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.

Capturing the unspoken expressions - Rockstar

“Rockstar” is the journey of an awkward teenager, Janardhan Jakkar to a rock star, Jordan. The movie delves into the reality of being a star - money, fame and crazy fans that the world sees but a vacuum deep-inside that only the star will know. The movie is well crafted; the music, the art direction, the acting, the overlapping scenes, the photography, and the direction. Aarti Bajaj (editor) has played well with the film’s chronology and her non-linear narrative cuts are brilliant.  Overall, the movie is magical and it truly belongs to Ranbir Kapoor. He lived the character of Jordan and dominates every pixel of the screen, from the beginning to end.

After an initial hesitation, Heer (Nargis Fakhri) develops an affection for Janardan (Ranbir Kapoor). She is about to get married but wants to let her hair down once, before she settles down. Janardhan aka Jordan helps heer. He goes to Kashmir for her wedding preparations. It is her wedding day. Jordan enters the room. Heer looks at him through the mirror and something strikes her.

Jordan - “Kya?”

Heer (turns around) - “kya?”

Jordan - Itni senti kyo ho rahi hai?”

Heer - “Shaadi kar rahi hoon.”

Jordan - “Itni takleef ho rahi hai to mat kar shaadi.”

Heer – “Phir?”

Jordan - “Darwaza khula hai, bhaag le.”

Heer (immediately gets ready) - “Chal”

Jordan didn’t expect this and appears confused. 

Heer - “Kuch mat puchna mujhe, warna mai sach bol dungi”

Jordan - ”bol de sach, darta kaun hai”

Heer (after a short pause) - “Haan.”  

Jordan - “Haan?”

Heer changes the topic. Jordan plays along.

Jordan (later) - “Kahi tu mere pyaar vyaar me to nahi pad gayi?”

Both look at each other and camera waits for heer to say yes but she again changes the topic.  She later asks him “bhaag chale?” Jordan doesn’t reply. The scene ends with an unspoken expression of love. Jordan sings his way out with the song “Phir se ud chala.”

Heer replying to the unasked question - Jordan understanding it – the audience getting the message. The emotions are portrayed beautifully through spoken/unspoken dialogues, performances and the direction.  We are left to draw our own interpretations.  We have heard the unspoken and felt the unseen. May be, the director, Imtiaz Ali wanted to continue his rebellion against the conventional way of proposing love, reminiscent of his previous movies (Socha na tha, Jab we met, Love aaj kal).

This is a crucial scene for the movie for two reasons. First, Jordan comes to know that heer loves him and also realizes that he also loves her.  But, neither of them admits.  Jordan’s heart needs to be broken to bring out the artist in him. Second, if any of them had confessed then the movie would have taken a different turn. They might have eloped and married.  Jordan could have become a singer but not a true Rock Star (like Jim Morrison), the one he always dreamt of being.  

Photo source: Onesmallwindow

The essence of a song

Some directors have an uncanny knack of visualizing and filming songs in a way that blends into the narrative (of the movie). They use unconventional song-filming styles to wow the discerning viewer. When I think of this, the first few that come to my mind are Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, Manoj Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Mani Ratnam and Zoya Akhtar. I still remember when I first listened to some of the songs, I couldn’t imagine the way they might have been shot.  Their songs don’t follow the trodden track.  For instance, Waheeda Rehman truly lived the song “Aaj phir jeene ki tamaana hai” on screen, celebrating the newfound freedom. Or Raj Kapoor pioneering the dream sequence in the song “Ghar aaya mera pardesi” in Awara. “Ae ji, O ji” from Ram Lakhan, gave Anil Kapoor, one of the best introductions a hero could have asked for.

The song that I want to talk in more detail about is from Abrar Alvi’s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. Rehman essayed the role of a husband/zamindar (Sahib), Meena Kumari - the lonely and complex Choti Bahu (Bibi) and Guru Dutt - the confidante (Ghulam). The movie, set in a feudal era portrayed the ambiguous relationship between the biwi and the ghulam.  The debate whether Guru Dutt ghost-directed the movie or not is still alive.

