Raajalakshmi O Srikanto - Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen Film.

Superlative work of literature and of film, one that discloses in subtle layers veiled to those with less discernment than those cognizant of the times depicted here, of the people and of history of India. And of course, the exquisite pairing of two such beautiful artists as Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen that makes it all the more beautiful.

Generally the protagonist here coming across examples counter to general strictures and his sensitivity to women in an era where half of humanity was held not only inferior in most of the worldBut as property of males, to do with as they saw fit, was the refreshingly different factor about this author in general and this work in particular.

The confrontation between the priests and the youth that disobeyed the excommunication order of priests for a house of death, the doctor who solves it in a way they hadn't foreseen, and the very unexpectedly unloved, un-cared-for loneliness of the beautiful young man who isn't even able to get a bit of food at home, his silent virtue in abstaining from hunting birds despite peer pressure of company and his quietly disposing off the alcohol he could have very well imbibed for the occasion, all set off the sketch to a good start.

If this part 27:00 - 48:11 is discussed in literature or critique, either of the original work or the film, it's not famous enough.

But it's on the whole not out of sync with the author, or generally the ethos of the then Bengal, the thinking and literature and films thereof, that on one hand there is the hero representing the modern fearless thinking youth that firmly asserts that there are no ghosts or spirits and if there is anyone who experienced such things either they are lying or had illusions; on the other there is the older villager who firmly asserts that the spot is dangerous at night, and the young man returning safe is a miracle that shouldn't be tried again; then there is the young woman who loved him since her childhood and attempts to keep him safe; and, when she brings him out safe personally on second consecutive night instead of merely sending someone, and asks why he went, he candidly admits to his complete lack of awareness of when or why he repeated the misadventure!

What's more, he even goes on to tell her 48:13 - 48:34 that someone unkniwn calked him and brought him to the place and was with him till he was woken by her and brought out.

So on one hand he's dared and been admired by the silent crowd on the successful completion of the dare on the previous night, and on the other he has experienced something beyond his thinking, and has intellectual honesty and courage to admit it.

This duality, and the attempt to not portray it as battle but synthesis it, often is characteristic of this author, and generally literature and films of Bengal, experience as the province did the reawakening of spirit what with the stupor brought about by the previous colonial regime of a millennium challenged by the new winds that were brought in by the Brits arriving at this entry hate and making the region their head seat of rule for most of their presence, thereby weakening up the soul of India in Bengal.

This is further 48:34 - 53:14 consolidated, with a tad less elusive scene following the departure of her, having asked him to think of her in his bad times even if not in good times, when the doctor settled in the village asks him how long he'd go on being a man without a purpose, and lying about - in a subtle way, this young man then represents Bengal, and most of India too at that, still in stupor despite yet another colonial regime taking over, which the educated doctor attempts to wake him out of, with the same calm and patient solicitude with which he has made helping a poor village and region his life, instead of settling for a life of high society of wealthy that he obviously belongs to - an education and a career in medicine, with a western medicine degree, those days being not quite for those less than wealthy.

Heart of the whole work comes 1:40:00 - 1:42:00, in the conversation where the two entwined souls are attempting to find a way out of the knots they are entangled in, yet unable to join their lives together without each being thrown out of their own social status completely. What follows, 1:42:00 - 1:51:45 - 1:56:00, is the heartbreaking tale of who knows how many millions of lives, young and old, destroyed because of social stigma attached to women not married and not protected by legally appointed males, whatever the name of such legal relationships, while obviously such protection isn't always a home either, and quite often horror.

And thus 2:09:32 one is suddenly clear about the bonds, apart from the love and togetherness of their childhood, that hold the two together - after she left the village, soon she was as bereft of bonds, of caring people, at a young age, as he was seen clearly in the very beginning.

What is a whole interaction in social setup for a wedding in the original work, here comes 2:17:45 - 2:19:15 as a short instruction and promise between the two, before his looming departure to Burma to find work and a suitable position. But here the interlude 2:09:32 - 2:17:45 is very reminiscent of a similar one in Uttarphalguni, with difference of nuance in that here the music accompanies her solitary life, while there it was after she had been found by him, in a life of a private togetherness that wasn't socially declared.

A very satisfactory finale, even though it is one of a separation - perhaps because the two are now bonded by a word he gave her. And the fact that one knows the next two parts of the four volume work, and is familiar with the film versions, is somehow not quite as relevant in this, as is the excellence of this one in itself.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C4dyITyFhA


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RF93ZJzNCIM

Bengali New Movie Rajlaxmi O Srikanta Full Movie Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen YouTube 360p


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2rRigFL0cJ4

Souryatoran - Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen Film.

Remake of Fountainhead, which - the author doesn't say so on the book at least, if at all she admits it elsewhere - is in fact very closely based on art and philosophy of architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, as he himself expresses in his autobiography, apart from his own life and work. This, the author mashed with a part of the famous work of Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga - involving the architect who designs a house, far away from the town on a hill with much of surrounding land belonging to the estate, for a client whose wife he's completely in love with. Result was the most famous and popular book by this author, Ayn Rand.

Even within the first half an hour it becomes apparent how seamlessly the adaptation of the book into Bengal ethos has been worked, in that for example the servant of the senior maverick architect agonising over his starving, and the hero effortlessly and successfully telling his new eccentric boss to eat, with the servant in tears one can feel, is all very Bengal.

So is the slum exploration of the heroine brought up wealthy but working as a journalist, and the encounter of the couple changed considerably into a far more natural circumstance. Only, subsequent attempt to incorporate a version of the original is out of sync with the spirit.

Sudden view of the quintessential photo on the wall 33:04, The Murphy Baby, favourite of society in India during that era for decades, makes one oh, so nostalgic!

Again, the original bribe turned obsession motif of meeting of the rich guy with the heroine is here turned into a casual glance at the slum turned obsession and a blackmail via taking over all her wealth, with the whole temple interlude cut out and a whole character too, that of Ellsworth Toomey, who was after all Ayn Rand's caricature of Gandhi.

But in the process, it's not just the main couple that's more human, it's the rich guy too somehow more vulnerable, worthy of compassion here.

................................................................................................





This, part two, begins with the hero reinstated as architect, honourably. The poor housing project is here turned into the heroine's dream project and the condition she has agreed to marry the rich guy. The house seems designed by the elder architect that the hero aspired to learn from, and the twists and turns in the couple seem later copied in at least one or two, if not more, Hindi films, where she is upstanding until he reminds her she is at every male's mercy, and she wilts.

Charming detail, sound of wind and rain during the song 16:00. Here on the relationships of the three, too, take a turn quite different from both the originals - Fountainhead as well as The Forsyte Saga - and get closer to films or literature of West, what with the prospective husband being in doubt and seeking to discover their togetherness by pretend absense, but stays yet subtler than the routine drama.

With all those changes, various whole parts dropped and more, arriving at the destruction of the dream housing for poor project and courtroom thereafter is not as organic here as in Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. It's turned instead into a naive leftist utopia where provision of a good housing for poor is all it's needed for them to achieve quality of life.





https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aVOBtkNvfD4

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_WciJPiFlz4

Harano Sur - Uttam Kumar And Suchitra Sen Classic, 1957.

Quintessential Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen film and a classic of the era from Bengali films.

Adaptation of Random Harvest by James Hilton. Perhaps with a tad borrowed, in the woman being a psychiatrist at a mental hospital, from Hitchcock's Spellbound. The original, set in wartime England from end of WWI to WWII, has her in other jobs possible for someone from a middle to lower middle class background, going from a bartender to wife to typist, secretary and onwards, on her own capabilities.

Whether thereby, or deliberately - since the other factirs of the original story have been cut out necessarily - it's the heroine's persona and dilemma, agony and problem that is highlighted here, unlike in the original where she remains elusive for much of the story. There, she is a lower middle class simple young girl who happened to find a lost young man escaping the facility he was sequestered at, and having given him refuge, married him, only to lose him - and subsequently when she did find him, the class difference is huge, so she could only wait in the background, hoping he will remember, or give up. Her doctor had told her that any pressure to remind him might damage him for ever, irrevocably. So she waited, and there is the background of the two wars.

Here, his former life is rather in the background unlike the original, even when he has returned, and so is her elevated status of a not only medical doctor but a psychiatrist, and from the moment he enters her life, she gives him increasing priority, until having found him she's content to hide her identity and give up her profession for the time being, perhaps for ever, which seems to be the attempt to integrate the story into Indian ethos! 

