बहरहाल समाचार चैनलो के लिए खिलाड़ी और फिल्म अभिनेता अभिनेत्रियां एक तरह से प्रचार के लिये माडल हैं। आज भारत से श्रीलंका हार गया तो यह समाचार चैनल (इस लेखक यह जानकारी समाचार चैनलों से ही मिली है) वाले उन पुराने खिलाडि़यों पर बरस रहे है जिनको एक सप्ताह पहले वह मील का पत्थर और अनुभवी बता रहा थे। एक माह पहले तक उनको बीस ओवरीय मैच में न खिलाने पर आलोचना कर रहा थे। आज तो बस वही पुराने खिलाड़ी उनके लिये खलनायक बन गये थे।

‘उनको सोचना चाहिए कि वह अब क्रिकेट खेलना चाहिए या नहीं! केवल नाम के सहारे ही बहुत दूर तक नहीं चला जा सकता।’
‘उन पुराने खिलाडि़यों को अपने आप से पूछना चाहिए कि वह कहां खड़े हैं?’
वगैरह वगैरह। मतलब खिलाड़ी स्वयं तय करें कि उनको आगे खेलना हैं कि नहीं। चयनकर्ता को तो विचार ही नहीं करना चाहिए। यह समाचार चैनल वाले अपीलें कर रहे हैं कि ‘जाओ श्रीमान! आपका खेल पूरा हो गया।‘

चार दिन बाद फिर वह थोड़ा खेल कर दिखायेंगे तो यही कहेंगे कि ‘ साहब वह तो पुराने चावल हैं’। आशय यह है कि दर्शक को अपने हाथ में पकड़े रहना चाहते हैं।

कहते हैं कि आदमी की याद्दाश्त कमजोर होती है।‘ सारे मनोरंजक और जन भावना पर आधारित व्यवसाय इसी तर्क पर चलते हैं पर एक बात जो यह लेखक जोड़ता है कि किसी भी आम आदमी की याद्दाश्त कमजोर होती है पर बुद्धिमानों की नहीं । वैसे आम आदमी की याद्दाश्त भी इतनी कमजोर नहीं होती जितना अपने देश के मीडिया विशेषज्ञ समझते हैे। यह अलग बात है कि नई पीढ़ी के लोग पुराने कारनामों को जान नहीं पाते जबकि वही भावनात्मक रूप से ऐसे ऐसे विषयों से जुड़े होते हैं जो मनोरंजन पर आधारित होते हैं और प्रचार माध्यमों की कमाई का सबसे बड़ा जरिया हैं। इसलिये ऐसे लोगों के व्यवसाय चल जाते हैं, पर अब तो हद ही कर दी है लोगों को भुलक्कड़ समझने की। हाल खिलाड़ी को महान और हाल ही घटिया बताने लगते हैं। उसी तरह जब किसी एक्टर की फिल्म रिलीज होती है तो उसे महान अभिनेता और सामाजिक सेवक बताते हैं और जब वह फंस जाता है किसी मामले में तो उसे खलनायक बताने लगते हैं।

यह आलेख इस ब्लाग ‘दीपक भारतदीप की हिंदी पत्रिका’ पर मूल रूप से लिखा गया है। इसके अन्य कहीं भी प्रकाशन की अनुमति नहीं है।
अन्य ब्लाग
1.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्द पत्रिका
2.दीपक भारतदीप का चिंतन
3.दीपक भारतदीप की शब्दयोग-पत्रिकालेखक संपादक-दीपक भारतदीप

आशय यह है कि कि यहां कोई अब स्थाई नायक नहीं बन सकता-जो प्रचार माध्यमों के लिये कमाने के लिये एक माडल है चाहे वह कैसा भी हो उसका नाम तो वह रोज लेंगे। टीम हार गयी तो विलाप में भी आधा घंटा और जीत गयी तो खुशी में पोन घंटा समय लगायेंगे। उनको कोई फर्क नहीं पड़ता क्योंकि उनको तो उसमें विज्ञापन दिखाने हैं। इसलिये आज अगर कोई नायक है तो कल ही उसे खलनायक कर भी प्रचारित किया जा सकता है। वैसे आम आदमी सब जानते हैं और आपसी बातचीत में प्रचार माध्यमों को केवल पैसे कमाने में संलग्न मानते हैं। कई लोग तो यह साफ कहते हैं कि समाचारों को सनसनीखेज अनावश्यक रूप से बनाया जा रहा है।

