Breaking Stereotypes

The opening sequence of Reservoir Dogs introduces the eight important characters of the movie through a casual conversation at a diner. The characters are engaged in a casual but compelling conversation - What is the real meaning of the song "Madonna's like a virgin” ? The camera plays its part in keeping the audience intrigued by panning across each person and holding them for a second.  When the camera revolves around the table, it feels like we are eavesdropping on their conversation. Over time, the conversation moves from one subject to another and finally ends with a discussion on "whether one should tip the waiter or not”. By this time the personality of each character is established.  When the scene ends with the famous slow-motion walk on the song  "Little green bag",  the audience is left wondering if there is more to the scene than meets the eye.

It has all ingredients, interesting dialogues, excellent camera work and great acting, of a riveting sequence. But, the most important thing that stood out was the unhurried pace at which the director let the scene progress. Normally, a first time director, making a thriller will rush to introduce the plot to the audience. And here we have, Quentin Tarantino, in his first feature length movie, showing little regards for stereotypes. He introduces the characters as normal human beings, who are talking everything under the sun, except the heist that forms the central theme of the movie. Little over eight minutes have passed, and the characters are introduced, but the audience still doesn't know who is the main lead, who has a negative role, what is the story and the audience doesn’t even realize. This clearly shows the confidence that Quentin Tarantino has in his unique style of storytelling.

Photo source: Wikipedia

Cinematic moments from Tamasha

The movie is the journey of Ved Vardhan Sahni finding his true calling. Ved (Ranbir) meets Tara (Deepika) in Corsica. He appears to be an impulsive and free-spirited guy, though in reality he leads a life that follows a set pattern and is robotic - Wake up by the alarm at the same time, brush teeth mechanically, eat the same corn flakes, knot a tie, clean the car, stop at the same signal everyday, hold the elevator door for a lady colleague, wish his colleagues good morning – and do it all over again the next morning. He is torn between Dil and Duniya. He wants to do what his Dil tells him but does only what the society (the Duniya) deems acceptable. This movie is about how Tara shakes him up from inside and forces him to breakout of his shell. How Ved fights his inner demons, the world and his upbringing, finds his true calling and becomes what he always aspired to - A Storyteller. Ranbir brilliantly portrayed the multi-layered Ved and conveyed the myriad emotions seamlessly, transitioning from the free-spirited dude in Corsica to the regular urban worker whose life follows a set pattern to the one fighting with his inner-self. Deepika effortlessly played the character of Tara.  She looked hot, beautiful and very natural throughout the movie.

Few of the cinematic moments

Scene 1

The curtains go up and the Tamasha begins with a song that shows the beginning and the climax of the movie at once.  Ved (RanbirKapoor) is a robot and Tara (Deepika) is his Dil ki awaaz. The movie narrates the story of Ved, who leads a robotic life (depicted as walking on a treadmill, continuously walking but going nowhere) and Deepika, his inner voice, nudging Ved towards discovering his true self. Coming back to the scene, she touches his heart and it shakes him up. He gets down from the treadmill and starts wandering aimlessly (he doesn’t know what to do and what his true calling is). The scenes from this Tamasha is intercut with the introduction of Ved's childhood, a boy from Shimla, who enjoys listening to stories.

This beautifully captures the overall theme of the movie. A boy grows up listening to stories but is forced by society to lead a robotic (and normal!) life until he meets the girl he loves. She forces him to reconsider his monochrome existence and find his true calling. However, one can only understand it after watching the movie.

Scene 2

Tara appears sad when she receives her passport in Corsica. She walks up the stairs. When she is about to open Ved’s door, she hesitates for a brief moment. Her ambivalence is well captured. She walks down the stairs to check on the next flight to India. She packs her bags, steals another glance at Ved's room and walks down. Before boarding the taxi, she stops and turns back. The camera holds her for a moment.

