Rajuben – Kashyapian Cinema meets Television
*Assumption(s)* Not everybody watches TV, Not everybody watches TV in India, Not everybody watches Sony Entertainment Television anyways.
*FAQ*
What’s Rajuben?
It’s a four episode tele-film which is being Telecast in Specials@10 in Sony Entertainment Television.
Timing, Detials etc – 10 pm, Last monday and next three mondays, Sony Entertainment Television.
DVD release – Yes, it’s going to come out soon. (I read in electronic media. Blame them in case of a delay.)
Director – Yes You read the title I know. It’s Anurag Kashyap yet again. (*I stand corrected. Please see the comments section for details*) The director is Lalit Marathe. (* The correction is post publishing this post. *)
So, it seems You can love him, You can hate him, But You can’t ignore him (I learnt from my last post, I’ll specify, “In India”). He is every where (”In India”). Imagine the situation of the poor souls who don’t like Anurag Kashyap (”In India”). In the realm of probability, they may end up in a multiplex (”In India”) sometime in April and they have three of his movies simultaneously showing. Options read – Dev.D, Gulaal, Paanch. As if that was not enough of a predicament, He’s now in TVs too (”in India” – remember).
This monday I saw the first episode of Rajuben. And it was a feeling I know quite well by now. There was something about it. Something about the colours and lighting, about the non linearity of narrative, the scene to scene transference, the razor sharpness of the dialogues, the objectivity of the characters – their thoughts and actions.
Well, as far as I’m concerned, I just loved it. But one horrible thing I realized while watching Rajuben (and Delhi-6 too)was how drugged I’ve become by Dev.D’s music. Watching a Kashyap work after watching Dev.D, I could see the elements on screen, I could see the flare, but hell, I wanted Amit Trivedi’s music too. And yes the Movie camera.
Okay, Spoilers ahead. If you haven’t seen the last episode, don’t read any further.
If you didn’t read the last line *Spoilers ahead*!!!
I really loved how the love story between Raju and Rohit unfolds. There’s this tremendous scene where the girl says –
“Jo mujhse pyaar karte hai woh mujhe Raju bulaate hain”
guy – “Main tujhe hamesha Raju bulaaungaa”
girl – “Hamesha?”
guy – “Meraa naam Rohit hai, par mujhse koi pyaar nahi karta, isi liye meraa nam Rohit hi hai”
girl – “Rohit bhi achha naam hai”
Wondering why I wrote the above snippet of the dialogues? It’s because of the above snippet of the dialogues that I wrote the reminder of the post.
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
Loved it too
But wasn’t it supposed to be like 12 weeks thing?
Yes… This was a Behatareen piece of conversation between the two actors…
Nice to see a post on Rajuben on PFC !!!
Wasn’t there a scene which seemed like “inspired” from Godfather ? Where the builders people come to strike a deal with Rajubens father. He rufuses flatly. Young Rajuben interrupts and shows interest giving a clue to the builders that there is a rift in the family (which they can exploit)
I couldn’t catch the episode fully as was busy in the kitchen. But even from there I could pick the above exchange and found it bit of a turn off. But then that’s me , always dwelling on the negatives.
Hey Subhasish in INDIA,
It is actually hilarious to read this… And if you did not read the previous line then….
The post was really *FUNNY*
It was so funny that i was tempted to copy it… ;)
ha ha hahah a
I hope that Monday comes fast In India.
NiDHi MoDH
@Debarun ..
12 weeks me 4 stories of 4 different directors……
1. Anurag Kashyap (Rajuben) .. loved it.
2. Mahesh Manjarekar (Shaque) , will be telecasted today
3. Vikram Bhatt (Shohrat aur Showbiz, smthin’ like that) .. watched it yesterday .. got bored as expected …
4. Madhur Bhandarkar ( Dont remeber the name of the story) .. will be aired tomorrow …
Is there a repeat telecast of the episodes that are over ??
I just watched it!! its absolute fucking awesome.. three parallel tracks in three separate time periods… Absolute brilliance!
Vikram Bhatt shit was damn fuckin boring… I left it after 5 mins
I don’t think Rajuben is directed by Anurag Kashyap. I thought I read some different name in the credits.
i saw the tele-film…i think Shilpa is damn good…the background score has been composed by Amit Trivedi.
It is directed by lalit marathe. It is to his and his writers credit , and Hari nair the cameraman’s credit for what they have achieved..
Writer is Charudutt
I saw ‘rajuben’ and it was cool… the way they told the story in non linear plot… actors do not go overboard… simple and realistic sets… i had problem listening to dialogues.. were they using sync sound?
its too good for indian tv space context… hopefully more people should watch it and appreciate the talent behind it
Haan haan, Sipahi to ladte hi hain lekin Vijay ka shrey to Senapati ko hi jata hain.
-Police Commissioner, Gangajal.
I think this site should be renamed as anuragkashyap.com. I see a lot of his fans here. Okay he is very good. But the serial is no good. It is boring. Those actors have not acted good. He did his best but I think the limited resources and time to make it (just an assumption) has affected the quality.
