Film Impressions

BOOK: Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro—Seriously Funny Since 1983

As the cult film by Kundan Shah prepares for a Nov 2nd re-release, we take a look at the book on the film by Jai Arjun Singh.

SMALL FILM, GIANT FOOTPRINT

Anyone who has ever watched Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro—and frankly, one doesn't know a soul who hasn't—has their favourite moment from the film. The easiest to recall are the 'thoda khao thoda phenko' scene at Commissioner D'Mello's Madh Island bungalow, the loony telephone episode at Tarneja's house, a drunk Ahuja mistaking DeMello's coffin for a car and 'towing' it away, and the Mahabharata climax where the entire cast gatecrashes a live performance with Dhritarashtra periodically intoning in sheer frustration, 'ye kya ho raha hai?' as emperor Akbar makes an inexplicable guest appearance.

Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani in a scene from the iconic film

Now there are two happy coincidences for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro fans. NFDC, which is reviving its classics on DVD has recently brought out a new edition complete with an add-on disc about the making of the film and an interactive game, and Delhi-based journalist Jai Arjun Singh has written a witty, entertaining book in the film's 30th year, chronicling its fascinating journey from a nutty idea in Kundan Shah's head to an insane black comedy that has now achieved cult status as a nihilist classic or simply great social satire.

REVEW: The Greatest Show On Earth

THE DREAM MERCHANTS

Of all the stories in this delectable collection edited by Jerry Pinto, Pritish Nandy's interview of the late Kishore Kumar in a 1985 issue of the Illustrated Weekly of India has to be the craziest. Ranging from anecdotes of his eccentric ideas for refashioning his bungalow (he wanted little boats floating around his living room and monkeys farting from the ceiling instead of fans!), to how much he hated the film world—"I muffed my lines, pretended to be crazy, shaved my head off, played difficult, began yodelling in the midst of tragic scenes, told Meena Kumari what I was supposed to tell Bina Rai in some other film but they still wouldn't let me go"—it's one surreal piece.

REVIEW: The Mad Tibetan––Stories from Then and Now

HUES AND REFLECTIONS

If Deepti Naval wasn't an acclaimed actress, perhaps her first collection of short stories The Mad Tibetan: Stories from Then And Now, would have received more attention for its content than the book release function. A compilation of 11 pieces––a mix of fiction, autobiography and travel writing—it's a deft tapestry of musings on the human condition.

You may not marvel at the writer’s flourish with the English language––although simplicity of expression is in fact, a highly underrated virtue––but are likely to be disarmed by her keen observation of life and empathetic world-view which embraces loners, madmen, prostitutes, tortured childhoods and birds, all in equal measure of concern. An ageing, Parkinson’s-afflicted piano tuner in Mumbai, struggling to make ends meet and keep his notes together––even as they “scuttled across the room, corner to corner, through the ceiling, against the damp walls and back”—sets the introspective tone of the compilation while Ruth Mayberry the screenplay writer in New York who “spoke slowly… and with grace, the one thing she never let go of”, completes the circle of life.