100 years of Indian Cinema- My Take

Carrying forward the brouhaha and hype on the 100 years of Indian cinema, I try and chip in my bit here. From the days of Raja Harishchandra to circa 2013, yes we have traveled quite a distance. Distances through technology, genre, approach and reflection of the society. Yet, the one thing that has remained constant, cinema has entertained us. We have laughed, cried, felt, and at times copied our silver screen avatars. From the days of silent movies to the talkies and then from black and white to colour, and with advances in sound, editing, color, film promotion and publicity, corporatism of the industry there have been several highs. Yet it does not come with it's lows too. Stories of stars like Parveen Babi or Rajesh Khanna or Meena Kumari, Smita Patil or Sanjeev Kumar or Madhubala or Guru Dutt, the list is endless, who have died a tragic death and have lived a life of mostly melancholy. So the industry can be unforgiving too.

Yet the medium enthralls all and takes into stride all that it can consume. In the process of course there are some gems that it carries and there are forgettable memories it carries too (perhaps of a bad film!).

What will I like to talk of on the 100 years of Indian Cinema. Well, personally I am a 70's, 80's and 90's man and hence to me cinema in those three decades have been one of witnessing and viewing and reviewing as well. Cinema has existed before that through more five plus decades, frankly speaking it will be unfair to comment on something on which I would have no command or capacity to comment. What it means to me, though cinema existed before me, I have more a first rate experience of the time line in which I saw them and more importantly relate to it. What about cinema of the decades gone by or prior to 1970's,  wasn't cinema at that time not good, yes it was, I can go back and watch movie of that period (before I was born) any number of times, but it will be unfair to comment and rather compare cinema of two different timelines. It is often like comparing Bradman and Sachin, they existed in different time lines and it will be unfair to compare.

I was introduced to cinema at a very young age, I remember tugging with my mother to watch a lot of Hindi, English, Bengali and cinema of the world. We could watch a lot of Hindi cinema. Varanasi (my then hometown) had a large Bengali population too and hence we could always manage to squeeze in a lot of Ray, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, Ritwik Ghatak and a few occasional mainstream cinema too. A few Hollywood movies also managed to wriggle into cinema halls (I do not know how) and I faintly remember there was a film club in Banaras Hindu Univeristy (BHU) where religiously my parents took me for a good number of years every Sunday to watch cinema of the world (but that was quite gibberish to me, then).

However, there was one thing I remember, in 1974 when Sholay released and my mother and two of her friends took me to watch it, after watching the menacing and horrifying Gabbar Singh, I ran temperature for a few days. So, literally pachas pachas kos duur koi gaon mein jab koi baccha ...

In our growing up years (in a true Hindi film style: jab se hosh samhala toh!) we saw a lot of Mithun da, Amitabh, the occasional art house cinema movement, lead from the front by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini, Mani Kaul, et al... and an occasional beauty here and there like Chasme Buddoor or Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro or Choti Si Baat etc. Remember these were not the so called art house and neither were they the typical masala pot-boilers being churned out. They were small, beautiful films, carrying the legacy of Hrishi Da and all.

The start of 70's was also the time when Subhash Ghai, Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, Yash Raj Chopra (he had already left his marquee in the last decade (60's) and was riding on the wave of his success), Ramesh Sippy and Gulzar (through the classic Mere Apne) to name a few were making there mark and with their brand of cinema. The start of 70's had actors like Dharmendra, Jeetendra, a occasional Dilip Kumar or Raj Kumar et al who were riding the wave of the past through the 50's and 60's. But the era clearly belonged to a man called Rajesh Khanna who was making his presence felt slowly and steadily with his brand of romance and emotions. He could not dance like Shammi Kapoor, he was neither a method actor like Dilip Saab or had the aura and charisma or Dharmendra, the charm of Jeetender or the luck of Rajendra Kumar. But he ruled and delivered countless hits through the 70's until his luck started running out and made way for the Big B, with a classic called Zanjeer.

But Amitabh was already there with beauties like Abhimaan, Chupke Chupke, alongside Rajesh Khanna in Anand and Namak Haram..., yet Zanjeer catapulted him to stardom. Amitabh ruled through the 80's (dozens of classic potboilers like Don, Namak Halal, Coolie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Sharaabi...) and then early 90's and he suddenly decided to leave cinema for good. This was also the time when Amitabh was reaching his twilight years (as the superstar) as the lead in a movie and making way for a lot of newbies like the so talented Govinda, the slew of star siblings like Kumar Gaurav, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, to name a few we remember and a few occasional blimps on the radar here and there (Rahul Roy, Suman Saigal and many such forgettable names).

