And I can’t help it, the heart just doesn’t help me. It keeps prodding me on to ask some more questions about the wonder woman about whom I have spent a great part of my life asking questions and made my life worth living. Some more intriguing questions about the most intriguing woman, Rekha, the woman blessed with several resurrections. Jesus Christ had just one resurrection and went up to heaven. Rekha has had so many resurrections in one life, making every moment every breath, every step a battle to win like no woman I know has.

The new questions about Rekha - Why does the mind work and re-work every time I have to even think of talking to her about anything, even things that my very life depends on? Why do I see the telephone as the most beautiful object in the world when I am about to talk to her? Why is there a tingling in the fingers and a flutter in the heart when I dial her number? Why is there so much silence all around me and within while I wait for the bell on the other side to ring? Why does the heart beat faster even when Farzana, the woman who is perhaps the only human being she trust, comes on the line? Why does the entire being go into spasms of ecstasy when she finally comes on the line and starts talking in that voice that can melt even a monster’s heart? Why does her yes to what I ask for make my heart dance with joy? Why does even her no make me more happy than the best piece of news I have heard in my several lives in this one life? Why does this God’s special woman do all these amazing things to me? Wasn’t she the same young woman they called the ugly black duckling once? Wasn’t this woman the same woman men loved making fun of once and now look up to with awe? How did this woman who was considered a block on the road become a major milestone in the history of modern day life? I keep wondering, I keep asking questions and I know the questions are never going to end, and I love life because of it, yes because of it.

The little master

I was watching Aditya Chopra’s Mohabbatein again (on television) only because I loved the clashes between the two titans, one an icon of the millennium, Amitabh Bachchan, and the other, the saving grace and the leading light of the new generation, Shah Rukh Khan. It made the same impact. It had the same mesmerising moments working the same magic they worked when I watched them clash for the first time. But that night as I watched Mohabbatein my thoughts were also with the young man who has grabbed the sky of success. I thought of Aditya Chopra, the director of the film and what he would come up with next after proving what a little great master he was with his very first two films, DDLJ and Mohabbatein.

Aditya has now taken a break and decided to assist his father, the great Yash Chopra in the film he is planning to direct in another few months (what a great gesture of a son towards his father). I also thought of Uday Chopra, Aditya’s younger brother who is determined to make it as an actor and the other youngsters in the film, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergil and the girls Shamita Shetty, Preeti Jhangiani and Kim Sharma. They showed all the signs of going places with their performances in Aditya’s film. They should have had a bright future by now but that seems to be a distant dream disappointingly but they must not give up heart because this is a world where only those who are tough at heart can win hearts in the long run.

Dr. Chopra’s ‘Gurukul’

Thinking about the ‘Gurukul’ in Mohabbatein run by Amitabh Bachchan (how could Aditya a man of today think of something as solemn as a traditional ‘Gurukul’ to form the base of a modern day film and conquer hearts?) reminds me of the ‘Gurukul’ being run by Aditya’s ‘Bade Uncle’, the venerable Dr. B. R. Chopra, the ‘Gurukul’ of writers he has been heading ever since he first started B R Films, way back in the 50’s. Dr. Chopra always believed that a film is first planned on paper.

Dr. Chopra who started life as a journalist firmly believed and continues to believe that good writing forms the foundation of a good film. It was with this belief growing stronger that Dr. Chopra founded what was called “the story department” of B. R. Films. This story department was run just like a ‘Gurukul’ with Dr Chopra as the ‘Guru’ and a team of some of the best writers working as one team to write the script of a film down to its minutest detail. Every writer contributed his best in the general interest of a good message-oriented, socially-relevant film. Dr Chopra at first had writers of the calibre of Akhtar-Ul-Iman and C.J. Pavri who worked with him. They worked out a system of working. They met every day, had fixed working hours, fixed lunch time, tea time and even time to take a breather. They worked ceaselessly, carefully, creatively and added to the brilliance of every film they worked on.

The ‘Gurukul’ was later joined by writers like Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza, Kamleshwar, Satish Bhatnagar and some others. The ‘Gurukul’ had writers who later went into the business of television but the Guru is still the same Guru. He is old and ailing but he has not lost interest in his ‘Gurukul’. He now has a new team of writers headed by the veteran Satish Bhatnagar who has been joined by the Guru’s son, Ravi Chopra, Nandlal Pathak, Ram Govind and Shafique Ansari. They follow the same rigid discipline inculcated by the Guru, the same working time, the same ways of working, the same ways of working towards making things work best on paper.

The Guru and his Gurukul have just finished giving the final touches to the Guru’s most loved subject, a subject which he has been planning to make for several years. He is finally satisfied with the work of his Gurukul and the result is Baghban, the subject the Guru has been living for, the subject which has almost given him a new lease of life. That’s the magic of the Gurukul and the Guru working together which is a very rare institution these days. Indian cinema will always be grateful to the Guru and his Gurukul which have added distinction, dignity and decorum to cinema which the Guru has always believed and inspired his Gurukul to believe that filmmaking is more than entertainment. It is enlightenment, too. It is elevation, too.

Dr. Chopra finds a remedy

What wonders the wonders of cinema can work on some men! I have seen cinema give people a way to live. I have seen cinema give people the kind of entertainment which is as essential to them as the air they breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, the love they have to find. I have seen cinema give people a reason to live a healthy and full life.

