The handsome villain – Danny Denzongpa #bollywood #moviebuff

If you are the 80’s kid, you might have hated this handsome man because he was a villain perpetually, getting killed in the end. And when you would talk of him now, you would still mention how handsome and fit he is, and how versatile he’s been through his career. He’s no more just a villain to you.

He's fitted well in the bell bottoms, military pants and the cravat clad blazer too. He looked good with hair as well as without hair. He looked good with chashma as well as without it. With beard as well as without. Tell me, who else has been able to carry off all these flawlessly?! 

His piercing eyes emote everything that reaches our heart - be it hatred, love, patriotism or friendship.

That’s the way we 80’s kids see Danny Denzongpa. Looking down our memory lane, there are some of well-known roles that we remember off hand – Bakhtawar of Hum, Kancha Cheena of Agneepath, Khuda Baksh of Khuda Gawah, Abrush of Pukar and his recent role in Baby. Here is a look at this man whom we have hated and loved together!

Agneepath – Kancha Cheena 

Krantiveer – Chatur Singh

Khuda Gawah – Khuda Baksh

Hum – Bakhtawar

Ghaatak – Kaatya

Chinagate - Major Ranjir Singh Gurung

Pukar – Abrush

16 December – Vir Vijay Singh

Jai Ho – Home Minister Dashrat Singh 

Bang Bang! – Omar Zafar

Baby – Feroz Ali Khan

Obviously he's much more than just these. But then, this is what he is to us - the 80's kid :) 

Indian TV serials in a nutshell

Believe it or not, our TV serials are addictive. We ridicule them, criticise them, make fun of them, but we certainly cannot avoid them. This saas-bahu drama has become a part of our house in some way or the other. No wonder the protagonist is generally the lady.

Our TV serials have also kept us updated with the latest trends - be it Romola's bindi, Komolika's blouse pattern or Anandi's dazzling jewellery design and lehnga. 

This year, the stories saw a rise in superstitions, black magic and kaali shakti. Maybe the writers were out of ideas. Social media went bizarre when Simar became a housefly. And more when we read about a king-kong monkey falling in love with Thapki! Following this, even Aradhya got hypnotised and started acting as if usmein aatma ghus gayi.

When you closely study the story of the TV serials, you realise that there is a trend. A formula to increase the TRPs. While it may work for one serial, not necessarily it’ll work for all. But whatever the case, it enough to create curiosity, drama, masala and sansani! Here are some stereotypical formulae which obviously you are aware of. I am just helping you remember and relive them :)

1. Eavesdropping

Almost every episode of every TV serial has this. Basically the characters have no other work apart from eavesdropping and formulating a plan in their mind which is so loud that we are able to hear it!

2. God exists

Oh come on! We are Indians and we love God. We do not have this concept of being an atheist. The nastik in India is always the villain. And our serials portray the same. And it doesn’t stop at a Hey Bhagwan. It becomes more specific with a Mata-rani ki aagya, or a Jai shri Krishna or a Ganpati bappa morya or a Devi maa ki kripa. 

3. Culture specifics

Why do I know that a Jai shri Krishna is a greeting in Gujarat and a Khammaghani in Rajasthan or that Punjabis love their lassi? Well, not just because I am one of it, but also because it’s all over the TV! The Punjabis, Marwadis and Gujaratis rule the TV world. And Bengalis, UP-ites and Maharashtrians are following closely. It’s a good way to know the rich and diverse culture of India.

4. Rebirth

The protagonist or her husband dies. There have been cases where such instances have created heart breaks and outrages. And then on public demand, they have a rebirth. Could also be that God blesses the family with a child who looks the same. Or could be that the protagonist didn’t die after all.

5. Plastic surgery

When the actor decides that bohot ho gaya I want a raise in pay, the producers decide it’s time for their character to have a plastic surgery. This obviously adds drama, a new plot in the same mundane family and a new face. All enough to catch the viewers’ attention, right?

