I was in college in my sophomoron year (sic) and I’d just discovered the joys of binging on Video cassettes.
My classmate in college was one of the first families to own a VCR (Video cassette Recorder) and I was a regular at his place, watching the old classics as well as the latest releases in the U.S at his place in Balajinagar during the day (I had joined evening college) with tiffin and continuous old style tumblers of coffee supplied at frequent intervals. I’ve given up all hope of ever living that king’s life again. My wife hates movies and hates English movies even more and hates supplying more than one coffee per twelve hour shift.
His VCR was a road roller compared to its subsequent sleeker successors and it required specialized repair service. Rupees one hundred fifty per repair…………… this was in 1988 rupees.
We also discovered the joys of Bandhs.
I cant remember why there were so many in those years but I wasn’t complaining.
The video cassette libraries loved them even more and so did the guys who hired out the VCRS and VCPs.
There were really no entertainment options in those days barring the cinema theatres and the beach.
Cable Television was still a few years away. The word ‘internet’ had not yet made its appearance in the dictionary.
Forget cell phones, even phones were rare.
So, the VCR filled this gap admirably in the intervening years.
Videocon Limited even floated a successful public issue of shares to manufacture VCRs.
I could have never imagined that any subsequent scientific discovery would render it obsolete. While a VCR could record programs, a VCP could only play cassettes and hence cheaper and smaller.
Whenever a bandh was announced ( I think the Cauvery dispute was hot even then), there would be a scramble to the nearest library to hire a VCR and atleast three cassettes to ensure 110 percent utilization.
The VCR owner and video cassette library were separate entities so it meant rushing like mad between the VCR hirer and the video library – in short moving heaven and earth to ensure that the Bandh day went productively and all “necessary resources” were available.
The rentals were 40 bucks for 6 hours and 70 bucks for 12 hours. In the event the VCR was kept at the hirer’s place overnight there would be some negotiation to waive the extra rent for the “idle time”.
Invariably we would have arguments amongst ourselves over which movies to hire since the time slot was limited.
The high class video library in town was TIC TAC near St.Mary’s Road which had a separate section for Laser Discs at exorbitant rentals.
Then there was a cute little library with a limited but classy collection called Video Shock where my friend and I used to borrow old classics – Roman Holiday was the first movie that I borrowed from there and saw in the aforementioned road roller VCR.
How to run a Successful Business “SOOPERBLY”
Then, a year later, there was this aggressive video library owner who opened shop on Warren Road.
Navin Video library (name changed) was a bit bigger than small – not a TIC TAC – but had everything under one roof – classy stuff, crappy stuff and carnal stuff.
The owner, Navin (name changed) , was perennially in a collared T shirt and ultra short shorts.
He had the mean look of a hood but he had great insights into the peculiar tastes of his customers.
Before Customer Data analytics, this guy was the epitome of Analytics.
He knew exactly what you would like and would pull it out for you.
He was inflexible in business and when cassettes were returned late he nagged you till you paid.
Even if you didn’t pay and tried to impress upon him your impressive record of borrowing on average one cassette a day, he still nagged for payment.
His vocabulary was restricted to one word …….and that word was “SOOOPEERRBB !!”
Every film was “SOOPERB !”.
When he recommended a film you had to listen carefully to what he said.
Correction – You had to check THE WAY he said“SOOPEERB !”
That was the only way you’d get an idea of whether the movie was good enough to rent.
He had atleast seven different ways of saying ‘SOOPERB !’.
The clincher was the decibel level, accent and enthusiasm level of the “SOOPEERB !”
Just like the different ways the proper noun “Jayalalitha” is pronounced by the news reader on Jaya TV.
It could be “JayaLALItha” or “JAYAlalitha” or even “JAYAlaliTHA”.
In response to the customer’s question “How’s the film ?”, if the movie was a class thriller and potential trend setter he’d bellow “SOOOOPPEEERRBB !!”
If the film was a good and engaging film but required some patience and capacity to understand it on the part of the viewer, he would shake his head in a peculiar way as if he’d just heard about a captivating new economic theory and in a much lower tone of voice pronounce “Soopeerb ! Soopeerb !”
He’d have to pronounce it twice just to make sure that we’d heard his response since his voice would be very low compared to his normal decibel level.
And then if the movie was an Oscar winner but a crashing bore like Platoon or Born on The Fourth of July, his response would be preceded by a sheepish grin and somewhere between the moustache and the lips a “SOOPERB” would escape and for added spice he would shake his head in a semi-circular gesture typical to Tamilians and whisper incredulously “Oscar winning film”.