Necessarily the counterpart is turning of the official fiancee of his into a virago, upset with the silent mysterious new woman who doesn't fit any stereotype recognisable, and confronting her over and over - unlike the original where there is no such confrontation or even recognition, only the opposite - there, the much younger new entry in his life is nevertheless mature enough to realise he might have asked her to marry him and won't ever dishonour his word, but in reality isn't seeing her, only absent and seeking something lost that isn't her. This was perhaps too elusive and pastel for thisbadaptation, where the lines are far fewer and colours all bold.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyYg-0YdoLw

Indrani - Uttam Kumar And Suchitra Sen Classic, 1958.

What a perfect pairing of two such beautiful artists!

When one catches a film on TV these days, often it's already a few minutes past its beginning, and often it's only when one knows it's the golden pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen that one begins to pay attention. That one gets to see films this way now is already great, and all due to cable.

But seeing it from the beginning, and not missing the vital first few minutes as in this one, is often due to internet, and one must thank technology! So much becomes clearer, the characterisations, relationships, and details that are telling - such as the story being set to pre independence era, although that isn't made clear except when she first finds a job and they set forth to a place they couldn't have post independence.

Wonder if this film was later the inspiration for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Hindi film Abhimaan, what with the same problem dealt with in both - the couple in love, married newly, has similar talents, he is way ahead to begin with and helps her, but problems arise with her success as he is floundering.

This one begins with the girl's father writing about problems of women finding identity and occupations that take them away from serving their family, just as his first and only child is being born - and he is despondent its a girl. But she grows quietly, educating herself with distinction and clinging on to the necessity thereof so she need not be dependent, and when she finds love, her education is handy immediately, in their being able to escape the wrath of his family that has turned to ill treatment of the couple - but his lack of job and independent wealth brings more problems. This is where, true to the bengal and its literature and films of the era, it turns to the left, with him finding a place in a creation of a refuge for needy,  which - it's implicit, and said too, what with his new mentor tearing up his degree certificates - is supposedly superior a lifestyle.

Funny, the leftist thought seems to force a questioning of why one shoukd do study, research, thesis, .."could you not survive without the fame" asks a co-worker as the guy seeks to work nights to complete his thesis in the scant lamp light in the refuge they are building in the foŕest area in a valley with low hills.

Those were the heyday of the Maoist revolution that reverberated largely in Bengal, with the dire treatment meted out to academics and intellectuals contrasting strongly against Indian ethos of reverence for knowledge and achievements in intellectual sphere, helping rise of the lumpen; that this wasn't exactly leftist or useful to humanity, and was in fact the modus operandi of the fascist and nazi in Europe seems to have either escaped or been deliberately ignored, even pushed under the rug, by the admirers of those revolutionaries across borders East.

And what escapes most, due chiefly to false propaganda by the persecutors, is that this hatred of those that are keepers of knowledge is at the root of this persecution of Hindus and India, and of the Jews through over two millennia until the holocaust last century. For neither of these succumbed as easily as fell the other ancient cultures that were keepers of knowledge before and with these, until,they were destroyed by onslaught of the two waves of conversionist institutionlised religions that swept away and destroyed cultures of Egypt, Persia and much more, across the then known world. These two, in contrast, survived against all odds and every massacre perpetrated. So far.

Here, a melodramatic shortcut seems the final twist, with him rejecting her after she's come to be with him as soon as she kniws his whereabouts, leaving her life and identity behind her, but he can't let her leave while there's a storm that combines with hay roofs and a fallen lamp to set fire to his creation the refuge. And of course, the hero must give a cliche speech to rouse the people out of despondency, with a song too.

Final words of wisdom, as ever here, are from her - for while he might represent West or left, intellectual progressions borrowed from thinking rooted only in thought, she's the deep wisdom of India rooted in soul.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjwm9hdhuBw

Nostalgia About Kedarnath, And Watching Kedarnath, The Film Set At Kedarnath

Beautiful setting of the film is the chief reason we went to see it, since it has been just over quarter of a century since we went, and it's unlikely we might again, what with health issues even without landslide fears. And in this the film is far from disappointing - superb scenery and much more so than our rose gold nostalgic memories would have made them, made watching it a breathtaking pleasure most of the time. We had no expectations of the film other than this, so the young pair was a pleasant surprise.

It's only later that it emerges to one just how carefully the film was crafted to stay on the brink where it could, but need not be, interpreted as a message, or a bunch of them, all serving perhaps an underworld diktat, and all equally false.

Reminds one of the time one saw an old classic by a director very revered in highbrow and esoteric connoisseur circles of the intellectual metropolis Boston-Cambridge neighbourhood, at Harvard theatre, and it so happened there were a couple of colleagues there too, so we had coffee at the spot close by after the film. The youngest one of us was quite ardent in his naive bong praise for the film, Autumn Sonata, and the third one said he understood the point of view of each and so was silent. A decade and half later, a similar argument was in Amsterdam at the Riiksmuseum over a painting titled "Arabs" or something including the explicit word but depicting a coal black pair, and I remarked that it was false, while our then host (holder of many passports but not the one he coveted, Dutch) opined - just as the young guy in Boston-Cambridge had about the film - that it was excellent artistically. My complete disagreement in either case, despite the guys assuming compliance from what they obviously assumed was lesser human for obvious reasons, went a long way towards permanent friction.

Why does this film remind one of those completely unrelated topics is obvious to anyone familiar with the deep underlying issues not as hidden here as the guys pretended they were in those two - the underlying issue in each is a fraud perpetrated via an artistic effort to veil the false propaganda. Then, I had called it garbage served covered completely in ketchup, in the first case. But regardless of whether it's ketchup as it could be termed in the second case, or hollandaise in champagne as in case of the first one the film - or in this case a thick cheer with saffron and pistachios served ice cold, the thorn remains unquestionable. And that is the falsehood.

Autumn Sonata was vicious propaganda about evils of women achieving an identity via a superior talent, although nobody ever said a word about need of women earning to support children due to males fleeing from responsibilities thereof - so the issue has never been the actual suffering of the children, which couldn't be worse for a woman with talent and career than for a manual worker exhausted working nine hours a day in high heels serving coffee and burgers. The painting was stereotypical of Europe assuming everyone else is black and they are white, neither of which is true.

This film does not explicitly articulate, but instead skirts the "all but" route, of making the message or propaganda not quite articulated in the dialogue. The message? It could be interpreted as "there is no love jihad, it's about casteism imprisoning youth away from love and girls from right to freedom, minority is noble and majority backward in India,....", - needless to say none of which is not fraud.

Yes, in this particular tale the guy isn't going after the girl deliberately or cheating her of knowledge of his identity or, having married her, then pressuring her to convert; which doesn't prove that that is precisely not happening generally to hundreds, if not thousands, of naive young women who were not brought up to protect themselves against such freedom taken away precisely because they had it, pretty much like the Europe eight decades ago voting a bunch into power that took away votes from everyone and promised it will be for a thousand years!

Yes, in this case the young man is a part of India and not the jihadist mindset that uses rape and physical assault to benumb young girls  into complete submission via total humiliation and calls it grooming - but that is not to say hundreds of young girls haven't suffered it from gangs that inflict it deliberately.

Yes, in this story the guy saves their lives and risks, even gives up perhaps,  his own, but that is not to say hundreds of others in real life don't gangrape and subsequently sell the young woman, who loses her identity and her family and life and freedom and future, all at once.

This film maker plays it safe by saying nothing explicitly while making the message clear as Himaalayan pristine streams still in hills, by deliberately choosing a highly revered shrine of India (would he dare use a locale or object revered by a powerful institution outside India?), by leaving no doubts just how ignoble the choice of the parents is and how wrong the behaviour of the community (would he dare make that assertion in real life stories about the minorities associated with ex colonial regimes by showing facts of their behaviour on film and calling a spade a spade?), and more.

And so, covered in the beauty of Himaalayan ranges and valleys and treks, and the talented delightful young pair, still, rotten at core this is. If one can avoid that core and merely enjoy the beauty by floating above it all, good luck, but chances are the propaganda is a poisonous jet stream of falsehood and it will get you.

And the pity of it all is the offering of the young pair of artists at this alter to falsehood in the propaganda to cover up the jihadist warfare so it can carry on with impunity.

The young hero does his job superbly, of depicting every emotion and flicker of the young man who is outgoing in public purpose but reticent in his private feelings. His willingness to stand up for the needs of his valley, his protecting his clients and his hiding his own vulnerabilities and his anguish, are all very endearing.

The young girl, despite the not quite so admirable character she portrays - she is open in being less than respectful of her elders in a way that leaves one between askance and aghast, and doesn't fight when needed despite the liberties she risks taking when not necessary to risk her everything - is still nevertheless made very endearing by the young debutante from the lineage of half a dozen or so well known lines of lineage.

And the unforgettable part is the tragedy that struck the region, with - the numbers given in film at end - 4,300 lives lost, 50,000 rescued by military and 70,000 missing. We could barely recognise the newly reconstructed trek, so changed is the valley.

