Fantasy

I am one of those people who like to live in their fantasies.

Movies in general, have and will continue to fuel a lot of fantasies in me.

I tend to think a lot, though I realize that most of those thought are futile and some sort of idiosyncrasies within me. Each situation and moment in life I have faced, continue to churn in my mind with different permutations. If then what…. Sort of thing.

This is both a boon and a bane. Boon in the sense, I realize if any mistakes happened, or if there is a better way of doing things. Banes in the sense, most of these thoughts are useless in nature, and distract me from more immediate things.

Movies, music and novels are one of my favorite pastimes.

I can hear Rafi or Kishore or Mukesh or Manna Dey and be transported to the 50’s – 70’s time period.

I see period movies or art movies or any good movie in general and tend to translate them with me in the frame.

Same thing with novels.

Always transposing / juxtaposing my self into the picture or story or song.

I wonder if this is normal.

Let me tell you about my movie tastes. I watched maybe a total of 15 – 20 complete (start to end) movies till my 10^th class. This includes TV and Cinema Halls. I started seeing movies regularly once I started my inter, and then after coming to the US, started quenching my thirst for good movies and old movies.

I am willing to watch any movie in any language. As long as I can understand the story of the movie in whole, though I would prefer if it had sub titles. I tend not to think about any fallacies in a movie, so no analyzing. I see the visuals, hear the words and that’s it.

I can watch many actors, and see a good thing in all of them. I really have no real favorites in heroes.

Lets talk about Hindi Movies.

I might say Raj Kapoor or who ever. But it is not really true.

I like Dharmendra because I think he is a fine actor who never got any accolades though he has many beautiful movies under his belt. An actor with perfect comedy timing never fully utilized. Satyakaam, Chup ke Chup ke, and so on.

He is one star who withstood the onslaught of Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh and still delivered hits.

I like Feroze Khan. He is the best showman Hindi movies ever had. His movies generally have great songs, visuals and the best music. Songs from Dharmatma are a personal favorite. I believe he marginalized himself by making movies himself. One of his best roles for me was in Safar. As far as I am concerned he proved himself even with Rajesh Khanna in the same frame. That song “Jo tumko ho pasand wahi baat hum kahenge! Tum din ko agar raat kaho to raat kahenge” is a quintessential romantic drive song for me.

Sunil Dutt. I believe he is really India’s Robert Redford. A real fine actor. I would have loved if he made more movies.

Raj Kumar aka Jaani. Another great actor. The best dialogue delivery you can imagine. He can under play, over play and play. J See him in Mother India or Pakeezah or any of those later movies from the 80’s and 90’s. He still delivers the same impact.

Same with Danny Denzogpa. I saw Bulandi once, twice, thrice …………..

Pran!!! The ultimate villain, character actor or anything. You can compare him with Satyanarayana in telugu. They can perform any role you give them. Villiany, Comedy, Parental, Sibling, Grand Father, any sort of role. Just imagine Pran with a tooth pick or cigarette in his mouth. Continuously keeps chewing it and turning it. All that rest less energy ready to burst.

Ashok Kumar. Another great actor. If he is in a movie, I am simply game.

Shatrugan Sinha, Mr. Shotgun himself. He is a good actor who took many risks even at his peak. One of the few star actors who worked in a lot of offbeat movies. You give me a Shatru cinema, and I am ready to sit down and watch.

Rakesh Roshan. He was the most handsome actor in the 70’s and 80’s. Initially a bad actor but learned his trade pretty well. Good comic timing by the time Khamoshi came along.

Amol Palekar, for me the best actor. Any movie which involves Amol is a gem in itself. J A great actor and looks like an even greater director.

Farooq Sheikh. The first time I saw him was in the TV Serials “Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi” and “Shrikant”. Felt he was good. If he is there in a movie, you can bet that it is good. As simple as that!

Many other actors, from Prithvi Raj Kapoor to Dev Anand to Sanjeev Kumar to Om Puri to a lot more.

Same thing with heroines. Meena Kumari to Geeta Dutt to Rakhee to Sharmila to Mumtaz to Rekha to Smita Patil to Sridevi to a lot more.

I wonder if anyone else has so many favorite actors in one language. And then just imagine Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, etc.

Actors are not my only criteria. I also have favorite directors, producers, music director, camera man, lyric writer, dialogue writer, even PR (Publicity In charge).