Seldom does one come across a film that touches our soul and makes us smile, laugh, cry, get inspired and at the same time make our viewing experience thoroughly enjoyable and memorable! Actor Rajkummar Rao’s recent release Srikanth is one such heart-warming film and a must-watch for everyone. The film traces the incredible journey of the visually impaired industrialist Shrikanth Bolla, who was born blind to a farmer couple in a village in Andhra Pradesh, but goes on to establish Bollant Industries– a company which produces eco-friendly Kraft paper from recycled municipal waste with focus on sustainability. The film leaves us speechless.
Rajkummar Rao with Srikanth Bolla
The journey of Srikanth when it unravels on screen is extraordinary in every which way, and the obstacles he faces at every step tears our heart and yet this boy goes ahead in life turning every challenge into an opportunity to carve a path never seen or heard before. He always dreams big and wants to do anything which people feel he cannot do. There is a beautiful dialogue which he says when he grows up- ‘Main sapne hi toh dekh sakta hoon aur woh main zaroor dekhoonga’ (Dreams are the only things I can see and I will definitely see them). A very interesting point indeed because an idea or a dream is after all nothing but a vision for which one does not necessarily need eyesight.
True to the tagline of the film which says- ‘Aa Raha Hai Sabki Aankhen Kholne’ (He is coming to open everybody’s eyes), the film is indeed an eye-opener as to what all a person can achieve through sheer will-power, dedication, perseverance, and a capacity to dream big and turn that dream into reality. It focuses on the irony that while people surrounding him who have eyesight can see only problems, he is so clear about his vision. Against everybody’s expectations, this blind boy charted his own destiny by carving his own path by not giving up at any step in life.
Born in 1992, he is named Srikanth by his father after his cricketing idol Srikanth, and feels that one day his son will play cricket like his idol. But minutes later when he comes to know that his precious child has been denied the gift of sight by The Almighty, his world comes crumbling down. One can feel their emotions in those scenes and the director has captured them so well that everyone in the audience can feel it. The actors who play his parents are so natural in their roles and their brilliance shines through in all the scenes.
The aged neighbours advice the young couple to dump the child but what do they decide and how do they go about their life with their little one? The narrative is engaging and moves ahead at a good pace and in no time, we become an intrinsic part of Srikanth’s journey emotionally and mentally and the roller-coaster ride takes us through a gamut of emotions and incidents. As I watched the film without reading anything about how the story unravels, I do not wish to spoil the fun for my readers as well. So I am not disclosing any details of the narrative. The movie must be seen in cinema halls not because there are any spectacular VFX or fight sequences but to applaud this man’s remarkable life.
The best part about the film is the superb acting by Rajkummar Rao. Known for his incredible talent right from his first film, he has been part of some superb films and given excellent performances. Here he captures the spirit of Srikanth Bolla so beautifully and owns the character so thoroughly that one could mistake him to be the real-life Srikanth himself and therein lies the actor’s genius. He has imbibed every nuance and every gesture of a blind person which makes his acting very believable. He carries the film on his shoulders and it is a delight to watch him play this role.
Lending him excellent support are two great artistes- Jyothika and Sharad Kelkar who lend him unflinching support and are also perfectly cast in their respective parts. Jyothika plays his teacher and Sharad the buisnessman who helps Srikanth by believing in him. Alaya F has only a brief role as his friend but she lights up the screen when she comes and fits the role. The actor Jameel Khan who plays President Abdul Kalam is also convincing. The dialogues are good and the old song ‘Papa kehte hain bada naam karega…’ keeps playing in the background. Hearing Udit Narayan’s melodious voice on big screen after ages transports us back to an era when film music was far more melodious and enjoyable than what it is today. Other songs are okay.
The director Tushar Hiranandani has done a commendable job. For the film, how much of the scenario shown has been dramatized and how much has been added or deleted from his real-life, we may not know but what shines through is the will-power of this man and that deserves an applause. The film also throws light on the shortcomings in the Indian education system at that time for blind students. In the end there are pictures showing the real-life and reel-life character together and it was a touching moment!
Like last year’s inspiring film 12th Fail, this too will depend on word-of-mouth publicity and for sure the box-office collections will keep increasing slowly but steadily.
A brief note:
The real-life Srikanth is only 32 years old today and has had the good fortune of meeting former Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam who was a major influence in his life. Once when the President had visited his school, he had been in the 9th standard and on being asked what he wanted to become in life, Srikanth unhesitatingly replied that he wanted to become India’s first visually challenged President and impressed with the boy’s confidence, Kalam Sir offers him words of encouragement.
In the end we are told that even though Srikanth is a successful businessman today, somewhere in the corner of his mind, he still nurtures that dream of becoming the President one day. For someone who has always dared to dream the impossible, there is every possibility of him achieving this too! But that would be material for another film probably titled Srikanth: Part2… For now do go and watch this film and be part of his exhilarating journey!
The importance of lyrics in a Hindi film song has always been underestimated and yet without the right words the apt emotion can never be conveyed by the on-screen character in the context of the situation. Even after several decades, the songs remain eternal, the singers are revered, the actors/actresses are remembered, even the music director’s name is recalled many a time, but the lyricists remain unsung and forgotten.
This blog is an attempt to remember one such unsung song-writer Dev Kohli, whose debut song created a sensation and yet he had to undergo a struggle period of 18 years where he hardly got any work. Not one to give up hope, he waited and destiny did smile on him albeit almost two decades later to give him the chance to score his 2nd super-hit song! Today we walk down memory lane remembering this lyricist’s contribution to Hindi cinema.
Let us have a look at his first hit song –‘Geet gaata hoon main….’
Film: Laal Patthar
It is indeed difficult to imagine the journey of Dev Kohli whose debut song ‘Geet gaata hoon main gungunata hoon main…’ sung by Kishore Kumar from the film Lal Patthar in 1971, was a super-duper hit. In fact, the song is a favourite among listeners even today but unfortunately, he remained in the background and despite having worked with the hit music director duo of Shankar-Jaikishen, his path was not easy. It was only after a waiting period of 18 years did he get his 2nd tryst with success when two of his songs from the 1989 blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya became chartbusters – ‘Aate jaate hanste gaate…’ and ‘Aaja shaam hone aayi mausam ne li angdaayi…’.
It was in the year 1964, at the age of 22, that he landed in Mumbai (Bombay at that time) to try his luck in the film industry. He used to meet with other writers and a few music directors and kept on the lookout for some work. Listening to the songs written by the lyricists of Hindi cinema’s ‘golden era’ had been his greatest source of inspiration to join films and write songs.
His first break came when his music director friend G S Kohli, offered him a chance to write one stanza of a song-‘Khushi se jaan le lo ji…’ sung by Asha Bhosle in the film Gunda, for which G S Kohli himself had written the ‘mukhda’ and one of the stanzas. He requested Dev Kohli to write the 2nd stanza. For this small contribution he not only got paid but was also given credit in the titles along with the other two lyricists of the film. Though Dev Kohli was touched by the music director’s help, he felt it was not really his song and did not deserve any credit.
One day he got a call from music director Shankar of the famous Shankar-Jaikishen duo to meet him in the music hall of the recording studio. Being a newcomer in this field, he mentioned that he had no experience of writing lyrics to fit into the meter of an already composed tune, so Shankar explained the situation to him and asked him to write the ‘mukhda’ or the beginning lines of the song. By the time Shankar came back from his lunch-break, Dev Kohli had come up with the now famous opening lines of the song – ‘Geet gaata hoon main, gungunata hoon main…’. Shankar liked them so much he came up with the tune on the spot. Soon both the stanzas were completed and the tune was also composed then and there. The song was ready in no time.
After such a dream break, he would have never imagined that things would not work out in his favour. People enjoyed his super-hit song but no one remembered him. Jaikishen passed away before the release of the film and the magic and aura of S-J was never the same. Shankar did call him a few years later to write a song for the film Sanyasi (1975), but the song Dev Kohli wrote never got recorded and hence never made it to the final version of the film!
During this struggle period he did get the chance to write a few songs. Many times, he was asked to write only one song from the full film. The songs did become popular yet he remained in the background.
Film: Khoon Khoon (‘Maati ke jalte deepak ki …’)
Film : Salaakhen (‘Saathi chal chal kahin akele mein…’)
Born on 2nd November in 1942 in Rawalpindi he was part of a family of four brothers and two sisters. Dev Kohli lost his mother when he was still a child of 3 years. His early schooling had been in a madrasa where he learnt to read and write Urdu. His father remarried and after partition the family shifted first to Delhi in 1948 and then to Dehradun in 1949. As a young boy of 11-12 years, he was greatly influenced by his 16-year-old neighbour, who used to recite to him verses and poetry (shayari, ghazal, nazm, etc.,) of renowned writers and poets. The young Dev Kohli loved this and influenced by what he used to hear he also started writing. In Dehradun, he improved his writing under the guidance of an ustad (teacher) and after a few years encouraged by him and his well-wishers he felt writing was his calling in life.
Here are a few other chartbusters written by Dev Kohli.
Film: Hum Aapke Hain Kaun(‘Didi tera devar dewaana…’)
Film : Baazigar(‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen…’)
Film: Judwaa (‘Tan tana tan tan tan tara…’)
Film: Musafir(‘Saaki saaki saaki aa paas aa…’)
Since he had worked with Rajshri Productions for the film Ek Baar Kaho (1980) for which he had been asked to compose the title song, Sooraj Bharjatya approached him to compose the title song for his new film Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989. Dev Kohli gives credit for this to music director Raamlaxman who had suggested Dev Kohli’s name to Sooraj. And after Maine Pyar Kiya, his luck took a big turn and he started getting many offers which kept him busy during the 1990’s.