But here too the director gave in to the underworld demands, or was it the mafia opposition? He never mentioned the rescue work carried out by various private institutions, because they are associated with the majority of India.

If India isn't whipped continuously as per Macaulay policy of humiliation and lies against it, how will they accept their subjugation meekly? They might rise up and expect a citizenship equal to those tribesmen of non Indian origin who were granted nawabhoods for defeating Indian forces so the colonial regimes could establish a hold, and no longer be ignorant about Nawab being not princes but merely tax collectors!

Funny, the appeasers attempt to trick majority with a silent implication that the unquenched love of the young was what brought on the wrath of heavens pouring down and caused the landslides that were responsible for so much devastation - but they failed to take into account the sureshot weapon they provided the trench against them that are their more than equals, since the film will be interpreted by them as heaven's wrath brought down due to sacred spaces defiled by footfall of the unholy!

And while the appeasers go parading calling themselves secular, it's the trye secular India that's losing the middle ground, since there is nothing more secular than India with her ancient culture, and aligning with India in any way is now branded by the invader appeasers as regressive!


Responding to a comment below another yt video on the topic, by Kanchan Thakur:-

"😡😡

एक लड़की केदारनाथ दर्शन करने जाती है,

वहां मुस्लिम कुली से उसको प्यार हो जाता है,

लड़की का बाप कहता है 'ये रिश्ता हुआ तो प्रलय आ जायेगा' ।

लड़की कहती है

'फिर तो मैं प्रार्थना करती हूं कि प्रलय आये' ।

बादल फट जाता है,

पूरा केदारनाथ डूब जाता है और वो मुस्लिम कुली दूसरे किसी मदद करने की बजाय सिर्फ हीरोइन को बचाता है

और

लड़की के बाप को दिव्य ज्ञान प्राप्त होता है

कि प्रेम में जाती धर्म नहीं होता और हमारा देश गंगा जमुनी तहजीब वाला देश है (जैसे दिल्ली के अंकित सक्सेना को ज्ञान प्राप्त हुआ था) ।

वो अपनी लड़की का निकाह उस कुली से करवा देता है ।

ये कहानी है फ़िल्म केदारनाथ की । 😡

फ़िल्म से एक सीख और मिलती है कि

हिन्दुओ ने अपनी लड़की का निकाह मुसलमानो से नहीं कराया तो प्रलय आएगा ।

बॉलीवुड वाले भांड क्या गुल खिला सकते हैं, समझ से बाहर है.

केदारनाथ त्रासदी में करीब एक लाख लोग मारे गए,

कइयों के तो शव भी नहीं मिले आज तक,

पूरा देश खून के आंसू रोया था, जैसे अपना कोई सगा वाला मरा हो ।

इतनी भयानक घटना पर फ़िल्म भी बनाई

तो उसमें भी लव जिहाद का जहर घोल दिया ।

केदारनाथ पर फ़िल्म ही बनानी थी तो सेना ने अपनी जान पर खेलकर कैसे लोगों की जान बचाई ये बताते ।
सेना का पराक्रम बताने की बजाय एक मुस्लिम कुली को महान बता दिया।

ये वो फिल्मकार है

जो पैसों की खातिर अपनी बहन बीवी बेटी भी सुला देंगे किसी के भी साथ।

क्या फिल्म का नाम केदारनाथ रखकर भी ऐसी घटिया फिल्म बनायीं जा सकती है?

😡😡😡"



Kanchan Thakur - just a small correction, the guy is gone in a landslide as the girl and others rescued watch from the helicopter, it's not exactly a wedding but uncertainty at the end, he is one of the 70,000 missing.  If the father has any second thoughts, they aren't about getting her married to the boy he's known, only about reassessment of his wrath against the boy.

Kanchan Thakur  - another small correction, it's not about a girl going to visit, it's a local girl, although the trailer diesnt make it clear; and she doesn't fall in love just casually, she's intrigued at a connection made as a fanatic cricket fan but also she's very angry and desperate to get out of an enforced engagement with someone who changed his mind about marrying her sister after a childhood connection of several years; so the rebellion is really a cry for help from a young girl in circumstances she has little control over. The film would have been lovely if it were not mixed up in a false propaganda and set in the immensely beautiful place, but we saw it only to relive our memories of the travel.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=03-KVRmd3xo


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SypmQenLQgs

About The Film Sunju

Quote:- "... hilarious and heartbreaking exploration of one man’s battle against his own wild self and ..." - hilarious and heartbreaking indeed, and superb.

Hard as it is to gain muscles or lose weight, the surprising fundamental similarity of face structure was important to begin with, and the capability of the artist to portray a character mattered - and of course, the protagonist helping wasn't the least.

Never thought one could like a film by this guy, the director. Until this one. Not due to being a fan of the protagonist, either. But RK Jr is always artist par excellence, chip off the old RK! Family tradition at that, grandchildren taking after a grandparent.

One sees the film without expectations or adulation, if one is a fan of neither the director nor particularly the subject - although being open about the subject helps - and one is seeing it partly from curiosity about its being a blockbuster, partly because one has high opinion of the artist playing the protagonist.

One is pleasantly surprised at the turns, the unexpected hilarious moments in so far from ideal or idyllic a life, and finally left wondering why this confused young person was so very targeted. Why there is so much of hate comments on internet about this film and it's subject. Did they not see It?

Some time later, though, it hits one why - why it's hated by so many, why one hasn't done a turnabout in one's negative opinion of the director, despite the surprise of liking a film of his. That is because, as usual, he has poured venom in this film too, and this time the target he aims at is huge.

This film isn't vilifying medical professionals, or faculty of high ranking technology institutions. Here in this film he is gone political, and not just vilifying a party or a bouquet of parties in the political spectrum of india. It is vilifying majority of the nation.

Well done, Hirani, although you have only sold your motherland, and not quite scraped the bottom of the abyss. Not yet. That would be when he does it to all mothers, and one couldn't safely bet he won't.

When the riots happened, and the news about Sanjay Dutt the son of a very respected couple, MP Sunil Dutt and ex MP Nargis Dutt, having possessed an assault weapon illegally and being in custody, this news had exploded, he had explained it describing the situation in detail.

Much of it is in the film, except that the director gas conveniently changed some details, cutting out some vital ones, making it all one sided.

From what one recalls, the family had received appeals for help from riot victims on both sides, and was helping both sides. Here the director shows Sunil Dutt helping only the minority, despite his being not part of it, and the implicit message is thereby to the effect that minority were the exclusive victims. This is far from true, and it's a picture favoured only by fraudulent for propaganda against India.

And the threats he is frightened by are shown as emanating from one side, which again was unlikely, but the next part gets more intricate. 

The guys who brought him the assault weapons are mentioned only by name, never labelled underworld dons that they were even if small fry, and while he is shown helped by someone of minority to dispose it off, the news had to get to the law only because one of the said underworld weapon suppliers squealed after being picked up by the police in context of the riots.

That was due to their involvement in the riots and killings, which isn't mentioned. But the director does take care to have a whole scene about the protagonist disassociating from what seems to be a goon in politics, from the majority, at risk of life, because his father wished it.

Surely his father Mr Dutt couldn't have wished his association with the underworld dons of the minority to continue? There is no mention about any of that. And there are many such omissions, including his first two wives and his eldest child. But there is more, along the director's political agenda lines.

If one wishes to see the protagonist Sanjay Dutt himself, one excellent site is the 58th episode of Saregamapa Little Champs 2017, where he is a guest.

Apart from his candid speaking and sincere demeanour with a humility that's very real, one little detail that's remarkable about his talks in this episode is him mentioning he read most of chief ancient Hindu scriptures during his prison stint, the last time that he was in.

This, the film does not mention. At all.
.................................................


Responding to a comment below another yt video, by Puneet Gandhi:-

"Ranbir Kapoor is 500% better than Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor... But he didn't get good scripts... After Ae Dil Hai Mushkil nd SANJU,, He proved he is best actor of this generation"

He's on the whole done good films with good scripts, even if they weren't blockbusters, a part from a rare YJHD. To say he hasn't got good scripts would be not quite true.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YkBgmse4lQs

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana - Vendetta By Spurned Groom

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana

This film, that we happened to see recently on tv and recalled having seen promotions of on some talent show, wasn't promoted as a romance or happy film, but nevertheless it was shocking.

Here are my thoughts as posted on the videos of the film on YT , of which the first two links were removed within a day!
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HORROR. Not just the film, but the comments justifying the vendetta.

Have there been not enough cases of women persecuted, arms broken, eyes punched, acid thrown at face and body and the girl burnt, gangrape and murder, all just because she thought she could be a doctor, or be educated, or had guts to say no to unwelcome advances of a stranger?

