Meri Jaan, the biggest difference between just a Bollywood movie fan watching an Amitabh Bachchan movie and a Bachchan fan - is the adulation and awe the fans have for the actor.
We, as fans, are still stuck on "Trishul, or Don, or Deewar", and the very essence of "Tum log mujhe wahaan dhoond rahey ho, aur main tumhara intezaar, yahaan kar rahaa hoon" gets us all geared for the next scene !!
We "the Bachchan bhakts" still crave for the vintage "Sharaabi" an "Arjun Singh-valdh Bheem Singh" or "Anthony Bhai."
The good news is - there are directors like Balki - that are not just directors, but they live and breath "The Bachchan" as a fan !!! I am pretty sure Balki just gives the dialogues and says - Sir you just do it and we will capture the frame!!!
So to dissect a Bachchan film in 20 Frames is not posssible - coz each frame is an event !!!
Frame 1 - Of course the build-up of Dhanush; A little too long - Yawn - but not bad work by the small kid, I liked the symbolism of "Mumbai" on the bus !!! A dream the kid craves for - till finally when he does make it to the big city ! All about Ishq-e-fillum !!
Frame 2 - Dhanush and Akshara are all fine !! I am not going to even go into the loooong "voice" history channel documentary of how the voice gets transmitted (Boo---ring).
Meri Jaan - where is our guy??
Frame 3 - I will cut straight to Bachchan as the drunkard - one thing I have noticed is that Mr. Bachchan keeps changing his voice a lot; he literally rocks a voice-over; "Yeh aawaz ek kuttey ke mooh se bhi acchi lagegi"; even now he can create modulation and bring out a voice tone/ density that even "the fans" have not heard !!!
Frame 4 - Loved the banter of "Mughal-e-Azam" Sahibe alam dialogue and the first recording sequence. Not a comic scene, but the dialogues and the performances by all 4 (Akshara, Dhaunsh, Mr. Bachchan and the "jahapanah" dude) makes the scene a good watch
Frame 5 - Next frames show Balki the "Ad man" making "Lifebuoy" and Lintas Ads !! The creation of "Shamitabh" and the bonding between the "whiskey" and the "water"; the "voice" and the "actor" - decent build up; with the injection sequence and how they both try to upstage each other !!
Frame 6 - Piddly - or the PEE-dly se sets; and "The Bathroom Singer" once again ! Mr. Bachchan rocks !
Frame 7 - The brewing of tension between "whiskey" and "water"
Frame 8 - The speech in UK and the De Niro bus sequence !! You can literally see a frame straight out of "Naseeb" where he talks to a bottle and says - aati hain - aati hain - nahin - tou main aata hain....and yes the "gun holding"
Fans love Mr. Bachchan holding the gun and if only he just would say next "Agar kisine hilne ki koshish ki tou bhoon ke rakhdoonga" !!
Frame 9 - The bathroom scene with A to Z of "abusive words" - In one take - very powerful !!!
Frame 10-12 - All about the clashes of "I, me, myself"; Dhanush also at this point did some good work - the frustration of knowing where he stands without the voice and still not wanting to give up his "water" attitude !!
Frame 13 - Back to the graveyard - and Mr. Bachchan talking to a TREE !!! Now that's always a delight - audio/ video - picture picture nahin mixture hain !!! Whiskey whiskey hain !!!
Frame 14-16 - The "philosophy" of a laash (dead body) and the person carrying the dead body, and who has the right to be grateful - lovely scene !!! A little heavy - but for Bachchan fans - mindblowing !!
Frame 17 - Akshara going through the A to Z of collaboration - in a nursery school (that's Balki's creative vision - to teach a lesson like chote bacche) and the eventual meltdown and makeup of water and whiskey !!
Frame 18 - The car sequence was ok- but a "kinchit" long - this should have been bam-bam !!
Frame 19-20 - Hospital, Graveyard - the pain and helplessness of "uthiye na munshiji, mujhe chod ke mat jaaiye munshiji". Loved it !!!!
..and that's what the fans love !! Sharaabi, Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony ....we are stuck in a time zone Mr. Bachchan !!! Thank you Balki, always a treat bringing the best of Bachchan to WE, THE Bachchan Bhakts !
Somewhere, I recall back in 80s - I think it was for Sharaabi - when Mr. Bachchan's name came in the list of singers before "The Kishore Kumar", there were some "Whiskey/ Water" issues !!!
