Fīat jūstitia, ruat cælum!

 

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Fīat jūstitia, ruat cælum!

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When it was some rotten jealous low life in U.S., U.K. or Australia who murdered our brilliant kids brutally, we read in newspapers and were angry, and felt the grief of middle class parents back in India. 

But these two brutal murders of our innocent, bright kids, were not in countries where the perpetrators were jealous racists. They were in a city most of India considers home of grandma if not home of one's own! To be accessed and visited, lived and worked in, any time, however long. We felt free in this one city as nowhere else. 

Do we, still? 

It wasn't the city, though. It was one particular industry that these kids had unfortunately stepped in, or too close to, unaware that they had no protection of power against the hellhounds lurking about. 

The narcoterrorism feeds on the opium we have been addicted to, in form of the large screen. We pay heavily enough even without these murders. 

Enough! 

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce86V5QxP1k

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Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum!

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Zameen Aasmaan | Raakhee, Sanjay Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Anita Raj | 1984 | HD

Vilifying the beauty with daunting talent, while raising the less than average on pedestals, then and now!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_l-aKtNMlqU

Shaadi l Balraj Sahni, Sulochana, Manoj Kumar, Saira Banu, Dharmendra, Indrani Mukherjee, Om Prakashl 1962 l HD

Shaadi l Balraj Sahni, Sulochana, Manoj Kumar, Saira Banu, Dharmendra, Indrani Mukherjee, Om Prakashl 1962 l HD

Very spot on pointed commentary without words on various social evils, whether new or old - families that expect dowry, for one, and more. As usual, though, equally guilty people get very diverse treatment from characters and author and director, depending on which side of gender gap they belong to!

Nice shots in beginning song, of Kaaverie at Shimsha and also Goswamy Ghaat. But anyone in the know of the spots and geography must have a laugh about the supposed village damsel dancing from one to other in course of a morning routine to bring home a pot of water.

Delightful 1:53:00 - 1:54:00, and the very familiar old song thereafter. But the best, of course, are the veterans, Balraj Sahni and Sulochana, Leela Mishra and Om Prakash, and too Manorama and the artist who plays her husband the judge, while the youngsters in main roles are much younger here than one recalls seeing them in most other films.

Funny, the later husband allowed her to do this b&w so soon after her introducory colour film, but insisted on her second film with the first costar being colour, hence delayed the film and ruined that producer amonst many others (such as producer of Don). Vendetta against the producer, or just the cheap way to express his vicious jealousy against first family of films?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OySvCaFe4y4

Kathin Maya | কঠিন মায়া | Bengali Movie | Biswajit, Sandhya Roy

Combines a grown up version of (Tagore story?) Atithi with a touch of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, modified for the sixties Bengali relatively moderate version of left leaning thinking, which prefers village over urban life, or claims to anyway. Or, simplistically viewed, a guy is attempting every strenuous effort by various father's of prospective brides to catch him, until he is inadvertently caught and escaping isn't good enough.

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

Kakhono Megh | কখনো মেঘ | Bengali Movie | English Subtitle | Uttam Kumar, Anjana Bhowmick

Remake or rather adaptation of Charade, with obvious changes - the heroine isn't married, it's her uncle who is murdered, .... title song shot in tea gardens of Himaalayan landscape in Bengal, nice.



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NXzhXyMogi0

Khaniker Atithi - Nirmal Kumar, Ruma Guha Thakurta

While the description provided by the cable wasn't interesting enough - describing only that it was about a doctor running a clinic - the star cast was interesting, and by experience now one knows there are often pleasant surprises when it comes to Bangla films. There were, several.

Chief of them was, it began to seem familiar, and suddenly one knew why - there is a sort of adaptation or remake in Hindi with a southern production, Dil Ek Mandir, which is quite famous and has some of the top artists of the day - but of course it was a very simplified, overtly emotional version with none of the subtleties or complexities of this one. Instead of the mother and her very sick son, the hindi version had an ex paramour of the doctor arrive seeking to cure her husband, and then quite some drama. Here the emotionsl tones were subtle, and were kept so to the very end.

Ruma Guha Thakurta who is here named Ruma Ganguly- presumably she still used the name while she worked in this film - is superb, as ever. But most attractive aside, of course, is the ever beautiful wafting of poetry and music of Tagore from time to time.



Movie : Khaniker Atithi
Language : Bengali
Genre : Drama, Classic
Director : Tapan Sinha
Story : Nirmal Kumar Sengupta
Music Director : Hemant Kumar
Lyricist : Atul Prasad Sen
Playback : Hemant Kumar
Release : 1959
Star Cast : Chhabi Biswas, Anil Chatterjee, Dilip Roy, Radhamohan Bhattacharya, Tulsi Lahiri, Nripati Chatterjee, Ruma Ganguly, Sriman Tarun, Nirmal Kumar, Ajit Chatterjee, Shailen Mukherjee, Rasuraj Chakraborthy, Biren Chatterjee.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8RxNZj_Q9OI

Akeli Mat Jaiyo - Meena Kumari - Rajendra Kumar

Typically, the first third of this film baffles one for the very atypical casting - it would seem far more suitable, say, for a Shammi Kapoor with a then fresh younger heroine, such as Asha Parekh, rather than the very serious and talented pair that was more appropriate for far more emotional, traditional roles even in romantic settings. And this film seems adapted from an older one set in Europe, not India.

But the song "Who Jo Milte Thay Kabhie" begins 1:04:02 - 1:07:45, and it's instantly clear why it had to be this pair. No one but Meena Kumari could have done it so superlatively, so easily, and only Rajendra kumar could pair with her in the role. 

A few years ago, when seeing this song perhaps for the first time, it was astounding how well and how diversely she expressed the pain of someone very familiar having suddenly become a stranger. Later sometime, a music maestro Hariharan was on a television show, singing a piece in a variety of ways as per classical Indian music, and here that is exactly what this superb artist has done re expression of a verse via enactment in several ways.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T7kREdeOYiU

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=93DS8Nv7FBs