However, what was fascinating, two heroines made their mark around this time, from the mid 80's till the mid 90's. And they were Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi. Till the 60's it was Nargis, Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Nutan who had strong women oriented characters built around them. Or these leading ladies had strong screen presence for audiences to sit up and take notice. It was significant because 100 years of cinema, unfortunately has not given too many opportunity for women to shine, barring a Mother India or Kahaani or Mirch Masala to name a few. Madhuri and Sridevi could dance, act and had very powerful screen presence, which to an extent made up for the absence of any visible or notable men stars of the period. They left (pity!) around the time when the industry was preparing for the next big thing.  

Between late 80's and early 90's saw the debut of three important outsiders (so called), Aamir Khan, Sharukh Khan and Salman Khan in that order, who went onto change a lot of things in the industry (in terms of how they approached work, how they approached social life, their opinions etc.) and they still continue and dominate the industry with close to two decades now.

A word on the birth of the parallel art house cinema simultaneously around this time was also a turning point. It showcased the struggling period of 70's and 80's in a stark new light. Some liked it, many disliked it, as it brought audience to a reality they did not want to experience. There was so much misery (as it is) all around and then getting to a cinema hall for entertainment was the last straw. Cinema in this period was gradually moving to a more larger than life status, especially with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and thereafter. With them or through them audiences or the new audience could do all those impossible things which was a dream. Rather the audiences (like us) were transformed to a new world of new hopes, fantasy and...  

In the previous two decades and prior to the so called birth of art house cinema, the cinema of Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, even Raj Kapoor or Hrishi Da, showcased reality through classics like Naya Daur, Sujata, Madhumati, Do Beegha Zameen, Shri 420, Pyaasa, Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam... but the approach of the "art" house cinema was different. Take for instance, two classics of the period, Manthan and Ardh Satya. They dealt with themes which were very much around and perhaps subconsciously. Manthan brought to us Smita Patil, the cooperative movement and the rustic-colorful Gujarat in a completely new light, never captured before. Ardh Satya, was raw, captivating and constantly shuttling between being nuanced and at times stark. Amrish Puri, Om Puri, Shafi Inamdar and Smita Patil in a lifetime of their performance. Later on, there was a slew, virtually with so many of them, Saath Saath, Katha, Suraaj Ka Satwa Ghoda, Ek Ruka Huwa Faisla, Party, Mandi, Bazaar, Ek Doctor ki Maut... the listless is endless and they were all blemishing the mainstream cinema of the masses.

In the later part of 1990's when the Khans started ruling the box office, the genre of art house cinema started taking a back seat and it brought in a new trend too. The realism of the society and the stark truths of those times, started getting juxtaposed with mainstream cinema. You could give the early credits of those to Mahesh Bhatt (with gems like Saaransh,  Arth, Janam,  and to an extent Naam) and his brand of cinema. However, later he went onto experiment with more breezy and lighter stuff. But the vintage Mahesh was perhaps the foundation stone to the later years experimentation in small budget cinema, which today has been kind of ruling the roost.

There are so many of them (Khosla ka Ghosla, Bheja Fry, Paan Singh Tomar, Kahaani, Manorama-Six feet under, Aamir, A Wednesday...) and so much of experimentation and so many young and new Directors around, that cinema today is taking a whole new meaning. To me I think the credit must go to Mahesh Bhatt, who thought of small, meaningful cinema, which the audience will love to watch in a "cinema hall". This is more true for the fact that most art house cinema of those days ran into distribution problem after they had ran the festival circuit.

In the later years, cinema became brighter, bigger and glitzier with corporatism of the industry. Today, there are the UTV's, Reliance, Eros, and a lot many who are trying to make the industry more organized. From the days of Bharat Shah and the hawala money etc. the industry has grown and moved in organised direction. Even before the release, the movie has made it's money with TV rights, overseas rights, video rights, music rights, distribution rights, phewww! So, if there is anything to be made from the release, just break even, and job is done. I remember a movie (Aisha!) and an utter trash like that had so many sponsors to help the movie break even and help the "poor" Anil Kapoor, make some "more"money. So cinema of today is smart marketing and even smarter salesmanship. Imagine the top 10 grossers of the last three years, which are mindless and out of place, a good case in point.

