Released in 2020 Genre- Drama 10/10 Main Cast: Frances McDormand Screenplay: Chloé Zhao (Based on the book “Nomadland” by Jessica Bruder) Direction- Chloé Zhao
Logo of Nomadland (2020), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
BRIEF INTRODUCTION Story about a woman, who after losing her husband, decides to spend her life as a lone traveler, eventually becoming a nomad along with the journey.
My comments A stellar performance by Frances McDormand, the powerhouse of acting, the secondary cast also acted well. The simplicity of the screenplay and dialogues attracts one to become a part of the movie, the script values the character study very well. It gives the feeling of nostalgic completeness at points when Fern is reciting the poem or revisiting her husband’s workplace or her old residence. The background music soothes the feeling of isolation that you feel for the character as a nomad while watching the film. A quality picture that gives you a deep view of actual nomad life experience, how they really spend their life van dwelling from one place to another.
P.S. Nomadland won several accolades, including three Academy Awards (2021), best actress for McDormand, best director for Zhao, and best film.
कौन हो तुम, आज अंजान में मिल गए, तुम मिले तो तिमिर की डगर में मिले, तुम मिले, चाँदनी के नगर में मिले, अश्रु में और मुस्कान में मिले, तुम चले, इति चली, और अथ भी चला, तुम चले, साथ ही साथ पथ भी चला, देह की बात क्या, प्राण में मिल गए। व्योम से बीन में, बीन से तार में, तार से मिले हुए लीन झंकार में, स्वर मिले फिर गान में मिल गए। फूल की गंध तुम फूल में मत छिपो, मूल है विश्व में, मूल से मत छिपो, तुम छिपे, किंतु पहचान में मिल गए।
स्व० सुशीला खरे
Hi everyone! Very excited to introduce the poetry section today. Recently found a collection of original poems written by my maternal grandmother, Late Mrs. Sushila Khare, a quite knowledgeable, creative, and advanced person of her time and one of the purest souls I know. Her collection of literature (both Hindi and English) was very exquisite, she had a fine taste in this particular area. So, today, I am inaugurating the poetry section, with one of her poems.
Released in 1960 Genre- Drama, Realistic 10/10 Main Cast: Supriya Choudhury, Anil Chatterjee, Bijon Bhattacharya, Gita Dey, Gita Ghatak, Niranjan Ray, Dwiju Bhawal. Screenplay: Ritwik Ghatak (Based on “Meghe Dhaka Tara”, the novel by Shaktipada Rajguru) Music- Jyotirindra Moitra Direction- Ritwik Ghatak
a scene from Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960)
BRIEF INTRODUCTION The story revolves around the life and struggles of a selfless young girl whose sacrifices are taken for granted by everyone around her. Like a lifeless thing, she is just treated like a working machine, even by her family.
Notes on the film One of the finest films that I have seen. Meghe Dhaka Tara is not just a film, it’s an experience of how the so-called practicality in the world has taken over love, warmth, relationships, and values. Nothing matters to the world more than selfish objectives. It never even acknowledges or values the contributions and sacrifices of a person, an innocent, selfless girl in this film, not even her own family. The sound of whiplash in the background music is used very uniquely by Ghatak, to describe the emotional damage done to Nita.
Nita The only people who care about Nita are her father and brother. The father (portrayed by Bijon Bhattacharya), due to an accident, is not able to do much for her daughter or the financial condition of his family. And Nita’s almost absent brother (played by Anil Chatterjee) is often lost in his world of music.
Ritwik Ghatak The Extraordinaire This was my first interaction with Ritwik Ghatak’s work. Before this, I didn’t know much about Ghatak’s work except that he wrote the popular and acclaimed 1958 film Madhumati’s screenplay and after watching Meghe Dhaka Tara, I realized that Ritwik Ghatak is one gem that our industry should be immensely proud of. His style of telling a story is very simple but the way he uses themes, sub-themes, cinematography, and music in his screenplay is something worth appreciating.
P.S. The film also features a song by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
Released in 1955 Genre- Drama, Family 10/10 Main Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Jayant Screenplay: Rajinder Singh Bedi Music- Pandit Amarnath Direction- Amar Kumar
a scene from Garam Coat (1955)
BRIEF INTRODUCTION Another tale showcasing the loss of human values and warmth. The story revolves around a family struggling to meet their daily needs and how fate pushes the protagonist to the edge of sanity.