Meri Jaan, till next time...stay in love, stay tuned to "Bachchan Bhakti ki Train" ...and lets keep repeating for the n-th time...."Peter.....tum log mujhe wahaan dhoond rahey ho..aur main...."
-Pankaj
We "the Bachchan bhakts" still crave for the vintage "Sharaabi" an "Arjun Singh-valdh Bheem Singh" or "Anthony Bhai."
The good news is - there are directors like Balki - that are not just directors, but they live and breath "The Bachchan" as a fan !!! I am pretty sure Balki just gives the dialogues and says - Sir you just do it and we will capture the frame!!!
So to dissect a Bachchan film in 20 Frames is not posssible - coz each frame is an event !!!
Frame 1 - Of course the build-up of Dhanush; A little too long - Yawn - but not bad work by the small kid, I liked the symbolism of "Mumbai" on the bus !!! A dream the kid craves for - till finally when he does make it to the big city ! All about Ishq-e-fillum !!
Frame 2 - Dhanush and Akshara are all fine !! I am not going to even go into the loooong "voice" history channel documentary of how the voice gets transmitted (Boo---ring).
Meri Jaan - where is our guy??
Frame 3 - I will cut straight to Bachchan as the drunkard - one thing I have noticed is that Mr. Bachchan keeps changing his voice a lot; he literally rocks a voice-over; "Yeh aawaz ek kuttey ke mooh se bhi acchi lagegi"; even now he can create modulation and bring out a voice tone/ density that even "the fans" have not heard !!!
Frame 4 - Loved the banter of "Mughal-e-Azam" Sahibe alam dialogue and the first recording sequence. Not a comic scene, but the dialogues and the performances by all 4 (Akshara, Dhaunsh, Mr. Bachchan and the "jahapanah" dude) makes the scene a good watch
Frame 5 - Next frames show Balki the "Ad man" making "Lifebuoy" and Lintas Ads !! The creation of "Shamitabh" and the bonding between the "whiskey" and the "water"; the "voice" and the "actor" - decent build up; with the injection sequence and how they both try to upstage each other !!
Frame 7 - The brewing of tension between "whiskey" and "water"
Frame 8 - The speech in UK and the De Niro bus sequence !! You can literally see a frame straight out of "Naseeb" where he talks to a bottle and says - aati hain - aati hain - nahin - tou main aata hain....and yes the "gun holding"
Fans love Mr. Bachchan holding the gun and if only he just would say next "Agar kisine hilne ki koshish ki tou bhoon ke rakhdoonga" !!
Frame 9 - The bathroom scene with A to Z of "abusive words" - In one take - very powerful !!!
Frame 10-12 - All about the clashes of "I, me, myself"; Dhanush also at this point did some good work - the frustration of knowing where he stands without the voice and still not wanting to give up his "water" attitude !!
Frame 13 - Back to the graveyard - and Mr. Bachchan talking to a TREE !!! Now that's always a delight - audio/ video - picture picture nahin mixture hain !!! Whiskey whiskey hain !!!Frame 14-16 - The "philosophy" of a laash (dead body) and the person carrying the dead body, and who has the right to be grateful - lovely scene !!! A little heavy - but for Bachchan fans - mindblowing !!
Frame 17 - Akshara going through the A to Z of collaboration - in a nursery school (that's Balki's creative vision - to teach a lesson like chote bacche) and the eventual meltdown and makeup of water and whiskey !!
Frame 19-20 - Hospital, Graveyard - the pain and helplessness of "uthiye na munshiji, mujhe chod ke mat jaaiye munshiji". Loved it !!!!
..and that's what the fans love !! Sharaabi, Naseeb, Amar Akbar Anthony ....we are stuck in a time zone Mr. Bachchan !!! Thank you Balki, always a treat bringing the best of Bachchan to WE, THE Bachchan Bhakts !
Somewhere, I recall back in 80s - I think it was for Sharaabi - when Mr. Bachchan's name came in the list of singers before "The Kishore Kumar", there were some "Whiskey/ Water" issues !!!
Meri Jaan, till next time...stay in love, stay tuned to "Bachchan Bhakti ki Train" ...and lets keep repeating for the n-th time...."Peter.....tum log mujhe wahaan dhoond rahey ho..aur main...."
-Pankaj
5 comments:
I loved Akshara Hasan in the movie, very nice acting by her in debut film.
You are obviously a very BIG Amitabh fan
Balki is a best director Sir. I very much loved Paa and Cheeni Kum movies
Are you back on EBC?
Nice to read something on your blog Pankaj. Long due. Stay well
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