Housefull 4 : directed by Farhad Samji / A Film Review

Moulding conjugal love to a pre-determined path

 ( हिंदी में पढ़िए - यहाँ क्लिक कीजिए / View it after every 12 hrs - FB+ Today Bejod India)

Housefull-4 with Akshyay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Bobby Deol, Johnny Lever, Ranjeet,  Kritii Sanon, Puja Hegde, Kriti Kharbanda etc.  will not let you look for the Exit door for the whole while. And it is surprising that there is just a fairy tale comedy that strictly refrains itself from logic

The biggest issue behind it's story is how to re-align the personal 'isq-walla' love of three belles to that of  their respective partners fixed in a past life.You just can't imagine such a subject before you really watch it. The power of imagination of the storyteller crosses all limit and so is that of the screenplay writer.

All songs have meaningful lyrics and their rhythmic music will soothe your ear. Definitely. none is a jarring one. "Bhoot Raja, bahar aa jaa" is as good in listening as in viewing.  "Bala O Bala- Shaitan ka sala" is worthy to watch on a big screen of a theatre.   "Ek chumma toh banta hai", "Badala-badala -2", "Chand adha hai baat aadhi hai" are also superb. 

Acting of Akshay Kumar is natural. The countenance gives by an amnesiac man while regaining his small bit of memory enchants the viewers. Johnny Lever is a naturally brilliant actor and putting him into a female attire can hardly add to the quirkiness already at peak. The villain playing the role of tribal headman really looks dreadful and some credit for it must go to the make-up artist,

I can’t call it a comedy film, the more apt words would be "a fairy tale comedy". A film that you best enjoy with your kids and other family members. 

The film is free of offensive dialogues or scenes. Special care seems to have been taken. And sure, there is no overdose of bollywood formulae. The story proceeds in a coherent manner and this is the reason behind keeping the viewers engaged genuinely.

The gorgeous heroins have played their role flawlessly. Dance scenes are examples of stupendous performance by male actors with matching support from female ones.

Though the theme of the movie infringes upon the individual freedom of a person on the vital issue of choosing one's own life partner nevertheless the very queerness of it draws you to the cinema hall.

Directed by Farhad Samji /  Produced by Fox Star Studios /  Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment / Screenplay by Farhad Samji, Aakash Kaushik,  Madhur Sharma..Tushar Hiranandani..Sparsh Khetarpal.  Tasha Bhambra. Story by Sara Bodinar.    Sajid Nadiadwala.   Starring Akshay Kumar.  Riteish Deshmukh\.  Bobby Deol.  Kriti Sanon,  Pooja Hegde.  Kriti Kharbanda.  Music by Songs: Sohail Sen  Farhad Samji  Sandeep Shirodkar. Score: Julius Packiam /  Cinematography Sudeep Chatterjee.  Edited by Rameshwar S. Bhagat.  Production company Fox Star Studios.

Release date 25 October 2019 Running time 145 minutes

......

Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

Email for response - editorbejodindia@yahoo.com

Brothers and sisters! Unite / Poet - Hemant Behera ( भाई-बहन एक हो जाओ / कवि - हेमन्त बेहेरा)

An English poem with rhythmic translation in Hindi

 एक अंग्रेजी कविता, हिन्दी अनुवाद के साथ 

( View it after every 12 hrs - FB+ Today Bejod India)

Son and daughter of Hemant Behara

Happy Bhatri-dwitjya!

Brothers and sisters! Unite

Today's the day when you forget all your fights.

भाई- बहनों एक हो जाओ

आज के दिन सारे झगड़े  भूल जाओ

Sisters, go tie a rakhi around your brother's wrist

Brothers, bless them, your sisters,

And promise to always be their saviors and protectors.

बहनें जाओ भाई की कलाई पर बांधो राखी, दो भाई आशीष

और प्रण लो कि रक्षा करोगे देकर अपना शीष

Today's the day you renew your bond,

That with each day grows strong.

