AYE MERE DIL KAHIN AUR CHAL

AYE     MERE      DIL   KAHIN    AUR   CHAL

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     There are many moments of the  past which make me happy. Strangely, incidents in modest and simple surroundings/circumstances have given me more happiness than even travelling  to foreign locales. Among many such adolescent/childhood memories are the moments watching those countless ‘Black and White’ films in Allahabad. ‘Morning shows’, at various distant cinema halls were meticulously followed through the information in ‘Northen Indian Patrika’. ‘Palace’ was nearest at civil lines, others such as ‘Moti Mahal’, ‘Vishambhar’ were far; later ‘Jhankar’ also screened old cinema.

    Those days the popular  culture was not hit by the Television invasion and the citizens were not caged in their drawing rooms chained to the ‘Soap Operas’. Many cinema Halls screened old films at ‘reduced rates’, because the new releases could not keep pace with the number of Cinema Halls, and therefore the ‘reruns’ of old films were a norm. More so, as the cost of print at that time was very high ,even new releases were screened in only one Cinema Hall, and very rare we would witness a release in two Halls- ‘Sholay’ and ‘Bobby’, were exceptions . The reruns gave us a chance to see the Cinema of the yesteryears and appreciate the Art of Dilip Kumar, Balraj Sahni etc. They were still in reckoning but the best years were behind them. They belonged to the generation of my father, but still we liked them  as the world was moving slow then and the gulf between the generations was tolerable. Unlike the young of today who make faces whenever an old song plays on TV or a yesteryear Actor appears.

  However I am writing to day of  the intense impact  the film ‘Daag’ ( 1954, Dilip Kumar-Nimmi starrer) had on me when I saw it in the late sixties/early seventies. I may have been 12-13 old then and had by then bitten by the movie bug. My parents too never restricted  my love for the movies and the entire family on occasions witnessed the new releases by booking tickets in advance. It was always a big family outing and often an award at the end of the Annual examination or receipt of results. We  three brothers would dress well, make our hair in style of the Hero we were worshipping at that point in time, make gestures copying the Hero on the poster, utter some famous dialogues from the film or recite songs made famous by then; this used to be our ritual prior to witnessing the film ;after return from the Hall, the story with dialogues was narrated to our friends and relatives  and for days I was specially affected  by the charm and beauty of the heroine and imagined her to be mine.

   However at the  beginning of my cinematic affair the avenues and opportunities were few owing to my age as I had yet not embarked on college life and therefore my solitary movements were marked to the borders of my colony; Ashok Nagar .Therefore we looked for alternate cinematic experience and my friend’s residence was one such place. His father too was fond of cinema so much so that he would regularly walk to cinema halls in the evening after the end of his walk and return home on rickshaw; he was an eminent professor in the University. He was member of the ‘Chalchitra vibhag’ and could loan films for private screenings. We children therefore saw many good films at my friend’s place on his 16mm projector- ‘Kanoon’, ‘Bahu-Rani’, ‘Kundan’ are some of the films I still recall. Films were also shown to us at our school- St Joseph’s Academy; ‘Kohra’ is one suspense film which terrified us to the extent that we students had made a cluster in the middle of the hall and our chairs were all hugging each other ;it was a sight at the end of the show1

 Returning to ‘Daag’, it remains in my memory as the earliest film I saw for free , on the Annual Day celebrations of the ‘Valmiki School’ which was just opposite the ‘Chakbandi’ office at the beginning of the Ashok Nagar crossing. ‘Valmiki School’ as my memory goes was a municipal school with rudimentary structure , classrooms with tin roof in straight lines on three sides. A big tamarind tree provided shade to a large  grassless ground in the center. As it grew dark we were on the ground swatting on a mat which was partly provided and covered some portion of the ground. Soon the ground was filled with  people , they were standing along the wired boundary wall, on the roof top, on the adjoining trees.

