Ashok Kumar… forget him not
(Image: Ashok Kumar with Nutan)
October 13. It was the 98th birth anniversary of Ashok Kumar on Tuesday. No one noticed. His family said, without an element of surprise, “What did you expect? Only one Gujarati newspaper carried a week-long series on him.”
Like it not Gen Next, too, does not know of the sheer artistry of Dadamoni, the most clean-hearted actor I have had the privilege to know in Bollywood. They don’t know of Rehman, Motilal, Balraj Sahni, too many great names to list here. The schoolgirl-next-door, believe it or not, quite a film viewer herself, did not know of Dilip Kumar either.
Some greats get covered by the blanket of time. They shouldn’t, so much news space and societal groups agitate over heritage buildings and structures. Humans forget it?
No award has been instituted in his name. No shraddhanjali events are organised by his fans..they’ve moved on to connect with other idols.
Indeed last year in March, Madhubala’s beauty had radiated from an Indian postage stamp. At its release function, word had gone around that more show biz personalities would soon feature on the stamp, a distinctive, posthumous honour. India’s best-loved superstar of his times remains ‘unstamped.’
The postal authorities haven’t even returned his rare photos borrowed from the surviving Ganguly family. More heart-wrechingly, with many of his film’s prints and personal belongings either missing or destroyed, the Ashok Kumar legacy is in the imminent danger of being erased.
Eight years ago, when he passed away at the age of 90 on December 7, much had been promised in tribute to his memory.
Nothing has happened..but for some persistent efforts by his family to remind us that Ashok Kumar was the biggest boss ever, a Titan-like presence in over 400 movies. He was such a natural-born actor that in calibre, over the decades he has been matched only by Dilip Kumar. And from the yarns Dadamoni would spin, it was clear that the they often tried to top each other’s performance. “Yusuf had to put in that extra effort, I didn’t,” Dadamoni would chuckle, in his white-pillowed chair in the verandah of his Chembur bungalow – overlooking the green stretch of a golf course.
Alright the postal department has not returned 20 Ashok Kumar photographs culled from his family albums and movie stills. Neither has the civic corporation thought of naming the winding gully at Chembur’s Union Park, leading to his villa after him (it’s futile to moan that lesser film personalities have streets named after them). The commodious, typically 1950s-style bungalow, has been pulled down to make way for a seven-storey-high-apartment block.
One of the apartments is occupied by Dadamoni’s son Arup Ganguly, a low-profile personality, who strived to become an actor but couldn’t after one attempt. Arup’s sister Preeti occupies a smaller apartment in the same block. Two other sisters Bharati Jaffrey and Rupa Varma, live in Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade and Pune respectively. Today, Dadamoni could count six grandchildren and eight great-grandkids.
Incredibly enough, all the prints of the films produced by Ashok Kumar Productions are missing. The lost titles include Ziddi which established Dev Anand as a star, Sangram, Parineeta, Majboor, Mashaal, Ragini and Kalpana.
Bharati Jaffrey, the daughter who has been trying to cling on to slivers of the Ashok Kumar legacy, tries to be stoic about the lost movies, but her voice rises several octaves when she tells me, “We have no idea who has the copyright to papa’s films..who has the authority to issue the remake rights..we don’t know whether most of the films survive. Who has their negatives?”
She elaborates that a couple of years ago, she could borrow a print of Parineeta from the National Film Archive of Pune for a single screening but laments that most of the other movies are unreachable. “Forget the remake of Parineeta directed by Pradeep Sarkar,” the daughter laughs ironically.”Even papa’s Sangram was remade into Shakti..but did anyone acknowledge that?” Incidentally, Sangram had been banned in the 1940s because it showed a father killing his own son.
“No one can be charged of embezzlement,’ Jaffrey continues. “Because most of those who cheated my dad are dead. Papa’s right-hand man Ganeshan, accountants and secretaries all took advantage of his gullible nature. But you know what? Papa would say, ‘Anyone who steals from me never lives to enjoy it.’’”
Dadamoni’s only loyal aide-cum-confidant, Khurshid Miyan, who served him for 43 years, has been looked after and settled in a Chembur apartment.
The thespian’s extensive library, with leather-bound first editions, was destroyed two years ago in the July 27, 2005, floods. The books had been stored in a godown. Dadamoni would love to quote passages from memory, especially of French authors Voltaire, Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant. Passages, from Tagore, would be instantly accompanied by English translations. And he would often rile me during out interview sessions, “Baba, for your reviews sometimes I have to take out my fattest dictionary.”