Viewers realize that she has forgotten something. She quickly walks up the stairs to kiss Ved good-bye. The camera follows her, leaving Ved behind. She  realizes that she has fallen in love. The pain is seen in her eyes. The camera doesn't leave her, even in the car, curiously capturing the emotions running through her mind. She collects herself. The scene now cuts to Ved imagining Laila separating from Majnu. Remember? Ved had grown up listening to stories.

One could feel the dilemma that Tara faced. It was quite an intelligent screenplay that Ved was left behind and the story moved ahead with Tara. It also ensures that the viewers relate to Tara as she uncovers the complex Ved.

Scene 3

Mirrors and glasses are cleverly used as props in the movie. Lets take a closer look at the scene that follows after Ved proposes to Tara in the restaurant. Tara says she wants to speak to him and asks him to come out for 2 minutes.

Tara - "Ved, jab se mai Corsica se wapis aayi hoon, it’s like tum mere saath ho. Samajh rahe ho. Mujhe tumhara naam tak nahi pata. Koyi ummed nahi hai ke mai tumse phir se miloongi.Magar main tumhare saath hoon. Ye possible hai, aisa feel karna. mujhe pehle malum nahi tha”

Ved - “Aur phir main mil gaya” 

Tara - "Nahin.  Mujhe mila ek product manager jo ek shahar me rehta hai. Jo bahut well behaved hai, polite, decent.

Ved (with a smile) -  “To. Tara, to main hoon product manager. Main rehta hoon ek shehar me. Main wo Don thodi hoon Tara, main wo big indian movie writer bhi nahi hoon, wo to acting thi na.Wo main ek role play kar raha tha. Aur ye main real me hoon darasal.”

Tara - “Nahin"

Ved - "Nahin kya matlab?"

Tara - "Tum real me Don ho. Aur Interpol ke afsar. Aur yahan tum acting kar rahe ho. Ye tum role play kar rahe ho, regular aadmi ka role”

For the first time, Ved's full face is shown and not in profile. Something has struck him. Tara has invaded his inner world. 

Tara continues - “Jo ek set pattern pe chalta hai, jo bagair soche hue har kaam waise hi karta hai jaise use karna chahiye. Ye tum nahi ho Ved. ye sab nakli hai. Tum nadi me muun daal ke paani pi te ho yaar jaanwar ki tarah. Tum to pahado se baate karte ho. Tum wo ho Ved. Kya ho gaya hai tumko haan?"
Ved - "Tumko kya ho gaya hai Tara. Ae kaun wo? Wo koyi nahi hai. Wo sirf tumhare dimaag ke andar hai. Tum imagine karti rahi ho shayad ke mai wo hoon." Ye main hoon Tara. Saamne khada hoon. Main sirf ye hoon."

Tara - “Sure?”

Ved - "Haan, main sure hoon Tara.”

Tara - "Phir to main kisi aur ke saath hoon Ved. Main kuch aur dhund rahi hoon. Ye to hai mere paas.Ye to mujhe nahi chahiye. Ye miss ho gaya. Bahut kharab ho gaya. Magar ab ho gaya."

Tara leaves him. Camera stays with Ved.  Neither does Ved look at Tara nor does he try to stop her. Throughout the scene, whenever camera is capturing them both, Ved’s reflection can be seen in the glass. Viewers can see two Veds. One who leads a robotic life and the other, who is an impulsive and carefree soul. This is Imtiaz Ali at his best, capturing both the Veds in one shot.

Scene 4
A shattered Ved goes to the same storyteller and asks him about his own story. As if someone else is writing our story and all we do is just live our life the way others want us to, doing what others feel is right. The storyteller tells him, "Darr lagta hai?...kayar. Apni kahani mujhse puchna chahta hai. kis se darta hai?….bol apni kahaani. kya hai tere dil ke andar, chahta kya hai? …. Dil me heer liye, aur heer khoje veerane me. Farebi, dhokebaaz. This is so true - someone else creates our story, they decide and influence what we do. This is a defining moment for Ved, when the storyteller challenges him to write/create his own story.

