The Missing Links….

In terms of films produced and released every year, India is considered to be the largest film producing country in the world with an average of 800 films released per year. India’s answer to Hollywood, Bollywood films have a fantastic mix of action, violence, music, dance, romance and an almost non-existent story. Hindi films are a part and parcel of life of practically every second Indian.

If you are a die-hard Hindi movie buff as I am, then surely you must be aware of different trends and concepts that have come and gone over the years in Bollywood. For example, there were times when every movie was punctuated with at least half a dozen songs and elaborate dance numbers, plus an equal number of costume and location changes and today we have movies with few songs plus also many song-less movies. Previously, the formula for a ‘hit’ film had been tried and tested hundreds of times, and many movies had been actual copies of Hollywood originals. However, nowadays they boast of outstanding production values, with breathtaking cinematography, intricate stunts and action shots, and a sophistication and slickness previously missing.

These shifts in trends and concepts showcases the vigour and vibrancy of the Hindi cinema and its tremendous capacity to keep abreast of changes. It is these qualities which have made Indian cinema a dominant urban culture influencing all other art forms : television, theatre, advertising, music, new modes of information technology, journalism, architecture, fashion. However I somehow feel that they were certain characters and concepts that added a special something to every movie they were featured in. Inspite of them being repeated a hundred times, we still wouldn’t mind watching them from time to time.

Here is look at some of the Hindi movie characters/concepts, that rarely get an appearance in today’s New Age Hindi Cinema.

1. Extra Dancers – Bollywood is known for it’s song-dance routine. In 70s and 80s mostly all the commercial movies had atleast 10 to 15 background dancers dancing behind the lead actors. They were usually oversized and wore weird costumes. Their dance steps usually gave an impression as if they were in an ‘aerobics class’. For instance, “Nainon mein sapna” song from the movie ‘Himmatwala’, here we had Jeetendra and Sridevi along with many background dancers doing aerobics (long before Jane Fonda made them popular), among a hundred matkas…this song & dance number is a pure classic.

2. Mela (Village Fair) Sequence- The ‘Mela’ sequence was made popular by Hindi movies in 60s and 70s. The most famous mela being but obviously “the Kumbh mela”. This sequence mostly started on a happy note, where the father takes his sons to the village fair and seem to be having loving family moment when all of a sudden the weather would take a turn or the mela would be attacked by the ‘daakoos’…which resulted in a sad ending with the family members loosing eachother. On the other hand, we also had ‘mela’ scenes where the hero falls in love at first sight on seeing the gorgeous heroine trying some bangles along with her friends.

3. Munimji – In the 80s most movies had a secondary evil character ‘Munimji’, who would always be ready with an evil plan for his villan boss which he could use inturn to hurt the ‘hero’ and his family. According to me ‘Kader Khan’ was absolutely great in this role. His comic timing along with evil plots…made the villan less important in the film. For example, his role in ‘Himmatwala’ as ‘Narayandas Gopaldas’.

4. Faithful pet - These days there are hardly any movies with animals init, besides ‘Kaal’ in the recent times. There have been many movies in the past where the ‘beloved pet’ has played a central role. For example, “Haathi Mere Saathi” this film acquired mammoth proportions in terms of popularity. After all, who wouldn’t want to see a friendly, cuddly pachyderm playing man’s best friend. For the movie “Sholay” actress ‘Hema Malini’ is more known for amazing horse “Basanti”, rather then her acting skills. Then there were movies like “Maine Payar Kiya” and “Betaab”, where the beloved pet played the role ‘love messenger’ between the hero and heroine.

5. Ramsay Brother’s Horror Movies – Now, I most of you must be thinking that I am totally screwed up in the head…to be missing Hindi Horror movies produced and directed by Ramsay Brothers. But I sincerely feel that their old horror movies, did an excellent job of entertaining viewers. If the horror scenes didn’t scare you, they surely did make you laugh out loud. And you have to give these guys some credit, afterall the were the only ones making movies in this genre till Ram Gopal Verma’s “Raat” arrived. Some favourite Ramsay movies are “Verana”, “Purana Mandir”, “Tahkhana” &“Purani Haveli”.

There are other characters that did form a valuable part in Hindi movies in olden times such as the corrupt “Thankurs”, the fragile & over loving “Maa” and the cunning and evil “sasuji” or “mamiji”. I am sure they are just a few examples, if any of you can think of more characters or movie sequence, please do mention them in the comment section.