Notes on the film The story of Garam Coat is based on the master novelist Nikolai Gogol’s widely acclaimed short story “The Overcoat”, although the end of the film is quite different from the original story. Yes, you read it right, the same “Nikolai Gogol”, mentioned in “The Namesake (2006)” by Mira Nair.
Music and songs Memorable music given by Pandit Amarnath, with almost all the songs beautifully sung by Lataji. My favorites are, Kahiyo roye dukhiya re and Zulfon wale ko kya pata hai.
Special mentions There is something about Balraj Sahni that makes him so unique. He used to become the character, one of the earliest actors to follow method acting.
The Evergreen Jodi We often talk about jodis in the film industry, Balraj Sahni-Nirupa Roy jodi, whenever appeared on the screen together, created magic, starting right from Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Garam Coat to Ghar Ghar ki Kahani (1970).
P.S. One of the episodes from Katha Sagar (1986) was also based on “The Overcoat”. It was directed by the National Award Winning filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Released in 1966 Genre- Drama, Family 10/10 Main Cast: Indrani Mukherjee, Rajesh Khanna Screenplay: Chetan Anand Music- Khayyam Direction- Chetan Anand
Rajesh Khanna in Aakhri Khat (1966)
BRIEF INTRODUCTION A moving story about love and innocence, revolving around a broken romance followed by the protagonist looking for his lost child.
The Film Chetan Anand was able to capture something very special in this film, the bare innocence of life in the most beautiful and natural way. The last scene of the film is very moving, it’s too natural to be cinematic. No wonder, Aakhri Khat was selected as India’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Oscars in 1967. Chetan Anand’s quite underrated work.
P.S. Aakhri Khat marked the debut of Rajesh Khanna. Music and the songs of the film are unforgettable.
Released in 1996 Genre- Wrongful, Dark Humor 10/10 Main Cast: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare and Harve Presnell Screenplay: Coen Brothers (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) Direction- Coen Brothers
Logo of Fargo (1996), Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
BRIEF INTRODUCTION The story revolves around several events primarily driven by greed, causing a lot of chaos along the way. Although the lighting is not so dark, the humor and the events are, which makes it a noir film story-wise. The film was nominated for numerous awards and won a number of them, including two Oscars and a BAFTA.
Frances McDormand From Fargo to Ebbing…(2017) and Nomadland (2020), the energy and passion remain constant in her. She is also one of the rare actors to win The Triple Crown of Acting.
Steve Buscemi Be it a film directed by the Coen brothers, an interesting character in The Sopranos, or a film like Spy Kids, he never fails to impress the audience.
P.S. Fargo (1996) is the original film on which the TV series of the same name is based.
Released in 1953 Genre- Drama 10/10 Main Cast: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Nana Palshikar Story: Salil Chowdhury, Screenplay: Hrishikesh Mukherjee Music- Salil Chowdhury Direction- Bimal Roy
a scene from Do Bigha Zamin (1953) Bimal Roy Productions, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
BRIEF INTRODUCTION A story about a farmer, his family, and the struggle to save their “Do Bigha Zamin”. One of the most poignant films belonging to the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, a gem by Bimalda. Not only received appreciation and several prestigious awards in India but also the first film from our country to win an International prize, in the Cannes Film Festival (1954).
STORY & THEME The portrayal of stark reality in the film led to the beginning of a new kind of cinema in the Hindi Film Industry, cinema that dealt with more realistic themes.
MUSIC & STORY (Background) Salil Chowdhury gave life to the music of the film. Not only the music but also the story was written by him only, which he also talked about, in one of his old interviews. “Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke” from the film, became a very memorable song, I still remember listening to it on a loop.
Acting Balraj Sahni’s finest performance to date. Nirupa Roy and all the cast members also acted flawlessly. Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy’s equation was very natural in the film (can be observed in all the films, they acted together). The last scene of the film is so moving that it makes you feel the exact emotions experienced by the characters.
