My wife recently went to a classical music gathering. She was invited by her friend who was part of the musical group. It was a small gathering and some "Guru" from Pune was on a tour to the US. She sat through about 3 hours of that program, listening to songs but mostly observing how deeply involved all the 'jaankar' public there was.
I have seen and known these people (there are some in my extended family). They are extremely committed folks. It's like it's their faith. Their mission. They are purists. For people who 'understand' music and sur and taal etc (and hence are jaankar of that subject), Classical is *the* real deal. Rest all is, well.. crap.
Since I don't pretend to understand Music and Art to any intellectual level, I give these invites a pass in general. Being a lesser mortal I fall back on good old Hindi movie songs, that I have got accustomed over many years.
If Music as an art is hard to get, there should be some agent who can create Music that is easier to get along for the non-purists (or masses if you will).
That brings me to Pancham a.k.a R.D Burman.
The state of West Bengal has given us an awesome battery of stalwarts over the years in the field of Arts/Music/Cinema. But Pancham happens to be my favorite Bengali. He was the King. He connected to every layer, to every stratum, to masses and classes alike, with equal ease.
Right from Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi to 1942, A Love Story (which I thought was below par compared to his own work), no other music director and his music has caught nation's imagination to such an extent.
70s and 80s was his golden era of course.It was when he created his magic. My personal RD favorites are the ones he created with Gulzar. RD and Gulzar individually were super brilliant, but together they were compelling.
An Intoxication called Gulzar
Pancham not only transcended age, he transcended generations. No wonder all these copy cat remixes we get to hear these days have their roots in RD's songs. (Speaks volumes of his 'scalable' music)
He was a 'kalakar' to the core, so to speak. The man had such a massive talent ingrained in his DNA, he probably never bothered to game the system. Which is why, he was sort of a Fakir. And this Fakir created probably India's best music till date.
I mean, the song from Khoobsoorat - "Piya Bawari.." is an intoxicating fusion of classical and contemporary. He easily re-packaged a classical theme into a more digestible and easy to go along, simple presentation. Or the great use of folk-instruments in "Raha pe rehete hai.." from Namkeen which was nothing short of brilliant.
Music is an art form. And R.D Burman was it's proponent. And in many ways, he helped, lump of masses, help appreciate the beauty of this art form. And there in lies his genius.
There's a song in the movie Parinda - "Pyar ke mode pe..". Observe how the sound of flute and Asha Bhonsale's voice camouflages, so much so that it's hard to figure where the flute begins and where Bhonsale ends. Asha Bhonsale should be credited for bringing a mesmerizing effect to it, but there's no denying Pancham's genius in setting it up. Singularly brilliant..
Of all the pop culture icons of India of any generation, for me Rahul Dev Burman stands out as the greatest. I know the Gen-X and A.R Rahmans of the world have won Oscars and what not. And no one's taking away anything from their greatness. But for me, a kid from 80s, Pancham Da was real deal.
He was... the Badshah.
Showing posts with label tributes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tributes. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Friday, June 27, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
An intoxication called Gulzar
From Mora Gora Ang Layi Le to Tere Bina Besuwadi, Sampooran Singh Kalra has had an amazing journey so far. It's incredible to note how this Sikh, born in Pakistan and who started his career as a car mechanic would go on to achieve, what he achieved.
Penning himself with a peculiar name like Gulzar, Mr. Kalra went on to produce and create some of the most defining lyrics ever written in Hindi cinema. His body of work in last 45 odd years includes amongst other things, poetry, film script, song lyrics, writing books, writing gazhals, producing and directing movies and also politically incorrect adventures.
For me one of the most striking attributes of Gulzar as a creative mind is his creative scalability. His ease of transitioning from one generation to another. That a person can create an almost consistent kind of magic with Sachin Dev Burman as with A.R Rahman is mind boggling if not utterly ludicrous. Gulzar transcended almost 3 generations of music lovers and his creative juices were fresh enough everytime to lure all of these 3 generations into an enduring experience of pure magical lyricism.
To envelope his entire work into one article would be doing gross injustice to everything I pretend to know of Hindi cinema. So I won't even try. For someone, who had the pleasure of meeting him personally by accident once, I still find him a mystical figure. A kind of figure who will make everyone in the audience swoon to his silken commentary. To his lyrical subtleties. To his weaving of words in such a way that the collection of those words would become a classic almost everytime they are written or spoken or sung.
