Ooty, Love, Philosophy and Life- Geethanjali Part 1
After a heavy yet thought provoking departure from the movie Sagara Sangamam, it is now time to take a journey to Ooty (A prominent Hill Station in South India) in the late 80s Era! But the phrases used as title of this post look quite disjoint when looked at the first place! But thanks to ace director Mani Ratnam, excellent director of Photography P.C.Sreeram, Maestro ILaiyaraaja, Lyricist Veturi, and the whole team of Geethanjali, these words sure got a new meaning for the Telugu Cinema Film Goer.
It is always said that life will look to us the way we perceive it to be. Why some people , despite having all the good abilities feel they are not worth it? And some people, though having certain disabilities, yet succeed in getting the best out of life?
Why even most knowledgeable people in the area of psychology say again and again that life is what we think it to be? (Crux of most Positive Attitude and Wellness books)
Does the luck factor come here (As some people feel all their lives) that certain good things happen to only the “gifted” individuals?
When in troubles and problems, why does life look so much like a burden and we tend to live it like a “Slip Away?”
Many authors (Old as well as Modern) spent years researching on the same and write countless books on “How to lead a fulfilling life?”. The books contain numerous examples, points, tabular columns and many such things which act as guide for the reader to develop a better attitude towards life. But the ultimate point comes to that- Living totally in the present can definitely lead to a happier and fulfilling life.
Simple reason for that being- most of worries, troubles and tensions come from the dreading thought that something bad “might” happen in near future, or feeling guilty, upset, angry over something bad which has already happened in the past..But what if leading life just as this particular moment is in our hands? Then the burden looks smaller, and mind feels lighter..this is the ultimate philosophy of happy living! (Courtesy taken from Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now: This helped many readers about how to live a happier life!)
Wait a minute, the reader should be thinking “What is going on? As I come to read about best of Telugu Cinema, I am given info about psychology books, wellness and living?”
In short, I was trying to make the main point which the film Geethanjali deals on.
With respect to the story, Geethanjali is quite simple and straightforward. On one side you have the hero Prakash (Nagarjuna) , who has one perception towards life, and on the other side there is Geethanjali (Girija Shettar’s best debut) , who thinks exactly opposite of what Prakash thinks. Things change phenomenally when Prakash understands the worth of Geetha’s opinion towards life and that is how the Love Story begins! It sure looks like a second or third love story movie which is the most favourite topic of Telugu Cinema right from the time of Devadas to the latest movie Ishq..but there is something which makes Geethanjali the path breaker in Love Stories-right from the photography to the characterization and you name it!
Doesn’t this need more explanation? Here it begins!
The movie begins with a convocation event in a college where a lady professor presides over to the students. As she continues with her speech about how responsible today’s youth (Of the time of this film’s release :1989!), the scenes drift to a bunch of students who are late for the event doing all the things which professors would surely disapprove of! Let it be smoking, drinking or Eve teasing! Mani Ratnam shows the reality of life about how students really think on these things!
We get to see an abrupt entry of the Hero Prakash as his name is called in convocation . The first look of the hero is not his stylish costume or trying to teach a lesson to these wrong doer student group! We see Prakash smoking in secret and trying to finish the cigarette so that he can go for collecting the degree! The viewer immediately gets an idea what sort of person Prakash really is- Troublemaker, Light Hearted and full of vigor!
I always wonder how can one frame in a film convey so much about the character just through the expressions and the camera taking!
Quite obviously, the lady professor gets the tobacco smell from Prakash while handling over the degree. Just as we come to a final conclusion about Prakash’s attitude, he says “I Love You!” to the professor as she honours him with the medal!
Quite to the formula of Telugu Movies, the introduction song of the hero arrives in the form of “Jagada Jagada” for the viewer! How can an unconventional director like Mani Ratnam follow the regular formula this way? He did follow it but he broke the rules of introduction song style as well!
The song is brilliantly picturized with Prakash having a party time with his friends, and at the same time not forgetting to tell the audience about his nature! The song looks quite grand and racy (Right to the attitude of Prakash) with cars and explosions in the background. Veturi does a phenomenal job in explaining about Philosophy of life in simple Telugu words such as :
“Nede Raa Neeku Nesthamu Repe Ledhu..Ninnante Nindu Sunnara Raane Raadhu”
“This day is your friend..there is no tomorrow..yesterday is zero, will never come back!”
“Padanee Ra virigi aakasam..vidiponi bhoomi ee kshanam..maa pata saagenule”
“Let the sky break and fall down..let the Ground separate into two at this moment..our song will continue!”
These words look quite revolutionary and lively to hear in a party song of college graduates! Not to forget the graceful and cool appearance of Silk Smitha in the song too! She doesn’t have much to dance or perform in this song, but her presence is surely felt in it!
Watch the thunderous song below for sheer pleasure!
Just as the song comes to an end, and the viewer gets all energized with it, Prakash meets with an accident which leads to a sudden shock!
The title score begins now, with Prakash getting hospitalized and undergoing various medical tests. The music explains the soul and beauty of life as well as the film. I always felt the music actually talks to the listener, saying that aggressive thoughts always do not work, as life can turn upside down at any point of time! Right with the premonition like music shows, Prakash gets diagnosed by Bone Marrow Cancer by the time the titles end!
Prakash gets shattered by the news and feels like there is nothing left in his life from then. Despite having such positive thoughts before, knowing about a fatal disease shakes his world. He feels helpless and trapped with the sadness in his family and their sympathy towards him. After going through lot of thought process about the same, he finally decides to go on tour to some peaceful place, where he wouldn’t be recognized by anyone as a patient but can live his life.
The situation which Prakash is in looks so real to life and how people react when a shocking incident happens to them. The immediate reaction one gets is to escape the hard reality of life and go to some place- hoping to find peace and solace in return. The situation for a person may not be cancer or really fatal, but sad to see these days that even for trivial problems, people feel depressed and start losing hope in life!
Though Prakash’s parents first find it hard to send him alone, after hearing repeated pleas of Prakash to set him free make them realize the mental trauma (More than the pain of illness) and agree for his trip to a place of his choice.
The place turns out to be Ooty, thankfully not only to Prakash but also for the viewer, for the visual wonders it offers and the serenity which was so aptly needed for this film!
Now, it is time to see the female protagonist of the film, Geethanjali. The film is named after her, hence we can understand the importance of her role in it! She is shown breathtakingly beautiful in dancing at her wits end, in Ooty rains! Her song “Jallantha” does not speak about any Philosophy or any ideology unlike Prakash’s. It is simply about the beauty of rain and how wonderful nature looks at every point in the day!
The best part of Jallantha song (for me) is where Geetha spots an old gentleman, being merry at the rainfall on the road. She immediately hurries towards him and starts dancing with him as if there is no tomorrow! The sequence is so uplifting and wonderful that one can definitely watch it again and again!
Trivia: The shot of Geethanjali dancing, when horses going around are shown has become the most influential style of song-making during those days! I was told that Chiranjeevi particularly asked his director to get a similar shot in his song “Subhalekha” from Kondaveeti Donga (Which released later). The use of horses in background for a song was done even in songs like “Poddhunne Puttindhi” from Shatruvu as well. Such was the influence of the one and only straight Telugu film of Mani Ratnam! Ram Gopal Varma also got influenced by the same shot, which he used in one of the songs for his popular film Kshana Kshanam later!