Don returns - Ved runs towards his house, meeting artists and clowns on the way.Ved narrates the story (of his life) to his father. While narrating, he talks about his saathi (Tara) whom he had met in between Dil and Duniya. While he is telling about her, he pauses for a moment, and enjoys the  memories.

Saathi - "Tum aise kyon bhaag rahe ho?
Ved - "Main ek race me bhaag raha hoon"
Saathi - “Kis race me?”
Ved -  “Main nahi jaanta kis race me. Main bhi bhaag raha hoon kyo ki sab bhaag rahe hai.”
...
Ved -  "Bahut hi jahreela saanp rahe bachpan. Hum to bade hote hi maar daale usko. ab koyi nahi kehta ke main special hoon."
Saathi - "Tum choose karon aapni race, guarantee hai, first aaoge.”
Ved -  "isi tarah apna hero bhaag ta raha aur ek din maar gaya. Ending kharab hai na, koyi baat nahi apni kahaani hai, ending change kar denge.”

Then Ved summarizes "This is who I am, Papa.”

The narration of the story is intercut with the scenes of Ved growing as a storyteller.  A few months later - the same story continues with a small audience.  A year later, he is telling the story on a stage. A few more years pass by and he is joined by other people on the stage. The Stage is getting bigger and bigger. The scene then cuts back to the living room where Ved is narrating the story to his father.  The editing ensures the linearity of the story as well as his coming of age as a storyteller. It is a beautiful way to convey that what he is doing is not what he wants to do and demonstrating what he really wants to do (storytelling) and how he is growing as a storyteller.

Photo source: Wikipedia

The utterly detestable Rauf - Agneepath

Agneepath is a remake of the 1990 cult classic by the same name. Hritik, got into the shoes of Amitabh (who also won a National award), playing the iconic character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Not imitating Amitabh was one of the best things Hritik did. Infact, he also had fewer dialogues compared to the original, which was peppered with a lot of hard-hitting ones. Nevertheless, Hritik managed to show his acting prowess through his silence.

A new character, Rauf Lala, a pimp and a ruthless drug lord, was introduced in this remake. Rishi Kapoor essayed the role of Rauf Lala. He was initially skeptical about playing a negative role and even gave an audition for the first time in his career to ensure that he fits the role.

He was unkind, unmerciful and 'odious beyond redemption'. Lets take a closer look at one of the scenes where he was at his evil best.

A little background: to prepare himself to avenge his father’s death, the young Vijay (Hritik) joins Rauf Lala and is raised by him. After becoming his trusted lieutenant, the grown-up Vijay tries to overthrow Rauf and claim his position to challenge Kancha (his fathers murderer). In the process, he also kills Rauf Lala’s son. When Rauf comes to know about this, he kidnaps Vijay’s sister and arranges an auction to sell her off. Vijay comes to save his sister and hits Rauf.

“Abba Jaan”

Rauf replies “Mar gaya tera Abba Jaan”

The myriad expressions  - the hint of a smile, the seething anger, the sneer of revenge and the pain of betrayal. What a show by Rishi Kapoor!

When Vijay hits Rauf, Rauf falls down the stairs and the camera zooms in. The hint of tears in Rauf’s eyes at the treachery is immediately overpowered by the thirst for revenge. Rauf communicates all this with his eyes with only a little support from his facial expressions. He doesn't take revenge by physically fighting back, but by making malicious remarks about Vijay’s sister. Rauf knows that this will hurt him more than any physical violence, though he later hits him in retaliation. 

Rauf abuses his sister again and even as he does this, an evil smile spreads across his face. He looks utterly loathsome.

The suave Rishi Kapoor played the negative role with uncanny ease. One hates him throughout the movie. This kind of hatred for a character, I haven’t felt in years.  Had Rishi Kapoor tried his luck in a negative role earlier, would we have been treated to many more such memorable performances? It took him almost four decades to take that leap of faith.  Is it a loss to the Indian cinema that he started playing different characters so late in his career? Better late than never, viewers witnessed one of the best negative roles.

