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That’s Passion!!!
One look at it, and you will realize that it is a typical South Indian village.
The vista evokes nostalgia in every Anna, Chetta, Thambi and Thamma — the rusty red (Mangalore) terracotta tiled roofs on the cute little row of houses that are huddled together like one single cozy family; the dusty roads, all of them ending in unison near one chowk - the center of the village and a major landmark - where a grand colonial looking statue stands aloft ceremonially adorned by the crows and pigeon poop; a post office; a cinema theater - sinima hall - that plays old South Indian movies; a push cart ice cream seller; a huge Pipal tree under which sits a fortune teller, who has decorated the tree with his handmade hand charts that explain his expertise; a beggar clad like a sadhu; a sweetshop and the disillusioned owner of it; a bunch of kids who gather around to play gulli cricket — I lack words to explain the immense sense of belongingness these images invoke in the minds and hearts of Indians.
One person named Raasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayanaswamy Iyer, a writer by profession who failed in his English graduate exam the first time, had the creativity to bestow upon us this glimpse of Indiana in his beautiful words, while another genius named Shankar Nagarakatte, a stage performer by passion, had the gumption to give life to those words by composing them into images for the benefit of future generations.
Malgudi Days! The master piece that will continue to captivate every Indian’s heart for generations to come.
“Tanaa na tana nana naa” these words by themselves may sound corny and meaningless, but the moment I think “Malgudi Days” these gibberish words magically get transformed into a melodious albeit rustic music - and all it is, honestly, is just a person, that too one with a nasal twang, humming - a heavenly, haunting and unforgettable tune that is engraved forever in the mind of every Indian child in late 80s.
R.K.Narayan’s words, R.K.Laxman’s sketches, L.Vaidyanathan’s euphonic score, Manjunath’s adorable portrayal of Swamy and to top it all, Shankar Nag’s astute vision of recreating Malgudi in Agumbe, a beautiful place that God made with utmost care nestled in the foothills Western Ghats.
Malgudi Days is our M*A*S*H; it is our Hogans Heroes; it is our A-Team and it is our I Dream of Jeannie. It is an important milestone in the history of Indian television. And it became possible only because one person had the dare to dream.
Shankar Nag! God bless his soul!!
22 Responses to “That’s Passion!!!”
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Shankar Nag and the child artiste Manjunath who plays Swami worked together in many other kannada movies like “Nodi Swami naavu irodhe heege”. Manjunath also did a great role in K.Vishwanath’s “Swathi Kiranam” in which Mamooty played his first direct telugu role. The film won some national award - I dont remember. It is a movie that touched upon the same elements of professional jealousy that Bharathom touched upon and acquitted itself equally well. Some one must write a post on that amazing movie “Bharathom”.
One of my favorite episode… that of Swami… Kanjoos Nana, Postmanchacha, American wanna buy that statue from a peasant… did i say one of..? Malgudi Days is the best Indian TV series…!
My favourite is the one where Ananth Nag sells sweets at the lowest price before as his son is about to sell of the sweet shop for his “factory”. A great documentation and dramatisation of “the generational conflict” and “Old Vs New”.
any idea what master manjunath is doing now?
Yes, I heard he is neck deep in the microfinance sector — the banking sector. Saw him at a press conference
My fav was when swami had to sleep alone in the night and the kind of dreams he was gettting. Reminded of my own childhood. the first day of sleeping alone in your room. :d
WB,
‘Malgudi Days’ did to television what Ray did to celluloid with his Pather Panchali(Ballads of the road).In these days of non linear narratives,open ended climaxes and of all the others equipment that make cinema more obscure, we need to understand the art of simplicity. Another example that comes in my mind is Vittorio De Sica’s “Bicycle Thief” where human pain, agony and ecstasy are depicted with much elan but with crayons in a canvas where oil paintings could be abundant.