My VCR owning friend from Balajinagar got wise to this trick from the very beginning and rejected the recommendation outright.
If low inventory turnover was the disease, this guy Navin was the cure.
Now with entertainment available literally at our fingertips, the good old days of Bandhs and the excitement of hiring a VCR has gone.
And to add insult to injury, with the virtual work place now a reality, we are now expected to work on Bandh days, whether at the office or out of home, since our clients in the U.S don’t know the meaning of that beautiful word ‘Bandh’.
The above is an extract from a forthcoming book by cartoonist Zola (S.Ravishanker)
Madan Mohan
June 17, 2017
Brilliant one on the different connotations of superb. Looking forward to the book.
Likewise, I have marvelled at the ability of pavement book sellers in Fort, Mumbai to curate a collection of classics as well as contemporary bestsellers to satisfy every book lover’s needs, better than any large book store I visited. And they would tell you instantly, without hesitation, whether they had the book or not. Real time inventory updation without computers.
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MANK
June 17, 2017
I suspected it all the way, while reading it that this was our beloved cartoonist’s work.
Bravo Ravi Anna, sooperb. A lot of childhood memories came rushing back
Will wait for your book (expecting a free copy in advance 😉)
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sanjana
June 17, 2017
Superb!
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Kay
June 17, 2017
I wondered who would misspell and misunderstand sophomore. But then I realised it’s not a mistake and it’s none other than our resident cartoonist. 😃 Thoroughly enjoyed reading the excerpt Ravi sir. And as I was reading I was imagining the various intonations of superb. 🤣🤣 Hope the book gets published soon.
What good memories the VCRs and VCPs hold! We still have a VCP at my parents’ place, though we don’t use it. I remember the day my dad bought the player along with few cassettes like Lethal weapon, Double Impact, If looks could kill (anyone heard of it?), etc. And the first one we watched was Double Impact, a Jean Claude Van Damme movie. I’m pretty sure my dad mentally cringed when my brother and I burst out,’why is he biting her?’, during one of the kissing scenes.
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Jyoti S Kumar
June 18, 2017
I guess I am from the next generation. Bringing home the cd player was the big highlight in my childhood and then again marvelling at how much data a cd could hold (500 mb as opposed to the 1mb floppy!)
Loved the closing paragraph!
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Rahini David
June 19, 2017
I binged not only on Rajinikanth and Kamalhassan movies but also on issues of Eknath video magazine and Y.G.Mahendran plays and such like. Adults watched Perfect Strangers and Dynasty and some times a cassette of “Mind your language” may be available. S.Ve.Sekar plays were my favorite and more ready available than Crazy Mohan’s.
But my poison was the “recorder” part of the VCR. Oliyum Oliyum, Goundamani Comedy, Interviews (I had good ones of Revathy, Illayaraja and Yesudas), highlights of Cricket matches, adorable Ads, Figure Skating, Michael Jackson live performances, Tom and Jerry and Popeye. My memory was so good that I knew exactly which Cassette had which concoction of entertainment and I didn’t even have to label them.
Bliss. 🙂
I realize that I don’t remember the Y.G.Mahendran plays at all. Only that I did watch them and like them.
Readers Write In is slowly becoming a big hit. Great Articles.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 19, 2017
Thanks Madan, MANK, Kay, Sanjana, Jyoti S Kumar and Rahini !
Much appreciate your taking time out to read my piece and your booster shot comments.
Many Thanks to BR for publishing this !
I was in Frankfurt en route to Chennai from Washington when I was pleasantly surprised to find my piece up on the blog.
Madan : Great one about the pavement book sellers in Mumbai. We have the Madras equivalent also. One of my friends in Boston, a professor , asked me to check out a particular Maths textbook on the pavement near Mylapore Club. So you’re bang on target with your observation.
MANK : Really tickled and thrilled with your phraseology !
Regarding the free copies, fear not ! Considering the potential audience I’m sure there’ll be plenty of free copies to pass out 🙂
Of course that is contingent on my getting the book written in the first place. I started out writing an article on something else and before I knew it I’d written 10,000 words. Maybe book-let would be a more appropriate word.
Sanjana : THAT was an extraordinary comment ! This tree-head (literal translation from Tamil) understood that one very very late.