आज के दिन में भातृ-प्रेम को फिर से करो नवीन

आज से बढ़ता जाये यह कभी न होवे क्षीण

For what fun is it without siblings,

Without the fights and all the quarreling?

वो मजा ही क्या जो भाई-बहन के बिन हो

जब प्रेम  से लड़ें न झगड़ें, ऐसा न कोई दिन हो

But brothers and sisters need not share the same blood,

They can be anyone, anywhere in the world.

जरूरी नहीं कि भाई-बहन में हो रक्त-सम्बंध

दुनिया में कोई जा सकते हैं इस प्रेम में बंध

Just tie a rakhi to you want your brother to be :

This brothers-sisters bond you share for eternity

बस जाओ और बांध दो राखी किसी को भाई बनाओ

इस भाई-प्रेम के पावन बंधन को युगों-युगों तक निभाओ.

.................

Poet: Hemant Behera

Mobile of Hemant Behera: 084205 77628

Translated into Hindi by: Hemant Das 'Him'

Email for response - editorbejodindia@yahoo.com
Introduction of the poet: Hemant Behera is a prolific poet in English and has posted hundreds of poems on his facebook wall. The main theme of poems is his wholehearted dedication for his wife who left this mortal world some ten years ago. He works in an office of Central govt and is posted in Kolkata.

यह जलता दीप मनोरम है / कवि - हेमन्त दास 'हिम'

दीपावली का गीत 

जिस पावन दृष्टि में निशदिन

हर कोई हर पल सम है

एक नाद है मधुर स्वरों का

आह्लादित जीवन-क्रम है

यह जलता दीप मनोरम है

हर कोना है मन का पुलकित

हर्षित तन का कण-कण है

ध्रुव-सत्यों की ज्वाला में ही

दूर हुआ मेरा भ्रम है

यह जलता दीप मनोरम है

श्यामवर्ण ही नहीं अंधेरा

वा जो चमकता, नहीं सवेरा

स्व-विवेक से परखो, जानो

ज्योतिपुंज है या तम है

यह जलता दीप मनोरम है

समय ज्यों बढ़ता जाता है

हर पदार्थ घटता जाता है

देखो 'हिम' अंतर्प्रकाश को

हुआ नहीं कभी कम है

यह जलता दीप मनोरम है।

....

कवि - हेमन्त दास 'हिम'

कवि का ईमेल - hemantdas_2001@yahoo.com

प्रतिक्रिया हेतु ईमेल - editorbejodindia@yahoo.com

IPPL, Mumbai Chapter presented "Different Strokes" - poem recital by young poets in Mumbai on 20.10.2019

Defeated by love at first sight.

 ( View it after every 12 hrs - FB+ Today Bejod India)

Diversity is the essence of democracy and the stance on it can be best taken on the front of language. Love and friendship regain their strength whenever a verse is written. All the human beings on this earth have the same feelings. . Language is just a vehicle to carry the feelings that are invariably the same for the whole humankind.

And looking at our country, hundreds of popular languages exist here and all of them contain the stamp of Indian ethos and culture. Until and unless we come across this diversity at one platform how can we appreciate the singularity of this Indianness  in the plurality of the languages?  And the endeavour of IPPL Mumbai Chapater (Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library) must be applauded in  this pious objective.

The first event of IPPL (Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library) Mumbai Chapter took place on the 20th of October, 2019 at the Library of The Club, Andheri in Mumbai.  The event was titled as  "Different Strokes- Poems by the young and young at heart”. 

The Founder and President of IPPL Mumbai Chapter, Dr. Paramita Mukherjee Mullick in her welcome address described how she started this chapter. 

One more attraction was Tejus Coulagi a young poet who also anchored the event very deftly. It was a multilingual poetry session with poems in Maithili, Hindi, Telegu, Marathi, Kutchi, Gujrati, Avadhi, Brijbhasha, Bengali and English. There was a line of wonderful poets, Bhaskar jha, Shashi Dhambare, Aarti Saiya, Rajeev Mishra , Mohan Krishna and Akshay Sonthalia. 

