Choti Si Baat 1975

My favourite movie. My best friend. My rainy day companion. How do you 'review' your best friend? What do you say to quantify the aspects of such an exceptional movie. The thought of writing about Choti Si Baat makes me dig out all the magniloquent and baronial-type words (you get it right?) just to express how much I love this film.

So those of you who haven't watched it-

- Do you exist?

- Whats wrong with you?

I'm not sorry to be rude but cinema lovers and whether or  not you love the flashy Bollywood,Choti Si Baat is a must watch. Not your formula movie, not a historical epic, no morals or message. Just a simple girl boy romance.


Duh!

So you thought the story must be a script worth winning the National award. A parallel flick with some tears,nudity or barren land. Well I respect all kinds of cinema. I appreciate the art and the creativity which comes after a lot of work, ideas and brainstorming. But every art expressed has to be kept simple. Even summarising history of the Bronze Age should be narrated in a simple ,holistic way which the recipient can enclose in the palm of his senses.

Cinema about the everyday life of people like you and me, about the feelings expressed in ordinary sense and tales of relationships are quite tough to make because of the lack of bling in them. There's a lot of thought process and careful scripting which goes in the making of such films.

In laws' torture, revenge, brothers separating, property usurped, crime etc are aspects which have an attraction value equal to the first pizza you see after a long day. Great! But not wholesome are they? I love OhDears and the tears occasionally,but its quite difficult to come across simple homely films,just as difficult it is to make homely food compared to restaurant food.

Choti Si Baat is about the awkwardness of a young man who is secretly in love with a girl. The love is reciprocated but in mutual feelings of hesitance. This is not cowardice but pure sweet confusion. A very different type of comical take on urban lifestyle,the pickle it leaves a single,unsure man in who dreams but doesn't know how to go ahead. So well played by Palekar.

I love how Basu Chatterjee carefully brings out the urban middle-class man's feelings without making fun of him for not being a defiant Angry Young Man or an outright Romantic Hero. No roses, no flashy cars and no villains ...except Asrani who is so endearing as the mock villain that right now I want to stop this blog and watch it for the 3006th time.

Also, watch it for Amol Palekar, Ashok Kumar, Khandala and old Bombay.

Apne Paraye 1980

I was surprised to see a Basu Chatterjee film that I had not heard of, in the YouTube random search list. I thought I had finished most of the Palekar - Basuda films. So this was, as usual, a pleasant watch.

Family movies with the focus on bitching household women and home values is as old as dinosaurs. Apne Paraye is just one of that bundle. Three women - one the neutral eldest bahu, the vamp and then the upright,all consuming,all knowing choti bahu. Though, from a strong, happy, flourishing home to a bickering house the transition in Apne Paraye is thankfully quick and not a string of songs.

Shabana does justice to the role without too much wet handkerchiefs. Infact her strength as a supporting,affirmative wife minus the husband-bashing or patronising value-keeper is a fresh take from the usual.
Palekar plays the quiet, wayward husband as best as only he can. Utpal Dutt, Ashalata Wabgaonkar, Bharati Achrekar all play their roles so naturally that I almost got lost in the big Bengali house and mannerisms only Basu movies have.

Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan

A 1978 movie ,Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan was probably among the first few movies of the parallel cinema club.

Directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza and starring Om Puri, Dilip Dhawan, Shriram Lagoo, Sulabha Deshpande and  Rohini Hattangadi.

Arvind (Dilip Dhawan) is a introspective guy for throughout the story,with deep thoughts on life,poverty,richness and relationships. He seems to question the viewer as much as he asks himself. He accuses, blames ,argues and yet does the same things which provokes questioning.

He is a rich carpet merchant's son and manages a business lackadaisically. Yet he asks his secretary girlfriend why the city cannot tolerate dirt and slums. He enjoys luxury but doesn't like to cheat in business by raising prices. He has a religious mom and a doting girlfriend, yet feels insecure enough to visit a prostitute.

A man and film of contradictions, it will make you question if the end is about meeting with answers and 'adjusting to life' for Arvind,which he detests but is needed.

Watch it if you love parallel cinema esp when the trend had taken Bollywood by storm. All great performances by the cast and esp Om Puri. Also some old world Bombay charm.

Sandesham

The relationship between parents and children is the most vital ingredient in Indian Cinema potboilers. All formula films and niche films too have to show this relationship and all its facets,mostly as an advice or warning on how to better the bond. Yes,what would we grow up to otherwise?

Sandesham is not a formula film. You cannot classify it as just tragedy or comedy. A mix of some, breaks some grounds but mostly is a family movie, if you must put a sticker on it.

