If you are one of those who stops, while surfing TV channels, wherever there is a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film playing or hums along when on radio you get the rare treat of listening to one of the songs from his film, this film festival is for you. Starting today catch almost 13 of Hrishida’s classics and a music concert over the next three days in Bengaluru.
The festival is curated by Pickle Jar (remember the Smita Patil film festival last year?), the Bengaluru-based community of close to 40 people -- among them architects, activists, artists, techies, journalists, students, homemakers, writers and other professionals who have come together because of their passion for cinema.
The Pickle Jar team was having a party under a jackfruit tree to gloat over how well their first Smita Patil festival had turned out. Someone said “when are we doing the next?” says Pickle Jar founder Vasanthi Hariprakash. And that’s when a whole lot of iconic names came up -- Hrishida won the popular vote.
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Hrishida is an all-time favourite, says Vasanthi, because “There is an innate Indianness in his movies that we totally connect to, something that is so us. There is an uncle like Bhavani Shankar with a similar mooch among relatives or neighbours, a brattish Guddi that would land up late in school for the prayer, join our own class like nothing happened, open half eye only to see the headmistress staring right back at us!”
From light-hearted features like Golmaal, Chupke Chupke, Khoobsurat , to films with social relevance like Satyakam, Namak Haram, Asli Naqli , to emotional masterpieces like Anand, Anupama, and Aashirwad - you can go on a nostalgic film trip with Hrishida, the master storyteller. You can share and enjoy your favourite dialogues like “Babu Moshai, zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin” with fellow admirers who’ll get it. And you can soak in the comforting fact that others share the same straight forward and wholesome sense of humour that Hrishida was known for-- when the mention of Golmaal brought a smile to your lips. The festival also brings renowned actor-director Amol Palekar, who starred in many of Hrishida's comedies, including the blockbuster Golmaal , to Bengaluru as chief guest.
“When things around us are getting mean, complicated and chaotic day by day, it is so comforting to cling to an age that had so much of human goodness. A bawarchi who comes and sets right squabbles, a husband who is so insecure about his talented wife overtaking him but comes around. Or in movies like Satyakam or Namak Haram, an India that aspires for idealism. Hrishida's movies can be a written prescription, a guaranteed cure for what ails us today as a society,” she adds.
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Recipient of the Dada Saheb Phalke award, the Padma Vibhushan and eight Filmfare awards, Hrishida's films were popular -- set often in the Indian middle class, and peppered with healthy doses of humour and satire, she points out.
Never limited to a particular genre, style or theme, his cinema was referred to as ‘Middle-Cinema’ - a style that is a confluence of commercially appealing stories packaged in a parallel cinematic art form, says Sheshadri Mokshagundam, the festival spokesperson. A grand musical finale ‘Kuch Dil Ne Kaha’ will top off the festival at the KASSIA Auditorium, Vijayanagar, on December 4. “When we began collaborating on this festival, one thing that all of us unanimously agreed upon was the fact that we should have a segment that celebrates the timeless music in Hrishida’s films,” adds Mokshagundam. Not many may know that Hrishida was a sitar player and musician and some of the songs in his films remain evergreen hits -- “Jeena isi ka naam hai”, “Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haaye”, “Badi sooni hai”, “Aanewala pal”. All these will form a part of the concert; there’s a special segment of Amol Palekar hits from Chitchor, Baaton Baaton Mein, Chotisi Baat etc.
On December 2, 3, and 4, nearly 13 films will be screened at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Alliance Française de Bangalore (AFB)., and Suchitra Film Society, Banashankari. Screenings start at 9.45 a.m. For a detailed schedule see facebook.com/picklejar
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