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    “ Although you don't attempt to show it, one has a point of view on things and it ends up emerging, whether you like it or not. Our films (with director/husband Rodrigo Plá) often turn on the limits of the public and the private, the individual confronting the state, and what happens when that individual is defenceless... The state of helplessness is one of the motors of what we write. Regarding why we often portray female characters, I think the question is really: Why don't other people portray them more?” ---Original screenplay-writer and co-director Laura Santullo, on her script for her husband’s earlier work  A Monster with a Thousand Heads (2015), a quotation equally applicable to  The Other Tom (2021), where finally she is not merely the scriptwriter for her husband’s six films but credited as the official co-director. R odrigo Plá (an Uruguayan) and Laura Santullo (a Mexican) are a rare husband-wife team making remarkable low-budget films, often with n...

  This song appears in the 1955 hit musical comic Baap Re Baap  directed and produced by A R Kardar. The movie starred Kishore Kumar, Chand Usmani. This song is a duet of Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle, written by  Jan Nisar Akhtar, and the music was composed by O P Nayyar. During those times, t here were no digital recording facilities like today, where if there is a mistake it can be rectified by computers. Those days   there used to be only one microphone for the singers, and another for musicians.   If the singers want to record a duet, one would sing his/her line, get away noiselessly for other singers to sing, and come again for their own part. And, if a musician makes a mistake, the whole track would be recorded again from the top. There was also no technique to alter the intensity of sound, if the sound was supposed to come from a distance, the singer had to stand away from the mic, slowly advancing towards it, to get the desired effect. This song is sig...

      “You always need a living sailor on a ship full of the dead. That was me.” (Final spoken lines of the film) “Never forget that memories, imagination and understanding must be used for an honest and productive life.” --Two separate statements of the sailor, narrating the stories, reflecting Ruiz’ own life of self-imposed exile, moving from one country to the other, making extraordinary films I f there are two Raoul (Raul) Ruiz films that are extraordinary, these would be Three Crowns of the Sailor (1983) and Mysteries of Lisbon (2010). Both have absorbing, non-linear screenplays with stunning cinematography. Yet, the two films are different in one significant aspect: the former is based on Ruiz’ own original tale while the latter is based on a novel of Camilo Castelo Branco. Both films have lead characters mirroring Ruiz’ departure from and memories of his land of birth and incorporate biographical elements. The sailor (Guillard, left) who narrates the tales, ask...

  One of these aborted projects was  Gouri , launched in 1957. Guru Dutt Films Private Limited, fresh from the success of  Pyaasa  that year, announced a film in Bengali and English.  Gouri  was to have been directed by Guru Dutt and was billed as the acting debut of his wife, playback singer Geeta Dutt. Gouri  was set in the director’s favorite city, Kolkata. The plot revolves around a successful sculptor of Durga idols who meets a prostitute, who, to him, resembles the goddess. Moved by the woman’s plight, he marries her. They lead a blissful life until one of his friends starts blackmailing him. When his parents find out about their daughter-in-law’s past, they start mistreating her. The woman runs away.  Two scenes were filmed and music director SD Burman had recorded two songs when Guru Dutt stopped production.  Had  Gouri  been made, it would have been India’s first film in the Cinemascope format, rather than his  Kaagaz ...

  Music Maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma said in an interview that  While composing a song, Dada would say, ‘Even if my songs flop, I will still create something new’. What Dada meant was, ‘I will not take the beaten path. I will not compose as per the existing trend. Even if my songs flop, I will still do something new’.Recall the song 'Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana De' was written as a Ghazal but he converted it to a club song. Sahir the lyricist of the song was not happy with this but Dada was sure that it would be a hit.   Sahir then and there decided that he will never write again for S. D. Burman, but changed his mind after the song became super-hit and the film too was a big draw for the audience who used to return again and again. Similar situation happened during the making of Jaal 1951 song ' Yeh raat ye Chandni'.'  H e transformed its Ghazal mood giving it a regular stressed beat. When he sang the tune to Sahir Ludhianvi, Sahir laughed. Sahir suggested th...

In the 40s and 50s,  the Hindi film hero seldom danced.  On the rare occasion that he did, like Raj Kapoor in ‘Mud mud ke na dekh’ or in ‘Dil ka haal suney dilwaala’ in Shree 420,  Dilip Kumar in Naya Daur.  Dev Anand though not a good dancer tried dancing in many songs.  He  relied solely on his facial expressions and the inimitable way in which he moved his head to enact most of these songs.   The first time we can see him dancing a few steps in the song  ‘Mere Labon Pe Dekho Aaj Bhi Taraaney Hain’ (Baazi), ‘Chaahey koi Khush Ho Chaahey Gaaliyaan Hazaar De’ (Taxi Driver) or ‘Oonche Sur Mein Gaaye Ja’ (House No.44),  Ladhi Aankh Se Aankh - Pocket Maar(1956),  Ae Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa from Funtoosh(1956) in most of the films he danced in his own style. In the early 60s, Dev Anand was seen in many films, singing, and dancing such as Sarhad. Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, Love Marriage were a few of these.  H e had some surprisingly awk...