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Kuselan, Billoo Barber and Munshi Premchand
July 31
One of the most talked about film of the year, Kuselan (Kuselan in Tamil, Kathanayakudu in telugu) is releasing today.. The film makers and distributors are eyeing at a bumper opening as Pyramid Saimira has already bought theatrical rights for more than 60 crores. What makes Kuselan an extravagant affair is just one name Rajanikanth. The film is remake of last year’s critically acclaimed Malayalam 
film Katha Parayumbol and though Rajanikanth is just doing a Guest appearance of a Super Star (played by Mammootty in original), the film is customised to cash on each and every frame that Rajani appears in.. (Check out the trailer which confirms this). The film is produced by K Balachandar and being directed by P Vasu, a Rajani Regular.. The biggest superstar of India though is just playing a guest role, it was he who initiated this project in January after Vasu insisted him to watch the film. Katha Parayumbol was so hot in the film circuits at that time as the day Rajani’s team bought rights for the tamil and telugu version, Shahrukh Khan immediately followed by announcing the hindi remake as Billoo Barber with Irrfan Khan playing the lead role of Billoo Barber and himself playing the (guest) role of Super Star with Priyadarshan announced as the director.
Incidentally both Vasu and Priyan earlier made a remake of same malayalam film Manichitratazhu as Chandramukhi/Bhool Bhullaiyya in Tamil and Hindi respectively…
The story of Kuselan/Billoo Barber (Katha Parayumbol to be fair) is based on the ancient tale of the friendship of Lord Krishna and Sudama. The film featured an unusual friendship of a barber (played by Sreenivasan) and a Super Star (Mammootty), who were childhood friends The Super Star arrives to shoot in the same village where the barber friend is running a shop. Interesting plot… Two childhood friends, now with totally different socio-economic backgrounds, will the two share the same strong bond of friendship when they meet again.. Another interesting angle is the point of view of the neighbours and people of the village of the barber, who when comes to know about the relationship tries to make most out of it..
July 31
The calendar reminds me its 129th birth anniversary of Munshi Premchand a legendary writer… and the remembrance of Munshi ji took me back to one of my favorite short stories of his “Gilli Danda”… and you know what Gilli Danda is again based around the same premises. same characters, same situations, the Kuselan tale..
Munshi Premchand
The Gilli Danda startes with such a humorous note on the game Gilli Danda and comparing it to the game of Cricket..
“hamare angreji dost manen ya n manen main to yahi kahoonga ki gulli-danda sab khelon ka raja hai. ab bhi kabhi ladakon ko gulli-danda khelate dekhata hoon, to ji lot-pot ho jata hai ki inake sath jakar khelane lagoon. n lan kee jaroorat, n kort kee, n net kee, n thapi kee. maje se kisi ped se ek tahani kat li, gulli bana li, aur do aadami bhi aa jae, to khel shuroo ho gaya.
vilayati khelon men sabase bada aib hai ki usake saman mahange hote hain. jab tak kam-se-kam ek sainkada n kharch keejie, khiladiyon men shumar hi nahin ho pata. yahon gulli-danda hai ki bana harr-fitakari ke chokha rang deta hai; par ham angareji chijon ke pichhe aise divane ho rahe hain ki apani sabhi chijon se aroochi ho gaee. skoolon men harek ladake se tin-char roopaye salana keval khelane kee fis li jati hai. kisi ko yah nahin soojhata ki bharatiy khel khilaaen, jo bina dam-kaudi ke khele jate hain. angareji khel unake lie hain, jinake pas dhan hai. garib ladakon ke sir kyon yah vyasan madhate ho? thik hai, gulli se aonkh foot jane ka bhay rahata hai, to kya kriket se sir foot jane, tilli fat jane, tong toot jane ka bhay nahin rahata! agar hamare mathe men gulli ka dag aaj tak bana huaa hai, to hamare kaee dost aise bhi hain, jo thapi ko baisakhi se badal baithe. yah apani-apani roochi hai. mujhe gulli kee sab khelon se achchhi lagati hai aur bachapan kee mithi smritiyon men gulli hi sabase mithi hai.”
Gilli Danda Excepts 1
20 years back, the two friends are playing Gilli Danda together… Gayaa is a top expert in the game and giving a tough time to the protagonist.. and when the protagonistfinds he can not won over gayaa and it is he who has to run around all the day in the hands of Gayaa, he decides to run away from the game and when Gayaa complains of walking out in between, the protagonist tries to win him thru a bribe of guavas
Gilli Danda
The bribe fails to impress Gayaa and Gayaa hits him hard with the playing stick (danda)
Gilli Danda
20 years later, protagonist after doing his engineering is a top government official, and on a tour gets a chance to visit the same village.. when he sees some boys playing gilli danda on street, he wanted to relive old days and tries to find gayaa, who is a servant to another government official in the village
Gilli Danda
What happens next when the two meet again… and would there be another game of Gilli Danda between them in the changed scenarios.. Munshi ji comes up with a master stroke in the concluding part of the story..
You can read complete story here…
[Devnagri]
http://munshi-premchand.blogspot.com/2006/03/blog-post_114221372643514437.html
If you go thru complete story, you will find Premchand’s Protagonists more contemporary than Kulesan’s.. Unfortunately not many film makers have courage to adopt a more contemporary and realistic Krishna-Sudama tale.. Munshi ji has given us so many gems that are real and contemporary even after 72 years of his death..
