A writer is frequently invited to address audiences but is not always fortunate to have the right person engaging her in a conversation. The interviewer either talks too much or knows too little about the author. Sometimes she/ he is lazy and has not done adequate homework. This is annoying because  it is  disrespectful to the guest.

I was fortunate to be chatting with  the young and dynamic Karishma Mehta from Ehsas, Mumbai, a branch of Prabha Khaitan Foundation who asked all the right questions in the most appropriate way and triggered me to share some  fascinating anecdotes. She took me on my journey as a critic, as an author and inquired if  my honest writings affected my relationships with them.

There were equally interesting observations from the audience as well, some of the questions were deep and contemplative. I had insights into my audience as well. We don’t realize this but the city we live in influences our personalities. Lucknow is the land of the nawabs, of courtesy and culture and it is reflected in the  ambience and the evening. 

It is my first time with the Prabha Khaitan Foundation and it is wonderful the way the all-women NGO operates. No fuss, no frills, all communications are via email, and all details are clarified as briefly as possible. The NGO is spread across all states of India, usually, four women in every city, and what makes it unusual is the cause. Prabha Khaitan crusades for the authors and books. 

The idea is to promote literature and authors are happy because they are in constant need of support.  They need readers to sell their books and audiences to listen to their vision. Prabha Khaitan facilitates the process by organizing scintillating evenings where book lovers gather for coffee and conversations.

Last week, we began the promotion for my book Letters To Self with  Taj Hotel Lucknow and the woman heading the show was Kanak Rekha Chauhan. Super job Chauhan

My Friend Ganesha was an interesting animation film that explored the relationship between deity and a child. This was a children’s film but appealing to adults. Around this time two filmmakers, Farhan Akhtar and Karan Johar remade their fathers’ films and both included a Ganpati to add masti and fervour. While Shah Rukh Khan danced energetically in Don Hrithik Roshan was sheer magic in Agneepath. A film I cannot get out of mind is Marathi film Ventilator where the opening credits portray all the sounds and images associated with the vibrant festival – all the colours and the splendour and the end credits repeat the grandeur when the ailing patriarch in the hospital for many days recovers and comes home to celebrate the festival with family.

So many of our film personalities have been bringing the deity over for years. Some, to their work place and some to their abode, some, quietly and some in all its glory. Rajesh Khanna did as long as he lived, so did Raj Kapoor. Singer Nitin Mukesh, director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actors Anil Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. I have visited all these homes for decades. Two years ago, it was during the festival that Rishi Kapoor went through his tests and last year, for the first time, the family was not at home to host the deity. But Ganesha is back to his favourite address only Rishi Kapoor is not home to receive him.

For director Mukul Anand the final day visarjan was a premise for a dramatic climax in the 1990 Agneepath whereAmitabh Bachchan is stabbed amidst huge crowds bidding farewell to the deity at the seashore. For Ram Gopal Varma, it was exposing the hero as a criminal in Satya/ 1998 as he is dragged on a noisy street as his beloved Urmila Matondkar looks shell shocked!

For Aditya Chopra the deity was a trigger for romance in Dil Toh Pagal Hai /1997 for the lead pair Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan. Khan and Dixit are attracted to each other but don’t know it or rather are unable to express it to each other. On Gurupurnima day, Madhuri is visiting her teacher and Shah Rukh decides to drive her to Pune. On reaching the ashram, Madhuri’s dance teacher Aroona Irani senses they are in love and talks to them separately, gifts both with an idol of Ganesha and tells them that He will guide them to the right path. It was a beautifully written scene.

To be continued

Every year, Ganesh Chaturthi comes and all the pandals begin to play Ganpati film songs. Not that there are as many significant songs associated with the deity on screen and which explains why we still play the same old ‘Deva ho deva’ from the 1980 release Humse Badhkar Kaun or ‘Murti Ganesh ki, andar daulat desh ki’ from Takkar where Jeetendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Vinod Mehra expose the villains who have hidden the temple treasures inside the idols placed inside the truck.

While the mainstream filmmakers have always looked for song situations to project the festival, our serious filmmakers looked upon the celebration as an excuse to infuse drama and the best example of this is director Shyam Benegal’s 1981 release Kalyug. It was the first film to portray the immersion procession in all its glory where hero/ Shashi Kapoor is caught in the festival traffic and the chaos on the street reflects his personal turbulence.  Sunil Dutt, another sensitive director, projected an emotional moment in the 1983 film Dard Ka Rishta. Inspired from his personal life it told the story of a father-daughter relationship, where Baby Khushboo is battling with cancer and Sunil Dutt brings the deity to the hospital.

To be continued

The rise of multiplexes in the early 2000 ushered a new flavor of cinema, contemporary movies that were a blend of Hindi and English like Hyderabad Blues. This began a new trend in movie watching.

For a long time, there were talks about foreign studios investing in Indian movies. This manifested when Bollywood turned corporate and single screens made way for multiplexes and multi screens. Our movies were now shot in sync sound, were shorter in duration and without the mandatory song- and-dance.

From 2010 to 2-22 entertainment expanded in formats/ short, feature and platforms, after television it was digital, OTT mainly. Finally, we are at a point where language is not a barrier and Indian actors are not divided by regions.

Concluded

In the 80s parallel cinema was soaring and mainstream going through its darkest phase mainly because of the video piracy. Most of the stars were busy with South Productions and the busiest actor in the film firmament around this time was Jeetendra, dancing his way to Himmatwaala and more. Mithun Chakraborty was an actor on the rise. Three record breaking films that launched three superstars were Aamir Kha in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak / 88, Madhuri Dixit in Tezaab and Salman Khan in Maine Pyaar Kiya / 89.

The 90s was a decade of star kid debuts. Pooja (Mahesh) Bhatt, Raveena (Ravi) Tandon, Karisma (Randhir) Kapoor, Ajay (Veeru) Devgan and some outsiders like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar managed to make an impact. Three generations of actors and trends co-existed during the nineties: Rishi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, and Govinda. Formula films co-existed with the artistic so A Love Story was patronized by the classes and Roja and Bandit Queen by both the classes and the masses. Director Sooraj Barjatya introduced the ‘feel good’ cinema set in a rural Maine Pyaar Kiya. Aditya Yash Chopra exercised the same formula in an urban Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge /95. 

The 70s decade marked the end of romance as director Prakash Mehra and writer Salim Javed launched Amitabh Bachchan as the angry young man in Zanjeer. Departing from the glamour divas of the earlier decade, unconventional heroines like Jaya Bhaduri in Guddi, Zeenat Aman in Hare Ram Hare Krishna and Shabana Azmi in Shyam Benegal’s Ankur made their debut. Mainstream filmmakers Ramesh Sippy, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Desai, Manoj Kumar, Subhash Ghai co-existed with art directors like MS Sathyu, Govind Nihalani, Gulzar, Basu Chatterjee.

It was an era of poetry in lyrics and melody and the established Naushad Ali Khan and SD Burman survived with the rising Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal and RD Burman. Those were times of multi starrers and of popular pairings, Amitabh-Rekha, Dharmendra-Hema Malini, Rishi Kapoor- Neetu Singh and Shatrughan Sinha-Reena Roy. It was a prosperous time at the box-office. Sholay completed silver jubilee. Deewaar completed its golden jubilee and Roti Kapda aur Makaan celebrated its diamond jubilee.