Teen Deviyaan (1965)

January 17, 2012, 11:25 pm

≫ Next: Ten Situations, Two Heroes, Twenty Songs

≪ Previous: Maya (1961)

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This post is two weeks late. Late, because it’s a tribute to the actress Kalpana, who passed away on January 4 this year. I didn’t get to know about her death till the 8th, and then – though I did want to do a tribute post – I couldn’t think of a film I hadn’t [...]

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Ten Situations, Two Heroes, Twenty Songs

January 24, 2012, 12:55 am

≫ Next: The Lady Vanishes (1938)

≪ Previous: Teen Deviyaan (1965)

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Caution: Long post! It’s been a while now, but last year this blog hosted a Classic Bollywood Quiz. The prize for the runner-up was the chance to dictate a post: a theme for a list, for example. Our runner-up, Anu Warrier, like me, likes both Shammi Kapoor and Dev Anand a lot. So, when we [...]

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

January 30, 2012, 5:20 am

≫ Next: Ten Songs of Heroines ‘Manaao-ing’ Heroes

≪ Previous: Ten Situations, Two Heroes, Twenty Songs

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It’s been a long time since I reviewed a film by one of my favourite directors, so I decided this one merited a rewatch. Like The 39 Steps and Young and Innocent, The Lady Vanishes is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s early British suspense films. I saw it first when I was about 12 years old; [...]

Ten Songs of Heroines ‘Manaao-ing’ Heroes

February 3, 2012, 7:04 am

≫ Next: A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

≪ Previous: The Lady Vanishes (1938)

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If you don’t know what manaana means, be patient. I’m getting around to that. First, though, an introductory note on this post. This list of hard-found songs (believe me! I’ve spent months coming up with these) is dedicated to extremely supportive and loyal blog reader pacifist.  Pacifist won the Innovative Ideas Award in the Classic [...]

A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

February 7, 2012, 2:32 am

≫ Next: Prem Patra (1962)

≪ Previous: Ten Songs of Heroines ‘Manaao-ing’ Heroes

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Happy birthday, Mr Dickens! Yes, Charles Dickens was born exactly 200 years ago today – on February 7, 1812, in Portsea. In his lifetime, he wrote a number of short stories and non-fictional works, besides about a dozen major novels. He was recognised as one of Britain’s greatest writers within his lifetime – and cinema [...]

Prem Patra (1962)

February 13, 2012, 10:52 pm

≫ Next: Ten of my favourite Hindi film ghazals

≪ Previous: A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

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I am not – most decidedly not – nuts about red hearts and roses and all that bullshit. Really, if you love someone, you love them. And not just on February 14. But, anyway, here’s my nod to the bandwagon. I’m not jumping on to it, mind you; just reviewing one of my favourite romance [...]

Ten of my favourite Hindi film ghazals

February 17, 2012, 7:06 pm

≫ Next: The 300 Spartans (1962)

≪ Previous: Prem Patra (1962)

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This is another of my ‘prize posts’, dedicated to one of the people who participated in the Classic Bollywood Quiz I hosted on this blog last year. One of the quiz questions was a toughie that no-one was able to answer: Which was Sahir Ludhianvi’s first ghazal to be recorded in Hindi cinema? I did [...]

The 300 Spartans (1962)

February 23, 2012, 12:28 am

≫ Next: Ten Bits of Trivia from Classic Hindi cinema

≪ Previous: Ten of my favourite Hindi film ghazals

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This is the 300th post on this blog. A landmark for me, which I decided to celebrate with a film about 300-something. The 300 Spartans is based on a real-life incident, the Battle of Thermopylae in about 480 BC, when a handful of Spartan warriors led by King Leonidas, faced up to the invading army [...]

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Ten Bits of Trivia from Classic Hindi cinema

February 28, 2012, 10:14 pm

≫ Next: The Mark of Zorro (1920)

≪ Previous: The 300 Spartans (1962)

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This is another of the prize posts for those who participated in the Classic Bollywood Quiz I hosted on this blog last year. I’ve two awards left to ‘hand out’ – (read ‘two more posts to dedicate to readers’) – but this post is dedicated to Neha, whose blog is really niche: it’s a collection [...]

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

March 5, 2012, 8:08 am

≫ Next: Ten of my favourite Ravi songs

≪ Previous: Ten Bits of Trivia from Classic Hindi cinema

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The highlight of last week was—no, not an old film that I watched at home, but a new film that I watched in a cinema theatre. The Artist. A couple of friends, both people with excellent taste in cinema, recommended it to me. So I wheedled my husband into coming to watch The Artist. And, [...]