Did they have to make a film where the guy is borderline clean and the male viewership is going ecstatic about punishing a woman for having done well?

When the girl goes taking exams secretly towards selection as a high level officer, and has to choose between a marriage where she won't be allowed by her elders to earn or step out, that's not ok, because she should have not had ambitions of not being a housebound serving woman as all her predecessors have been.

When his mummy demands dowry, and his mama shuts up the boy's dad who might have not insisted on it, that's ok, because, well, boys are bought by girls' parents if they want their daughter safely married.

When the boy's mummy says the groom doesn't matter, his bride can't leave home and must devote herself to housework post wedding, that's ok because the mummy has served everyone so far and must be relieved by the next young bride.

When the boy's uncle accuses the girl fraudulently, of having run away not because of protesting the dowry, but because her education allowed her to come in contact with males and she has been sleeping around, that's ok because he is entitled, just so the girl's parents asking them to return the hefty dowry are silenced.

When the boy goes after her with a vengeance because her leaving him on day of wedding caused him trauma, that's ok, because how dare a female do that, she must obey the male if he wants her! So him accusing her fraudulently and imprisoning her without a shred of evidence is ok, because the female must be taught she can't be a respectable officer of the government,  she must remain the woman in tears whose only power must be purity, of refusing any male an improper advance.

So her choosing to be the woman serving the government in her capacity as an officer is worthy of punishment, but those that demanded dowry, or declared her future must be housework, will for ever remain the valid ones.

This film is a horror film, teaching every viewer that any amount of vendetta for any reason against a female shall be not only justified but found glamorous enough to be subject of a film.

Yes, the guy here is borderline clear to begin with, but that only makes it as much a cleaned up version of the reality of the gangrape and murders, acid and other assaults perpetrated against women who aren't locked in, as DDLJ and Namaste, London were cleaned up versions of the reality that's much closer to Khuda Ke Liye or Shameless.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KG50Uu9v38Q


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x8rV04D_T3U


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr7Wg2a9eGI

Agnipariksha, From Bengal To North Centric India, Varied Values

Agni Pariksha - Bengali Movie - Uttam, Suchitra

And

Chhoti Si Mulaqat
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Having seen the Hindi remake at an early age when it was quite new, and not thought of it as much but ridiculous  - which was not an exceptional opinion about it, then, at that - it came as a surprise, when, halfway through first watching this one realised that this was the original, and it wasn't ridiculous at all. And subsequent viewings merely made the surprise grow along with the intrigue about why, the theme that had seemed rather simplistic in sixties at best, now seems far from it, but much deeper if anything.

For one, there are of course differences between the original and the remake.

This one is done with all the westernised society atmosphere of a comparatively bygone era of ladies and gentlemen, with decorum and more, in an upper strata of wealthy Bengali society that holidayed in Darjeeling regularly, and looked up to education as much as took wealth for granted, all with a platform of the westernised urban social setting that set them up aloft above the ground realities, of not only those less than wealthy but - perhaps more importantly - of those not quite so westernised.

In comparison the remake was set in the sixties post Junglee, yahoo changes that brought in a very overt pursuit of the very unwilling lady by an almost Tarzan cum ape, with the lady eventually giving in to the overtures in terms of romance - still virtuously, of course! And this change was then harder to reconcile with the story that develops.

Here, the quiet but steady devoted candidate for the hand of the beautiful educated modern young woman, and a self confessed fan of her singing, is a role that reveals itself as much more complex, deeper, only on subsequent viewings - when one knows he is more than he has said.

But the real knot remains firm and soul of the theme - and has been dealt with in at least half a dozen films of last two decades or so from US, although with different storylines. Question is, what if one is already committed in a relationship, and then someone new appears who one cannot help falling inexorably in love with?

Here, the said relationship is a childhood marriage that the girl's mother had revolted against, and declared null and void, bringing the family to town and making the girl forget about it in course of education and normal life. But it dies exist, and once the memory is back, it cannot be denied. Legally she coukd free herself, but she finds an inexplicable bond drawing her, and she is uncertain of her duty, the right choice to make.

And then she turns to the old grandmother who had conducted that marriage. The grandmother asks her, what if you do marry the young man you now met, and then you meet someone who attracts you, and you fall in love with him?

That the film is beautifully made, is a bonus, as is the superlative young pair. And the music.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jSuBte1lZWU
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The original Agnipariksha where the golden couple of Bengali films had perhaps their first superhit, was a far quieter, deeper flow; since Uttam Kumar himself produced this remake, he probably had a good reason to change it so much.

The title is changed from the original, Agnipariksha, which was a work of literature by the wonderful Bengali author Ashapourna Devi. Whether the title is from the title song with its then very new very modern dance and coutoure, or vice versa, it announces the change of the perspective, as in seeing it as a love affair stemming from a small encounter, rather than a test by fire that the young woman undergoes when realising she was married and still is.

Uttam Kumar produced this remake. Judging from this dance, perhaps he did it to fit in with the then upcoming trend, or perhaps he needed to ascertain his own multifaceted capabilities. But the story suited the quieter and deeper original far more, and that was probably the reason this one didn't do well. Didn't quite gell with the modernisation of the original, the original was deeply rooted in the region it belonged to and had a sedate, demure character even to the modern, but this was yahooed up for presumably the then young audience, and the dilemma of the film wasn't in tune.

Also, this film came in '67, a few years post the high point of this artist's career in RK's  Sangam, and while she did have a couple of hits post Sangam, this role of a young adult virgin bride wasn't likely to go down with the audience after the high drama of her marrying a man who divorced his wife just to marry her.

One recalls the then trend of this variation of draping saree, which was also seen in Sangam. Here, though, she seems to wish to compete with the original of this role, there is a hint of Suchitra Sen in the way she holds herself at times, which was never before or after. They had been together in Devdas by Bimal Roy, before this, and later Suchitra Sen did Aandhi after Vyjayantimala had refused.

An additional delight here is seeing the sweet niece of the veteran Geeta Bali, the  then very young Yogita, who later was a heroine for some years and used the name Bali herself. Those years we had seen her first apoearance in a children's film produced by NFDC, Jawab Aayega, and others including this. But having forgotten this and pretty much most exceot one's general reaction, there are unexpected pleasures in revisiting this film now for a second time.

Wonder who played the young bridegroom that is Uttam Kumar when adult.

The point of difference between original Bengali Agnipariksha and this remake comes immediately at the introduction of the young bride grown up into a woman, introduced here with a very western dance she is doing alone in what is presumably her own home, instead of the staid, demure Suchitra Sen lost in fog on mountain roads of Darjeeling while out for a walk with her relatives, which seems normal occupation for the routine of a summer holiday in their home in hills away from the town house, and she is found by Uttam Kumar who informs her he is a fan, and escorts her home after a song she is happy to sing for him - she has found fame and following as a singer.

Wonder if either of the two main artists really did ski 40:00 - 42:00? Rajendranath on the other hand executed a comic stunt that required great skill, but since he shot often enough before this in Kashmir and is from a Northwest clan, wouldn't be surprising if he did ski well.

The scene of various people's calls, looking for a lost one, echoing in the mountains, is here supposedly in Simla, but judging from the tea garden they suddenly are in instead of a park 43:00 - 43:52 where they were at a picnic, this is shot probably at the Peshok Tea Garden. The two meeting twice and him suddenly breaking into a song are a rude shock, especially all the more so after having seen Agnipariksha with it's very romantic first meeting of the two. Really this yahoofication is half the reason this film failed.

The stage dance performed by the heroine 55:00 -59:00 is well conceived, but as usual with Hindi films, while most of the performance goes on there is no clue just where the stage or the audience is, and the heroine is shown from most angles. What is poetically conceptualised but not quite as well executed is the descent of the heavenly Apsara, Menaka, dancing her way floating down to earth and attempting to free herself of a transparent veil - nice use of something very akin to cellophane but presumably a fabric she could breathe through - that she can be presumably seen through but not touched by a mortal, and then the scene background turning suddenly bright red signifying material Earth as she manages to extricate herself from the veil and the fog vanishes. Too bad the person who did this conceptualising of the stage dance wasn't in charge of the whole film.

A significant portion seems to be missing between the end of the dance and the heroine returning home, what with the inexplicably complete turnabout in her mood and stance. This missing portion is evident since she seems to be holding a greatcoat as she enters what seems her own bedroom, and then the film or this vudeo jumps again to show her enter his home, which seems never locked against intruders. Strangely enough, in the process of attempting returning his overcoat she enters his bedroom, rather than leave it in the empty drawing room. She doesn't look curious, so was it spying for a reason, or just faux pas on part of the director and screenplay? Again, she is humming a song here, the melodious key song to this film, so was this song cut from this video? No, it seems she heard it before he sings it, perhaps it's suggested it's written on the photograph of hers she finds in his bedroom, but not visible to the viewer.