6. Generation leap

There is no more masala that could be added to the current set of characters. They needed to grow. And new ones needed to get added so that there are more rifts, problems and koot-neetees (for those who didn’t get that, it means conspiracies).

7. Memory loss

Character: Mein kaha hu? Tum kaun ho?

Doctor: Mujhe bade dukh ke saath bolna pad raha hai ki inki yaad-dash kho gayi hai. :(

When this happens, all the characters will suddenly wear sober pastel colours and discard their bright reds and pinks. But don’t be very sad. The memory comes back in most of the cases and the villain is put behind bars and the family is back together. 

8. Marriages & rituals

There will always be a marriage which took an eternity to happen after all the ups and downs. The celebrations will have to include all the rituals and a family dance where the vamp is staring at them with the expression of 'what the shit is happening, I will never let them be happy'. The marriage itself would stretch to at least a week till the phera are completed. The TV serial marriages are important to know the latest shaadi trends this season.

9. Extra marital affair

Bachpan ka pyaar or sister-in-law pe nazar… Extra marital affairs are becoming quite common nowadays. This chhupa pyaar will obviously cause damage. And the abla naari will still forgive her husband. After all, she’s the sanskari bahu naa!

10. Villain’ pashyataap

The villain or vamp gets a hriday-parivartan. And in all that, she wants to do something good for the protagonist. In doing so, she will go through pain, meet with an accident, turn herself to the police, or simply say I’m sorry, mujhe maaf kardo! In the end, the good always prevails over evil.

Mind it, all these are stereotypes and there would be a little plus or minus in the scenarios. However, all these will exist to make that TV serial a hit. We hate them and love them at the same time. Let ZEE STAR add COLOR to our SONY LIFE OK (Let the star add colour to our simple life okay).

When we watch the Indian TV serials, we feel that they lack in story. But whatever it is, the Simar, Anandi, Gopi, Swara, Tulsi, Ram Kapoor, Mr. Bajaj, Mihir and others, are all characters which very close to the Indian heart. Jaise bhi hai, apne hai :D

Life of BAI #SumanKaku #Stories

She’s the woman who would pray daily for people to have babies!

It was the last day of June 2016 and as per routine Suman kaku (our malishwali bai) had come to give malish and bath to our 4 month old daughter. We generally have conversations on how to raise the baby and stuff like that. But today was a different - she told us 'her' story.

Suman kaku is a nav-vari clad self-made woman. She got married at the age of 13 to her atya’s son. She is from Mangaon and child marriage was not an uncommon affair there. By the time she was 20, she had 3 children!

As a newly married girl, when she entered her village, she had to remove her chappals, hold them in her hand and walk barefoot. This was a norm among the newly-wed brides. It was arrogance of the bride if she walked in the village with her chappals on.

She also had to have the pallu of her saree over her head all the time. If her father-in-law or mother-in-law were around, she had to pull her pallu down and cover her face. With this, she would be giving respect to her in-laws. This practice exists in India, especially among the Marwadis, Gujaratis, North Indians and other sections of the society. In local Gujarati language, it is called as ‘laaj’, which in a way means to give respect. But Suman kaku was a little ahead of times and refused to have her pallu over her head. Her reason being it was inconvenient to carry the pallu over her head!

Suman bai got her first period at the age of 14 after which she had gone to her mother’s place. And for 4 months she didn’t get her period again. When she suddenly began to realise that her tummy was looking bigger, is when her mother told her that she was probably expecting! At the age of 14 she got her first period and her first child.

Her husband died at a young age. She’s 55 right now, stays in Dharavi and goes many houses to do malish of the new born and new moms. Her entire childhood was spent in playing. She never attended any school. Despite all this, she manages to read the bus numbers, has a Rs. 3,000 kitty (also called Beecee) and has an active bank account. She’s an independent woman who makes a decent living, earning Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000 depending on the season of baby deliveries.