ऐसे में जागरुक और पढ़ने लिखने वाले लोगों के लिये अंतर्जाल ही एक जरिया है। अंतर्जाल पर अनेक लेखकों ने लिखस है कि जब से उन्होंनेे यहां लिखना शुरू किया है तब से बाहर टीवी और अखबार में उनका रुझान कम हो गया है। अंतर्जाल पर हिंदी ब्लाग में कई बार ऐसी घटनायें और विचार पढ़ने को मिल जाते हैं जो बाहर नहीं दिखते। हिंदी के ब्लाग दिखाने वाले फोरमों नारद, ब्लागवाणी, चिट्ठाजगत और हिंदी ब्लागस पर सभी हिंदी ब्लाग दिखाये जाते हैं और वहां ऐसे विषय पढ़ने को मिलते हैं जो हम सोच भी नहीं सकते। हालांकि यहां फिल्म और क्रिकेट की चर्चा थोड़ी अजीब लगती है पर लोग उस पर जो प्रतिक्रिया देते हैं उससे भी यह पता चलता है कि आम लोगों में अब इन विषयों पर कम ही रुचि है यह अलग बात है कि प्रचार माध्यम अपनी व्यवसायिक बाध्यताओं के कारण उसे स्वीकार नहीं कर रहे। वह चाहे जब किसी को भी देश के लोगों का हृदय सम्राट बताने लगते है। अभी तो आप देखना आगे कितने देश के हृदय सम्राट बनते और बिगड़ते हैं।
जो लोग इन माध्यमों से बोर हो चुके हैं उनको अब अंतर्जाल पर लिखे जाने वाले ब्लाग पर जरूर आना चाहिये क्योंकि वह अब उनके सामने एक ऐसा साधन बनता जा रहा है जहां वह अपना मन बहला सकें। यहां मित्रता और विवाद दोनों ही इतने दिलचस्प होते हैं कि कई फिल्म वाले भी ऐसी कहानी नहीं लिख सकते। बिना कैमरे के आपके दिमाग में ऐसे दृश्य बनने लगेंगे कि आप हंसेंगें। अगर आप लेखक हैं तो सोने में सुहागा। अपनी कविता या लेख लिखकर पहुंच जाईये इन फोरमों पर। एक बार आदत हो जायेगी तो फिर कहीं और मन लगाने को मन नहीं करेगा। क्रिकेट मैच देखकर अपने देश की हार से दुःखी होना या फिल्म की काल्पनिक कहानी को कोसने से तो अच्छा है ब्लाग लिखें और पढ़ें।

Thank You.... - PVR'

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Having noticed from her accent that she wasn't a native Hindi speaker, he naively queries, "Behenji! aap kahaan ke ho?" ("Sister! Where are you from?")

"Ji, hum Hyderabad ke hain," (" We are from Hyderabad") the lady politely informs him.

Snap! comes another naive question, "Hyderabad? Pakistan ka Hyderabad ya NTR ka Hyderabad?"

Startled, and also slightly offended by the question, the woman tries to fend off a frown and replies, "NTR ka Hyderabad".

"Achha! aap 'Madrasi' ho!", the rickshaw-wala concludes.

Now, how do you think the poor young lady retorted to this uninformed conclusion? Incidentally, the woman in the story was my mom, a few months before I was born.

Well, my mom, like many other southies, was lost for words. She didn't know what to say. She thought it best not to argue with him and left it at that. She thought to herself, "the guy knows Pakistan's Hyderabad, he knows NTR, but doesn't know that people from Hyderabad are not called 'Madrasis', tikkavedhava (Telugu for dimwit, dunce)!!". To this day, after twenty plus years, when my mom recalls this incident, she thinks the rickshaw-wala's conclusion mirrors what most North Indians typically think of the South. A teacher that she is, she wanted to do what all teachers do to kids - tweak his ears real hard and teach him the proper demonyms for all the southern states. The poor rickshaw-wala meant no harm, but his sheer ignorance seemed to have scarred my mother's well-guarded and much treasured sense of cultural and linguistic identity.