31 July
31 July 1980, when India was celebrating 100th birth anniversary of Munshi Premchand, the mood turned in to sadness and grief, when the news of death of Mohammad Rafi arrived that day.. His demise is one of the biggest losses to Indian film Industry and even after 28 years, the void is unfilled and will remain void forever.. One of the greatest artists of the film and music industry, a great human
Rafi saab
Check out Rafi saab as the voice for the characters of Munshi Premchand, his song from Godaan..
another great Rafi saab song on a Munshi Premchand Character is from Gaban (ehsaan mere dil pe tumhara hai dosto) unfortunately no utube video available for the song..
and here is Rafi saab in a rare screen appearance in a song in film Jugnu (1947)
31 July, 2008
The Legend of Munshi Premchand and Mohd. Rafi Lives on…
11 Responses to “Kuselan, Billoo Barber and Munshi Premchand”
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Gulli Danda was indeed one of my most fav sports when I was a kid ( along with kanche/marbles ). And yes it was so easy to start the game !! Wow !! thanks Pavan for reviving my memories.
Indeed my deepest tribute to the legends Premchand and Rafi.
aap ne bahut satik likha hai.hindi filmon ke nirdeshakon ki samsya hai ki unhen hindi hi nahin aati.agar koi bataye-samjhaye to bhi kaise?hindi hi nahin desh ki sabhi bhashaon mein khazana pada hai.par lakdak mahaul mein shabdon ke marm tak kaun pahunchega…koi rasta hai kya?
my school syllabus had “gilli-danda”.. i was least interested in reading literature those days but when i read the story for a class test next day i experienced a big lump in my throat.. till now i havent read a better narration of a story..
ajay ji aapse puri tarah se samhat hu.. lekin aapko ye dhyan me rakhna padega ki adhiktar marmantik aur samvedanshil sahitya ko rache huye thoda samay ho gya hai.. film nirdheshak aur nirmatao ki sabse badi chunouti ye hoti hai ki use samkalin aur samsamyik rup se kaise pesh kiya jaye.. is wajah se agar koi badlav laya jata hai toh alochako ki nazar me wo chedchad ya lakdak mahaul ka natiza hota hai
Ajayji..aapse pehle bhi is vishay pe hamaari baatcheet hui thi..ki nirdeshakon ko hindi boli se dooriyan hai..aur nateeja ye hai ki patkatha gathan karnein mein aksham nazar aate hain..sahitya to door door tak dikhyi nahi deti..ham sab hamaari matri bhasha ke khazanon se mahroom ho rahe hain!
Bamabaiya bhasha ka prachalan iss yug ko barbaad kar choda hai..iss se nikalne ka rasta sirf ek hai..naye “lekhak”..hindi mein..angrezi mein nahi..aaj narration angrezi mein hua karte hain..aur phir usse kisi tarah hindi mein dhala jaata hai..aur ye saaf taur se parde par nazar aata hai..jab tak boli our mahaul behtar nahi banaya jaata hai..hamein filmein behtar nahi milegi!
Pavan,gilli-danda is still very contemporary in its characterisation..just change it to golf-course n u will get the same results..thnx for reminding of such a gem..and kudos for a very nice post.
Premchand’s birth anniversary…what a perfect time to come back home! :)
Went to his village in the morning. Saw his home, a small picture exhibition of paintings based on his stories made by college students and a play in the nearby school complex (couldn’t stay till the end).
Local crowd and a few important looking people…overall a very modest but nice way to celebrate the day.
Which of his stories/novels, other than Godan, Gaban, Shatranj ke Khiladi and Sadgati, have been adapted on silver screen?
What a nice way to marry the topics Pavan. And thanks for the videos
@Pavan,
Till Mahesh Bhatt kind of successful director and producer propagate their radical thoughts that to make successful films they dont need to look upon good literature, its hard to see literary adaptations on the screen.
First protest may come from the sides of acting screen play writers also because they may feel fear inside that what will happen to their demand if good literature makes an entry in the films. who will buy their below average work then?
Though its duty of screen play writers but in hindi cinema, stars, directors and producers will have to take initiative.
This trend of borrowing stories from foreign films is dangerous for the very existence of the hindi cinema. Because those films are written for different social customs, scienarios, characters and audiences.
Writers make connection between people and stories and while techniques can be adopted but stories should always be local else there is a danger there masses can see alienation from the cinema.
Cinema first should represent those people’s lives who are watching it. Other kind of audience can see this cinema later for its merits but its not necessary that they fully understand the fine nuances shown in the film.
A person not fully aware of the mythology of western world can not enjoy completely Ben Hur, though he can enjoy the cinematic features but full joy is possible for the person who knows the whole atmosphere of the film.
and hardly films are made (anywhere in the world) which are truly global in nature. They are made for local audience.
Own language has something in it. bird of ship comes back to it.
What a fantastic article!
Thank you very much, Pavan
Hindi literature or for that matter literature in general is full of fantastic possibilities particularly given the dearth of quality cinema these days.
But bold adaptations are few and far between.
@Pavan
A veri sensible article indeed.But I do not thnk directors/producers today have time to read stories.In studio system there are some who read short stories and novels and then again they are mostly dull and un-imaginative.It is a tough job to understand the potentiality of a story or a novel, even a poetry for the film medium.Satyajit Ray did ‘Sadgati’ once and I think he did a good justice to Munsi Premchand’s story. But it is not an easy job for lesser mortals.
So,in effect we miss gems in our own custody.But again if anyone can come up with a real brilliant idea and can turn it into a film of quality (say like JUKTI TAKKO AAR GAPPO by Rittwik Ghatak), time and again, you had not have to feel so sad.
Pavan, knowing the risk of being un-popular or even arrogant I must say one thing here.It is not cinema only, we as a country and society is suffering irritating mediocrity and film is into this very system only.
So, let’s wait and watch and prepare till—-TIME IS A CHANGIN’.
sorry once again–’we as a country and society is suffering irritating mediocrity and film is into this very system only.’—it will be—-we as a country and society ARE suffering irritating mediocrity and film is A PART OF this very system only.