The song, romance and dance is no more – Shammi Kapoor dies at age 79

Suffering from kidney failure, in and out of dialysis, Shammi Kapoor​ retained a joy for life and living till the very end. The joy he brought to each and every tole on camera was what made him an unforgettable hero. He danced, he romanced and gave a face to the smooth and silky voice of Rafi Saab. His dance moves were never choreographed, but an upswelling from within of how he felt the music. The light of fun and joy is gone, but not forgotten. While I can watch any Shammi movie anytime, some of the songs I love the most are so good they are worthy of repeat watches. Here are my top favorite ways to remember Shammi ji:
In O Haseena Zulfon wali watch Shammi Kapoor match up to the siren Helen:

Next up is Aasman se Aaya Farishta, Shammi Kapoor in a bathrobe makes sure Sharmila in a daring (for the time) swimsuit goes practically unnoticed!



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Kishore Kumar - musical genius

It is the birth anniversary of Kishore Kumar, a day worth remembering for all lovers of music.  Born 4th August 1929, Kishore was never a trained singer.  His biopic mentions that he once got badly injured as a child, cried very loudly for several days, and that "opened" up his vocal chords!  It is one of those injuries that changed Indian music forever! 

He started his film career as a comic hero in many films, where his costar was Bhagwan.  It was films like Chalti Ka Naam Gadi, Nayi Dilli and Hum Sab Ustad Hain that established him as a comic hero of some repute.  But his heart was in singing and he dabbled in it, until he was finally discovered and established by Sachin Dev Burman as a playback singer.   His early tunes were magical, and best when he gave voice to himself:

The gentle mellifluous genius – Jaidev!

On his birth anniversary, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite compositions from this master. The winner of three National Awards for his compositions in the films Ankahee, Gaman, and Reshma Aur Shera, he also composed the music for Harivanshrai Bachchan’s Madhushala. Trained under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, his music always went back to his classical roots. His first break in film music came under the Navketan banner and he came into his won from Hum Dono onwards.
It is really hard to pick a few favorites, but I’ll try. My first favorite is from Gaman sung by Suresh Wadkar:

The second one, sung by the incomparable Asha Bhosle, is from Hum Dono – the song and the voice are to die for:
The third is from Mujhe Jeene Do – a luminous Waheeda dancing on a mirror like floor, and a dacoit (Sunil Dutt) mesmerized by her singing and dancing:

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Rafi – Tum mujhe yun bhula na paaoge!

He died 31 years ago but his songs are immortal and give me joy even today! For all the fans of Rafi – here is a film made on his life, it contains great commentary, and wonderful video footage! Enjoy!

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Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara continues to surprise and polarize

What started out looking like a Spain tourism ad to some, a Dil Chahta Hai redux from the promos to others, was described by the maker as NOT that as most of the film is spent driving in a car, was slated to tank badly at the box office, have a short life span and be yet another yuppie wannabe film, has now taken on some legs at the ticket windows and continues to delight many viewers into its third week.  The usual gang of reviewers ranged from panning it solidly to loving it unabashedly.  Then we had this salvo fired by none other than Baradwaj Rangan:

I did not review Zoya Akhtar’s multiplex hit Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara for this paper – and I didn’t have to. I’d already reviewed Wake Up Sid in 2009, where I wrote, “It has all the weight of a television commercial showing sad people transforming into happy people in the course of thirty seconds, which is to say that nothing ever seems to be at stake… Everything is frustratingly preordained.” And, “But these bits of growing up are tucked away into inconsequential corners of the film, in song montages and the like, so we’re mainly left with the incessantly happy-cheery story of a boy and a girl getting together after a series of extremely minor hiccups. That’s not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, sure, but how you wish a few dashes of reality had been allowed to temper this unrelentingly feel-good fantasy.” The heft of a television commercial. The minor hiccups. The feel-good fantasy. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has it all.

Mr. Rangan went on to mock the audience favorite Rock On! (though I must admit that I found it underwhelming):

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