OM ‘Kranti’ OM !
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Pankaj No.1(Foster City, California - USA )
Email : pankajno1 [at] gmail.com
OM ‘Kranti’ OM
Yeah, the title is just to grab the attention but really… while I watched duplicate of Manoj aka Bharat Kumar in OSO, and the ugly mockery done on him, thought of how great the man is and his contribution to Hindi cinema.
Though as an adult I remember many of the good movies done by him, it is KRANTI (1981) that I remember more then others, its the impression it left on my mind, I was 8 only then.
“Ab ke baras tujhe dharti ki rani kar denge“, “Loueii shamasha oooi“, “Jindagi ki na tute ladi“, “Chana Jor Garam” - oh what lovely songs, and great movie. Was filled with such a huge cast yet delivers a good story, a message. Somehow I see the same charisma that was there in SHOLAY which is - each character has its own small part in the whole story and which is impressive too. It has a melodrama of lost and found family members, a love story, freedom fight saga, sufferings, bravery and sacrifice. And yet it is not a masala movie, it really works as a tribute to unsung heroes of the past.
I remember, big posters scattered over entire city, showing Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Shatughan Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Nirupa roy, Parveen Babi, Sarika, Prem Chopra, Pradeep kumar, Dheeraj Kumar, Madan Puri, Tom Alter, Shashikala, Shammi, Ram Mohan and also Paintal, Agha and Bhagwan. And the songs from this movie being played on all the occasions that year, and there after
Few scenes that I can never forget…
- Shatrughan Sinha laughing while being hit with a hunter
- Scene between Manoj Kumar and Hema malini where she threw away the ‘Roti’
- Dilip kumar and Manoj Kumar balancing while being hung with connected rope
- Madan Puri crying after he realized all his mistakes
- Parveen Babi’s song - “Mara Thumka”
- Shashi Kapoor’s aiming on Fish
And the cruel smile from Prem Chopra, his artificial steel hand. Oops… one more, Shatrughan Sinha knowingly covers the huge battle gun to get it fired successfully to crack the door…. mind blowing.
I wonder what made SRK and FARAH think about making fun of him. I understand ‘take it easy’ but it could have been avoided. Anyways it gave me an opportunity to remember the great man. His ‘Bharat’ Kumar image comes to my mind and songs from Upkar and Shaheed on lips every 26-Jan and 15-Aug… verrrry filmy but true.
Back to the great Manoj Kumar (MK now onwards) - am not 100% sure but it seems he chose this very common name after a character played by his favorite actor Dilip kumar in a movie named Shabnam (1949). MK was born in Punjab (Pakistan side) in 1937 and had seen the partition too when he was 10 - his real name is ‘Harikishen Goswami’ and he retained the family name with his son named ‘Kunal Goswami’ who also acted in ‘Kranti’ and many other movie but never achieved a status.
‘Kranti’, is a milestone in his career but is not one that gave him the stardom or fame. He had achieved stardom much before that, ‘Kranti’ was one of his last hit or say recognized movie as a director and actor. He started his career with a movie named ‘Fashion’ in 1957 and was not recognized with next 5-6 movies till he did ‘Haryali aur Rasta’ (1962) with Mala Sinha. His next career booster movie was with then famous actress Sadhna named ‘Woh Kaun Thi’ - was a super duper hit nationwide and MK got the status of nationwide recognized hero. Thereafter he did few more good movies but there was something else he wanted to do, shy in nature he was having a gut feeling of jumping to direction side of the cinema and do movies that he wanted to shape with his inner thoughts.
1965 was the magic year for MK, he portrayed the legend “Bhagat Singh” in the movie ‘Shaheed‘ and became the youth icon as a martyr. Then Prime Minister ‘Lal Bahadur Shashtri’ was so impressed with his portrayal of Bhagat Singh, his dedication towards the role and work that he asked MK to do a movie based on famous slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kissan’. Alas he found himself seems, and enthusiasm from whole film industry and nation, he released his first directional debut movie named ‘Upkar‘ in 1967 where he really made the slogan true by portraying both a jawan and a kissan in the movie, movie turned a mega blockbuster and he got worldwide recognition. The song ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’ from this movie is all time hit number, and the famous singer Mahendra Kapoor became singer-voice in movies for MK forever. Other good movies of 1965 were ‘Himalya ki God me’ and ‘Gumnaam‘ where his stardom was cashed.
