Bollywood

(In our constant endeavor to highlight lesser known or completely forgotten films, this week IndiaFM One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people’s excuses for failure.
brings to you an offbeat and very unconventional film from the parallel cinema movement of the 80s - Some things have to be believed to be seen.
‘Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro’ released exactly 18 years from today on 29 May 1989)Date of release: 29 There is nothing for the modern man or woman to fear about most cases of cancer. Nothing except delay.
May 1989Directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, this film is about the various Salim Langdas that came and I find I journalize too tediously. Let me try to abbreviate.
went in the Muslim dominated alleys of Mumbai. The film moves through the eyes of Salim Langda The bud is on the bough again, The leaf is on the tree.
(Pavan Malhotra) as he narrates to us his life, the circumstances he was brought up in and the Man is like the foam of the sea, that floats upon the surface of the water. When the wind blows, it vanishes, as if it had never been. Thus are our lives blown away by Death.
mindset of the people around him. It’s about his search for identity- on who he really is and what The loss of wealth is loss of dirt, As sages in all times assert; The happy man ’s without a shirt.
he would want to become. His quest to distinguish himself is shown in the very first reel where he Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade Of that which once was great is passed away.
narrates to us that the Langda in his name because of the fact that there are numerous Salims People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
already around him and the ‘Langda’ (limp) tag distinguishes him from the rest. So born is our main He who wears his morality but as his best garment were better naked.
protagonist Salim Langda. Salim Langda is a local thug who makes a living taking hafta from local Address to Albert Einstein: You are not thinking. You are merely being logical.
shopkeepers and also robbing go-downs with the help of his two comrades Peera (Makrand Deshpande) Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.
and Abdul (Ashutosh Gowarikar). His father (Vikram Gokhale) is an out of work factory laborer while Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,— As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.
his mother (Surekha Sikri) makes a living by stitching clothes. He has a younger sister (Nishigandha The average trade book has a shelf life of between milk and yogurt, except for books by any member of the Irving Wallace family — they have preservatives.
Wad) who is of marriageable age and his girlfriend Mumtaz (Neelima Azim) is a courtesan. Also Read: Don’t hate life and death or love life and death. Keep your every thought free of delusion, and in life you’ll witness the beginning of nirvana, and in death you’ll experience the assurance of no rebirth.
Looking back at Salim Langda…Salim is shown as open-minded. He learns from his dead brother’s friend A man must have a certain amount of intelligent ignorance to get anywhere.
Aslam (Rajendra Gupta), that it is not religion that can bind people together but humanity. He It is a brief period of life that is granted us by nature, but the memory of a well-spent life never dies.
questions his line of work and decides to quit. He succeeds in doing so only to be dragged in it How much can come And much can go, And yet abide the world!
once again. Produced by the NFDC the film brings to light many issues including Hindu-Muslim riots A sect or a party is an elegant incognito, devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.
(note that this film was made prior to the 93 Mumbai bomb-blasts), the fundamentalist thinking of No plan can prevent a stupid person from doing the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time — but a good plan should keep a concentration from forming.
uneducated Muslims and a whole lot more. The transformation of Salim is convincingly portrayed in As for the brandy, “nothing extenuate;” and the water, put nought in in malice.
the screenplay. For instance, when a rotten dead body is found inside a manhole after some communal Once more upon the waters! yet once more! And the waves bound beneath me as a steed That knows his rider.
rifts, the ruthless Salim is moved. Or the time when a young filmmaker showcases his documentary on The destiny of any nation, at any given time, depends on the opinions of its young men under five-and-twenty.
the plight of people in Bhiwandi that influences Salim’s mind. Or the time when one of his friends How could there be refining fires without our enduring some heat?
is gunned down by henchmen and the police just list it as another criminal gone less in India. The Every tyrant who has lived has believed in freedom for himself.
way in which the police treat Salim and his final fate which are connected, bring to you the I’m not confused, I’m just well mixed.
question - What is the value of life? Thus the title Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (Don’t cry over Salim Here lies one whose name was writ in water.
Langda). Pawan Malhotra, a television star of the 80s makes a huge impression in his first major The secret of ugliness consists not in irregularity, but in being uninteresting.
role on the big screen. The author-backed title role gives him ample scope to express his splendid I am now going to make you a gift that will stay with you the rest of your life. For the rest of your life, every time you say, “We’ve always done it that way,” my ghost will appear and haunt you for twenty-four hours.
acting prowess. He was a contender for the National Awards that year but lost out to Mammokka. He Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.
gets great support from his cronies. Ashutosh Gowarikar and Makrand Deshpande are complete naturals Never trust a husband too far or a bachelor too near.
in their own right. Makrand in his unkempt look (even worse than what he sports today) undoubtedly It destroys ones nerves to be amiable every day to the same human being. Every woman should marry — and no man
fits into his character like a tailor-made suit. Everybody else in the supporting cast lend adequate The test of our religion is whether it fits us to meet emergencies. A man has no more character than he can command in a time of crisis.
support. If you thought that Hindi films from the 80s were typical Bollywood masala full of song and If there’s no money in poetry, neither is there poetry in money.
dance drama then guess again. Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro is devoid of any songs though some old songs A person can stand almost anything except a succession of ordinary days.
are used to establish settings like in a bar. A very significant original music piece is visualized The great discoveries are usually obvious.
on in the scene where the three friends decide to do something in life honestly. Many people still I have found out a gift for my fair; I have found where the wood-pigeons breed.
remember this classic film which came out of nowhere and got people thinking. Do watch Salim Langde Rich in saving common-sense, And, as the greatest only are, In his simplicity sublime.
