Ramanisblog

Tag: Bollywood

  • Three Gentlemen Or Three Idiots Of Dadri ?

    India is one country, where under the garb of Freedom of Speech one can get away with any thing, even murder, literally if your additional qualification is that you belong to a minority community, meaning not a Hindu!

    Salman Khan, Shah Khan and AmirKhan.jpg Salman Khan, Shah Khan and AmirKhan.

    Dilip Kumar.jpg Dilip Kumar.

    And if you are a tinsel God, your word is the Bible, even if you have just touched the shadows of an educational institution.

    You can air your views that were a  part of bed room talk between a husband and wife.

    I have ceased writing on these issues for quite some time as they are trivial , it seemed to me.

    But the recent non sensical discussion on Intolerance in India forces me write for leaving these gentlemen’s statements uncontested makes them bolder and as Goebbels dictum goes, the more audacious the lie, more likely that it will be believed.

    I read an article in the Tamizhaka Arasiyal , a Tamil Political bi weekly from Chennai which answers most of the issues raised by Amir Khan on intolerance in India.

    The article was titled Three Idiots.

    His statement that the present situation in India made his wife wonder whether India is a safer place live and whether they should consider relocating.

    The article is well  written and I am writing  this article based on the Tamil Article.

    It is difficult to catch the flavour of the original nor the force of the article in English.

    I shall  attempt.

    ‘ I am worried about the future of our children’

    Said Kiran Rao Mohammad  Amir Hussein  Khan, wife of the Tinsel town Hero Amir Khan.

     

    This, the 50-year-old actor disclosed in the Goenka Award function, alluding to the recent ‘incidents’ in India, which to him and his wife was a cause for concern.

     

    While no body can deny the right of Mr.Khan to express his views in a country like India,a democracy, it is what he left unsaid is more pungent  that is bound have an impact on people who treat him as a demi God.

    He could have stated that the recent incidents had hurt him,

    Stray incidents are blown out of proportions,

    In a vast country with over 23 languages and different practices, these small issues are bound to be and these should be condemned,

    Or he could have said, as another legend of actor, Kamal Hassan did ( who normally takes shot at Hinduism in his movies ,though carefully skirting around Islam or Christianity), that beef eating is a matter of personal choice.

    But the great Khan said neither.

    Well, one can not expect anything better from one who has just touched the shadow of an educational institution!

    He had not said as to which of these incidents had directly ‘threatened ‘ his child’s future. he could/should have.

     

    An honest Man would have.

    One who had a taken a Movie PK where Hindu Gods were insulted, where Lord Shiva was portrayed as hiding behind a Toilet should pause.

    Had he portrayed Gods of other Religions even in a slightly satirical fashion, especially Prophet, would he be alive today?

     

    Mind you, this movie was released by the Censor Board of India, when the much maligned Hindutva Party, BJP is in power!

    When  some objected to the portrayal of Hindu Gods in PK thus, it was Hindus who raised their voice against this.

    Does he remember that One Yousuf Khan had to change his name to a Hindu name so that he could be accepted by the masses.

    He was the Legendary Dilip Kumar!

    Which party was in power then?

    Definitely not BJP

     

    He could have expressed his concern about the incidents .

    .No. he did not.

    How could one who was appointed as the Ambassador was Clean India drive, Swach Bharat, by the same BJP Government?

    Was he not threatened then?

    Was he not concerned when his Hindu bashing movie raked in 300 Crore at the Box Office?

    How come he had a heart to sow the seeds of poison among the Muslims of India, I am talking of normal Muslims, who partake food, functions and even in Temple festivals?

     

    The irony is that Khan’s first wife Reena and his second wife Kiran Rao are Hindus.

    Had he been in Saudi, Pakistan, can his wives call themselves this way, mixing up Hindu and Muslim names?

    Well, if you have deicided to move away from India, which is intolerant, you could have, to liberal regimes like Saudi Arabia or Pakistan.

    Saudi Arabia, where people are killed in the name of Law and Order in Public or by terrorists,

    Pakistan where one does not know when the next attack would come.

