मोती गळाले...Villains Often Soften...

Alfred Hitchcock:



"The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture."
 
Michael Levenson:

"So many of Dickens’ fictions start by dividing the world in two, with separate zones of goodness and badness. Then the engine of generosity starts to whirr. Villains often soften; hypocrites relent; misers melt. The more Dickens dwells on any character, the more likely it is to turn toward the light. The deepest urge in his imagination was to invite everyone to the feast of life (“you come too, Mr. Scrooge”), which is why the books conjure an immensity of food: so that there will always be more than enough of everything for everyone, especially enough laughter and ham and happy tears."

Luke Johnson:

" Of course moving pictures are mostly fantasy. Real life is more mundane – even in the executive suite. And it is never as clear-cut as the narrative of a 90-minute screen story. Few of the pictures mentioned are morality tales, and several of the best, such as Citizen Kane or There Will Be Blood, leave questions unanswered. Arguably, the villains are often the most dynamic characters – like Williamson (Kevin Spacey) in Glengarry Glen Ross"

जी ए कुलकर्णी:

"झाडावरूनच ऊबदार, गुळगुळीत कैरी काढावी, ती मुठीनेच फोडून तिच्यावर मीठ- हां , लाल तिखट, हिरवे नव्हे- घालून ती खावी. ते तर अगदीच राहून गेले. आता हे मात्र कधी होणारही  नाही.

कारण तानीमावशी गेली, व जाताना माझी मीठ तिखटाची कैरीच ती आपल्याबरोबर घेऊन गेली."

("कैरी", "पिंगळावेळ", 1977)

[G A Kulkarni:

"One should pluck the warm, smooth raw-mango from the tree itself, it should be broken with  fist only and stuffed with salt- mind you, red chilli, not green- and then be eaten. It remained completely undone. Now, it can never happen again.

Because aunt-Tani went away, and while going, she took along with her my salty-chilli raw-mango."]

Who is the hero of my-childhood-defining Hindi film Vijay Anand's  'Johny Mera Naam', 1970- the film I still keep watching?

Answer: Pran, who plays character called Moti (मोती)/ Mohan in the film. I still know by heart all of Pran's dialogues in the film.

for me, Moti wins hands down!

courtesy: Trimurti Films


Is there a film I didn't like Pran? 

Almost none. For instance:


Azaad (1955), Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960), Dil Hi To Hai (1963), Ram Aur Shyam (1967),  Brahmchari (1968), Sadhu Aur Shaitaan (1968), Sharaabi (1984)...

Upkar (1967), Nannha Farishta (1969), Parichay (1972), Victoria No. 203 (1972), Zanjeer (1973), Bobby (1973), Dharma (1973), Majboor (1974), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)  ...

When Pran became a 'good guy' from a 'bad guy', it was so reassuring. It became easy to be hopeful and optimistic. And when it happened, the good guy on the silver screen looked stronger and more realistic.

Fist my aunt-Taimavashi, then my mother, then Shammi Kapoor and now Pran...my childhood tree of raw-mangoes is almost bare!

But lucky me, I could eat a lot of mangoes- with red chilli stuffing alright- before it happened.