A Cinephile’s Choice

Re: # 77
``there was a small role he had in a hema malini vinod khanna film``
That was rihaii by Aruna Raje.
``Sanjeev Kumar was poor at comedy.``
Well, Have you seen movies like Angoor and ``Pati Patni aur woh``? I think he was at least above average.
``Om Puri has proved his mettle in serious roles such as Ardh Satya, Gandhi, Tamas etc and I think with out being loud..``
IMHO he was loud in all these movies, which is not necessarily a bad thing.Perhaps, it was the demand of the role.Perhaps it was the hangover of theatre tht he never was able to shake off.However, I dont see him doing a role like Pestonjee or Masoom, at least not as well as Naseer. Maybe it was due to his looks that he always assumed a rough edge intrinsically.
Anupam Khers Saaransh is one of the outstanding performances in Hindi Cinema. And yes, he steadily declined after that. Mithun certainly was an all rounder. I think he stole the thunder from Amitabh in AgneePath.Another great mainstream movie of Mithun is Prem Pratigya.Among others, Raghuveer Yadav was someone with great potential,but largely went untapped, sadly.
Among newer actors my favorite is Vijay Raaz. Seeing him performing is such a delight.You may know him from cameos in Monsoon Wedding and Jungle. He is the true successor to the parallel cinema generation of Om and Naseer, though, such films aint made any more.

Kulbhushan Kharbanda, though he started diffidently, turned out to be an outstanding actor in dacait, ek chadar maili si, and so many others. Anupam Kher on the other hand started exceedingly well in saransh, and showed glimpses later in mujhe jeene do, but then turned totally puerile. johnny walker I havent sen much of, he was good at times but I think he depended too much on mannerisms.

Manoj Bajpai is over rated I feel. but one person who had huge talent was mithun, I saw an early fil of his in which he plays a dalit oppresed by a cruel zamindar played to perfection by another great actor Amrish Puri.

Here is an article in tribute to Mithun Da or truck driver suraj as he is more popularly known.



Mithun - A tribute to a neglected genius



By Vishwas Kulkarni A lack of friends led me to a theatre in Bhayandar where the latest Mithun film was running. Gunda Raaj or something of the sort. The title though is immaterial. I love Mithun and I don‘t care which film he chooses to star in. To me he is the B-grade baadshah. Somebody who had the gall to say, ‘Screw this, let‘s give these guys worse trash than they deserve‘. So those who laugh at Mithun should stop to think.

Because here is the guy who‘s a better bet than Shahrukh Khan, Aamir and Hrithik Roshan put together. Think I‘m crazy? Read on.

A Mithun flick costs between 1.2 - 1.5 crores. A Shahrukh Khan starrer costs 8 crores to 18 crores. Shahrukh charges 2-3 crores. Mithunda comes for 70 lakhs. Baadshah bombed, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani sunk. None of Mithun‘s films bomb ever. Believe it or not. But every Mithun flick is a hit. The whole point is that a Mithun has such a bindaas attitude that it almost makes him more star-like than Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh tried to cover his ageing blues by upgrading himself and corportazing his charisma. The audience yawned and gave him the boot. Today, the Big B has finally had to succumb to Tollywood. Mithun on the other hand has downgraded himself only to go laughing all the way to the bank.

The formula to making a Mithun film is easy. You don‘t really need a script. An honest cop is transferred from a small village to a city where ‘mafia raaj‘ is the way of life. He tries to fix things only to see his mother choked to death and his wife raped. This cruel twist of kismet also explains why every Mithun lead actress looks like a dancer from a ladies‘ bar at Saki Naka. They wear the type of frocks that Jaya Prada wore in 1983. They wear cheap gaudy lipstick. They die. Mithun freaks out and decides to take the law in his own hand. He kills the goonda and ends the mafia raaj. In the midst of this simple plot, the usual suspects are thrown in. The town hooker and her mujra bit, the Muslim uncle to provide comic relief, the loud-mouthed widow who screams at the mafia don only to get burnt alive, the song near the same goddamn lake. All these are constants. The wonderful trick about a Mithun plot lies in the fact that it isn‘t what will happen next; but how it will happen next.