Kay : Thank you so much for sharing your VCP adventures.Damn right I remember ‘If Looks Could Kill’ !! It was one of the first movies I saw when we actually went and bought a VCR for the first time. “Why is he biting her ?” Ha Ha Straight Six. Maybe not inaccurate either 🙂
Jyoti S Kumar : Yes – the CD was the ultimate game changer….or so we thought. Now 1 TB induces a yawn. Thanks for sharing that one. I think I missed out big time on that thrill since I was away from home at my first job and buying a computer or CD player was a dream on my “high” salary. in an engineering company.
Rahini : Thank you so much for recalling those memories ! That pretty much matches with what I watched in those days apart from the Packer World series Super Tests from Down Under. I personally went for the Crazy Mohan plays on video and Sun TV Thamizh Maalai. After watching our DD news even those news cassettes was a big thrill.
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Madan
June 20, 2017
Yeah, recording late night programmes on VCR was such a big deal then. We did that for Home Alone. And then, our cable operator wasn’t giving us ESPN so we missed Desert Storm live. When later Star Sports did a programme on SRT’s great centuries, featuring the two Sharjah knocks and another century against Zimbabwe in South Africa (when he was captain), we recorded it. When my Athai would come to visit us from the US, she would bring video cassettes of some or other Disney animated blockbuster (plus chocolates, of course). Nowadays, when she asks should she get something for us, we really don’t know what to suggest because most everything we need is available here. What I dislike is the industry made it so difficult for us consumers to preserve all those recordings. We managed to get a couple or more converted to CD; then the guy said henceforth he would do that only for wedding/party recordings and not films/.TV programmes. I still have some of our old audio cassettes. The weirdest thing is all the advanced tech cannot capture that slightly ‘wet’ sound of Jaiye Aap Kahan on audiotape. It’s like analog had a certain glue to blend all the sounds which you don’t get with the perfect separation of digital.
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rothrocks
June 20, 2017
@ Naveen Yeah Bolly has always been about camps. It basically drove Madan Mohan to drink himself to death. Anushka was part of a good camp, commercially, but Adi does not make the kind of films that would tap her potential. DP was smart that way to associate with more hip directors. Alia is very talented and with her industry connections will likely have a better career than the other young/young-ish actresses in Bolly.
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MANK
June 20, 2017
I was in Frankfurt en route to Chennai from Washington
Phew , Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban or rather MGR@55 😁
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 20, 2017
“MGR@55” ROFL
I’ve listened to bedtime stories on the festivities when Ulagam sutrum vaaliban was released. So engrossing but I regret that I dont remember enough to write a full blown article.
Basically the “reel” was brought by MGR on an elephant for the first show and then……
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 20, 2017
rothrocks : Awesome analysis and spot on.
Yes – find yourself on the wrong camp and it could be suicide
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hari ohm
June 20, 2017
neengalaam vcr rent panni “nalla” padam thaan paatheengala, “Saami” padam pakkaliya?
have several incidents that i can recollect while watching “saami” padams and some body coming in to the room 🙂
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Madan
June 20, 2017
@ sravishanker140: Saar, that was meant for the other thread but got posted in here by accident. Thanks for conveying your appreciation nevertheless.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 20, 2017
@hari ohm ” sami padam paakkaliya ?” Rites of massage er passage
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MANK
June 20, 2017
Film print on the back of an elephant, that sounds like something that K Asif did with Mughal e azam prints
He had hired an elephant and distributed prints to theaters in a royal procession. And he did it when he was flat broke. Aah , those were the days
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Ravi K
June 21, 2017
Does anyone remember recording centres? You give them a blank audio cassette and a list of songs to record on the cassette. Oddly enough this is how I first heard Kraftwerk. One of my dad’s recording centre tapes used “The Robots” to fill out the last minute of a side, where a full song wouldn’t fit. On our trips to India we would buy a box of blank cassettes to give to family, but I would always use some of these to take to recording centres or make copies myself.
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sg
June 21, 2017
What a blast from the past !!! Nothing like nostalgia to lift up one’s spirits.I had a strong voice from my past echoing while reading the article – My dad telling me ” andha kaalathula enga aathu la oru periya Philips radio iruukum, we all would sit around it for commentary etc etc” A few time wheels zipped past and we are now reminiscing of the good old days !!! I suddenly feel old……. Well those “uplifted spirits” had to come down !!!
Well written old boy !
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 21, 2017
Ravi K : And those cassettes were original TDK right ? 🙂
Yes – designing what movies would fit into an audio cassette was a serious endeavour.
And also the order of the songs.
