Wo Din Yaad Karo
Memories- The Initiation
The oldest memory of Hindi movies, I have is Nagin, not because I went to see it, but because of the song- Man dole re mera tan dole- which was played on Binaca Geetmala ,for many weeks.
Before that had seen Marathi movies like Amar Bhoopali , Kuberache Dhan etc., but have no recollection of them in entirety - only remember some visuals
Having the only Radio [ Murphy ], in my building [ typical middle-class households ], everybody used to throng at my doorstep at 8 p m every Wednesday to hear Ameen Sayani speak Behno aur Bhaiyo, in his baritone and dish out some delightful songs. My tryst with Hindi Film songs has the origination here.
I very well recollect my father's angst and disgust, to watch a handful of people gather every Wednesday. However he kept his cool, as his own brothers, were also involved. Am sure he regretted , buying the Radio.
The first movie, that I remember watching is ' Insaniyat ' in 1955- Rivoli Cinema. My uncle took us all, meaning we children and his younger brothers.Ticket 5 annas .All throughout the movie, we were at the edge of our seats watching Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand- ride the horses and fight. The end was more appealing, when the Chimpanzee, did everything and regaled us with his heroics We enjoyed the movie and for weeks were trying to climb the staircase like the monkey and jump down, fighting each other with sticks-taking them to be swords [ thank heavens there was no Bina Rai involved then- ha ha ].
The next I remember is 'Toofan aur Diya '- 1956, at Plaza Cinema. I was intent to watch it for the song 'Nirbal se ladai balwan ki'. Thus my youngest uncle, who was 2 years older than me and my younger brother and myself , made our march towards Plaza Cinema [ a walk of 15-20 minutes from my house ]. It was 1 p m and the show was at 3 p m. There were a fewpeople standing in Queue before us, but we were the only children in the 5 anna line. At that time Plaza theatre, had a cage like alley for the Lower Stall. Gradually the crowd started to build up. When the Ticket Window opened, there was a mad rush, to move ahead. Despite being in the front, we could never reach the window. Some wise person lifted us to the top and shouted- 'inko piche se bahar jaane do nahi to kuchle jayenge' in Marathi [ hyana baher jau dya nahitar chengarli jatil ]. So we swam out from the top of people's head outside the cage. The picture long forgotten.
With morose faces, we walked back home- dejected and disappointed.
A few days later, my elder uncles- taking pity on us took us to watch Toofan aur Diya- in Upper Stalls-by reserving the 10 annas ticket .
Aaahha , at last watched the film.
I was not yet 9 then.
The third movie I recollect is Bhai Bhai- a few months later. My uncle had got married and wanted to take his wife to see a movie. He was given permission by my grandfather on the condition that he took us children with them [ what a joke ].The theatre was Rivoli - 5 minutes walk from my house- 9 p m show. 10 annas ticket [ am sure if both husband and wife had gone -they would have purchased the Re.1-5 anna ticket], but with 4 of us tagging along- 10 annas it was. We enjoyed Kishore Kuamr's antics- Mera naam Abdul Rehman. The quirkiest thing I recollect of the movie is that my uncle sat on one side with we four children in between and my aunt on the other side.
[ Can't imagine what my uncle and aunt must have felt then ].
Slowly and steadily, I was getting interested and initiated to Hindi Music.
More later.
Dilip Apte
June 2 , 2015
Memories- The Initiation
The oldest memory of Hindi movies, I have is Nagin, not because I went to see it, but because of the song- Man dole re mera tan dole- which was played on Binaca Geetmala ,for many weeks.
Before that had seen Marathi movies like Amar Bhoopali , Kuberache Dhan etc., but have no recollection of them in entirety - only remember some visuals
Having the only Radio [ Murphy ], in my building [ typical middle-class households ], everybody used to throng at my doorstep at 8 p m every Wednesday to hear Ameen Sayani speak Behno aur Bhaiyo, in his baritone and dish out some delightful songs. My tryst with Hindi Film songs has the origination here.
I very well recollect my father's angst and disgust, to watch a handful of people gather every Wednesday. However he kept his cool, as his own brothers, were also involved. Am sure he regretted , buying the Radio.
The first movie, that I remember watching is ' Insaniyat ' in 1955- Rivoli Cinema. My uncle took us all, meaning we children and his younger brothers.Ticket 5 annas .All throughout the movie, we were at the edge of our seats watching Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand- ride the horses and fight. The end was more appealing, when the Chimpanzee, did everything and regaled us with his heroics We enjoyed the movie and for weeks were trying to climb the staircase like the monkey and jump down, fighting each other with sticks-taking them to be swords [ thank heavens there was no Bina Rai involved then- ha ha ].
The next I remember is 'Toofan aur Diya '- 1956, at Plaza Cinema. I was intent to watch it for the song 'Nirbal se ladai balwan ki'. Thus my youngest uncle, who was 2 years older than me and my younger brother and myself , made our march towards Plaza Cinema [ a walk of 15-20 minutes from my house ]. It was 1 p m and the show was at 3 p m. There were a fewpeople standing in Queue before us, but we were the only children in the 5 anna line. At that time Plaza theatre, had a cage like alley for the Lower Stall. Gradually the crowd started to build up. When the Ticket Window opened, there was a mad rush, to move ahead. Despite being in the front, we could never reach the window. Some wise person lifted us to the top and shouted- 'inko piche se bahar jaane do nahi to kuchle jayenge' in Marathi [ hyana baher jau dya nahitar chengarli jatil ]. So we swam out from the top of people's head outside the cage. The picture long forgotten.
With morose faces, we walked back home- dejected and disappointed.
A few days later, my elder uncles- taking pity on us took us to watch Toofan aur Diya- in Upper Stalls-by reserving the 10 annas ticket .
Aaahha , at last watched the film.
I was not yet 9 then.
The third movie I recollect is Bhai Bhai- a few months later. My uncle had got married and wanted to take his wife to see a movie. He was given permission by my grandfather on the condition that he took us children with them [ what a joke ].The theatre was Rivoli - 5 minutes walk from my house- 9 p m show. 10 annas ticket [ am sure if both husband and wife had gone -they would have purchased the Re.1-5 anna ticket], but with 4 of us tagging along- 10 annas it was. We enjoyed Kishore Kuamr's antics- Mera naam Abdul Rehman. The quirkiest thing I recollect of the movie is that my uncle sat on one side with we four children in between and my aunt on the other side.
[ Can't imagine what my uncle and aunt must have felt then ].
Slowly and steadily, I was getting interested and initiated to Hindi Music.
More later.
Dilip Apte
June 2 , 2015