Ten of my favourite Ravi songs

March 8, 2012, 3:25 am

≫ Next: Ten of my favourite Joy Mukherji songs

≪ Previous: The Mark of Zorro (1920)

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This was not what I’d planned as my next post. But I learnt this morning that Ravi – the man who composed some wonderful tunes from the 50s and 60s – is no more. He passed away yesterday, the 7th of March, just four days after his 86th birthday. Ravi (born Ravi Shankar Sharma) also [...]

Ten of my favourite Joy Mukherji songs

March 11, 2012, 7:59 am

≫ Next: Azaad (1955)

≪ Previous: Ten of my favourite Ravi songs

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Because my Ravi tribute was swiftly turning into a Joy Mukherji tribute – and because I thought Joy merited a tribute all his own – I decided to do a Joy Mukherji post. My intention had originally been to review a Joy Mukherji film – until I realised that I’d already reviewed all my favourite [...]

Azaad (1955)

March 16, 2012, 9:39 am

≫ Next: Harvey (1950)

≪ Previous: Ten of my favourite Joy Mukherji songs

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After all the unhappiness over the past week or so – first Ravi’s death, and then Joy Mukherji’s – you’d think the last film I’d want to see would be one that starred the ultimate tragedy couple: Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari. But, thanks to Anu, who assured me that Azaad was loads of fun, [...]

Harvey (1950)

March 22, 2012, 2:47 am

≫ Next: Crime and the Hindi film song: Ten examples

≪ Previous: Azaad (1955)

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No prizes for guessing whom this prize post is dedicated to. (For those who’re not in the know: I hosted a Classic Bollywood Quiz last year on this blog, and the prizes for that—one for each participant—was a post dedicated to that participant. My friend and fellow blogger Harvey got the Quick Worker Award for [...]

Crime and the Hindi film song: Ten examples

March 26, 2012, 11:27 pm

≫ Next: Reporter Raju (1962)

≪ Previous: Harvey (1950)

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I attended an interesting Conference on Crime Fiction at St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, last month (for more on that, click here). During a couple of the less-engrossing sessions, I found my mind wandering a bit – but not too far: only to crime in cinema. And from there, to songs about crime. Also, over [...]

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Reporter Raju (1962)

April 4, 2012, 4:56 am

≫ Next: Charulata (1964)

≪ Previous: Crime and the Hindi film song: Ten examples

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A couple of months ago, I got a call from Seventymm (the video rental service I’d subscribed to), letting me know that they were shutting down rentals and becoming retail-only. Since I’d paid up in advance for a year’s subscription, I had Rs 800 worth of unused vouchers—which, they said, I could use to pick [...]

Charulata (1964)

April 11, 2012, 1:36 am

≫ Next: Celebrating World Heritage Day: Ten Songs

≪ Previous: Reporter Raju (1962)

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… and some random comparisons with Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam. This Satyajit Ray film had been lying in my to-watch pile for a long time. Then, I learnt a few days back that the Indian government had finally decided to award a Dadasaheb Phalke to Soumitra Chatterjee for his contribution to Indian cinema. Better late [...]

Celebrating World Heritage Day: Ten Songs

April 17, 2012, 8:18 pm

≫ Next: The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

≪ Previous: Charulata (1964)

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Today, April 18th, is World Heritage Day. A day to thank God, our ancestors, civilisation—for the richness that surrounds us. Whether it’s in the form of a unique ecosystem, or a beautiful old building. Or a language, a cuisine, a medicinal system. It’s all heritage, and it’s all precious. All remarkably, frighteningly fragile. The United [...]

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

April 24, 2012, 11:44 pm

≫ Next: Waqt (1965)

≪ Previous: Celebrating World Heritage Day: Ten Songs

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One of the good things about growing up in a family that loved reading was that even as a child, I was surrounded by books—novels, of course; and treatises on everything from Wordsworth’s poetry (thanks to my mother) to gardening and homoeopathy (thanks to my father). Those books, big tomes that were all words and [...]

Waqt (1965)

May 3, 2012, 2:06 am

≫ Next: Piccadilly Jim (1936)

≪ Previous: The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)

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By some strange oversight, despite the fact that Waqt is one of my favourite masala films, I’ve never reviewed it on this blog. And I’m wishing I didn’t have to end up writing about it on such a sad occasion—because Achla Sachdev, the actress who played the self-sacrificing, long-suffering mother and wife in this film, [...]