So how did Mithun manage to become the betaaj baadshah of B-grade cinema and manage to retain his self-respect. What separates Mithunda‘s aged face from Dharmendra‘s sunken cheeks? The difference is that audiences know that Dharmendra is obviously making a quick buck with a loser producer who is trying to make an entry through the sewers of Bollywood. With a Mithun flick there is no such awkwardness. It‘s a celebration of muck all the way.

When Mithun retired to the crisp chilly mornings of Ooty, he shipped with him an entire lifestyle. A hotel chain called Monarch based in South India is owned by Mithun. There are no discotheques in Hotel Monarch. Mithun is the discotheque. Producers line up every morning outside his hotel begging him to do another film. The returns from a Mithun flick are guaranteed. One doesn‘t even have to bother with releasing them in the bigger theatres of Indian metros. Most of Mithun‘s films are released in small theatres in obscure suburbs, rural theatres and mobile theatres in the even more remote areas of the country. It is as though an entire generation of cine-going audiences is unaware of the Hritik Roshans and the Sanjay Dutts of this world. Mithun is the world of cinema that they know.

And let‘s not forget a very basic fact. Mithun Chavravorty started his career with a National Award (Mrigaya). Mithun studied acting at the prestigious Film and Television Institute in Poona. I genuinely believe that hits such as Dance Dance or Disco Dancer don‘t quite match up to the campiness of his later films. It is rumoured that Mithun doesn‘t even want to act in any of these pictures. It is the producers who can‘t stop begging (unless you are TLV Prasad who happens to be a personal favourite)

The Bengali Badshaah‘s appeal also lies in the fact that he isn‘t quite the outsider to audiences. Mithun is the audience on either side of the cinema screen. In other words, every frontbencher can see himself in Mithun. And Mithun sees himself in every frontbencher. So the equation is really simple and self-satisfying. Ajay Devgan could have done better if he had recognized this core aspect of Mithun‘s appeal. Because in many ways Ajay Devgan and Mithun share the same appeal. Both symbolize the democratic nature of Bollywood. When one sees an Akshay Kumar fight for the rights of bonded labourers with a zamindaar, it‘s just not believable. But put Mithun or Ajay in the same spot and chances are it‘ll hit a chord.

And there in lies the tragedy of a Dharmendra or an Amitabh. Because with age, their image withered in the minds of audiences. One treats them shabbily. And they lose their own self-respect as well. The audience has grown old with Mithun. As Mithun ages and his skin becomes more leathery, they almost tend to respect him more. The contempt that Bollywood audiences have for filmstars ageing doesn‘t apply to Mithun. His appeal was never based on his looks. Mithun was a notion. An idea that every ordinary guy can make it to the big screen. Mithun is a celebration of ordinariness. And that is why he is my hero.

In many ways, Mithun represents a counterpoint to the glamourous snobbery of Bollywood. He shunned its rules and danced away to glory. He remained aloof from its egotistical traps. An Amitabh in sheer desperation to regain his lost popularity (and money) will host a hokey television game show. A Dharmendra will stumble drunk through the sets of a C-grade film because Subhash Ghai wont touch him with a barge pole. But Mithun wont. Mithun never went to the big guys. The big guys never came to him.