At the very basic, Gulzar is a magician. A magician of words. A wordsmith of the highest order.
From the very energetic or energizing Chayya Chayya to the contemporary-feeling Sham Se Aankh Gulzar manages to keep us "engaged". Nothing is more brilliant than having listeners "connected" to your work. And this connection Gulzar can have with his loyal fans or even not so loyal fans, could easily be a subject of someone's study. Why Gulzar can connect with a substantially large group of people even though he uses heavy dozes of metaphor ism, both in his lyrics and scripts, cannot be explained by a simple one para answer.
It's hard to think how a brutally bare and abstract 'song' like Ek hi khwab can still be appealing! Or the simple and intentionally childish Lakdi ki kathee can be so powerfully forceful, that it was a given that it would be shown on Doordarshan every 14th November. No other "children's" song till date has replaced this one. And we are talking 25 years past Masoom.
But Gulzar is not only about lyrics. He kept on raising the bar everytime he ventured into something. Like the movies he directed. His, matured-adult love triangle Ijazat remains my personal favorite. He took Indian audience where no one had gone before. Infidelity with an uber face. But the infidelity shown was so Gulzarique, it almost gave an alternative justification to the protagonist's character in the movie.
You would be mistaken if you stereotyped Gulzar into one creative identity. That of a relationship centric writer with pseudo romanticism as premise of most of his work. Gulzar never stationed himself on one platform. Or genre. Angoor till date remains a timeless classic. Again not by coincidence it happens to be my favorite comedy movie. It was Gulzar's tribute to another cinematic genius and his own mentor Bimal Roy. Some might say Gulzar retains Bimal Roy's sensibilities; only grows on it.
Gulzar or his work,i feel has not been reasonably appreciated by his fraternity or even the Government. (He was awarded a Padma Bhushan in 2004 though) But I guess his almost cult following more than makes up for that. You have to be in one of those Yahoo.com forums to know what i mean, when i say cult. Gulzar wouldn't care less about lack of recognition. He underplays his achievements and remains out of mainstream focus almost by design. Unlike some heavy duty alleged song writers of the day.
It would be an incomplete article if R.D Burman is not mentioned in any obeisance to Gulzar. It's not unreasonable to say that Gulzar brought out the best in RD and some may say "vice versa". His numerous gut wrenching tributes to RD in form of albums can almost always make it to collector's shelf.
This is then, to 45 years of durability, class, genius and creativity of the very highest order. This is to - Sir Sampooran Singh Kalra a.k.a Gulzar sahab.
Some known and not so known, but priceless pearls from Gulzar :
Ghulami, Maya Memsaab, Namkeen , Khoobsoorat , Lekin , Gharonda , Marasim
More on Gulzar here
Penning himself with a peculiar name like Gulzar, Mr. Kalra went on to produce and create some of the most defining lyrics ever written in Hindi cinema. His body of work in last 45 odd years includes amongst other things, poetry, film script, song lyrics, writing books, writing gazhals, producing and directing movies and also politically incorrect adventures.
For me one of the most striking attributes of Gulzar as a creative mind is his creative scalability. His ease of transitioning from one generation to another. That a person can create an almost consistent kind of magic with Sachin Dev Burman as with A.R Rahman is mind boggling if not utterly ludicrous. Gulzar transcended almost 3 generations of music lovers and his creative juices were fresh enough everytime to lure all of these 3 generations into an enduring experience of pure magical lyricism.
To envelope his entire work into one article would be doing gross injustice to everything I pretend to know of Hindi cinema. So I won't even try. For someone, who had the pleasure of meeting him personally by accident once, I still find him a mystical figure. A kind of figure who will make everyone in the audience swoon to his silken commentary. To his lyrical subtleties. To his weaving of words in such a way that the collection of those words would become a classic almost everytime they are written or spoken or sung.
At the very basic, Gulzar is a magician. A magician of words. A wordsmith of the highest order.
From the very energetic or energizing Chayya Chayya to the contemporary-feeling Sham Se Aankh Gulzar manages to keep us "engaged". Nothing is more brilliant than having listeners "connected" to your work. And this connection Gulzar can have with his loyal fans or even not so loyal fans, could easily be a subject of someone's study. Why Gulzar can connect with a substantially large group of people even though he uses heavy dozes of metaphor ism, both in his lyrics and scripts, cannot be explained by a simple one para answer.