Look at a great man like the venerable Dr Chopra. Cinema has been his oxygen ever since he discovered the magic of cinema. Cinema has made him what he is today, a man glorified with honours. Of late, however, Dr Chopra been more active in the field of television but Dr Chopra’s heart has always been in films. He has always been waiting for the day when he would start a new film under his banner. But misfortune struck. He fell ill. He was in severe trouble, in excruciating pain, painfully immobile and hard of hearing but his heart was forever with Baghban, the film he once wanted to make with Dilip Kumar. His dream is about to turn into the greatest reality of his meaningful life. It is to be made with Amitabh Bachchan. He will not be directing the film as he always wanted to but his only son, Ravi, will be the man in-charge.

The film is set to start in the next few weeks and you have to see the change that has come over the ailing Dr Chopra to see what his love for cinema can do for him. He has found a strong will to live, his heart beats like it used to beat when he was the captain of his ship. He no longer cares for the problems of the body because he has discovered a new and strong spirit to see that the film he wanted to make is finally being made and being made by his son in whom he has all the faith. The miracle has been so amazing that Dr Chopra who was unable to walk without support has now taken a bold decision to visit the sets during the making of the film. Will any of the best doctors of this country or any other country diagnose this phenomenon for me?

Ram tera kaam chalta rahain

I have known the man’s sheer junoon (passion) more than the man to go out of his way almost single-handedly and arrange an event every year during which he and his Foundation formed by himself (Sahyog Foundation) makes sincere efforts to recognise excellence in fields like social service, medicine, sports, legal acumen, literature, and even films. There are several other private institutions and organisations which give away awards every year, awards which have gradually turned into frauds, awards as frauds to seek fame and more than fame make a fortune, but this man, Ram Jawharani is the name now known in all the major spheres of life in Mumbai. He has all that a man needs to keep himself and his family comfortable all their lives but he has this junoon, this fire which makes him work for hours on end, for days and nights to make his awards respected and recognised by all those who receive them and all those who judge the awards his Foundation presents. His selfless work has been appreciated by some of the greatest citizens of Mumbai, like Nana Chudasama, a leading, thinking citizen of Mumbai who genuinely cares for Mumbai always says and has been saying it for the last fourteen years Mumbai needs more and more of Ram Jawharanis if Mumbai now going through a very dark phase has to survive with respect. I second Mr Chudasama and all like minded people of Mumbai. Jeeyo Rambhai. Ramji tumhare saath rahen, tumhare har kaam mein kaamyaab kare.

Govind’s “Nihalism”

I am one of those who have always had the feeling or rather have been given the privilege to see the first trial of a Govind Nihalani film. I am what you can call a Govind Nihalani bhakt, a firm believer in Govind’s “Nihalism” like I would like to call it. But I have still not seen Govind’s Deham, his latest film and now I don’t think I will see it after all the enlightened giants and great geniuses have seen it and expressed their feelings and their learned opinions about it. I am content with my faith in Govind’s “Nihalism” and I am sure the down to earth and as real as real can be Govind, one of the most extraordinary filmmakers of our times will not let me down with his Deham which is described by my learned friends as India’s first futuristic film, a film which dares to take a very close look at the beyond of the beyond.

I has seen Govind and his amazing God-gifted genius at work. I know him as a filmmaker who makes a film only when he believes in it with all his heart and mind. I am absolutely sure Govind must have taken more care than the care he has taken to make all his other films. I am not going to see the film till I see it with my people, the final judges. I have decided to put all my faith in Govind’s “Nihalism” on test and I hope all the present and future Gods are listening to what I am saying about Govind and his first film which I am not seeing at a trial but will see when the time for the real trial comes, the trial by the people.

Vivek Hi Vivek

Kisko maloom tha ek din
Aise khushi ka din bhi aayega
Aise khushi, kitni saari khushi, khushiyan hi khushiya
Ek ghar mein, ek hi saath
Ek ghar mein, ek his saath, sab hi utsav ek saath
Ek kiran surya ka saara ghar mein khushiyan ka tez roshni failaayegaa
I am talking from the heart because
The truth is best expressed by the language of the heart
I am talking about Vivek Oberoi
And what his overnight success has done to him and his family...
His father. my friend, my dear friend, Suresh Oberoi
I always said could have made it
As one of the most fascinating, full-blooded actors
Any where in the world, any time
He was recognised, he was brilliant, he had to
But he never found the success he so richly deserved
He was, yes he was undoubtedly better than
The group of brilliant and so-called brilliant actors
The lucky ones recognised the truth, the unlucky ones didn’t
Suresh however was born to see better days
Marked out by destiny for greater things and days to come
A little late in life but not so late...
His son was destined to show him what he didn’t see
I saw his son Vivek as a toddler
I saw him grow into a young man, an actor ready to strike
Several months ago, long before he could take his first steps as an actor
I was the first man with a pen to predict the rise of a star
This is not a boast, only a truth, a truth only the heart knows
Yes, with Company Vivek has seen the kind of success
Very few actors his age have seen in recent years
And, this, my friends, is only the beginning of a great future...
But beware my friend and beware my friend’s son
The world is watching like it has watched no father and no son
For God’s sake don’t make mistakes, don’t change, please don’t change
You have the world in your palms, you have a goal to reach
Suno meri baat, sunlo meri pukar
Khushiya manao, zaroor manao, lekin socho bhi, samjho bhi, samblo bhi
Abhi zamaane ko bahut kuch dekhna hai
Abhi zamaane ko tumhe bahut kuch dikhana hai.