All the songs from the movie are beautiful but this song deserves a special mention – “Saaqiya aaj mujhe neend nahi aayegi.” It was sung by Asha Bhosle and was filmed on Minoo Mumtaaz. Behind the camera was V K Murthy, the famous cinematographer, who contributed to most of the iconic scenes in Guru Dutt’s movies (the famous crucifix scene from Pyaasa or the beam shot in the song “Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam”). At the first go, the song looks like a usual mujra; zamindar relaxing on a sofa, blowing a hookah and sipping wine, while the dancers in bright sequined dresses are dancing.

When you look closely, you will realize that there is more to it than what meets the eye.  Lights and shades are used to maximize the effect. The main dancer minoo mumtaz is focused in light while the background dancers are all in silhouette, almost like the director is asking the audience to focus on the main character, both in the song and the movie. This song continues the mystique that forms the central theme of the movie.  The dark undertones that dominate the story are amply reflected in the song through effective use of shadows. This song tells us what can be done with black and white.

Does anyone want to see the song in color?

  

The opening scene from the movie "Dil Se"

Mani Ratnam made his bollywood debut with Dil Se (from the heart), a love story set against the backdrop of insurgency in North East.  Another masterpiece from him on terrorism after Roja and Bombay. It won critical acclaim but failed at the box office in India, largely due to its unusual theme and the lead actress portraying a suicide bomber.

Many scenes from the movie stood out for me but one particular scene left a lasting impression - the opening scene of the movie. The movie starts off with a taxi (with shahrukh inside) approaching a police barricade. After the police check, the taxi drives away to the railway station. Shahrukh has to take the barrack valley express; the train is late and he decides to wait on the platform. It’s a cold and windy night. He wants to light a cigarette and calls out to a passenger who is sitting on the adjacent bench, “Bhaisahab, machis hai?”  The camera pans out at an angle such that we are asking for the matchstick ourselves. The other person remains silent. Shahrukh continues talking but there is still no response. The camera remains besides shahrukh and doesn’t take us to the next bench to see who the other person is. This camera technique makes you feel that you are a part of their conversation. While shahrukh is talking, a sudden gust of wind pushes him and at the same time, the shawl falls off the other person. To our surprise, it’s a woman, the lead actress – Manisha Koirala. Shahrukh looks at her and is at loss for words. 

The camera now starts bridging the gap and moves towards manisha, giving us a closer look. She looks fresh.  Her face is covered but there is a hint of smile in her closed eyes.  Now, the camera pans across to give the viewer, the feeling that they are with manisha and watching Shahrukh. Shahrukh walks towards her and again asks “aapke paas machis hai?” She doesn’t reply. There is no sound other than the howling of the wind, adding to the screenplay. Shahrukh is talking continuously. The scene is refreshingly different from the usual boy meets girl situations, I have seen in the past. Shahrukh’s charm is at work. A smile slowly spreads on manisha’s face and she covers her face again. She can’t resist looking at him. And, when he asks, “mai tumhare liye kya kar sakta hoon?” Her lips part and she quietly says, “Ek garam chai.” The camera doesn’t move. And there, standing beside manisha, we see shahrukh going away to get a cup of tea. As he gets to the tea stall, he hears the sound of the incoming engine. He is in a dilemma. Should he run to manisha as she might take the train or wait for the tea? He waits for the tea, takes it and runs back to the platform. He sees three men alighting the train, picking manisha’s baggage and boarding the train with her. One will notice similar conflicting emotions quite a few times in the movie - shahrukh will try to win her heart, she will avoid him, later she will surrender herself, then she will avoid him again and will go away.  Coming back to the scene, shahrukh watches her from the platform. Train leaves and manisha remains an unknown.

It is raining and the drops of water are falling into the tea making a tinkling sound. Shahrukh says almost to himself, “Duniya ki sabse choti prem kahani.” He drinks his tea and “Jinke sar ho ishq ki” starts in the background. The scene cuts to the train and the most famous song of the decade “Chal Chaiya Chaiya” begins, seamlessly transitioning from the opening scene.

This is one of the best openings, I have seen in movies. This scene gives a sneak peek into the storyline. If you watch the movie and come back to the scene, you will notice that this scene, in a way summarizes the movie. The police barricades signifies the tense situation. The protagonist tries to win the love of the actress. The actress, shrouded in mystery, runs through bouts of cyclical emotions – avoidance, liking and avoidance again. The howling of the wind suggests a stormy relationship. Was this scene a coincidence or intentional?