#365DaysOfWriting — Day 243

A 50/50 Day

It’s a particularly tough day. I’m torn in half, quite literally.

First things first. Om Puri has left us.

It’s hard to take this. We were just getting over 2016’s list of horrors when 2017 slaps us a new one. Om Puri? India’s answer to Daniel Day Lewis (and I say that with complete sincerity) has crossed the threshold and is now probably regaling the Gods with a performance. Although I’m pretty sure when he was here, the God’s would’ve been watching him anyway. No mortal could take their eyes off his hilariously flippant, drunk Ahuja in जाने भी दो यारों. How could they, when he played a dapper Duryodhan in goggles, mouthing lines like “द्रौपदी तेरे अकेले की नहीं हैं, हम सब भी shareholder हैं।” You can (and SHOULD) watch the entire scene here, because it is a goldmine for actors (and writers).

Oh, he could go in a completely different direction if you wanted, अर्ध सत्य being a great example of that. He plays the righteous, idealistic cop Anant Welankar, who is suffering under the burden of a corrupt system and eventually snaps. One of the best moments in the movie is when he starts reciting a poem to Smita Patil with a smile on his face, before realising that it matches his situation. Watch the scene here. My personal favourite though, happens to be his role as Inspector Udham Singh in गुप्त. It showed that he can shine even in a film where the focus isn’t on him at all. Who can forget that dialogue “मैं एक time पर एक ही काम करता हूँ।” Sadly, I can’t find a dialogue clip on YouTube right now. But if you haven’t watched Gupt, you’re missing out on life, that much I can guarantee you. Sad to see you go, Om Puri. Devastated, more like it. I hope you find peace.

It’s also AR Rahman’s 50th birthday.

Allah-Rakha Rahman. Formerly known as AS Dileep Kumar (when he was a child, actually). The provider of soothing, mellifluous melodies. And easily one of my Top 5 favourite composers of all time. His work across languages is a feast to the ears, and he is the living embodiment of the phrase ‘Music has no language’. It truly doesn’t, because when you listen to an AR Rahman song, you’re not listening to a Tamil song, or a Hindi song, or a Telugu song, or a Kannada song. You’re listening to a musical experience, one where you can just close your eyes and get lost in the melody. It’s almost meditative. Out of his 50 years in existence, he has been active in music for 30. The best part is he’s nowhere close to being finished. And that gives me immense joy.

Which are my favourite songs of his? Oh my God, there are too many to give a proper list. There are SO many albums — Roja, Bombay, Kadhalan, Minsara Kanavu, Kadhal Desam, Dil Se, Rangeela, Taal, Pukar, Lagaan, Alai Payuthe — you seriously cannot expect me to choose just one. But if I had to choose just one song right now, I would choose Vennilave Vennilave from Minsara Kanavu — for the benefit of my Hindi-speaking friends, that’s the Tamil version of Chanda Re, Chanda Re from Sapnay. Hariharan has sung both versions for Prabhudeva, while Bombay Jayshree crooned for Kajol in Tamil, and Sadhna Sargam sang it in Hindi. It’s a song that makes you feel in love, makes you move to the beat almost instantaneously, and is generally a song that you can listen to a 100 times on loop. That’s what AR Rahman can do, and boy, am I glad that I’m in the same generation.

So a legend leaves us — creating a void in our lives. While another lives — and continues making our lives beautiful. That’s life — always 50/50.

Archive

1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14–15–16–17–18–19–20–21–22–23–24–25–26–27–28–29–30–31–32–33–34–35–36–37–38–39–40–41–42–43–44–45–46–47–48–49–50–51–52–53–54–55–56–57–58–59–60–61–62–63–64–65–66–67–68–69–70–71–72–73–74–75–76–77–78–79–80–81–82–83–84–85–86–87–88–89–90–91–92–93–94–95–96–97–98–99–100–101–102–103–104–105–106–107–108–109–110–111–112–113–114–115–116–117–118–119–120–121–122–123–124–125–126–127–128–129–130–131–132–133–134–135–136–137–138–139–140–141–142–143–144–145–146–147–148–149–150–151–152–153–154–155–156–157–158–159–160–161–162–163–164–165–166–167–168–169–170–171–172–173–174–175–176–177–178–179–180–181–182–183–184–185–186–187–188–189–190–191–192–193–194–195–196–197–198–199–200–201–202–203–204–205–206–207–208–209–210–211–212–213–214–215–216–217–218–219–220–221–222–223–224–225–226–227–228–229–230–231–232–233–234–235–236–237–238–239–240–241–242–243*