Tacit Emotions - Lakshya

Lakshya, set against the backdrop of Operation Vijay, traces the journey of Karan, from being an irresponsible, aimless brat to a  soldier.

Karan and Romi, childhood sweethearts, separate due to the differences in their outlook towards life. Romi is focused and determined whereas Karan lacks an aim (lakshya) in life.  After years, Karan and Romi meet in an army camp. Romi has become a war correspondent and Karan is a soldier in the Indian army.

 <The location is an army camp>

India has to reclaim the peak in the Kargil sector from Pakistan. The regiment selects twelve of its soldiers for this daunting task. Karan is one among the twelve. A day before the mission, Karan is in a jeep with his officer. The jeep stops to give way to passing army trucks. Karan sees Romi waving to the passing soldiers. He looks at her and the camera captures Romi from a distance. There is a grin on Romi’s face. She is happy to see karan. Karan wants to walk up to Romi and decides to get down from the Jeep. He immediately realizes the presence of his officer and takes his permission to meet her. This scene is a testimony to the director’s skill in capturing the minutest of details. Karan walks towards Romi and a truck passes between them, reminiscent of the distance between them that they now want to bridge.

Karan – Hi

Romi – Hi

Karan – I miss you Romi. Bahut yaad karta hoon mai tumhe

Romi (with a hint of tears in her eyes) – Main bhi

Karan – Main kal ek mission pe ja raha hoon

Romi (with a hint of smile) – Main intezaar karoongi

Karan (with conflicting emotions)  – Ho sakta hai mai wapis nahi aaun

Romi (with a confident look) – To mai zindagi bhar intezaar karoongi

Karan is overwhelmed by emotions. He comes closer to Romi. He wants to hug her. He looks around and becomes conscious of the location as well as the people around him. He holds back. Romi also wants to hug him, but being equally aware of the surrounding, holds herself back. They want to hug to let each other know how they feel. They want to whisper their love. They want to share their emotions. They want to make up for all the lost time. They realize that this may be their last moment together. But, they are handcuffed by the milieu. The helplessness is captured with heart-wrenching reality. In this scene, silence does speak louder than the words. The instrumental of ‘Kitni baaten yaad aati hai” starts playing softly in the background, beautifully capturing the myriad emotions of Karan and Romi.

"The Godfather" remade

More often than not, remakes are a soft target for criticism. Viewers can’t refrain themselves from drawing comparisons with the original. While many a times, remakes fail to recreate the magic, sometimes they give an interesting twist and are better than the original. Sometimes the twists itself weigh the movie down whereas sometimes the movie fails just because viewers are devoted to the original. Let’s take a closer look at some remakes of The Godfather.

The first one to remake in bollywood was Feroz Khan, way back in 1975. He modified the story and made Dharmatma, 3 years after its hollywood debut. He picked up only the main characters from the original, the father and the son. In fact, only the son. The godfather portrayed by Premnath does not have a role.  Some characters from the original that were merged and the dialogues translated to hindi were lost in translation. The scenic locations of Italy were replaced with the equally scenic but rugged terrains of Afghanistan. Overall, it was a stylish movie coupled with good music. You can appreciate the movie, only if you do not see it as a remake of The Godfather. But, the moment you start watching it as a remake of The Godfather, the movie starts to lose its charm.

Mani Ratnam toyed with The Godfather in his Tamil remake, Nayagan. Although, the movie is the true story of the underworld don Varadarajan Mudaliar, Mani Ratnam peppered it with a few elements from The Godfather (trilogy). The moral center of The Godfather was ‘family’ and it was changed to ‘anything that can help people is not wrong’ In Nayagan. The movie maintained a realistic narrative style. The protagonist Velu (Kamal Hasan) never tried to play a ‘larger than life’ character. The realistic portrayal of his fight with the police inspector is a perfect example of this. Kamal Hasan’s brilliance can be seen many times including the famous scene of Velu’s interaction with his grandson in the climax. When the grandson asks “Are a good man or a bad man?” Velu replies (after a pause) “I don’t know.”  Use of camera and lights are also worth mentioning, especially the one where little Velu asks the fisherman, “You pray every day and go to the mosque, you donate to anyone who asks. But at night, you smuggle goods. Isn’t it wrong?” He replies, “No. Anything that can help people is not wrong.” The complete scene is shot against the sunlight and in silhouette.  The audience also witnessed the deft use of camera in another scene. Velu’s interactions with his daughter at the ACP’s house, when he finds that the ACP’s wife is his daughter. His daughter’s half face is visible during the whole conversation. It signifies that the daughter finds herself in the tussle between her father and her husband. On one hand, she wants to meet/greet him while on the other hand she knows that her father is involved in illegal activities whereas her husband is a police officer.

