Burrowing in the Book : Talking Films

After a week of mild depression(triggered more by 24X7 TV news, screeching Barkha, over-bearing Arnab and high-strung Rajdeep than the terror attack itself), like the rest of the city I have got back to work in almost full steam. Both at the day job and in my role as the week-end writer:-)

On my book front - All the googled information in the world is of no use, unless one is able to crystallise an argument. And that's a bloody difficult task, especially if you have to do it over 200 pages!!

Moreover, am struggling to find meaningful articles on Bollywood. Either frivolous actor interviews/ film reviews float on the internet or there are these academics who dwell upon such arcane themes around Bollywood with so much academic mumbo-jumbo that's it's of no real help!!

Within such constraints, one voice that has guided me in the past and continues to do so now is that of Javed(Akhtar) saheb...Right from his book Talking Films - Conversations on Indian Cinema compiled by Guru Dutt's niece - Nasreen Munni Kabir to his many interviews, Javed saab shares his nuggets on Bollywood...If only I could get some quality time with him and soon...

Stumbled upon this interview of at Glamsham.com. This one's okay...with a few worth a bookmark comments!

1.Are you convinced about remaking films like SHOLAY and DON? Please don't be politically correct just because Farhan has remade DON.
Let me tell you the backdrop of the original DON. That will help you get your answer. DON suffered despite an interesting script since it was made on a shoestring budget. Producer Nariman Ali could, somehow, complete the film. The remaking was justified as the film deserved it. As for SHOLAY, I don't think there is any scope or need for improvisation in the film. There is nothing new or original that one can add to the film. It's all there.

2.When are you directing a film?
Writing is an addiction and once you get addicted to it; it is very difficult to concentrate in other things. It makes you lazy and no job seems more interesting than writing. Often I think I will do this and that but ultimately land up with my pen and paper. I am too lazy to make films.

3.There is always a critical comparison between your and Gulzar's poetry. Would you like to comment on this?
I respect Gulzarsaab a lot. He is a true icon. So it will be unfair to comment on his poetry. But I can talk of my art form. I have always aimed at making poetry understandable even to a person who does not have the remotest idea of the art. If I can't communicate my lines to people what's the use of making it public? Some poets don't realize that. They go on writing abstract poetry and say they don't care if people understand them or not. Ambiguity forbids simple expression. This is definitely not my genre.

4.After spending over 30 years as a lyrics writer I am sure words reside at your pen-tip. Isn't it?
Now-a-days I don't have to try hard to fit in the words to the music. But that doesn't mean that I don't have to do my homework regularly. I have my own set of vocabulary that needs to be upgraded every day.

You can read some nice excerpts from the book Talking Films here...

The Young in India : 18 to 80:-)

Nice article by Vir Sanghvi in HT Mint where he questions why India doesn't want to give power to it's young in various walks of life. You can read the entire article here.


Big chunks from the article...
1. A couple of weeks ago, The Observer(London) bragged about a generational change in the UK. Prime Minister Gordon Brown(age 56) is increasingly being seen as too old and too tired to inspire the country.

In the same week, the BJP named L.K. Advani its prime ministerial candidate. If Advani ever gets to be prime minister, he will be more than 80 by the time he moves into Race Course Road.

The present incumbent, Manmohan Singh, is in his 70s. His rivals for the job within the Congress (Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherjee, etc.) are the same vintage.

2. David Cameron(the Conservative leader) who may well defeat Brown at the next election, is 41. Which is almost the same age as Rahul Gandhi. And we regard Rahul Gandhi as too young to become a cabinet minister.

3. On media. Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt are young editors of TV channels. But most of their counterparts in the TV and magazine world are over 50. Both Prannoy Roy and Raghav Bahl are far older than Sardesai.

On the entertainment side, Kunal Dasgupta (Sony) and Pradeep Guha (Zee) are in their 50s. The vast majority of print editors are 50 or older.

Shekhar Gupta, at 50, is probably the most youthful, but N. Ram, Aveek Sarkar, Vinod Mehta, Aroon Purie, Prabhu Chawla, M.J. Akbar, Chandan Mitra and Mrinal Pande are all 50-plus. So are both of India’s most powerful press barons. Shobhana Bhartia, vice-chairperson of HT Media Ltd is 50 and Samir Jain is probably three or four years older.

4. It is the same with business. Even if you take Ratan Tata (70) out of the mix, just look at the ages of the high-profile industrialists who have come to symbolize the new India: Nandan Nilekani, Mukesh Ambani, Anand Mahindra, Sunil Mittal, etc.

They are all around 50 or more (the exception is probably Kumar Mangalam Birla, who is much younger, but he took over the family empire in unusual circumstances).

5. Sanghvi claims he doesn't have answers to India's obsession with the old young! His guess is that India defines youth differently from the rest of the world.

In the West you are ready for a second career when you reach 50. In India, that’s usually the age when you’ve only just reached near the top in your first career.

Isn’t it time we took demographics into account and recognized that an “emerging superpower” cannot be run by emerging pensioners?