This story dates back more than twenty years. Now, let's fly back into the present. Even today, little has changed in terms of the North's perspective of South and vice versa. People have started to move across the vastness of the Indian subcontinent and cultures have blended. But a large number of people are still hung up on stereotypes. Why? Is it a lack of exposure to these cultures or the failure to understand them? Who is to blame for the misconceptions? Well, attempts to answer these questions only spawned new questions and answered none. Questions like - when fellow countrymen can't understand each other who else will? Are people being grossly inconsiderate in taking stereotypes literally rather than just as humorous cultural hyperbole? I understand that not many are affected by the attribution of stereotypes, but for some it doesn't actually strike the right chord and they end up taking offence. But can anyone blame them for being offended or lock horns with those who are 'guilty' of mortifying a fellow countryman?

Now, playing devil's advocate!! How can we hold anyone culpable for creating a stereotype of a South Indian? (all in good humour, at that!) For a person from the North of the Vindhyas, a southie is someone who utters the interjection 'Ayyo' at the drop of a hat. How true!! Who can deny that? South Indians, regardless of the language they speak, hold the sole copyrights to interjecting with an 'Ayyo'!! Next, a Southie is someone who speaks 'Taaamil' (as most Northies call it) or a similar sounding dialect. "Ok! This is true of those from Tamil Nadu, but what about the rest of Dravida Nadu?", one might ask. Most Northies can barely distinguish between the Dravidian tongues. To them Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Tulu or Malayalam - all sound the same - like Tamil (again 'Ayyo' being a common expression)! Now, now! Before we utter invectives against anyone, let's be true to ourselves. How many of us from peninsular India can actually distinguish between the tongues of the North - Gujarati from Marwari or Marathi, Assamese from Bengali or Oriya, Hindi from Maithili or Bhojpuri, Haryanvi from Punjabi? Let me conveniently establish that the number is not huge. Also, their addressing us with the demonym 'Madrasis' has to do with the fact that most of the South barring Mysore, Travancore (today's Kerala) and Hyderabad came under the jurisdiction of the Madras Presidency until the states took shape, one after the other. For us Southies, however, everyone from beyond the borders of Andhra or Karnataka are North Indians. We have pulled down the frontiers for 'North India' from the Vindhyas to the Godavari! But believe me when I tell you that a Maharashtrian or a Bengali will punch you in the nose if you call him a Northie!!

So, the misconceptions and ignorance are ubiquitous - whether in a Hindi speaking person scoffing at a South Indian for his pronunciation of 'thoda' or in a native Telugu speaker cracking up at a Northie saying 'anti' for 'enti' (meaning 'what'). Who have we to blame in all this but ourselves? As Indians, regardless of where one is from, we have failed to understand our own compatriots. We need to open up and broaden our horizon of thoughts. The ultimate solution? Well, just let me know if someone comes up with one!! On the top of my head, I can't think of any!!

Post Script: This post is inspired from the various rants I've read from other fellow bloggers on the North Indian preconceptions about those from the South of the Vindhyas. I thought it was time I voiced my thoughts on the subject. I intend no offence whatsoever to anyone whosoever, through my ramblings!

HINDI - MADRASI BHAI BHAI!!

Here's to a clash of civilisations!!! Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HwrMGpFaik&feature=related

उसे पाया भी था

पर हकीकत में

कभी उसे पाने की तमन्ना नही की

मैं खवाब और हकीकत के बीच का फासला जानती हूँ

जिंदगी में कुछ खवाब सच हो जाते है

पर हकीकत से

नजरे चुराकर देखे गए खवाब कभी सच होते नही

मैं खवाब और हकीकत के बीच का फासला जानती हूँ

I am sure that Jagjit Singh does not need an introduction. Everyone who has a little bit idea about hindi music. He is a phenomenal singer specialised in Hindi or Urdu Ghazals. He is credited largely to have succeeded to make Ghazals popular to the public. He mostly writes his own songs, composes music and sings himself.
He had sung many famous Ghazals in his early successful pairing with his own wife Chitra Singh, another great singer in India. But, as a result of an accidental death of their only son at the age of 18, Chitra stopped singing. Since then Jagjit is singing either alone or with other partners.
Sanyog (संयोग), means Fortunately and Coincidence, is his first album in Nepali Language. This album is becoming a major hit. I present today one of the most popular track of this album.