1970 - he came up with another movie ‘Purab aur Paschim’ where again he himself portrayed a simple, kind hearted man from India who is not affected by western lifestyle, and tried shining India’s name worldwide by portraying a true Indian. His character name was ‘Bharat‘ in the movie which became a synonym for his own name forever. MK is known for his simplicity, his martyr thoughts, and his kind heart. Raj Kapoor invited MK to play a guest role in his dream movie ‘Mera Naam Joker’ in 1978. Many of us don’t know that he was also assistant director for Raj Kapoor’s milestone movie ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ in 1978.
His next directional product was ‘Shor‘ 1972 and ‘Roti Kapda aur Makan’ 1974, these movies turned super hit due to the content, and his fame. He also got filmfare best actor award for Be-Imaan (1972). He did 5-6 six movies between 1974 and 1981 and notable are ‘Sanyasi‘ 1976 and ‘Dus Numbari’ 1977 but like every famous hero these were not having a pure actor-MK but a star of bollywood, looks like story were written for him alone, and that is a mark of his achieved stardom.
And so for his inside man he came up with ‘Kranti‘ in 1981 where he got chance to direct his idol, legend Dilip kumar and acted also with him as well. Also notably, somehow his personal gesture of covering his face with his hand became part of his persona in movies too. All comedians, mimicry artists use this gesture to portray MK. On a different note one should remember the famous quote ‘with power comes the responsibility’ - using gesture in a comedy show is different, but when you got a chance to come up with a product for mass, you should not use the same(gesture) to make mockery on a legend.
For me MK’s impressive representation of die hard martyr in all his movies, portrayal of a simple true patriotic Indian with pure heart, and above all, his contribution towards cinema and nation makes him a living legend. He got many awards from bollywood but I think he is much above all those awards, and please do not treat this statement as verrrry filmy….mind it.
Here are few achievements from MK:
1968 - Filmfare Best Movie, Best story, Best dialogue and Best Director Award for Upkaar (1967)
1968 - National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film – for Upkar
1972 - Filmfare Best Actor Award for Be-Imaan
1975 - Filmfare Best Director Award for Roti Kapda Aur Makaan
1999 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
“Mere desh ki dharti sona oogle, oogle heere moti ” – and Manoj Kumar is one of them.
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19 Responses to “OM ‘Kranti’ OM !”
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Ever watched Scary Movie series or Leslie Nielsen movies. They completely rip off any and every characters on screen. Ever watched Saturday Night Live they mock everyone on this planet.
Why do heroes in film industry so sacrosanct? Why cant they be mocked?
Grow up!!!!
I completely agree with hemant… i m not saying manoj k getting angry was stupid…frankly it all depends on the opposite person’s sense of humour as to whether he can laugh at himself or not..if a person does not have sense of humour, he does not ve it.. they made fun of dev anand too, but he understood it was a joke… had they shown dev anand being beaten up he wud ve been ok with it.. but manoj k is a different person.. the mistake srk made was he should ve spoofed about those people only who ve a sense of humour.. so in that sense srk and farah dint do their home work… also i think stars, especially yestertear stars take themselves too seriously… infact we indians take ourself too seriously… we just cant take a joke…why ll srk want to insult manoj k… WHY??… can u plz tell me…anyways i think we all should learn a thing or two from srk and also sidhu coz i guess this r the only few indians who can actually take a laugh on themselves….
I see point in the article.
Scary Movie is a supposed spoof and you cannot compare that with OSO. OSO literally uses MK episode to move on.
Anyway, Sajid Khan always made spoofs on MK on his TV shows and he might have big role in writing this part of mocking MK in OSO also for the story to move on.
In all, cheap thing done by srk and fk.
Sheer stupidity.
Have you forgot Kalyug Ki Ramayan, Maidan-E-Jung and Clerk. In fact he should be thankful that some how atleast there is a reference for him (may be in funny way) for the new generation.
I am in no way against of spoofs as I feel that actors are to entertain people. There is nothing wrong as far as paying public is enjoying it.