Ashok Kumar’s popular homeopathy nuskas have survived to an extent; they are still used by a doctor at Khar. A remedy for a sore throat is believed to be particularly effective.
During his own lifetime – in fact, back in 1966, Dadamoni was grievously ill with a gall bladder infection. That’s when his finances went in a financial tailspin. He had to sell his vast house on Rampart Row, an entire building bang in front of the Mumbai’s Max Mueller today. The shift to Chembur suited him, even if the only woman he admitted to having had an affair with, lived just down the lane.
Nalini Jaywant still does, but has become Chembur’s answer to Greta Garbo. “Of course, my mum must have been upset by the fact that he admitted to the affair,” Jaffrey recollects, “But then no one could be upset with papa for too long. He would always joke about women flirting with him..he was tickled pink, especially when chic, chiffon-clad maharanis fluttered their eyelashes at him”
Almost every day, Dadamoni would paint from seven to 10 in the morning, before setting off to the studio. The family only has an armful of his paintings today. There is a striking portrait of a woman in the nude. Jaffrey smiles, “He would say that’s mum at different stages of her life.”
Preeti owns a painting showing her mother at a time when she was pregnant with her.
In his typical humour, Dadamoni had also painted a portrait of Mona Lisa – in the nude! That portrait is untraceable today.
Those who want to keep Dadamoni’s memory alive could get in touch with his granddaughter at patelanooradha [at] yahoo [dot] com
There is an Ashok Kumar Foundation which periodically organises script writing workshop, runs a homeopathy clinic and stages plays and concerts for charity. Still, Jaffrey laments that these initiatives are not enough. I agree.
Tags: Ashok Kumar, Memories
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
A very touching post! Happy Birthday Dadamoni!
Just yesterday I was beating my brains trying to remember a B/W movie of Dadamoni, a suspense thriller. It had Dadamoni being hit at the back of his head by a gangster as a result he loses his eyesight. Then, I’ve gone blank on what happens, but towards the middle of the movie Dadamoni starts searching for the gangsters and in that he is about to catch one when he gets whacked on his head, falls unconscious. When he regains consciousness a part of his sight has returned in the sense he can distinguish between light and darkness.
Johnny Walker helps him up and takes him away. Walker played an insurance agent in the movie and he had this song “Insurance Kara Lo… Insurance Kara Lo!”
There is funny scene in the pulsating climax where Dadamoni and Johnny Walker find out the chief gangster’s apartment. In the dead of the night, Dadamoni cajoles Walker to climb the pipe of the building to get to the apartment discreetly. Walker all nervous goes he can’t climb the pipes. Why? I don’t have insurance!
Been trying to find the name of the movie so I can get the DVD if available. Am trying to unearth these suspense dramas and thriller made in the 50s and 60s to put them on PFC so our present generation can be exposed to such superior suspense thrillers that were made 40 – 50 years ago.
Based on the song, it’s ‘Kala Aadmi’..is this the one you were looking for?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlOlk_SrLfs&feature=player_embedded
yes!!! that’s the one! Thanks Nikhil!
@oz, check out http://www.induna.com/1000005208-productdetails/
Only it’s a VCD not a DVD…
How can we keep alive these superheroes.What’s the way out. PFC is a a great platform to do this. Can we organise retrospectives and film festivals, at least on a small scale. Like Osians is doing Arab and Asian Cinema. One could keep our tradition and cinema alive. We have great filmamkers and actors who are forgotten. Some of them are mentioned in the post. Let’s make a start and see what happens.
Now , I love you Khalid for writing a sensible and genuine post !!
Khaleed sir,
Wonderful article!!..it’s really great to see an article about dadamoni after a long time..Please also write about rehaman,motilal and legendary balraj sahani..those were the real heroes who actually gave cinema a definition.His film “kanoon” was a real gem..and he gave memorable performance..
having just read Manto’s Star’s From Another Sky, Ashok Kumar’s personality is deeply etched in me. Thanks a lot for this post. Truly appreciate it.
and this is why we need more posts like from you Khalid sir… very very engrossing to read about Ashok Kumar… I had known about the Parineeta and Shakti originals but more often than not was challenged when I said this, and YES, i was not able to find these movies to prove it to myself as well …
we have read a lot of biographies about life of AB, reading a lot already about the half led life of SRK… but KM sir, it will be real interesting if you can keep posting more on such actors who’s name is not getting lost but their essence is getting lost in time…. and nobody better than you to do this ….Sunil Dutt, Balraj Sahani, Dev Anand, Chetan Anand, and so many others (Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Bhattacharya, even Dara Singh Mumtaz …. ) it would definately make a great read… and of course away from the ‘Film Critic’ review that everybody is already doing now…
got reminded of ruskin bond when was reading this passage of yours on AK… have been reading a lot of your “kucf kucf” and rhyming articles… and was way too young when you were making the strong reviews you were known for…this one somewhere proved me why you were considered amongst the best
What a genuine heart felt article! Feel sad for the family though.