Shashi Dhambare' s Marathi poems were full of emotions. Avadhi and Brijbhasha poems sung by Rajeev Mishra were a hit. Mohan read out his Telegu poems and Akshay Sonthalia his English ones. Tejus requested Dr.Paramita to read a Bengali poem and he himself read his English ones. The VP of IPPL Mumbai Chapter Dr. Shamira Abdulla talked about the importance of multilingual poetry sessions in promoting poetry. 

Shashi Dhambare' s Marathi poems were full of emotions. Avadhi and Brijbhasha poems sung by Rajeev Mishra were a hit. Mohan read out his Telegu poems and Akshay Sonthalia his English ones. Tejus requested Dr.Paramita to read a Bengali poem. 

Hemant Das 'Him' of Bejod India blog was also present in this event.

Here we are presenting in full or parts, the poems read by the poets -

R.J. Aarti saiya "Hiranshi" read her Gujarati and Kuchchhi poem. Given below is the part of her Kuchchhi poem- 

પાં મણે કચ્છી અયું ને પાં ત 

પાંજે  મઠડે કચ્છ  જા  અયું 

ઘાંટી રોડ મેઠ્ઠી છાય જા ઓન્યા 

ને મેળાવે જા પાં ભોખ્યા અયું

ખારી ભોમ ને મન્ઢે મીં મેં પણ 

મેઠ્ઠી બોલી કે પોખીન્ધલ અયું

Paan made kutchhi ainyun

Ne paan ta paanje mathade kutchh ja ainyun

Ghatti rod methhi chhay ja onya
Ne medave ja paan bhokhya ainyun

Khari bhom ne mandhe min me pan  

Methhi boli k pokhindhal ainyun

Saiya read one more poem in Gujarati-
માતૃભાષાની આરતી
આજે ઉતારું માતૃભાષાની આરતી
માતૃભાષી શાળાઓની આરતી
શિક્ષકો અને શિક્ષિકાઓની આરતી
વાલીઓની આરતી,વિદ્યાર્થીઓ અને
વિદ્યાર્થીનીઓની આરતી
માતૃભાષી ગણવેશ, પ્રાર્થના અને
પ્રતિજ્ઞાની આરતી
જેથી ગદ ગદે ગિરા ગુર્જરી ભોમ ભારતી
આજે ઉતારું માતૃભાષાની આરતી
Matru bhasha ni aarti
Aaje utarun matru bhasha ni aarti
Matru bhashi shalao ni Aarti shikshako Ne Shikshikao Ni Aarti
Valio ni Aarti
vidhyarthio ne vidhyarthiniyo ni Aarti
matru bhashi ganvesh Prarthana Ane Pratigya Ni Aarti
Jethi gad gade Gira Gurjari bhom Bharti
Aaje utarun matru bhasha ni aarti

Tejus Coulagi read an English love poem that really suited the title of the event "Different Stroke" The whole poem is presented below-

Out of the closet, into the street

The phone starts to ring
The alarm starts to beep
I get my costume out of the closet
And get into the street

Some new super villain
Is terrorizing the town
So I rush to its center
To take the monster down

As I get to ground zero
I see smoke, dust and cars
I see a crash landed rocketship
Has this villain come from Mars?

I look out for a giant tentacle
I scan the scene for a nefarious claw
I announce my presence in a loud voice
"I command you to stop in the name of the law!"

And then I see the villain
Just look at that face
She turns to me and smiles
Freezing my heart in place

And so this intrepid hero
Here for a big fight
Finds he's lost before he even started

Defeated by love at first sight.