 The film began and I was transferred to another world. It was a simple story of Dilip Kumar whose weakness was drinking, despite his girlfriend’ and mother’s ( Nimmi and Lalita Pawar)advise and remonstrations  he is unable to quit this habit , however one day he is sobered and leaves his village for a job in town, on his return one day he finds his mother is dead, he takes to drinking again and dies in the end. However what has remained with me forever ‘etched’  is the song – Aye mere dil kahin aur chal, gham ki duniyan de dil bhar gaya, mein yahan jite ji mar gaya…. Sung by Talat Mahmood, composed by Shankar Jaikishan and penned by Shailendra, this song is soul stirring and appears in the film on many occasions. The long shot of Dilip returning triumphantly to his village suitcase in hand and the song on his lips still haunts me. The strong and yet melodious sound of the ‘Piano-accordion’ is the core of that song.

  Even now, whenever I hear the song the sound   takes me to those happy moments , moments of freedom, imagination, creativity. It remains a moment of ‘Catharsis’ for me; always!

HINDI -- FORTNIGHT

                                HINDI - FORTNIGHT

( HINDI - PAKHWARA )

14 September is devoted as 'Hindi Day' in Government Offices and Organizations . The first and second fortnights of September are devoted to the propagation of Hindi. An Organization may opt for any of the two for the purpose. One witnesses during such days Banners /Posters conveying that Hindi Pakhwara is in session from 14 to 28 Sep etc..

Why do we devote a day, a fortnight, a month in a year for something which is alive! Or is Hindi Dead? Ironically, the fortnight precedes the fortnight which is devoted by Hindus to remember their dead ancestors--- The Pitri Paksh. Do the devotees of Hindi consider it as a mercy/compensation granted to them in an era where English has triumphed it as the desire of the millions though even after 66 years of Independence not more than 6% speak the English language.

Some thoughts would be appropriate on the occasion : Firstly,no language can be propagated by imposition or by a diktat . The people should be willing to learn it on their own. Two factors play an important role in the development of a language; Language should be connected to employment/commerce/economy and there should be a genuine love for the language. However love is not enough. The case in point is of Urdu which is loved by many, but not accepted by many.

English is spoken today by millions all over the world, not because of its beauty or any other great value but because the English ruled the world. Shakespeare is known to us because of the East India Company, whereas Henrik Ibsen the great Norwegian playwright is not as famous because of the restriction of the language as Norwegians did not colonize the nations.

Proliferation of Hindi through Sarkari means has not done any good to the language . Inadvertently though,the biggest contribution to the growth of the language is through the Hindi films and songs; both old and new. People's love of Cinema!

Administration/commerce/education/economy gives fillip to the language as was the case of Persian earlier which was the Court language, and later English which fetched jobs. Hindi will continue to lag behind in the economic field but may maintain its position in the cultural field, mainly in the popular culture. Hindi does not give 'jobs' and therefore from villages to small towns to cities the 'English-medium' schools are a big business!

The Sarkari solution is three languages- English -Hindi- a regional language. It is possible if we inculcate the same from schools. Study of languages is easy from childhood, what we should generate is acceptance. But acceptance of the many languages is linked to our acceptance of each other.

Language , perhaps next to religion is the most sensitive issue among communities and remains always a highly volatile and emotional issue, the most logical people sound so illogical and unreasonable on the question of ' Language'. However the issue has remained dormant in India and the matter of Hindi has not been progressed considering the other pressing problems of the State such as economy, integration and other conflicts. Ta mil Nadu does raise the question of Hindi whenever it has problems with the Centre. Nehru's balanced and sensible approach in moving slowly in the question of Hindi has avoided aggravation of the issue.

It is indeed ironical that the people are ready to accept English as the Language of Administration and education but not adopt an Indian Language as its National Language. Till then Hindi will continue to entertain the masses with its songs and 'soap operas' !