He mentioned in one of his interviews, that the era he had wanted to work in unfortunately was not destined for him but he embraced what came his way and when he was given a second chance with Maine Pyar Kiya, he decided to move with the times. He changed his perspective to keep pace with the changes taking place in the music world and became busy writing for songs with fast paced tempo and beats giving the public what they wanted. He gave his best shot to whatever situation came his way whether it was a dance number, wedding song or love song.
Film : Koi Mil Gaya(‘Haila haila hua hua…’)
Film: Khiladi (‘Kya khabar thi jaana tumse pyar ho jayega…’)
Film: Major Sahab (‘Sona sona dil mera sona…’)
Film : Kaante
In his career which spanned thirty years, he got to work with many music directors- Vijay Singh, Anand Raj Anand, Anand-Milind, Rajesh Roshan, Himesh Reshammiya, Bappi Lahiri, Ravindra Jain, Dilip Sen- Samir Sen, Jatin-Lalit, Ram Laxman, Anu Mallik, Babul Supriyo, Vishal-Shekhar, Aadesh Srivastava and above all Shankar-Jaikishen. He also had the good fortune to have his songs sung by the golden era singers Asha Bhosle, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, and Mohammed Rafi as well as the younger generation comprising of Udit Narayan, S P Balasubramanian, Kumar Sanu, Sunidhi Chauhan and Abhijeet.
He also wrote title songs of many films- Ek Baar Kaho, Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Mela and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.
Dev Kohli had no regrets and remained humble all his life. He was respected within the film industry by others lyricists, artistes, directors, and music directors. Even if people did not remember his name, he was happy that many of his songs got that connection with the masses to make him part of their musical journey. He attributed the making of his personality to those 18 years of struggle. It was a learning period to stay calm and gave him the serenity and understanding to face the challenges thrown by life. He made peace with whatever came his way and turned to spirituality and found solace in writing bhajans on Lord Krishna. He teamed up with Baba Sehgal for his famous song ‘Tora tora…’.
He did not get married in his lifetime and passed away on 26th August 2023. If I had not decided to do some research and write on Dev Kohli, I would have never known that it was the same man who wrote ‘Geet gaata hoon main…’ and‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen…’. Salute this lyricist for his peerless contribution.
I end the blog with a song from Hum Aapke Hain Kaun which was also one of his personal favourites. Once again for this song also the lyrics were written first and then the song was composed.
‘Maayi ni maayi munder pe teri bol raha hai kaaga…’
Debutante director Shirsha Guha Thakurta delivers a very dull and boring narrative on marital and extra-marital relationships which has neither chutzpah, nor sizzle nor comedy, not even heavy-duty emotion to hold the viewer’s interest in the plot as well as the characters. Even the duration of 2 hours 17 minutes seems very long because the proceedings are really slow and the film never really takes off. And the sad part is that the film had two brilliant actors- Prateik Gandhi and Vidya Balan, and yet the movie falters big time at various levels.
Prateik Gandhi and wife Vidya Balan play a modern-day couple in their late thirties and have drifted apart after 12 years of marriage and 3 years of dating prior to that. She is a Tamilian and he is a Bengali. Bits and parts of the flashback show that they had gone against her family’s wishes to tie the knot and her father continues to nurse his grudge against her. However, 12 years later, it is shown that they have lost interest in each other and lead robotic asexual lives.
To keep their respective love lives kindled, they decide to find romance outside their marriage. Prateik is attracted to a wannabe actress played by Ileana D’Cruz, and Vidya is happy cozying up with photographer Sendhil Ramamurthy. They keep making make plans to tell each other about their affairs and end their marriage but when they confront each other at home, they don’t have the guts to spill the beans and take such a drastic step. They seem to enjoy their relationship status quo much to the chagrin of their lovers.
Unexpectedly, a death in the family throws the husband-wife duo together forcibly as they decide to attend the funeral in her hometown Ooty. Since they are returning home after 12 years there is an atmosphere of tension with the family members who for some strange reason are continuously gossiping behind their back. Her father continues to be morose and rude and does not seem one bit happy to see them both. There are some ‘supposedly humorous’ scenes during this stay but somehow these do not sit well against the backdrop of a death.
Amidst all this gloom and pathos somehow Prateik and Vidya end up rediscovering their relationship, start enjoying each other’s company and realize there is still some spark left in their relationship. A sexual tension is created between the two and soon after they get back from their home town, they cannot keep their hands off each other!!! And now they start cooking up excuses to avoid meeting their respective lovers Ileana and Sendhil, and feel thrilled cheating on them to be with each other.
Just as they feel they can maybe get their marriage back working, they come to know of each other’s affairs through indirect sources and this catches them off-guard. While Prateik is shown to be shocked and hurt, Vidya goes on a terribly angry mode spewing venom. They start fighting and the scenes are laughable because few scenes back both were blissfully having affairs and ready to call off their marriage and now this kind of juvenile behaviour made no sense. It looked like they themselves did not know what they wanted.
They finally decide to end their marriage and be with their lovers. Wait! If you think the senseless saga had ended, you are mistaken… we are shown a scene at the end which says ‘one year later’… and lo and behold! our couple is back with each other again. So, what happened to sour the relationship with their lovers? Nothing is shown properly. How did they meet their lovers in the first place and now suddenly how and why did it all end?
The whole thing in handled in a superficial, contrived, and unconvincing manner. The story drags on, the scenes are slow, dialogues are forgettable and the infidelity aspect is not dealt with any dynamism. Towards the end, things are hurried up and the lovers conveniently disappear to make way for Vidya and Prateik.
The film deals with extra-marital affair and yet the biggest drawback of the film is that there is no chemistry either between the lead pair Vidya Balan and Prateik Gandhi or between the two sets of lovers- Ileana-Prateik and Vidya-Sendhil. After a point we feel so disconnected with the immature behaviour of all four characters that we really don’t care who ends up with whom.
For the first time I felt Vidya Balan was overacting. Somehow trying to be too chirpy as the lover and later the love-struck wife she was too loud and not very convincing. And where was the need to add a tangential angle to this mess involving her disturbed relationship with her father? Those scenes had no impact and Vidya just could not convey the right emotions. Ileana’s acting left much to be desired. She was screaming too much and rolling her eyes in every scene and had the same expression throughout. Sendhil Ramamurthy was a pleasant surprise and fit the role well.
The only redeeming feature of this otherwise dull film is the superb acting by Prateik Gandhi. This actor seems to be soaring high with every film. He is just too good! He plays his role in such an understated and nuanced way and in many places his natural acting reminds one of Sanjeev Kumar.
Even though Prateik tries to put a lot of extra effort to spruce up the script, sadly there will not be many viewers watching him thanks to the listless narrative. I watched the first day first show and only 12 people were there in the cinema hall. From what I have read, the box-office collections after 6 days continue to be low.
Kunal Khemu’s debut directorial venture Madgaon Express is a brilliantly scripted and intelligently directed film laced with rib-tickling humour from beginning to end. The narrative engages the viewer from the very first scene and the characters are so effectively written that we find ourselves completely invested in the goings-on in their life and the two and a half hours just breezes away with plenty of laugh-out-loud situations.
It is just pure situational comedy and does not resort to any cheap innuendos, raunchiness or even item numbers. The genius of the film lies in its superb storyline, fast-paced narrative, plenty of funny twists and turns, hilarious dialogues, and the remarkable performance of the cast.
Kunal Khemu who himself is a highly talented actor, now shows his prowess not only as a director, but having written the story, screenplay, and dialogues of the film, he shows his mastery in these departments as well. His vision to cast real talent and not just popular star faces has also paid off well.
Actors Divyendu Sharma, Prateik Gandhi and Avinash Tiwary who have proved their talent in several acclaimed OTT web-series, get to display a new facet of their talent with their fantastic chemistry and superb comic timing which just raises the film several notches higher. They are so natural and infuse so much life into their characters that the end result is just outstanding!
On the face of it, the plot is a simple story of three friends who have been together since their school days and always dreamt of taking a trip to Goa on their own. However, the plan never materializes and after college, they go their separate ways though they do keep in touch through social media. How they meet up after many years and finally end up going on this trip also forms an interesting aspect.
When they arrive at the station to board the Madgaon Express train, clashes and disagreements occur and soon things start spiraling out of control. Unexpected incidents happen during the journey and they keep getting more and more entangled without any clue to escape. One thing leads to another and to their utmost horror, they find themselves caught in a drug mafia mess with many people after their lives.
Rival gangs with leaders going by the names of ‘Mendonza Bhai’ (played by Upendra Limaye) and ‘Kanchan Kombdi’ (played by Chaya Kadam) cannot wait to get their hands on them. There is also a Dr Danny (played by Remo D’Souza) who is after them with an ulterior motive and so is the entire Goa police. They also cross paths with Nora Fatehi who has an important role.
One may wonder after two very successful films already made on the friendship genre- Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, what else can be new? Herein lies Kunal Khemu’s acuity as he intelligently steers clear of either of these plots to come up with his own kind of friendship film which focuses only on the series of incidents and avoids any melodrama or preaching any philosophy.
The Goa scenario has been captured very well and makes everything very realistic. The incidents are very relatable as this could happen to anybody. Background music is good and songs are apt and fit into the narrative without boring the viewer. Producers Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani deserve special kudos for giving us a perfect family film with full-on ‘masti’, ‘mazaa’ and total ‘paisa-vasool’ experience!