Even the shot of Geetha dancing with an old Gentleman was inspired for “Om Namo Nama” from Surya IPS, where the hero and heroine dance with a tribal guy in the second interlude yet again! Similar scene is shown even in Subhalekha Rasukunna discussed above! Incidentally the music scored for both the songs is also by Maestro ILaiyaraaja!
It is really amazing to see how certain shots influence a generation of film makers, for the beautiful visual appeal it gives!
It would be considered as a great mistake if I wouldn’t include the video link of the song after so much of discussion!
What has Geetha, a happy go lucky girl and dancing all over Ooty in the first song itself, got to do with Prakash, a dejected individual now?
To be continued in Part 2..
The previous post on the same film has seen the beginning of one of the greatest relationships shown in Telugu Cinema- that of Balu and Madhavi. Right from the first frame in which they come together, K.Vishwanath took utmost care in showing the exact feeling of mutual amazement and respect they have for each other, more than anything else! We get to see the short yet sweet meetings of Balu-Madhavi yet again in a wedding for which Balu’s mother does the cooking work. That is the time Madhavi watches Balu’s dancing talent in a full fledged way in the kitchens, while a popular dancer Manju Bhargavi performs for “Balakanakamaya” , a famous carnatic composition.
Watch the same here in the video link below, where how beautifully K.Vishwanath portrayed Balu’s passion for dance, yet no proper stage to perform due to the economic conditions.
Cut to the next scene, Balu comes to Madhavi’s house to request one photo of him taken by her so that he can send it to his mother, in a very hesitant manner. We get to see Madhavi’s concern and the goodwill she has for Balu in just this one scene- where she not only gives one photograph, but a set of photographs where she captures Balu with his mother and some memorable moments as well.
Balu feels very thankful for the help Madhavi did for him, but the simplicity of the latter makes him feel more amazed towards her. There is a very beautiful scene here, in which Madhavi requests Balu to take a Photograph with her, using self-timer option in her camera. Balu, unaware of how to use the self-timer option, asks Madhavi to explain the same. The way she explains about Self-Timer option and hurries off to pose for the photograph looks really funny as well as very meaningful in the same frame. This shows the perfect chemistry between Balu-Madhavi not only as a pair but also as two artistically inclined people together!
While setting the self-timer, Balu casually says “Mee Pakkana Naakkooda koncham Chotu ivvandi!” (Please give me some space beside you!) and as he clicks the timer and rushes off, the camera takes the picture in the mid-way itself. This is a symbolical depiction of what would happen to the relationship between Balu-Madhavi in coming scenes.
This sort of symbolic premonition is even seen in the masterpiece Devadas, where Devadas presents a necklace to Parvathi and the necklace falls down, while the former adorns the latter with the same.
A very special mention for the Camera work as well as the breathtaking background score by Maestro ILaiyaraaja, the music is so amazing that we feel a single musical note can speak mountains about a scene!
The movie progresses at a relaxing pace where Madhavi realizes the brilliant talent Balu has in dance and his economic conditions too. She then takes a step which would look very normal for her, but it almost surprises Balu to the core and even begins something more than admiration for Balu in return.
K.Vishwanath garu shows the same in a very enthralling manner where a very casual conversation can turn into a life turning scene for a person!
Scene 3: Dance Festival Invitation
I would rather not explain word-by-word dialogues for this sequence because, the expressions mean a lot, rather than the words spoken by the characters! Hence I would like to just write a gist of what happens in the scene, and leave the scene for the viewer instead!
Madhavi and Balu starts off for a walk in the park and after getting tired, they settle down at lawns in conversation about All India Dance Festival. Madhavi leisurely asks what does Balu know about that festival. The scene looks so mesmerizing that we just see two art-lovers having a Very normal talk on a late evening! The topic of Dance festival makes Balu so happy that he goes on talking about it, saying people like us can’t even go for such internationally acclaimed event. Madhavi then says she has few invitations with her this time and Balu can happily attend the event.
By saying so, she hands over the invitation card to Balu. He starts of seeing all great personalities’ names in the performances list and says this time all great exponents of dance are arriving for the event. The final page of the invitation comes as a shock to not only Balu but also to the audience. He is utterly shocked to see his own name printed in the invitation. Madhavi, who drifts near him in order to see the invitation says very simply “Eeyena kooda chala peddha dance ne” (Even this person is a great dancer!).
At this point we start feeling how can anybody be so caring and considerate as Madhavi can be. Whether it is her down-to-earth nature, or the dignity she has, and tremendous love for Arts, or the consideration for Balu- we don’t know. But how many in a scale of hundred can think of doing such a great help to a fellow artist with troubles?
Balu gets so shocked and tremendously happy that he starts off crying aloud. The scene turns heart wrenching as so many emotions- Happiness, thankfulness towards Madhavi, Shock and sadness for not able to get such opportunity with his efforts and the list is countless!
Watch the scene below from 6:20 for path breaking performances by Kamal Hasan and Jayaprada, along with out-of-the-world Background score by Maestro ILaiyaraja.
And watch the top-notch performance of Kamal Hasan as dancer Balu in Naada Vinodamu song!
After a wonderful practice session of Balu with Madhavi for the programme in the form of the above song, Balu’s fate takes a saddening turn now. His mother, who was the first source of Support for him, gets fatally ill and his dance stops the moment she is no more in this World. Though we feel utterly saddened by this incident, we try to gain some solace as Madhavi is still there with Balu to get him back to normal.
Balu feels quite lonely after losing his mother and finds himself getting more close with Madhavi in return. At one scene while going in car with Madhavi, he even asks her whether she will be always with him. It shows his lack of belief in him and the wrong-doings of fate in his life. But Madhavi replies positively saying she will definitely be with him. Despite Madhavi saying so, Balu has his own doubts about it, and confirms again by calling her at home.Coming to an obvious conclusion, Balu proposes Madhavi and says he would like to marry her.
Madhavi does not respond immediately to Balu but through the song Mounamelanoyi (A brilliant marvel from lyricist Veturi and Maestro ILaiyaraaja) we get to know she also likes Balu very much. The subtle feelings and the tender emotions were brilliantly portrayed by Vishwanath garu.
We start feeling something happy is going to happen to Balu finally, a shocking news comes out from Madhavi’s father saying she was already married to a person but due to some financial disagreements, the wedding was a failure. The scene which comes next is Balu dancing agitated in the seashore, and Madhavi seeing his anguish. Madhavi thinks of all the great times she has with Balu and decides to break all the rules which were binding her and comes hurryingly towards him.
But Balu advises Madhavi to get back to her husband after meeting the latter out of coincidence. He says that in that way everyone would be happy and she would have a better life that way.
Balu bids a very emotional farewell to Madhavi and her husband at railway station, after taking a photograph of them and by that, the flashback ends at a very sad note.
Now, the situations turn in such a way that, Madhavi gets very upset seeing the detoriating health condition of the old Balu with her own eyes. She decides to put her daughter Shailaja as student to Balu.
As Madhavi is a widow now, she feels the news would shatter Balu more and decides to do all this from the background. After calling Balu and arranging for his stay in Madhavi’s house, she comes to know Balu gets totally drunk from her funny servant Sivayya (Played by Potti Prasad), we get to see how an artist turns out once ruined by excess drinking and bad health condition through the song “Thakita Thadhimi”- where Balu dances near the well, unaware of what danger he is in.
Madhavi watches all this from behind and gets tensed as the song progresses by, seeing the carelessness of Balu and the danger he is posing to himself. She could either come to rescue him owing to her present condition or could stay put seeing such things happening to Balu. As the song goes to climax, Madhavi decides to appear in front of Balu not as widow but as a happy person (To ease up Balu).