VISITING TWO FADING IDEOLOGIES

VISITING TWO FADING IDEOLOGIES

A few days ago I happened to visit the Fort Area of Mumbai and was negotiating the lane ( Yazdani Bakery) connecting Elphinstone Building( Akbaraleej area) to the Phirozshah Mehta Road . I had passed through the area many times and soon on my arrival in Bombay in 1981 had visited the place. There used to be ' The People's publishing house' flourishing then next to the office of The 'BLITZ' which too has faded along with the other many 'weeklies'.The 'PPP's prominence diluted with the break up of The Soviet Union and soon the shutter of the shop remained permanently down, but whenever I passed that lane I did glance to the side to remind of the days gone by. I was a regular to the shop and had purchased many books of Soviet literary authors- Chekov, Dostovasky,and children story books, these were not only reasonably priced but were of good binding and paper, my daughter still remembers the story of 'Masha and the Bear' and we have named our she dog -Masha! And, therefore the other day too as I looked to the side I was surprised to see the shutter up, and walked to the shop to see that the place has been named as 'People's Book House' on inquiry I learn t that now it is run by a Trust of the Communist Party of India. I was happy to see books on display, and though the subsidy of the Sovietraj did not exist some of the old collections were visible such as Dostovasky's 'Crime and Punishment' I also purchased the 1987 print of 'Ten days which shook the world ' the famous book of John Reed describing the Russian Revolution. Also on display were Hindi literary and Marathi literary works, the CPI mouth piece 'New Age' could be seen in one corner much thinned and dulled as reflection of its party's present state! I have some affinity toward 'PPP', from my Allahabad University days, sometimes we friends visited the 'Nilaabh prakashan' next to the the ever 'decadent-vibrant' 'coffee-house' in civil lines. The PPP books were available at 'Nilaabh', the publication of the famous Hindi writer Upendranath Ashk, named after his son, interestingly during my last visit I chanced to enter 'Nilaabh' and to my dismay found it in a dismal state-faded books,very few in number , the staff unconcerned sitting in the middle talking among themselves waiting for the day to end. My father had gifted me the twin volumes of Dostovasky's, 'The Idiot', purchased from there which I still possesses.

The very day I happened to visit the 'Khadi Gram Udyog' at D N Road. It is a very big departmental store containing various items made by village cooperatives such as Kurta-Pyjamas, silk clothes,shoes , brass artifacts , honey, books etc. But the place has not kept pace with time and is marred by the usual sarkari pace and inefficiency . I purchased two kurtas and two pyjamas to cater to the warm season ahead, somehow in spite of the mall culture and return of the ethnic wear the quality of cloth is inferior in Fabindia and therefore I find 'Khadi' offering variety to be true to itself even if it lacks market skills. My association with Khadi dates back to the times when during oct-nov months coinciding with the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi ( 02 Oct ) Khadi clothes were sold at heavy discount and we purchased our year's requirement then only, crowd used to overflow and stalls were erected even outside the premises. Now no more discount exists and the rates of the items match with the biggest brands .I wondered therefore that by accident today I stumbled upon the two posts of the crumbling ideologies- Marxism and Gandhism, and felt sad at the decline of the two very relevant ideas, at the same time it was a little reassuring to note that all was not dead and the ideology even though low was not completely defunct.

It is not always important to be dominant but what is important is to keep the struggle on and inspire new struggles and in a way the struggle of 'Aam Aadmi 'party and 'Anna's 'movement is tribute to the Left and Gandhian ideologies!

'AND ALL IS SAID'---- BY ZAREER MASANI ( PENGUIN PUBLICATION)

'AND   ALL   IS  SAID'    BY    ZAREER   MASANI

                                   ( PENGUIN     PUBLICATION)

This is the story by Zareer Masani of himself, his father Minoo Masani and mother Shakuntala. A family biography of sorts. This is a story  of achievement and suffering. A story of cultural sophistication and inability to apply the same in one’s family life . A story of three wonderful individuals who could not cope collectively.