Saying anything more would take away the fun element of the film. Suffice to say the film is not to be missed especially if you are looking for a hilarious ride to escape the mundane routine of life. You will not be disappointed!
Amidst all the nonsensical propaganda films and meaningless half-baked biographies being currently churned out by Bollywood, this out and out comedy film comes as a breath of fresh air raising our hopes for the kind of cinema which seems to be fast disappearing from our industry’s horizon.
March 2nd, 2024, was a memorable day for yesteryear fans and lovers of old Hindi films when we witnessed the screening of the 1939 Ashok Kumar-Leela Chitnis starrer Kangan on big screen at the iconic Regal cinema of Mumbai. Organized by Film Heritage Foundation, NFDC-National Film Archive of India, The German Consulate General of Mumbai, and The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, it was a historic evening as we were transported back in time to 1939 to watch this super-hit film being screened after 85 years!
Produced by the legendary studio Bombay Talkies Ltd., the film was directed by Franz Ozten, and had cinematography by Josef Wirsching. Anyone aware of our cinematic history knows about the important role played by Bombay Talkies in shaping the destiny of our film industry. Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani in 1934 and produced about 40 movies starting from Jawani Ki Hawa in 1935 to Baadbaan, in 1954. At the time of its inception, the studio was considered the best film studio in the country equipped with the most technically advanced facilities related to film production which included sets, camera, lighting, sound quality, photography, costumes, and music.
Having familiarized themselves with the latest film-making technique in Germany, when the couple came back to India to start their own studio, there were several German technicians who came with them as they were an integral part of the studio team, and hence played a major role in laying down the foundation of Hindi cinema. The most important among them were director Franz Osten, and cinematographer Joseph Wirsching.
It was an emotional and historic moment on March 2nd, to have the presence of Himanshu Rai’s grandson Peter Dietze, attend the screening. Though Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani had no children of their own, he had a daughter Nilima, from his first wife Mary Heinlin, who was a German. Soon they parted ways and mother and daughter moved to Australia. Peter is Nilima’s son.
It was a chance discovery of an old photograph of Himanshu Rai one day in his home that led Peter to become aware of his Indian ancestry. From then on, Peter has been on a mission to get to know about the pioneering role played by his grandfather Himanshu Rai in laying the foundation of our film industry. Today, as the owner of all the archival material of Bombay Talkies, he wants to bring to life the priceless photographs and artefacts of this once-flourishing studio in the form of exhibitions and screening of restored films.
After her retirement from films and marriage to Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich, Devika Rani passed on all the documents ,photographs, etc., of Bombay Talkies in her possession to the Nicholas Roerich Museum in New York. In the 1980’s, when Peter Dietze visited this museum and informed the curator about his connections with Himanshu Rai and Bombay Talkies, he received all the archival material from the museum, as the rightful legal heir.
The screening was also attended by the grandsons of the cinematographer Josef Wirsching- Georg and Joseph. When a young 16-year-old Josef received a camera as a gift on his birthday, little did he realize how this was not only going to change his life but also how he would one day shape the aesthetics of Indian cinema with his priceless contribution in the fields of photography and cinematography. He is credited for bringing aspects of German Expressionism including dreamy lighting, atmospheric compositions, unconventional camera angles and fantastic images to the Indian talkies.
He started as an assistant cameraman in 1925 when he worked in the film Light of Asia, co-directed by Himanshu Rai along with Franz Osten. His first film as a cinematographer in India was Jawani KiHawa (1935) which was also the first film produced by Bombay Talkies. It is said that ‘His camerawork brought luminosity to the screen and turned the heroes and heroines of the time like Devika Rani, Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar among others into ethereal creations on celluloid’. {Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-42422599}. He was part of the crew of Bombay Talkies for 20 years and his last film before he passed away was Kamal Amrohi’s Pakeezah, released in 1972.
Josef remained in India and when he passed away, his son Wolfgang Wirsching donated all the photography equipment to the Pune Film Institute but preserved all the priceless photographs very carefully in waterproof boxes. When his sons Joseph and Georg came of age, they realized the importance of the materials in their possession and decided to study their grandfather’s contribution to Indian cinema.
As things stand today, the trio of Peter, Joseph, and Georg, are the keepers of the wonderful legacy of everything connected with the Bombay Talkies studio. It is to their credit that not only have they taken care to preserve a priceless part of our cinematic history, but realizing the historical value of these rare visual and printed materials in understanding the glorious past of this century-old industry of ours, they have taken the trouble to bring it back to India to showcase them via exhibitions and movies.
[The gentleman in white-Peter Dietze & the two men in suits-Georg and Joseph Wirsching]
After the screening, all three of them came on stage and said a few words about the importance of the pioneering works of their respective grandfathers to our cinematic legacy.
This was followed by the book release of ‘Bombay Talkies: An unseen history of Indian cinema’, edited by Debashree Mukherjee. She is an Associate Professor of Film and Media at Columbia University, New York, USA.
This book has photographs taken by Josef Wirsching and some essays regarding the historical value of photographs from Wirsching’s archive to understand our cinema of that time. The images show that as an industry we were technically very good and our pioneers belonged to different classes, religions, genders and nationalities and everyone worked in tandem out of their love for the craft. Bombay Talkies was the first to hire a female music director Khorshed Homji who took the name of Saraswati Devi and is regarded as Indian cinema’s first female music director.
Priced at rupees 2700/-, the book was a steal and many people ended up buying it. Yes! I did too…
KANGAN (1939)
Coming to the film, Kangan was one of the first super-hit films of Bombay Talkies and after much hard work by many people a brilliant restored version of the original print was now available for people to enjoy the film. The show started on the dot at 5.00 pm and was free for all viewers. It was wonderful to see a large turnout of people to watch this gem from a bygone era including many youngsters also.
The choice of Regal cinema also had a story. Regal cinema is an Art Deco movie theatre located in Colaba Causeway in Mumbai and holds the distinction of being the first air-conditioned cinema hall of the country. Built during the cinema boom of the 1930’s, it opened to the public in 1933, and ironically Kangan was released in this very cinema hall in 1939. It was indeed a rare occasion to have the movie screened in the same cinema hall after 85 years!
The film saw the pairing of Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnis for the first time and after this they went on to become a much loved and highly popular on-screen pair of that era. Others in the cast included artistes associated with Bombay Talkies at that time- V H Desai, P F Pithawala, Pratima, Nana Palsikar, Saroj Borkar, etc. Lyrics were by Kavi Pradeep and music was by Ramchandra Pal and Saraswati Devi.
Kangan is basically an innocent love story between a rich zamindar’s son and a poor orphan girl brought up by the village priest. Actor Mubarak plays the zamindar and Ashok Kumar the protagonist, is his son. He has no interest in his father’s zamindari business and wants to become a poet and writer. The zamindar has a ‘munshi’ or accountant played by V H Desai and he provides the comic scenes in the film. Leela Chitnis plays the orphan girl and P F Pithawala plays the priest who brings her up like a father. V H Desai’s wife played by Pratima is Leela Chitnis’s friend and confidante.
It is said that cinema reflects society and the events unfolding on screen give us a clear idea of the thought process of the society in those times. In the film, how the lead pair meet and fall in love captures the innocence and simplicity of that era. He gifts her a pair of bangles or ‘Kangan’ as a token of his love for her and wants it to be kept a secret from his father. But one of the father’s workers Banwari, who also fancies Leela Chitnis sees this and immediately reports this.
Here is the YouTube link of a duet from the film- ‘Radha Radha Pyari Radha…’. This print is not very good but one can get an idea…
When the zamindar comes to know of his son’s activities, he gets angry and goes and threatens the priest that if he does not get Leela Chitnis married off to someone and stop her from seeing Ashok Kumar ever again, he would burn the temple complex and all the hutments of the workers including the priest. And realizing his son’s non-interest in the family zamindari, he packs him off to the city where he pursues his luck to become a writer.
Meanwhile, Banwari is sent to enquire whether Leela Chitnis’s wedding ceremony is being planned or not. But the priest has no intentions of forcing her and in the ensuing scuffle between the zamindar’s workers and the priest’s helpers, the temple complex gets burnt and Banwari manages to whisk away Leela Chitnis to an empty place with evil intentions. But she jumps out of the window and falls into the deep river from a height and the villagers assume her to be dead as her body is never found.
When this news reaches Ashok Kumar in the city, he is very angry with his father and feels sad that she had died without seeing the first published copy of the novel he had written and now he was becoming well-known as a writer. A female running a theatrical company falls for Ashok Kumar’s charm and wants to buy the rights of the book to direct a play based on it.
We are then shown that Leela Chitnis had not died, but had only been washed ashore. She proceeds to the city in search of Ashok Kumar. After days of searching, ironically when she finds the house and is waiting to meet him, she hears romantic dialogues from inside in Ashok Kumar and a lady’s voice. The two had been rehearsing the dialogues from the play based on Ashok Kumar’s novel, but Leela Chitnis misunderstands that he has found another woman. After she watches them get into a car and drive away, she removes the bangles, leaves them at his doorstep and proceeds towards the riverfront to end her life.
In the village by now the zamindar has realized his folly and the fear of losing his son forever makes him regret his own behaviour. He also proceeds to the city with the munshi in search of Leela Chitnis.
Ashok Kumar upon his return finds the bangles and realizes that the love of his life is alive and soon the action shifts to the path of the riverfront where all the characters are shown chasing one another. Ashok Kumar reaches on time and manages to save her. The ending is happy with the ‘Kangan’ being duly placed on her wrists again and the zamindar blessing them both.