I don’t think they did it to disrespect Manoj Kumar…it was general tomfoolery…Also this is nothing compared to what happens in US cinema and TV. They don’t spare anybody. I remember an episode in Seinfeld where they spoofed Kennedy’s assasination….take that for a spoof!
its time to grow up and take it easy!
I think this author has some personal grudges against SRK. This is not the first time he is writing against him. Last I read it was related OM SHANTI OM. I think he doesnt like SRK so he is removing his anger on this site or blog. Anyways it doesnt matter to SRK. But his fans will definitely reply to you.%-(
@RAGHAV
buddy agreed that oso and scary movie series r different but at the end of the day they r spoofs.. oso was about making fun of the industry.. unfortunate thing is ppl in our country cant laugh at themselves… atlest manoj k cant.. so in that sense srk made a mistake that he dint do his homework of finding out who all he can try 2 b funny with..srk is like that even in his stage shows or award functions… he has an impeccable sense of humour.. if u see some of the hollywood movies u ll realize they dont spare anyone.. not even the president.. but we people take ourselves toooooo seriously.. not that its wrong, i guess this is how we r brought up… people cant see the difference between disrespect and humour.. why ll srk disrespect mk..????.. i dont know whether u agree with me or not.. but the fact is simple… people having sense of humour understood it was a joke,, people not having sense of humour took it as disrespect 4 mk… and srk’s apologies were for people who are from the 2nd category..and he knows there r many in these category… including u.. i m not sayin its wrong… if u dont have a sense of humuor, u dont have it…
@RISHI
Good to see people defining the “Sense of Humor” here based on someone likes a particular episode or not. No more comments on that aspect.
“buddy agreed that oso and scary movie series r different but at the end of the day they r spoofs.. oso was about making fun of the industry.. ”
How did you deduce that the OSO is a spoof on Industry. Even FK and SRK never ever admitted even after the controversy that the movie is a spoof on industry.
“why ll srk disrespect mk..????”
SRK didnt. FK did that and SRK allowed her to do it. It is there in the family. Sajid Khan does that 24X7. Now, please dont say that SK has nothing to do with OSO.
@Raghav
Looking up the word “spoof” I found this meaning:
a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.
These are some direct quotes from reviews of the film that see it as a spoof:
Both a homage to and parody of Bollywood-Tajpal Rathore
…director Farah Khan have pushed the Main Hoon Na gentle masala movie parody to repetitive extremes.-David Chute
The film is a series of highlights: a drunken banter scene, a digitally enhanced dream sequence, a Village People style disco track, a spoof on film award functions-Anil Sinanan
….gently poking at the machinations and silliness that drive the Bombay movie machine.-Jason Ferguson
…with part one a jokey tribute to the ’70s- DEREK ELLEY
So I would think that yes it is considered a “spoof” by many others.
Thanks to all of you for reading and thinking on this matter.
Before I give my opinion again, let me make few things clear:
- I am a big fan of SRK and Sajid Khan (my friends hate me for that but..)
- I do like FARAH as a dance director first and her steps towards directors chair
But it doesn’t mean I have to praise everything and whatever they are doing.
@Hemant
Don’t compare Hollywood/US/UK with Bollywood/India. Our culture is different, our movies are different. I am not saying they are wrong, but it is simply not in our culture to mock on our elders/seniors, especially those who are respectable in their field.
@Rishi
On Fools day (April 1st) a kid draws a donkey on a big chart, and because he is a kid without thinking much he put his father
I haven’t seen OSO, but in reading its reviews and discussions about it, and the controversy with Manoj Kumar, one question occurred to me, which maybe those who have seen it can clear up. I get the impression that all the “spoofs” of the film industry related to either film characters or films. That is, they parodied overacting, too much melodrama, etc. But about Manoj Kumar they made fun of the person himself, not a character he portrayed. This is the difference that struck me in all the articles about the film and about this controversy. That to me is a major difference, and can adequately explain why Manoj Kumar reacted the way he did. Now someone here has mentioned that they also made fun of Dev Anand. But can you tell me, did they make fun of Dev Anand the person, or one of his trademark roles?