Nice write-up Khalid. Had read it earlier also when it was published in (HT/Express sunday edition – dont remember which paper it was) some years back as well. Reading it again was very nice: Dadamoni is one my most favorite actors as well!
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Oz bhai: pls suggest me some must-see places/ things to see in LA i am going there from 21st to 25th Nov. just advise what are the must-dos for a cinephile in Hollywood: i just know right now about taking a tour at Universal studios,,thats it. am not really the disneyland types but like more to go to a good market, an interesting shopping street, great food joints, unique cultural features and the like.
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others also please chip in with ur favorite do-s in LA..thanks
One of the best from u Khalid in recent times, i actually like these kinda articles from you more. I grew up watching Dadamoni’s 70’s movies, where he usually played the Dad or Grandpa, and even then he suffused those roles with a warmth, a tenderness, that you really wished for a dad like him. Can’t forget his performance in Mili, as Jaya B’s father, where he so beautifully depicts a father’s anguish, for me the scenes between him and Jaya were some of the best in the movie. And Khatta Meeta, what a performance, especially in the scene, where he has a show down with Pradeep Kumar.
And then later on watched his older movies. And boy his acting just elevated those movies. He seemed to give his best for B.R.Chopra, Gumraah, Kanoon, even in that court scene in Dhund. I almost choked in the final scene of Aashirwad, one of the finest performances on screen. And he played the suave, Westernized hero with equal elan in Howrah Bridge. And when it came to comedy again he had superb timing, ease, be it the lecherous old man in Shaukeen or the con man in Victoria 203( in fact for me he and Pran were the real heroes in that movie).
@ratnakar: that movie should have been called ‘raja aur rana’ instead of victoria 203.
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he had a superb range of emotions, be it the helpless dad in ‘mili’ or the stern brother in ‘chalti ka naam gadi’. he was fab in ‘kismet’ as well as ‘meri surat teri aankhen’. dadamoni is a true legend who has seen and been a part of the progressive fiml-making. having worked with bimal roy in ‘bandini’ to hrishi da and so many other directors of great talent, from early 40’s to late 90’s…thats five decades
Rals, there actually was a 80’s movie called “Raja Aur Rana” starring Ashok Kumar and Pran as two undercover cops, and apna Punit “Duryodhan” Issar as the hero. I guess the name was a tribute to their characters in Victoria 203. This movie however vanished without a trace.
BTW apart from Jewel Thief, another movie i recall Ashok Kumar playing a negative role was Aarti, along with Meena Kumari and Pradeep Kumar. Dadamoni was as nasty as you get in that movie, starring as Meena Kumari’s ex fiancee, who takes revenge on her for rejecting him,by creating havoc in her marital life.
I just don’t understand how we can be so callous about our heritage be it historical, cultural, movies or anything else. Movie star’s native homes in the US have been converted into memorials and museums, and are as much of a tourist attraction as the Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty and Disneyland. Forget about converting Dadamoni’s home into a memorial, we have even failed to keep it. It’s not just Dadamoni, other day read an article about how Kishore Kumar’s ancestral home in Khandwa, is now in a state of neglect and disrepair. WHY? Why this callousness, this indifference? Why are we so callously destroying our heritage? Its really sickening.
@Ratnakar, how true…we have done it to everything: our literature, music, films…we’ve always done a shoddy job of preserving our heritage; for such an IT savvy nation, we have terrible representation in cyberspace..look at Dadamoni’s wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashok_Kumar; doesn’t even have a decent filmography! Imdb’s slightly better but hardly comprehensive as far as Indian cinema, especially regional, is concerned. We keep bragging about being the largest film producing nation in the world, but there is no initiative toward comprehensive archiving or databasing our cinema…I had discussed in one of my articles (http://passionforcinema.com/indian-cinema-the-dvd-paradox/) how we don’t have decent DVD prints of most films… the original negative of English, August is too damaged to even come out on DVD…
Amborish, on IMDB every 3rd rate Hollywood, English movie has an entry, even some atrocious B stuff, but there are so many wonderful Indian cinema, that don’t even have a plot summary. There are so many classic movies in my language, Telugu, but information is Zilch. And then we sit and crib, about how our movies suck,blah, blah.