कुन माया सदर भो

(कुन माया सदर भो, मेरो माया बदर भो)२
मैले देको माया भन्दा जाली माया कदर भो, जाली माया कदर भो
कुन माया सदर भो, मेरो माया बदर भो

(मैले गर्ने माया तिमीलाई झुटो लाग्यो कि)२
कतै मेरो माया तिमीलाई जुठो लाग्यो कि, जुठो लाग्यो कि
(कुन माया सदर भो, मेरो माया बदर भो)२
मैले देको माया भन्दा जाली माया कदर भो, जाली माया कदर भो
कुन माया सदर भो, मेरो माया बदर भो

(माया तिमीलाई मौका छोप्ने दाउ लाग्यो कि)२
कतै मेरो माया सस्तो भाउ लाग्यो कि, भाउ लाग्यो कि
कुन माया अजर भो मेरो माया नशर भो
मैले देको माया भन्दा जाली माया कदर भो, जाली माया कदर भो
कुन माया सदर भो, मेरो माया बदर भो

शब्दार्थ

सदर - कुनै पनि कुरा स्वीकार गर्नु, स्वीकार गर्नु, सकार्नु, मान्नु
बदर  - कुनै पनि कुरा अवीकार गर्नु, नमान्नु
अजर - अनश्वर अर्थात्  नाश वा नष्ट नहुने वा गर्न नमिल्ने। जस्तै- ईश्वर, गहिरो प्रेम।
नशर - नशर मैले पहिलो पटक यसै गीतमा सुनेको हुँ, तर पंक्तिको भाव अनुसार अजर शब्दको विलोम वा विपरितार्थक शब्द हुनु पर्ने भएकोले नशरको अर्थ नश्वर हो भन्ने सजिलै अड्कल गरेको छु; अर्थात् नाश वा नष्ट हुने।
अनिश्वर, अनिश्वरवाद - तर, अनश्वर र अनिश्वरबीच ठूलो अन्तर छ। अनिश्वर वा अनिश्वरवाद भन्ने शब्द भगवान वा देउता छैनन् वा हुँदैनन् भन्ने विचार हो।

When a Tamilian ( a Palakkad Tamilian, if I may) shifts to North India, a few sizeable repercussions are bound to take place. Especially if a pure Chennai bred Palakkad Tamilian moves to New Delhi.

This blog is definitely not for the purpose of whining about how moving to Delhi has catastrophically changed my life and destroyed my Tamizh roots or anything to that effect. I love Delhi. My parents love Delhi. I have never really regretted moving there. Nor have I complained about anything in Delhi. True, there have been a few changes, but these have just accounted for more eventful days, more things to look forward to, and more occasions to enjoy. In this blog (which will be released in 3 parts) I am trying to describe how moving to Delhi has added a “Hindi”ness to our household, in addition to our “Tamizh”ness. Note: In addition to our “Tamizh”ness and not at the cost of. And the mix of the 2 is… well, you’ll see:

History: Both my parents have lived in Delhi in the 80’s and so the place and the language is not entirely new to them. Even though I was born and brought up in Singara Chennai, Hindi was my second language in school (plus I’ve had an overdose of old Hindi movies at home); hence the language isn’t totally alien to me either. When I was in my 9^th standard my dad got relocated to Delhi, but my mom and I stayed back in good old Chennai. As soon as I came to Singapore, my mom too packed her bags happily and bid farewell to our hometown.

Article 1.a.: Hybridization in Speech

Enter a new territory, and your tongue immediately adopts the language of the place! But when you have not lost your native accent, the resulting hybrid lingo is just beyond words. Literally.

Excerpts from phone conversations with my mother:

Ma: Hello. Enna panre?

Me: Hi. Nothing much. Room le movie pathundruken.

Ma: Accha. Adhane, iniki Saturday le. Saturday unaku kaam illiye.

Me: Illai. Nee enna paninka?

Ma: Naa market po poren. Saturday market le subji lam romba sastha inga. Athai also coming. Apram raat ko dinner ku vella porom.