If one looks at the narrative, Bombay Talkies had clearly set in motion the kind of template which seemed to have been copied for decades to come. The lovers facing the rich boy-poor girl dilemma, the villainous henchman, the comedian sidekick, the father vs son drama, the social commentary, the mentality of the girl to end her life if her lover does not accept her, etc. The film released in pre-independent India at a time when class and caste differences mattered a lot in society and the zamindar’s son rebelling against his father to stand by his love resonated with the audience.
The USP of the film is the natural acting by all especially the lead pair. Their on-screen chemistry reeks of simplicity and that is what is touching. Ashok Kumar looks so handsome and young Leela Chitnis looks beautiful.
The camera work is superb and the close-up shots and outdoor shots especially that of the moving train are all laudable. Watching the restored version of this classic was indeed a dream-come-true, as we travelled back in time to get a glimpse of an era gone by, when our founding fathers were trying their best to use all techniques at their disposal to tell a story in an entertaining way.
Destiny played a big role in joining the seemingly unconnected incidents taking place in different parts of the world from the 1930’s to the 1990’s involving three generations of people who had taken the trouble to preserve the original material without realizing how precious and priceless it would prove one day to familiarize us with the roots of our own film industry.
As I had mentioned in the beginning, the evening felt like walking into a part of our film history…
Away from the world of glitter, glamour, designer garments, brands and star power, director Kiran Rao takes us on a delightful ride into a world of cinema very few would dare to tread today. Set in 2001, against the backdrop of a village in Madhya Pradesh, every frame is perfect in this heart-warming satirical tale which basically revolves around the lives of two brides and is a perfect amalgam of humour and irony.
On the face of it, though ‘Laapataa Ladies’ or ‘missing ladies’ as the title conveys narrates the tale of two brides who go missing soon after their wedding due to unexpected circumstances, but beneath this tale the narrative also exposes how the women in rural India unknowingly end up losing their own identity bowing to the diktats or norms laid down by our patriarchal society. In a way, the women in our country sometimes lose themselves by letting go of who they were before their marriage to become the person they are expected to be after their marriage.
The simple plot starts when the groom- Deepak, is departing with his new bride- Phool, after the wedding ceremony to his village. She is advised very strictly to henceforth cover her face completely with her ‘ghoonghat’ or veil, never to lift it in public and learn to walk only looking down. The couple somehow manage to board the train and are soon squeezed into a typically crowded compartment packed with people pushing and pulling each other. Ironically there are two more newly-weds travelling by the same compartment wearing very similar outfits and all three brides looking almost same with veils covering their faces.
As expected, when the station arrives in the middle of the night, our hero pulls the sleeping bride and gets down and covers the rest of the journey holding her hand without seeing her face. After reaching home when her mother-in-law requests the bride to show her face, the groom and his entire family are in for a shock as the bride is a new face unknown to them. Her name is Pushpa Rani.
So, while the family is wondering how their son could have been so foolish to bring home someone else’s wife, the absurdity of the custom of wearing a veil hits the viewer in a subtle and hilarious way. This is the kind of template maintained throughout the narrative which becomes the biggest plus-point of the film and engages the viewer from beginning to end. We are invested in the characters wondering what will happen to them at every step.
Meanwhile the real bride Phool, who had been left sleeping in the train wakes up to the shocking truth of not knowing where her husband is and why he abandoned her. She does not even remember the name of her village properly and being all alone is afraid to ask for any help also. Both the husbands lodge a complaint in their respective police stations for their missing wives and when they are narrating the circumstances, one cannot help but laugh at the way it has happened.
While one of the brides is a little naïve, the other one is more of a fighter. What happens to the two brides? Do they find their respective partners? Or, do they decide to accept their fate and adjust to the new circumstances and make new friends? Or, do they take their destiny in their own hands and decide to carve a new path for themselves? How do the husbands react and what is their take on the situation?
The film needs to be watched to enjoy the plot as it unfolds. There are many funny moments and some touching situations as well. There are thought-provoking scenes which make us ponder at the way our society has been functioning in the same regressive manner like a well-oiled machinery without ever changing gear. But there is a glimmer of hope as well as the film tells us how to empower ourselves when things do not go the way we had expected and how we can change our fate if we bring about even a small change in our thought-process and our way of thinking.
The film never gets over the top in its messaging and is in fact laced with subtle punches and humour at every step and yet the irony hits us throughout while we are watching. Therein lies the strength of this gem of a film which boasts of a superb screenplay, excellent dialogues, brilliant acting, enjoyable songs and above all outstanding direction.
This story is so relatable and believable that it could be happening anywhere in our country. Director Kiran Rao dons the director’s hat and deftly steers the proceedings in a way reminiscent of our films of Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Chatterjee where content and characters were the mainstay and the names and actors portraying them were secondary.
The choice of the cast comprising of many new faces needs to be lauded because their acting is what holds the film together so well. All the three protagonists-Sparsh Shrivastav as Deepak, Nitanshi Goel as Phool and Pratibha Ranta as Pushpa Rani are perfectly cast and have come up with brilliant performances conveying a range of emotions and at the same time bringing about their vulnerability in the situation. The chemistry between all actors is commendable.
Ravi Kishan as the paan-chewing bribe-taking inspector is spot-on and Chaaya Kadam as the tea-stall owner is splendid. It was a nice change to see the credit titles in the beginning appear in Hindi with the film title appearing in English, Hindi, and Urdu as they did in an era gone by.
Not everyday does one come across a film like this which is simplistic and heartwarming, yet carries a powerful message laced with wit and humour. The two brides ended up discovering their true selves by getting lost and anyone watching can also be inspired by this film. Kudos to Aamir Khan Productions for yet another well-made film and to a big shout-out to the entire team of LaapataaLadies. The show that I went for was nearly packed to full capacity and people were clapping during the film in many places.
The film ushers in a ray of hope for the revival of meaningful and entertaining middle-of-the-road cinema for Bollywood…
Lord Rama is one of the most loved and revered deities in our country. Worshipped as the Lord of Dharma or ‘The Supreme upholder of social values’, Lord Rama is regarded as ‘Maryada Purushottam’ or ‘Epitome of Righteousness’. The story of his life written in the epic Ramayana has come to be regarded as one of the most sacred texts in India. His calm demeanor, stoic composure, and his unwavering pursuit of Dharma while facing any situation in life is entrenched so deeply in the culture, emotion, and the psyche of every Indian, that just chanting his name with faith is believed to impart happiness and peace of mind to the person.
This blog-post explores Lord Rama’s tryst with Hindi cinema. From 1917 during the ‘Silent Era’, when his story first appeared on the silver screen, to as recent as the year 2023, I came across 15 films that have been made based on the stories of his life. In the beginning since our films leaned heavily on mythology for stories, we had many filmmakers attempting to capture some incidents based on The Ramayana, and these were highlighted and made into films.
The Silent Era:
We find the earliest reference to Lord Rama in our cinema in the silent film Lanka Dahan, made in 1917 and directed by the father of our Indian cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke. As the title suggests this was a short film pertaining to the burning of Lanka- the city of the demon king Ravana, who had kidnapped Sita and held her captive in his palace garden. Hanuman has a major role in the film. This film was declared a super-hit at the time it was released and considered by many as the first box-office hit of Hindi cinema.
Interestingly, the male actor Anna Salunke who had earlier played Queen Taramati in Phalke’s 1913 film Raja Harishchandra, dons the garb of both Lord Rama as well as Devi Sita. Essentially Anna Salunke becomes the first actor to play a ‘double role’ in Hindi cinema. Here is a short clip available from the film on YouTube which shows the monkey God Hanuman bringing Lord Rama’s ring to Sita.
In 1918, another pioneer of Indian cinema S N Patankar, made Ram Vanvas or The Exile of Rama in four parts. In 1919, the father of Tamil cinema Nataraja Mudaliar made Lava Kusha based on the sons of Lord Ram, but the film did not get success. The year 1920 saw the release of two films- Ram Janma by Gajanan V Sane and Sita Swayamvar by S N Patankar.
In 1922, director Eugenio de Liguoso directed Ramayan which had the beautiful Patience Cooper play the role of Devi Sita. Dadasaheb Phalke teamed up with Gajanan V Sane in 1923 to direct Sita Shuddhi (Purification of Sita). The film also went by the title- Ram Ravan Yuddha. There were other films like Lanka Li Ladi in 1925, Janki Swayamvar and Ram Rajya Viyog in 1926, Dasarathi Ram in 1928, and Hanuman Janma (year not clear). The records of our Silent Era have not been preserved properly but the above films give an idea that Lord Ram’s life was an important topic for our films.
Feature Films:
Producer-director-screenwriter Vijay Bhatt can be regarded as the pioneer in this regard and made excellent films based on the stories of Ramayana. He established the banner Prakash Pictures with his elder brother Shankarbhai Bhatt and his trilogy of films Bharat Milap (1942), Ram Rajya (1943), and Rambaan (1948), came to be regarded as classics of that time and till date remain the best films made on the epic.
These films may have been simple in technical aspects with rudimentary special effects used during war scenes, etc., but the sincerity of the makers comes through and the emotions conveyed were spot-on with the characters living the role they were enacting. Babubhai Mistry who was regarded as master of special effects had a huge hand in the success of the films, and in later years he himself turned director for the films.