    

     Firstly, it is the story of Shakuntala  Srivastava who was one of the three daughters of Sir J P Srivastava an industrialist during the British Raj, he was also a minister in the viceregal council who owned cotton mills in Kanpur. Shakuntala was brought up in the lap of luxury and tutored by foreign Governesses, studied in Nainital and welham girls' school , but revolted and fled to Mumbai in order to be different and independent. She was  talented and cultured, an art collector with genuine insight and interest in that subject, she  also wrote  books  for children and one of her biography on Nehru for children was very popular.

   The second story is of Minoo Masani who  studied in London school of economics and was  a barrister with left leanings  whom Shakuntala met in Mumbai. He had made a place for himself in the freedom movement, was the founding member of the congress socialist party and an associate of Jai Prakash Narain.  Minoo, later formed the Swatantra party and turned a right winger ,an original thinker whom our Prime Minister Manmohan considers his mentor/influence, he was an elected member of parliament from Rajkot and leader of opposition.  His father had come up the hard way and rose to be knighted and be the vice chancellor of Bombay university. 

      
    The third story is of Zareer their only son, fearful of his father and possessive of his mother,his sexuality causes him much trauma and tribulations. He contributes in the conflict between the couple arising out ambition,lack of commitment and temperament. The child too is torn on occasions  between the two religions and cultures - Parsi and Hindu, despite the apparent maturity of his grand parents from both sides.

    The conflict between the couple reaches a point of no return when Shakuntala joins Indira Gandhi in 1967 and canvasses for her whereas her husband campaigns  as an opposition candidate without his wife in Rajkot and loses. Thereafter their relationship leads to a bitter divorce which drags on for about two decades.

     

Zareer finds solace in London and becomes a writer  and later the incharge of BBC current affairs programme, he also wrote biography on Indira which was ironically banned during the emergency.

    What marks the book in addition to the poignancy of the story is the language of Zareer, so restrained, simple and yet polished and apt.

    The story is recommended for a film. Our audience is now prepared for some serious socio-political drama and the story of Masanis is ripe for celluloid adaptation.

ALLAHABAD DIARY - DR NARVANE AND TIKA SINGH - THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE BUTLER EXTRAORDINARIE

ALLAHABAD DIARY

Dr V S NARVANE AND TIKA SINGH -- THE PHILOSOPHER AND THE BUTLER EXTRAORDINAIRE

    Tika Singh came as a child servant to the residence of Dr V S Narvane the professor of Philosophy at the University of Allahabad. He came as many did in the fifties and the sixties of the last century in search of employment, from the hills of the then Uttar Pradesh to the plains. He belonged to Kumaun region which is now part of Uttarakhand state, and hailed from district Almora. He was a simple , sincere young lad, and as Narvanes were kind and generous couple he was happy in their home.

The Narvane's home was named 'Shanti- Kunj' and was situated in the calm settings of the Hastings road in the dull and laid back city of Allahabad .Few cars moved on the main road and mostly rickshaw and cycles ply ed lazily to their destination, either to Ashok Nagar at one end or to civil lines /High court at the other. Sometimes there would be some crowd near the entrance gate of the Circuit house during the visits of some prominent leader, which was about diagonal to the Narvane's home, but since the entrance gate was at far distance it did not disturb them and mattered little. However, occasionally it would create some excitement when some person known to Dr Narvane would be there at the Circuit house and he would be in dilemma to meet him or not. After all; Dr Narvane was an ex-Muerian ( now A N Jha hostel of Allahabad University) and had prominent historians and politicians such as Dr Nurul Hasan, V .P .S ingh, Arjun Singh and Satish Chandra as his friends and students from the University , but since he had not kept contact with them for long there was this minor hesitation.