The scene when Balu and Madhavi meet again here is something to explain beyond Words!We get to see the inexplicable shock in Balu’s eyes to see Madhavi again and he goes off inside with her, leaving the alcohol bottle near the well (Again a symbolic brilliance by K.Vishwanath). As its raining and the sindhoor put by Madhavi beings to melt, the immidiate reaction of Balu is to cover it with his hands. This is another wonderful depiction of the Indian Cultural values shown breathtakingly by Vishwanath again!
Watch the brilliant song which turns out many characters in the film- upside down!
The presence of Madhavi transforms Balu back to his normal self, and just as he gets happy with it, he comes to know that Madhavi has become a widow (Quite dramatically). Though he gets utterly depressed, physically as well as mentally, he decides firmly on one thing- To keep the Art in him immortal. It can be done only by teaching his only student now- Shailaja.
The film comes to a crucial climax where Balu’s health gets detoriated but he is still determined to teach Shailaja for a dance performance. The song which arrives now is “Vedam Anuvanuvuna Naadam”, which shows the pain and anguish which Balu goes throughout his life, and the zeal to make his talent immortal. Shailaja, being her obvious self doesn’t respect Balu’s intentions initially, but realizes at the performance day when Balu gives an emotional speech saying Madhavi is a goddess who transformed his life, and made him realize his real motive.
The song ends with transformed Shailaja as a dancer, and happiest Balu to do the same, and ultimately- the death of Balu (Just physically but not as soul!).
Madhavi and Raghupathi realize this during the performance is going on, and take him away in wheelchair with umbrella to cover his body from rain..and the following words appear on screen
“No End to Art..”
Though the film Sagara Sangamam has some sad notes, the eternity and the brilliant way in which Arts were depicted made the film Eternal in every respect..
Marapuraani Chitralu remembers Sagara Sangamam- not only as a film but also as a life teaching experience, about how dedicated one should treat Arts, along with giving importance to great relationships which we have in life..
In part 1 of Sagara Sangamam post, we have seen just a shade of our protagonist Balu’s life in which he is strict, serious and perfectionist as far as Dance is concerned. Now it is time to know another vital character in Balu’s life- his best friend Raghupathi played brilliantly by Sharath Babu. The friendship between Balu and him can be described as ideal in every way possible! If the reader wonders what made me say this just in the beginning of this post, it is because Vishwanath sir proves the same in the first interaction which we see between Balu and Raghupathi (As their older selves) after the mishap Balu does in Shailaja’s finacee’s office. Incidentally, Raghupathi works in the same office too!
The scene is such that an angered and anxious Raghupathi meets Balu near a rockside place saying he is utterly upset with his behavior and what makes him still tolerate Balu for such a long time. He even painfully asks what the relation between both of them is as well. The agony and disappointment of his fellow friend becoming so is shown- more than accusing and hatred by Raghupathi. Sarath Babu does a wonderful job in this scene!
After venting out his anger on Balu, as Raghupathi leaves, the former starts off singing a beautiful poem about Friendship which was penned by the latter in a very emotional manner. After hearing the poem, Raghupathi stops to hold his friend back by falling down and then Balu says, no matter whatever he does, Raghupathi has to bear with it with the sole reason –that is friendship. This one scene is a masterpiece where Vishwanath makes a point clear that this film is not only about Fine Arts and Culture, but also about being good human being and giving value to relationships!
As Raghupathi takes semi-conscious Balu (Due to excessive drinking) in a rickshaw back to his home, he goes back to memories- Where this wonderful bond of friendship started from.
The scene drifts to a very young and handsome Balu , with curious expression and passion equally balanced near a Kathak dance class along with his friend Raghupathi (Looking much fresh and relaxed as well!). The extreme love for dance which Balu has is shown just in the scene where he carefully observes the dance steps which students are doing there and incidentally one of the students there notices this. She finds it quite distracting and calls him outside the class asking what they exactly want. Balu tries to explain he wants to learn Kathak in Telugu but the student doesn’t quite understand what he is upto. Then our Balu uses the universal language (That is Dance here!) to convey the message to her saying he already learnt Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam and Kathakali, and now he wants to learn Kathak. As he is poor , he would like to do service to the Guruji and learn in the course. This scene is beautifully portrayed by Kamal Hasan where we understand his passion as well as poverty at the same time!
The student rightfully understands Balu’s anguish and replies in the dance language for the same!
We get to see Balu’s family condition at the same time where he meets his mother (Who does cooking in various functions and events) at a railway station . The scene is so terrific that Balu’s mother gives him little sum of money as gift and Raghupathi comments Balu for taking money from an old lady by depending on her. Balu gets so upset hearing this and returns the money to his mother and angrily says he is ready to do any job(Pertaining to Dance) for earning money!
Raghupathi introduces Balu to a very “popular” dance director Chittaranjan (Mishro- One of Vishwanath’s regular actors!) for films explaining about Balu’s dance talent and requesting him to keep Balu as assistant. This scene itself depicts how indifferent the director is when he hears Balu is a great Classical Dancer, and he is more concerned about his Pet dog and the availability of alcohol in the place residing in! He carelessly asks his another assistant Geetha (Played by Geetha herself!) to help Balu out in composing for a film song in production.
The scene which arrives next is undoubtedly one of those hilarious scenes in Telugu Cinema- and at the same time very saddening too. It is hilarious because of the reactions of film people (of that age!) to Classical Dance and saddening because of the plight of Telugu Cinema those days- where Commercial elements are more valued than the actual art itself!
Scene 2: Vevela Gopemmala –Composing!
Chittaranjan coolly tells the film producer and director that it is he who composed the dance and asks Balu and Geetha to show the same. Balu, being a good classical dancer and an ear for literature, composes a very nice piece relating to Lord Krishna (As the song speaks on the same) and they both enact it wonderfully. As we start relishing the beautiful dance piece, Chittaranjan cuts off straight and says this way!
Chittaranjan: Emiti..Emiti…Emitayya aa ganthulu.Emiti Nuvvu Chesthunnadhi?
What…what..what..What is this Balu?What are these crazy dance steps?What on Earth are you doing?
Balu: Manchi Paata..manchi sahityam kadha ani..
Sir, this is good song and good in literary value..
(The film director cuts short saying)
Alagani kala khandalu teesthamatayya..intha manchi paatani kooni chesthu!
Does that mean we are here to make aristic masterpieces…by ruining such a wonderful song!
Chittaranjan (At a very disappointed tone): Ledhandi..thana sontha paithyam upayogisthunnadu..veedu ishtamocchinattu chesthunadu!
No Sir! This guy is using his own intelligence and doing off whatever he wants to!
(The director’s assistant comes now saying)
Adhe mana director garu kangaru padthunnaru..asale mana cinemalo top hero,heroines unnaru..manchi steps avi lekunda..
That’s what our director sir is worried!There are top hero,heroines in our films and we are in desperate need of steps!
Chittaranjan: Cheppaga..nenu compose chesinadhi veeru veellu chesthunnadhi veru!Sastreeya nruthyam nerchukunna vallani pettukunte ilage meea paruvu,maa paruvu, mana top stars paruvu teesestharu!
Didn’t I tell you? I composed something very different and these guys are doing something else! This is the problem with Classical dancers. They will ruin your, mine and our top stars great prestige!
(The assistant says now)
Asale manadhi prestigious cinema. Oka club dance kooda ledhu! Ee okka paataina..
Our film is a very prestigious film, and there is not even one club dance..Atleast one song..