There were quite a few forgettable remakes. Dayavan, a failed remake of Nayagan by Feroz Khan. Remake of remake of The Godfather. The only thing that remained in popular memory was the sensual song with Madhuri Dixit and Vinod Khanna. Next was Zulm Ki Hukumat with Dharmendra as Vito, Govinda as Mike and Shakti Kapoor as Sunny. Viewers stayed home with the original and the movie flopped. How badly one can go with Rajnikant and Aamir Khan in a movie can be learned from Aatank hi Aatank.  Although the movie went through financial troubles and was delayed, but that was not the only reason for its failure. With dialogues like “Paisa gale ki nas kaant ke bhi kamaya jaata hai aur Pajame ka naada khol kar bhi” and “Revolver se zyada khatarnak cheez agar koi hai ... toh woh hai tumhari aankhen,” it tried to deliver The Godfather. Another failed attempt was with Sapoot, featuring Kader Khan as Vito and Akshay Kumar as Mike.

RGV paid tribute to The Godfather with Sarkar. He cleverly framed the movie in his own style, with his trademark dark shots and camera angles. He moved the story from a mafia family to Maharashtra politics. The Bachchans played the Corleone’s.  Amitabh brilliantly essayed the role of Subash Nagre. He does things which he feels are right even though they might be illegal to the outside world. He also gave smart advices just like Vito – “Nazdeek ka phayda dekhne se pahle ye soch lena chahiye ki kahi door ka nuksaan to nahi ho raha.” The momentous scene in the original where Vito refuses to deal in narcotics, was also adapted perfectly by RGV, but in his own style. Viewers can feel the goosebumps when Subash Nagre says – Main nahin karunga… A pause…. aur tujhe bhi karne nahi doonga. Overall, it was a good attempt from RGV.

The Godfather met a modern day adaptation of Mahabharata in Rajneeti, set against the backdrop of politics. The characters from Mahabharata were given shades of The Godfather. Like Arjun with shades of Mike in Samar and Lord Krishna with Tom Hagen in Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar). The screenplay had plenty of turns like when Suraj (Ajay Devgn), a Dalit leader, plans to contest the elections against Samar’s political party, Brij Gopal makes Suraj’s father as his party’s candidate, even before Suraj (Ajay Devgn) announces his candidature. Quite a shrewd move and an interesting twist that leaves audience with a ‘wow’. The movie tries it’s best to include all the elements for a compelling political drama but fails at many places. The characters at times neither resemble the ones in Mahabharata nor The Godfather.

When one remakes a movie, there is no need to copy the original frame by frame. Director has the creative liberty to use his own interpretations but he must make it with sincerity.  It is not easy to decide what to tweak and what to keep. Add sub-plots, more spice, and melodrama but don’t lose the essence of the movie. In some of the above, the cast itself was not good to pull it off, in some there was nothing to add and there was no convincing reason to see the movie after admiring the original. Some missed most of the nuances, the complexities, and the subtexts from the original. Nevertheless, movies like Nayagan stood out primarily because of its vision and sincerity and Sarkar to some extent for being a true tribute.

The debate on whether we need a remake or not will always be on.