Ratnakar dude you’re right the problem’s with us… we’ve never treated films with the respect they deserve; in the US even a B-movie like I Spit on Your Grave is respected for its contribution, however insignificant! But for us movies are ‘entertainment’, which is of course, trivial; comics are always ‘for kids’, and regional cinema/literature is always either to be made fun of, or to be left to the connoisseurs! While reading about Ritwik Ghatak I stumbled on info abt John Abraham the legendary Malayalam director…the more I read, the more I was awed by the measure of his presence…but obviously, when I looked for DVDs of his films, they were just not available…not even on malayalam online DVD portals! So many such gems are CRYING out for our attention…we can probably never ever watch Mani Kaul’s Idiot, as it’s highly unlikely it’ll ever come out on DVD, although Shahrukh Khan starred in a major (or probably it BECAUSE of SRK, as he now wants to dissociate himself with such ‘arty’ films from his past?)…this is cancer, I tell you…
We just care for the “in things” Ratnakar….
Jo aaj hai wo kal kuch bhi nahi rahega !!! despite the sheer genius of it…
DehiDoordarshan has a ton of vintage footage of various celebrated artists… They releases some of those on DVDs..
We need the festivals to celebrate these guys…
I’d say darkanddusky, its become a world of who ever is mouthing or shouting his heart out, is the one getting noticed… Mika Singh is celebrated, Rakhi Sawant and Sherlyn Chopras get breaks with YRF, Nigar Khan, deported from India, still joins Indian TV by shooting abroad
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The dead ones, specially ones who didnt have too much music and songs with them (not saying Kishore Kumar and set or RD Burman and set are so much recognised, but definately more in limelight) than only actors or directors like Ashok Kumar, Balraj Sahani, David, V Shantaram …. they are not there anymore to have their voice heard.. come to think of it, even folks like Manna Dey are lost in oblivion… somewhere a hertiage has to be maintained … by the rightful sections of the ‘profession’ that they gave their life and blood to…
Ashok Kumar, honestly one should keep his memory alive. Have been trying to write every year on any pretext, and will continue to. Rolf, this is not the same piece as in HT, It’ been updated and Dadamoni’s daughter Bharathi interviewed.
Btw, Bharathiji is one dedicated soul to her father. Her husband and son have not been in the best of health,but she has soldiered on, even hiring lawyers to track down whom the copyrights of her dad’s films belong to.
In another context altogether, another wonderful spirit of Indian cinema, Bhagwan dada could never find out who owned the films he produced and why. Just hope today’s film personalities are ensuring rightful ownership of their films..hope is right because I doubt it.
Great post Khalidji….it is very nice to see u writing somethin really different from your usual reviews, although i enjoyed and still enjoy reading most of them. As you pointed out, Dadamoni was one of the greatest actors of all times. And his vast collection of films need to be archived and keep as a part of our rich cinematic heritage.It is really sad to see the sorry state of affairs.
As a kid, i remember loving his performances in Shaukeen and Aashirwad. I actually cried during the climax of Ashirwad. Brilliant film and a brilliant performance. Besides,as you mentioned other great actors also need to be given same recognition like Balraj Sahni, Bhagwan dada, Sanjeev kumar etc. My mom and dad esp. used to always rave about the songs of Bhagwan dada from Albela.So it was sad to see him alter on dancing as a part of dozen dancers in films of Govinda and Mithunda. His last days were really bad , i guess. I remember reading an interview of his some yrs ago in Filmfare, wherein it was said that he had been living in a chawl at Dadar. It would be great to see an article by you on these stalwarts esp. Bhagwan dada.
You also rightly pointed out that gen next is completely unaware of these great actors. I once asked one of my management college colleague that had he heard about the movie ‘Angoor’ and ‘Chhoti si baat’ and Sanjeev kumar and Dadamoni. He gave me a blank look. Newayz a really heartfelt and touching post….. lookin fwd fro more of this kind of stuff from you.
Some other wonderful Dada Moni performances i recall
Safar
Choti Si Baat- Dada Moni was awesome as the love guru,Col. Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh, he just carried the movie.
