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mmuk2004 |
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#1
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![]() Dedicated Member ![]() Group: Members Posts: 3415 Joined: 25-September 04 Member No.: 907 ![]() |
Hi
I am starting a topic on Sahir Ludhianvi that has been posted in another forum before. It was started on his death anniversary, a nostalgia trip beginning with some of his romantic lyrics. Feel free to add on songs that make you feel mmmm....warm and woolly-headed ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Remembering him through his romantic duets: Situation: Dream Sequence. To expand upon it: the impoverished hero and the heroine express their love for each other in gorgeous surroundings, which would otherwise not be possible given the hero's depressing penury. Moreover the situation is literally a dream, which is not realised as the heroine later on opts for a more stable marriage with a well established publisher. Note the wonderful lyrics, the entire song is posed as question upon question with the female counteracting the male's romantic metaphors with her teasing counter images... Wonderfully captures the mood of the film and yet stands on its own as classic romantic chedkhani. Hum aap ki aankhon mein is dil ko basa dein to Hum moond ke palkon ko is dil ko saza dein to Hum aap ki aankhon mein is dil ko basa dein to In zulfon mein goondege hum phool mohabbat ke Zulfon ko jhatak kar hum yeh phool gira dein to Hum aap ko kwaabon mein la la ke satayenge Hum aap ki aankhon se neendein hi uda de to Hum aap ke kadmon par gir jayenge ghas khakar Is par bhi na hum apne aanchal ki hawa dein to Hum aap ki aankon mein is dil ko basa dein to Hum moond ke palkon ko is dil ko saza dein to "This isn't right, this isn't even wrong." Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) "There are no facts, only interpretations." Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) |
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mmuk2004 |
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#2
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![]() Dedicated Member ![]() Group: Members Posts: 3415 Joined: 25-September 04 Member No.: 907 ![]() |
Gumrah (1963)
The siren call of illicit desires… songs are so crucial a part of Hindi cinema, they complete and sometimes contradict the film in so many ways, often going beyond the limitations imposed by the story or the structure of the film itself. Take a film like Gumraah for example; the title itself weighs heavily on the side of the conservative stand. The story had director BR Chopra venturing on difficult terrain especially in mainstream cinema. Infidelity, extra-marital affairs especially involving the woman, are certainly still taboo subjects in Indian Cinema. Naturally the story is bowdlerized to fit the sentiments of the mainstream audience even though it was touted as a "daring" film in its time. A young Mala Sinha and Sunil Dutt fall in love but before they can get married, Mala Sinha's sister dies and she is compelled to marry her much older brother-in-law Ashok Kumar to look after her young niece and nephew. She is the errant wife who clandestinely meets her lover but in the end she chooses to be "responsible" and remain with her husband and kids. However most of the actual plot of the film is really concerned with the scheming blackmailer (Shashikala, if I remember correctly), thus getting sympathy for the beleaguered heroine in this fashion and really it takes away the focus from the issue of infidelity… Interestingly, Silsila(1981), that was made by brother Yash Chopra, and got a tremendous amount of flak from all quarters, logically extends what Gumraah set out to explore. In spite of the stilted acting from all quarters and the over-profiled stars and their private lives, the film was bold for its time. Remember the reason for Amitabh marrying Jaya is because Jaya is pregnant with Shashi’s (Amitabh’s brother) child. So Jaya’s character does not fit the typical mould of the pati-vrata naari . She had loved Shashi Kapoor before and later on tells Amitabh that Shashi was her past and Amitabh is her present. The way Yash Chopra dealt with infidelity in marriage is also very interesting. Hindi songs came to his rescue again when he needs to show physical passion and infidelity. Check out the vid of “Ye Kahan Aa gaye hum” where there are fleeting shots of Amitabh and Rekha in bed which could definitely not be shown otherwise without making the subject too controversial. However Yash Chopra does show them eloping and the film does suggest how passion can easily feel sordid (even to the lovers) when it does not have social sanction, witness the discomfort that Rekha and Amitabh feel when they attend a close friend’s wedding having left their respective spouses behind. But that was the eighties and Silsila finally sank unable to handle its overblown starcast, emotions and ending… to come back to the sixties and Gumraah once again, infidelity is touched upon but sparingly. The film does acknowledge it as issue which is saying a lot in commercial Hindi films where characters, especially those of women are fairly flat and they are definitely made to uphold the burden of morality. Gumraah someone who has lost one’s way…with a title such as this the ending does not come as much of a surprise, however the film does have some surprises up its sleeve viz. Ashok Kumar’s acting (he got the national award for it) and Sahir’s passionate poetry. To finally come to the point amid my circumlocutions…Sahir’s verses rise above the shackles imposed by the film and its fairly predictable conclusion… "This isn't right, this isn't even wrong." Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) "There are no facts, only interpretations." Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) |
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