Photo Source - Wikipedia, movierulz, webmusic

"The Godfather" revisited

The Godfather defined a genre. Earlier gangster movies showed mafia from an outsider’s perspective, but this was the very first movie that gave an inside look into the lives of a mafia family. Being a gangster became cool overnight. The three hour long drama had the viewers hooked to their seats and fully absorbed them into the mafia lives. The contributions of the ensemble cast and the production crew made The Godfather what it is. Let us look at some of those aspects that make it a legend.

Cinematography – An intriguing cinematography that accentuates the secretive and sinister theme of the movie. For example, the opening scene begins with a male voice "I Believe in America" and a face appears. The setting is dark, suggesting private and intense talk. Camera is capturing a close shot and as the monologue continues, the camera starts to slowly zoom out. Viewers don’t realize that they were looking at the face and suddenly they can see him fully. The camera continues to zoom out and viewers can now see the shadow of another man and it appears that he is carefully listening. The person comes closer to the shadow and whispers, “I want them dead.” The scene is in silhouette, as if to emphasize the darkness of the deed.  Another scene is the one that comes after Sollozzo kidnaps Tom and asks him to help reach a ceasefire with Sonny. It is shot in dark and the light is used only where absolutely necessary. Only the faces of Tom and Sollozzo are shown, leaving the rest of the setting dark. It gives an ominous feeling.

Editing - The opening wedding scenes that are used to introduce the characters are cleverly inter-cut with the scenes showing how a mafia business runs.  The baptism scene towards the end has interesting parallel cuts with the massacre of the head of the other mafia families. Another thing to notice is after the scene where the godfather is shot, the ideal next scene could be the hospital one. However, the next scene is Kate and Mike coming out after watching a show. Kate asks Mike to read the newspaper and he reads the news “Vito Corleone feared murdered.” The editing was so good because it captures the main theme perfectly, the shooting scene is important and will prompt mike’s homecoming. Godfather and Mike are the most important characters. Other things like the hospital/doctors and the anger or sadness of the other family members are not so important and can be ignored.

Background score – The eerie underscore in the background plays a major role in the story. The score pauses itself when important dialogues are being spoken. Good acting doesn’t need support from the background score to convey the emotions. For example, when Tom Hagen goes to meet Woltz, there is a background score that follows Tom from the airport to the studio. The background score is paused for the time, Tom speaks to Woltz and once the discussion is over, the score continues. On the other hand, where only the score is playing, it is an omen to things to come and expresses the whole meaning without any dialogue. When Tom leaves Woltz house, a creepy music starts in the background. Viewers know that there is something wrong and as the camera reaches the bedroom, viewers see Woltz clothes drenched in blood. As soon as Woltz see the decapitated head of his prized horse, the background score stops and give Woltz a chance to scream without any intervention. The camera moves from his bedroom and gives a wide shot of the house. It feels like the whole house is shivering.

Acting – The complete cast was brilliant. Brando essayed the role with complete conviction. His acting prowess can be seen in many scenes - like the opening scenes, the scene where disapproves the narcotic business, the scene where he meets other mafia families.  My personal favorite is the meeting with the heads of the mafia families, especially where he says “I am a superstitious man.” He nailed every word he says.  Al Pacino was very natural in the role of mike. Besides all his famous scenes from the movie, the hospital scene where he comforts his father “I am with you” and walks out of the room, one can notice the determination and confidence in his walk. Viewers are convinced that he will save him. One important aspect of his acting was that he never tried to be a lovable character. This worked in his favor. The rest of the cast also didn’t lag behind and did a brilliant job. In fact, the characters look so real that many a times, you forgets that they are acting.

Screenplay –An adapted screenplay that is in no hurry to reach the climax. The story moves with a slow and a steady pace ensuring viewers understand the characters and their deeds. It even warrants viewers to sympathize with the wrong deeds of the characters. The opening wedding sequence is over 26 minutes long, but it never takes the attention away. It intelligently introduces Don’s business and all the significant characters. It also gives the viewers a peek into their personalities – Godfather is calm, composed and nonchalant;  Sunny is impulsive, gets angry quickly; Tom Hagen, a thoughtful person provides suggestions as appropriate like a true consigliere.

