Rantings of an old-movies buff
iView Author: Nivedita Ramakrishnan (California, USA)
Email: niveditaramakrishnan [at] gmail [dot] com
Rantings of an old-movies buff
I sit in my California apartment, happily surrounded by my old, tottering VHS tapes of Hindi films from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Like King Midas with his gold, I proudly survey my precious collection, which is my only tangible link to a world that is far away in both space and in time. Having just embarked on the process of digitizing my film collection, I realize, though, that I will have to fortify myself. Case in point: When my tape of Calcutta New Theatres’ film Wapas (1943) jumps, my heart jumps too—heavily. The pain of seeing that vintage, irreplaceable treasure in that tattered condition is no less than the pain of seeing a dearest person wasting away. In my desperation, I find myself thinking, perhaps irrationally, that I would even trade in all my jewelry just to restore Wapas to its glory. I am just inconsolable. I even go on a hunger strike, convincing myself that if I rebel hard enough, Wapas will somehow regain its celluloid life and come back (“wapas”) to me.
When I explain this to people, many are puzzled. The typical response goes like this: “Old movies are easily available these days. Just check out this Indian DVD store…. They stock everything. It is not worth wasting your money on all this equipment converting VHS to DVDs when you can just buy them.”
To which, I enquire eagerly but doubtfully, fervently hoping for an affirmation, hoping against hope, “Oh really, do they have Buzdil (1951), or how about Khazanchi (1941)?” The response comes, somewhat indignantly even, blatantly bypassing my query—“Of course, they have old movies. There is Aradhana (1969), Seeta aur Geeta (1972), those Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz starrers and those 70s movies.” These are, quite often, the same people who conflate the Burmans—S.D. and R.D. Indeed, much before Kishore Kumar teamed up with R.D., he sang for S.D. the “Dekho dekhojee” duet with Lata in Naujawan (1951), picturized on a dapper Premnath and a chirpy Nalini Jaywant.
As the years go by, of course, it is understandable that movies from the 1970s should rise in seniority—that is the law of chronology—just as the passage of time has earned me the suffix of Nivedita aunty. (I myself am a product of the mid-70s.) But with “old” becoming increasingly equated with the 60s and 70s, what epithet must one, then, use for movies of the Silent era, the 30s, 40s, and 50s? For a die-hard vintage-movie buff who unequivocally (and rigidly) considers “old” to be pre-1960, it is disquieting that an Aradhana is more easily available than a Buzdil.
I remember once catching the tail end of the utterly haunting “Ada se jhoomtey huey,” a Shamshad Begum-Rafi duet from Sindbad the Sailor (1952), on a program called Raymond (later Centura) Sargam Smriti that used to air once a week on Bombay radio in the early 1990s. I still recollect being utterly mesmerized by this Chitragupt composition and kicking myself for not having been ready with my cassette recorder. For awhile, I even went into the Sindbad phase, constantly humming the tune to myself, in a bid to keep it alive within. Much later, I found the audio of that song, but I am still dying to lay hands on the film itself, which was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt and starred Naseem Bano and Ranjan. But at least I have managed to get a glimpse of Naseem and Ranjan, thanks to a kindred spirit who has uploaded the “Ada se jhoomtey huey” song onto Youtube that is fast becoming a haven for people like me in search of old treasures.
But the question remains: why are our old films doomed to anonymity, to sheer atrophy in cinematic memory? Why should getting hold of a P.C. Barua film of 1936 (I refer to New Theatres’ Manzil that was co-written by the legendary Saratchandra Chatterjee, with music by two stalwarts, R.C. Boral and Pankaj Mullick) be so difficult, if not downright impossible? Surely the old classics deserve to be better remembered, better documented, and better exhibited.
Tags: History
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It is sad that most of our movies..from the pre independence times are now lost or surviving in Pune Archives…and to enjoy the origins of cinema..we have to watch ‘M’ , ‘Ivan the Terrible’..