Ashok Kumar , in Aashirwad was top notch
Choti Si baat and khatta meetha for me…
And also Khoobsurat. Also his special appearance in Mr. India was good
Zee Tv in the 90’s came out with a wonderful series on older actors, don’t recall it’s name, but it covered Ashok Kumar, Pran, Shammi Kapoor. It was a really great show, complete with interviews, movie clippings, song clippings, recollections. Don’t find that series nowadays.
Ratnakar, u do have a memory and so much exposure..terrific..i remember my pre-generation critics would not give him his due and whipped up a controversy about how “Bad” he was in Aashirwad.
Do you know something?..he was always civil about this..never ever said a word about the critics..in fact, he said maybe he wasn’t a good actor. He didn’t get the laurels he deserved during his lifetime..take his cameo in Mr India, it’s still with me..and he isn’t getting them now.
It took all the persuasion I could summon up to get him to accept a Lifetime Achievement Award. After feeding me fish curry and rice, he tried to shoo me away. Then talked some more about Madhuri Dixit (he had liked her performances in Tehzaab), imitated her ek-do-teen jig, and abruptly said, okay I’ll accept the award. Only one proviso: he wanted Dilip Kumar to present it to him. And that happened. The fan in me of both the thespians, blissed out!
Hmm Khalid, well i grew up in the 70’s and early 80’s with Filmfare, Star n Style, Movie. In fact would regularly be blasted by my mom for reading movie magazines, more than my text books,
Well i do recall reading movie reviews in early Filmfare editions, most of them were dismissive of Hindi movies, quite often mocking. Something to do with the background of the critics and all.
Also i like the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s cinema a lot, not just for the nostalgia factor,but i believe some of the best Indian movies came during that time, and content wise much superior to some of the “hatke” stuff i see nowadays.
@ ratnakar … those were the days of experiments … as Anurag described once, (which was like the words I was looking for always) once things turn into an “industry” then we have only assembly line productions…. be it cinema, or any other form of arts (including fashion, for all the designers we have somehow all their creations look the same) …to politics … to cricket… the genius and the fun element gets lost…. thats the difference between today and those days… do we think there is going to be any mainstream actor who take take David and 2 kids as main leads in a cinema any more? sadly in the balance sheets, and in the profit and loss a/c and adding time and motion study, this may not feasable…
Khalid Ji
It is not only about Dada Moni and his films, preservation of old films is a general problem in India.
Dada Moni was one such star actor of Hindi cinema who was never forgotten. Neither by filmmakers and nor by audiences.
Since you have talked about biased opinion of critics belonging to your predecessors’ generation.
Hope you take it as a constructive criticism and it is a comment which is general in spirit but almost every critic does it in his prime days.
To quote from your own history, It should not be irrelevant to remind you your own approach towards Shyam Benegal’s films in 70s and 80s. What he was doing through his type of films, your critic eyes were unable to see and most of the time you trashed his films.
And that was inspite of your wonderful exposure to the world cinema.
How such an experienced mind could not see brilliance present in a Kalyug or Mandi?
Today you may say that you were bit biased or unjustified in your approach but harm was already done. And this can not be the only case and there are many examples, but this is not an effort to target you personally but to say things in general.
Many a times critics write after getting influenced by their personal equations with the actors and start trashing even above average performances of few selected actors or above average films of directors.
Wow! Khalid saab this is a great initiative from your end.If this is the fate of Dadamoni I shudder to think what could be in store for the lesser known actors of the yesteryears.I think we must certainly create a movement which should help in preserving the memories of these people- which include film prints,photographs and all other memorabilia.And of course try to honour these people as far as possible when they are alive.I loved that story about you getting Dadamoni to accept the award.I have loved most of his work thats been mentioned by others and also his work on T.V like Humlog,Bahadur Shah Zafar, Bheem Bhavani etc.
Rk, your point is well taken. Still I would stand by my reviews of Shyam Benegal’s Junoon and Kalyug (Mandi i didn’t review for TOI if my Ghajini-like memory serves me right). It was a time for ‘pure’ cinema, extending-of-film-grammar cinema, as someone weaned on purity, I asked questions about the middle path chosen.
As the years and cinema moved on, I understood there is no other way. No point in being ‘pure’, a bit of ‘aduleration’ has to be allowed to ‘communicate’ with the ever-diminishing audience for non-linear and personalised cinema.
No critic is worth his salt if he thinks he is God, if he doesn’t think there was an error of judgement. I wouldn’t call mine an ‘error-error’ but yes those were different times for cinema and for our lives reflected in them.