Me: Enge Haldirams a?

Ma: Haan, wahin. Sidhu vandhurkan Mumbai se. So avan anga dhan ponam nu yen peeccheye nikkaran.

Of course when you only possess the proficiency of a primary school kid (and that too after numerous Prathmic exams et al) in the language, the transition can be harsher.

(At a shop nearby)

Shop boy: Aapko kya chahiye madam ji?

Ma: (looking arnd) : Aap ke paas besan ka aata nahin hai?

<Besan is kadlai maavu and aata is aata>

Shop boy: Aap ko besan chahiye ki aata?

Ma: Kya?

Shop boy: (Holds up the respective packets) . Besan yeh hai aur aata yeh hai.

Ma: Oho. Yeh waala do,pa. Meine socha besan kadalai hai aur aata maavu hai. Hehe .

Shop boy: You are from madras madamji?

Ma: Haan ji. Aapne correct guess kaise kiya?

Till date that shop dude talks to my mother and anyone remotely related to her only in English.

Article 1.b.: New Festivals

We have never been big on festivals like Holi while living in Chennai. It was always an event that was talked about but never taken part in. That year was different. I was talking to my father the day before Holi, and he joyfully informed me that he was on his way to buy those pipelike thingys with which people spurt out coloured water on each other on Holi, and hurriedly passed the phone to my mother who was prolifically making jangiris for the supposed Holi party the next day. Since when did we start celebrating holi and organizing parties for it ? :O And since when did people start making Jangiris for Holi?

Delhi lifestyle touched upon Diwali too.The familiar agal vilakkus were replaced by bright coloured serial bulbs running all around the compound wall. Navarathri in Delhi marked the absence of the customary hassle of buying Vethlai Paaku and Moonu Pathruba articles in Pondy Bazaar to present to the never ending horde of mamis who unfailingly came to witness the golu and in some cases, even sang. (Singing mamis got one extra blouse piece, which was carefully selected by my mother , after making sure that she did not, does not and will not own a sari in that shade or anything close to it in the past, present, near or far future.) Delhi helped save my mother a number of blouse pieces and she is rather pleased about that. Even the quantity of Sundal was boiled down from a decent sized casserole to a minuscule bowl, since there were apparently not many people to eat it. Dishes like Aloo chat started materializing in the kitchen as these attracted Delhi Aunties more, and soon the compliments showered on my mother shifted form ‘Janagi oda Sundal besh-a iruke’ to ‘Janki’s aloo chaat ekdam first class yaar.’ (my mother’s name is Janaki). She doesn’t care as long as she gets the compliments.

Article 1.c.: @ The Theatre

When I went back to Delhi for the summer holidays I committed the grave mistake of going for a tamizh movie there. Against my dad’s repeated pleas for watching a tamizh movie at home, I went and booked tickets for Shivaji at PVR cinemas. It was a Saturday night, 9.00 pm primetime and the theatre was full. I was excited. Our seats were good, and I was all set to enjoy the evening and scream the crap out, as I am a very enthused movie buff and I scream and cheer in the theatre, even for a tenuously promising movie. After like a lifetime, the title appeared. Reflexively I woo-hoo ed away to glory and began applauding animatedly. Only when my claps echoed through the theatre did I realize that I was the only one displaying such bouts of questionable dynamism, whereas the rest of the crowd was dead silent, and all eyes were actually fixed on me, instead of the screen on which Rajini had materialized. :O. I gave up and sank low in my chair.In fact I would not be exaggerating (beyond the allowed exaggeration limit) when I say that I died a little inside. What followed were the quietest quietest quietest three hours of my life.

]]> http://ankipraveen.wordpress.com/?p=12 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:45:04 +0000 ankipraveen http://ankipraveen.wordpress.com/?p=12 Lekin yeh jaannoo ki yeh joh movie hain, jaaney anjaaney main bhi dekhney laayak nahin hain.

