Dear Capt Rowe, I was shocked when I heard you were no more. On the threshold of Diwali, you have gone away quietly, leaving tears in my eyes, without letting a soul know what you were feeling. Probably, you knew it was time …do we all know when ‘the’ time comes? I often wonder. Honestly, […]
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Tag: tribute
Many Muses. One Master
In the 80s, when you opened a film magazine you came across Gautam Rajadhyaksha’s name pretty often. I still remember one shot of Tina Munim curled up on a sunny window ledge with a cup of tea, smiling into the camera as if she had just woken up and found a friend. I remember cutting […]
Freddie Mercury: Born Free
In the 80s when I was just learning about western music, trying to decipher lyrics, identify bands and singers with their music, all with the help of an old fashioned radio displayed in our drawing room and the two request shows that would play on All India Radio over the weekend, there were a few […]
Jehangir Sabavala: A Tribute
When the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi had hosted a retrospective exhibition of Jehangir Sabavala, one of India’s most distinguished figurative artists, in 2006, the 84-year-old had regaled his audience with a fabulous one liner: “There was a time when I was paid a few hundred rupees for my work and that too […]
Shammi Kapoor: The Joy Of Life
It was a toss between Shankar Jaikishan and RD Burman. The film was Teesri Manzil and it was left to Shammi Kapoor to decide who he wanted to compose music for the film. It was an unprecedented privilege for a Hindi film hero but nothing could be denied to Shammi Kapoor in the 60s. In […]
Mohammed Rafi: A Deathless Song
I remember the morning after Mohammed Rafi’s death in 1980. It was my turn to read the news in the school assembly and I remember preparing instead a small tribute to the singer and ending with the lines, “Jab Kabhi Bhi Sunoge Geet Mere, Sang Sang Tum Bhi Gungunaoge.” I realised the meaning of these words sometime in […]
Back To Black
Just today while channel surfing, I refused to watch The Dark Knight beyond a few scenes even though it is marvellous cinematically, because as I tried to explain to my son..the idea of evil in the film is so dark and so overwhelming that it drains us of any belief in life as a meaningful experience. It makes us believe that no matter what […]
Unsung…
Lahu Sambhaji Khade died on July 8, 2011 at Kavlapur village, District Sangli. He was 78 years old. Nobody knew Lahu Khade. However,thousands of his fans in villages across Maharashtra knew and loved Kaalu. Lahu Khade was the Kaalu of the Kaalu-Baalu Tamasha that he established along with his brother Ankush Khade. Ankush was […]
A Long Pause called Mani Kaul
Many many years ago, I saw a bit of Mani Kaul’s debut film Uski Roti on Doordarshan and what struck me even though I was a child then, was a cinematic vocabulary unlike any I had seen or had been exposed to. This film had pauses and long moments of silence when no one seemed in a […]
RD Burman:A Song For Every Season
RD Burman is not a tragic story even though his last years were coloured with heart breaks and set backs. Even though his faith in his craft was shaken. Even though, the man who saw the future was relegated to the past by short-lived musical trends. He is not a tragedy because his music is […]
Michael Jackson: In Retrospect
The performing animal left the circus on June 25, 2009 but we continue to anoint his remains, repair the broken halo and embroider a velvet shroud to celebrate him. He, who in his lifetime was first built and then taken apart in a bloody arena for all the world to see. What is it with fame? What is it […]
Amrish Puri:The Act Of Life
“Baat Itni Si Hai Ki Vibhajit Hokar Main Kissi Na Kissi Ansh Mein Aap Mein Se Har Ek Vyakti Hoon,” (It is just this-even after being divided or split, in some part or another, I am everyman among you). I remembered these words from Amrish Puri’s autobiography, The Act Of Life while watching a favourite […]