For me the biggest joy in my life has been that I could actually collaborate with Shyam Benegal on three films. he was someone i had criticised but evidently he could understand that. Life and cinema like criticism are not black and white. There are shades. Shyam taught me that, and I love to acknowledge that, whenever and wherever. So guys,it’s not a two and two adds to four life out there in cinema. At times, it can add up to five or six. And that’s why one keeps going.
aaah Freudian slip…I meant going on..
Khalid Ji,
That is admirable that you openly accept that critics of your stature also can be less accurate at times and sometimes circumstances may influence the thought process.
~You would stand by your thoughts on Junoon and Kalyug, generated by your mind in late 70s and early 80s.~
IMHO, that is the problem. It is not feasible. I respectfully would like to say that there has to be a difference between two opinions on same subject, especially in your case.
As back then you did not have real exposure of film making. And now you have experience of writing scripts for the films and Mr Benegal himself has used three of your scripts and you yourself have directed 3-4 films. There has to be a change in attitude and opinion towards cinema and film making in general terms in such a case.
Leaving alone the aspect that how much budget could have been sufficient to do full justice to a subject like Junoon, in the jungle of commercial films where tear jerkers and nonsense formula films were droping from all the sides, how many films in India at that time had a scene similar in quality as Junoon had in its pre-climax segment? Shashi Kapoor searches for Nafisa Ali and Jennifer Kendel in the carvan and silent exchange of emotions happen between him and Shabana Azami.
Now I can not recall your article or articles of those times, in a verbatim manner. But if a film is creating such a high class visual language where dialogues are not even needed and still communication between two characters is visible to audience then contemporary film critics have to appreciate these elements in a film or in films so that common audiences who miss such things but who read the articles to know more about the film/s may get proper cinematic education.
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You are in a unique position in India because you were a film critic first and later you made your own films. You have seen both of the worlds and that is why your opinion should matter a lot in present times.
And scene is not changed from 80s till now.
It is easy to appreciate once a thing gets a fame. There are many people on this forum only who sing praises for what great things had happened in 50s and 60s to the cinema in France and Italy, because they are making opinion on the basis of literature available on these great changes and it is easy to join the chorus. But most of the time many of these guys are unable to appreciate the changes happening in this present time because that needs something extra which is spontaneous in nature.
If some people get right direction through your words then it can be helpful for film criticism and analysis in general at least on this forum-PFC.
and because of your background of a film critic many such situations will appear when we common readers will be compelled to write some views generated by your views. Hope you will be able to take these opinions in their right perspectives.
Brilliant stuff!
I myself am a fan of this “middle road”. Why? Because on one hand we had the torture series films and on the other hand you had the satyajit ray films. There just has to be a middle road, which everyone is anticipating, wants to watch. Make the movie entertaining and bring in reality. Look at Satya, Jaane bhi do yaaro kind of films. Both had reality but both films were also damn entertaining.
Hi Khalid,
What a wonderful piece on a Legend Dadamuni Ashok Kumar. I am 32 and enjoyed most of his movies when they used to air them on DD or any other channels. I still buy his DVDs whenever I get a chance. Don’t you feel happy from deep down inside whenever you see the ‘Honesty’ in Dadamuni’s acting. Rarely has he ever looked uninterested in any role he played on silver screen, whether it’s the Jewel Thief (Remember! You never hated him even though he played a negative character), fell in love instantly for this elder brother in Chalti ka naam…, adored him in Kanoon, thought you had a ‘Khubsoorat’ grandpa, un-haunted king of ‘Mahal’, his Aura when he sang ‘Mein ban ka pancchi’, and a lot more.
You feel an essance in his acting, an honesty, a truthfulness, a genuine persona. You could really fall in love with the Gentleman like figure as Dadamuni. You were right when you mentioned his words that he was natural and Yusuf Sahab had to make an effort.
I am not sure how, but if we don’t put any effort then the future generations will soon forget the very lifeline and pillers of Hindi Film Industry – such as Ashok Kumar, Motilal, Sohrab Modi, Balraj Sahni, Sanjeev Kumar. Time is ripe when the Film Industry should get together and do something for these personalities, but funnier are the ways to these so-called ‘Stars’ of present days. I wonder if they would really do something or these legends’ work will keep biting the dust for more years to come.
Besides everything else, I can’t stress much as to how much Honesty I take home with me when I watch or even imagine Dadamuni’s on-screen presence. He looked ‘Dashing’ even in the times when noone really knew what did this word really mean.
May Almighty God bless his soul, and thank you a lot for a wonderful ‘Shraddhanjali’. Dadamuni really deserves this and much more.