It's hard to think how a brutally bare and abstract 'song' like Ek hi khwab can still be appealing! Or the simple and intentionally childish Lakdi ki kathee can be so powerfully forceful, that it was a given that it would be shown on Doordarshan every 14th November. No other "children's" song till date has replaced this one. And we are talking 25 years past Masoom.
But Gulzar is not only about lyrics. He kept on raising the bar everytime he ventured into something. Like the movies he directed. His, matured-adult love triangle Ijazat remains my personal favorite. He took Indian audience where no one had gone before. Infidelity with an uber face. But the infidelity shown was so Gulzarique, it almost gave an alternative justification to the protagonist's character in the movie.
You would be mistaken if you stereotyped Gulzar into one creative identity. That of a relationship centric writer with pseudo romanticism as premise of most of his work. Gulzar never stationed himself on one platform. Or genre. Angoor till date remains a timeless classic. Again not by coincidence it happens to be my favorite comedy movie. It was Gulzar's tribute to another cinematic genius and his own mentor Bimal Roy. Some might say Gulzar retains Bimal Roy's sensibilities; only grows on it.
Gulzar or his work,i feel has not been reasonably appreciated by his fraternity or even the Government. (He was awarded a Padma Bhushan in 2004 though) But I guess his almost cult following more than makes up for that. You have to be in one of those Yahoo.com forums to know what i mean, when i say cult. Gulzar wouldn't care less about lack of recognition. He underplays his achievements and remains out of mainstream focus almost by design. Unlike some heavy duty alleged song writers of the day.
It would be an incomplete article if R.D Burman is not mentioned in any obeisance to Gulzar. It's not unreasonable to say that Gulzar brought out the best in RD and some may say "vice versa". His numerous gut wrenching tributes to RD in form of albums can almost always make it to collector's shelf.
This is then, to 45 years of durability, class, genius and creativity of the very highest order. This is to - Sir Sampooran Singh Kalra a.k.a Gulzar sahab.
Some known and not so known, but priceless pearls from Gulzar :
Ghulami, Maya Memsaab, Namkeen , Khoobsoorat , Lekin , Gharonda , Marasim
More on Gulzar here
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Pralhad Narayanrao Deshpande
Pralhad Narayanrao Deshpande, wasn't an ordinary man. At 5 feet 11 inches and very broad shoulders, fair and spotless skin and all of 250 pounds, he towered over others in more than one ways.
He was born in a remote nondescript village called "Mardi" in Yeotmal district of Maharashtra somewhere in early 1900s. During those days keeping a birth certificate was not in fashion and PND couldn't care less for all these certificates. So nobody really knows what year he was born. There are only guesses.
Whenever he was asked his official age, he was nonchalant and simply replied - "How does it matter to you?".
He carried that endearing arrogance of being a "zamindar" even when he visited places like Mumbai or Nagpur. His lion like walk with a stick or an umbrella with a black RSS cap and a white Pathani type kurta with white spotless matching dhoti gave him a very royal yet villagi look.
He was a true son of the soil and even though he was a farmer with tons of land at his disposal, he got interested in Indian freedom struggle at a very early age. He traveled across the country to conduct meetings with his parallel movement. He was a non-Gandhian, though not necessarily anti-Gandhi. Even though he belonged to a village where British Raj had not really affected in any way, he had associated himself to movements removing the Raj from India.
He was a true Swayamsevak to the last ounce of his blood and as his grandson i could not have been prouder of him.
He remained fit and healthy till his last day on the earth. He kept to himself and never preached anything to anyone. For him Hindutava was a matter of faith but he never imposed his views on anyone. As far as i remember he did not even discuss these issues with anyone in the family. He kept family and his personal views separate.
As grand kids we looked upon him as our Grandfather who was just lovable. He did not speak much but when in good mood would joke with us, play cards and even ask us our test marks. He was particularly interested in knowing how we were doing in Maths. He was happy when we scored good marks in school.
His relationships with his own sons and daughters was very typical of the old era. My father and uncle and aunts would usually avoid making an eye contact with him directly. There was a lot of respect and awe for him. They had seen his temper and would generally keep safe distance.
For me Mr. Pralhad Deshpande was simply a grandpa. My grandpa was strong and had a very wrestler like build. I remember i once measured his biceps with a measuring tape and he laughed and allowed me to measure it. I was in such awe of his personality.
As a kid i was very influenced by Amitabh Bachchan movies. And once i asked my Grandpa if he could beat Amitabh on a one on one combat.
I still remember his awesome response - "Amitabh? Who's this Amitabh Bachchan?"
