MANE - (The Dwelling) or EK GHAR {1991}

Cast :Naseeruddin Shah, Deepti Naval, Rohini Hattangady, Mico Chandru
Direction & Screenplay : Girish Kasaravalli
Based on the novel by : T. G. Raghava
Cinematography : S Ramachandra
Original Music : L. Vaidyanathan

Accolades:
National Awards - Winner, Silver Lotus - Best Kannada Film

Selected and screened at - International Film Festival Rotterdam , Sydney International Film Festival, London Film Festival, Fukouka International Film Festival

Memory of the film: I had seen a film on Doordarshan which starred Naseerudin Shah and in that movie he was terrorized by the noise in his neighborhood. Besides this I dint have any idea about this film, No Name, No Director nor Heroine. I had started to enjoy the mood of this film and suddenly there was a blackout, the electricity went off. Thus resulting in not watching the film or knowing anything about this film.

Hunt for the film: I had asked plenty of my filmy friends but all of them knew the same as Actor-Producer-Director Joginder knew about acting, which was nothing. Then one day I had been to office of a yesteryear film photographer to view his collection {Consisting of All Film Fare Magazines, Stardust, G and many more filmi mags}. He had few rare offbeat films which he requested be to buy them as he knew my taste. I bought them, out of which most of them were Marathi and documentary along with this film where the poster had Naseer and Dipti, which I misunderstood for “Apna Jahan”. After almost a year i came to know that this was the original version of the same film{Ek Ghar} which I had seen years back and that too just a scene.

Impact in today's time: Well when you have Naseerudin Shah and Deepti Naval, the impact in today’s time will still be strong as it was that time. The movie dealt with a newly wedded couple coming from a small village to a big town as the husband got a decent job in MNC. They stay in a rented house and expect the same type of environment as it was in village, only to find out that they had some noisy neighbors who use to work in night making loads of noise. Thus Naseer gets irritated with it and ends up going from one trouble to another.

The theme was great and over that the performance of the lead actors, which was well supported by Rohini Hattangady. The director deserves full marks for creating the tension in the film by the way he has shot it and by using of Jarring sounds. You can feel and understand the trauma the couples are going through, which is caused by loud noise. The subject can be a perfect material for Sound environmentalist. The ending was bit depressing as all such off beat films have.

My Verdict – Pls do watch it for the unusual theme {despite being a regional film} and performances of the lead actors, especially Naseerudin Shah whose frustration, depression, desperation shows on screen which can be also called as Acting.

P.S - The director felt that he could have cast Kannada actors instead of Naseer and Deepti. But the inherent strength of these performers surpasses the minor language hurdle making the film a modern classic.

SURAAG [1980-82}

Directed By – Dr. Jagmohan Mundra
Starring: Sanjeev Kumar, Shabhana Azmi, Parikshat Sahni, Gita Siddharth, Mac Mohan & Siddharth Kak.

Music – Bappi Lahiri
Lyrics : Kaifi Azmi
Genre- Musical, Thriller, Mystery.

Memory of the film: I have very faint memories about watching this film, it’s like almost not watched. But I very well remember I have seen this movie its because of the Sanjeev Kumar on the cover of its VHS. I was not able to recognize Gita Siddharth or Parikshat Sahni on it and thus got the VHS just for Sanjeev Kumar. Later when I got the VHS at home, many of my elder cousins got super excited as they all loved Suspense films. Also this film was based in U.S.A so for us it was double treat, i.e along with the movie got to see the locals of U.S.A. Besides these memories I don’t remember anything about this film.

Hunt for the film: Years later I heard the soundtrack of this movie and was in love with almost all songs. Guys this is among Bappi Lahiri’s one of good composition. “Pyar Pyar Pyar” by Kishore Kumar was my that time favorite song which is shot on Sanjeev Kumar and Jayshree t. This song is continued by Asha Bhosle’s “Mera Dil Liye Ja” in the soundtrack and in the movie. As I grew up “Kya Hua, Are Kya Hua” again by Kishore Kumar and Shot on Sanjeev Kumar along with Gita Siddharth went in my selected naughty romantic songs of Kishore Kumar.

As I started my collection of Movies I found out “Suraag” was not released on DVD or VCD or neither did it play on any satellite channels. The more I kept hearing the songs, the more want for this film grew. I contacted Dr.Jagmohan Mundra too for this movie, but he too was working out on getting the digital version of this movie. Then a friend of mine got hold of the VHS and from him I got it to view it and refresh my memory of this film.

Impact in today's time: I started to enjoy the film thanks to Sanjeev Kumar and fantastic songs by Bappi Lahiri. Followed by the thriller treatment in the film where Sanjeev Kumar and Parikshat Sahni reside in U.S.A and Parikshat comes to India to get married and falls in love with Shabhana Azmi. Loved “Dhoondte Dhoondte” by Bappi as a singer beautifully shot on Parikshat Sahni & Shabhana Azmi in streets of Mumbai. Sadly Shabhana Azmi gets kidnapped while coming to U.S.A and starts the hunt to find her and culprit behind it.

