Trying
to pen this down differently - looking back at one of the most engraving movies
of Bollywood through my lens. As it was happening back in 1988.
Late
80s…I was still in my teens. Back then teens used to be in the age group 14-18,
unlike todays which can even be referred for aged 10;). It’s been 30 years - Long
enough to forget the mundane aspects of life, but not so long to unravel the
tender moments which are itched into your mind forever. 1988 – Just to set the context / for reference: Sachin Tendulkar
and Vinod Kambli made unbeaten 664 playing for Sharadashram in Feb ‘88 when I begun
following them (Sachin more so). And faintly remember reading for the first
time about a Motorola Cell-phone same year. I was spellbound even to imagine a
futuristic gadget seen in TV Show ‘Star-Trek’ coming to a reality. Aside while I
was getting more attuned to the Western music, through Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’, George
Michael’s ‘Faith’ and Maddona’s ‘True
Blue’ albums, a Bollywood Musical was about to be becoming my heartthrob,
which was way different than the copied / cheaply remade Disco music of 80s
Bollywood.
I used
to hardly watch any Bollywood / Hindi movies, probably a bit more Hollywood Fan
(Even then;)). But used to follow Bollywood, and Chanderi was the Marathi fortnightly I was a big fan of – It was my
window to Bollywood / movies and through it got to understand the nuances of
movie making at a very young age. It played a huge part giving me an insight a)
to look at Movie Making as an art and b) understand what happens behind the
scenes. Also the other source was the 8.30 AM Chitralok on All India Radio
- Vividh Bharati show. (The show is still on). And of-course Chitrahaar used to air on DD once in a week. Around March/April 1988
could get a sneak peek into the QSQT songs
on TV and Radio and it instantly struck a chord with me. Also was getting to
hear about the ad-campaign running in Mumbai - Big hoardings without having any
photos of actors / any clue about the movie, just one-liner stating "Who
is Amir Khan? - Ask the girl next door!” And similar small posters at the
back of Mumbai Rickshaws those were glued by the duo of Amir and Raj Zutsi
(another actor in the movie and Amir’s relative). Wow, that generated such an
immense curiosity about the movie amongst the teens and the Youth.
‘80s
produced some landmark romantic movies in Bollywood, starting with Love Story,
Ek Duje Ke Liye, Betaab, Hero, QSQT,
Maine Pyar Kiya (MPK), Aashiqui et all (Continued till early 90s). Love Story the 1981 release while I was still a kid and touring North-India
with my family, I remember watching it in a theater at Agra. When I look back,
I guess I was more smitten :D by the heroes than the female leads till my
teens. For instance, I became an instant fan of Kumar Gaurav after watching Love
Story so much so that I pestered my parents and bought tall-cowboy-brown-leather-boots
(with a zip on the side, which Kumar Gaurav dons thru-out the movie) after we
returned to Pune. LOL! It must have given a damn funny look to me, but I
remember using the boots at various functions / events for few years then. The next
2 movies which made impact were obviously Hero
and Betaab. But still remained a big
fan of Kumar Gaurav for few years till
mid 80s. Ek Duje Ke Liye could not
lure me into it, because I guess it being a tragedy. And that’s probably the
sole reason, I decided not to watch QSQT in theater. But somehow started
getting impressed more by the male lead, Amir
Khan than Juhi. In-fact I have
already begun idolizing yet to become GOD
of Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar (fondly
Tendlya then) and Shahrukh Khan (SRK)
from Fauji around same time. Hmm, but
wait….wasn’t I a fan of any female celebrity yet? - No it's not what you are
thinking about me;). I suppose it was more looking upto the male leads as my
teenage idols. Madhuri Dixit’s (Tezaab) and Julia Robert’s (Pretty Woman) entry
was just around the corner for me to follow few fairer gender, & to give me
(and probably all of you reading this) a semblance of me being straight ;) I
guess criminally enough I am missing mention of Steffi Graf who's in the
circuit from early 80s. But a German Tennis Star was almost like an extra-terrestrial
by early 80s standards, to have a crush on her by a kid in smalltime Pune, India;)
So back
to QSQT- Immediately after the release it created huge rage amongst the Youth.
It started sinking in the world around me. It’s like life's suddenly became
colorful, laden by happiness and morning glory (Too poetic? - But that was the
reality).
·
Very appealing Title: The word Qayamat and the longish
title could have created a distance between the movie and the viewers, however
the short-form QSQT made the trick. It was probably the first abbreviation
referred for a Bollywood movie title. It sounded really cute - must have pulled
the younger audience to theaters just out of novelty & curiosity (Well few
other heavy words / Titles Bollywood carried later Shanakht (announced/incomplete),
Zalzala, Tezaab, and then had to wait for almost 20 years to replace the buzz
around the word Qayamat by Kaynat,
made famous by the drunken SRKs monologue in 2007 flick ‘Om Shanti Om’
·
Amir's hair style: Wow many around me used to sport that thru-out 80s and
90s (a few lucky ones haven’t given up even now J, a close friend Anand).
·
Raj became a popular name: I reckon it must be one
of the most favorite names for boys born in 90s.