Subsequent turns here make it clear why this film failed- where the original had a straightforward narration of a romance interrupted rudely with a memory returning to haunt the young woman who, in the over a decade interim, had indeed forgotten it, here the wedding hadn't happened so long ago, the bride was fifteen instead of the preteen original, and it's the cousin attempting to hook the eligible guy that heaps guilt on the heroine - but the worst part is the compliance with seemingly requisite regular interruptions with songs, and they are quite disappointing to those familiar with Uttam Kumar's playback being given by the mellifluous Bengal singers rather than the then prevalent voice if yahoo romances.

At 1:36 there is another false turn, where the cousin informs him his beloved is married and he shows a puzzled, shocked reaction that doesn't match the reality - quite unlike the silent and observant, hesitant and stoic hero of the original who is never quite told why she suddenly stops seeing him, but instead wishes to tell her something about himself at one point!

But the much worse part is at the engagement party, interrupted by the manager and accountant of the husband, without whose instructions they wouldn't have dared to humiliate her - and here on the picture spoils as far as the hero is concerned, since he puts her through the humiliation and pain, unnecessary suffering instead of simply disclosing his identity once she has fallen for him.

Later, there's a melodious song - Jeevan Ke Do Raahe Pe Khade Sochate Hain Hum - that never got much popularity, and yet it's the one at the turning point.

The original Agnipariksha had a simpler song in the situation, Ke Tumi Aamaare Daako. It related the whole dilemma, and was shown in the simpler setting of the upper class young woman dressed not her usual upper class sophisticated style but in the simpler way a rural married woman would, and singing to herself at the piano in her home as she's used to - which itself frames the dichotomy well.

...............................................................................................................................



Somewhere along the line, having watched the Hindi remake for only the second time, after a gap of half a century, it becomes amply clear why this film was so disliked generally, and why we disliked it in particular.

For, what was originally a sensitive story about a mother who wishes only the best for her children including her eldest daughter, with determination to educate her and make her free of the shackles that traditions will put her in, and subsequently the dilemma of the daughter about her childhood bridegroom vs her newfound precious love, was in the remake turned into a complete melodrama with the mother a borderline viper and the groom turned lover a questionable guy who woos her in the obnoxious ways that sixties had brought in and then let's loose the social stigma at her at every point, cornering her with tides of social scorn into turning her back on her modern ways and to her husband of the ceremony she went through at fifteen.

The original is about three women of three generations, and the gentlemen who stand by them. The remake was about telling women they are objects without power or prestige, and exist with honour only in obeying their male owners.

Was this because the original was Bengali and thus true to India, while the remake was supposed to cater to North and central India, and those were seen as regions adhering to values not of India but those brought in by invading colonisers with their abrahmic creeds?

This seems to be all the more true, since the finale dialogue with the husband ending it is so opposite in the remake from the original.

Originally, he says, he wanted her to come to him on her own - and watching it mire than once makes his quiet, reticent, patiently holding himself back, standing by her in all her travails, makes it clear more than any dialogue.

In the remake, he says he wanted her modern ways wiped out, so she coukd be happy in the old traditional life with him. And he did everything possible that he could, towards this end.

In that, he fails to consider he was possibly risking her life!
....................................................................................................



Responding to a comment below the original yt video about why the film didn't do well, by Ramandeep Gill:-


"The best movie! I am surprised that why this gem was flopped? uttam kumar looking so handsome, and everybody's performance was great!"


Didn't quite gell with the modernisation of the original, the original was deeply rooted in the region it belonged to and had a sedate, demure character even to the modern, but this was yahooed up for presumably the then young audience, and the dilemma of the film wasn't in tune.

Also, this film came in '67, a few years post the high point of this artist's career in RK's  Sangam, and while she did have a couple of hits post Sangam, this role of a young adult virgin bride wasn't likely to go down with the audience after the high drama of her marrying a man who divorced his wife just to marry her.



Responding to a comment below the original yt video about why she had to make this choice,  by Chamatkaar1947:-


"Great performances and music! Vyjayantimala's emotional acting is so unguarded and raw! I love it! The music is wonderful as well! However, I don't know if I agree with the message of the movie....I mean, why is it implying that she should be a "proper" indian woman who believes in the meaning of a childhood marriage? Not following such tradition doesn't make her any less of a proud indian woman!"

That precisely is the question the story, and the films based thereupon, deal with, and its up,to her to make that choice. But notice that in the Hindi remake here, it's not a child marriage - not by the laws as they then were. She was fifteen, and the boy eighteen, when they were married - with consent of adults of the two families, which was completely legal. Remember the '73 marriage of the first superstar of Hindi films, with a fifteen year old one film heroine? That was legal, since her parents were consenting and she was fifteen.

In this film the father is upset but knows this is done, since Indian tradition does not have alternatives. The mother is modern and tells everyone she will change it. Every option, until the point where the bride makes a choice after growing up, is explored. She isn't just given up.

The clincher in the original film is where the grandmother asks her, what if you fall in love with yet another person after you marry the one you love now?

And there are no guarantees about that never happening, as can be seen from the plethora of over half a dozen films in just the last couple of decades, and thousands of real life stories in US and elsewhere in last century or so.

In the original it isn't finally what anyone else says or thinks, it's up to her. That it's a happy ending is because he had come looking for her, to win her over, in the first place - else she might have changed her mind, if she had not been happy.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j56HXFe4qH0

Nostalgia - Marathi

Uthi uthi gopala


Praasaadik!


मलयगिरीचा चंदनगंधित धूप तुला दाविला
स्वीकारावी पूजा आता, उठि उठि गोपाला


पूर्व दिशेला गुलाल उधळुन ज्ञानदीप लाविला
गोरस अर्पुनि अवघे गोधन गेले यमुनेला
धूप-दीप-नैवेद्य असा हा सदुपचार चालला

रांगोळ्यांनी सडे सजविले रस्त्यारस्त्यातुन
सान पाउली वाजति पैंजण छुनुछुनु छुनछुन
कुठे मंदिरी ऐकू येते टाळांची किणकिण
एकतानता कुठे लाविते एकतारिची धून
निसर्गमानव तुझ्या स्वागता असा सिद्ध जाहला

राजद्वारी झडे चौघडा शुभःकाल जाहला
सागरतीरी ऋषीमुनींचा वेदघोष चालला
वन वेळूंचे वाजवि मुरली, छान सूर लागला
तरुशिखरावर कोकिलकविने पंचम स्वर लाविला

गीत      -        बाळ कोल्हटकर
संगीत  -      वसंत देसाई
स्वर  -       पं. कुमार गंधर्व
नाटक - देव दीनाघरी धावला
राग -         देसकार ,  भूप
गीत प्रकार -  हे श्यामसुंदर ,  नाट्यगीत


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx4UsCETgwc
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The transcription is faulty in many, many places, but not a bar to someone who does know the language. Superlative biographical account by a beloved figure of the time and place, of his mother, that reflects the culture, the times, the travails and much more.

  भरजरी गा पीताम्बर (द्रौपदीसी बन्धु शोभे नारायण), श्यामची आई

This song is deeper in cultural sense, of the author's mother singing about why Draupadie was the beloved sister of Krshna, even though she wasn't a blood relative at all, and his own sister was married in the same family.


भरजरी गा पीताम्बर_ श्यामची आई

Song: द्रौपदीसी बन्धु शोभे नारायण
Singers: Asha Bhosale
Music: Vasant Desai
Lyrics: Vasant Bapat, Pralhad, Keshav Atre

भरजरी ग, पिताम्बर, दिला फाडुन
द्रौपदीसी बन्धु शोभे नारायण-२

सुभद्रा कृश्ना चा पाथिची बहिण
विचारया गेले नारद म्हणुन
बोते श्री हरिचे कापले गा बई
बान्धायाल चिन्धी लवकर देयी
सुभद्रा बोलली, शालु नी पैथणी
फदुन क देवु चिन्धी तुम्हस मी ?
पाथची बहिन झाली वैरिण !