Follywood as an industry is interested only in making money…setting up a dedicated lab for such preservation is not their cup of tea…It is sad but true…
PC Barua himself made and re-made Devdas 3 times…
Great work..aunty..continue to enjoy the unique happiness with those 30’s , 40’s tapes around.. Please do put a write up on some interesting pre-independence movies you own…
Maam I have a request!!! do you happen to have kismet (1943).
I am not sure but its gyan mukherjee’s second movie. it has ashok kumar.
I have never able to see this movie. If you do, i am willing to come over to california and make a copy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036077/ i didnt expect it to be on imdb.
@ Nivedita-
I’m impressed with your passion & zeal to preserve and develop your old movies collection.But there are some things that is sad but true.For one NFAI ( National Film Archives of India ) – Pune has not been able to do a very good job of archiving/preserving.Lots of reasons can be the cause- lack of money, lack of passion, lack of right people etc.So @ times even good prints of movies made by masters like Satyajit Ray or Adoor Gopalakrishnan are hard to find.
And if it comes to DVD/VCD ( VHS tapes are not made commercially anymore I think )there are a lot of genuine 1940’s and 1950’s titles available but then they would obviously be the more popular names.It would not be too difficult to get a DVD of a Mother India, Shree 420, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi,Awara etc.But yes if you are asking for titles like Wapas ,Buzdil, Sindbad The Sailor etc, then the search would be extremely difficult.
Look at it this way some 30 years from now dont you think it would be easier to get a DVD/Blue-Ray or whatever format exists then of a Maine Pyar Kiya than Ijazzat ( 80’s ) or lets say wouldnt it be easier to lay your hands on a Ghajini rather than a Barah Anna? This is because of economics and nothing else.
But there’s always a silver lining to the cloud.Adlabs is setting up a media BPO basically for the sake of digitising, restoring and archiving films.Also a few well known movie personalities have decided to come forward to their bit of ensuring that they contribute in their own way for the same.All is not lost, not yet atleast !!!
Somehow these old movies were made right. There wuznt any hamming of the 70s and 80s, no scenes put in for commercial purposes. The story basically was carried on for cinematic reasons, and songs put in to enhance the mood or take the story to a different level. The Indian movie scene is revitalizing and again there are stories made, without the cliches and hamming.
Nice topic, may be as Indians we also go gaga over culture,but when comes to preserving it we are no where.
That is why when go to forts of India or any historical place we see Balbir loves Manjula.
Yup,hopefully things will change and for better.
@Nik,
I guess Kismet is the film which ran for straight 5 years in Roxy at Kolkata.
@Cinemausher: Oh i didnt know that. All I know about it was my grandmom’s first film and she is said the best ever.
@Sethumadhavan: “Maine Pyar Kiya” you think 30 years from now people will ask for it’s bluedisk. you post a really grim picture man. I am not expecting any one to do that right now. May be its just me.
@Nivedita Maam: waiting for your reply!!!11
Thank you all for your generous feedback that I really enjoyed reading.
Nick, I have all the songs of Kismet and parts of the film on video; am not sure though if I have the whole film, but you never know. I might. I have so many tapes with me right now that I don’t even know what some of them contain. As I digitize my collection, I will start uploading them onto to YouTube. So you might see Kismet soon!
@ Nick-
Well I’m no fan of Salman or Maine Pyar Kiya, just mentioned the movie as an example to stress on my point.But yes I wont be surprised if people ask for the movie 30 years from now.After all its one of the biggest hits in Indian ( and not just Bollywood ) film history.And yes Cinemausher is right about Kismet.who is your grandmother btw if I may ask you? Did you mean it was her film that she worked in or first that she watched as a film goer?
Cinemausher, I believe you are right about Kismet (1943) running for a few years nonstop in Calcutta, and also Bombay perhaps? The exact details I’ll have to look up, but, yes, it is one of the biggest blockbusters ever in Hindi cinema.
Sethumadhavan, Glad to hear about Adlabs. That’s good news, certainly.