      The Narvane's home was aesthetically done, and though he had specialized in philosophy he was an excellent speaker on Indian culture and literature, later he was a regular visiting Professor at U S colleges and lectured on aesthetics, philosophy and culture. He also wrote books on 'Philosophy', 'Indian literature' and 'Mythology' such as 'Modern Indian Thought', ' On Premchand' and 'Sharatchandra' . His father was an engineer who had come to Allahabad from Pune and had made the city his home. He first had some property near Rambagh station but after his demise the family brought the land near Ashok Nagar and built their new home.

There was a wide support system in the house to assist Indu, wife of Dr Narvane who was a petite lady, full of grace and intellect and a charming hostess ,and was indeed a big support to Dr Narvane in his research and endeavors. In addition to Tika Singh there was Girdhari's family. Whilst Girdhari pulled rickshaw and sometimes served as the Gardner, his wife and occasionally the elder daughter helped in kitchen. It is my view that very few homes have the arrangements ,artifacts, garden etc done in any methodical manner, most go by the random concept, haphazard and in conformity to the fashion or the taste of the elite, but Dr Narvane's home reflected his personality and ideology, the colors , design had the stamp of his image and underlying simplicity. There were variety of trees grown in Allahabad- mango, guava ,papaya jamun,lemon, bel and many local flowers- chameli, champa, harshringar, which were found in his house. Sometimes Dr Narvane would tend the garden himself. The kitchen garden was sufficient to provide supplement throughout the year.

As a domestic help Tika Singh proved to be an asset, specially considering that after some years Mrs Narvane was afflicted by arthritis and was restricted to her wheel chair most of the time. Despite the well knit support system of helpers in the house Dr Narvane and his wife had trust and faith and dependence in Tika Singh who had in later years had bigger responsibilities to look after the house during long absences of Dr Narvane to Foreign lands on lecture tours. Tika graduated qualitatively under the guardianship of Narvanes into a fine cook, driver, house keeper, accounts keeper and all that which a household requires.

In the initial years as the philosophy lecturer Dr Narvane was a known Marxist. My father was his pupil and respected him for his knowledge and as an erudite speaker. He remembered his famous tribute to Stalin on his death,at the University hall however like many like him he too was disillusioned with the Stalin's policies revealed later by Khrushchev and advocated for democracy, and could be called a Nehruvian and like him wrote and spoke very lucidly.

Actually, we children came close to the family of Narvane's as my father during his student days was a student leader of leftist leanings and therefore was close to his teacher , his lectures were looked forward to by the students and he did make good preparation and often entered a little late in 'style' hurriedly which made an impact, even Arjun Singh who was also his student has also talked highly of him and on the impact it made on him in his 'Autobiography'. Once he delivered a lecture at our 'Elysium' club on the subject of 'Indian and Western Art' and we all University students were mesmerized with his rendition of the subject. I also learnt that Dr Narvane for a brief period was so disillusioned with the caste politics of Allahabad University when he felt that he was not getting his due as per his merit with regard to his promotion that he along with his colleague shifted to Pune University . However there too he was considered an outsider despite being a Maharashtrian and so returned to Allahabad. However his talent could not remain hidden and soon he was a regular visiting professor to the universities in U. S. I recall as children we would give our shopping lists to him when he proceeded to U.S. And, thereafter waited for the goodies to arrive , my first Lee wise jeans was brought by Narwane saab , of course my father made all the payments.

In the earlier years he took his wife regularly with him and spent 4-5 months in a year in lecture tours, but later when Indu was unable to take the long journeys owing to her health which confined her to her home most of the time , he traveled alone which he had to in order to sustain economically. During such long absences it was Tika Singh who took care of her and the house.