Chittaranjan : Kangaru padaddhu..adhi manasulo pettukune compose chesanu..gurthundha chesi chupinchana?
Don’t worry..keeping the same in mind I composed..(Addressing Balu he says)…do you remember or shall I show you?
Balu: Hero Herione paatralu pavitramaina paatralu kadha ani..
The roles of hero and heroine are very pristine…that’s why..
Chittaranjan again cuts short saying : Paatralu ouchityalu manakendhukayya!Idhi box office cinema!Top stars!Ooty lu Kodaikanal lu..STEPPULU..STEPPULAYYA!First background enti?
Why do we care about characters and the values?This is Box office cinema which has Top Stars!Ooty..Kodaikanal locations…we want steps! (He stresses this word so much!)..now tell me, what is the first background?
Balu (Flabbergasted already): Hero lekunda Herione rendu avruthalu (Two cycles of taalam used in Music)..
Without Hero the Herione comes for two cycles of taalam..
As he goes on, the director cuts him short saying Aavulu ambothulu manakendhuku ayya (He doesn’t even know the word Avrtham!)
Why do we need cows and buffaloes when Top Stars are there!
Now, the great dance director Chittaranjan spoils the whole composition so badly that the dance steps are not only vulgar but also very odd to look at! On the contrary, the director loves every bit of it! K.Vishwanath uses his imagination in showing how “horrible” one song can be picturized which can spoil everything relating to it! I would rather not mention the directors who used to do the same those days in Telugu Cinema, but it is quite obvious to any Telugu Film goer!
Balu gets so upset with this episode that he almost cries in the end of dance composing sessions and gets furious with his friend Raghupathi for recommending such a crazy dance director for the same!
Watch the same scene below in this link..
The scene now drifts to the current timeline of the movie where Shailaja comes to her house apparently happy about her performance in front of her mother who is none other than Madhavi (Jayaprada’s dignified career best!). As she glances through the reviews of her daughter’s programme, she incidentally (Cinematically as well!) comes across the review written by Balu.
Madhavi gets overwhelmed seeing Balu’s name and enquires Shailaja more about the same. After knowing the terrible state of Balu and his health condition, she immediately reaches Vizag to know about his whereabouts. After trying out for a while, she goes back to nostalgia hoping to locate Balu as soon as possible..
It is now time to see Madhavi’s version of Balu and their wonderful relationship which they had during their young years. It is neither a passionate love story or a one sided love story! Their story has foundation of mutual respect, love for art, and an evergreen bonding which is as eternal as the Sea!
The first look of Madhavi as younger self is quite beautiful as well as individualistic. We see her traditionally dressed and adjusting the lens of a Camera at a temple, trying to take some good pictures. The first impression which we get on her is that she is pretty ambitious and quite passionate about what she is pursuing. She is interrupted by a loud voice singing jathis (in dance) and a terrified kid with a camera. The voice is none other than Balu’s and the kid is a photographer(calls himself but he is not!) trying to take some good photographs of the former.
The photoshoot scene is so funny that every picture which Balu wants, the kid takes in the wrong way! At one instant when frustrated Balu says I will keep a Bhangima ( A Dance posture) and then only the kid should take picture, the innocent kid says he wants it right now thinking it is something to eat!
Madhavi observes all this in silence and tries to capture Balu in different dance postures in a very enthralling manner. Balu,obviously is unaware of this and feels very disappointed when the photos taken by the Kid arrives in the Photo Studio!
As Balu criticizes the kid for taking such awful photographs, and the kid taking his comments quite light hearted, Madhavi arrives in the Photo Studio. The scene is so hilarious that Balu tries to hide his very old (and Battered) camera out of her sight! As Madhavi gets her copy of Photos, the Studio owner coolly compliments Balu for being such a great dancer as the photos are none other than his own!
Balu hesitantly and curiously tries to watch Madhavi’s set of Photographs (Wonderful backgroundscore by ILaiyaraaja is worth mentioning here) and when he watches the best shot taken (Balu flying in the air in a dance pose), Madhavi notices Balu for the first time..
Watch the picture perfect scene in the link below!
Best is yet to come in Part 3 of this Marvel..
P.S: Though I am trying to condense the posts as small as possible, the brilliance of the movie is making me write more and more and I am not at all regretting doing it! Just to even write about it is a huge learning experience for me!
After an enthralling adventurous ride with Kshana Kshanam in the previous post of mine, now it is time to get back to the Fine Arts excellence from K.Vishwanath sir! Though I already discussed about Swarna Kamalam and Subhalekha from the same series, it gives me great previlige to write about this fantastic masterpiece today!
I wonder at times whether this should be called a Telugu Film at all for the wonders is showed and offered – in all respects! Let it be Direction,Acting, Dialogues, Photography, Music, Lyrics and Story-telling. Literally, I mean literally- every above mentioned field excels in this film. But what makes this unforgettable of the unforgettable films in Telugu Cinema?
Is it because of the depiction of a great character Balu (Kamal Hasan) – a gifted dancer but with bad luck in every phase of life, who in turn tries to keep the Art in him alive until the last breath?
Is it because of the wonderful Music by Maestro ILaiyaraja which earned him National Award for the same? In short the music flows with the scene and so does the songs!
Is it because of the direction brilliance of K.Vishwanath garu whose name is interchangeably used for Fine Arts films in Telugu and the dialogue power of Jandhyala which even added tremendous comedy element for the film?
Is it the dignified portrayal of Jayaprada for the role of Madhavi, who had all the extraordinary qualities and the earthliness needed for the character?
When I question myself about the same after countless times of viewing, I strongly feel that the human emotions coupled with the great Fine Arts values which India has is what makes the film most unique of all! This is one of those very rare films in Telugu Cinema which cannot be stopped from analyzing even in the near future- I am sure of this!
Without further ado, I would like to start off talking about this phenomenal film which came as a beautiful Sea wave which will always ease the audience with its breezy self and wonderful landscape (Ideal to the title of the film!).
The film begins with a dance performance by young aspiring dancer Shailaja (Played at best by Shailaja herself- Sister of veteran Singer S.P.Balasubhrahmanyam) for which our dear Hero (at his old age) attends to write a review on the same. The song is Om Namashivaya ( Sung by evergreen Janaki, I still see people undoubtedly saying it is her best till date!) with good start and as the performance progresses by, we can easily see the nature of Balu during the interludes. This shows his passion for perfection in Classical Dance, and the high standards which he looks for from a performance. But the shabby,battered look (Which he gets due to ill-health and so many twists and turns in the story- more of it later!) will look quite unbelievable for the first time watcher of the film.
In the mean time, Shailaja gets too involved in gaining the fame and good accolades for her dance, which makes her move out of focus from the dance performance and the classicism which has to be shown in the same. Balu, gets furious for one particular blunder which she makes during the dance, and coolly move out of the hall and writes a very critically damaging review about her performance. This shows the fearless shade of Balu, when perfection of dance is concerned!
Shailaja’s fiancée Kishore, who is quite an influential man in the city, gets furious seeing this review and the upset state of Shailaja – in turn calling Balu to his office to apologize Shailaja. He speaks in a very insulting tone (Going by the looks of Balu) and even uses abusive words in return. Balu gets highly furious but apparently decides to show his objection in his brilliant dance talent instead!
The scene which arrives now can be called as masterpiece of Telugu Cinema. It influenced not only people of those era but also for generations to come! It is not only a blow to artists who feel they are perfect in their dancing/music but how a minor contempt can create such a blunder as a result! Scenes like this in Telugu Cinema are what makes our Telugu Films most special and unforgettable at any juncture!
