Neighborly LOVE

My Mum and my Brother are VACATIONING!

Yes, they have left me, my sister and my Appa here in this scorching heat to fend for ourselves and gone off to India to have FUN, enjoy the Monsoon rains, lounge the whole day, listen to my maternal Granny ranting all day and put up with my maternal Grandpa's attention seeking tactics and bear the brunt of his 'Oh so famous' Silent treatment. ( Who says growing Vacationing is easy??)

To say I miss them is putting it very very mildly. There is a deep and unfathomable void since the day they left, and it has been 1,382,400 seconds since... Yes I can be eccentric at times.

Since the day they have left, we have another entity that has risen above its prior irrelevant status and jumped up a few notches to become our comrade and partner in crime in battling our loneliness and missing phase! It is none other than the TV!

While combating the above mentioned aloneness and finding something to do this Weekend, myself and my Appa stumbled upon the delightful and rib tickling comedy PADOSAN. I can't remember the number of times I have seen this movie or how I adore and relieve this movie's scenes over and over again just by listening to its fantastic songs. It's a must watch for all ages and is most certainly a collector's item because of the amazing crew this film has to boast of!! 

                                               

I, for one, am not very fond of neighbors! For me there are voluntary spies! Then of course we do have the "Love thy neighbor" concept...Of course I don't have any qualms doing so if he happens to be tall, debonair and devastating good looking... Then it will be that much easier. :P 

These type of neighbors are always welcome...  And they were welcomed in our Hindi film industry as early as 1968. This Padosan (Neighbor) is indeed someone who all would envy and will equally envy the village boy who finally brings about her love!!

The premise of the film is very simple. An uneducated, simpleton from village comes to town to his aunt's house and finds himself next door to a beautiful lady who looks like the moon and has complexion as clear as the blue sky and eyes where you can drown yourself!! Bhola, Sunil Dutt lands himself next door to Bindu, Saira Banu and promptly falls in love with her!! She is a high society girl who gives Bhola the first glimpse of her beauty wrapped in a towel no less, singing the ever green song, "Bhai battur bhai battur...".  The facial expressions of Bhola with his heart going all wonky is so palpable!! Imagine those expressions with a choti flying all over the place... hilarious!! 

Bhola runs to his Guru , the guru who he believes is the ultimate where women are concerned and ultimate in providing solutions for love!! Kishoreda in a snow white kurta and red paan dribble at the corner of his mouth creates ripples of laughter at his appearance itself!! I am in splits every time I see this actually rolling in laughter at the lyrics, the tune and the histrionics of Kishoreda with his cronies!! As if these were not sufficient, Guru advises Bhola, "Meri pyaaari Bindu, meri bholi Bindu, meri matheri Bindu, meri sindoori bindu.... meri prem ki naiyya beech bhanwar mein gud gud gote khaye, jahtpat paar laga de..... " ... Where have you heard such meaningfully, comic lyrics that have made you laugh and cry at the same time?? The song is supposedly penned by none other than Mehmood himself in about 20 mins. Timeless beauties I tell you!!  I have been singing this songs for as long as I can remember, thanks to my Appa singing this one for my Ma... Oh didnt i mention, my Ma's name is BINDU as well! :D

Moving further, this gang of boys decide on Bhola’s insistence that this padosan is not so easy to woo... So they gather at Bhola’s residence and look through the window which sets us viewers up for a delightfully naughty and hummable , "Mere saamne wali khidki mein, ek chaand sa tukda rehta hain,...". The monkeying of Bhola around his window deliberately chiding Bindu is so rib tickling.

Enter Masterji, Mehmood!!

This is the masterji who is teaching the lovely Bindu how to dance!! And then ensues a series of jealous bouts and then a challenge!! Thrown by Bhola to Masterji... the outcome is the song of the century, "Ek chatur naar...", Lyrics simply awesome!!  When this jugalbandi, musical duet between the two maestros Kishoreda and Manna Dey saab is a work that is cherished as you hear the two go at each other, all classical, all funny and they just spin a web of hypnotic melody that takes you to a crescendo and Mehmood going all haywire, in his antics and energy, on the window.... over the window and upside down with a hand trying to give some semblance to the lungi,  that is seemingly coming apart!! Its unforgettable and so in your face that you have no option but to clutch your sides in sheer laughter!!