Actors who got the opportunity to play Lord Rama in Hindi cinema include- Prem Adib, Mahipal, Ashim Kumar, Trilok Kapoor, Rakesh Pandey, Biswajit, Ashish Kumar, Kumar Sen and Prabhas. Of these the most popular ones were Prem Adib and Mahipal. As the trilogy by Vijay Bhatt featuring Prem Adib as Rama and Shobhana Samarth asSita,were the first films to be made on the epic,the films were big hits and it is said that their popularity soared so high that in the minds of the people they became imprinted as the faces of Rama and Sita.
Bharat Milap (1942)
As the title conveys, this film revolves around the emotional meeting of Lord Rama and his brother Bharata. The film starts with Prince Bharata’s birthday celebrations. After this he leaves for the kingdom of Kekeya, with brother Shatrughana, and his uncle to meet his maternal grandfather. In their absence and on the insistence of Bharata’s mother Kaikeyi, Rama’s coronation ceremony as the future king is announced and the people of Ayodhya are delirious with joy.
However, soon after the announcement, certain unexpected and unfortunate events are set in motion. Kaikeyi’s faithful maid Manthara manages to poison Kaikeyi’s mind against Rama and because of this, Kaikeyi ends up demanding the fulfillment of her two boons to King Dasharath, according to which Bharata should be coronated as the future king and Rama should be exiled to the forest for fourteen years. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana immediately leave for the forest and shortly after their exit, Dasharath passes away in grief and shock.
Upon his return from his grandfather’s place, when Bharata comes to know of all these incidents, he rushes towards the forest to plead with Rama to return with him to Ayodhya and not go to the forest. But seeing Rama’s determination to honour his father’s ruling, Bharata pledges to rule the kingdom not as the king but as a servant of Rama and requests Rama to part with his slippers which he would be placing on the throne in his absence.
Rama promises to return and meet Bharat at the same spot after 14 years and the film ends with their reunion after Rama’ victorious return from exile. The focus here is more on Bharata’s character and his emotions and his love and respect for Rama. The film stars Prem Adib as Rama, Shahu Modak as Bharata, Umakant Desai as Lakshmana, Shobhna Samarth as Sita, Durga Khote as Kaikeyi, Vimla Vashisht as Manthara, Nibhalkar as King Dasharath and Shanthabai Kothare as Kausalya. Music was by Shankar Rao Vyas.
Ram Rajya (1943)
This film is about the events that take place post Rama’s return from his exile. After successfully rescuing Sita and vanquishing the evil Ravana, he now rules his kingdom with Sita by his side. The film starts with Rama and Sita sitting in court. But just when things seem blissful in his ‘rajya’ or ‘kingdom’, trouble comes in the form of a washer-woman who has been thrown out of her house by her husband for staying away from their house for two nights without his permission.
When the washer-man is called in court and questioned, he says everyone is not like Rama to take back the wife after she has spent many nights away from the house. As a king, Rama realizes that his subjects are not happy having a queen whose reputation can be questioned. As he has pledged his life to his subjects, he realizes that for a king his duty is foremost and is above any emotion (“Bhavna se kartavya ooncha hai”). He is forced to take a harsh decision of abandoning Sita even though in his heart he knows that she is innocent. Even her pregnant state does not stop him from ordering Lakshmana to take her deep into the forest and leave her.
Sage Valmiki stops her from taking her own life and takes her to his ashram and soon she gives birth to twin boys- named Luv and Kush. The rest of the film is about the boys and their activities-how they learn the story of Rama and Sita from Sage Valmiki without knowing that Sita is their own mother (in the ashram, she goes by the name of Vandevi), how they catch the horse sent out for Sri Ram’s Ashwamedha yagna, and how they are finally united with their father.
For a film released almost 80 years back, the film is very bold with the depiction of how Rama as king must sacrifice his queen at the behest of the people of Ayodhya. His decision is questioned by Sita and Lakshmana. The dialogues are well-written and acting is good. Characters like Hanuman, Bharata and the three queen mothers do not appear. Only Lakshmana and sage Valmiki are the other two important characters. The last scene where Mother Earth splits and Sita enters was captured very well and the image has remained in the minds of the viewers even after so many years.
Directed by Vijay Bhatt, the film stars Prem Adib as Rama, Shobhana Samarth as Sita, Umakant Desai as Lakshmana, and Amirbai Karnataki as the washer-woman. Incidentally few scenes of this film were seen by Mahatma Gandhi and they remain his only exposure to Indian cinema. Here is the YouTube link to the highly popular song sung by the two princes Luv and Kush when they come to Ayodhya and recite the story of Sita to the people.
Song: ‘Bharat ki Ek sannari ki hum katha sunate hain…’
Rambaan (1948)
Once again directed by Vijay Bhatt, the film stars Prem Adib as Rama, Shobhana Samarth as Sita, and Chandramohan as Ravana.
I could not find a print of this film to watch and comment on, but from what little information I could gather, the film deals with the exile period of Rama-Sita-Lakshmana, the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, and the final battle to rescue Sita. How much of the narrative focuses on Hanuman etc., could not be found out.
Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman (1948)
Produced and Directed by Homi Wadia, this film had Trilok Kapoor as Rama, S N Tripathi as Hanuman, Prabhash Joshi as Lakshmana, Sona Chatterjee as Devi Sita, and Niranjan Sharma as Ravana.
The film starts with the demon-king Ravana instructing Mareech to go and take the form of a deer and separate Rama from Sita in the forest so that he can kidnap her easily. In Lanka, queen Mandodari and sons Akshay Kumar and Meghnath are awaiting his return. When Mandodari finds out what Ravana has done, she is not happy and forbids Ravana from bringing Sita inside the palace.
Meanwhile, in the forest, Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman and incidents leading up to the building of the bridge to Lanka by the ‘vanar-sena’ are shown in detail. Hanuman’s meeting with Devi Sita, his meeting with Ravana followed by the burning of Lanka, and Sita’s ‘Agnipariksha’ are also part of the narrative. The film ends with Rama and Sita sitting happily as the king and queen of Ayodhya, and Hanuman reiterating his devotion for Rama by singing ‘Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram…’, probably the first instance of this song in any film. But the link of this song is not permitted to be embedded in any blog.
Here is the YouTube link of another song from the film: ‘Ram Ram Siya Ram…’
Ram Hanuman Yuddha (1957)
This film elaborates on the events leading to the rare situation when Lord Hanuman considered to be the greatest devotee of Lord Rama, must face Lord Rama in a battle. This incident is probably taken from folklore. Once, Sage Narada while visiting Lord Vishnu’s abode, is unhappy to hear that Vishnu considers Hanuman to be his greatest devotee and not Narada. Irked by this, Narada goes to Shanidev and goads him to test Hanuman’s devotion.
Parallel to this, we are shown another track where the deep love shared between King Shakunta and his wife Charumati is highlighted. But their happiness is short-lived when Shanidev decides to enter Shakunta’s body which makes him behave in a vile and erratic manner. He desires to enter ‘Indralok’ in his human form and for this to happen his guru advises him to perform a yagna in the presence of the king Rama. Shakunta is overjoyed when Rama promises to be there for him.
However, in a drunken state while having fun with many girls, king Shakunta ends up insulting Sage Vishwamitra who now seeks revenge. He approaches his disciple Rama and asks him to behead Shakunta for insulting him. Hearing this, Shakunta’s wife Charumati approaches Rama and pleads with him to not behead her husband but Rama only requests her to draw strength from her Sati power and try to find a way to stop him. Charumati then turns to Hanuman’s mother Devi Anjana to give refuge to her husband. She promises that her son Hanuman will keep him safe and no one would be able to touch him.
So, both Rama and Hanuman unintentionally, owing to circumstances beyond their control, end up facing each other in a battle. One seeking to kill king Shakunta for his guru and the other to protect the king to honor his mother’s word. This film directed by S N Tripathi, who also composed music for the film, stars Prem Adib as Rama and Lord Vishnu, Manhar Desai as King Shakunta, Nirupa Roy as his wife Charumati, and Durga Khote as Hanuman’s mother Devi Anjana.
This was an engaging film to watch and powerful acting by Nirupa Roy and Durga Khote who looked great in their respective roles. Interestingly, the ace costume designer Bhanu Athaiya’s name appears in the credits under ‘costume designer’, which probably explains why the costumes looked so good!
Hanuman Patal Vijay (1951)
Directed by Homi Wadia for Basant Pictures banner, the film has actor Mahipal as Rama and S N Tripathi as Hanuman. Actress Meena Kumari who started her adult roles in the film industry with mythological films can be seen in the film playing the role of Naga princess Chandrasena.
I could not find any print of the film and cannot comment much beyond this but I did read that this film was remade in 1974 as Hanuman Vijay and that film can be watched on YouTube. I shall describe the story under that film.
Sampoorna Ramayan (1961)
Probably the most comprehensive of the films that were based on Lord Rama’s story, this was produced by Homi Wadia and directed by Babubhai Mistry. The film starts with Sita Swayamvar at the court of King Janaka where Rama breaks the bow of Lord Shiva to marry Sita, and then follows Ram’s journey from his exile, to war with Ravana, return to Ayodhya, reunion with Bharata, banishing Sita from the kingdom because of a washer-man, meeting his sons Luv and Kush and finally losing Sita when she goes back to Mother Earth. In a way it combines the story of Vijay Bhatt’s trilogy of films.
The difference is in the added songs and dramatic effect in some scenes. For instance, when Luv Kush question her about their father, Sita breaks into a song; when the twins profess their dislike for King Rama, she slaps Kush, and in the last scene, before the earth splits and Sita enters, there is a huge storm blowing and she runs for a long time with Ram chasing her, to reach a particular spot where the earth splits and she enters. In the original there is no dramatic running, the earth just splits where she stands.