Mithun like a good middle-class gentlemen got married. Had the casual affair incidentally with the then reigning czarina of Bollywood. After reconciling with his wife, Mithun went away to Ooty. And when the Vinod Khannas and the Rishi Kapoors of this planet started running out of 30-Plus tablets, the producers lined up outside Mithunda‘s house. During his second bout, Mithun has almost embraced the sleaze of Bollywood with a Bengali intellectualism. He danced harder, he acted better, he put kaajal in his eyes, and he fought like a stud. All on the might of his wrinkled face. Mithun Chakravorty in that regard is more avant garde than a Satyajit Ray. Working within the confines of the Hindi film industry, Mithunda has managed to tweak Bollywood‘s cultural ineptitude so well, that one often wonders whether Mithun writes the scripts himself. The 1986 B Subhash superhit Dance Dance featured a young boy and girl who reach financial destitution because their sexy mother (who sings a plagiarized version of the Modern Talking single, Brother Louis titled Zubi Zubi Zubi) is held prisoner in Amrish Puri‘s haveli. Amrish Puri blows up the father, naturally. In the midst of this crisis, the sister reprimands her famished brother when he almost dies of dehydration on Madh island. She tells him that ”agar tujhe zindagi mein halwa khana hain to tujhe dance karna padega. Dance dance.” If you want halwa in life, you‘ve gotta dance. That boy grew up to become Mithun. He didn‘t have a choice. But you do. Contact your local cable operator today.

Vishwas Kulkarni is a dude from NYF School and aspires to become one of the topmost commercial filmmakers of bollywood.

hindvi:

Comedy and no menion of Badruddin Qazi urf Johny Walker? He was perhaps the only actor whose very presence in a scene made people laugh. Ironically, he was discovered by one of the most serious actors in the industry, Balraj Sahney, who spotted him making people laugh as a conductor in a Bombay bus.

And talking of character actors, one of my favourites is Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Among the newcomers I like Manoj Bajpayi. I think that he has good potential. He has played varied roles in Satya, Zubeida, and Pinjar and done them all quite well. Unfortunately, he doesn`t look like `hero` in the classic bollywood mould.

Om Puri has proved his mettle in serious roles such as Ardh Satya, Gandhi, Tamas etc and I think with out being loud, at the same time he has been able to give some of the greates comic performances ever in East is East, chachi 420, Bollywood Calling etc. It must be said when comparing him to Naseer that Om did become better at comedy as he progressed in his career, because comedy is a difficult Art and requires time to hone, but even to begin with he was better than Naseer as can be seen in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.

Bombay boys was one of the few films in which naseer performed well in a comic role, I havent seen Mirch masala but I have seen a shot in which he as the british era officer looses his shirt with a native who breaks his gramaphone record, the scene is strangely funny and pitiable at the same time. In Mr Pestonjee he was outstanding, he was very good in Masoom too, mandi and bazaar i havent seen. I think he portrayed anger very well, wether it was the suppresed variety of Paar, or the frustrated variety of sparsh or the overt kind in his numerous roles. He also used to portray charecters very well, there was a small role he had in a hema malini vinod khanna film where he plays the typical dubai returned worker with a two in one on his shoulder and goggles over his eyes, he was hilarious and strangely true to life. i suspect he used techniques of the method school especially in character portrails such as Mr Pestonji.

Sanjeev Kumar was poor at comedy. Amjad Khan in sholay put in a method school performance he went and bought a pair of old military fatigues in chor bazaar and lived in them day and night, he blackened his teeth, took up chewing tobacco and actually went to live in chambal or some place to pick up the accent. When he got the opportunity he could be outstanding in comedy as well, there is a movie in which he plays a slightly demented feudal with lust on his mind chasing rekha through the fields his expressions are just priceless as was his role as the eccentric wajid ali shah in shatranj ke khilari.

Comedy lies in intonation and the right expression at the right time Govinda understood this better than most. He lost himself in the role without any self awareness and often would add his own bhojpuri expressions along the way. amitabh in the 70s was able to do that too.

But the only man witty enough to create his own dialogues, scenes and complete situations was mehmood. in film after fil during the 60s he was able to maintain his standards.

Excellent and strong lish Naqshbandi saheb even though I have not seen some but now should.

rahul, hindvi:

I haven`t seen all the films that you guys have mentioned, but for Naseer`s comic role, see Bombay Boyz. I have seen only two films of Moti Lal, Jaagte Raho and Dev Das and he was superb in both. I always wanted to seem his Mr. Sampat based on R.K. Narayan`s novel, which is supposed to be his best film, but it never came to a ``theatre near us``.

