Adventures of a Writer

Actor-Director Manoj Kumar breathed his last on 4th April 2025. For me, Mr. Manoj Kumar was not just a legendary filmmaker and a hugely popular filmstar but also a connection to my father, art director Desh Mukerji.  When I met him six years ago - on 6th April 2019 - he was ailing. Yet, he was gracious enough to grant me time and invite me to his home. He reminisced about his association with my father which began when they were both starting out on their careers in the film industry way back in the 1950s.  Reminiscing about the old days he said, "We were refugees from Pakistan and our family stayed at the Kingsway Camp. Later we moved to Nangloi and I studied at Hindu College.  I used to be the captain of the cricket team as well." "On 9th October, 1956, I moved to Bombay. I always wanted to see the ocean.  The first thing I did was land up on the beach, wearing a suit, and sweated it out in the Bombay heat!" he laughed. "I was starting out as an actor a...

The era of Golden Jubilees has long gone. In fact, Gen Z is probably unfamiliar with the term which was once the most coveted standard for a successful movie - 50 weeks of an uninterrupted run at the movie theatres. For Deewaar , that milestone has been done and dusted. On 24 January, 2025, it achieved new heights as it continues to reign our collective consciousness, fifty years after its release. Not a day passes when one or the other of its many memorable lines is transformed into a meme on social media. With every such retelling, it reaffirms the vitality and relevance of the original. In a realm where content is king, this is one "Wall" that refuses to gather moss, crack or crumble. Amitabh Bachchan's dialogue in the film -- " Jo pachchees baras mein nahi hua hai woh ab hoga " (What has never happened in 25 years will happen now) -- resonates today in the context of Deewaar 's domination of the Indian psyche, with an upgrade of an additional 25 years!  ...

  "Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." I was reminded of this quote by Mary Angelou as I watched Kinshuk Surjan's documentary feature film titled "Marching in the Dark" . The film is an evocative tribute to the widows of Marathwada who have survived the suicides of their husbands - the men driven to despair and eventually death after years of failing harvests, rising debts and the cruel play of climate change.  Surjan introduces us to Sanjeevani, an every woman who is not anyone's idea of a hero. If anything she is a victim - of her circumstances, of the unfair deal that she has got in life and of a male-oriented world that she is part of. But she has a quiet strength to her that is evident from the first time we meet her. She is grappling with grief and the burden of raising two small children after the suicide of her husband. She is a breadwinner as well as a homemaker. She works in her brother-in-law's farm who has given her family sh...