Metropolis (1927)

July 20, 2011, 9:28 am

≫ Next: Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959)

≪ Previous: Some thoughts on the songs of Pyaasa

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As Samir pointed out in a comment on my last post, Pyaasa was one of the films (in fact, the only Hindi film) to find a place on Time Magazine’s all-time 100 best films list. That’s something Pyaasa shares in common with this film. Metropolis, a silent film made in Germany thirty years before Pyaasa, [...]

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Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959)

July 26, 2011, 10:35 pm

≫ Next: Kohinoor (1960)

≪ Previous: Metropolis (1927)

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… and its sequel, Das Indische Grabmal, also 1959. Fritz Lang made the visually stunning Metropolis in 1927. Over thirty years later, freed from the constraints of black and white and silence, he made two films, which are together known as ‘Fritz Lang’s Indian epic’. The second film was Das Indische Grabmal (‘The Indian Tomb’); [...]

Kohinoor (1960)

August 2, 2011, 3:17 am

≫ Next: Prince of Foxes (1949)

≪ Previous: Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959)

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Der Tiger von Eschnapur and Das Indische Grabmal were, as Anu called them, ‘raja-rani’ (‘king-and-queen’) films, no matter how warped they may have been as examples of that genre. In line with my last post, therefore, here’s another film: also raja-rani, also set in the India of maharajas, evil plotters wanting to make a grab [...]

Prince of Foxes (1949)

August 8, 2011, 4:35 am

≫ Next: Humayun (1945)

≪ Previous: Kohinoor (1960)

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The last film I reviewed, Kohinoor, was part swashbuckler, part romance and part political intrigue. So is Prince of Foxes (though this has none of the comedy that makes Kohinoor such an endearing film). Interestingly, though, that isn’t the only thing common between these two films. They also have one scene in common. It’s a [...]

Humayun (1945)

August 12, 2011, 9:56 am

≫ Next: Rajkumar (1964)

≪ Previous: Prince of Foxes (1949)

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One of the main characters in Prince of Foxes was a man who actually existed in history: Cesare Borgia (1475 (?) – 1507 AD). This post is about a film that features one of Cesare Borgia’s contemporaries, a man born halfway across the world, seven or eight years after Cesare Borgia was born. A man [...]

Rajkumar (1964)

August 14, 2011, 11:35 pm

≫ Next: Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

≪ Previous: Humayun (1945)

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My blog has featured Shammi Kapoor now and then – with reviews of some of his films, in my list of classic Hindi cinema’s handsomest men (which he topped, by a very long margin), and in various lists of songs. Yesterday morning, when I woke up and logged on to the Internet, the first news [...]

Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

August 21, 2011, 10:21 am

≫ Next: Mere Sanam

≪ Previous: Rajkumar (1964)

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If Rajkumar is the trademark ‘Shammi Kapoor at his peak’ film, then Tumsa Nahin Dekha is an equally – if not more – important film, because this is the one that made Shammi Kapoor into the icon he was by the mid-60s. Till Nasir Hussain got Shammi Kapoor to shave off his moustache and act [...]

Mere Sanam

August 26, 2011, 4:17 am

≫ Next: Rustom-e-Hind (1965)

≪ Previous: Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

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Nasir Hussain may have made his Tumsa Nahin Dekha story into four separate – and equally successful – films, but did that induce others to be original? On the contrary. Narinder Bedi, at least, probably seemed to think that what worked for Nasir Hussain might well work for him. Therefore, Mere Sanam, which has a [...]

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Rustom-e-Hind (1965)

September 1, 2011, 8:19 am

≫ Next: Aan (1953)

≪ Previous: Mere Sanam

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Mumtaz, as I mentioned in my last post, was one of the best things that happened to Mere Sanam. She may not have had much screen time in the film, but she certainly left her mark – more than she’d been doing in the B-grade films she’d mostly appeared in till then. Rustom-e-Hind, made in [...]

Aan (1953)

September 8, 2011, 6:50 am

≫ Next: My Family and Other Film Fanatics

≪ Previous: Rustom-e-Hind (1965)

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I’ve seen this film – a ‘raja-rani’ film, like Rustom-e-Hind – several times, but the most memorable viewing of it was at my parents’ home a couple of years ago. My parents live in Meerut, about two hours’ drive from Delhi. Every year, at Christmas and Easter, my husband and I, and my sister, her [...]