Nowadays there so many combinations available which almost approaches a custom made cassette.
Alvin Toffler had predicted something like this in his 1960s classic ‘Future Shock’
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 21, 2017
sg : So glad that the article touched a chord. Thank you !
I think our generation was lucky in many ways in that we had the good fortune to sit around the radio too for the 9:30 am ‘Ungal Viruppam’ and the staid announcement before each song giving details of the composer, singer, etc etc.
Thanks for reminding me of those sessions 🙂
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rothrocks
June 21, 2017
My generation caught the tail end of the glory days of the ‘old world’ and the birth of the new one. Hence I have always been anti nostalgia. Liking old songs was one thing but I never harked back to the ‘good old days’. Until last year. The events of last year have made me question for the first time whether tech has truly built a better world for us. I know we would not be having this conversation without tech, but the same tech has shrunk the kind of spaces where a relatively ‘neutral’ convo can be had. Discussion forums are dying generally. Is it because they are ‘obsolete’ or is it because we don’t want to discuss?
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Srinivas R
June 21, 2017
Discussion forums are dying generally. Is it because they are ‘obsolete’ or is it because we don’t want to discuss? – This comment resonates with me. The only discussion forum that I participate in is this blog. I have logged out of Facebook completely, simply because of the it’s echo chamber nature and let’s not even get started on Whats App and it’s malicious use
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Madan
June 21, 2017
I have logged out of Facebook completely, simply because of the it’s echo chamber nature and let’s not even get started on Whats App and it’s malicious use – Yeah, hardly use FB other than wishing birthdays and maybe conversing with a few relatively balanced people I know. Most of the time, my feed is full of vitriolic rants from both sides of the ideological spectrum and I really don’t want to waste my time reading them.
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Debashish
June 22, 2017
Hahaha… I liked the fact that your wife hates supplying more than 1 cup of coffee per 12 hour shift…………….Next time I meet her, I am going to ask her to make some concession….considering that talent flows out through sketches and words only when filter kaapi flows into the system of Zola anna…
A very nice nostalgic take.. made me remember my VCR days.. we did not have one..so had to go to the neighbor’s house to see a movie…especially during the summer holidays in school.
You are not only a great cartoonist..but an equally talented writer as well….
Are you really coming out with a book..SOOPERB DA……….
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Rahini David
June 22, 2017
Dear Guys,
Facebook is where you say “Choo Cweet” when someone’s baby turns one and “You are so talented, you should be a professional” when someone clicks a picture of a falcon.
When did you start thinking you could have actual conversations there?
Whatever you do, don’t try to have reasoned uplifting debates with those who comment on Youtube videos. You’d not like it.
🙂
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 22, 2017
Ha Ha Rahini !
THAT one deserves a lunch at The Leela or whichever place you like.
With FB everybody has become a content provider
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 22, 2017
Debashish : Gratified to see your comments. – and also to know that my experience resonates with yours !
Regarding the kaapi that will have to remain between you, me and the entire blogging community 🙂
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Madan
June 22, 2017
Rahini: The thing is I used to be on a fair few discussion groups on FB. It worked fine for years. What killed it was not triviality but an increasing need to get people to align with one’s worldview with the result that bitter fights broke out when people didn’t see eye to eye on something. And Modi Sarkar has literally been a revelation. I mean that it has hardened stances on both sides and thus revealed where people truly stand. I can now see who are the anti-Muslim righties and who are the closet commies. Earlier, everyone put aside their differences to find common ground. Now, people seek to double-emphasise their differences.
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Kay
June 22, 2017
Meaningful discussions on Facebook do happen, though the it’s mostly between people we know very well. In a common discussion forum, where the participants are strangers, there is a lot of intolerance towards the unpopular opinions. And because of the twisted algorithm of Facebook, any post with maximum comments and reactions, gets more visibility.
I also strongly believe Facebook spies on our WhatsApp conversations and google search patterns because on so many instances I have noticed that just when I had talked something random with my friends, an article related to it shows up on my newsfeed.
However, FB is also very helpful in marketing and mobilising people. One of the best examples is the recovery after the Chennai floods in which Facebook played an important role in getting people together. So I’m not discounting its advantages for now.
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GODZ
June 23, 2017
This post triggered So many Memories. In many ways Kids of 90’s were lucky. They were in the crossroads that’s going to change the way we live forever.
