At a time when nobody cares much about the past, Avijit Ghosh has made his slice of film history fun, writes Deepa Gahlot
There used to be a time when Doordarshan used to screen old films, and life used to come to a halt, as people stayed home on weekends to watch old classics. Now, a generation has grown up without any access to old films, unless they have someone to guide them about which DVDs to buy. But a youngster has to be particularly interested in film history to make that effort but then how many areIJ Besides, from the point of view of a teen in 2014, a film from the 1980s is old; they probably cannot even imagine cinema in the mid-20th century. In any case, many of those films are lost due to neglect.
Avijit Ghosh’s 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed doesn’t limit itself to old films, it comes right up to 2010, with Antardwand. Now, the idea of what one film chronicler considers a classic is always subjective, and Ghosh has some odd choices like Hulla, a 2008 film by Jaideep Varma, which had an unusual premise, but was otherwise a no-hoper; or 1971 by Amrit Sagar, which looked at a piece of recent history and not many films have been made about the Bangladesh war, but it was pretty much a standard-issue POW film. We are too close to films like Gulaal, The Stoneman Murders and Rocket Singh — all released in 2009, to decide if they will pass the test of time, surely one of the criteria to label a film a classic.
Avijit Ghosh does give his reasons for picking the films he did, and many of the more recent ones either made no dent when they were released (Sehar) or else got critical acclaim but failed at the box-office (Haasil). It is, of course, not at all essential for a film to be a hit to be considered a masterpiece; just as it is not necessary that a hit film be unforgettable, which goes for Deepak Sareen’s Aaina.
Where Ghosh does score is in picking out some real gems from the past films that simply did not get their due, either by the media or by the public keeping in mind that the media circus that goes on when a film is released is a relatively new phenomenon and Rocket Singh definitely got the full blast, since the star was Ranbir Kapoor and the production company Yash Raj Films. Even then, a few of his picks are films that are memorable and very likely to have been seen by the true aficionado - films like Kohraa, Teen Devian, Mere Apne, Sara Akash, Avishkar and later Majboor, Dillagi, Ek Baar Phir and Dacait.
It’s good to see films like Mr Sampat in Ghosh’s list of 40 and Cha Cha Cha, the latter for a reason (the caste issue) that slipped in one viewing. It is doubly delightful to find CID 909 because it has really been forgotten; none of the erudites but slightly snobbish critics in the past would have considered Harmesh Malhotra’s Gaddar a classic, but Ghosh makes a strong case for it, and compels one to take a second look.
Complete agreement on lal Patthar, Namkeen, Aghaat and Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, which have merit that shows up every time they are watched, and have gone where no other film has dared, but Hip Hip Hurray always makes it to the top sports films made in India and Raat remains one of Ram Gopal Varma’s best.
But even after a will-it-make-it-to-my-list argument, what Ghosh has accomplished is a breezy book, packed with anecdotes and trivia. Much to his credit, he has spoken to people who were associated with the films or members of their families, which always throws up new perspectives on the films that hindsight invariably provides. He also gives a lot of importance to the music of the films, and sends the reader into a dizzying nostalgic trip of song-humming.
At a time when nobody cares much about the past, Ghosh has made his slice of film history fun. The book is very readable and more so because it triggers the reader’s own memory of old films, and that is always a pleasure. It makes one want to get together a bunch of like-minded friends and to watch and talk about films. Which, surely, is the main purpose of a book like this, and for this Avijit Ghosh deserves profuse thanks.
The writer is a veteran film writer and historian