Random Musings

I happened to catch in the course of the week, the fact that there were two interesting movies that I had wanted to see, but had missed them in theatres, and which were to be premiered on television on the same Sunday, i.e. Nov 27th. And I decided that I was going to see them at home, and declared to the family that those two time slots of mine were booked. And for a change, I was going to view them, seated in one seat, with the phone off, and without chatter, as if I was seeing the movie in a movie hall itself.

And as it turned out, the effort was worth it.

I caught on TV, then, a couple of very good movies. And here are my views on both of these.

1. Yahaan:
This was the first of the two that I saw. When the movie was to be first released, in theatres, I had been fascinated by the promos that ran on television, and the one haunting song, “Puchhe jo koi meri nishani, naam heena likhna..”. Just that one song that I saw made me want to go and see the movie, but unfortunately, I did not make it, to the theatres then. When I saw this on TV today, the single biggest factor that struck me by the end of the film, was the awesome photography.

I can safely say that more than 90% of this film had outstanding cinematography. This is just so rare. I have seen some great visuals in many other movies, but I have rarely seen a single film where virtually each and every scene, so fascinates you, in the manner in which it is picturised. The lighting, the sepia tones, right through, the beautiful landscapes, some outstanding closeups, all of these were remarkable. That fact itself tells me, that a lot of hard work went into the planning and making of the film, and it for me, is a certificate of the director’s passion, conviction and sincerity. This should always be the case, but unfortunately, today more directors seem to be interested in churning out things, quickly, with the commerce in mind, and not so much the art!

Going beyond the visuals, the film was in a similar genre at a broad level, as 1942, a Love Story, or Mission Kashmir, or even Machis, to an extent. Love in the midst of war. But it certainly was not a copy of any of these films. It had a very clear story, and some very good performances. Jimmy Shergill must be one of the most underrated actors in the industry. When the world seems to be going gaga over the Zayed Khans and Shahid Kapurs and Fardeens of the world, I think Jimmy Shergill is a better actor than all of these guys. And here was one performance where it clearly came out. The new actress also put in a good effort – without fanfare, without much makeup or costumes support, without any item songs, she managed to make a mark. And the look that the director gave her was so beautiful, and very Kashmiri. The red cheeks, the fair face, the eyes, were all a natural Kashmiri look.
The music was also well researched and sounded very authentic. There were no artificial dream sequences put in, to justify and disco song or some unnatural music.

And besides everything, films like this one or Mission Kashmir, bring out so well, the tragedy of Kashmir. A once heaven-on-earth full of prosperity and happiness, now reduced to poverty, terrorism, fear, insecurity. What a shame that things have come to this point. Will the good times ever return? Will it be a paradise again? Films like Yahaan certainly make you think about it, even bringing an odd tear into your eye, even as you are sitting in the comfort of your living room, in Mumbai, and watching the film unfold on your television screen. Now, that is good cinema!

All in all, an afternoon well spent, in engrossing fare.

2. Sheher:
The other movie that I saw at night, was Sheher. Starring Arshad Warsi, popular for his comedy sidekick roles, playing a serious hero, here. And he does a decent job, in this cop-mafia-underworld thriller. Again an oft repeated genre, this film was not anything like a classic or even outstanding. But it was a worthwhile effort, based for a change in Lucknow and UP, and not in big bad Mumbai. There have been several flicks highlighting the Mafia rule in Bihar, and we all associate Bihar with underworld, thugs, dacoits, gun weilding politicians. Here is a film that exposes similar situations prevalent in UP as well.

Well, an okay film, which deserved better returns at the box office, than what it got.

Thats what hit me, about both these films, at the end of the day. At a time when junk fare like a Garam Masala or a No Entry, can light the box offices on fire, well made and interesting movies like Yahaan, and to a lesser extent, Sheher, come and go in a hurry, not getting any kind of a return that they deserve.

Like governments, filmgoers too get films that they deserve. If we do not support good cinema, we should have no reason to complain when we keep getting the No Entries and No Parking Places and No Standing Rooms dished out at us!!

Who would have imagined that radio will be back – and with a bang too?

Those were the days of Vividh Bharati, Binaca Geetmala, radio commentary of cricket matches including early morning wake up calls to catch the Australian games..

Now, if such reminiscing makes me sound old, rest assured that I am not _that_ old! Its been an amazing run – from a lot of radio to no radio, and now again, back to radio!

With the advent of television, and its rapid growth, with Chhaya Geet, Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan and live cricket from all corners of the world, radio died. Those big sets at home became antique pieces and suddenly came in the way, being pretty useless functionally.

And then we had a large number of television channels, and we got bored with them, and we wanted to listen to simple music all over again – especially when we were in a car, for example. And with the government opening up radio to private operators, albeit with large license fees and some other restrictions too, radio made a comeback.

Like all of these new thingies, many people jumped in. But as with every other fad businesses of this nature, not all can survive.

So we are left with now, in Mumbai, Radio City 91 FM (Star TV), Go 92.5 FM (Mid-day), 93.5 FM (India Today) and Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM (Times Group). In addition, there are the All India Radio’s 107.1 and 100.7 FM channels.

I miss a great radio station that came up, and went down, viz. Win 94.6 FM. It went into coma once (shut down for a few weeks), then came back to life (restarted), but has now died for good. Its popular radio jockeys can be heard on other radio stations.

So how’s the radio scene in Mumbai really?

– We have some utter nonsense going on.. with RJs who talk pure bullshit, and get away with it; random love advise, poor language, and modern young RJs who pronounce old movie and singer’s names with an accent. That part stinks!

– There is a Radio Jockey with as corny a name as “Aapka Deewana number one to infinity”.. yes, ALL of that! And he only speaks in superlatives in describing all the songs and the music directors and the singers that he refers to, on his program. But that can only be expected from one who has a name like that.. !

– The most popular RJ used to be Malishka, on 94.6, when it was alive. In recent times, she is back on 93.5, but she’s obviously trying too hard to recreate that old magic, and is failing!

– In programs that have dual RJs, the best combo is certainly Jaggu and Tarana, on 92.5. They have an amazing chemistry that comes through over the radio. They are very quick and have good fun, and come up with smart lines. Its good to start the day with them..

– The most popular music director continues to be Panchamda – R. D. Burman (Why am I not surprised? If you have a doubt, see the URL of this blog!). The most farmaish happen to come for him, inspite of the generation change!

– In fact, the most remixes seem to be happening on RD’s songs… after all, for a remix, they need to start with a popular song to begin with!

– Radio guys are not allowed to do live news or live stock market updates yet, so we are missing that niche from the private companies, but I suppose it will come now,

– Radio has done some amazing local promotions. Like if a store is stuck with a lot of stock of some SKU, they have promoted on radio that for the next two hours, anyone walking in and purchasing that, gets a gift, for example. And these have worked very well. And similar other promos are doing good.

– With that radio advertising has become more expensive. It used to be a steal few months back, but now radio campaigns are pricey affairs.

– One other program that I have loved is what they call, “Hello, mike testing..”. Here the RJ has a guest with him, and in between talking to this guest, they play the guest’s favourite songs. It’s a good opportunity to know that guest from a first person point of view. I have enjoyed listening to the likes of Amar Singh, Kapil Dev, Mahesh Bhat, and many others, on this program.

I can see radio growing even more with niche programming and reality interactive programs. Indeed, Radio Days are here again.. !