I guess the list is very short in terms of what we are missing. Sitcoms such as Junoon, Shanti etc, The world this week, Movies on DD Metro, every Friday night, Shaktimaan every Saturday noon, Shobhana Ravi, UM Kannan, Chitrahaar and the list goes on and on. Coming back to the Video Tape rentals, That was Netflix in physical form literally. You would have all the thumbnails of the movies arranged in shelf and it triggers this visual curiosity in you.Oh, what’s that skull on “Evil Dead”, what’s Jackie Chan is going to do when he gives that pose in “Armor of God”, Sometimes you won’t get the movie names but just the thumbnail will trigger that thought “ok Should I get that movie”. And forgot to mention, the tape getting stuck sometimes during Rewind and you just turn the cassette slow and steady to get that play, and sometimes after those repeated Rentals, there would be some places that might not play that you hit the Fast Forward button in you remote, the smell of a new video cassette it self..and now…bam..youtube.haha. Sometimes you would feel in your imagination that you favorite Characters live in that tape that you handle them with so much care.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 24, 2017
Kay: Ive had that same suspicion. FN is like letting someone into your bathroom
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 24, 2017
Godz : Where would we be without Junoon ? 🙂 🙂 especially the Tamil dubbing. Gives me goosebumps to this day. 🙂
Your comments are pretty much an article. Thanks !
Yes the 90s kids were at the crossroads but Lucky ? I dont know….
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Madan
June 24, 2017
Speaking of 90s shows, anybody here remember The Great Maratha? As a schoolkid, I was hooked and exchanged many pillow swordfights with my cousin back then, complete with imitations of the Maratha war horn! I remember around the time, we were travelling by Superfast to Chennai and the train was slightly late. So I was anxious we should get to my grandparents’ place in K K Nagar in time for the 9 PM telecast. Fortunately, I did and didn’t have to miss Sadashivrao’s foolhardy bravado in climbing down from his elephant and charging into the battlefield (Panipat) for certain death. Later, I found a big fat history book which had only one line about Mahadji Shinde: that he managed to escape the disastrous Battle of Panipat with injuries. They made a whole show about a lieutenant of the Peshwa? Wow! And people watched it too; it had a pretty long run IIRC.
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Kay
June 24, 2017
Back then we were allowed to watch very less on TV. So I remember very few like, Chandrakantha, then one of those Madhavan serials – rajkahaani?, Junoon, Shakthiman and Jungle book. We used to watch Surabhi without fail. With the kind of information overload that we have now, I long for those days when the content was limited but the learning was much more.
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Madan
June 24, 2017
“With the kind of information overload that we have now, I long for those days when the content was limited but the learning was much more.” – Yeah, back then, they curated content for us. Whether it was TVs or encyclopedias, they filtered info for us and fed it in digestible capsules. This also meant we were easy prey for govt propaganda as I have learnt later on. But today there are too many sources of info to the point that we don’t know which ones to trust. And it’s also easy to lapse into distraction, with the option of ‘binge-watching’ which didn’t exist back then. You would have maybe one or two movies in the primetime slot during the weekend. Regular programming wouldn’t grind to a halt completely for the movies. But what can I say? Star was making huge losses before Sameer Nair’s saas bahu pivot so can’t blame them for wanting to make a bit of money out of the investment. GM never tried to make for India and look where it got them.
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MANK
June 24, 2017
Madan, oh yes great maratha. Remember that and there was sword of tipu sultan before that. Both of them were made by Sanjay Khan and both of them were complete fiction, no resemblance with anybody living or dead 😁
BTW anybody remember Jaspal Bhatti’s flop show?. It was great fun with misspelled titles like misdirection. I used to love Bhatti’s brand of humor
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 24, 2017
MANK : That Flop Show was something else.
So unlike DD.
“Best Comedy !! ?? Array Hum tho Tragedy banee !!”
Awesome !
Felt depressed when I heard Jaspal Bhatti died in a car accident couple of years ago
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Madan
June 24, 2017
MANK: I don’t remember the details now, wouldn’t surprise me as most historicals (even the ones made by Holly) take liberties with facts. Remember The Titans is a classic example from Holly of historical fiction. But I pulled it up for a bit on youtube and found to my amazement that it starred Irrfan Khan. See, I remembered Bob Christo as Abdali and Pankaj Dheer as Sadashivrao but I had forgotten that Irrfan had played Najid-ud-Daula. Even back then, he blended into the role so well that he was no longer Irrfan but the character he was playing.
Yes, loved Flop Show. Bhatti had a nice blend of slapstick and satire. I watched a little bit of Tarak Mehta the other day to see what all the fuss was about but found it mostly very tame, safe comedy compared to Bhatti.