Scene 1:” PanchaBhootamulu” – Dance Marvel!
Oblivious to the tense atmosphere in the office and the angry state of Kishore and her as well, Balu coolly starts off the first charanam from the song Om Namashivaya (for which Shailaja performed on stage). He then asks Shailaja ( in a very cool yet serious tone) :
Balu : Ee charananam ninna ela abhinayinchavu?
How did you enact this particular charanam in the performance?
Shailaja looks too offended and disgusted to even answer to Balu’s questioning (Feels his unworthy of even to look at!)
Balu, prods Shailaja saying “Come on..Dance..” , looking at her reaction. But even when he doesn’t get a reaction, He provokes her saying “Yem Amma..Raadha?”
“What..you don’t know?”
Shailaja gets very angry and starts off dancing for the same, in which the charanam lyrics goes like Pancha Bhootamulu Mukha Panchakamai ( The five elements of earth are the expressed in the face), but she enacts showing as if they are bhootas (Ghosts instead!).Now, we come to know what was the biggest blunder which Shailaja did! The respect for Balu grows little now for not only the people there but also to the audience!
After Shailaja is done with it, Balu asks her “ Idhi Saasthreeya Nruthyemena”
“Is this Classical Dance which you did?”
Shailaja replies arrogantly saying “Ye Kaadha?”
“Is it not?”
Balu: Ye Saampradaayam?
“Which style ?”
Shailaja: “(Says Idiot in undertone) Yenni Sampradayalu unnayo kooda telusa neeku?Deenini Bharatanatyam antaru!”
Do you even know how many dance forms are there?This is called Bharatanatyam!
Now, Balu rewinds the tape and starts of getting ready to dance for the same. Everybody else in the scene, including Shailaja takes him lightly until he starts off dancing flawlessly for the same! Once he is done with the dance, he says in a very angry tone “Bharatanatyam ante idhi!”
“This is Bharatanatyam (For your information!)”
Before Shailaja could get relieved for the “lecture” given by Balu for wrong-portrayal of Classical Dance, Balu goes even more ahead by showing the same charanam depiction in different dance styles such as Kathakali, Kathak and so on! By the time scene ends, we see fear coming out of Shailaja and unexplicable shock, that how can a man being so shabbily dressed can dance with such an enormous perfection!
Watch the scene from the below link for the visual and musical excellence!
This sort of situation happens for everybody in real life, where we judge a person unknowingly by the way they dress and in their appearance. At times we even go overboard in assessing their abilities based on their dressing! This particular scene from Sagara Sangamam makes every viewer realize that one can never always do it!
If the user thinks that Balu will start abusing Shailaja for the mistake she did, he/she will be mistaken! He calmly tells a very popular slokam from Natya Sastram “Yatho Hasthasthatho Drushti..Yatho Drushtisthatho Manaha..Yetho Manasthatho Bhaavaha..Yatho Bhaavosthatho Rasaha” ( Which means, the dance should have his/her total focus on what is being perfomed, which in turn gives a greater result in the final performance), and he gives a straight slap to Kumar for using abusive language for no reason on him (Serves him right!The audience will feel!) and while Balu makes a move, the security guard in the office salutes him (On behalf of all the viewers too!)
This is what I call the directorial touch of K.Vishwanath garu and sheer acting brilliance of Kamal Hasan- without any doubt!
Many questions arise to the viewer at this point of time- such as..what must have happened to this great dancer which brought him to such a shabby state in life, and a chronic smoker and drunkard? With talent like his, he should be somewhere in the great classical dance exponents of India! Does he have nobody to take care of in life..such as family?
And the questions never end..
More to come in Part 2 with the young Balu and the people who influenced,inspired and make him as a person along with brilliant comedy, Dance magic and of course breathtaking music!
Aarya (Feel My Love) Part 1
Aarya..Feel My love was released back in 2004.After the much awaited release of Gangotri.which was a debut for Allu Arjun.he waited for a film which could make his acting skills more better he wanted to prove hes an all rounder.Just when he was waiting came Aarya…which was a rage among people with all ages.
The Movie also is a debut for Director Sukumar.who was confident about character Aarya as such.Aptly titled as Aarya..it is wholly about how the character attracts us as an audience.He is a Loved by one and all and yet he mesmerizes people who don’t like him too.. such is the beauty of this character.Until then Telugu Cinema has not seen or Heard of Such character.Not Nerdy,Not Funny,Not Psycho.But yes Totally Lovably Different.
As i go through the character (i don’t say the film cos the film revolves around the character) viewers can reminisce the beauty of the scenes.The Magic begins!!
Wind breezes coolly over the beach..the sun is shining warmly ..and there in the midst of these is a girl playing with the slowly falling waves trying to touch her feet while she moves back and forth. A diary whose pages are turning with the ruffle of the wind and making noise catches the girls attention.she come and takes the diary and reads it..slowly..a poem written by someone catches her attention and she tries to complete it in her own style and leave it. this beautiful scene though i could describe it some how in my words is actually worth watching.for all you guys here.here’s the video
The girl(Geetha) along with her friends comes to Kanyakumari where she is standing on a bridge.some guys see her and like her instantly and vow that they would do anything for that girl.then accidentally one of her ‘patti’ falls into the water. her friend(Santhi) asks those guys to bring the ‘patti’ if they really like her but none of them dare it. A guy suddenly dives into water and Geetha feels sorry and after that there is no whereabouts about the ‘guy who fell for her patti’ in Kanyakumari.she keeps on thinking about him even after coming back to college hostel how he unnecessarily put his life to risk.
Now the scene changes and here is where our story begins..
Aarya is a happy Go Lucky Guy and makes friends instantly with his innovative behavior , smart techniques and Witty one liners.he helps them and in return makes every one happy around him. He joins the same college where Geeta and Ajay study.Ajay is MP’s Son who has quite powerful presence in the college.Geetha is a very simple good natured girl.
Aarya enters college when he is bowled by Geetha On the First Sight itself, where she is flanked by her friends who force her to say ‘I love you’ to Ajay who threatens to jump from the top of a college Building.Ajay wants Geetha as his girlfriend so that he can prove his friends that there is no girl who he cannot flirt with.Geetha agrees to Ajay cos she thinks she already made a guy lose his life cos of her in Kanyakumari and this time she can’t take it again. Ajay is happy and Aarya is amazed how could she do it? Ajay and Geetha start dating each other
The next day Aarya proposes Geetha with a Flower in Front of Ajay making him startled! Ajay’s Lieutenants ask Ajay to calm down and from then on starts Ajay and Aarya’s fight for Geetha.
Aarya convincingly manages to make others agree his point of view where once he asks Geetha’s friends to handover a letter to her and they reject. as Geetha already is seeing Ajay.