Thought the climax was sort of predicted and thriller moments were missing at few places, the movie still is winner as it keeps you grabbed due to the plot, performances and music. We have one of Lata Mangeshkars beautiful rendered song “Bheega Bheega Mausam” picturized on Shabhana Azmi.you cannot get enough of this song and feel like hearing it again and again. Some scenes were brilliantly directed thus giving us a Hollywood type feel in the film.

The movie has some Special Appearances by few Superstars of that era and a Song shot on Rajesh Khanna and Tina Munim which is one of the crucial scene of the film. Followed by Hema Malini, Mehmood, Asha Sachdev and many more.

My Verdict – A decent watch as per that time with some great music which will haunt you till long time. Again waiting for the better print with good sound quality, so I can enjoy the chase scenes, background music and its soundtrack in full volume.

{Enjoy the songs = http://www.desi-radio.com/album_Suraag_year_1980.php}



P.S - This film did satisfy a Ham movie lover inside me as it had a Kissing Scene between Mac Mohan {Sambha of Sholay} and a American African Women. {Are o Sambha Kaisi Kiss thi re…...:)}

GUEST HOUSE [1980]

Directed by - Tulsi Ramsay & Shyam Ramsay
Starring - Vijendra Ghatge, Padmini Kapila, Narendranath, Komilla Wirk, Premkishan, Sujit Kumar & Premnath.
Music- Bappi Lahiri
Genre- Horror.

Memory of the film - The first and biggest memory for this film is the Cut piece of a Human Hand chasing a girl with a backdrop of a Guest House. As a kid we use to see this poster and use to wonder what will be the story. but the big "A" in the censor certificate stopped us from watching the film. Later after few years had seen the film and were terrified to see the hand killing people. The second memory was of Premnath who played a important role in this film, he had different looks in this film and had great personality. Though it was his hand which was killing the people, but we never felt fear from Premnath as he was a good guy taking revenge of his murder. But on other side the hand was damn scary. Sadly after this film the makers started more of Dead body killing people etc and later the creativity disappeared.

Besides Premnath and his hand, one more person I remembered was Komilla Wirk who was the girl on the poster being chased. I dint get opportunity to watch this film again as It was hardly showed on Television and later was never released on DVD or VCD.

Hunt for the film - When I started collecting movies, trashy films and horror films {Good Ramsay films} were also in top of the list. Films like Purana Mandir, Veerana, Do Gaz Zameen ke Neeche, Darwaza,etc were bought as spotted. But Guest House was rare to find, bought 2 VCD with same name- one was B/W film starring Ajit and another a South Indian dub. I must have asked in almost all shops about this film but never got positive answer. One day saw a 4 in 1 DVD set which had Guest House poster on it and had Ramsay written over in {Very Small Size}, I immediately bought it only to find the south Indian dub inside it. When I met the director of this film, Mr.Tulsi Ramsay I asked him for the copy, but sadly he too dint have it. Finally a friend of mine had a original VHS of this film and he converted this film especially for me. Sadly I dint get opportunity to watch it until today.

Impact in today's time – When I started the movie it had everything a Ramsay film had, Actors like Narendranath, Sudhir, Mac Mohan, Padmini Kapila, Vijendra Ghatge, Rajendranath,etc. With Haunting tune by Bappi Lahiri,etc. I still felt the theme of this film was far superior than other horror Indian films. The impact of Premnath was superb in the film. The way he calls the Dead spirit for his client in lonely Guest house was superb. But the best scene of the film was the hand chasing Komilla Wirk even now after so many years this scene looks classy and great. The scariness was missing, probably due to my exposure towards more and advanced horror films in so many years. But then again the concept kept me interested in the movie and in today’s time too managed to impress me and thus did not end in trashy films list.

Bappi Lahiri’s music was haunting and both the songs were melodious. The main lead actors had very less to do in this film, but Padmini Kapila looked great. The movie belonged to the Villains {Narendranath, Komilla Wirk, Sujit Kumar and Mac mohan} and Premnath.

My Verdict - With hardly any modern special effects and Dolby sounds the movie is a winner and deserved to be watched keeping in mind of that era. I wish someday a better print will be released and that too on DVD.

Also I hope I have a sound sleep and try not to have dreams of the Hand chasing me…..

Preview Story-Part 2 & Final..

