OLD IS GOLD-II

My mantra to enjoy an old classical movie

1. Well sit down first of all accept the truth that it is not these movies which were complete copy-cats but the movies of todays.


2. If you find funny the dressing style be sure that 10 years down the line what you wear will be considered as funny, so learn that it’s a part of the game, ever changing. Remember, Michael Jackson?


3. If you think the music is too slow to be partied, well most of today’s music is remix from these songs only. And slow they are but if you really care for meaning and some soul-searching songs then your search ends here.


4. Last but not the least don’t be judgmental give each movie some chance before pasting a label on it by just looking at the label on the CD. You might hit upon a different kind of beauty which so long you either didn’t bother to discover or were too young to realize it when they had been in the making, after all people still read Devdas and watch Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, don’t they?

Well here is a list of some of the old classics that I watched last month- Sahib, Biwi Aur Ghulam, Anand, Guide, Awara (Raj Kapoor), Mera Naam Joker, Mughal-e-Azam, Tere Ghar ke Saamne, Saaransh. After watching them I will say I was not disappointed by any of them and at least there were a couple of scenes which moved me deeply so there was always some (positive) memories to take from each movie.

If what I am writing sounds to be a Martian theory pick up Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam and watch out for naughtiness of Waheeda and the crazy innocent devotion of the tragedy queen Meena Kumari. The poignancy of the plots are unmatched with a special reference to the scene in Mera Naam Joker where Raju’s mother dies just immediately before his awaited performance in the circus and he goes on to show to the world the larger-than-life heart of a joker with the scene so immaculate and moving that it left me with a wish to have had met these legends at least once.

Finally, watch such movies to at least form on opinion of your own if at all Raj Kapoor deserves to be called the “showman of the millennium”, if Meena Kumari was really such a moving actress to be called a tragedy queen and whether these people did a justice to the cause they chose for themselves and whether when others praise the olden age cinema are they talking sense!