But he poses a question to one of her friends saying ‘Do u Like Taj mahal’? and he asks the same question to other girl and she says ‘yes’ so he asks when Both of them can like a same monument whats wrong in liking a girl.and thus he gets them onto his side. One day Ajay gets a call to go to Delhi for some competition.He gets tensed as he is aware of Aarya’s tactics and how he can become closer to Geetha. Aarya doesn’t stop his trials for Geetha. Geetha tells him that she’s already engaged to Ajay.who can hurt him if he comes to know about this.But Aarya tells that he wants her only to ‘feel His love’ for him and thus the Song ‘Feel My Love’ enters.which is a smooth sailing song where throughout he goes around Geetha trying to please her and make her feel his love once .This song was a sensation among youth that time the foot tapping cool music and the cool Moon walk steps by Bunny made him a dancing Superstar among the youth..
after his pestering along the side..she says she doesn’t like him and that she hates him.he goes back to his lil friends and tells them,while playing the mouth organ
One of the Boys says.” I love you ante happy ga undali kani… I hate you ante happy ga untav enti ra babu..” then Aarya says ” emi lekapodam kante.. edoka feeling undadam better kadha” to this they get amazed.such is the postive nature of aarya
Ajay returns only to know that Aarya totally tried to woo her in his absence.he tries to threaten him.but Aarya tells Ajay to agree to a bet saying
“Boss boss boss kottukundam! tappa kunda kottukundam, kani first okati cheppu.Nuvu geetha ni love chestunava? Venu says”Yes” and Aarya asks again
“Geetha ninu love chestunda?” Venu replies ” arey idem presena bhai..pagal gadi la unnav ..annani love cheyaka povadamaa … love chestundi..”
Then he says “iddaru iddarni love chesinappudu na lanti vondamandi vochhina mi love ki em kadhu” Na love mida naku nammakam undi boss ! ni love mida niku unda?unte ee kattalu sticklu enduku chirakkga.ika nunchi nenu em chesina nuvu em anakudadu.. na vonti mida okka debba paddina.. ni love mida niku nammakam lennate!”
“endukante Prema kani prema ni prema ani analemu”
To this Ajay and gang gets stunned.Aarya convinces them to stay away from whatever he does to be with Geetha.Ajay feels tied able to do nothing.
Aarya tells Ajay to drop him till ladies hostel and having nothing to say he allows him sit on his bike on his way he stops by to pick some fruits for her(as she is not feeling well) then Aarya says
“Enti Boss fruits konte kani geetha ninu love cheyada” And ajay cancels the fruits ordered.
and both of them enter into her hostel.Santhi ironically says that both say that they are great lovers of geetha but knowing that she is not feeling well none of them have brought Fruits or Medicines! and you both are so called Great lovers of her.To this Aarya says
“Nenu techanu” and he opens his coat where a fruit garland is taken out and also keeps medicines aside for her. this scene has quite a good one liner.where he asks santhi to take care of geetha
“”Oi” ekadiki veledi..fruits teeskelli lopala peetu.Juice teeyi Geethha ki iyyee”.
Having seen all this Geetha gets stunned at aarya presence of mind and the care with which he brings all things to her.Ajay scolds her saying”Idantha nivalle jarigindi..apude cut chesunte inthvarku vochedi kadu” and she keeps staring at the Apple where words”feel my love” are written given by aarya.
One fine Morning Aarya writes on the Notice Board wishing Geetha A happy Birthday! and distributes choclates to his mates.Every body likes his idea of wishing her in a cool way which indeed was!
On the night of her Birthday Aarya brings his friends(lil children)and makes them hold candles amidst darkness and gifts Geetha a picture frame of Ajay and Geetha .her friends are all spellbound which Geetha also likes.Ajay is late for her Birthday party by the time which the party is over.Seeing this ajay gets irritated and goes away. Geetha friends tell her that Aarya is really a nice guy and that he only wanted her to be his friend.Geetha falls flat and agrees Aarya is a nice guy.she goes and tells Ajay and shows him the gift Aarya gave Ajay gets stunned!He feels that he gave that gift so that he could become close to her.
On valentine’s day Ajay,Geetha and his friends come to a hotel where Aarya is spotted.Ajay immediately backs out saying he can’t survive that maniac.then Santhi says he’s only a well wisher of him.meanwhile Ajay friend comes there with his GF and he sees that Ajay doesn’t want to be there cos of Aarya he says”Nenu undanga nikenduku tension.manam verevalaki disturbance kavali kani valu manaki kadu’ and they sit beside Aarya.Geetha sits beside Ajay.when Aarya calls Ajay to tell something and in that name sits in Ajay’s Place beside Geetha. she gets up from the Place. Aarya sighs Ajay saying”Enti Boss Nammakam Leda??” and to this Ajay had to give in and tells Geetha to sit beside him.
Everybody orders their choice of icecream and when Geetha’s turn comes she orders for Choclate and the same is ordered by Aarya.seeing this she cancels choclate and orders Vanilla.then Aarya tells that “Ipudu Icecream marchinatte repu na mida kuda opnion marthundi” and Ajay gets irritated to which his friend says “Ponle ilagaina santhosha padani elago geetha Ajay di kadha”
then one of Ajay’s friends ask Aarya how he is so confident of his love.Then he says.”Emundi Boss repu valu vidipovochu ga” Ajay gets stunned to this reply. then he explains “ikada vochina couples andaru. last year unkokaritho vocharu and next year verekolatho vostharu.so epudu evaru permanent kadu. for ex.(pointing to Ajay’s friend) nuvu ipudu ematho vochavu.last year rosy tho vochavu”hearing this his gf leaves him. and to this Ajay gets Angry and asks geetha also to leave along with him. On trying to make Aarya go away from the place. Aarya made his friend only to leave the place.So clever is he..here the Songs U rock my world rocks where Aarya sings for Geetha in the Valentine Party.
Ajay can’t take this and plans to make aarya go far away from geetha. he meets his dad(Avataram) and tells he needs a person to tackle the problem.his dad sends a guy who he plans to make a skater dash Aarya who will be coming oppostite to Geetha and Both of them hold on to each other.From the corner of a side Ajay takes their picture and displays it on the NB. and writes unruly stuff about the pic. which makes everyone talk about the proximity between her and Aarya and that it was the handiwork of Aarya.
Geetha comes and see the NB and sees everybody talking cheaply about her.she feels very bad.she warns Aarya that all these days she tried to control and be patient with him.but he has crossed all limits.and that he is a mad maniac trying and asking her to feel his love. but now she will love Ajay and marry Ajay.and asks him never to come in front of her.after this Aarya is shocked and since Geeta herself is not interested Ajay bruises Aarya which lands him in hospital.
From here the Story takes a turn and we have to wait until i get back with more interesting stuff for this film in Part-2
Till part 2 of the post on the Enthralling Kshana Kshanam movie, we have seen Satya’s troubles slightly secured by Chandu’s presence and a wonderful nightfall song Jaamurathiri. The excellent story narration technique of Ram Gopal Varma already becomes evident by this part of the film. Instead of using heavy dialogues or sentimental scenes which were so much in vogue of films those days , he beautifully crafts the main protagonists characters with more of their reactions to various situations instead! The viewer definitely gets gripped to the film by now and wonders what really is going to happen next!
Forest is one of the most intriguing and complex form of nature ever discovered by human race..it can be as calm and peaceful when left out but can get wild when disturbed too! Another characteristic aspect of Forests is the richness of wild animals along with the tribal groups who live in such hardened conditions. There is always something special and challenging to discover in Forest irrespective of the day and time one explores it! This is what makes Forest a beautiful hangout as well as a great place to narrate a story (Atleast according to Varma!) .
Varma makes it clear in his mind when Forest comes to picture for exploration! Showing the Forest as calm and peaceful during the night (in Jaamurathiri song), he apparently decides to make it little wild, funny, musical as well as adventurous in every respect as the film progresses by! Not to forget, our dear duo is being chased by Police men, as well as the treacherous criminal Paresh Rawal – while the former wants to catch the culprit of the murder which took place in Satya’s residence, the latter is in the chase for money!