Character evolution - The evolution of Mike’s character was outstanding; in the beginning, he disapproves family business and assures his girlfriend "That's my family, Katie, it’s not me" to the hospital scene where he comforts his father ‘I am with you” When he has to choose between his own ethics and his love of family, he chooses the latter. As the movie draws to an end, viewers start admiring his character and respects the decisions he made.

Direction – The director orchestrated the cast and the crew to achieve perfection. He perfectly visualized the script, handled every scene with care and perfectly framed every shot.  He combines the camera angle, the dialogues, the background score and screenplay and the acting, with precision. His direction made it easier for us to understand the complex characters while delivering a masterpiece.

The movie never tried to idealize mafia but ensured that viewers know the inside story, allowing viewers to morally accept the family despite the slew of illegal activities that make them what they are – rich, powerful, notorious and unforgiving to a fault. In the process, viewers could also take notes of the life lessons from the old man.

Many facets of a dialogue - Deewar

The scene I am talking about is from the story of two brothers, who were thrown by fate on the either sides of the law. The movie found parallels with the story of Haji Mastan, who was a dockworker and later became a powerful smuggler.  The movie also established a cult following for Amitabh Bachchan and cemented his angry young man image that started off with Zanjeer.  

Who can forget the image of Amitabh Bachchan in a denim shirt (knotted at the waist) and khaki trousers? Yes, I am talking about “Deewar.” Even though, there are similarities between Deewar and movies like Mother India (Mother choosing the right over wrong) and Ganga Jamuna (tale of two brothers on the opposite sides of the law), Salim-Javed took it to another level by doing away with stereotyping.  It was a perfect script equipped with powerful screenplay and megawatt dialogues. Many dialogues from the movie are imprinted in popular memory - “main pheke hue paise nahi utha ta,” “Peter, tum mujhe dhund rahe ho,” “Jao pahle tum us aadmi ka sign lekar aao jisne mere haath pe yeh likh diya tha, “Mere paas… Maa hai,” “Khush toh bahot hogey tum!” But, let’s take a closer look at a very powerful albeit a less popular dialogue:

Vijay (Amitabh) is working as a laborer at the docks. A local gangster collects money from each dockworker on payday as protection money. One day, a new coolie refuses to pay and he dies. Vijay witnesses it. But, he doesn’t react.  When the camera captures him, we can see the anger seething in his eyes.

The scene cuts to the restaurant where Vijay is silently smoking a beedi. Other dockworkers are discussing about this incident and are saying that the new coolie should have given money; what’s the big deal? He lost his life for a few pennies.  Vijay, deep in his own thoughts is also listening to the conversation. Camera zooms at him and gives the audience a glimpse of his resentment.

When a dockworker says, “25 baras ho gaye, humne to nahi dekha, kisi coolie ko hafta dene se inkar karte hue,” Vijay’s anger bubbles to the surface.  He removes his beedi and says, “Rahim chacha, jo pachis baras me nahi hua wo ab hoga, Agle hafte ek aur coolie, in mavalion ko paisa dene se inkaar karne waala hai” The dialogue creates a tense situation. Vijay seems confident and the audience are intrigued by this. He keeps the beedi  in his hand. Camera zooms at him and audience can see the determination as well as some guilt in his eyes. Guilt that he didn’t do anything at the right time and determination that he wants to stop this in the future. 

He throws the beedi and gets up. Camera holds him when he waits for a split-second. This additional second tells the audience that he has thought through what he wants to do. He knows the repercussions and is ready to face them. There is also no melodrama in the dialogue. He doesn’t say, the coolie died and I want to avenge that.  Only a lazy writer will try to justify. The dialogue should be more than what the character says. It should be just as implicit as it is explicit. It should add another layer to the drama. And Salim-Javed got it just right. 

Trivia - Yash Chopra’s first choice for the role of Vijay Verma (that eventually played by Amitabh) was Rajesh Khanna, but due to Salim-Javed’s fall out with Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh was offered the role.