Theatrical Rahman

Remember Surabhi? Telecast once weekly at 9p.m. on doordarshan, Surabhi was the family-friendly, cultural delight - it was intelligent, funny and had great content. Sidharth Kak and Renuka Shahane were household names and I caught Surabhi on tv as often as I could. (Whenever I think of Surabhi, another show I am reminded of is Baaje Payal presented by Asha Parekh - I initially disliked it but was forced to watch it whenever my mother made it early enough from work to catch it. More on that another time...)

While surfing videos on YouTube, I came across this early interview of AR Rahman in his very early days. Once my initial excitement at hearing the Surabhi jingle subsided, I watched the entire interview, and what a delight it is!

I love how the video says "A R Rahman's very rare interview"!

Bollywood battles

Naach gaana in bollywood is no song and dance. Dancing standoffs between the female characters add not only the bling and pull crowds, they are usually high quality dance performances. Amrapali was one of the earlier performances of this kind and brought Vaijyanthimala to the peak of fame, admired by greats of bollywood dancing - Hema Malini, Madhuri Dixit and Prabhudeva. Rarely known among our generation, Vaijyanthimala was among the greatest of Bollywood dancing in the bygone era. As an aside, I often think that many of her songs would be categorised as "item numbers" - they meet all the criteria - skimpily clad heroine, dancing, not adding much to the plot yet pulling crowds to the cinema.

The hero's affectionate glances decide who the alpha female, the leading lady is. And no surprises that it is the underdog, the modest girl who was actually just dancing for fun and won it when the bitchy "other woman" turned a fun thing into a competition! Unless of course, King Khan steps in and stops the bloody battle.


How things change...

Jaya Bachchan

One of the most important changes in my life when I started class V as a senior denizen of primary school was that I started entering the school building through the “portico entrance” rather than from the school grounds. The portico had conspicuously placed tall off-white boards with names of all headgirls listed in staid black letters; that’s where I first read the name Jaya Bhaduri. Having studied in her alma mater for fourteen years, and having shared board-space with her, my admiration for Jaya Bachchan is easily explained.

The Facebook 30 day Bollywood soundtrack challenge made me realise that many of the loveliest Lata Mangeshkar numbers are picturised on Jaya Bachchan. There will be a lot of talk of Lata Mangeshkar in this space (as is everywhere else). Jaya Bachchan, however, is one of the most underplayed, unsung heroines of Bollywood – always talked of in the context of Amitabh (or Rekha!) or her  political fiascos; her excellent acting is often forgotten.

Despite parents who were quite happy to keep me uninfluenced by the nineties bollywood, and a childhood sans cable tv, I was never deprived of Doordarshan screenings of some excellent Jaya films like Parichay, Mili, Sholay, Guddi and Koshish. I quite enjoyed her relatively recent Ma roles in Fiza, Laaga Chunari mein Daag and her Shahrukh-ki-ma roles through the last decade. What I absolutely adore though, is her portrayal of the unglam heroine in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Abhimaan, Bawarchi and Chupke Chupke – one might say, in teen filmon se Jaya-ji ne industry ko acting ki ABC sikha di.

Basic baatein

This blog came about as a result of the rediscovery of my love for all things bollywood, triggered by the 30 day bollywood soundtrack challenge on Facebook. I started finding myself preoccupied with songs I love to drive to and songs that I can relate to. And when themes like biggest bollywood battles and evolution of the "item number" started clouding my brain as I tried reading swap confirmations and drafting ISDA schedules, I decided it is time to do some Bollywood Baatein... kyunki pickchar abhi baaki hai mere dost!