Chhoti Si Baat

Thanks to Youtube, I saw this movie again....it is timeless and I can watch it umpteen times..

Amol Palekar plays a wide-eyed, shy and awkward Arun Pradeep, who is besotted by Vidya Sinha (Prabha) and is unable to express his feelings for her even as he stalks her relentlessly...His awkward mannerisms are perfect...fidgeting, rubbing his nose and touching his hair...On the topic of stalking, Prabha does not mind...and in fact misses it when he is away...cultural differences..:)..and it somehow seems sweet and non-threatening...Vidya Sinha is so appealing and beguiling...I can easily see anyone falling in love with her...very understated style...always in pastel-colored or geometric pattern sarees with her long, dark hair...[She had a tough personal life according to wiki]..

Getting off-topic here...returning to the movie, Arun is not taken seriously by anyone in his office including the peon...He is a nice and sincere guy and hence no one listens to him. Nagesh (Asrani) enters the scene and he is a smart ass with a neon yellow scooter who dominates conversations and is an insensitive loud-mouth pursuing Prabha...Arun tries to fight this competition and gets cheated in the process when a bunch of dubious characters sell him a broken-down motorbike...Everything is going downhill for poor Arun...He visits astrologers, magnetist (??), palm-readers and a charlatan (in the guise of a sadhu). He also tries charms and amulets...but to no avail [interesting note: he looks up his weekly horoscope and he is a Capricorn according to the movie...hahaha..which I know he is not- Sagittarius].

Then he visits Colonel Singh (Ashok Kumar) in Khandala who is a lifestyle trainer and who has a hilarious set of diagnosis for him: 'improper conditioning', 'defective verbal communication', 'unstable paranoid' and his treatment- 'special courtship training'. Colonel gives Arun tips on confidence building and getting girls...I detect a hint of lechery in Colonel's interactions with the young, attractive girls he has employed...macho behavior for sure.

As a result of this training, Arun returns to Bombay a confident man who manages to assert himself everywhere...workplace and romance...He has also become a bit more treacherous and the director Basu Chatterjee is clever in inserting this shift in character...as it seems this is Arun's way of getting back at the mean people...loss of innocence.

Of course, Arun gets Prabha...and now Nagesh goes for training to the Colonel...

A few (not many) irksome things:
The females just sitting and observing the males play table tennis and chess...why can't they play?...Prabha does play table tennis initially...but not later...
Nagesh (Asrani) orders food for everyone (Prabha and Arun ) without asking their preferences in the restaurant as he is bossing around the waiter...he is shown to be annoying..so that fits well...and boy, it is controlling and patronizing...This is not a criticism of the movie...Chatterjee provides a realistic glimpse of some blowhards...:)

Things I liked in the movie:

1. The natural scenery of Bombay (Bombay then and not Mumbai)...the everyday routine and realistic portrayal of the characters in everything right from their clothes to their conversations...scenes in the office where everyone has adjoining desks and bonhomie between Prabha and her friend..
I fantasize about working in Bombay as I watch this... dressing up in a saree, taking the bus and...working in a similar office..
2. Attention to minute details...Arun (Amol) noting and describing sarees and gestures of Prabha (Vidya)
3. Extremely funny moments - e.g. what Arun fantasizes about...shooting Nagesh on the street when he takes Prabha with him and leaves him to pay their bill in the restaurant..
e.g. how Arun manages to irritate Nagesh after his training by making him wait..and wait...and all with a pleasant smile...one can learn some great tips on annoying people with a smile...and driving them nuts...priceless..
4. Vidya Sinha's sarees and everything about her.
5. Amol Palekar is a natural...and I admit I like his awkward and non-cool persona, prior to Colonel's training, more..
6. Ashok Kumar has done this same role in a couple of other movies...he still manages to infuse it with warmth, wit and a swagger...perfect as a worldly-wise guardian angel for the innocent Arun.
7. Asrani shines in this role....his arrogance dissipating into frustration...he is a smart one...not his usual slapstick routine...another natural.
8. Loved the short friendly appearance by Amitabh (in his heyday)...coolness personified.
9. Salil Chowdhury's music...here are two great ones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h1Vc_ur0Dg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmpnC9pTcxQ

On Jim Thorpe

I learn new things everyday. I saw a documentary on Jim Thorpe, the legendary Olympian.. I remember Dad talking about him in glowing terms all my life...the famous exchange between Thorpe and King Gustav of Sweden (Booku laughingly narrating this..:) after his 1912 Summer Olympics win in Stockholm

King Gustav: 'You, Sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.'
Thorpe: 'Thanks, King'.

Sweet. Unpretentious.

I learnt that he was part Native American. What an athlete... He played American football, baseball, basketball and athletics (pentathlon and decathlon) and excelled in all; considered the greatest athlete of the 20th century....and a sad life...died in poverty despite reaching such heights.

In Olympics, Native Americans (I refuse to use the term Indians...though Original Americans would be a good one) and other non-white athletes (including African-Americans) were considered 'wards of the US' and not citizens...this is so unfair...I am disheartened by human cruelty.
He was stripped of his Olympic medals (thankfully returned much later) because only amateurs were allowed in Olympics i.e. athletes should not play for money as it was expected that only the privileged and rich had an idea of what real sports is....not people in the workmen class.

The biggest shocker for me (yeah, I am ignorant) was that Native Americans were not considered US citizens till almost 1924...the nerve! How unjust on their own land.