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 24, 2017
Madan : Hollywood has a loooong honourable history of distorting history. LOL
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Madan
June 24, 2017
sravishanker140: Charlie Wilson’s War is another example. Presenting it as America carrying out its manifest destiny when really they couldn’t miss a chance to cripple the ‘Evil Empire’ at whatever price. Ironically, Afghanistan still stayed relatively stable as long as the Soviets were able to support them. When Yelstin pulled the plug, Aghanistan collapsed. When I saw the long lines at Shedd Aquarium during my visit to Chicago, it dawned on me that Hollywood has been America’s unofficial tourism ministry and a very efficient one at that.
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MANK
June 24, 2017
Ravi anna, khabristan ka chaukidar right?, best comedy film 🙂 . i also loved the way he used to twist famous hindi songs and present it in every episode. so jo tumko ho pasand wahi baath kaenge becomes the song that an employee sings for his boss 🙂
Madan, as for historical distortion nothing beats Braveheart, which suggests that the future king of england was the bastard child of William wallace. Nobody can make things up like mad mel gibson 🙂
one of the best and most historical accurate serials was mirza ghalib which was made by Gulzar and starred Naseer in one of his best performances. the way Ghalib’s life and poetry was presented was very beautiful.
And then there was Bharat ek khoj – which i saw in reruns- which i think is the best series made in this country
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 24, 2017
MANK : Its uncanny how one recalls things. Thanks for the Khabristan memories ! 🙂
Bharat Ek Khoj was probably the best af for Indian Railways. What stuck out like a sore thumb was Om Puri being unable to affect a Mallu accent in one of the episodes.
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MANK
June 24, 2017
Bharat Ek Khoj was probably the best ad for Indian Railways
ROFL, yes there was a lot of shots of railway tracks
Btw Om Puri played almost every ethnicity in the country in that series, even Tamil and that too with minimal makeup, so he beats kamal hands down
But the most interesting casting was salim ghouse as lords Rama andKrishna, yes T T Vikram from tiruda tiruda.
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MANK
June 25, 2017
And would take this opportunity to welcome ulaganayakan to small screen. ah how the mighty has fallen. gotta give it to him, he has the answer to all the questions, that’s if you can translate it to tamil first 🙂
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Srinivas R
June 25, 2017
MANK – I am simply unable to digest that Kamalhasan is the host for this. It’s a mighty fall for a legend
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 25, 2017
MANK : “that’s if you can translate it to tamil first” – LOL
There is Tamil tamil and then there is Kamalahasan Tamil
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MANK
June 25, 2017
Yes srinivas, it’s very hard to accept this. For someone who has stayed away from even any form of brand endorsements, this is tragic to say the least kamal is hell bent on ruining his legacy in his old age Social experiment, my foot
At least he is honest that he is doing it for the money
Ravi sir, kamal sounds like a character who’s walked out of a 40/50s Tamil film. he can’t help it I guess, he’s an actor 24×7
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
June 25, 2017
MANK : Couldnt agree more. Methinks a cartoon gag is due on that.
Let my fiscal year ending get done with first.
Just a thought – why not do it for the money ? he’s got a film unit payroll to service month after month.
And film stars are no more inaccessible and decorous as in the golden age of Hollywood.
So the lines between TV and film and web series are blurring
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MANK
June 26, 2017
Ravi Anna, no issues about kamal doing it for money, after all he has to pay the bills like the rest of us, but the problem is with him doing this Big Boss thing. An utter travesty in the name of social experiment and entertainment. This goes against everything he has stood for in his life and art, at least that’s what I believe.
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Madan
June 26, 2017
At the end of the day, only IR from that generation (IR/Kamal/Bharathiraja/Rajni) seems to have his repute relatively intact (to the extent that he was seen as combative even in his hey day) and his legacy unblemished. Even in the royalty fracas, he wasn’t wrong on principle and the debate was over whether a dispute with a good friend couldn’t have been handled differently.
I agree completely with MANK; just why does Kamal need to do Big Boss? Can he explain then what’s the difference between him and ‘the towering Bombay star’ as he refers to Big B? The same obduracy which earned IR a lot of calumny from even his fans has saved him in the jumping-the-shark times of social media where artists, living legends included, do ridiculous things to attract eyeballs. At worst, he is old hat. But rather be old hat than try too hard to keep up with the Joneses, so we can still remember them as a reasonable approximation of what they were in their prime.
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