Then there was Bhaskar Jha, a miraculously dynamic tri-lingual poet. He read his poems in Hindi and Maithili . Hindi Poem (तुम्हारे न होने से) by Bhaskar Jha was s a surrealistic expression of romantic longing of loving life sublimated in form of a soothing creativity with a tone melancholy; with philosophical insights into love-filled life. This is in fact in a tone of melancholy-
तुम्हारे न होने से
लगता है तुम्हारा न होना
ये नजदीक दूरी--
और अधिक बहुत खलती है,
बढ जाती है बेधड़क
तब संग हो जाने की चाहत
'हाँ ' औऱ 'ना'
के बीच झूलने लगता है
हमारा अस्तित्व
चंद पर्द रंगीन ख्वाब लिए.....
न होने
और होने के बीच में
हम दोनों होते हैं लेकिन
तुम नहीं होती
मैं नहीं होता --
सब कुछ होने में भी तो कुछ नहीं होता
जब मैं होता हूं तुम्हारा
तुम से होता हूं मैं
तब हम एक ही होते हैं
एकाकार
निराकार
इस गोलाकार धरती पर
क्योंकि
अंदर का अस्तित्व कभी दिखता नहीं
नंगी आंखों से
पर तुम्हे देख लेता हूं
मन दर्पण में
अब तुम्हे देखना है
इसलिए
तुम्हे दे रहा हूँ आंखें अपनी
जब भी मेरा जी चाहे
तुम्हे देख लेने देना इन्हें
जी भर कर
मैं यहीं से देख लूंगा तुम्हे
तुम्हारा भाव लेकर
मैं तो बस तुम्हें
अपने शब्दों से सजाता हूं
अक्स तुम्हारा
उकेर कर निहारता हूं
मन ही मन गाता हूं
फुरसत मिले तो तुम
सुन लेना मुझे
अपने ही सहर्ष स्पर्श स्पंदन में.

Maithili poem - (भाव नीक राखू स्वभाव नीक राखू) is an exhortation calling upon the people to have good heart and sound mind in the world. In this world of variety and complexities everything is futile and transient except the purity of heart, serenity of mind and ethos of humanity with social-moral mores, values and ideals.

Maithili poem by Bhaskar Jha

Akash Naik presented his Gujarati poem whose picture is given below-

The Vice President Dr.Shamira Abdulla talked about how multilingual poetry events promote poetry. The young Krisha Shah one of the coordinators in her vote of thanks expressed  how Dr.Paramita has worked hard to bring all the poets together and make this event a success. 

......

Presented by -  Hemant Das 'Him'
Photographs by - Bejod India blog
Email for response -  editorbejodindia@yahoo.com
Note - Those participants whose lines of peom or clear picture could not be added in this, can send them on the above email ID. They can also be added.

Abhedya staged 'Javeda' on 16.10.2019 at Prabhadevi (Mumbai)

The sinless lovers

 (इस समीक्षा को हिंदी में पढ़िए - यहाँ क्लिक कीजिए / View it after every 12 hrs - FB+ Today Bejod India)

What a farce? Our society thinks murders in communal riots as normal and love of a man with another as abnormal! 

In an emotive discourse, the young man expresses his inability to marry the fiancee and asks her whether his love for another person is proper particularly when that person also happens to be a man?

The reviewer is not championing the theme of the play yet he thinks that no subject should be taboo for discussion. Sure, we must promote normal kind of human relationships, but we have no right to stigmatise the other ones until and unless they harm the society. At least they are much better a lot than a riotous person.

Love knows no boundary - neither geographical nor racial nor of body. A fervent love can exist anywhere between man and woman, woman and woman and "between man and man". You may find it irksome but this is the reality of the society. These have been practiced since ages and would be practised till the world ends. Better we should assimilate them honoring their privacy. The unconventional and yet highly touching story was shown in the play "Javeda' at Ravindr4a Natya Mandir, Prabhadevi (mumbai) on 16.10.2019.

In the beginning, Iman who is a struggler bollywood lyricist reads a newspaper ad for vacant house and knocks at the door of Aman Awasthi. Aman thinks him as a well-behaved and trustful man and agrees to share a part of his house to him for rent.  Aman is dependent on Iman for certain domestic and Iman on Aman for others. Both begin to enjoy the company of other. They soon develop appreciation for each other quite normally.

Iman keeps he the house tidy and prepares tea for Aman. On the other hand, Aman has given one set of the keys of the whole house to Iman so that he has a right to live in the house even in the absence of Aman.