Another question I have is, why didn’t they make fun of any of Amitabh Bachchan’s roles or Bachchan himself, if they were spoofing Hindi cinema of the 1970’s?
@AUTHOR
hmmm… u like sajid khan…interesting… well he is even worse on his tv shows… ohhhh maybe u dont watch his shows, but you still like him…interesting…anyways, well u said i gave a lecture about humour.. haha…let me contimue with my lecture then mr. author….. tell me, what do you think of people like jay leno, shekhar suman, raju shrivastav, vinay pathak, jim carrey, russel peters.. i hope you know who this people are and what they do… THIS PEOPLE MAKE FUN OF OTHERS…. jim carrey during his early days when he used to do stage shows would make fun of people in the audience… do you know russel peters.. his jokes r on indians, chinese, muslims, srilankans, hindus… and mind you, he is an indian himself… have you seen vinay pathak making fun of mahesh bhatt on his tv shows??…WATCH IT… recently mahesh bhatt gave an interview to star news and he said that he loves what vinay pathak does on his shows and he does not mind being ridiculed coz he has a sense of humour… the fact is some people ve it, some dont.. mk does not ve it,simple…u dont ve it, simple… a kid does not like it if anyone laughs at him.. but as he starts growing up he learns to laugh at himself.. but some people dont learn to laugh at themselves and they think people who make fun of others are sick people.. and u and raghav are one of them.. i m not trying to get personal but this article just says a lot about you.. i maybe wrong.. but thats the impression u give.. what gives above mentioned people the right to laugh at others.. why is a raju shrivastav allowed to joke about mk ..and why is srk not allowed?? because srk is a star??..you mean to say our stars shud not make fun of other stars.. we cant see a star doing that.. because if u do that it means u r disrespecting someone.. people might make fun of a star, but a star cant make fun of others.. he cant pull someone else’s leg.. srk made a mistake.. the mistake was he tried to be funny with a person who probably cant laugh at himself.. but he dint make a mistake by joking about dev anand coz he can laugh at himself.. people make fun of srk and amitabh bachan all the time they dont come out and say “THIS IS HITTING BELOW THE BELT”..or..”THIS IS DISRESPECT”..imagine srk filing a court case against raju shrivastav..hillarious isnt it.. well, but he ll not coz he too has a sense of humour..if a shekhar suman has a right to laugh on others so does srk coz both r in the same proffesion of acting.. as a public figure you need to ve guts in your balls to laugh at yourself, otherwise amitabh bachan would ve run away to allahabad when people made fun of his height and his voice when he d just entered the industry… srk so many times agrees with his critics and says, hey i m a bad actor,thats his sense of humour… a public figure whether past or present needs to take things in his stride.. otherwise its hard to survive.. just imagine it would ve been so wonderful had mk just said, hey i loved it, it was wso funny.. let me tell u i m 22, but i too ve watched mk’s films and i m a fan of his and respect him as an actor..its okk if he does not ve a sense of humour.. not everyone in this world has it.. so he too dint do anything wrong.. but srk and fk too dint do anything wrong.. i hope for you that you achieve a lot of success in ur life, and if you do become a popular personality yourself and if you see someone making fun of you, dont file a case against him :d
I agree with Pankaj. ‘Spoof’ and ‘Grow up’ is fine,ok and even fun many times. In this case I’d feel differently if Farah and SRK had also done a ’spoof’ of Dilip Kumar and not just Manoj Kumar and Rajnikanth.
heyy author… u gonna reply or not??
Shatrughun Sinha had shown his expertise in action films during 70s and 80s. He had a gifted voice and made adequate use of the voice while dealing with action sequences. In Yash Chopra
Parveen Babi had kept her mark in stylish roles during 70s and 80s. She was impressive in Majboor, opposite Big B, in 1974, where Big B had thought he had brain tumour,
souvik, nice to see you here.
Parveen Babi.
There is a passage in Balwant Gargi’s Purple Moonlight, that brings out all the colors of her personality.
Hi All,
It seems Mr MK is furious again, and if the news is correct he has filed a suit against SRK and FK on the groud that despite the promise they haven’t removed objected scenes from the movie for TV telecast.
I think the action taken is too late now, but indeed it can give an insite to all readers of this article that what I pointed out was meaningful.
Regards