Dilip did a wonderful job as a comedy actor in Azaad, for which he won the best actor`s award, but somehow could never shed his typecasting as a tragedy king, which started with his box office hit Shaheed.

Re: # 73
hindvi, Naseers body of comic work is, apparently, less than Om Puri. It exists though, in movies like JBDY, Jalwa, Katha etc. Om Puri does better him on this account. But, the gripe I have with Om Puri is that almost all his performances are emotionally loud.Naseers range, OTOH is amazing. From the docile portrayal of Tundroos in Mandi, to the urbane, and very subtle performance in Masoom and to the emotionally loud performance in Sparsh, and the simple parsi in pestonji and many more characters which were as different from each other as possible- he excelled in ALL. IMHO Om does not come close to it.I think lets agree to disagree :-)
By your yardstick of comic typing and drama, Sanjeev Kumar too is second to none.
Kanhaiya Lal is no doubt good, but I have always seen him play a baniya.Other great character actors that I am reminded of are Nana Palsikar and K.N. Singh.
For Motilals amazing performance, you should check out ``Jaagte Raho``.I too havent seen much of him though.
Re Raj Kapoor, he immortalized himself by becoming a showman, producer director etc. and producing some memorable movies Thats what sets him apart from the trinity of Dilip,Dev and himself. As an actor, I agree, he did not fulfil his promise

Masala and realism were best in the 50s, 60s and 70s wether in a Deewar or a daagh, where the main protagonist and the superstar of that time commits a rape, can a superstar today do that?

Nasseer is undoubtedly great in films like sparsh etc, but he was unable to master comic timing : dialogue as well as facial expressions. Om Puri is the only actor who did both drama and comedy with equal flair. The other man was Amjad Khan his comic timing, when he was rarely given the opportunity was hilarious, especially when he played the mad man. Amitabh had great potential but he became a prisoner of his own image due to his insecurities and as Dilip says due to his long struggle, but undoubtedly none , with the exception of Dilip Kumar, possesed the combination of charisma and talent that he did.

Motilal I have not sen much of but i personally think Kanhayya Lal was one of the most talented men in Bollywood ever, his caricature of the Bania in mother India is a classic.

Another Man who was hugely talented but became a caricature of his own image was Raj Kapoor he was immensely talented as can be sen in his role of the modern non chalant husband in Andaz, especially the scene where the lights go out in the party and nargis turns to a shadow assuming it to be dilip and tells him to leave her alone as she is hapily married but the lights come on and she sees Raj infront of her with a wry smile.

Something similar happened to rajesh Khanna, though much less talented. the only man who was able to avoid this for a sufficiently long period was Dilip, from about 45-70 he kept challenging and refused to be typecast though even he gave up briefly in the early 70s.

Re: # 70
hindvi, I would like to mention Dilp Sahebs picks for the top actors in Hindi Cinema - Motilal , Naseer, Anil Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan.For me, going by the body of quality work, no one can surpass Naseer.You can just go on and on about his great performances.
Among your list of movies, I disagree about Andaz, which I think was a tepid movie.Paigham was better, in which Raj Kumar and Dilip Kumar were pitted against each other.

hindvi#70:

I agree with most of your post. The Bombay film industry, alongwith its mafia, was, undoubtedly, the most secular institution in India and stayed that way until the communal virus spread to Bombay in 1980s.

But I wouldn`t say that it was also the greatest era in Indian movies; the one area where this was certainly true was music and lyrics. Despite some outstanding film producers, the general level of films produced, at least in Bombay, was quite mediocre. The industry has progressed a lot on the technical side and even in developing a mixture of masala and realism.

The greatest era in hindustani movies was from roughly 1950-1980.