But in all cinema continues to entertain us and we wait for every Friday for a new release and the hope and anticipation that we carry inside the cinema hall (along with popcorn and Pepsi) is about the screen lighting up and transforming us to a world of bravura, temerity, being belittled, or the pathos of the moment. Let me pick up my top 10 (which was a really difficult thing to do, as in the process I missed out on so many films, but I have promised to myself that I shall do a series on genre based ranking, to do justice).

The list here does not follow any order, so do not thing they are ranked. Let me start with Khosla Ka Ghosla. Why does it feature here? Essentially for three reasons, ground breaking concept which was never explored, a cast which today seems irreplaceable and perhaps the debut of new age small budget cinema. The concept, story line and everything in between was contemporary and Dibakar never lost the plot even once. Every single character never went out of the mold and that was the joie de vivre through the film. Anupam Kher or Boman Irani or Rajesh Sharma or Rajendra Sethi or Navin Nischol (what a fantastic idea to have casted him in a role of a lifetime...) each one of them were absolutely fabulous and my best scene would be the one where Anupam Kher as a quite bystander watching his entire family plotting to get the piece of land back. His dilemma of whether to side with them or follow the rules, simply comes out so strongly without even uttering too many dialogues. This was vintage Anupam (the Saraansh days). This was a ground breaking movie in terms of how a small budget movie (till then cinema and entertainment was big banner, big stars, big marketing promo...) could  entertain us, make some money in the process too and not rely on the so called big star baggage. It reiterated what classic cinema was all about, good and a tight script, terrific acting and topicality of the message. And if you have not seen the movie, stop reading this and head for the nearest DVD library and if you have, go for a rerun.

The next, Khamosh is a jewel from Vidhu Vinod Chopra (God! what has happened to him off-late, is he the same man who made this classic or Parinda or when he was assisting Kundan Shah in Jane Bhi Do...) and this one to me has to be ranked among the classic crime thriller. We have had many in this genre and this includes the classic Kahaani too. But why Khamosh. Purely because through the entire film you are left wondering who is the "killer". The lazy pace of the film only adds to the ravel and just as you seem to be thinking it is all over and voila, a new chapter unfold. It is like the Turkish delight, baklava. The script is top class and you have some of the biggest names in acting heavyweights like Amol Palekar, Nasseruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Pankaj Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra (?), Soni Razdan to name a few, the quirkiness in the script and of the characters lent a complete whodunit kind of feel to the movie. The locales of the movie (Kashmir) and the backdrop of the script, a movie (a classic Bollywood potboiler- Akhri Khoon) being shot in a movie was different and it is a pity the audience never appreciated the movie. In later years when the movie started doing the rounds of DVD etc., that it picked up. But this is a classic Vidhu Vinod Chopra, a classic Murder suspense thriller and a classic that goes in as one of the finest and smartest movies to have been produced from the Chopra banner. It is no point giving away the plot as it would be a spoiler, so head for a DVD if you haven't.

My third in line (again I reiterate, these are not ranked), is Amitabh's classic Deewar. I am sure everyone has been through the process (I say that, because each scene is a process) of watching Deewar. I hadn't seen Amitabh before in a way Yash Chopra decided to create the character of Vijay. Angry, brooding, dark, and never for one second in the entire movie that Amitabh comes of out of the character of Vijay. Not even in the now famous climax (a dying Amitabh in the arms of his mother). This is classic Bollywood and is a sheer joy, watching scene after scene. The one that strikes me again and again, “Tum log mujhe dhund rahe ho aur main tumhara yaha intezar kar raha hun”  Even the guy who did Peter's role has gone in the annals of history. The fact that, the movie for the first time showcased a character, who when mouthing such lines about impossible to perform tasks seemed believable is what also makes the movie utterly watchable. In his biography of work Amitabh went onto do so many films and of so many kinds, but this one has to be his swan song. Every scene every moment and every frame captures the largeness of the characters and the movie time and again. This is a classic not to be missed and for what cinema is worth it, this takes the cake.