Internet for me was just for checking Emails and sometimes checking out film based websites {for new movies only}. One day a cousin of mine introduced me to Social networking site called Orkut where I can connect to my school/College friends. Yes I did manage to get few school friends but at same time entered a group called “Bollywood” where I met likeminded people with whom I can share the madness of films which was buried somewhere inside me. From childhood days I was in search of these types of friends whose filmi wavelength matched me, but never got one thus settled down for new movies and basic chat with regular friends with average I.Q on Hindi films. But out here things were different, the more we share-more we gained. I met my first Soul mate named Fizza out here, she was from Pakistan and besides that I dint knew anything about her {or was he..Doesn’t matter} except that she too was a great filmi freak by heart and had excellent knowledge about Indian cinema despite of being from a neighboring country. The respect grew along with the friendship and formed a new community named “Filmi Freak” which was exclusively for movie buffs with passion for Hindi films only. The caravan was joined by more Filmi Freaks like Divya, Harsh, Abhishek, Sharib, Suresh, Punnu, Kiran, Manish, Arnab, Subur and many many more. Whenever I use to be there I felt I am with my people, the web world was more fun and appealing for me than the boring routine real world.

We started to meet each other and then use to call for hours and hours discussing Hindi Film in full details {from Old movies to New everything}. The community started growing and so did the members, the love which I got out there was something which I never got in my whole life. The passion which I had was considered as topic of fun for my family and friends never gave me such respect and self satisfaction. With remembering the old Hindi movies, I again started watching old Hindi films which I had watched years back and still enjoyed the same. These were among the best days of my Social networking and filmi times.

The popularity and passion in Filmi Freak got me an opportunity to do a Research work for a Website owned by Pritam and Arnab. Out there I met another Filmi Freak who was not connected to the Industry and yet took time to pursue his passion for Hindi Cinema, Dr.Ashok. Together we got all our Filmi Freak gang in the project and an opportunity was created for all of them to earn from their passion. I thought since all these youngsters have so much passion for cinema, even they must be having some sort of restrictions at their places. Thus selected them in this project and they all earned some good amount of money which made most of them feel proud at their home as they earned it from their passion which was again useless for most of people. Few got their first payment of their life, few decided to take movies as their career, few decided to enhance their knowledge and passion more, but for me a new passion started and that was of collection of movies.

I use to buy movies but like any common movie lover most of them use to be popular ones, but after the website incident and meeting so many new friends the collection now started to divert on rare and offbeat’s films along with those not seen. I thought this might be a good opportunity for me to watch all those unseen movies which I had missed during my growing up day and also to watch those rare movies which I cherished watching in those days.

Then came a opportunity to take part in a Film quiz show named “Bollywood Ka Boss {BKB}” and again out there met loads of another Filmi freaks whose level of Hindi Cinema was at par or much ahead than me. BKB got me more fame and some good amount of money too, but more than all of those I met loads of new friend s that besides watching movies had an addiction of collecting movies. Bobby, Pratik, Devendra, Pravir were among the top collectors who helped me to expand my collection of movies which was more of common films.

Slowly the collection started to grew and from common movies my focus diverted to rare and off beat films. This got me close to some more new friends from the Industry like G.K With G.K i started understanding the depth of Hindi Film Industry and also went on to nostalgic trips in 80’s and 90’s of Indian cinema. He got me various opportunities to meet many celebrities from Hindi Film Industry and like an average film butt I was star struck. He got me in world of Radio where I had a platform of meeting celebrities and to showcase my collection and talent. G9 was my on air name where I shared rare trivia’s and scripted the entire show called Picture Pandey which was a retro show on F.M 104.

Now the life was not the same for me as things had turned tipsy topsy, most of time went in Orkuting, Chatting, Radio and Collecting movies. To add on it there was weekly reviewing of new movies for the website, and on other side my work, personal life, normal friends and most important watching of old Hindi movies started to decline. The passion of collecting films had turned into a obsession, money use to knock in my wallet when I use to see a DVD store, first VCD then DVD then Abrode prints, etc the collection started to go on the endless route.

At that time I saw some changes in Dr.Ashok and Bobby’s life, the passion had slowed down drastically and they had diverted themselves back to real world as they were fed up of this movies stuff. I tried to get them back to what they loved, but now the fear inside me grew more and started to think if this happened with me I will be again lost in the normal world like I had years back.

The fear and Obsession {of collecting movies} grew simultaneously. I decided to give proper time to work and family and then to my passion and started succeeding in slow pace but all this was at the cost of something. My Old movies watching had zeroed down and patience of watching old films {keeping in mind the time it was made with restriction, crowd demand and available sources} had gone.

I had loads of likeminded friends, a community which gives me pride, a radio show, loads and loads of rare movies and normal movies,etc but my movie watching was not there with me anymore. I was back at square one, where I was a decade back.

And that’s when I saw an English movie “Julia and Julia” where the heroine decides to make minimum one cooking recipe a day and write it down on a blog. This gave me a hope, a hope to be back in my own world and most important enjoy it.

Thus with a New Year I to decide to blog down my movie watching experience and share them with more such likeminded people. I know many of these movies might not appeal majority of people and also I don’t know how much will be my ratio in doing this new venture along with loads of other old stuffs. But one thing I know and that is I love Indian cinema and will do anything to keep it alive in me and then in as many as I can by passing it to them.

That’s the reason I am here for most important work of my life – To watch movies.