The film had a great cast. Mahipal plays Rama, and Anita Guha plays Sita, and their pairing also became very popular. Other actors included Sulochana as Kaikeyi, Lalita Pawar as Manthara, Achla Sachdev as Kausalya, Anand Kumar as Bharata, Raj Kumar as Lakshmana, and Helen as Surpanaka. I could not recognize the actors who played Hanuman and Ravana.
Bharat Milap (1965)
The film Bharat Milap of 1942, was remade twice by two different directors in the year 1965.
One was titled Bharat Milap again, and this film produced by P N Shukla and directed by Babubhai Mistry had Ashish Kumar asRama, Anand Kumar as Prince Bharata, Indrani Mukherjee as Sita, Mridula as Kausalya, Sohrab Modi as Dasharath, and Sulochana as Kaikeyi.
Shri Ram Bharat Milan (1965)
Produced by Ratan Mohan, and directed by Manibhai Vyas, the film starred Prithviraj Kapoor as Dasharath, Mahipal as Rama, Anita Guha as Sita, Raj Kumar as Bharata, Sulochana as Kausalya and Nirupa Roy as Kaikeyi. Music was by Pandit Shivram.
I could not find a print of this film on YouTube and hence cannot write about the details of this film, but here is a YouTube link of a song from the film:
Song: ‘Jagat mein ho Ram Bharat jaise bhai…’
Ram Rajya (1967)
Director Vijay Bhatt remade his own 1943 film Ram Rajya two decades later with a new cast. This time Kumar Sen plays Rama, Bina Rai is Sita, and Kanhaiyalal plays the washer-man. Music was by Vasant Desai.
Lav Kush (1967)
Produced by Homi Wadia and directed by S N Tripathi, this film was again basically a remake of Vijay Bhatt’s 1943 film Ram Rajya. The difference was that while the former started directly with Lord Rama and Sita sitting in the court as the king and queen of Ayodhya, Lav Kush had a 15-minute song sequence in the beginning which basically encapsulates the events starting from King Janaka finding Baby Sita while ploughing the field one day right up to the time when Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman return to Ayodhya after defeating demon-king Ravana in a ferocious battle.
Actor Ashim Kumar plays Rama and Jayashree Gadkar plays Sita. There is a special mention in the credits for Master Babloo the talented child actor who plays one of Sita’s sons either Luv or Kush. Names of actors who play Hanuman, Lakshmana etc., are unknown. The washer-woman here is played by Bela Bose.
Hanuman Vijay (1974)
Director Babubhai Mistry remade the 1951 film Hanuman Patal Vijay and this time, Ashish Kumarplays Rama, Hercules plays Hanuman, and Kanan Kaushal plays the Naga princess Chandrasena. The film deals with Hanuman’s confrontation with the two brothers Ahiravana and Mahiravana, who capture Rama and Lakshmana so that Ahiravana can marry Chandrasena. Hanuman also gets to meet his son Makaradwaja (said to have been born from his sweat).
As the story goes, the Naga princess loses her heart to Lord Rama the moment she sets eyes on him and thinks of him day and night. But the demon Ahiravana who wants to marry her kidnaps her and takes her to the netherworld where he and his brother along with latter’s wife make life miserable for Chandrasena.
Ahiravana changes his form to look like Vibhishana, and reaches the spot where Hanuman is protecting Rama and Lakshmana inside a tower made with his tail and is sitting atop to guard it. Ahiravana tricks Hanuman with his disguise and enters the tower and manages to capture Rama and Lakshmana.
In the end, when Chandrasena professes her love for Rama and pleads with him to marry her, he tells her that in this avatar, he has pledged to take only one wife and that was Sita. But in the distant future, in another era, when he would return to earth as Lord Krishna, she would be reborn as Satyabama and then he would marry her.
Bajrangbali 1976
Produced and directed by Chandrakant, this film as the title suggests, depicts the story of Rama from the angle of Hanuman. Starting with his tryst with Shanidev, he proceeds to meet Rama and Lakshman in the forest and helps them to find out about Sita, he burns up Lanka with the fire in his tail after meeting Sita in Ravana’s forest, and finally the war with Ravana. The film also includes Hanuman’s fight with Rama, the Luv-Kush story, and ends with Sita entering Mother Earth.
The film had Dara Singh playing Hanuman and he became very popular in this role. We had Biswajit as Ram, Moushmi Chatterjee as Sita, and Premnath as Ravana. Lyrics were by Kavi Pradeep, and music by Kalyanji Anandji.
Mahabali Hanuman (1981)
Directed by Babubhai Mistry, this film chronicles events starting from Hanuman’s birth to Devi Anjana, right up to his help to Lord Rama in bringing back Devi Sita after vanquishing the demon-king Ravana in a fierce battle. Later the film incorporates a brief overview of Rama’s confrontation with Hanuman in a battle (already seen in detail in the film Ram Hanuman Yuddha).
The film has Rakesh Pandey as Lord Rama, Kavita Kiran as Devi Sita, Manher Desai as Ravana, Anjana Mumtaz as Devi Anjana, and the actor Hercules in the role of Hanuman.
Adipurush (2023)
This is the latest film based on the Ramayana. Produced by T-Series and directed by Om Raut, the film stars Prabhas as Rama, Kriti Sanon as Sita, Sunny Singh as Lakshmana, Saif Ali Khan as Ravana and Devdatta Nage as Hanuman.
After the credit titles, the initial story of the epic is conveyed in pictures with a background narration. The film starts with Ravana praying to Lord Brahma to grant him boon of immortality. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana are shown to be in the forest and the scene is set when Sita spots a golden deer. The film concentrates only on Sita’s abduction by Ravana, and Rama and Lakshmana rescuing her with the help of Hanuman and his army of ‘vanar-sena’, and ends with Rama and Sita returning to Ayodhya after the battle with Ravana.
I end the blog with this song from the film, ‘Ram Siya Ram Siya Ram Jai Jai Ram….’
As far as box-office collections go, the year 2023 will be remembered for dishing out several massive blockbusters after a dry spell of the last few years. We had several big-budget films like Pathan, Jawan, Dunki, Animal, Gadar 2, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and Tu Jhooti Main Makkar, which managed mind-boggling collections ranging from Rupees 500-1000 crores! Small budget films like The Kerala Stories, Satyaprem Ki Katha, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke and 12th Fail ended up becoming sleeper-hits due to word of mouth publicity and raked in enough moolah. Even the Hindi dubbed versions of Pan-India films like Leo, Jailer and Salaar were declared hits.
On the flip-side so much importance was given to the box-office numbers every day by every social media account and trade pundits that viewers and readers were bombarded with too much statistics. Advance booking figures, first day collection reports followed by first weekend collections were given out dutifully and soon moved on to include comparison of the figures of the earlier films of these stars as well as comparison with other superstars. Honestly, none of that made much sense because the biggest hits were not necessarily hailed as the best films. At times, almost a war-like situation was created with the bigger producers and distributors getting a larger share of shows thereby encroaching upon smaller competitors.
No longer can Bollywood be evaluated solely in terms of box-office success as there are many films which are directly released on OTT platforms and there are numerous superb web-series also being churned out which provide far more entertainment in episodic format. Many industry actors have turned to web-series and are able to play a lot more intriguing characters as there is no need to follow any set pattern or cater to any star’s image or even bother about box-office results. The revenue generated is calculated using different parameters.
Films like Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai, Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Lost, Khufia, and Jaane Jaan were released directly on OTT and found appreciation. Web-series like Jubilee, Dahaad, The Night Manager, Class, Duranga, Kohraa, Farzi, The Railway Men, Taali, Guns & Gulaabs, etc. stood out for their brilliant content and the noteworthy performance by the entire cast.
Shah Rukh Khan was in full form and sealed his place as the greatest superstar with three back to back super-hits. Others like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Salman Khan were no match for his magic. As far as performances go, there were several to be remembered from the older and younger actors and even newcomers.
Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra hit jackpot with his film 12th Fail. Based on the real-life story of the struggles faced by an IAS officer the film touched a cord in every viewer’s heart thanks to the heart-warming, sincere, honest, and winning performance by Vikrant Massey.
Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai again based on real-life event, told us the story of one lawyer’s struggle against the system to bring justice to the young girl who had been molested by a self-styled god-man. It seemed a daunting task to even consider taking on such a case as the victim was from a lower-class family and the god-man not only had massive number of followers but also wielded power with his political connections and proximity to police. Manoj Bajpayee as the lawyer was brilliant.
Sandip Vanga Reddy’s Animal was an eye-opener. The overwhelming response garnered for the film revealed that there were takers for films where the protagonist was not a ‘hero’ in the typical sense and could go on a killing spree at the drop of a hat. Unlike Vikrant Massey and Manoj Bajpayee who were playing real-life positive and inspiring characters, Ranbir Kapoor was playing a fictional and flawed character which was not an easy role to play, but he was just phenomenal.
Jawan was amassy entertainer and had Shah Rukh Khan in a double role, that of a father and son, thereby ensuring double the dose of entertainment and fun. Besides an emotional angle in the plot, and thrilling action scenes by SRK in both the roles, there was a hard-hitting message woven in the narrative which was addressed directly to the public to open their eyes against the political system. The film struck the right notes and had the viewers asking for more.