My journey with the film While watching Vittorio De Sica’s magnum opus Bicycle Thieves, 1948 (belonging to the Italian neorealism movement) during the Film Appreciation course (F.T.I.I. Pune), I don’t know, for what reasons, visuals of Do Bigha Zamin (which I had seen back in 2017) started flashing across my mind. So, to end my curiosity, during the discussion of Bicycle Thieves, I asked my course director, Aruna ma’am, if by any chance, Do Bigha Zamin has anything to do with Bicycle Thieves, then ma’am told me that it was inspired by Sica’s film. And it was only after Bimalda saw Sica’s film, decided to make Do Bigha Zamin. Not just, Do Bigha Zamin, but more or less the majority of the movies made (all over the world) at that time were inspired by Bicycle Thieves.
Relation with Bicycle Thieves The story of Do Bigha Zamin has no connection with Bicycle Thieves but the way it was shot, the use of locations (design), the pathos in the story, and sometimes, somewhere in the background elements, you can clearly observe the inspiration.
P.S. It was my maternal grandmother’s favorite film and this was the initial reason for me to watch the film.
Not just Hrishida, but it was also my first proper introduction to mainstream cinema and the one and only Mr. Khanna, Mr. Rajesh Khanna. When I asked my mother about both of them, she asked me to watch Hrishida’s magnum opus and Rajesh Khanna’s finest to date “Anand (1971)”. And this film… This film changed my definition of mainstream completely, the storyline, memorable dialogues & songs, and powerful performances by the entire cast, especially Rajesh Khanna. After watching Anand, it became extremely important for me to watch every film made by Hrishida, be it Satyakam (1968) (one of the finest but quite underrated) or Bawarchi (1972), or Abhimaan (1973) or Naukri (1978). Watching Anand somewhere also made me a huge fan of Kaka. I saw all the important films he worked in, starting right from Anand (1971), Khamoshi (1970), Aradhana (1969), Safar (1970), Aakhri Khat (1966), Bawarchi (1972), Amar Prem (1972), Namak Haraam (1973), Avishkaar (1974) (one of his most distinct works), Naukri (1978) and some selected films from the 80s. His choice of projects was very interesting (being a major box office actor), especially between 1966-1978. I think he was one of those actors who always kept a balance between popular mainstream and inventive films. In 1974, with highly anticipated releases like Roti and Prem Nagar, he also had releases like impressively artistic Avishkaar and Aap Ki Kasam somewhere belonging to the middle-of-the-road genre. This tells a lot about his selection of films and it was only he who could manage to play a character like Amar flawlessly in Avishkaar, making the film rich artistically and at the same time getting it successful at the box office too.
Released in 1959 Genre- Thriller 10/10 Main Cast: Cary Grant, James Mason, Eva Marie Saint Screenplay: Ernest Lehman Direction- Alfred Hitchcock Editing- George Tomasini
Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest (1959) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
BRIEF INTRODUCTION A thrilling story of mistaken identity, interestingly different from the regular ones. A highly acclaimed work from Hitchcock followed by his other important film, which was released just the next year, in 1960.
P.S. North by Northwest became a landmark film in the mistaken identity genre and served as an inspiration for popular thriller films in the future.
Released in 1964 Genre- Drama, History 10/10 Main Cast: Richard Burton, Peter O’ Toole Screenplay: Edward Anhalt Direction- Peter Glenville Editing- Anne V. Coates
Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton in Becket (1964) Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
BRIEF INTRODUCTION Based on a play by Jean Anouilh, a story about divine friendship, which eventually turns into animosity after a conflict of thoughts and interests. TRUE BRILLIANCE One of the most amazing and visually engaging films that I have seen so far. For the first time, two immensely talented and important Shakespearean actors together, Burton and O’Toole, both from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), London. Story-wise, performance-wise, design-wise, and direction-wise, in every aspect, the film managed to amaze me. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards (37th Oscars, 1965), and won in the category of the Best Screenplay. It was also nominated for several categories in BAFTAs (1965) and The Golden Globe awards (1965) and won a number of them. P.S. This film inspired a 70s Indian classic too, which also starred two of the biggest actors and stars of Indian Cinema.
About the author
Naman Khare
Hi, this is Naman Khare, an engineer by education but a film enthusiast at heart. This blog is about my experiences and journey with cinema.