    Or To Europe or USA where Islamophobia is ranging, where in the US there is, on an average one Public shooting a Day in this year, or where a Black child was shot dead for carrying a Knife!

    Despite these incidents in the US, US citizens did not consider moving away from the US,

    Instead, they have made Obama, a Muslim as their President.

    In India we revere Dr. Zakir Husssian, Abdul Kalam, Fakhruddin Alil Ahmed former Presidents of India,Nawab of Pataudi,Azharuddin, Bismiilah Khan, Mammotty,Shah Rukh Khan, Amir Khan, Salman Khan ,

    We see them as Indians, and not merely as Muslims!

    Well, if you are an Indian by heat these thoughts would not even crossed your mind.

    If you had a bed room discussion, better keep it there.

    India may not be filthy rich .

    It  has economic inequalities.

    Its roads are not clean.

    Might be there have been instances of the sort he mentioned here and there.

    Should we not correct them?

    Does it mean that one think of running away?

    One does not change Fathers because one’s is not as handsome as the neighbour’s.

     

    Did Amir Khan about the ruckus created by Muslims during the release of Kamal Hassan’s film Viswaroopam , where a scene was objected to by an unruly crowd?

     

    Mr.Khan, if you do not like Narendra Modi, you may attack his policies( Amir Khan earlier stated he did not like Modi or his policies), as Shatrughan Sinha, a BJP big wig does.

    But nobody bothers Shatrughan for he does not promote Sedition and spoils religious harmony.

    You need the claps of Indians , their money and at the slightest possible excuse you want to run away?

    We have another gentleman in Shah Rukh Khan who said that India is sliding back to Dark Ages( TV interview)

    Being secular has become dangerous.

    He has not been able to practice his religion Islam in India.

    How?

    As  when he entered into a brawl with women and cricket staff at the IPL, pitch drunk?

    Islam promotes Drinking and public brawl?

    Part of practicing your religion?

    When Shah Rukh Khan was questioned by Income Tax for irregularities in his Club Kolkatta Knight Riders, Modi is blamed for targeting Shah Rukh!

    Salman Khan,

    A guy who killed people sleeping on the footpath by his drunken driving and changed his version so much that one thinks the  Car was driving itself!

    His movies were banned in Pakistan.

    Bajrangi Bhaijaan for making reference to the terrorist Hafiz Sayed!

     

    How come these gentlemen kept quite when,

    Pakistan army butchered Bangladeshis in 1971?

    When Professor Joseph’s Hand was cut off in Kerala by Muslims?

    Subsequent to Dadri episode Mr. Poojary was killed in Public in Mangalore?

    When Snapdeal apps was uninstalled by over 100000 people, Amir Khan says he has no intention of leaving India!

    These guys, sensitive, socially conscious?

    Three Idiots’

    Translated from Tamizhaka Arasiyal dated 2/12/2015

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  • Go Find Yourself Queen Film Review

    We curse our misfortune and disappointments in Life, without realizing that they provide you an opportunity to realize your potential and your toughness of character.

    Faced with a No Win situation the individual finds himself/herself , his / her true potential if only they allow themselves.

    A girl faced with the prospect of her married life being doomed when the arranged a marriage is called off by her fiance finds herself,

    In traditional Indian families calling of the marriage at the last moment would attract a stigma against the girl and it becomes difficult to get married.

    An innocent girl, ditched at the last moment by her fiance after the marriage ceremony begins, goes abroad honeymoon’ only to find herself.

    How she finds herself is the theme of the Film Queen.

    A Director’s Film from the word Go, Queen makes an impact subtly.

    Film Still Queen
    Hindi Film Queen.Image. http://movies.sulekha.com/hindi/queen/pictures/18.htm

    How all people in the world or Bad or good either:friendship does not need Race, Language,Nationalities, Gender or Sex.

    A difficult theme handled adroitly.

    A slight mistake, the film would have sent a wrong message.

    Even a kissing scene  makes one smile in appreciation.

    It shows how in the name of marriage individual aspirations are  snuffed out and it takes only boldness to come out of the shell.

    Relationships are subtle and none should take the others for granted.

    And how parents should trust their children.