Three Of Us: This poignant and thought-provoking film addresses the topic of dementia and how the early onset of this condition can impact the life of the individual. When Shefali Shah comes to know of her condition, she decides to revisit the town where she had grown up in an attempt to reconnect with her old self as she realizes that soon she would start to forget everything. Swanand Kirkire plays her husband and Jaideep Ahlawat plays her old friend for whom she had had feelings at the time she left the place. All three of them were excellent in their roles.
Vicky Kaushal came up with a good performance as Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur but somewhere the narrative was not scripted well enough for us to appreciate this great officer’s contribution and Vicky at times seemed to have put in too much effort to look the part instead of feeling the part. The incidents felt a little episodic and the real-clips interspersed in between gave a documentary feel to the proceedings in some places.
Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani proved that a typical Bollywood family drama with a lame story can also do very well if marketed by KJo and Dharma Productions along with catchy songs and Alia Bhatt in their pocket. She breezed through the film with fans swooning over her. This film is yet another proof why she is a superstar of the industry today.
Katrina Kaif in Tiger 3 and Deepika Padukone in Pathan showed their prowess at action scenes. Deepika also came up with a winning special appearance in Jawan and minus her powerful presence in the backstory of the plot, the film would have fallen flat. She exudes an aura whenever she is on screen and that is irrespective of the length of the role she gets to play in any film.
Mumbaikar directed by Santosh Sivan, proved to be an enjoyable ride, though its IMDB ratings are not high. The film stars Vikrant Massey, Vijay Sethupathy, and a newcomer Hridhu Haroon and deals with how confusions arise in the lives of these three people as they always end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. The film captures the spirit of Mumbai and the chaos that the city can throw a person into.
Kho Gaye Hum Kahan had a novel, refreshing and relatable take on the lives of the younger generation in today’s digital age and delved into the impact of social media in their lifestyle. Natural acting by Ananya, Siddhant and Adarsh and honest and simplistic storytelling by the director adds zest to the narrative making it engaging as we experience the roller-coaster of emotions along with the three protagonists.
Films like Satyaprem Ki Katha, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, Tu Jhooti Main Makkar tried to address some problems young couples can face in a relationship and though the films were average, the acting by the cast was praiseworthy, especially Kiara Advani in Satyaprem Ki Katha. Kareena Kapoor gave a dignified performance in Jaane Jaan, the film based on writer Keigo Higashino’s murder thriller book-The Devotion of Suspect X.Jaideep Ahlawat was too good in the film. Tabu was her usual self in Khufiya but it was youngster Wamiqa Gabbi who grabbed our attention with her confidence.
Abhishek Bachchan as the coach and Saiyami Kher as the disabled person who takes on the daunting task of entering the cricket team in spite of her disability were both brilliant in Ghoomer. Though this sports drama directed by R Balki did not do well at the box-office, it can be seen just for their acting. Incidentally Saiyami is the granddaughter of actress Usha Kiran. Yami Gautam was good as the advocate representing the wrong-doers in OMG 2 and Pankaj Tripathi presenting his side of the case in the same film proved once again why he is such a rare performer. He lends dignity and gravitas to the sensitive topic of sex education which is what the film basically dealt with.
There were some noteworthy performances in several web-series. Sonakshi Sinha as the Dalit cop trying to uncover the face of the serial killer in the thriller Dahaad was brilliant. Wonder if she could have ever got a role like this in films. Sushmita Sen lived the role of the real-life transgender activist Shreegauri Sawant in Taali. The transgender had led an iconic battle for the inclusion of the third gender in every official document in India. No one else could have done that role with so much conviction.
Vijay Varma had a great year grabbing all the attention for playing the smooth-talking killer in Dahaad and an inspector in Jaane Jaan. Gulshan Devaiah also had a good outing with the second season of Duranga, a gripping psychological thriller series based on the Korean drama Flower of Evil, and in Guns & Gulaabs where he is effortless as a contract killer. Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gaurav and Dulquer Salman leave their mark in Guns & Gulaabs. It was one of the best web-series to come out in 2023. The other brilliant web-series was Jubilee and the entire cast comprising of Aparshakti Khurana, Wamiqa Gabbi, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Siddhant Gupta, Aditi Rao Hyadri, Ram Kapoor, Shweta Basu Prasad gave memorable performances.
Another noteworthy web-series was Kohraa. From the first scene when the corpse of an NRI groom is found in the fields to the end when the killer is revealed, the narrative was engaging. Both Suvinder Vicky as the inspector and Barun Sobti as his assistant were very good. They had to deal with their own personal battles apart from solving the murder and the story set in rural Punjab captured the atmosphere with authenticity. The Railway Men based on the lives of the railway workers who risk their lives to save the victims after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy is a web-series which caught the attention of viewers and actors Kay Kay Menon, Divyendu Sharma, R Madhavan and Babil Khan have given praiseworthy performances.
Aditya Roy Kapoor had a great year with a double role in the enjoyable Gumrah and as the night manager in the web-series titled The Night Manager. He showed his versatility in both the roles. Anil Kapoor was brilliant in a negative role in the same serial. Farzi had us rooting for Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathy who kept the proceedings engrossed with their acting. Drashti Dhami as the cop in Duranga was remarkable.
At the end a word of praise for the entire cast of the OTT series Class (a remake of the Spanish show Elite) which had a talented bunch of newcomers giving a seasoned performance and bringing to life all the characters. The plot revolves around a hi-fi elite school in Delhi where three students from a poor background join bringing about a change in the mind-set of the entire class and a change in the dynamics of their interaction. The last episode has ended on a cliffhanger with a murder and season 2 is being awaited with bated breath.
2023 also had some really bad films competing for the worst film title- The much awaited mythological Adipurush was flop from the word go. The treatment of this epic drama starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali Khan, turned out to be so shoddy and indifferent that it hurt people’s sentiments and the backlash received ended up taking the makers to the court. When will Salman Khan learn that sheer nonsense like Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan has no takers? Maybe it is time he took a break to introspect and return with something new.
Bawaal is a film which should have never seen the daylight. Honestly not one thing about the film made an iota of sense and to have Janhvi Kapoor in today’s time playing such a doormat of a wife to a chauvinistic Varun Dhawan and to club the whole thing with the Auschwitz prison angle was a terrible idea. Zoya Akhtar with all the resources in hand bungled up big time to give us a frivolous and inexcusable take on the famous comic series The Archies, with the newcomers giving pathetic performances. They need to start afresh to erase this fiasco from public memory.
It was enjoyable to watch older actors leave their mark in the films they starred. While Sharmila Tagore in Gulmohur was a picture of elegance, the love triangle of Jaya Bhaduri, Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra kept us entertained in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.
As usual, cine-lovers look forward with enthusiasm knowing that 2024 will bring forth its own challenges with its new Friday releases and new web-series and a wide variety of stories waiting to be told…
The year 2023 has been an interesting year for Hindi cinema in terms of music and songs. Super-hit films like Pathan, Jawan, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkar, Animal, Dunki, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani and the amazing web-series Jubilee, had excellent songs and all the songs attained immense popularity. Sleeper-hits like Mission Majnu, Sam Bahadur, Satyaprem Ki Katha,Zara Hatke Zara Bachke also had some good songs. Films like Adipurush, Ghoomer and The Archies which did not live up to the expectations also had at least one song which became popular.
Some movies had songs which were marketed very well and their PR strategies made them super-hits with scores of reels being made on the hook steps of these songs on Instagram. Some new voices came to fore as did some new lyricists and music directors lending a fresh appeal. We even had a remastering of an old Iranian song as well in Animal which became a rage among viewers. The golden voice of Arijit Singh dominated the music scene and his phenomenal chartbusters deserve credit for making the movies a big success. Credit for the popularity of the songs also goes to the choreographers for the appealing way the songs were picturized.
Let us unwind and enjoy the music which includes dance numbers, poignant solos, love duets, inspirational songs and even a bhajan.
Film: Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani
This film had all the ingredients of a quintessential Bollywood film and with Karan Johar returning to direction after seven years, he ensured that the film would have superb songs. The song ‘What Jhumka?…’ almost became an anthem for many months with KJo’s brilliant promotional strategy ensuring that this song was on every cine lovers lips even before the release of the film. Arijit Singh and Jonita Gandhi’s singing, Alia and Ranveer’s energetic dancing, the fast paced choreography, catchy lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya and above all the famous Madan Mohan-Asha Bhosle song from Mera Saaya which provided the base for Pritam, turned this song into one of the biggest hits of 2023.
Song: ‘What Jhumka?…’
The film also had a lovely duet shot amidst picturesque snow-clad mountains of Kashmir reminding us of Hindi cinema of yore. It was KJo’s tribute to the legacy of director Yash Chopra. Once again Arijit Singh is sensational in the song.
Song: ‘Tum kya mile…’
Film: Pathan
Song: ‘Besharam Rang…’
There was a frenzy surrounding this film much before its release considering it was SRK’s first film after a four-year hiatus. Added to that was the kind of publicity-both positive and negative, garnered when this song was released on You Tube. With the choreography treading the thin line between sensuousness and raunchiness, the song was a deadly combination of Deepika Padukone’s statuesque presence, Shipa Rao’s dignified vocals, SRK’s magnetic charisma and scintillating music by Vishal-Sheykhar which included a lot of Spanish lyrics as well. The song ultimately made it to one of the most loved songs of 2023.
Song: ‘Jhoome Jo Pathan…’
The title song from Pathan also hit the right notes with the charm of SRK-Deepika combination on screen and with Arijit Singh creating magic with his voice once again. Viewers went crazy making reels of the hook steps from this song.