It was body blow for me.I was like "what, you don't know Amitabh Bacchan?" In my mind as a kid, Amitabh Bacchan was KNOWN to everyone and that hit me hard. So i brought a filmi magazine showed my grandpa Mr. Bachchan's photo. PND had a hearty laugh and said - "Arrey ashe chappan anshil tari harvin tyanna?" (Even if you get 56 Amitabh Bachchans like him, i will still beat them)
In hind site i cannot blame him. His claim was not far fetched. He would have easily kicked the tall and lanky Bachchan's ass.
My mom was witness to this hilarious conversation between me and my grandpa and often recounts it.
After India won it's freedom , after many years post 1947 the Government of India suddenly became very benevolent and offered a free apartment to my Grandpa for his contribution to India's freedom struggle.
He went to see the apartment. It was in Bajajnagar area of Nagpur. It was an upcoming and decent area then.
PND had never lived in cramped places. His own house in Mardi, even though not made of modern day bricks and concrete was a huge place by any standards. The front yard was about 3000 sq feet itself not counting all the sheds of domestic animals.
For PND, the concept of an "apartment" was a little alien. He just refused the offer point blank. His statement was something of this order - "My house should be such that , from sky to the ground, i should own it."
Again we can either discount this as pure arrogance or simply irrational thought. But that's the way he was. In Nagpur's lingo he was what we would call a "Shahi" person.
For me this is still hilarious.
For him money, material etc was not important. They were coincidental to humanity. Even a casual dinner at his house would have half the village as guests. No wonder my grandmother always looked pissed. :)
But such was that era. Men were simply men. That's the only way i can put it.
By the time he was in his late 70s he had become sad inside looking at what the country had turned into. He was even sent to jail during the emergency in India. Mrs Gandhi's goons had rounded up all RSS workers and put them in jail. I still have a photo of his after he was released from the jail. His beard is all grown and he looks like a swami. He looks slightly weak. But it still does not make any significant dent on his awesome personality. He is still very healthy in that snap. I look like a small peanut besides him in the photo.
My grandpa died in 1986 in Mumbai. He died of a massive heart attack. In one stroke he was gone. But that was very symbolic of his life. He was never dependent on anyone. Even in his death he was never bed ridden and neither did he require any medical attention. He simply switched himself off from this world without needing any kind of assistance.
When i look back at his death i always feel, that's the only way this royal man could have expired. He never visited a doctor in life. He hardly took any ayurvedic medicine. Even at 70+ his skin was glowing and fair. The only artificial thing he used were his glasses to read. Modern day medicine was an anathema for him.
People in Anushkati nagar,Mumbai where he spent his last days still remember Mr. Pralhad Narayanrao Deshpande. They remember his royal, lion like walk, his broad and straight shoulders, his magnetic personality. Yet they did not know him in many ways.
In fact no one knew him in all the ways. We just had glimpse of parts of his life.
He was never judgmental of anyone, he never questioned any of his kid's decisions - once they were on their own, they were on their own; he never made a fuss of anything. He kept himself aloof from the mundane. He was just a little distressed by the way things had turned out to be in his beloved country. But he never discussed this, we could only feel this.
In the end he got lonely after my grandmother's death in 1985. That's the only time i saw his eyes moist. Within one year he too left us.
I guess he just wanted to make sure my grandma was not alone up there.
He was born in a remote nondescript village called "Mardi" in Yeotmal district of Maharashtra somewhere in early 1900s. During those days keeping a birth certificate was not in fashion and PND couldn't care less for all these certificates. So nobody really knows what year he was born. There are only guesses.
Whenever he was asked his official age, he was nonchalant and simply replied - "How does it matter to you?".
He carried that endearing arrogance of being a "zamindar" even when he visited places like Mumbai or Nagpur. His lion like walk with a stick or an umbrella with a black RSS cap and a white Pathani type kurta with white spotless matching dhoti gave him a very royal yet villagi look.
He was a true son of the soil and even though he was a farmer with tons of land at his disposal, he got interested in Indian freedom struggle at a very early age. He traveled across the country to conduct meetings with his parallel movement. He was a non-Gandhian, though not necessarily anti-Gandhi. Even though he belonged to a village where British Raj had not really affected in any way, he had associated himself to movements removing the Raj from India.
He was a true Swayamsevak to the last ounce of his blood and as his grandson i could not have been prouder of him.