·
Juhi's wardrobe in Bandhani prints: Especially the bright
hues of Red, Yellow, Green & Whites as well
·
The backpacks (or sacks): It used to be a rare commodity then, but
later became every college going guy's primary fashion statement to carry it on
one shoulder than as a backpack. (Before that many were flaunting fake small Adidas sacks in faux leather and nylon strings;
I had 2 of those: one maroonish-purple and other sea-green)
·
The Bike: Red Ind-Suzuki (wasn't TVS-Suzuki by then)
used by Amir was an instant hit.
·
Wall Calendars went into metamorphosed role (got to know how differently
the dates in calendars can be marked for count-down; however, I never could get
a chance to implement the same;))
Though
I couldn’t become a ‘Raj’ of
someone's dreams by then, went through a soft dew-drop-moment-of-life, around
the same time. On one of the early May ‘88 evenings after a light drizzle, and
lot of ‘Anxiety’ in the air, me and a friend (Jitu) were in the terrace of our unoccupied apartment. We were
playing the cassette of QSQT a bit
louder (no guesses – it was on the de-facto Panasonic 2-in-1 tape-recorder) we could hear the same songs being
played from the ground-floor apartment. Out of nowhere 2 young girls appeared
in the backyard of the apartment, and they were dancing to the tune of 'Aye
Mere Humsafar', occasionally gazing at us. Well that was the moment of life
then. Considering my commitment to the Khans
and Tendlya then, no prizes for
guessing - Well absolutely nothing happened after that moment, probably just
leaving the girls irritated by we not giving them any bhav L (one of them went on to became
leading actress of a Marathi movie)
Coming
back to the world of QSQT, only Mansoor Khan can make look his heroine (Juhi) sweet and loving while she is
using a soil (drainage) vent pipe on the terrace, as a prop and dancing around
it in ‘Aye Mere Humsafar’. Also
can’t forget his superb command on the songs shot using Panning, Trolly and Slow-Mo
techniques (‘Gazab Ka Hai Din’ and Amir jogging in the back-drop of Setting
Sun are classic shots - incredible treat for the eyes!). Unfortunately enough,
Mansoor found his solace somewhere in South India – very far from any Bollywood
/ Tollywood as he was settled in real Woods
- doing organic farming. Lucky him and unlucky audience for missing on some
would-be amazing movies (Though ‘Jaane
Tu Yaa Janne Na’ was his last movie as producer and very much in his own
league, a stunning movie made with the new-comers)
After
writing this much, still can’t remember when for the first time I must have
watched the movie, for sure I didn’t watch it in theater, delayed a lot due to
its sad ending. Watched a few times on VCR
and TV Channels but loved to watch
the songs umpteen times. I suppose the biggest success of the movie was its
connect with the Youth and more importantly through it’s amazing songs, music
and singers. Anand-Milind created Musical
History and legacy of their own to bask in the glory, for almost next decade or
so, before parting their ways.
QSQT has
definitely created and provided a template
for movie makers, music companies and banners to mint money for next decade or
so: Get a light hearted romantic / RomCom story woven around core of beautiful
melodies from the music banks of the music companies or musicians, throw-in
fresh leads / relatively new pairs, release the music first, create a buzz
about the movie and then launch the movie. It worked wonderfully well till mid-90s,
before the musical aura of most of these creative artists and companies have
begun to disappear.
About
the lead actors Amir and Juhi, though they appear to be a fresh
pair/ debutants, both have worked in at least a movie each as young leads – Holi and Sultanat respectively. While Holi
was a small-time movie by Ketan Mehta
and almost went unnoticed, Sultanat
was a big budget typical Mukul Anand
flick, unfortunately was doomed at the Box Office (almost ending Karan Kapoor’s (Shashi Kapoor’s youngest son) and Juhi’s careers. Juhi
recuperated thru QSQT to became an
established star/actor, Karan
couldn’t, and settled in the UK as a Pro-Photographer.
I was
recently watching a 30-Year reunion of the QSQT
cast and crew, only Amir and Juhi and to some extent Raj Zutsi and Makarand Deshpande could be related to what we have seen them in QSQT, rest all have moved on with their life
and were barely recognizable.
BTW Amir has really lived upto (probably
more than) his ‘Papas expectations’ and made a huge name for himself. Amir’s
salary in QSQT was INR 15,000, now he
must be getting at least INR ~150 Crores in the movies like Dangal, where he is entitled for a profit
sharing contract. QSQT also helped root
the kingdom of Khans in Bollywood,
where Salman and SRK followed the suit with MPK, and Baazigar
later. The closest any Khans have come were the trio of Feroz, Sanjay and Akbar, however
barring Feroz none created much of an
impact, neither even Feroz as compared
to the current clan of Khans.
Later
that year in 1988 another blockbuster Bollywood flick was released, which
probably is the most watched Hindi movie by Yours Truly J and it made a lasting impact on me. This had another not longish but
weird / unheard title, which helped building the curiosity of public much
before the release! But more on that; Break Ke Baad! If you want, you can have 1,2,3 chances to guess J.