The day falls by with the natural sounds of wild animals and rustling of leaves. Satya wakes up and realizes she is being stalked by a bear and immediately encounters a dreadful snake! The deadly nature of Forest was shown prodigiously by Varma in just few seconds of runtime!
While Satya and Chandu continue their journey in Forest, in hope of going to the city- Paresh Rawal gets comically scared looking at even a dead snake in the forest! Varma wonderfully shows a fact that even villain cannot be invincible- they do have their own weaknesses!
One of the most hilarious scenes in Telugu Cinema comes next- when Satya and Chandu cross a very old battered bridge in the Forest! Satya immediately gets scared (being truthful to her natural self!) and asks Chandu for reassurance about the sturdiness of the bridge. Chandu gets exasperated and gets carried away by his “guts” and coolly asks Satya to just keep her foot in the place he did while crossing the bridge and boom! It is Chandu who misses the step! The scene is tremendously funny partly due to the scene and mainly due to Satya’s brilliant reaction to what happened there! She bursts to laughter suddenly and again controls herself in order to not hurt the feelings of Chandu! This scene is worth watching anytime in the day and is an adventure lover’s delight!
Satya now watches a breathtaking vision of a forest water stream surrounded by chirping of birds and beautiful greenery. She launches herself to a melodious and slow tune describing about the beauty of nature ( Completely forgets to be scared for some time- that is the beauty of nature!) . But Chandu (Being his cool self) says the song should have more pace so that it appeals to mass audience as well! This is Varma’s style of making audience connected to a song and he builds up the situation for a song so beautifully!!
The song which comes off now is quite unlike its predecessor- it is vibrant, eerie, paced up and foot tapping number! The choreography by one of the greatest dancers Indian Cinema has seen- Prabhu Deva is another asset for this song! Though the tribal loop which was used in the film was copied from a Western Song (Not sure whether its by Dr.Alban) , the nativity brought by the singers and the wonderful lyrics by Sitarama Sastry gives a new feel to the song!
Watch the fantastic song here for a bit of pace in our slowed down lives!
And now, it so happens that Paresh Rawal finally finds our dear duo ( in the backdrop of rain) and the scene where the former asks Satya to cover up her head because of rain makes the viewer wonder whether the villain is really villain at all! As our villain coldly asks about the whereabouts of one crore rupees, Satya is totally clueless about what is going on.
The dialogue delivery of Paresh Rawal oscillates between dreadfulness as well as funny. Chandu- who watches this discussion also wonders at one moment about who Satya really is- whether she is a bigger thief than he is! But nevertheless he rescues Satya from the gang and Varma- an ace personality in direction when action scenes are concerned, takes the front seat with a thrilling action sequence eventually leading to the escape of our duo yet again!
After a logical discussion between Satya and Chandu about why these people are following them- they come to a conclusion that some cover comes over to Satya from the Photo Studio which she went and now decides firmly on getting the lost cover from Satya’s apartment.
Coming out of the forest finally, Chandu steals the Jeep (Which is none other than Paresh Rawal’s) in typical GTA style ( A very famous video game where the hero steals a car as simply as he is going for a morning walk!) . The duo- apparently relieved of coming out from the Forest now hear a foot tapping rhythmic music in the stolen car- thereby going to the imagination song- “Andhanantha Ettha!” .The bubbliness of Sridevi and the brilliant dance moves in this song is one of the biggest assets for this song! The dance moves are made situationally funny and cool, and at the same time the tremendous of ease of chemistry between our duo!
Another wonderful aspect of this song is the postlude music which was in such rage those days! Varma must have gone so much fond of this style of song that he did the same for his further blockbuster film in Hindi- Rangeela as well. The percussions used for this music bit were at high quality those days and it drew much craze for the already brilliant song!
I always found RGVs style of comedy highly intriguing and has its own style. It doesn’t contain lots of dialogues or goes like a separate comedy track at all. It just goes with the flow and the comedy occurs in between the main protagonists (As mentioned before) and well, at times even with the regular comedians but with a different benchmark!
Satya and Chandu get so much in dirt on account of recent adventures in Forest that they decide to get some good clothes in a store at city. The owner of the shop is none other than Brahmanandam (A well-known face of Comedy in Telugu Cinema- Telugu people owe a lot to this gentleman!) who is very fussy about neatness and cleanliness as far as his dear shop is concerned. RGV shows this in a short scene where the co-worker keeps the place unclean and Brahmanandam preaches him about how neatly the shop has to be maintained as the customers who come to the shop are very tidy and affluent!
On the contrary, he watches Chandu and Satya coming in shabby clothes to the shop. One can imagine the plight of our shocked Brahmanandam and his expressions of horror by seeing them! He tries to stop them from coming to the shop but the shock for him comes from Satya who asks in English “We would like to see some casual wear!”. Such incidents are so common in real life till date where the salesman is helpless when the customer speaks such nice English!
The real trouble starts for Brahmanandam now as the duo starts off checking different outfits in the shop. The scene is so hilarious that whenever Satya tries to pick something in the shop it goes to disorder, leading to utter irritation for Brahmanandam! He tries to suppress all his irritation by saying “Nenu..Nenu..Nenu Pedathanu Kadha” ( Let me re-arrange it for you) whenever Satya drops some arranged dresses from the hangers! This scene became the most unforgettable comedy scenes ever in Telugu Cinema till date.
Watch the same in the link below!
After a little romantic interest propping up from Chandu’s side towards Satya after seeing the latter in a beautiful White dress , the duo hurry up to Satya’s residence in order to find the lost cover. The problem which arises now is that Satya’s house is guarded by policemen after the murder commenced there. Chandu devises a plan to get into Satya’s apartment by climbing off the balconies up to the top floor in a quite adventurous manner. As he does this in quite cool manner, Satya gets shocked when he asks her to come off doing the same. The expressions by Sridevi as Satya when he asks to climb up as its such an easy thing to do are priceless! The background score for this scene is another highlight – Thanks to the talented Keeravani.
Somehow with great difficulty Satya manages to climb to the backdoor of her apartment and the duo gets the mysterious cover as well. In the first look,Chandu doesn’t understand what the cover means as it looks like some Railway Cloak Room Receipt. Within less than a minute, he understands that the stolen money was kept in the Railway Cloak Room and with this receipt they can get hold of the money.
A wonderful dream song comes now which is brilliant in many respects. Let it be the wonderful music by Keeravani, sung by SPB and Sridevi herself, or the phenomenal lyrics of Sitarama Sastry explaining the wonders money can do, or the acting with graceful dance steps choreographed by Prabhu Deva again, this song even stands out for the location in which it was shot. It was none other than Bhaskara Palace ( CARE hospital now!) , a star luxury hotel during those days.The song goes off in a conversational way where the Satya asks about various aspects of Money and Chandu answers them in a musically literal manner. Some of such lines are..
Lakshmi Devi Swahastham Tho Santhakam Chesina Patram ( The paper which was signed by The Goddess Lakshmi Devi herself) when Satya asks what a Cheque Book is..
Aidhu Taarala Pootakoolla Illu..Makeup vesi maro bhasha lo Five Star Hotel antaru ( Wonderful telugu definition for Five Star hotel!)
Here is the link for the same for viewers and listeners delight!
After a little conflict between Chandu and Satya when the latter asks him to hand over the money to the Police as its robbed, and the former gets into a dilemma of what to do next, a beautiful train adventure and some brilliant action sequences lead the beautiful film to an end..Predictably, Chandu hands over the money to Police realizing that it is the right thing to do, the film ends in a truly royal manner with Satya and Chandu getting together!