The 50s/60s saw the last flower of India`s composite culture which had been developed in the centuries preceding where hindus like Prithviraj, Balraj Sahni, Guru Dutt and Raj Kumar could play the archtype muslims with impeccable urdu in Mughal e Azam, Pakeezah, etc. and muslims could make the definitive movies on the hindian heartland: Mother India and Ganga Jamuna (it doent matter what the credits say, the latter movie was directed by Yusuf Khan infact people strongly advised him not to use braj bhasha since it would be economic suicide).


Many have listed Guru Dutts movies and who can argue with that, but people forget that in India where solo method acting is not popular because of the investment of time and effort the greatest movies are those where one thespian is pitted against the other, the competition and desire not to be overshadowed drives their peak performances. Such great movies are Andaz (Dilip-Raj), Shakti (Amitabh-Dilip), Mughal-e-Azam (Dilip-PrithviRaj, infact when someone said how nice it would have been had Raj been taken for MeA, Prithvi Raj replied Raj could not have done what Dilip did, this despite the fact that it is actually Prithviraj who has all the best dialogues !!). among the females it has to be Hemas virtuoso in Lal Pathther as the thakurian and Rekha`s as Umrao Jaan Ada

the exceptions are Sholay where Amjad Khan put in some method acting and took the cake unopposed, leave aside a debutant never has any thespian put in such a convincing and original performance. He invented Gabbar, he made him despicable, he made him menacing and he made him real with all his small nuances of speech and action. Though amitabh put in a outstanding comic performance as he usually did.

The hallmark of a great actor is versatility and according to Sir Lawrence Olivier the greatest actors are those who can excell in comedy such actors have been three in India: Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan and Amjad Khan. To a lesser extent Dilip Kumar. The out and out comedian who can stake a claim in this pantheon of thespians is Mehmood and to a lesser extent Govinda (yes you read it right)

My favourites movies are comedies:

Jaane bhi do Yaron
East is East
Do aur Do Paanch (Amitabh at his comic best)
Pyar kia jaa/Haseena man jayegi (i dont remember which had mehmood (the king of comedy) and shammi kapoor, especially the scene where mehmood narrates his horror movie script to Om Prakash )
Aankhen (the govinda - chunky pandey one)
IS Johar`s

re:#67 by Mukhlis
I remember seeing Tora Tora Tora when i was a kid. I saw it in a theater in Delhi with other school kids. We were expecting some fireworks (none of us knew this was all about Pearl Harbor) but suddenly everyone realized there were no English subtitiles! The whole Japanese coversation (which is most of the movie) went over our heads. Needless to say there was pandemonium.
Sridhar

Re: # 41

Thank you for reminding me of ``Bedknobs and Broomsticks`` with the woman from ``Murder She Wrote``.

Sweet Movie!

Some of my favorites, by Genre.

SUSPENSE/ACTION/THRILLER:

The usual suspects
Seven
Ronin
Heat
Lock stock & two smokin` barrels
Snatch
Brave Heart
Frequency
The good, the bad and the ugly
Reservoir dogs
The Battle of Algiers
JFK
U Turn
Things to Do in Denver When You`re Dead
Colors
The Conversation
The Machinist


WAR:

Platoon
Saving Private Ryan
Tora Tora Tora
Hotel Rwanda
Brave Heart


COMEDY:

Henry Fool
My cousin Vinny
Rushmore
A fish called Wanda
Analyse this
Road Trip


SPORTS:

Raging Bull
Any given Sunday

ROMANCE/ROMANTIC COMEDY:

The notebook
Analyse this
Only you
Reality Bites
Notting Hill

HORROR:

Deliria (aka stagefright)

Also, IMDB`s Top 250 list has a lot of good movies to choose from:

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Re: # 63

There are MANY. The BFI is one; the Curzon cinema in Soho is another one; the Screen on the Hill at Notting Hill is another; there`s also a cinema in Russell Square and many many more. Check out the Time Out London Guide for a comprehensive list. My personal fave Art cinema is the Curzon I mentioned.