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My earliest memories of this Khan was his white bearded avatar in Muqaddar Ka Sikander. He's the one who tells young Amitabh Bachchan to laugh at the face of a bewafa zindagi.
He is credited with 319 movies as an actor, and 100 as a writer and when I last saw him in Desh Drohi as a fruit seller it made me wish we were making movies like Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb, Yaraana et al once again. My heart broke seeing the man responsible for the most memorable movie dialog in films like Agneepath and Lawaaris act in Desh Drohi.
Yes, the days for bombastic dialog (the fight between snake and mongoose and living in glass houses being his favourite) that called for fantastical metaphors is gone, and I could never really swallow his brand of comedy, but his contribution to Hindi cinema will always be remembered.
Connie Haham has written a book on Manmohan Desai's films, and her interview with Kader Khan is by far one of the most interesting ones. Here is the link:
http://www.haham.net/kader_khan_interview.htm
If you wish to hear Kader Khan's gravelly voice, here is a link to that as well:
http://www.haham.net/an_actor%27s_voice.mp3
COMING SOON on Film Impressions, a piece specially written by Connie Haham for us.
The Ongoing Mystery of the Attraction of Ramesh Sippy's Shakti
The attraction of the movies is itself a bit of a mystery. Philosophy professor Colin McGinn explores the issue in his 2005 The Power of Movies: How Screen and Mind Interact. His focus is on the visual component of this audiovisual medium. He distinguishes between what we look at and what we look into: space, water, windows, flames, people's eyes, the flickering of light on a movie screen. This last 'looking into' involves story and offers the possibility for utter absorption, the sort that our minds devote to our dreams.
But let's just suppose that one has seen a movie, perhaps many times, but one's ongoing connection with the film is not visual but auditory. I tend to listen to movies. Outside of a few exceptions like Lawrence of Arabia, my criteria for a good film is first and foremost a good sound track -- and not primarily music and sound effects but above all the human voice and the lines of dialogue delivered. I love color, and I love the power of the human face to convey fleeting or profound emotion. Yet in the end, visuals complement the sound for me rather than vice versa.
Given that basic penchant, what is it about Ramesh Sippy's 1982 Shakti, written by Salim-Javed, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Smita Patil and Raakhee, and Amrish Puri, that makes me continue to listen (obsessively?) to an hour and forty-five minutes of the film's sound track? Why oh why am I not sick of it after several years of hearing it on average three times a week??
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