Though the technicalities might be good there is a lot to be desired. The story does not seem to be very engrossing or even fresh and the story telling way might work for movies but not for teleserials as there is a gap after each episode. The viewers are bound to get lost. I would like to appreciate him for trying something different though not everything different has to be good.
I believe being a celebrity Anurag wanted to connect with people by sharing his experience and have their opinions. By praising him even for his not so good work we are just spoiling him. This guy has a lot of talent and if he makes something not good rather than praising him endlessly please tell him the truth so that he would improvise on it. Give him some scope for improvement. It would be good for us as audience.
Though the serial is not very good. It is not bad either but not worthy of lavish praises.
http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/broadband/video/Television/KusGH774/3/Anurag-Kashyap-In-Specials-10.html
http://www.tellychakkar.com/y2k9/mar/2mar/news_shilpa.php
http://www.tvmasty.com/anurag-kashyap-to-release-dvds-of-rajuben/
1. Going through the above links.
2. Listening from all my TV watching friends and then watching the Sony Entertainment ads which feature Anurag Kashyap
- I think it’s an impression anybody would get that it’s an AK movie.
Will not trust media at all hence forth. Careful re-reading of the last link seems to bring clarity – especially “will be creatively involved.”
The thing is, there’s such huge buzz that it’s an AK movie.
I was not very impressed with what I saw.
Boss,
I am a big fan of AK, but I don’t take it as my moral duty to like and appreciate all his work.
I saw the first episode of Rajuben and it was a major disappointment.
After all the hype that Sony created around this show- Rajuben looked liked poor man’s Satya (or one of those RGV’s ganster movies).
The dialogue which inspired you to write this blog is one of the most clich'©d and is just one among a score in that episode.
Even the lighting, non linearity and other stuff you were mentioning about looked like an absolute force fit- almost like one of those film school student’s project.What we need to realize is that these should be the tools to tell a story effectively rather than over powering the plot itself.
I could hardly sit through the first episode but for my loyalty for AK.
I hope it gets better in the next episodes.
To be frank- I rate some of the episodes of “Star bestsellers” much better than Rajuben.
Gurudev’s comment (Comment 17) just shows what a big publicity stunt Sony Entertainment Television has pulled off. Wow, good promotion.
I completely agree with the comment#17…………
Even if Anurag Sir is creatively involved…….
I am very well sure that his inputs are not incorporated……..
It was a dejavu.
Every frame gave me feeling that I have seen all this.There was no novelty.
which we expect from the project where AK is involved.
His name is only used to market the serial.
Wikipedia has also erred it seems. Just checkout the link – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anurag_Kashyap_(director)#Director
It shows Rajuben.
i saw the ad. bade director ki badi kahani…bade director mahesh manjrekar, vikram bhatt…
Dear Subhasish,
a few corrections:
1. Rajuben is a 12-episode series, not a “four-episode telefilm”. In fact, Sony’s Specials@10 has 12-episode series of 4 directors – Anurag’s on Mondays, Vikram Bhatt’s on Tuesdays, Mahesh Manjrekar’s on Wednesdays and Madhur Bhandarkar’s on Thursdays. Of these, only Madhur’s show has episodic stories (that is, 12 stories in 12 episodes), the rest are all single stories over 12 episodes.
2. The director is not Anurag Kashyap, it is by Lalit Marathe. In fact, none of the four series are directed by these 4 directors who are presenting them, though they are involved with them creatively.
Liked the non linearity Raju Ben but didn’t quite like the camera work that much .. sometimes a bit annoying .. too many close-ups … most of the actors were good but some of them were just abt average … was expecting a lot from this 1 ..fell a little short of expectations but anyday better than the crap that they show on television . Imagine those Saas-Bahu lovers who would have got no clue what is happening bcoz of the non linearity . Hell , even a simple and not complicated non-linear film like Yuva didn’t go down well among the Indian audience , how would a television soap would ?
Hated the Vikram Bhatt one … I am sure he thought that lets put some of the technical expertise of cinema into television and he just put in some Crane shots and Cars on fire for making it look a bit like a film … no work on script and the actors in it are seriously pathetic .. poor performances and story which is by Vikram is just so mediocre … nothin new . . I don’t remember the name of the director of this one but he certainly messed up good opportunity ..
I hope the others are good .
The transitions oftentimes were irrational or confusing. Other than that, the play on structure was refreshing. But then again, it doesn’t take much to push boundaries in TV does it, if you have a blank cheque.
I expect Rajuben to be a success, if not the other stories in this novel concept. And that may just open up the doors to those of us who want to see, and create, good content on television In India.
Anuragji could you please clarify this:
If Lalit Marathe is the director and Charudutt is the writer, how were you ‘creatively involved’ in the making?
Is this a case of misleading advertising on SETs part?
it is how i was on aamir..