Thanks for reminding us the simple nostalgia, wish someone would make something like that for our
Well, the last I saw Manjunath was in Bangalore in 2001 looking for a job in a IT company.
Malgudi Days..the essence of all that was innocent,vulnerable and quintessentially Indian..all that was brilliant and dazzling–a Kohinoor! Yes Shankar immortalised it..May he get his place amongst the immortals..
WB you misspelt the last naa, it has one more a ;-).
Any idea if the series is available on DVD ?
Thanks.
Malgudi Days..how much ever said about this classic is still less. Malgudi Days dvd is available online, but the problem is its in English. For me hindi always sounded authentic as we saw on our good old doordarshan.
WB,again another good article on my favorite Shankar “Auto Raja” Nag.
~Vivek H
George - You can find Malgudi days on Google Videos…at least some episodes…
All the episodes of Malgudi Days are available on Rajshri Website.
superb WB…recently saw Master Manjunath in an interview on some news channel…I think Times Now…it was about former celebs…once in limelight….now what it feels to be completely off it….Manjunth is now working in a PR firm….seemed very assured and very level headed……spoke quite well… spoke fondly of his younger days as Swami and his childhood…..
Hey Vasan, do you know Khalid Sayed?
yeh Rony I do know him….I remember him sharing one of your “sms reviews” with me. I told him that you were a regular on PFC.
Manjunath is working for a company Called NICE in Bangalore.. Domain is IT ofc.. You can try to catch Manjunath on Orkut..but he seems to have disappeared from there in last one month or so..
Pavan
vasan - i guessed it right. we are talking yesterday and he mentioned your name.
People who love the Malgudi days should also read the Man Eater of Malgudi by RK Narayan. The language and the characters will take you back in time.
master manju was also in Agneepath played role of young amitabh. excellent performance.
Malgudi days is my all time no. 1 favourite serial.
:d:d:d:d:d:d:d
VPJ // Manjunath is Shankar Nag’s discovery and is an awesome actor, a child prodigy. Shankar was a family friend and therefore could get Manju act in his Parameshi Pranaya Prasanga and Malgudi Days. Manjunath’s one other movie that quite popular in Sandalwood was Ranadheera, Ravichandran’s HERO remake. Manju’s “enu hudigiro…” was a super hit. Manju has also acted in Utsav, Benam Badshah, Agnipath and Vishwathma - and a TV serila on DD named Rock Boy.
HG, Suchita B // My favorite episode is the one where a postman plays surrogate father to a young girl, and vicariously shares the pains and pleasures she and her family go through.
Aditi, Amit, Macchar, Rony, Pankaj // Thanks for stopping by.
CBM // Spot on! Simplicity is the keyword. You were absolutely correct in comparing Ray with Nag. Some of the shots that Ray plan in his movies, e.g. in pather panchali, the girl looking into the pot is shown from the pot’s perspective (shot from inside the pot). Amazing shot. Now compare that with Nag’s opening shot of Accident (discussed here). Different genre - same principle… different emotions - same impact. And you’re right, there is so much that has been done and said, by many a great Indian. Ray’s Feluda (Shonar Kella, etc) movies, and Goopy Gyne Baaga Byne were made just for kids but were admirable celebrations of sheer simplicity, and provided unadulterated joy even for adults.
krysh // Tathastu!
George // I will add the additional a in the next version, you culture police, you :-). Malgudi Days in on DVD available via Amazon, and at Odyssey or Landmark if you wanna buy it back home.
Vikram // Ankit is right. Rajashri has all the episodes online. Haven’t checked if they’re in English or Hindi though.
Vivek H // Thanks for the kind words.
VB // Shukriya CGD!!! :-)
George // Yes, Man eater of Malgudi was an awesome book. Read it at school, at about the same time when I read another book by Kenneth Anderson, which was the prescribed English non-detailed for us. Superb book, forgot the name though :-( do you remember it by any chance?
Shailesh // Thanks.