भरजरी ग, पिताम्बर, दिला फाडुन
द्रौपदीसी बन्धु शोभे नारायण-२

द्रौपदी बोलली, हरिचि मि कोण ?
परी मला त्याने मनिली बहिण-२
कालजाचि चिन्धी काढ़ुन देयिन
येवढे तयचे माज़्या वरी ऋण
वसने देउन प्रभु राखी माझी लाज
चिन्धी साथी आला माझ्या दारी हरि आज-२ !
त्रैलोक्य मोलचे वसन दिले फाडुन

भरजरी ग, पिताम्बर, दिला फाडुन
द्रौपदीसी बन्धु शोभे नारायण-२

प्रेमाचे लक्षणा, भारी विलक्षणा
जैसी ज्याचि भक्‍ति तैसा नारायण
रक्‍ताच्या नात्याने उपजे ना प्रेम
पतलि पाहिजे अन्तरिची खुण
धन्य तोची भाउ, धन्य ती बहिण
प्रीति जी खरी ति जगि लाभाविण
चिन्धी पाहुन हरि झाले प्रसन्न


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFpoNjiDKa0
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Jethuni Udgar - Nivruttinath

The high spiritual level of this was immediately, deeply felt when heard first, even before any curiosity led to one discovering who wrote this - and then, just as immediately obvious was the comparison, of high levels and yet a difference of bhaava, of the two very similar high level ones in the Abhangawaani collection, of this one and of Adhika Dekhane, by the two brothers.

What a family!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOpsyt_POI
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Adhik dekhane tari

Sant Dnyaneshwar

The high level of this is only matched by that of Jethoni Udgaara, and of course - it's by the two brothers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fuOJFoVy88
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Sukh Anupam Santache Charani - Santa Chokaamelaa

As great as this abhanga is, the music and it's rendition by the maestro raises it to where the peace and bliss rains like months of Shraawana and Bhaadrapada on those listening. One thereafter may forget the words, but this sense of peace and bliss raining on one is never forgotten.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Tw6NG3Im8
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Aata kothe dhave Mana

Abhang - Sant Tukaram


Abhangawaani is superb, and even amongst those gems this is among top half a dozen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrKNquFYWMw

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Dnyaniyancha Raja
(Sant Tukaram praises Dnyaneshwar ) ...
Singer Pt.Bhimsen Joshi

The verses, transcribed with meaning by the one who posted this Abhanga:-

ज्ञानियांचा राजा गुरू महाराव ।
Amonst the learned you are the revered teacher and the king.
ह्मणती ज्ञानदेव तुह्मां ऐसें ॥१॥
That is why every one calls you "Dnyndev" (God of knowledge).
मज पामरासीं काय थोरपण ।
Don't give insignificant person like me undue importance.
पायींची वाहाण पायीं बरी ॥२॥
Footwear should be worn on feet! ( Don't put it on head ).
ब्रह्मादिक जेथें तुह्मां वोळगणे ।
When Gods like Brahma honor you,
इतर तुळणें काय पुढे ॥३॥
there is no need for further comparison.
तुका ह्मणे नेणे युक्तीचिया खोलीं ।
Tuka says I have no other gifts
ह्मणोनि ठेविली पायीं डोई ॥४॥
therefore I rest my head at your feet.

Oh, the delight of the great recognition of greater, of the great devoid of ego and envy in acknowledging the greater, the sheer bliss!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxSUYkLSc0
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Vrukshavalli Amha - Lata Mangeshkar

Abhang: Sant Tukaram

Singer: Lata Mangeshkar

Music: Srinivas Khale


Beautiful.

If only the world could understand this, environmentalists' work would be easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QS9EXqAblI
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Anu renu ya thokada

Sant Tukaram abhang with meaning) -

Pt. Bhimsen Joshi

Expression of being one with every particle of infinity, of Light!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHX1lwwAsAI
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Raajasa Sukumar

One grows up in India takes several obvious things for granted that seem obvious. It's when one encounters the world outside and is perplexed at its lack of perception of the obvious, that one begins to see just how Himaalayan the heights India provides one to view and how wide, deep the oceans surrounding. One has been brought up knowing tgat the Gods Raama and Krishna were not merely Gods descended but very loved in their time and both described as dark, but differently so. Which isn't about discrimination - the God Shiva is describes as "Light as camphor". Its when one hears these Abhangawaani and other such gems that one recalls, one has known, that whike Krishna is the one who enchants, Mohana, it's Raama whose beauty is described so explicitly. So its nit merely that beauty isnt necessarily light or dark skin, but also that someone that's loved and loved is not necessarily in proportion to obvious beauty of looks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpvwVVKwLiE
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'Je Kaa Ranjale Gaanjale'

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Bhajan
Pandit Bhimsen Joshi sings Bhajan 'Jee ka ranjale gaanjale',
from the album
'ABHANGAWANI'



Don't know which is older, this or the bhajan favourite of a national leader of pre independence times, but this abhanga is far more universal in its definition and scope, in saying - "One who takes the grieving, downcast to his heart as one would a son, is the true saint, and therein is existence of the Divine known".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RshBHH-TtY
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DEHACHI TIJORI ...

SINGER, SUDHIR PHADKE ...

FILM, AAMHI JATO AMUCHYA GAAVA (1968)

Deep hidden layers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl0w96iKRgM
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कानडा राजा पंढरीचा

गीत - ग. दि. माडगूळकर
संगीत - सुधीर फडके
स्वर - पं. वसंतराव देशपांडे, सुधीर फडके
 चित्रपट - झाला महार पंढरीनाथ (१९७०)

कानडा राजा पंढरीचा
वेदांनाही नाही कळला अंतःपार याचा

निराकार तो निर्गुण ईश्वर कसा प्रकटला असा विटेवर
उभय ठेविले हात कटिवर पुतळा चैतन्याचा

परब्रम्ह हे भक्तांसाठी मुके ठाकले भीमेकाठी
उभा राहिला भाव सावयव जणु की पुंडलिकाचा

 हा नाम्याची खीर चाखतो चोखोबांची गुरे रखतो
पुरंदराचा हा परमात्मा वाली दामाजीचा

Someone in a reply to a comment below explains - "When Afzal Khan the commander of Bujapur Sultan came to Maharashtra to assassinate Chatrapati shivaji Maharaj, Lord Vithhal murti was taken to Karnataka to protect from his demolition. Thanks to Karnataka brothers who protected the Lord Vithhal moorti. " Thanks, knew there was a history there in the first two words!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4qSOpjP6Ig
..................................................................................



घनश्याम सुंदरा श्रीधरा अरुणोदय झाला
उठिं लवकरि वनमाळी उदयाचळी मित्र आला

आनंदकंदा प्रभात झाली उठी सरली राती
काढी धार क्षीरपात्र घेउनी धेनु हंबरती
लक्षिताती वासुरें हरी धेनु स्तनपानाला

सायंकाळीं एके मेळीं द्विजगण अवघे वृक्षीं
अरुणोदय होताच उडाले चरावया पक्षी
प्रभातकाळी उठुनि कावडी तीर्थ पथ लक्षी
करुनि सडासंमार्जन गोपी कुंभ घेऊनी कुक्षीं
यमुनाजळासि जाति मुकुंदा दध्योदन भक्षी

कोटी रवीहून तेज आगळें तुझिया वदनाला.


Quintessential bhakti rasa, peace and bliss flow, when hearing it, and after.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LQWSzQcOTGs

..................................................................................


Arey Sansaar, Sansaar
Suman Kalyanpur
Vasant Pawar

A simple, poor housewife who didn't get to see the world outside her home - and with depth of her perception manifest in the songs she sang as she went about her housework, became not only celebrated for the poetry but revered for the saint she was transformed into.

A simple, poor housewife who didn't get to see the world outside her home - and with depth of her perception manifest in the songs she sang as she went about her housework, became not only celebrated for the poetry but revered for the saint she was transformed into.


अरे, संसार संसार, जसा तवा चुल्ह्यावर
आधी हाताला चटके तंव्हा मिळते भाकर !

अरे, संसार संसार, खोटा कधी म्हनू नहीं
राउळाच्या कयसाले, लोटा कधी म्हनू नहीं

अरे, संसार संसार, नही रडनं, कुढनं
येड्या, गयांतला हार, म्हनू नको रे लोढनं !

अरे, संसार संसार, खीरा येलावरचा तोड
एक तोंडामधी कडू, बाकी अवघा लागे गोड

अरे, संसार संसार, म्हनू नको रे भीलावा
त्याले गोड भीमफूल, मधी गोडंब्याचा ठेवा

देखा संसार संसार, शेंग वरतून काटे
अरे, वरतून काटे, मधी चिक्ने सागरगोटे

ऐका, संसार संसार, दोन्ही जीवांचा इचार
देतो सुखाले नकार, अन्‌ दुःखाले होकार

देखा, संसार संसार, दोन जीवांचा सुधार
कदी नगद उधार, सुखदुःखाचा बेपार !

अरे, संसार संसार, असा मोठा जादूगार
माझ्या जीवाचा मंतर, त्याच्यावरती मदार

असा, संसार संसार, आधी देवाचा ईसार
माझ्या देवाचा जोजार, मग जीवाचा आधार !