My Family and Other Film Fanatics

September 13, 2011, 10:09 pm

≫ Next: Introducing ‘Kumar Sahib’

≪ Previous: Aan (1953)

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…with due apologies to Gerald Durrell. Since my review of Aan consisted to a large extent of my family’s almost constant commentary on the film, I figured it was time to introduce you to them – and show you what we’re all about, especially when it comes to watching, appreciating, and mangling cinema. This is [...]

Introducing ‘Kumar Sahib’

September 19, 2011, 1:27 am

≫ Next: Mahal (1949)

≪ Previous: My Family and Other Film Fanatics

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After having waxed so long and eloquent about my parents, my sister, my cousin, and a couple of other relatives (not to mention servants!) in the context of our love for cinema – it’s time to focus on the one link my family does have to cinema. The one person from our family who made [...]

Mahal (1949)

September 23, 2011, 10:43 pm

≫ Next: How about a ‘Classic Bollywood’ quiz?

≪ Previous: Introducing ‘Kumar Sahib’

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Since my last post was about my uncle, the guitarist David Vernon Kumar, it seemed appropriate to devote this post to one of the films for which he played. Mahal, made when my uncle was about 20 years old, featured the hauntingly melodious Aayega aanewaala, the song that shot Lata Mangeshkar into the limelight – [...]

How about a ‘Classic Bollywood’ quiz?

September 27, 2011, 2:27 am

≫ Next: … And a revised quiz

≪ Previous: Mahal (1949)

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To begin with: don’t bother with this quiz; it isn’t valid any more (see my next post for the quiz that’s now THE quiz). You can scroll down to the end of this post to see the answers to most of the questions (the ones that didn’t get correctly answered are part of the latest [...]

… And a revised quiz

September 27, 2011, 7:04 am

≫ Next: Announcing the Answers – and the Winners!

≪ Previous: How about a ‘Classic Bollywood’ quiz?

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All right, we had some hiccups with the original ‘Classic Bollywood’ quiz, because some readers got confused about how to submit answers. Never mind. I always have more trivia up my sleeve! So, an updated quiz. Forget about the last one; I’ve already posted the answers to most of those questions, at the end of [...]

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Announcing the Answers – and the Winners!

October 4, 2011, 7:45 am

≫ Next: Edwina: A Short Biography (Part 1)

≪ Previous: … And a revised quiz

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Ever since I announced the classic Hindi cinema quiz last week, though I’ve published no new posts, I’ve had a lot of traffic on my blog – and a large amount of it to the quiz post. Thank you, everybody, who commented on it, gave up on it (!), and – very especially – sent [...]

Edwina: A Short Biography (Part 1)

October 6, 2011, 10:25 pm

≫ Next: Edwina (Part 2): A Cast of Characters

≪ Previous: Announcing the Answers – and the Winners!

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A few months back, I got an e-mail from Tom Daniel, the man who’s been the brains, the initiative and most of the work behind some of the most wonderful song compilations I’ve come across, ever. Tom wondered if I would like to host a series of guest posts about  Edwina Lyons, the dancer who [...]

Edwina (Part 2): A Cast of Characters

October 10, 2011, 12:20 am

≫ Next: Edwina (Part 3): Her Fellow Dancers

≪ Previous: Edwina: A Short Biography (Part 1)

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Continuing from where we left off in the last post: the second instalment of the four-part guest posts by Tom Daniel and Edwina Lyons about Edwina’s life in the Hindi film industry of the late 50s and the 60s… (as before, Tom’s writing is in blue, Edwina’s in regular black font). Where the first article [...]

Edwina (Part 3): Her Fellow Dancers

October 13, 2011, 10:43 pm

≫ Next: Edwina (Part 4): Dancing

≪ Previous: Edwina (Part 2): A Cast of Characters

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Tom and Edwina’s fabulous guest posts on Edwina’s career as a dancer in the Hindi film industry of the 50s and 60s: part 3, about the people whom Edwina danced with. If you haven’t already read the first two posts, click here to read post 1 (a short biography of Edwina) and here for Edwina’s [...]

Edwina (Part 4): Dancing

October 17, 2011, 10:53 pm

≫ Next: An Eye Candy Post to Begin Shammi Kapoor Week

≪ Previous: Edwina (Part 3): Her Fellow Dancers

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Sadly, all good things must come to an end. So, with a heavy heart, I’m having to publish this post: the last of the four-part guest posts on Edwina Lyons, written by Edwina, along with Tom Daniel. If you haven’t yet read the earlier posts, click here for the first (a mini biography), here for [...]