No afcos she watched it in Bombay, I am no kapoor sorta brand brat
Almost every old Hindi dvd/vcd I’ve seen, the prints are bad and they’ve cut scenes like VHS people used to do to new films. I hope someone in moser baer/ ultra or other home video companies is listening. At least let us watch the whole movie, dude. We are paying for it.
True Ma’m
Archiving as a science is yet to get popularity in India. You will get videos of movies like Tansen and Shah Jehan, which were Saigal starrers. But if you want a Devdas or Street SInger, you will need to run around a bit before laying your hands on them. You can also search for them on torrents. Thankfully, music is easily avilable now.
Nivedita : Your post was too good. Please keep up the good work. Archiving is poor in India. Calcutta lost Tapan Sinha’s ‘Khudita Pashan’, ‘Notir Puja’ by Rabindranath Tagore, ‘Dersho Khokar kando’ to a fire in Indrapuri studio in Tollygunge.I read this in newspaper. However you may try you will never get them. Isn’t it tragic ?
I understand your feeling for preserving these. I have some rare western classical music collection in tapes. I have bought one Philips cassette-to-MP3 converter to digitise them. I have some rare Saigal songs in bangla. And Satyajit Ray interviews…..his Oscar speech….and more….
Thanks for such a wonderful post. Please don’t stop preserving your tapes.
Wish Youtube was there 10 years back.
@ 15: Derso khokar kando is no more? I remember watching it as a kid on television once. Do you have any idea about the movie ‘Joy’’s availablity [ it had the song- o amar chooto bondhura shono]…..
Nivedita Maam,
I read you loud and clear and I can feel the numbing pain mae the bones hollow in desperate impotent rage. I myself was (no actually)still am(though nobody wants to pay to read me,so I write for the internet..ha ha)an entertainment journalist for 30 years of my life and everytime the family relocated the first victim would be my treasure trove of magazines that were silently sold to the kabaddi wallah.
Cinema was actually a passion for me right from childhood and when I gew up i felt blessed to get paid to do what I loved doing so passionately. As a film critic I was envied to get to see previews of films before they released and every friday I was there first day first show to see what was being offered.
Even during those times I remember attending an International Film Festival in Calcutta and when visiting relatives I was introduced as a film journalist and people could not resist asking me incredulously,”You Mean You’ve Come All The Way From Delhi Just To Watch Films For Two Weeks..Isn’t That An Expensive Hobby?”The More Persistent Ones thought I was Pulling Their Leg When I Mentioned THat I Was Actually Paid To Watch Movies!!”
So while My treasure trove found it’s way to the local kabaddi wallah nobody could then imagine what my raddi would be one day on e-bay?
Imagine Star & Style & Stardust are actually sold per article and back then my lovely wife was glad to dump it of at Rs.3.50 per kg rather than lug it to the new home.
Sorry if I sound loony but it’s the pain in what has been lost never to return that makes the frustration soo painful.
Atleast you manage to save your treasure trove.I have to go through whatever termite ridden lose magaznes I could salvage as nobody wanted to have them(even the kabaddi wallah was not willing to take them for free)that I try and reproduce hubs and blogs to give my golden memories a new life.
Biswaprasun,
Thank you for the encouraging words. The loss of those bangla films including Natir Puja is really sad. I wonder if NFAI will have a copy. You have bangla songs by Saigal– wow!!! Happy digitizing. BTW, do you have songs by the (elusive) composer Kamal Dasgupta? Are they available in Calcutta? I have only heard his songs in Barua’s 1942 film Jawab and love his style.
The Lip, I saw your blog. Interesting. I really feel your anguish and pain at losing those priceless magazines. But I am glad you are able to give your golden memories a new lease of life, thanks to the Internet. That is great. If you don’t mind my asking, what is your real name?
Arjun (#14), What is torrents?
Nivedita : I do not have Kamal Dasgupta’s songs. But I will let you know if I get hold of it.