रचना - बहिणाबाई
संगीत - वसंत पवार
स्वर - सुमन कल्याणपूर
चित्रपट - मानिनी (१९६१)
राग - पिलू (नादवेध

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=9Pr21rLr90o 
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 काटा रुते कुणाला - Kata Rute Kunala - Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki

Once one has heard this supreme voice, one is forever bound to this level of music as the one to judge every other one by - however subconsciously, however fair one tries to be.

काटा रुते कुणाला, आक्रंदतात कोणी


काटा रुते कुणाला, आक्रंदतात कोणी
मज फूल ही रुतावे हा दैवयोग आहे

सांगू कशी कुणाला कळ आतल्या जिवाची
चिरदाह वेदनेचा मज शाप हाच आहे

काही करु पहातो, रुजतो अनर्थ तेथे
माझे अबोलणे ही विपरीत होत आहे

हा स्नेह वंचना की काहीच आकळेना
आयुष्य ओघळोनी मी रिक्तहस्त आहे.



गीतकार :शांता शेळके, गायक : पं. जितेंद्र अभिषेकी, संगीतकार : पं. जितेंद्र अभिषेकी

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bVbAD-Ws6E
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 संथ वाहते कृष्णामाई

चित्रपट: संथ वाहते कृष्णामाई
गीत: ग. दि. माडगुळकर
संगीत: दत्ता डावजेकर
गायक: सुधीर फडके

Praasaadik. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-3kMbeNu6k
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Quintessential romantic song defining love, hope, innocence, life -

जिथे सागरा धरणी मिळते
तिथे तुझी मी वाट पाहाते

डोंगर दरिचे सोडून घर ते
पल्लव पाचूचे तोडून नाते
हर्षाचा जल्लोष करुनी जेथे
प्रीत नदी एकरुपते

वेचित वाळूत शंख शिंपले
रम्य बाल्य ते जिथे खेळले
खेळाचा उल्हास रंगात येउनी
धुंदीत यौवन जिथे डोलते

बघुनी नभीची चंद्रकोर ती
सागर हृदयी उर्मी उठती
सुख दुःखाची जेथ सारखी
प्रीत जीवना ओढ लागते

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN_Kj_s-12I
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Ghei Chand by Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki

This version takes the verses, with deep spiritual content, into account, bringing the truth forth, unlike the other fast one preferred by various singers that throws it all to show of virtuosity of voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_uJPJtbRps
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Quintessential verses offered to beauty of earth, of universe.


तिन्ही लोक आनंदाने भरुन गाऊ दे रे
तुझे गीत गाण्यासाठी सूर लावू दे रे

शुभ्र तुरे माळून आल्या, निळ्या निळ्या लाटा
रानफुलें लेऊन सजल्या, या हिरव्या वाटा
या सुंदर यात्रेसाठी, मला जाऊ दे रे

मोर केशराचे झुलती पहाटेस दारी
झर्‍यातूनी दिडदा दिडदा वाजती सतारी
सोहळयात सौंदर्याच्या तुला पाहू दे रे

शांत शांत उत्तररात्री मंद मंद तारें
तुझे प्रेम घेऊन येती गंध धूंद वारे
चांदण्यात आनंदाच्या मला न्हाऊ दे रे

एक एक नक्षत्राचा दिवा लागताना
आणि फुले होण्यासाठी कळ्या जागताना
पौर्णिमा स्वरांची माझ्या, तुला वाहू दे रे

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4lznz6E8oo ..................................................................................


Hridayi preet jaagate janata ajanta - Suvaasini

Seema, heartbreaking beauty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XK_pm9TBic
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 LIMBALON UTARU KASHI - SUMAN KALYANPUR लिंबलोण उतरू कशी


Heart breaking film.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA5LYsHSyPI
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Zala Mahar Pandharinath -
Film:- Pudhche Paul (1950) -
Singer:- Sudhir Phadke &
Poet:- G. D. Madgulkar
PUDHCHE PAUL (1950) P. L. Deshpande, Hansa Wadkar, Kusum Deshpande, G. D. Madgulkar, Raja Paranjape Produced By: Manik Chitra (P.K. Pathak)
Directed By: Raja Paranjape
Music By: Sudhir Phadke
Song: Zala Mahar Pandharinath
Sung By: Sudhir Phadke
Lyrics By: G. D. Madgulkar

Another truth India forgets due to colonial regimes that deliberately sought to falsify just so they could successfully break spirit of India, and most India thereby forgot, is about how the faults imposed on India were not inherent to India but to the cultures of the colonial powers,  including the faults of caste system, which were of the caste systems of the colonial regimes, not of India. One growing up in India has always known, but is reminded when listening to this amongst other such gems, about the truth hidden under the false propaganda. Here, God came to doors of a devotee, in human form but dressed as one of a very low caste - and he is worshipoed in that form, with the huge following of the yearly pilgrimage tradition where everyone walks together a few hundred miles lover a few weeks, eating and worshipping together too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6C847cN7ks
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कबिराचे विणतो शेले, कौसल्येचा राम

कबिराचे विणतो शेले, कौसल्येचा राम
 भाबड्या या भक्तासाठी, देव करी काम !
एक एकतारी हाती, भक्त गाई गीत
एक एक धागा जोडी, जानकिचा नाथ
 राजा घनःश्याम !

दास रामनामी रंगे, राम होइ दास
एक एक धागा गुंते, रूप ये पटास
राजा घनःश्याम !

विणुन सर्व झाला शेला, पूर्ण होइ काम
ठायि ठायि शेल्यावरती, दिसे रामनाम
राजा घनःश्याम !

 हळु हळु उघडी डोळे, पाहि तो कबीर
 विणूनिया शेला गेला, सखा रघुवीर
कुठे म्हणे राम ?

गीत - ग. दि. माडगूळकर
 संगीत - पु. ल. देशपांडे
 स्वर - माणिक वर्मा
चित्रपट - देव पावला (१९५०)
राग - यमन (नादवेध)

If only India had not forgotten this!

No one knew what faith, much less caste, was the saint as he was known to be even in his own lifetime - a rare distinction, albeit not unique - known by the name Kabir, who was an orphan, really belonged to, so much so when he died there was an argument about who had rights to conduct his last rites.

Yet this story is so quintessentially Indian, about truth and depth of his devotion!

He worshipped Divine in form of Raama, and this was without any assertion about his community or faith of his family. And the quintessential story is about how, when in process of chanting name of God during work, he would be lost in contemplation, forgetting work that had to be completed as per order of client, Raama descended and wove the piece left halfway by his devotee!

That his chosen work, which defines caste in India (unlike elsewhere where its about race, power, wealth and titles), that of weaving, did not stop people's recognition of the inherent worthiness of him as saint, is another reality of India, older than Raamayana itself - the author of that who lived in that era and moreover took care of Sita and her children in his ashram, began life as a low caste fisherman who robbed and killed for easy money, but was fortunate enough to meet a spiritual person and transformed himself into a great seer thereafter, and was so acknowledged in his own lifetime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTrNm5y5M24
..................................................................................


Shoor amhi sardar - Kashinath Ghanekar.

शूर आम्ही सरदार आम्हाला काय कुणाची भीती
देव, देश आणि धर्मा पायी प्राण घेतला हाती.
आईच्या गर्भात उमगली झुंजाराची रीत
तलवारीशी लगीन लागलं जडली येडी प्रीती.
लाख संकटं झेलून घेईल अशी पहाडी छाती
देव, देश आणि धर्मा पायी प्राण घेतला हाती.
जिंकावेवा वा कटून मरावं हेच आम्हाला ठावं
लढून मरावं मारून जगावं हेच आम्हाला ठावं.
देशापायी सारी विसरू माया ममता नाती.
देव, देश आणि धर्मा पायी प्राण घेतला हाती.
शूर आम्ही सरदार आम्हाला काय कुणाची भीती!!

Wonderful.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k2JRdHKS-Zw

Ya Chimanyanno - Lata Mangeshkar Marathi Song
..................................................................................


Call from beyond time.


"या चिमण्यांनो परत फिरा रे, घराकडे अपुल्या
जाहल्या तिन्हीसांजा जाहल्या

दहा दिशांनी येईल आता, अंधाराला पूर
अशा अवेळी असू नका रे आईपासुन दूर
चुकचुक करिते पाल उगाच चिंता मज लागल्या

इथे जवळच्या टेकडीवरती, आहो आम्ही आई
अजून आहे उजेड इकडे, दिवसहि सरला नाही
शेळ्या, मेंढ्या अजुन कुठे ग, तळाकडे उतरल्या

अवतीभवती असल्यावाचुन, कोलाहल तुमचा
उरक न होतो आम्हा आमुच्या कधिही कामाचा
या बाळांनो, या रे लौकर, वाटा अंधारल्या
गीत -गदिमा, स्वर - लता मंगेशकर."


