb in Delhi) he was looking so fresh and energetic. I was just 35 then and he was around 60 and yet the difference in fitness was obvious.

Just to wrap up the peace, a few minutes later Mrs. Jaya Bachchan also made an entry and from the talk around I gathered that they were boarding some chartered flight. Those days elections were on in U.P. and Mr. Bachchan was the star campaigner for Mulayam Singh’s party.

In the good old days we used to have directors and we used to have writers. Most writers, of course, remained unknown or little known. Then came around Salim-Javed and films written by them used to be publicized with “Written by Salim-Javed” appearing in big bold letters on the hoardings. Anyways, Salim-Javed or whoever but mostly the two departments (direction and writing) were handled by different persons. There were a few glorious exceptions to the rule e.g. Vijai Anand and Gulzar. But nowadays it seems it has become the rule rather than the exception for the directors to write and direct. Now when a new director talks about his next project he invariably says “I am working on the script”. As if scripting is now a part and parcel of directing. What happened to the directors, I mean just directors? If you look around most of the big and well known names in direction are writing their own scripts, or are at least involved in writing. Be it Anees Bazmee, Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Rakeysh Mehra or even Siddharth Anand and Sajid Khan. Even some of those who kept away from writing in the past have joined the trend (Rakesh Roshan got involved with writing in Krrish). As of today, I think David Dhawan and Abbas Mustan are about the only big names who are content being just directors only. There must be some reason or the reasoning behind this trend. I do not know for sure (obviously) but here is my take at understanding this phenomenon. First of all we should understand that these guys not write because they want to become writers. No, they write because they want to become directors. Writing is their roadmap to the director’s chair. This way they can get there faster. We should also understand that everyone who enters the industry wants to become big. And it so happens that the biggest stars are either the actors or the directors. So if you do not have it in you to become a star actor, you aim for the next best thing. That’s also why you see so many producers, actors, writers, cinematographers, choreographers and even dress designers, virtually everyone, migrating to direction after a successful, or otherwise, stint in their first domain. Now, the way the film making process goes nowadays it makes it advantageous if you can write. To start from the beginning, to make a film you need a producer. If you have no previous track record (or if it is not a very impressive one) then no producer is going to touch you. So what to do? Well, get some star actor onboard and that will get the producers interested. Now, how to hook a star? Well, one sure way is to give them an opportunity to do something that they haven’t done before but would be game for. In other words give them a chance to extend themselves as an actor. That’s where your ability to write comes in handy. If you can custom write some script which shows this actor in a light never seen before, you are on. That’s why this trend is seen most often in the first-time directors. There are too many examples. To name just a few, Sriram Raghavan, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sajid Khan, Siddharth Anand, Tarun Mansukhani; why even Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar started with self written scripts. This theory gains strength when we see that some of these same names, once they have tasted success and got established, have shown the confidence to direct projects written by others. For example Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya had screenplay by his father, Karan Johar’s Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna had Shibani Bathija and Niranjan Iyenger as writers. By this time, writing was not a necessity. So, we see that being able to write is really a plus. It is a means to a coveted end. But sadly, it is not being regarded as an end in itself; at least not by too many. You hardly ever come across someone saying he has entered the industry to become a writer. Nor do you see established directors turning writers. It is a one-way traffic.