    Independence, freedom of spirit need not mean a license  to be licentiousness nor a call for senseless feminism.

    The film is such a wholesome one , one can not single out the best performance.

    But special mention may be made of Kankgana Ranaut who essays her role effectively.

    Is she without makeup?

    It was pleasant to look at.

    A Film for  the Discerning.

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  • First “Indian Playboy Nude” Not “Painted and Dented’

    When Jytoi Singh Pandey died in a gang rape case in Delhi, people rose in anger against this atrocity, correctly so.

     

    In the frenzy the clamor descended into the Rights of Woman  to dress as they please.

     

    Many of the women who participated in the protests were over made up for a spontaneous reaction (with grief!) and wer bent on getting Media attention to the extent that a Girl had artificial Blood poured on her hands ,a woman bared her behind with a writing ‘Don’t rape Me”

     

    Read my blog.

    Indian Bollywood film actress Sherlyn Chopra Photo: AFP
    Indian Bollywood film actress Sherlyn Chopra Photo: AFP

     

    This made an MP and the son of the President to decry that these women are ‘dented and painted’ causing an out cry in the media and he was pilloried.

     

    Now in a land women activists protest vociferously against the us of women as Sex in advertisement films, are quiet for the opening of a Playboy Club in Goa and a Girl posing Nude in Playboy for the first time.

     

    Look at what Girl has to say on this.

     

    ‘My sister is proud of my achievement. I haven’t told anything to my mother, but I think I will visit her and tell her that she has to accept me the way I am.” Critics have complained that the magazine has billed her as a Bollywood legend, despite only appearing in a handful of films and being best known for Bigg Boss, India‘s answer to Big Brother”

     

    This is not ‘Painted and dented”?

     

    “Sherlyn Chopra, 28, will appear in the November issue.

    However, a series of teasing interviews has provoked a round of condemnation from women’s rights activists who accuse her of undermining the fight against sexual harassment and abuse.

    Miss Chopra herself has admitted that she has not yet told her mother about the Playboy shoot.

    “It is not an easy task to be nude in front of the camera and look good at the same time,” said Miss Chopra in an interview with the BBC’s Hindi service.

    She added that she had written to Playboy asking to model and received a response within days.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9426510/Bollywood-star-becomes-first-Indian-to-pose-nude-for-Playboy.html

     

     

  • Bollywood Films’ Barbs South “Madrasi’-Time To Mature.

    Perception and depiction of the South Indians in Bollywood Films is obnoxious and disgusting.

    This started from form Mehmood‘s’ Padosan‘ portrayal of a South India.

    For the North Indians, it looks, any one South of Nagpur is a’ Madrasi’

    Seem to be blissfully unaware that there are four States, Karnataka,Andhra and Kerala which, while sharing a common bond with Tamil nadu, have distinct and varied Culture, or is this attitude deliberate?

    This makes one eye the North Indians with suspicions from the South.

    Often it is noticed, be it Film Fare awards or Top Political Forums, one gets the impression that the South is tolerated and addressed condescendingly.

    True, South Indian Films . especially the tamil Films, portray the north Indians as ‘Nimabalki, Nambalki tamil’ though I know many North Indians who know Tamil literature better than South Indians and Tamils in particular.

    While the barb by the South sounds immature and fails to evoke laughter, the North’s depiction is insulting

    Times of India has produced a good article on this.

    Mehmood ridiculing South Indians, Padosan.jpg.
    Mehmood ridiculing South Indians, Padosan.

    Excerpt.

    “He flashes a gaudy lungi, while she drips melodrama, all the while emitting suggestive sounds that starts with a throaty ‘aiyyayo’ and ends in a guttural ‘um’. Makers of upcoming Hindi movie ‘Aiyyaa’ insist that the song ‘Dream-um Wake up-um’ is a tribute to south Indian cinema, and is just a quirky piece in the wacky north-south love story. We have to wait till October 12 to verify that. But internet is already awash with accusations that the song is yet another instance of stereotyping of south Indians, one more ‘aiyyo-amma’ Madrasi cliche from ‘insensitive’ northies.