With passage of time, the love between Arman and Iman well surpasses the social realm and enters the cell of individual privacy. Aman is extremely uncomfortable on reading the letter given by the postman that the parents of Iman has fixed his marriage with a girl in the village. Yet, on the pretext of danger of communal riots, he pushes him forcibly to the village so that his normal conjugal relation with a girl could be established.

In the village, Iman meets his fiancee who is also his childhood friend and whom he still likes. He does not want to play cheat on her and reveals the unsavory truth. The truth that he can not marry her because he loves another one who happens to be a man (and not a woman). 

After some time, he cannot bear the separation from Aman and comes back to his house in Mumbai. But their lives together does not last longer and Aman is killed by the mob in a communal riot leaving Aman with no reason to live.

It is more than obvious that neither of two are promiscuous, lascivious or innately different from other men. Though the circumstances make them so. This is proved by the incident when one of the pimp suggests to provide girls to Iman for money who is genuinely in search of an abode. Iman subs him saying that he is not a man of that sort.  Here Aman also has never been in sexual relation with anyone before or after the relation with Iman. Even these two men goes hardly beyond kissing as shown on stage. The whole issue is predominantly a psychological one rather than that of body.

The small details have been knit together so beautifully that they make a sterling show of real life journey of both.  Aman is in such a deep love with Iman that he does not mind even when Iman puts salt in place of sugar. Also, after the departure of Iman from his house, he misses him so much that he stops dringking tea in his office and replaces it with coffee which he never liked. And when Iman returns to his house, Aman again switches over to his old favoured beverage of tea. The tea-seller is totally confused what has happened to Aman Saheb? Even the sweeper, milkman and akhbaarwaalah has to face the ire of this separated touchy lover. 

The actors were Aaryan Deshpande, Ahan Nirban,  Yashaswee Gandhi,  Rinila Debnath,  Akash Soni, Gorande Katira, Katha Salla,  Saundarya Goyal,  Neer Mota,  Pratik Tiwari, Yash Dattani, Anirudh Kolarkar, Pratik Bhadekar and the director-playwright was Navaldeep Singh. It was produced by Abhedya Artworks. The Set-design had been prepared by Pratik Bhadekar & Shubham Jadhav. Sound Desinn was by Navaldeeep Singh only.

The honesty with which the playwright has put the matters is astounding. The playwright Nawaldleep Singh has used the scenes of communal riots deftly to show the striking anomalies in the social psyche. The psyche that permits ghastly murders of people from other community but thinks a love between them a heinous crime.

Among actors Iman's facial expression was really moving. Aman provided adequate support. The two girls who played the alter ego of Aman and Iman respectively did justice to their roles. The comedian villager who wants to marry the fiancee of Iman won the hearts of audience with his queer mannerism. The tea-preparer was able to convey the confusion well with his facial expression and body language. He is confused why sometimes Aman prefers tea and sometimes don't. The sweeper and postman had short role but they played well. The fiancee showed the dignity of the character in true spirit. All the actors were below 25 and performed beyond what could be expected of them.

The set-design with doorstep in the middle of the backstage and couple of chairs and table put on the opposite halves of the stage with lot of walking space helped in seamless toggle between the riotous scene and the inside view of a common household.

The director Nawaldeep Singh has succeeded to keep dramatic effects quite far from this play which was a necessary requirement for an honest discourse on such a serious issue.  He has done an experiment in the form by presenting two females for respective alter egos  of two male characters probably to convey that gender has no role to play in a game of love. But delivery of the endless masculine dialogues from the mouths of two conversing females has it's own risk. 

I have no qualms about saying that it was a brilliant show for restoring the dignity of genuine class of lovers that is regarded unjustifiably as the taboo-est of taboos by our hypocritical society.

.....

Review by - Hemant Das 'Him'

Photographs by - Abhedya and Bejod India blog

Send your feedback to - editorbejodindia@yahoo.com

Read 81 more Drama Reviews by the same author - click here