How Many Times Have You Seen Anand?
My score is 15. Or maybe twice that, who counts? And every time I am as happy to watch it. Normally on repeat viewing one picks up nuances that one missed earlier, but I am past that. I can re-iterate almost all the dialogues of that film. I don’t watch Anand for any other reason but that I love watching it. Over and over and over again. Just as I enjoy watching Bawarchi, Gol Maal, Chashme Baddoor, Chhoti Si Baat, Abhimaan, Guddi, Chitchor … you can complete the list yourself.
There is something with this genre of films that connect with us in a very unique way. These films are evenly placed and are exceedingly good-natured. They are complete even without a performance by Rakhi Sawant.
But there is a deeper reason why they appeal to us so much after such a long time. For these films are the best advertisements for what we see as our middle class values. Each of these films evokes a world that we long to be part of- a world of warm relationship troubled by an odd shortcoming that gets comfortably corrected so that all is well again.
They manage to do this in many different ways. The characters are a far cry from today’s Khans with biceps. They usually live in small towns and take bus to work. The tension usually comes from constraints imposed by different human views and beliefs. In Gol Maal we have Utpal Dutt insisting on his employees wearing moustache and in Khoobsoorat we have a matriarch who is fixed on discipline and in Guddi, a young girl on a movie star. They usually live in scarce circumstances, but still their problems rarely arise from poverty. These movies start with a good-natured order and end with a higher level of equilibrium. In doing so they re-establish the importance of family.
The big reason for the continued appeal of these films is that they tell us that happiness is independent of bank-balance.
It is interesting to look at the difference between Bawarchi and its remake Hero No 1 made more recently. In both the films the central character is the imposter servant who brings peace to a disintegrating family. However, in Bawarchi, the instruments employed are good food, classical music and an occasional treat of drink; in Hero No 1, it is the power of money and influence. Rajesh Khanna wins over people by his abilities in cooking, singing and mathematics, whereas, Govinda by his physical competence in saving the daughter of the house and his father’s money and influence.
As the world becomes more moneyed, the longing for yesterday’s simplicity is likely to grow. An Anand tells us that there are ways to be happy and that need not be those giant malls on that road.
My score is 15. Or maybe twice that, who counts? And every time I am as happy to watch it. Normally on repeat viewing one picks up nuances that one missed earlier, but I am past that. I can re-iterate almost all the dialogues of that film. I don’t watch Anand for any other reason but that I love watching it. Over and over and over again. Just as I enjoy watching Bawarchi, Gol Maal, Chashme Baddoor, Chhoti Si Baat, Abhimaan, Guddi, Chitchor … you can complete the list yourself.
There is something with this genre of films that connect with us in a very unique way. These films are evenly placed and are exceedingly good-natured. They are complete even without a performance by Rakhi Sawant.
But there is a deeper reason why they appeal to us so much after such a long time. For these films are the best advertisements for what we see as our middle class values. Each of these films evokes a world that we long to be part of- a world of warm relationship troubled by an odd shortcoming that gets comfortably corrected so that all is well again.
They manage to do this in many different ways. The characters are a far cry from today’s Khans with biceps. They usually live in small towns and take bus to work. The tension usually comes from constraints imposed by different human views and beliefs. In Gol Maal we have Utpal Dutt insisting on his employees wearing moustache and in Khoobsoorat we have a matriarch who is fixed on discipline and in Guddi, a young girl on a movie star. They usually live in scarce circumstances, but still their problems rarely arise from poverty. These movies start with a good-natured order and end with a higher level of equilibrium. In doing so they re-establish the importance of family.
The big reason for the continued appeal of these films is that they tell us that happiness is independent of bank-balance.
It is interesting to look at the difference between Bawarchi and its remake Hero No 1 made more recently. In both the films the central character is the imposter servant who brings peace to a disintegrating family. However, in Bawarchi, the instruments employed are good food, classical music and an occasional treat of drink; in Hero No 1, it is the power of money and influence. Rajesh Khanna wins over people by his abilities in cooking, singing and mathematics, whereas, Govinda by his physical competence in saving the daughter of the house and his father’s money and influence.
As the world becomes more moneyed, the longing for yesterday’s simplicity is likely to grow. An Anand tells us that there are ways to be happy and that need not be those giant malls on that road.
posted by Sangeeta at
1:26 AM
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