With years Tika Singh evolved from an obedient servant into a 'Man friday' a sophisticated butler, he was the pillar of support for the couple. Cook, driver, nurse , liaison man;everything and was part of the family -the 'Narvane Trio'. To me Tika appeared like a Army Subedar of the Kumaun Regiment, may be sub-consciously he fashioned himself in that mould /manner. Slim, of middle height and tanned complexion, farmer features, hair crew cut, shoes brown always well polished, woolen pants generally worn by military or police personnel, he would talk in measured tone and had a nasal tinge to his voice .

On many occasions foreign friends of Narvane would stay with them and it was the duty of Tika to show them around, he had become a minor guide of Allahabad. Sometimes when the visits of Dr Narvane had become more frequent I wondered if he was having a mistress or a lady friend there , but Tika never mentioned any such thing of the household. He had accompanied them in the earlier years all over India in their 'Morris' and was life long faithful to it .

Once Dr Narvane mentioned that they had employed Tika Singh as a child so that he could be moulded according to the requirement of the household and had purposely not given him formal schooling so that he does not leave them! It was a chilling admission ! What an irony it was that a professor who once professed of Marxism and was an advocate of modern democracy had such failing! Insecurity; makes us do strange things.

Tika never brought his family for many years and would proceed in the summers for about a month to his native place to be with his children and wife. Many years later when his children had grown he brought them to Allahabad for education and they did perform well to make him proud and compensate for his lack of formal education. His elder son was indeed good in studies and later, obtained a good Government job. He had a small cottage behind the main house which he too had done up tastefully imbibed in the company of his master! Once he called us to dinner at his home and what he served us was no different from what was served at the Narvane's residence- continental, pudding, a maharashtrian preparation, a kumauni dish. Living under the shadows of a connoisseur he had acquired expertise in the areas which he could imbibe and had suitably compensated for his inadequacies on account of lack of education. I still remember the delicious 'basin ke laddoo ' he made and we all looked forward to it.

Tika saw his dreams being fulfilled in his children. When Mrs Narvane passed away a part of him was perished too, she was like a mother to him though it was he who 'mothered' her! Dr Narvan's visits to US became frequent and longer , and one day he arrived with a new foreign wife , middle aged, ordinary looking but good natured we were told, we understood his need for a companion.

Dr Narvane had willed his home to his neice whom he treated as his daughter and had performed 'kanya daan' on her marriage, but it was stated in his will that Tika is to stay in the house till the time he desires to. My own assessment of Dr Narvane and Mrs Narvane was that their home had 'harmony ' and a certain 'balance' , I looked forward to going there and engage the couple in intellectual discussion on varied subjects, they would always talk in soft tones and never loudly, never I found them agitated. Mrs Narvane was also well read and participated in the discussions with sound insight. Such people are a rarity these days , and I miss them as I miss the days of Allahabad.

As far as the relationship between Tika and Dr Narwane was concerned, It was a unique relationship of mutual insecurities or was Tika the 'Caliban' to Narvane the 'Prospero' !

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CINEMA      AND     THE      ROLE            OF    AN          ARTIST

CINEMA    AS   AN     ART.   I   wish     to speak   of  Cinema  strictly as a form of Art. Art  that is modern in the sense high technology and Science is applied to arrest  a cinematic sequence and further process it. Otherwise like any other expression  of    Art  , Cinema too demands sensitivity, imagination and precision . Tagore had said that ‘Cinema is a visual flow of images’. It is an audio-visual medium where the visual is more important.

INGREDIENTS OF ALL ARTS AND ITS AMALGAMATION.     It  has ingredients of all kinds of Art and  even Literature, but still it is not one of them. It has the narrative of story, the tension of  Drama, the rhythm of dance and the sound of music. But still ; Cinema is Cinema! Whereas in other mediums the artist is restricted in expressing his emotions to the fullest, in cinema  there is no limitation. In other art forms an artist has to dilute his imagination, and execute with restrain, owing to economy of canvas and space. However, it is only in Cinema where a filmmaker  has no restrictions . There is no limitation of canvas, colour, contour, angle, space and time; only of finance! Though every art provides creative satisfaction to its creator , the art of cinema is so enchanting and powerful that it has almost swallowed all other arts in the recent times . The exposure and reception  that cinema has got few other forms have achieved. The reason is its wide circulation ,its permanence unlike Drama which is temporary and momentary and its availability, which is astounding.

