THE ‘SHOE’ MUST GO ON
Got a call from my cousin Titu in Amritsar..And I braced myself up for some fundoo gyan from him.. “ Oye ki haal hai Yaara”, his first words to me as I answered with a tentative sounding Hello.. I said I am fine but what is this Yaara business..What happened to good old Paapey or Boss? He said Yaara is the new flavor of the season courtesy RNBDJ.. “ Oh, so you are hooked on to the movie,” I asked, peeved by his taste in movies..This time he surprised me by panning the movie saying it is too regressive even for the feudal sensibilities of North Indian Punjablis ! Then he went on to surprise me more..He commented that the movie was just like a cheap Chinese shoe..Good upper with no sturdy sole.. Then he asked me “ Oye Yaara, name five instances in Hindi Cinema where shoe mattered the most?”..I was zapped by this googly.. I racked my brains but could not come up with anything substantial..Titu pooh-poohed my association with Bollywood “ Oye ki Yaara, you call yourself a filmy guy”..I instantly took objection to this word filmy..He said Ok, Ok , just cool down with some thanda-shanda”..I became quiet! Absolutely quiet..Titu did not mind it at all..Infact he usurped this silent space..
Titu went on to tell me five shining shoe-moments of Hindi Cinema..Raj Kapoor’s “ Mera Joota Hai Japani” song sequence..He then mentioned about Pran and Raj Kumar, especially the latter.. Before their face was seen, they were recognized by their shoes in the frame..And then the entire premise of movie Deewar and its famous cross-legged posture of Amitabh Bachchan clicking his shoes after his anointment as a Don.. Then there was this whole confusion between LION & NO 17 from the shoes of Ajit in Kalicharan, And then “ Paise do Joote Lo” song and drama sequence in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun !..After rattling these five instances his puffed up tone asked “ Kyun Yaara?” ..I had no choice but to admire his hold on the nerve and soul of Hindi Cinema..And I admonished myself for being so ignorant even though being associated with the Film Industry for years..
To get out of this self-deprecation I asked him “ But what’s this fascination with shoes suddenly ?”..He sounded flabbergasted..He said “ What do you mean fascination with shoes?..Oye are you living in this world or not?”..I defended myself “ Of course, in this world”..Titu refuted my assertion and then went on a spiel :
“ Oye, China’s run in the rat race may be slowing down..It may be planning to now walk in the shoes of an Ox but the year 2008 belonged to the humble and pariah shoe! It was being crushed and it was crawling and leading a very low life..It made its presence felt in Olympics in 100 metres event..But then it got its real glory and claim to fame when Bush got nearly ambushed by size 10..And it was this episode Yaara that set me thinking about its qualities—that in this highly materialistic atmosphere it is the only one that has the “sole”..And even in Bollywood, it made its presence felt..The movies made on shoe-string budget like A Wednesday & Jaane Tu YJN made box-office strides against many a block-buster that simply busted!..The audiences walked in their trendy shoes to multiplexes to watch movies with some “sole”!
And then there was this strike where producers got to feel the truth of the saying “ Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches !”..I applauded him this time for his insights..He took it all in his stride..But the last thing that he said really made me lace up my shoes and go for a walk to mull over the whole scenario..He asked me “ Do you understand Yaara, what is the main lesson you can learn from this whole thing”..I said “ No, please give me some gyan?”..He told me that in future the best way to prod Bollywood to give good products is just to shoo away the movies that don’t have a soul..I asked him “ And even then if they persist what to do then?..He said pontificating “ Always remember, if you can’t shoe them, just give them a boot?”
HAPPY NEW YEAR..HAPPY WATCHING !HAPPY WALKING !
Tags: A Wednesday, Awara, deewar, JTYJN, KALICHARAN, Pran, RAJKUMMAR, RNBDJ
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In the old ‘Humraaz’ movie, with Sunil Dutt and Raj Kumar, the latter has indeed been introduced by showing his shoes first.
In Yaadon ki Baarat (or was it?), the villain wears different shoe sizes in each foot, and Dharam paaji recognizes him by that. Another pivotal role of shoes in flicks..
i was posting sm comments on another article on chashme baddoor, and katha came up for discussion. just remembered tht Katha had an interesting backdrop of farooque shaikh being offered the job in the shoe-making co for which naseer is working as a clerk. i think that ad-making sequence for shoes in katha is an important aspect of the ’sole’ of this article.
interesting read. what insights. sole-stirring.
the entire story of garam hawa is based on the shoe business that balraj sahni’s character runs, and which his son farooqe shaikh doesnt wantto inherit.