The beauty of the film lies in its simple story and the characters who just revolve around the script that there is no need for the director to innovate and do any other magic except watch his actors move expertly around the story and fit like a hand in glove!! The songs are of great value to the script because they are very situation based and the selection of Kishoreda and Manna Dey saab is so justified that you cannot imagine anybody else doing the jugalbandi at all... They are necessary to convey the emotions felt and they do it with aplomb!! 

Kudos to the star cast of Sunil Dutt, Saira Banu, Kishoreda, Om Prakash, Mehmood, Mukhri etc... I have no words to describe their class in acting!

Nostalgia at its best!! From the beginning to the end , it was a laugh riot, a film for me, which can be seen and enjoyed infinitely. This film HAS to be seen and enjoyed.

Sighh... Coming back... I have to wait 1,382,400 seconds more to be able to hug my adorable baby brother and talk endlessly to my Mum about the various events, incidents and stories that have transpired in her absence. Until then it's the house chores and MOVIES to my Rescue!

Comedy QUEEN!

Being able to finish things sooner than they are DUE, has both its perks and its disadvantages! Perks, you have more FREE time, and disadvantages being having BORE time! And in order to constructively use this Bore time fruitfully, I have devised various schemes, 1) have productive conversations with colleagues from Different departments (Read Gossip.. who says MEN don’t Gossip??) 2) Call Mama, 3) Write a BLOG and 4) Attack the INTERNET! Browse through different blogs, gather information, learn, create databases AND “Download Music”!! I have over 250 Movie’s Songs and over 3000 other songs. (I know it’s know much, but mind you I am getting there!). By Movie Songs I mean, All the Songs of the Movies, each and every single one, downloaded, labeled and put into a specific folder which is Further labeled and Numbered and segregated as per Language, all done very very religiously! And No I am not Selfish I share as well... NOT the whole collection but part to people who I like, love and also WORK for. (My boss is a regular visitor to my Music Library!) And I take immense pride in being the Office’s Official DJ!

Today is the use the Downloaded Items DAY! I have been listening to tracks from the 1980’s and CHAALBAZZ sprung up on me all of a sudden!  Listening to all those songs and going down memory lane reminded me of how much I love SRIDEVI!

Sridevi is one of my FAVORITE Female Actor!

And CHAAL BAAZ is One of my FAVORITE *Time pass* MOVIES. It is certainly Flawed but simply fabulous Movie!

The Storyline is ZIMPLE - Identical twins separated in babyhood when a sly, conniving servant steals one kid away from their wealthy family's luxurious mansion.  One grows up in the slums, feisty and self-reliant, with dreams of being a dancing star and the other grows up under the care of her uncle and his companion, who are unspeakably cruel and sociopathic - the only thing that stops them from murdering her outright is that she is their ticket to the family wealth! But OF course!! Enter a handsome young heir (In this Case, I would like to say, NOT as charming and handsome as I would have liked) with a wild streak, meets the slum girl and the two are instantly smitten!! In the meantime Mansion one meets a rugged slum boy and sparks fly there as well. Needless to say, wacky attics ensue.

 Jaani Yeh Chakku Hai and the Makeup Scene.

  

Sridevi is the MAIN  reason I love this movie, her cuteness, her dancing, her gorgeous BIG eyes and her talent for physical comedy and her BEAUTY! Her gifts are evident here, being the highlight of a satisfyingly entertaining masala film!!! Of course there is a pile of unapologetic crap one has to dig through to find her and those moments, but they are definitely worth it.

                                                     Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai

Whatever moments of quality Chaalbaaz has are mostly thanks to Sridevi's skill. The best of these are the “Jaani yeh Chaaku hai” Scene, “Na Jaane Kahan Se” the wacky crazy rain dance and song routine, the direct quotation from Waheeda Rehman's snake dance in Guide - in the irresistible, almost trance-like passion of dance, in which Sridevi SHINES! Another one particular scene that is close to my heart is, "Tere bimar mera dil," an entertaining fantasy sequence between Sridevi and Sunny Deol. The Number of times I have tried doing what she is doing with the glass in innumerable and hilarious!!! I would like to think I have almost perfected the routine. Almost!

 Tera Beemar Mera Dil

It's been more than a decade since she was seen on screen as the unchallenged diva of Hindi films. Times have changed and Hindi films have evolved - for better and for worse! New faces, better make-up and less melodrama, less clothes, less morals or should I say changed morals… is the Identity of new-age Bollywood.