 A retired railway employee returns to retirement in his native village in Kerala. His caring wife and daughter are the only white sheep in the family. The three sons are wayward and sideward. The eldest two, played by Jairam and Sreenivasan are into politics and in opposing parties. Like their father, played by Thilakan, says, 'The sons maybe in politics but without any use to home or to the hometown.'

A good story is which uses cliches to its advantages and yet makes it memorable enough to be enjoyed as an original. Sandesham movie is such. It has all the cliches of a complete family with scaffolding support of good neighbours (played by Oduvil Unnikrishnan) and with some jigsaw puzzle pieces ,which is our version of right vs wrong vs tradition, left to be put together by the viewers. Also the comic bits are by Siddique and Oduvil with their queer and charming personalities respectively.

Watch Sandesham to understand Kerala family nuances against the backdrop of the reality of Kerala politics. Also get some gardening and soil lessons from Siddique. (has to be my fav character in this) A very apt title.

Mazhavilkavadi

The problem with being a mallu growing elsewhere than Kerala is that you will, through your childhood, mock everything remotely related to coconut and the coconut land. Then karma strikes in the form of your parents sending you to college in Kerala. Suddenly a coconut drops on your head,metaphorically ofcourse, and you get enlightenment. The culture of the place piques your interest. You discover the gold mines of Malayalam cinema. You poke yourself with a kappa stick and ask self why didn't you watch them movies before instead of relying today on Asianet and SkipAdstube. I'm not kidding. I had to search over 20 different movie streaming sites to find a decent print of Mazhavilkavadi where I can see the actress properly ( mallus know their heros even in a dark well but the actresses are always forgotten !)

 Mallus if you love your muthassi, weird named cousins, Karimeen fry and mesmerising greenery, you cannot not like Mohanlal, Mammootty, etc. SO you gotta like classics esp 1975 onwards - (because anything before that is silent movie right? 10 on 10) - the kind of cinema which have been done (like Joe's well done steak) to death by mimic artists in All India Malayali associations' events in Dufai,Gelf (ya its time you segregate these areas) and Yumerica.

Mazhavilkavadi is an evergreen hit of Sathyan Anthikad. Anthikad's movies are not just about a particular story,formula or genre. He has unknowingly a genre of his own. One where the story is a simple white sheet of paper,but he takes the viewer through a journey of life.  A journey across paddy fields, thatched huts, sunsets, steamed rice, life of native folks, problems in common households, who eat kanji and the most happening thing in their day is the postman riding his cycle excitedly towards the tea junction. You have to watch his movies to understand the hidden shades in the paper.

 

So Mazhavilkavadi is about a love affair which is opposed by the girls family because of the boy's lack of wealth and plenty of attitude. The village is with the boy and against the girl's father. The movie is about just that. Though Anthikad has layers which slowly unfolds as you watch.

Watch Mazhavilkavadi with unniappam and tea before Asianet or Kairali stops reruns and resorts to 'macha' movies of today.

Sathyan Anthikad the director.

Manzil 1979

A Basu Chatterjee film starring Amitabh Bachhan and Moushimi Chaterjee.
Basuda is known for light movies sans formula or masala, almost attaining a cult status of his own. Like the light showers of a glorious evening, something you may not acknowledge but still lovely. Think Basuda and you will say Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt, actors you cannot help loving. You may not be mad fans of them but you will not bypass their movies without a warm smile. Mostly a nostalgic one.

Nevertheless, Manzil in my opinion, wasn't as brilliant as Chameli (1986) ,Shaukeen (1982) and my favourite Baton Baton Mein (1979). Probably because Amitabh Bachhan wasn't used to his potential. I felt Bachhan's acting wasn't deep as the character of a jobless, despairing yet aspiring entrepreneur. The romance seemed casual. The story and the message of the movie - why entrepreneurship needs more encouragement (then and now) - are all well shown, still the movie was a tad less Basuish. My only favourite was and is the evergreen song ' Rimjim gire sawaan...'

Maybe I missed Ramprasad Dashrath Prasad Sharma.

Athirathram 1984

The blockbuster of 1984,directed by I.V.Sasi which is claimed as one of the best crime thriller of it times.

Starring Mammootty, Mammootty and Mammootty.

No typo there. That's all the movie is about. So much panache and style by the dude that you will forget Mohanlal is in it.

Yeah we want to see more ;)

Though a super hit in that era, I'm sure we have better storylines in crime genre in Malayalam cinema now. Events and situation are just jumbled up in the movie together as if the 2 hrs just had to finish.

Nevertheless a nice watch if you don't mind the script. Great styling for the dude and lot of 007 type cinematography.