Marapuaraani Chitralu remembers the wonderful team of Kshana Kshanam- RGV, Sridevi, Venkatesh, Paresh Rawal, Keeravani ,Sirivennela and every cast/crew member who worked on it for giving a great masterpiece in terms of Adventure and Fun films in telugu!
Disclaimer: Another lengthy post- but promisingly informative and entertaining!
In the first part of this promising entertainer, we have seen how Satya’s life is almost near the edge where a breakthrough surprise awaits for her and the brilliance in the villany of Paresh Rawal as the comically scary personality! Also, the amazing capability of Ram Gopal Varma as a film maker as well as a story teller was briefly spoken about. But I am afraid (Or am I delighted?..looks more like the latter!) that the real story beings when Satya casually comes over to the Photo Studio to collect the photos. At the same time Paresh Rawal interrogates the studio owner inside the dark room about the whereabouts of the money which were stolen with such a crisp plan.
At one moment in this scene the audience will surely feel Satya will witness this interrogation but at the next frame she is attended by another worker in the Photo Studio and she goes off coolly with the envelope- which has her passport photos (The cover also has the paper which has the whereabouts of the stolen money!).
Satya comes over to the house in an auto, who demands her extra fare (Which happens even now!) in typical Hyderabadi Hindi (Which has Urdu as well as Telugu mixture!) which makes Satya hilariously angry! To her strength and minimal knowledge in the Hyderabadi slang of Hindi she tries to argue with the auto wala! The scene is so funny that I am finding it hard to describe in words! She argues for less an a minute and when the auto wala becomes a little overboard, she immidiately realizes its of no use and starts giving empty threats! This scene makes the audience realize the current state of many of the common public- where we want to fight/argue something which we know is wrong- but give up seeing the diffidence of the opponent- here the case being the autowala!
Well,well..I am coming to the hero’s introduction now! If you visualize it being a good introduction song where the Hero dances with some really talented group dancers and sing about how “morally” one should live ( Songs coming in this sequence are bound to be hit- According to the Telugu Film Experts!) – you would be thoroughly mistaken! We see the hero Chandu (Venkatesh- when he didn’t have the tagline Victory attached to him by then!) chases over a group of theives over the streets of Sultan Bazar( These scenes are utterly authentic to watch!) and we feel- “Our hero is such a great guy! Displayed heroics in the first scene itself!” . Immidiately after the chase, we come to know that our hero is a theif in disguise of Police- just being smart enough to be one Cop!
Watch the Satya- Auto wala argument scene as well as Chandu’s introduction scene in the below link:
In the mean time, Satya’s irritating neighbour starts making a conversation with her again and by great difficulty she escapes this marathon of words! But when she doesn’t realize that she was being tailed until she reaches her apartment! The stranger questions her about a cover which sadly she is unaware of! After a little action-packed scenes Satya stabs the stranger by accident and when she was utterly shocked by what has just happened, the stranger gets killed by another knife which was used by an unknown person (both to Satya and to the audience!) . The action content in these scenes are too hard to describe-hence I leave it to the reader to watch and enjoy in the film instead!
Satya is utterly flabbergasted with the account of recent events, and her neighbour even complains the police about the murder (This is what some neighbours are for! Speak sweetly when in good times and first to throw in trouble when in bad times!). Completely clueless of what to do, she escapes from the apartment searching out for a place where she can make a phone call (No Cell Phones during that era- and life was much simpler wasn’t it?- But in emergency situations like which Satya is in one now- Cell Phone would save the day!) .
Extremely panicked and worried, Satya finds some relief when she gets into an Irani Café and finds a telephone to call her friend in office. But little she does know that her conversation gets tapped by the Police in which she even tells the café’s name innocently! Apparently relieved after informing her friend about the problem she is in- she lands into another one! This problem is in the form of some goons who try to tease her (Being their obvious selves!) . Chandu, also being in the same café, comes to rescue Satya (Now, this is what I call cinematic! But it’s a pleasure to watch Sridevi and Venkatesh together for the first time in the film!) .
The café atmosphere (Which is like the heartbeat of Hyderabad culture- where people stay for hours together with a single tea and samosa/Moon shaped biscuits!), the goons as well as the minimal usage of dialogues in this particular scene is enough to tell why Kshana Kshanam is one of the most remembered films in Telugu Cinema!
Satya- feels tremendously relieved with the support she got from Chandu’s rescue and starts thanking the latter non-stop even without listening to what he says!
Right on time, the Police arrives at the café in order to arrest Satya in the crime of Murder. But Chandu goes thouroughly mistaken thinking that they came to arrest him (for the petty robbery) instead and grabs Satya by hand and takes her away in a breathtaking chase! This chase sequence is like a trademark for Varma’s films, where we see lot of local atmosphere which is so unique to Hyderabad life where street processions go on in the middle of the road!
A very special mention is needed for the brilliant M.M.Keeravani here. His score for this film (For both the background score and the songs- the latter would be described in the right context!) has been one of his career bests and he created amazing impact on the audience with minimal instrument usage and excellent sound clarity as well!
The audience will rightly observe that till now there hasn’t been a proper conversation between Satya and Chandu till this point of the film! On the course of the chase, they both get trapped into a forest area and hide from the police in a trap used for hunting animals. Once they clear off, Satya is the first person who wants to come out of the pit and quite being her individual self, she opposes Chandu’s attempt in helping her out! Quite predictably, she fails to get out and falls back into the pit. The scene is shown so brilliantly where the sound of falling only is used- and the actual scene is reflected in Chandu’s facial expression instead!
Learning her lesson, Satya takes Chandu’s help this time and both of them finally come out of the trap! (The Background score for this scene is another highlight for the film!)
Now, Satya gets the most obvious doubt which was running through her mind right from the beginning of the chase. She asks Chandu why he started running away when he saw the Police! Completely convinced that he should better admit the truth about he being the thief- he confesses the same. But seeing the shocked reaction of Satya ( Amazing expressions by Sridevi- she looks fabulous throughout the film!) he converts it into a funny story saying that he had to become a theif due to family troubles in childhood and from then he was continuing the same (A very obvious story which is seen in many yesteryear Telugu/Hindi films!) .
Satya gets the same doubt as we audience do! She innocently says she is able to remember the story even before he says and she saw such film recently! Chandu gets furious (Which again is acting!) and says he shouldn’t have shared his problems with her!
Finally- Chandu’s purpose is fulfilled- Satya believes that he is the Good-Thief( So called- Manchi Donga!)
Watch the scene in the following link from 1:20 where one can see the amazing brlliance of the lead actors as well as the breathtaking simplicity of RGV in handling this scene!
As night falls by, Satya- just like any other common person we can find in daily life, gets nervous about the stay in Forest. She gets so scared that she starts crying and yelling (in a very sweet manner!) at Chandu saying why to bring her to a Forest! She gets too upset and tries to sleep- but becomes unsuccessful! Unable to find the right words to comfort Satya- Our dear Chandu sings a wonderful melody “Jaamurathiri” in order to relax Satya. This song remains to be one of the most appreciated film songs in Telugu- by common goers as well as the elite!
The instruments used in the song reflect the fores t atmosphere- and the singing style of SPB is all the more amazing! Not to forget the excellent lyrics by Sitarama Sastry sir about fear and how to deal with it as well!
The song does lot good to Satya- so much good that she starts singing in the end too!
Time for a break even for the readers now- More fun,adventure to come in Part 3!!
Navya
Deepti