But for me it’s the beautiful Chandni of Yash Chopra's superhit, the magnificent Umrao Jaan and the gorgeous Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) from Hum Dil de Chuke Sanam, the quintessential Indian Beauties that are still Perfect, PICTURE PERFECT: Flawless features, an hourglass figure, a smile just as brilliant as it was back then, and all of it dressed in impeccable manners. SRIDEVI is exactly this and more. A decade may have separated her and showbiz but she is still very much the STAR! Be it Esha Deol Wedding (By the way, CONGRATULATIONS Esha, you were absolutely beautiful and looked every bit the glowing Indian Bride! And you have done yourself good getting married, that too to your childhood sweetheart and the both of you look PERFECT together! God Bless!) or the SIMMA awards. She was and is, quite simply the perfect Indian beauty with large, expressive eyes, sharp features and an appealing child-like expression!

Well into her 40s now, and yet she can give any starlet a run of her money. A flawless complexion, a fantastic body and looks to kill for! Sigh! Throughout the 1980s Sridevi starred in a galaxy of blockbusters, including Tohfa, Nagina, Mr India, Chandni AND Chaalbaaz, the last which won her a Filmfare Award for her delightfully crazy capers.

I wish her all the best for her upcoming comic caper, English Vinglish and Thank you Sridevi, for being my role model in dance, and being my friend growing up, and helping me effectively fill my FREE/BORE time today as well as taking me back to all my precious and fond memories!

Thank you Oh! Original Diva of Bollywood!

The ONLY One...

I knew... I did...

I would be lying if I said I didn't, but it's just that I am only getting used to it or should I say, getting used to it once AGAIN... But it has come as a BIG BANG on my head, just a couple of hours back when know my colleague, a MALE one at that, notices my new Hair Cut!!!! (Believe me when I say this It's not at all drastic, in fact not even a major change from my previous one). I mean it's OK if it were just a "Oh your hair looks good today!"   But what does one do, when the question is thrown at you like this.. "Neelu, who is your Hairdresser? You have been seeing her/him quite often these days haven't you? Your hair looks simply stunning" Well HE didn't stop at that, he went further on to incorporate my BOSS, rather OUR boss into this discussion where in my MANE was the MAIN attraction! Beat it!!!

It was then that I grasped that being the ONLY GIRL, in my department, Design department that is, being the Only Girl in the Section of the Office that I sit in, further still being the Only GIRL in the ENTIRE Office has some major disadvantages! I don't mind being the only one, as long as i don't have to deal with constant attention, that too in this fashion! (while having said that I do have a Receptionist at the far end of the Office, just let's just say she is "In my boss's Wonderful words" OBSOLETE!)

Surviving in an office full of MEN is an ART! An art that I had very tactfully mastered in the first two years of working as a Designer here. In fact while in school, I was among Girls all the time, I mean I studied in an ALL GIRLS school, where we girls studied in morning, the morning shift as it was called and the Boys came in the evening, the evening shift! There was absolutely NO Interaction at all! At least not for ME! Then in College, I was in a class with 35 girls and ZERO boys! LOL Can you imagine the scene!? Our class used to serve as Honey and attract all the bees, read boys, to IT, to say the very least! :P

I was in for a Pleasant SHOCK when I joined work as I had walked into an office full of men. Now, I had been forewarned that I would be the only girl in the office, so I imagined I knew what to expect – or so I thought.

There is less bitching. Men bitching is poorly constructed, they’re not naturally deceitful. Bitching still exists but it is less dedicated, more vocal, quicker to surface and thankfully, quicker to resolve. I have seen soo many people come and go, in fact in the last two years of  my 4 and half year stint at this Design House,  lots of other girls/ women have joined and left as well. In fact last month was the grand finale with Not one but TWO ladies leaving the company for good. Do I miss them?? Of course I do, I miss my dear dear Karthika, my partner in crime, so so much, and I miss my Monama, the 42 year old Hottie who got really close to my heart!  :(


But do I regret my decision to continue working in an office full of men? No, Ma’am!

In fact, the MAD house in which I work now addresses me as “the Queen” – a poke I am more than okay with accepting, and it has also awarded me several professional opportunities I otherwise wouldn't have had.

                                  

I just get a few jolts here and there and I am only getting back on track being OK to putting myself out there from time to time. While working in an office full of men may not be every woman’s ideal, stepping out of the comfort zone to do so can have some definite professional advantages – not to mention, it’s DRAMA free.

Opps or should I say I am the Only DRAMA here! LOL!