हर पल नज़रे तुम्हे ही ढूंढती है

जानती है की तुम नही हो यहाँ, पर

फ़िर भी तुम्हारा ही नजारा ढूंढती है

This is the most amateurish take till date about the story of a cop infiltrating the mob and trying to catch the big fish while fully being an accomplice in their activities....not to forget his internal conflicts when he does all this. Right from the beginning you know this one isn't going anywhere. Even a realiable regular like Zakir Hussain is made to play the role of a terrorist whose portrayal would make the ones in Sunny Deol's flicks seem far intellectual and realistic. There is asbolute apathy on the part of the writer and director in every frame. It's like they said to each other "Let's make this film so that no one ever touches this genre again". Even the addition of quirky characters like that of Amrutha Subhash (who plays Upendra Limaye's wife) doesn't help for long. Debutant Adhvik Mahajan is a potential Mohit Ahlawat - now that's good or bad you decide. The only person who makes some sort of an impression is Prasad Purandare.

But to give credit where it's due Contract isn't so bad a film that it'll make you bang your head against a wall.....inducing sleep is all it does. In his blog Ramu said that he just wants to make "thousands of films" - and films like Contract will definitely help him achieve that quickly. Nevertheless, his next August release "Phoonk" looks interesting and I'll definitely be watching out for that one.

This one's just another of Ramu's bad films which you can safely ignore and the fact that I watched it immediately a day after "The Dark Knight" made it more difficult for me to appreciate it even a little no matter how hard I tried.

You there by the side of the road. You are a piglet!

Sir! I am a Muslim! Call me anything you like, BUT DO NOT CALL ME A PIGLET!

The shouting and gestures have now reached a fever pitch.

YOU ARE A MURDEROUS PIGLET!

YOU BE CAREFUL! I’M A BUTCHER BY PROFESSION; MY HAND SLITS THE THROAT OF THE COW!

HA! I AM CHRISTIAN! YOU MAY BUTCHER THE COW, BUT I EAT IT. AND I EAT IT IN THE POOJA ROOM! WHO IS STRONGER? THE ONE WHO MERELY KILLS THE COW? OR THE ONE WHO EATS IT?

NOW YOU’VE DONE IT! OUR FAMILIES SHALL FEUD FOR THE NEXT SEVEN GENERATIONS!

Then the smile and wave to each other. Wrenzo turns to me and says:

He says we should take the next left. It is across from the police station.

· Aziz Mirza returns after a hiatus since his last ‘Chalte Chalte’

· Shahid Kapur is back with the his loverboy looks

· Pritam has fused in some amazing tracks for this one

Synopsis..

Raj [Shahid Kapur] was numero uno. In academics, sports, dramatics. But four years after winning the best-student-of-the-year trophy from his architectural college, he's wondering why a brilliant architect like him, with designs to set the Canadian landscape on fire, is still struggling to find that one big chance to showcase his mettle.

It's almost as though some negative kismat is following him around because whenever something good is about to happen, it seems doomed to fail.

Desperate to get rid of the bad phase in his life, Raj meets a quirky oracle, Hasina Bano Jaan [Juhi Chawla]. She tells him that soon his stars will change and make everything work in his favour; but for all this to happen, Raj has first to find his lucky charm and never let go of it. But she tells him no more, leaving Raj mystified, trying to figure out what this charm could be.

Suddenly, his life seems to be on the right track. He's managed to impress top builder Sanjeev Gill [Om Puri] into giving him a prestigious project.

Priya [Vidya Balan] is a tough-talking, tough-decision taking girl with a heart of gold. She is an idealist who is intent on making the world a better, more humane place and is quite willing to fight a lone battle for it.

Raj succeeds in persuading Priya that he's the Messiah who can save her beloved Community Centre from destruction. And also opens her eyes to her philandering fiancé [Amit Verma]. Raj even manages to thwart the evil designs of old-college-foe-turned-deadly-professional-enemy Dave [Manoj Bohra]. Does this mean that Raj has unwittingly discovered his lucky charm?

‘Kismat Konnection’ does well in establishing the connect because of its simplicity. The film is outright plain and simple. A film truly for the masses! Aziz Mirza succeeds in his storytelling of romance and the reality of life that dawns upon this romance.

Aziz Mirza along with his son and co-director Haroon succeed with the romance which has always been Azizji’s forte. All Aziz Mirza’s film have always brought about ambitious men stuck in the midst of their career and love . Take a look at ‘Chalte Chalte’ and ‘Yes Boss’ and nothing much has changed with Azizji’s approach. It’s simplicity that has ruled and what works with ‘Kismat Konnection’too.