    To add to the confusion, right before the song starts, Rani Mukherjee’s Marathi mulgi says she prefers darkskinned people to fairskinned ones. If Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran is indeed the tall, dark, handsome hero of the movie, then it will be a departure from the idli-loving, sambar-slurping, conservative Madrasis that Bollywood churns out for laughs. What started with the antics of Mehmood’s oily Masterji in ‘Padosan’ (1968), continue, whether it is Omi Vaidya’s sly Chatur Ramalingam in ‘3 Idiots’ or Shah Rukh Khan‘s timid Shekhar Subramanium who gleefully mixes noodles with curd in ‘Ra.One’.

    “Any south Indian will find Mehmood’s characterisation insulting,” says Mohan Raman, film historian and actor. He took care that his Seshadri manager in Ranbir Kapoor-movie ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gasab Kahani’ didn’t become ridiculous but hinted at his outsider status…

    It is the ‘north-Indian’ gaze that causes the problem, says actor Satish Shah, whose Iyer father in ‘Ra.One’ was quite similar to a stand-up he did for the 1980s sitcom ‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi‘. “People of all four states are still Madrasis to many. Probably, Mehmood’s popular character must have set the wrong example,” says Shah. And, yes, he wouldn’t have played the Iyer if not for his equation with Shah Rukh Khan. “I was uncomfortable. As I don’t know the languages, I repeated whatever small words they asked me to say,” he says.

    What is an occupational hazard to veteran artists like Shah, are created by those who have nothing new to say, says director Dibakar Banerjee. He created a smart IAS officer, T A Krishnan, in ‘Shanghai’ (2012) after referring books and talking to civil servants. Banerjee topped it with extensive language coaching for actor Abhay Deol to ensure that he never went anywhere near a ‘Tamilian‘ act. “If filmmakers derive material from other films they have seen, then they will end up using stock stereotypes,” he says.

    That said, every stereotype has a kernel of truth and ‘Padosan’ is a comedy that used characters from that time effectively. “In Matunga, you could find a conservative music teacher like Mehmood’s Masterji in the 60s,” he says. The same goes for Kishore Kumar’s music composer or Sunil Dutt’s village yokel and the outrageous Quick Gun Murugan character and its Tamil western created for trendy Channel V in the late 90s.

    At the core of all stereotypes is a way of defining the other. “In the pre-information society, where communities lived in relative isolation, the other is seen as a threat or considered funny because you don’t understand their customs and language,” says Banerjee. So the ‘idli-dosa’ eating Tamilian is a creation of Hindi-speaking people just like the ‘oye oye’ Sardarji of south Indians. Tamil movies have stock Hindi-speaking characters who are mostly aggressive moneylender marwaris. “Those characters have now come down as they are not relevant,” says Mohan Raman. In fact, one of the first mainstream Hindi movies to break the Madrasi stereotype was K Balachander’s ‘Ek Duje Ke Liye‘ (1981). “Kamal Haasan sir nailed it when he says ‘Hinthi’ and not Hindi. It is very realistic,” says Kartik Krishnan, assistant director and writer in Bollywood, a Tamilian from Delhi.

    The exceptions that film-lovers like Krishnan cheer on include ‘Dil Se’ (1998), ‘Company’ (2002), ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’ (2002), ‘Yuva’ (2004) and ‘Shanghai’ (2012). “When I first heard Mohanlal talk with a Mallu accent in ‘Company’, I cringed. But despite the slightly irritating delivery, his performance grew on me,” he says. Barring a few, most of the realistic portrayals have come in movies directed by south Indians, be it Mani Ratnam or Ram Gopal Varma. But you don’t necessarily need south Indians to put an end to such ethnic stereotypes. Sachin Kundalkar, who is debuting in Bollywood with ‘Aiyyaa’ says south Indian men are hot. “I am a pucca Maharashtrian. I have seen women around me admiringly looking at south Indian men for their humbleness and intellectual aura. That is what my film is about,” he say”

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  • Rafi Apologised to Me,Non Sense,Rafi’s Son.Unseemly Lata

     

    In an interview the Legend Lata Mangeshkar said that the King Of  Melodies Mohammed Rafi refused to sing with here and later apologised.