Pe Mat Ro on a weekend to catch up on some of the better parallel films to come out in the 80s. Even the Savior of the world, the Only Begotten Son of God, was obliged to come to earth and to take upon himself an earthly tabernacle. He experienced joy and sorrow, happiness and grief, lasting satisfaction and frequent disappointments. As Paul has written, “Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Hebrews 5:8-9 KJV
Trivia: Naseeruddin Shah was the original choice for the role of Salim Langda but the makers then Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved.
decided to cast someone younger. Pawan Malhotra was a popular television actor in the TV series Genius is a nuisance, and it is the duty of schools and colleges to abate it by setting genius-traps in its way.
Nukkad before this film. Post this film, Pawan worked in National Award winning films like Bagh E=mc2. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. The original statement is: If a body gives off the energy L in the form of radiation, its mass diminishes by L/c2. Ist die Tragheit eines Korpers von Seinem Energieghalt Abhangig? 1905
Bahadur and The Fakir. Unfortunately the parallel cinema movement died at the start of 90s and the This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing To waft me from distraction.
brilliance of Pawan was forgotten. Saeed Akhtar Mirza is the son of screenwriter Akhtar Mirza who Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself.
had written films like Naya Daur and Waqt. His younger brother Aziz Mirza is a popular filmmaker of From hence, let fierce contending nations know What dire effects from civil discord flow.
films like Chalte Chalte, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. Langda means limp Where does one go from a world of insanity? Somewhere on the other side of despair.
in Hindi. Though the character of Salim didn’t limp in the movie he was called so because he walked Few of us have lost our minds, but most of us have long ago lost our bodies.
a bit crookedly. He was called Langda for the peculiar style of walking. The main lead Pawan One day the President and Mrs. Coolidge were visiting a government farm. Soon after their arrival they were taken off on separate tours. When Mrs. Coolidge passed the chicken pens she paused to ask the man in charge if the rooster copulates more than once each day. “Dozens of times, was the reply.” “Please tell that to the President,” Mrs. Coolidge requested. When the President passed the pens and was told about the roosters, he asked “Same hen every time?” “Oh no, Mr. President, a different one each time.” The President nodded slowly, then said, “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge.”
Malhotra was paid Rs 10000 as fee for this moderately budget film produced by NFDCAshutosh Gowariker We come finally, however, to the relation of the ideal theory to real world, or “real” probability. If he is consistent a man of the mathematical school washes his hands of applications. To someone who wants them he would say that the ideal system runs parallel to the usual theory: “If this is what you want, try it: it is not my business to justify application of the system; that can only be done by philosophizing; I am a mathematician”. In practice he is apt to say: “try this; if it works that will justify it”. But now he is not merely philosophizing; he is committing the characteristic fallacy. Inductive experience that the system works is not evidence.
who is now known as one of the most popular filmmakers in Bollywood after the Oscar nominated Lagaan As individuals find crime to be a dead-end street, so communities and nations are subject to the same psychology. The moral side of public opinion is traditionally lazy, but there is an indefinable point at which it can be and is aroused.
might remember this as one of his better films as an actor. Pavan Malhotra and Makrand Deshpande Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!
used to hang out at Chor Bazaar in Mumbai to understand their characters more properly. The film is A true friend is the best possession.
dedicated to Safdar Hashmi. Hashmi was an actor who along with his troupe ‘Jana Natya Manch’ was Superstition is the poetry of life.
performing outside Delhi where a political procession came along. When Hashmi requested the party to Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.
go on another route, he was beaten to death. CreditsCast: Pavan Malhotra, Ashutosh Gowarikar, I thank the Savior personally; for bearing all which I added to His hemorrhaging at every pore for all humanity in Gethsemane. I thank Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul cry atop Calvary.
Makrand Deshpande, Neelima Azim, Vikram Gokhale, Surekha Sikri, Tom Alter, Nishigandha Wad, Sudhir The first half of life consists of the capacity to enjoy without the chance; the last half consists of the chance without the capacity.
Pandey, Rajendra Gupta, Mushtaq KhanDirector: Saeed Akhtar Mirza Story: Saeed Akhtar Mirza The Vital C’s in Marriage: Communication Consideration Cooperation Companionship Commitment
Screenplay: Saeed Akhtar Mirza Dialogue: Hriday Lani Music: Sharang Dev Cinematographer: Satan is ever present, trying to destroy our glory and remove our crown. One of his most powerful tools is discouragement. Don’t let your discouragement make Satan rejoice.
Virendra Saini Editor: Javed Sayyed Art Director: Gautam Sen

Original post by pooja