Heart rending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ciI9jaHKYw
...............................................................................


Jyoti kalash chhalke.

.Lata Mangeshkar_Sudhir Phadke_Pt.Narendra Sharma..a tribute

The indescribable quality here so simply shining in this song, the beauty of simplicity, of purity and bliss and light, was later in HAHK, and too in some other films of the b&w era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGgkXgZXJT8
...............................................................................


Eka Talyat Hoti Badake (Version 2) - Marathi Song - Sukhache Sobati Movie - Sulochana


The eternal grief suffered by the cygnet, seen as ugly duckling.

Asha Bhosale version:-


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DP138notYaE


Film version:-


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zMmvH_BvgLs
...............................................................................

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Yaake Mookanadyo Guruve nii - Bhimsen Joshi


Praasaadik.



ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದ್ಯೋ ಗುರುವೆ ನೀ ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದ್ಯೋ ।
ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದೆ ಲೋಕಪಾಲಕ ಎನ್ನ ।
ಸಾಕುವರ್ಯಾರಯ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀಕರ ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ ॥

ಹಿಂದಕ್ಕೆ ನೀ ಎನ್ನ ಮುಂದೆ ಸುಳಿದಾಡಿದಿ ।
ಮಂದಿಯೊಳಗೆ ಎನ್ನ ಮಂದನ್ನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ಯಲ್ಲೋ ॥ ೧ ॥

ಬೇಕಾಗದಿದ್ದರಿನ್ಯಾಕೆ ಕೈಯನು ಪಿಡಿದೆ ।
ಕಾಕುಜನರೊಳೆನ್ನ ನೂಕಿಬಿಟ್ಟು ನೀನು (/ನೀ) ॥ ೨ ॥

ಈಗ ಪಾಲಿಸದಿರೆ ಯೋಗಿಕುಲವರ್ಯ ।
ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರನೆ ಭವ ಸಾಗುವದ್ಹ್ಯಾಂಗಯ್ಯ ॥ ೩ ॥

ನಿನ್ನಂಥ ಕರುಣಿಯಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನಂಥ ಕೃಪಣಿಯಿಲ್ಲ ।
ಘನ್ನಮಹಿಮ ನೀ ಎನ್ನನು ಬಿಟ್ಟೀಗ ॥ ೪ ॥

ಜನನಿಯು ನೀ ಎನ್ನ ಜನಕನಯ್ಯ ।
ಮನ್ನಿಸೊ ನೀ ನಿತ್ಯಾನನ್ಯ ಶರಣನೆ (/ಶರಣ್ಯ) ॥ ೫ ॥

ಎಂದಿಗಾದರು ನಿನ್ನ ಪೊಂದಿಕೊಂಡವನಲ್ಲೋ ।
ಇಂದು ನೀ ಕೈಬಿಟ್ಟರೆನ್ನ ಮುಂದೆ ಕಾಯುವರ್ಯಾರೋ ॥ ೬ ॥

ನಾಥನು ನೀ ಅನಾಥನು ನಾನಯ್ಯ ।
ಪಾತಕರರಿ ಜಗನ್ನಾಥವಿಠ್ಠಲದೂತ (/ಜಗನ್ನಾಥವಿಠ್ಠಲದಾಸ) ॥ ೭


ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ-ಜಗನ್ನಾಥದಾಸ
ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದ್ಯೋ ಗುರುವೆ ನೀ ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದ್ಯೋ ।
ಯಾಕೆ ಮೂಕನಾದೆ ಲೋಕಪಾಲಕ ಎನ್ನ ।
ಸಾಕುವರ್ಯಾರಯ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀಕರ ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ ॥
ಹಿಂದಕ್ಕೆ ನೀ ಎನ್ನ ಮುಂದೆ ಸುಳಿದಾಡಿದಿ ।
ಮಂದಿಯೊಳಗೆ ಎನ್ನ ಮಂದನ್ನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ಯಲ್ಲೋ ॥ ೧ ॥
ಬೇಕಾಗದಿದ್ದರಿನ್ಯಾಕೆ ಕೈಯನು ಪಿಡಿದೆ ।
ಕಾಕುಜನರೊಳೆನ್ನ ನೂಕಿಬಿಟ್ಟು ನೀನು (/ನೀ) ॥ ೨ ॥
ಈಗ ಪಾಲಿಸದಿರೆ ಯೋಗಿಕುಲವರ್ಯ ।
ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರನೆ ಭವ ಸಾಗುವದ್ಹ್ಯಾಂಗಯ್ಯ ॥ ೩ ॥
ನಿನ್ನಂಥ ಕರುಣಿಯಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನಂಥ ಕೃಪಣಿಯಿಲ್ಲ ।
ಘನ್ನಮಹಿಮ ನೀ ಎನ್ನನು ಬಿಟ್ಟೀಗ ॥ ೪ ॥
ಜನನಿಯು ನೀ ಎನ್ನ ಜನಕನಯ್ಯ ।
ಮನ್ನಿಸೊ ನೀ ನಿತ್ಯಾನನ್ಯ ಶರಣನೆ (/ಶರಣ್ಯ) ॥ ೫ ॥
ಎಂದಿಗಾದರು ನಿನ್ನ ಪೊಂದಿಕೊಂಡವನಲ್ಲೋ ।
ಇಂದು ನೀ ಕೈಬಿಟ್ಟರೆನ್ನ ಮುಂದೆ ಕಾಯುವರ್ಯಾರೋ ॥ ೬ ॥
ನಾಥನು ನೀ ಅನಾಥನು ನಾನಯ್ಯ ।
ಪಾತಕರರಿ ಜಗನ್ನಾಥವಿಠ್ಠಲದೂತ (/ಜಗನ್ನಾಥವಿಠ್ಠಲದಾಸ) ॥ ೭

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rCKa7Q6MghQ
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Yaadava nee baa by Bhimsen Joshi


Praasaadik and more, with the touch of plaintive in the invocation.

Yadava ni ba yadukula nandana madhava madhusudana baro

Sodara mavana madhureli maduhida yashode kandane ni baro

Shankha chakravu kayyali holeyuta binkada govala ni baro
akalanka mahimane Adi narayana bekemba bhaktarigoli baro||1||

Kanakaladuge gejje ghulu ghulurenutali jhana jhana venu nadadali
cinikola cendu bugariyanaduta sanna sanna govalarodagudi||2||

Khaga vahanane bage bage rupane nagumogadarasane ni baro
jagadolu ninnaya mahimeya pogaluve purandara vittala ni baro||3||

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p__4aiE0LVg
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LATPAT LATPAT TUJHA CHAALAN GA … SINGER, LATA MANGESHKAR … FILM, AMAR BHUPALI (1951)


Did nobody else realise how this original gem was copied by the famous film maker in Hindi, with nonsensical lyrics and a few Marathi words thrown about, like sprinkling coconut and kothimbir on a rajma hamburger and calling it Marathi!


latpat, latpat latpat, latpat tujh chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach bolan ga manjul mainech bolan ga manjul mainech naari ga naari ga naari ga, naari ga, naari ga latpat, latpat latpat, latpat tujh chaalan ga kaanti nav navtichi kaanti nav navtichi dise chandraachi prabha dhavali jaayichi re vel kavali jaayichi re vel kavali dise naar, sukumaar, naram gaal, vhat pavali dise naar, sukumaar, naram gaal, vhat pavali jashi chavalichi sheng kavali jashi chavalichi sheng kavali dise naar, sukumaar, naram gaal, vhat pavali taarunpan angaat jhok madnaach joraat chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach bolan ga manjul mainech bolan ga manjul mainech naari ga naari ga naari ga, naari ga, naari ga latpat, latpat latpat, latpat tujh chaalan ga rup suraticha daul rup suraticha daul, tej anmol, sagun gahina jashi ka pinjaryatil maina jashi ka pinjaryatil maina hichyasaathi kitikaanchi janlokat jhaali daina hichyasaathi kitikaanchi janlokat jhaali daina ashi hi chanchal mrugnaina ashi hi chanchal mrugnaina hichyasaathi kitikaanchi janlokat jhaali daina Lapa lapa lapa lapa, tej ga jaise tutatya taryach Lapa lapa lapa lapa, tej ga jaise tutatya taryach chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach bolan ga manjul mainech bolan ga manjul mainech naari ga naari ga naari ga, naari ga, naari ga latpat, latpat latpat, latpat tujh chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach chaalan ga mothya nakharyaach bolan ga manjul mainech bolan ga manjul mainech naari ga naari ga...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L72j6tHdwMk

And ignoramuses are celebrating a bad copy by a celebrity mainstream maker who took key words and melody, twisting it to his purpose.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xODpqB8cuzo
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