    We have watched Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Ali Akbar Khan providing music for films, but their music remains only an element. Its relevance is with the film. Similarly great dramatists and story writers have lent their works for films and often they complain that movies made on their stories and drama are not to their satisfaction. The film maker has not done justice to their subject. The fault is of no one , it is only that when a story is made into a film it acquires a different dimension. It is expressed through a different medium. Once a story or drama is lent for a film it must be realized in cinematic terms. Very few story writers have cinematic vision! Once it is made into a film it becomes the work of the Director and how he visualizes it in cinematic language. War and Peace the movie is not by Tolstoy but by its director. Similarly  ‘Devdas’  is not by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhya, but by Bimal Roy. It is like sacrificing your child to be adopted by the other. Once you have given it you forget it, the director will give it  new colour and form.

COMMERCIAL FILM MAKERS- BASER FEELINGS.   No Art is moral or immoral . It is either good or bad. Like Literature it is also subjective, but still there are ways and means of judgement, At first, that kind of cinema could be discarded which is made essentially to make money, where the basic purpose of the producer is to tempt the masses and cater to their baser feelings. They operate like any other commercial firm exploiting the vulnerability of the masses. Religious sentiments, and even at times Patriotism and Nationalism. True cinema is one which is inspired and influenced by the social and human reality which surrounds it.

MAN REMAINS AT THE CENTRE OF CREATION.  Man’s endeavour, his complexities ,his  relationships, his beauty, his vanity and the  futility of it all is portrayed  in cinema. All other things are either related  or subservient to man. Man means humanity man means nature. The  most perfect creation of nature. The sun rising is the symbol of man’s power and the sun setting  its impermanence. The wind gushing and the sea rushing reflect his robust and passionate disposition.

REALTY- LOCAL- STARK BUT BEAUTIFUL.   Every art has something local about it. So has cinema. The realty which surrounds a film maker is the Indian reality but what is generally portrayed is so confusing and absurd that it is hard to identify with anything, far is being motivated. Reality does not mean stark humanism, but portrayed in a positive manner. ‘Godfather’, is a good film but it is an American reality, it has its universal appeal, but its local flavour to which we can’t subscribe  is potent and essential. So how can we ‘ape’ that cinema? Their gestures ,mannerisms, clothes, movements are different . Our reality is ‘Paar’,’Damul’, so was ‘Pather Panchali’. One cannot gain anything from the reality of others. Each one of them has an element of seriousness ,commitment to its medium, and harmony between manner and matter. Works of Charlie Chaplain in spite of being apparently comical  in pattern have this commitment to medium and element of  seriousness.

ARTIST-FIELD OF ART. There is no democracy in the field of art. All those who are competent and efficient can join and contribute in its progress, but there is no socialism. All cannot join it for it is for the sensitive and creative few. It was like this always, it will be the same for ever. The doors of Art are open to all ;only few can enter. There is harmony, integration, unity in the field of creation. All are complementary to each other. They are far removed from the commercial world of competition. Much above the infighting of caste, class and religion. We have Ustad Bismillah Khan playing Shehnai in the temples of Benaras, Richard Attenborough making ‘Gandhi’  and Dagar brothers singing Dhrupad.

CONFLICT-ROLE OF AN ARTIST-ART FOR ART’S SAKE.  There is  a conflict since time long as to what shall be the role of an artist. Art for Art’s sake or Art as reflection of social reality in order to change it. Conflict between manner and matter, form and content, cinematic effect and thematic effect. In Indian cinema we have two great figures representing this conflict- Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. But with time both have struck a new combination. Mrinal Sen has become less didactic and Ray has become more worried and committed One group says that how can one avoid the tension, the ugliness of life, the exploitation. The role of an Artist is to portray the ‘Truth’ and truth is that the world is unhappy, there is violence, to which we are conditioned.