I agree with with comment#18 of Gurudev that “Star Bestsellers” was much better and for that matter one more called “Rishtey” which aired on Zee Television was much better than these . Those were just one single episode ones but still had some really good stories and actors in it .
In fact I still miss those fantastic stories . Some really good creative people worked on those . “Rishtey” mainly focussed on Love Stories but was still a good one .
Anuragji, I’m disappointed. Just 5 minutes into Rajuben and I was itching to switch channels. Somehow I continued till 15 minutes, then gave up. Why did you lend your name to such an insipid, below average product? I absolutely hated the non-linearity and the camera angles. They seem to be, like somebody earlier said, force-fit. Yes, it looks like a very, very poor man’s verison of Satya.
Vikram Bhatt? Bada director? His stuff was plain boring, so the less said about it the better.
After such disappointments, I watched Mahesh Manjrekar’s ‘Shaque’ not expecting much, but I felt his was much better. At least the director is not trying to act smart with bizzare camera angles etc. And the actors were pretty good, except for the murdered girl’s sister who is too irritating. She tries too hard to act. And fails.
Let’s now see what Madhur Bhandarkar churns out.
Is there a repeat telecast of the episodes..or any online source like youtube ??
Subhasish,
There is this phrase that comes to my mind readily after reading your response.. “Gira toh bhi peri uppar”..
switched the channel after 15-20 minutes into the film… hoping others from Vikram Bhatt and Mahesh Manjrekar would be better… they were poorer… so far Rajuben seems to be the best… except if Madhur Bhandarkar proves otherwise today… don’t feel like watching anymore episodes
@28 Saurabh Jaiswal-
Hi Saurabh, thanks for mentioning “Rishtey” here. I missed out on that one intentionally(partly due to irritating disclaimers by the author like *not everybody watches tv in India and shit like that).
Rishtey was indeed beautiful. Also there was this program on some of the controversial court cases called “Bhanwar”. I rate it as one of the all time best series.
I was very excited to watch rajuben on sony. But it didn’t live up to its (director’s or arrangers) expectations.. Though the non linearity is interesting,Its no more if the content is not great. Shilpa shukla was a good casting, but the rest are not upto the mark, especially the rohit and tabrez characters. Nevertheless, some change,but the hype bubble has been burst.
AK woh AK yeh hai. Man finally saw Dev D yesterday and I tried really hard to like the movie, somehow convince myself that Dev D is a master piece as I hear that all the time in PFC but hell
I just c’dn’t feel anything for the characters…so much for getting the audience involved in the movie.
yeah “sattu pagal ho gaya hai”..yea yea classic revolutionary stuff.
Kashyapian Cinema??? Whats that??? Give the man some more time dude….to create his own league. Why being in such a hurry??? For me Paanch & Black Friday were brilliant…I even consider BF as one of the best films ever made!!! But e’thn that followed has been very very disappointing!! Including Dev D & Raju Ben. I am gonna watch Gulaal the very first day…only because i respect the rare talent tht AK has..
P. S – Anurag, Still waiting eagerly for that masterstroke that we all know u have.Hope Gulaal brings that up!!!
Kashyap sir, whose idea was to get Shilpa? i think she’s really good…by the way, i liked Piyush Mishra’s music and lyrics for Gulaal..Zabardast hai! When will you start writing? by the way, i am looking forward to working with u again…
Thanks for the reply, I get it now…
I have to say I’m not exactly blown away by Rajuben, but from the look and the style of narration, its the most cinematic out of the four. Hopefully it will pick up the pace next week
Waah waah.. AK, vikram bhatt, mahesh and all ab to Tarantino ho gaye hai..”Anurag kashyap presents”. No offence to anyone but Bhatt and mahesh have been making crap movies for ages. what can we expect from them.. I was really disappointed by the publicity as if the directors are directly behind the shows.. but yeah directing TV shows does not make sense for them given the economics..But why Vikram Bhatt!!aur bhi log hai yaar!! Rajuben was disappointing.. but still a lot more episodes to go..but thanks AK for casting KK Raina..great actor..terribly underused…
RajuBen is the best TV show i have ever watched.
I just love , love and love the story. hope it does not have a boaring ending like RajuBen gets killed or changes and at the end gives a boaring lecture about humanity and all that…
Just love RAJUBEN, after very long there is a show on television which is brilliant, everything about it is great, right from direction, cast, their acting, editing, camera and mainly the story, script and dialogs. Amazing, actually wait for Monday nights, I hope Sony promoted it enough. Where I watch it SONY doesn’t even have it right on their TV guide, and they don’t advertise it enough. I am shocked to read some of the reviews. The only problem would be the sound track, some times hard to follow. The whole team keep it up and continue with the good work.
My name is Vandana SHetty , Iam your classmate,
Lalit loved your serial,
Hope you remember me?
All the best,
Kindly reply
hi..i love rajuben!
for me, four films in one!
so much..
it gave me wings!
….thank u all for rajuben!
……lil bit loss of words ,happening there……..calling oz! i forgot my password!…diary entry karne ka mann hai….