Archive for the ‘Military’ Category
Lakshaya – good, but failed to work
On December 03, 2008 in Bollywood, Drama, Military, Movie, Music, Video, War
War movies typically try to raise the jingoistic pitch, pushing the envelopes of patriotism, sacrifice, dedication, and lots of grunting, screaming, and similar behavior. A typical example is Border which showed determination, courage, sacrifice, death, honor, etc. Lakshya was a bit off from this track, trying to combine the story of the development into maturity of a young rudderless route when exposed to the harsh environment of a war.
Song: Rangeela Re Tere Rang Se – Prem Pujari
On February 23, 2008 in Bollywood, Classic, Melody, Military, Movie, Music, Patriotic, Song
The song Rangeela Re Tere Rang Se starring Waheeda Rehman, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar, is a great song. The song is from the movie, Prem Pujari (directed by Dev Anand for Navketan Films), released in 1970. The movie stars a whole host of characters such as Shatrughan Sinha, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri and Amrish Puri, and was popular, yet generated a fair amount of protests.
The movie is fairly complex, about the pacifism in a man that prevents him from bearing arms, and yet is able to prevent this pacifism from preventing him from doing his duty when he has to save his village and the area from Pakistani forces in the 1965 war. Dev Anand (Ramdev Bakshi) is the son of a decorated ex-armyman Retd. General Durgaprasad Bakshi (known for his valor and sacrifice (he lost a leg in a previous battle). Ramdev is in love with a girl from his village, Suman Mehra (Waheeda Rehman). He dutyfully joins the army, but his pacifism leads to his being discharged from the army and bringing some amount of disgrace to his father.
Song: Ek Tu hi Bharosa (Pukaar – 2000)
On September 15, 2007 in Action, Bollywood, Crime, Military, Movie, Music, Patriotic, Song
If you are a great fan of Lata Mangeshkar’s voice, then you will love this song. And from what I know, I don’t believe that Lata Mangeshkar appears in films to sing a song, and she has done it for this song. This song really appeals to me, the lyrics go right down to my core. It gives hope, and a feeling of being able to overcome against all hands, if you have faith in God. The lyrics are by Majrooh Sultanpuri and Javed Akhtar, and the music is by A.R. Rehman, and they have really excelled.
The movie is Pukaar, released in 2000, and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. It stars Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Namrata Shirodkar, Danny. The movie is essentially about this heroic Army Major who does a lot of good deeds, and is then framed by Madhuri (almost by mistake) as she grows very jealous when she seems him having an affair with Namrata). He is condemned as a traitor, dishonored and jailed. The rest of the movie is how he manages to get his honor back as well as save a number of children.
Chanakya: A great serial on Doordarshan
On September 09, 2007 in Character, Classic, Doordarshan, Drama, Hindi Serial, History, Military, Nostalgia, Patriotic, Power, TV
In the midst of so many serials about troubles within the family, about the serials that explore the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law (saas bahu) and the constant problems between them, one sometimes get a wish (driven by nostalgia) for some of the serials that appeared on Doordarshan. One of these was Chanakya; and why am I thinking of Chanakya ? Because while I was browsing on YouTube, I came across some videos of Chanakya (watch them here), and that activated the section of brain dealing with memory.
I remember Chanakya for many things. At a time when serials based on ancient India or mythology were mainly costume dramas with a heavy focus on heavy language, where every other sentence referred to honour or the lack of it, here was a serial heavy on political drama. While in school, we learnt in a few short paragraphs (or maybe it was one chapter, I don’t remember) about who Chanakya was and what he had done. However, as far as I can recall about what we were taught, we were primarily taught that Chanakya was the writer of the ‘Arthashastra, the book on Indian politics and that he was a very clever tactician who brought his favorite king to power.
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