NEO REALISM-SURREALISM-EXISTENTIALISM-EXPRESSIONISM.  Neo- Realism movement which started in Italy and later in Europe by the great film maker Vettero-de-sica soon after the second world war. The movies portrayed the wounded  civilization and even now the theme of the European films is ‘War’ and its traumas, so much are they stunned by the sad turn of human behaviour. Writers like Virginia Woolf committed suicide. New artists started new movements. Surrealism, Existentialism; wherein painting and cinema the very existence of man was questioned. The theatre of  ‘the Absurd’, ‘of Silence’, ‘of cruelty’ and the new wave cinema of France by filmmakers like Godard and Truffaut and Fellini of Italy came to the scene. Expressionism, was given rise in Germany and influenced the cinema of Bergman and many others.

CINEMA FOR MEDIUM SAKE-MONSOON TO CREATE BEAUTY, POSITIVE. There is another group which believes that cinema is for cinema’s sake . The role of an artist is to create beauty, to portray beauty, to abandon negativism and to portray only the positive side .    To preserve the finer qualities and abandon the baser one’s. For example monsoon is marked in music by raag malhar, singing of Kajri, ladies swaying on a swing, applying mehndi, even the animal kingdom comes alive, the cuckoo sings and the peacock dances. At the same time the monsoon brings in flood, destroys the harvest, causes diseases , land slide and other natural calamities but the artist never portrays the negative aspect. For him monsoon  symbolises meeting of woman and the man which  results in rain and creation-  greenery, life, freshness, beauty. They feel that the  man who suffers and the man which creates are different. This conflict will go on and so will be the Artists. Bimal Roy- ‘Do Bigha Zameen,  Ray’s’ Ashani Sankeet’ portrayed reaction to monsoon differently.

ART AND CRAFT. Art and craft are different. A good craftsman can be a filmmaker but never an artist. Glaring examples are the Hollywood films with master craftsmanship, but the elevating effect is least. ‘Star Wars’  was one of them. The recently released New Delhi Times was straining for effect. Role of an artist is to create beauty and not to portray what is already beautiful. A hilly landscape of Kashmir is beautiful and will always remain beautiful. It is the Artist’s search for new colours and combinations , new forms and outlines, images and symbols which result in new creation.

(I HAD PREPARED THIS SPEECH  IN 1980 AS PART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING  THEREFORE  SOME  REFERENCES ARE OF THAT TIME, MY VIEWS THOUGH HAVE MODIFIED BUT THE FUNDAMENTALS HAVE REMAINED UNCHANGED)

100 YEARS OF HINDI CINEMA

100 YEARS OF HINDI CINEMA

This 100 year child ( girl) is our joy !

As we collect to canvas its journey

we want it remain a child

simple, pure , instinctive without guile.

With its opiate for classes and masses,

it has healed the wounds of heart and soul.

Stirred many thoughts; a balm for hunger

spread equity where revolutions failed.

The magic of sight and sound .

Manufactured; yet natural and calm.

Has captivated the humanity; where

Pundits and politicians failed.

Mirror of past and present,

secure in its womb is

the history of society, the changing

times, habits, cultures and norms.

            Her  beauty and potency could not

remain hidden from the corporates.

Thus began a new phase; they wrapped

her in even more glamorous attire.

Now; her reins are held in greedy hands;

who have sold her charm, to multiply their gains.

They know not that this child of destiny

truly belongs to the people in streets!

Your role will not diminish with time.

You are needed in each age and era,

you belong to one who earns an Anna ,

but claps standing on the seat.

            Please do not, do not ditch him

his love is true his desires limited.

He does not seek bankful of dollars,

just a constant glance, smiling at him.