Main Hoon Na! A lot of critics would sneer and snort. Main Hoon Na, why? To that I again go back to what cinema has been all about, perhaps the famous lines of Vidya Balan in Dirty Picture, entertainment, entertainment and entertainment... is best summed up with Main Hoon Ma. In a way there are several moments in the movie that accumulates to a world of fantasy and a make believe and for a good three hours you are transfixed there. A superb script by Abbas Tyrewala (where is he, after that delectable gem he delivered with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na) and topped up with Shahrukh's larger than life appeal (he is best at this), Kirron Kher's histrionics, Susmita Sen's chiffon-moments and Amrita Rao's grunge-ness, and the movie has it all. Farah Khan and her team knew exactly what will sell and where the puns and the jerks required. Take for instance the scene where Sharukh Khan discovers his long lost brother Lucky (Lakshman) through the computer database or where Susmita Sen walks into the college for the first time or the qawaali number by Sonu Nigam. There are several such moments that makes the film a repeat viewing every time it is back on the TV. Total time pass, fultoo entertainment and what else do you want. That is what cinema all about! What say?

Rangeela and Satya are two films of completely different genre and guess what! they both are from Ram Gopal Verma. I frankly cannot understand what happened to him in the last few years but these two little gems he created speaks volumes of his talent. Satya, a raw, edgy and very sharp movie with a superb script by Anurag Kashyap + Saurabh Shukla and mind blowing background score by Sandeep Chowta. The movie had everything going for it. It was one of those experimental movies based on the Mumbai underworld (there were and there are many such movies that continue to come out on this genre) and perhaps it captured the moments in it's veritable best. The sudden-ess of situations, the way Satya's edgy and often diffused life tends to merge with the simplistic life of her girl, Vidya (so effeminate and subversive) is a melancholy in itself. Alongside this innocence of Urmila tending to diffuse with the brazen-ness of the protagonist are the characters like Bhiku, Kaalu Mama and Bhau Thakur. Even Bhiku and his wife's heterogeneity in characters are remarkable elements of the film. The sheer class of the movie (often labeled as Tarantino-ish) comes from the depths it could unravel for the first time in the seedy Mumbai underbelly and eventually went onto influence a slew of films. It has to be one of those most influential cinemas to have come out in the last three decades.

Rangeela, a musical on the other hand explore a completely different genre. Musical. The movie belonged to Aamir Khan, A.R. Rehman and in parts to Urmila. The sheer genius of Rehman and the sounds he managed to create. Listen to the classic Ai Ai O Kuch to Bolo and the rapturous Tanha Tanha. They catch the mood and moment as like a classic musical. You have to give Aamir and his friend Rajesh Joshi (Pakya) full credit. The classic scenes, the first where Pakya and Munna are blackmailing tickets, the yellow dress sequence of Aamir, the moment where he rehearses with Urmila her lines (this is vintage Aamir, he has to act expressionless and bring the expression of sounding expressionless), finally, Saroj Khan and Ahmed Khan's choreography did full justice...watch it again

Let me now talk of two small films, Choti Si Baat and Chasme Buddoor. Both, stood out for their simplicity and huge depths of acting talent that was explored. There were many films or are many films that I might have missed out or would have sacrificed at the altar, but the reason why they seem to be right up there, you can be so simple in your film making approach and yet deliver a classic. Choti si baat with Amol Palekar, Asrani and Ashok Kumar's minimalist approach to acting and yet delving into the depths was remarkable to me. A simple plot and perhaps capturing the spirit of Bombay of the 70's was amazing and same was the case with Chasme Buddoor, and the classic Delhi of the early 80's. Farooq Sheikh, Rajesh Bedi and Ravi Baswani teaming up and with a fantastic support provided by Saeed Jaffrey and Dipti Naval. They are two jewels one can go back and watch and watch and watch...it is cinema in a completely different league and unfortunately I have not seen any such movie of that period (captured so beautifully) for a long long time. Even the small Amitabh-Rekha cameo in Chasme Buddoor to me was a classic hyperbole. There were other little gems like Katha, Chitchor, and so many of them, around that time but pity I had to sacrifice. Do watch these two first and then head for the bucket list.

Finally, Sholay! Do I have to say anything!

I sum up my piece with the classic line from Sholay, that perhaps sums up the 100 years of Indian cinema into a climax, "Yuki apne toh hamara naam pucha hi nahi,", "Tumhara Naam kya hai Basanti". Perhaps this obviousness reflected in our cinema is what makes the journey so fascinating and immersing. Be it boy meets girl (sometimes killing), father resisting a relationship (at times fostering), the melancholic (now alcoholic at times) mother, a trigger happy villain (sometimes psychotic) capturing his birthright or an occasional comedian making his distinctively stylised approach! So let us get on board for a journey of another 100 years! All aboard! Ship Ahoy!