He remained fit and healthy till his last day on the earth. He kept to himself and never preached anything to anyone. For him Hindutava was a matter of faith but he never imposed his views on anyone. As far as i remember he did not even discuss these issues with anyone in the family. He kept family and his personal views separate.
As grand kids we looked upon him as our Grandfather who was just lovable. He did not speak much but when in good mood would joke with us, play cards and even ask us our test marks. He was particularly interested in knowing how we were doing in Maths. He was happy when we scored good marks in school.
His relationships with his own sons and daughters was very typical of the old era. My father and uncle and aunts would usually avoid making an eye contact with him directly. There was a lot of respect and awe for him. They had seen his temper and would generally keep safe distance.
For me Mr. Pralhad Deshpande was simply a grandpa. My grandpa was strong and had a very wrestler like build. I remember i once measured his biceps with a measuring tape and he laughed and allowed me to measure it. I was in such awe of his personality.
As a kid i was very influenced by Amitabh Bachchan movies. And once i asked my Grandpa if he could beat Amitabh on a one on one combat.
I still remember his awesome response - "Amitabh? Who's this Amitabh Bachchan?"
It was body blow for me.I was like "what, you don't know Amitabh Bacchan?" In my mind as a kid, Amitabh Bacchan was KNOWN to everyone and that hit me hard. So i brought a filmi magazine showed my grandpa Mr. Bachchan's photo. PND had a hearty laugh and said - "Arrey ashe chappan anshil tari harvin tyanna?" (Even if you get 56 Amitabh Bachchans like him, i will still beat them)
In hind site i cannot blame him. His claim was not far fetched. He would have easily kicked the tall and lanky Bachchan's ass.
My mom was witness to this hilarious conversation between me and my grandpa and often recounts it.
After India won it's freedom , after many years post 1947 the Government of India suddenly became very benevolent and offered a free apartment to my Grandpa for his contribution to India's freedom struggle.
He went to see the apartment. It was in Bajajnagar area of Nagpur. It was an upcoming and decent area then.
PND had never lived in cramped places. His own house in Mardi, even though not made of modern day bricks and concrete was a huge place by any standards. The front yard was about 3000 sq feet itself not counting all the sheds of domestic animals.
For PND, the concept of an "apartment" was a little alien. He just refused the offer point blank. His statement was something of this order - "My house should be such that , from sky to the ground, i should own it."
Again we can either discount this as pure arrogance or simply irrational thought. But that's the way he was. In Nagpur's lingo he was what we would call a "Shahi" person.
For me this is still hilarious.
For him money, material etc was not important. They were coincidental to humanity. Even a casual dinner at his house would have half the village as guests. No wonder my grandmother always looked pissed. :)
But such was that era. Men were simply men. That's the only way i can put it.
By the time he was in his late 70s he had become sad inside looking at what the country had turned into. He was even sent to jail during the emergency in India. Mrs Gandhi's goons had rounded up all RSS workers and put them in jail. I still have a photo of his after he was released from the jail. His beard is all grown and he looks like a swami. He looks slightly weak. But it still does not make any significant dent on his awesome personality. He is still very healthy in that snap. I look like a small peanut besides him in the photo.
My grandpa died in 1986 in Mumbai. He died of a massive heart attack. In one stroke he was gone. But that was very symbolic of his life. He was never dependent on anyone. Even in his death he was never bed ridden and neither did he require any medical attention. He simply switched himself off from this world without needing any kind of assistance.
When i look back at his death i always feel, that's the only way this royal man could have expired. He never visited a doctor in life. He hardly took any ayurvedic medicine. Even at 70+ his skin was glowing and fair. The only artificial thing he used were his glasses to read. Modern day medicine was an anathema for him.
People in Anushkati nagar,Mumbai where he spent his last days still remember Mr. Pralhad Narayanrao Deshpande. They remember his royal, lion like walk, his broad and straight shoulders, his magnetic personality. Yet they did not know him in many ways.
In fact no one knew him in all the ways. We just had glimpse of parts of his life.
He was never judgmental of anyone, he never questioned any of his kid's decisions - once they were on their own, they were on their own; he never made a fuss of anything. He kept himself aloof from the mundane. He was just a little distressed by the way things had turned out to be in his beloved country. But he never discussed this, we could only feel this.
In the end he got lonely after my grandmother's death in 1985. That's the only time i saw his eyes moist. Within one year he too left us.
I guess he just wanted to make sure my grandma was not alone up there.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)