The biggest drawback that comes with this flick is its length. The film starts dragging primarily during the second half and the culmination of events takes too long. Couple of scenes and characters such as Habiba (Juhi Chawla) could have been done away with.

If you are wondering whether the film may be lacking the Shahrukh angle that has been associated with all Azizji’s film; Shahid Kapur lives up to all expectations. He delivers well, expresses well and entertains. He carries the film so well on his shoulder and shows immense maturity as an actor. Watch out for the comic sequences and his body language.

Vidya Balan too does well and is just apt for the film. She brings about that chemistry with Shahid and things look real. On the costume front too, Vidya is much better than her previous ‘Hey Baby’.

Juhi Chawla does well but her character could have been done away with. Om Puri impresses. Boman makes a blink appearance. Himani Shivpuri is hilarious. Vishal Malhotra too does well as Shahid’s friend and is hilarious.

The cinematography by Bino Pradhan is interesting and music by Pritam entirely lifts the film. The choreography with ‘Ai Papi’ and simplicity with ‘Is this love’ is terrific.

On the writing front Rahila does well with the initial ideation. Vibha Singh and Kabir Sai fall a little short with the flow of events . Sanjay Chel is good with the dialogues.

The film isn’t highly intellectual or so and isn’t in any manner preachy or unique. It’s been done but it’s the treatment and simplicity that works here. Aziz Mirza even at 66 has a lot to offer and from no angle does the film look devoid of any youthful element.

1998: Satya

An inside view of the underworld

2002: Company

An Overview of the underworld

2008: Underworld meets terrorism

Well Ramu has always played it well with topics concerning the underworld; well now let’s see how he fuses in the terrorism angle.

Primarily the film is such a drab leaving you nowhere. Majority of the sequences and occurrences in the film make you wonder whether it has really been done by Ramgopal Varma or one of his so called ‘chelas’.

The narration, treatment, screenplay is almost void in the film. Prashant Pandey’s writing is extremely miserable and you are totally lost. One wonders why Ramu or the producers would engage in blasphemy by calling this film the completion of a trilogy after ‘Satya’ and ‘Company’.

The editing of the film by Amit Parmar and Nipun Gupta is vague. For a Ramgopal Varma film claiming to be the completion of a trilogy , it’s a big letdown. Take a look at films such as ‘Company’ and ‘Satya’, at no point where you bored or stranded in the middle of nowhere. This film ‘Contract’ has no relevancy whatsoever and requires serious trimming.

What was Shama Sikander doing with that so called item number or rave party sequence?

There are so many things that just annoy you and lack substance like the character Goonga’s(Upendra Limaye) wife, the silly dialogues of foolishness rather patriotism and the excessive use of the word ‘Secret’. Why did Ramu make such a film? ‘Secret’.

On the acting front Adhvik Mahajan is ok but nowhere close to characters that have remained with us since ‘Satya’ or ‘Company’. Sakshi Gulati too is just fine. Zakir Hussain and Upendra Limaye are not at their best. Sumeet Nijahawan fits the bill as RD.

For a great filmmaker like Ramgopal Varma , ‘Contract’ comes as a shock to all Ramu fans and aspiring directors who have always looked upto him. But, Ramgopal Varma ought to rise up and maybe take a break from films on the underworld or the occult and rather return to his ‘Rangeela ’days.

The film fuses is various elements of bollywood like numerous dance sequences with enormous sets, Manisha Koirala in the midst of two men , elements of ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ and a battle for love between two brothers that would have worked years ago.

Synopsis…

Shravan (Sanjay Dutt), a casanova, loves being in the company of beautiful and desirable women. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha (Manisha Koirala).

Varsha is the first girl in Shravan's life who says 'no' to his advances. Shravan is not the type who would take no for an answer. Yet, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Varsha. To make amends, he asks for Varsha's hand in marriage. Varsha's father convinces her that he is a changed man now and genuinely loves her. After much deliberation, Varsha agrees and they get engaged. Soon, their romantic sojourn ends in lovemaking.