Film: Tu Jhooti Main Makkar
2023 was a great year for Ranbir Kapoor with two of his films becoming hits at the box-office. This one was a rom-com with the fresh pairing of Ranbir and Shraddha Kapoor and had outstanding music by Pritam. The film was a good mix of dance numbers, love songs and sad songs. Ranbir’s amazing dancing skills give the song sequences an additional verve which make it more enjoyable to watch them.
Song: ‘Show me the thumka…’-(Singers Shashwat Singh & Sunudhi Chauhan)
The film which caught the fancy of the film-goers despite the main protagonist playing a mentally disturbed character also had some fabulous songs which became hugely popular. This solo by Arijit Singh comes in the background when the relationship between Ranbir and Rashmika is going through a tough phase.
Song: ‘Satranga…’
Song: ‘Jamal Kudu…’ (Abrar’s entry)
Who expected the remastering of an old Iranian song and that too picturized on the villain of the film to become such a rage on the internet? This song and this role catapulted Bobby Deol to dizzying heights of popularity with every viewer showering him with only love and praise. The song is a traditional Iranian Bandari Music reinterpreted by Harshvardhan Rameshwar. The lyrics and the original tune have been retained but here the song is sung by many female singers including children and women as opposed to the original which was sung by a male singer.
Film: Zara Hatke Zara Bachke
This film released without much publicity yet turned out to be a sleeper-hit owing to its relatable storyline and Vicky Kaushal’s acting. Music by Sachin-Jigar was a hit especially this solo in the voice of a new singer Varun Jain and chorus singing by Sachin-Jigar, Shadab Faridi, and Altamash Faridi. Lyrics were by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The film also had a lovely solo by Arijit Singh-‘Tu hai to bas phis aur kya chahiye…’
Song: ‘Tere vaaste falak se main chand laaunga…’
Film: Adipurush
Though this mega-budget flopped miserably at the box-office and came in for all kinds of flak for its horrendous portrayal of the revered epic, some songs were quite pleasant to hear. The one taken in this blog is sung by Sachet Tandon and music is by Sachet-Parampara with lyrics by Manoj Muntashir. The song has a soothing quality, is pleasant to listen to and reminds us of the bhajan from the film Geet Gaata Chal.
Song: ‘Ram Siya Ram, Siya Ram Jai Jai Ram…’
Film: Sam Bahadur
This biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw had music by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and lyrics by Gulzar. There were four songs of which two have been chosen here. The first is an inspirational anthem sung by Shankar Mahadevan and pays tribute to the bravery of Sam Manekshaw , while the second is a soft and pleasant duet in the voices of Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal.
Song: ‘Rab ka banda hai yeh…’
Song: ‘Itni si baat ho gayi…’
Film: Jawan
The biggest blockbuster of 2023 was dominated by talent from our South industry- Directed by Atlee, it had music by Anirudh Ravichander and lyrics by Kumar. The lovely duet picturized on south superstar Nayantara and Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan is a soft romantic number sung by Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao and their soothing vocals make it a memorable number.
Song: ‘Chaleya…’
Film: Dunki
The third SRK starrer of the year which released in December dealt with the topic of illegal immigration from India and songs were apt for the situation. Only one song sung by Arijit Singh became hugely popular and had catchy beats which showed Shah Rukh Khan completely smitten by Taapsee Pannu. Lyrics were by Swanand Kirkire and music by Pritam.
Song: ‘Main lut put gaya…’
Film: Ghoomer
A heart-warming and inspirational tale of human resilience and dedication, the film made a powerful impact thanks to superb performances from Abhishek Bachchan and Saiyemi Kher. Directed by R Balki, the film had music by Amit Trivedi. The song chosen here has been written by Kausar Munir and sung by Dipakshi Kalita and Altamash Faridi.
Song: ‘Ke ghoom ghoom ghoom ghoomer ghume…’
Film: Mission Majnu
This was a spy thriller set against the backdrop of the 1971 India-Pakistan war which had Siddharth Malhotra playing an Indian RAW agent working as an undercover spy in Pakistan and he ends up falling in love with a blind girl played by Rashmika Mandana and their love story gives rise to many complications. They made a good on-screen pair and this song written by Shabbir Ahmed, composed by Tanishk Bagchi was sung by Jubin Nautyal.
Song: ‘Rabba janda o rabba janda…’
Film: Sirf Ek Banda Kaafi Hai
One of the best films of the year with a hard-hitting narrative also had music which suited the situation. Music by the brothers Sangeet Haldipur and Siddharth Haldipur was apt for the film and poignant lyrics written by them elevates the song to make the scene a heart-warming one. Sonu Nigam’s vocals lend the right emotion to make it a thought-provoking number to relate to when the honest lawyer returns victorious against an entire system of corrupt officials and religious persecutors.
Song: ‘Bandeya bandeya, kis mitti ki tu shaan hai bandeya…’
Film: Tiger 3
A spy thriller in its third instalment of the Tiger series, this one did not hit the bull’s eye but some songs became popular especially this solo by Arijit Singh. Music by Pritam and lyrics by Irshad Kamil suited the thoughts going on in Salman’s mind where he is not sure whether his wife Katrina is his loving wife or a spy doing an act.
Song: ‘Ruan ruan…’
Film: The Archies
This film by Zoya Akhtar was not received well due to its murderous version of the famous Archie comics and lame acting by most of the cast. However, Agastya Nanda became popular due to his affable charm and effortless dancing and this song sung by Tejas, written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy caught the attention of the viewers and both the choreography and tune are appealing.
Song: ‘Va va voom…’
Web-Series- Jubilee
The blog-post cannot end without mentioning this masterpiece of a web-series set against the backdrop of our cinematic history and the early beginnings of the studio era. Keeping in sync with the theme of the series, the music nostalgically transports us to the cinema of the 1940’s and 50’s and faithfully recreates the music of that era with some superb songs. Music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Kausar Munir get all credit for this and the singers Sunudhi Chauhan, Papon, Mohammed Irfan and Vaishali Mhade beautifully bring out the essence of the era. Three songs from the series are posted here which includes two solos and a duet.
Away from the baggage of box-office collections, star power and even nepotism overdrive, comes a delightful film – Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, with an impactful narrative and excellent performances from the cast and it released on Netflix on 26th December. Produced by Farhan Akhtar’s Excel entertainment and Zoya Akhtar’s Tiger Baby films, this engaging narrative packs a punch with its fresh take on friendship, love, and a roller-coaster of emotions in today’s digital age in the lives of three young friends – Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Adarsh Gourav.
As the story unfolds, we are privy to the events happening in the life of the three protagonists who belong to today’s typical Gen-Z crowd. They have been best friends from childhood sharing everything together and always having each other’s back. Being grown-up now, they also have their own personal emotions to grapple with, which they must deal on their own. The film throws light on the thoughts and emotional needs of this generation addicted to and influenced by social media and who are trying to find solace as well as solution to their problems through social media platforms. The film is neither judgmental nor preachy and yet puts across all emotions in a convincing and compelling manner.
Siddhant plays a popular stand-up comedian and brings the house down with his insightful observations and one-liners, but has a past which haunts him. Ananya has an MBA degree and works in a firm where her boss is always taking advantage of her creative and entrepreneurial qualities but she is helpless to fight back. Adarsh is a personal trainer in a gym and dreams of opening his own gym one day catering to celebrity clients. While Siddhant and Ananya stay away from their families and share a common flat, Adarsh stays with his parents but is not very happy with his middle-class background.
The film starts off slowly giving us a glimpse into their lives in a relaxed manner but soon picks up pace as their inner turmoil comes to surface and gets intense in the last half hour. Not once do we feel an iota of artificial lingo or mannerism or dialogue delivery and the three of them come across as real-life friends which perhaps becomes the biggest USP of the film.
There are heart-breaks, betrayals, fights, party times, love, laughter, fun, jealousy, and in some scenes, emotions are running high, and the director has handled everything intelligently. The theme is bound to resonate more with the younger urban crowd but there is something for everyone to take home. Every generation comes with its own set of problems and for the older generation, watching the film can be an eye-opener into understanding the minds and lives of today’s youngsters.
The music apparently is a big hit with the Gen-Z crowd and the lyrics are also being appreciated. There are six songs with different lyricists and music directors for different songs but then, that is how the music scene works in many of the films today.
Debutant director Arjun Varain Singh hits the jackpot with his very first venture and shows a deep understanding of how the world of social media, with all its positive and negative effects, impacts the lives of this generation. The casting is perfect and the camaraderie between the protagonists comes across in a very natural way thereby raising the film several notches higher to make it one of the best films of this year.
Ananya is a natural in the role and she acts very well. Siddhant is charming and aces the role like a pro and Adarsh Gourav after a superb performance in the web-series Guns & Gulaabs earlier this year comes up with yet another memorable act. All three actors who have been earnestly working on their acting skills since their debut film seem to have finally found a script which extracts excellent and nuanced performances from them and all three come out with flying colours. The supporting cast of Kalki Koechlin as Siddhant’s friend, Anya Singh as a social media influencer and Rohan Gurbaxani as Ananya’s love interest also do their parts very well.
It is ironical that the same Zoya Akhtar who just a month back disappointed by giving us one of the worst films of the year The Archies, has managed to spring a pleasant surprise at the end of the year by giving us one of the best films with Kho Gaye Hum Kahan! The film is a must watch for those looking for a change from the action films and are ready to watch something different. You will find the film thoroughly enjoyable and relatable and will not be disappointed!
My Views On Bollywood 