    Normally reclusive Rafi’s family dubbed it as non sense , so also Rafi’s Confidante.

    Though I am a Fan of Lata Mangeshkar, it is sad that her arrogance as a Singer has come out Public for the first time.

    It is no secret that Lata Mangeshkar  was arrogant and insulting in her professional Life, contrary to the Public  image she built around her.

    We know what she did to Vani Jairam behind the scenes.

    But she met her match, least of all ,in her sister, Asha Bhonsle.

    Very unseemly on the part of Lata to insult a Great Singer like Rafi.

    In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Lataji says she and Rafisaab fought over royalties

     

    ‘My father was national property. I am hurt and so are his fans. His fan following is much bigger than any other artist. If she can prove that my father had written an apology letter to her, then I am ready to apologise. But the main thing is that she should come forward and produce that letter. All I want is that the truth should come out,” Shahid Rafi told reporters here at the press conference.

    Shahid Rafi said that Lata Mangeshkar made these claims because she is insecure. “I think this is a publicity stunt as she is insecure with the huge fan following my father has, even after his death,” he said.

    Shahid Rafi said that before calling the press conference, he did not feel the need to call Lata Mangeshkar because she seemed always “busy”, when he had called her up in the past.

    In an interview to Mumbai Mirror yesterday, Lataji said she and Rafisaab fought over royalties and that when he proclaimed he would not sing with her at a meeting attended by other singers, she retaliated by saying that it was she who would not sing with him.

    Lataji went on to say that peace was brokered by the composer Jaikishen, who got Rafisaab to write her a letter of apology. “I got the letter and ended the cold war. But whenever I’d see him, the hurt would return,” Lataji told Mumbai Mirror….

    http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?keyword=bollywood&ID=272199&subcatg=&nid=272199&pfrom=home-topstories

    Mamu is Aamiruddin Ahmed Bari, Rafi’s then personal secretary, and a person with anincredible memory for a 74-year-old. He regales you with stories of back then, and also recalls the incident that led to a spat between Rafi and Lata. “Yeh baat 1961 ki hai. It was the Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi. After a recording, this meeting happened. There was Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, a singer called Balbir, Talat Mehmood, and Mubarak Begum. Baat royalty ki ho rahi thi, and then Rafi saab said, ‘I don’t want any royalty.’ He also explained why.

    I remember one line clearly, because it affected the way I think, ‘hamein apne mehnat ke paise mil jaate hain, fees ke taur pe’ said Rafi. It would be wrong to demand royalty from the producers according to Rafi saab, because he felt that that will put a lot of financial strain on those whose films fail at the box office. Iss par Talat saab naraaz ho gaye, aur kehne lage, ‘aapka kya hai Rafi saab, Hyderabad mein distribution business toh tagdi chal rahi hai aapki.’ So Rafi got angry, and retorted that agar baat royalty ki ho rahi hai toh hamare business pe kyun nigaah daal rahe ho?’ and he stormed out. I walked with him, and said aap rehne dijiye, I will take care of it, because I knew Rafi was very soft, and wouldn’t say anything else. I was his aide, secretary, business manager and closest person. I was his sister’s husband also, and used to live with them only.

    This incident put a rift between Rafi and Lata, and they didn’t sing together for three years. Those duet projects that were left, were done alag-alag. Dummy portions were sung by Mahendra Kapoor for the duets, and then later, replaced with Rafi’s while mixing, after Lata had sung her bits. And then, Lata began to get lesser and lesser assignments. I remember someone had told me from 230 odd songs in a year, she began to get about 140. Also, Suman Kalyanpur was coming up in a big way, and she’d sing for half of Lata’s price – for as less as `5,000. That was when Jaikishan intervened. Ek din, recording ke baad, unhone Rafi saab ke kandhe pe haath rakha aur kaha, ‘tum dono achche singers ho, aur yeh jo ho raha hai, theek nahi hai.’ Rafi said, ‘Humne kuch galat kaha ho toh aap humko bolo’.

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/music/news-and-interviews/Nonsense-Lataji-is-getting-old-Rafis-son/articleshow/16556287.cms