Varsha's dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a drama so he could sleep with her. Heartbroken and shattered, Varsha feels shattered, her father dies of heart failure. She leaves New York and starts life afresh in Budapest.

Much later, Shravan's younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan) decides to get married. The girl is Payal, who, in actuality, is Varsha. Is this a plan by Varsha to teach Shravan a lesson? What happens when Karan gets to know what transpired between Varsha and Shravan?

Director Afzal Khan handles the proceedings well but the story by Rumi Jaffrey is outdated. Also the film drawing tremendous resemblance to ‘Hum Dil Chuke Sanam’ offers nothing new from Ajay Devgan. The similar drunk sequences, the same lines of returning the heroine back to her first love etc.

Manisha Koirala who was at the peak of her career when the film was shot does well. She emotes and expresses but wonder whether today’s audiences would accept her in a wet red sari dancing across the screen.

Sanjay Dutt or our very own Munnabhai who is the ultimate good guy for all Indians after the Munnabhai series has been portrayed as a Casanova who rapes his wife and then dumps her. Well though the latter half of the film portrays a change of heart, audiences may not approve Sanjay as the Casanova. Also take a look at the lack of continuity is the film as Sanjay goes from long hair, younger looks to the present looking Sanjay Dutt. Afzal Khan can’t be blamed for that as this film was being shot in the midst of all court hassles surrounding Sanjay.

The music by Ismail Darbar is not bad with couple of tracks actually seeping into you. The album would have been a sure hit years ago.

One element that comes across as a treat in the film is Ashok Mehta’s cinematography. It’s brilliant capturing the various locales of Budapest and Rajasthan.

On the whole, the film is definitely not headed for success at the multiplex’s but caters more to the single screen audiences who still enjoy watching films with over 6 tracks and all that family drama . The film is definitely good for it’s time but falls flat in the present.

På kinesisk: 歡迎這個職位在中國。我不能一個單一的字或詞的語言，但我可以書寫中文的。 Sålangt ser det veldig bra ut, men så, når vi kjører dette igjennom til norsk igjen starter missforståelsene.

Tilbake til norsk: Velkommen denne posisjonen i Kina. Jeg er ikke et enkelt ord eller ord av språket, men jeg kan skrive på kinesisk. Plutselig er vi kommet i en posisjon i Kina? Skal vi ta over for Mao? Og så fortsetter det med en gåte(!) Er svaret et kinesisk tegn(?). Nå som vi har fått en posisjon i Kina og har svart på gåten er det på tide å reise videre. Vi tar den norske oversettelsen og forvandler den til japansk!

På japansk: このポジションは中国へようこそ。私は、 1つの単語や言葉の言語が、私は、中国語で書いています。

Så til norsk igjen: Velkommen til denne posisjonen i Kina. Jeg har ett ord av språket og ordene jeg har skrevet på kinesisk. Oi, vi har fortsatt posisjonen vår, men hva har skjedd med gåten? Svarte vi feil og japan hjelper oss med et hint?? Jeg ble veldig usikker, vi får se om Korea har noe å bidra med.

På koreansk: 중국에서이 자리에 오신 것을 환영합니다. 나는 하나의 단어와 단어의 언어로 작성된 나는 중국어.

Norsk: Velkommen til dette sted i Kina. Jeg har ett ord av språket og ordene jeg har skrevet på kinesisk. Ai, vi er blitt nedgradert fra vår posisjon til kun å være på stedet. Skuffende dette Korea, ikke klarte du gåten heller. Kanskje India er tingen.

Hindi: चीन में इस स्थान पर आपका स्वागत है . मैं ने एक शब्द और भाषा के शब्दों में मैं ने चीनी में लिखा है . Dette lover godt..

Norsk: Velkommen til Kina på dette stedet. Jeg har ett ord av språket og ordene jeg har skrevet på kinesisk. Aha, jeg som trodde vi var i Kina, men vi er bare på kinesisk jord et annet sted. Dette må være en ambassade. Og ordet er skrevet på språket og skriver på kinesisk. Da er det helt klart en kinesisk ambassadør som ønsker oss velkommen inn til sin ambassade, hvor enn den måtte ligge.

Takk google translator for at du ordnet opp i de små språkproblemene!