September 2021

There were 4 posts published in September 2021 (this is page 1 of 1).

हरेक जीवन है एक कहानी

श्रवण कुमार की कहानी आपको पता होगी। आज एक बार फ़िर से बताता हूँ। श्रवण कुमार के माता पिता नेत्रहीन थे। श्रवण कुमार उनकी बहुत सेवा करते औऱ उन्होंने एक कांवर बनाई थी जिसमें वो उनको लेकर यात्रा करते। एक दिन तीनो अयोध्या के समीप के जंगल के रास्ते कहीं जा रहे थे तब माता पिता को पानी पिलाने के लिये श्रवण कुमार रुके। उसी जंगल में अयोध्या के राजा दशरथ भी शिकार के लिये आये थे।

जब श्रवण कुमार तालाब से पानी निकाल रहे थे तब महाराज दशरथ को ऐसा लगा की शायद कोई हिरन है पानी पी रहा है औऱ उन्होंने तीर चला दिया। तीर श्रवण कुमार को लगा जिससे उनके प्राण निकल गये। राजा दशरथ ने ये दुःखद समाचार उनके माता पिता को सुनाया। ऐसा कहा जाता है उन्होंने राजा दशरथ को श्राप दिया की उन्हें भी पुत्र वियोग होगा। वर्षों बाद दशरथ पुत्र रामचंद्र जी को वनवास हुआ और पुत्र वियोग में राजा दशरथ ने भी प्राण त्याग दिये थे।

कहानी 2: बचपन में माँ एक कहानी सुनाती थीं। एक बहुत ही होनहार बालक था। पढ़ने, लिखने, संस्कार सभी में अव्वल। जब उसकी परीक्षा का समय आया तब माँ की तबियत ख़राब हो गयी। बालक ने परीक्षा छोड़ माँ की देखभाल करना उचित समझा औऱ उनकी सेवा में लगा रहा। माँ के बहुत समझाने के बाद भी वो विद्यालय नहीं गया।

जब बालक परीक्षा देने नहीं पहुँचा तब उसके अध्यापक को थोड़ी चिंता हुई। उन्होंने विद्यालय से किसी को भेज कर पता करवाया। जब उन्हें उसके नहीं आने का कारण पता चला तो उन्होंने एक अध्यापिका को घर भेजा की वो बालक की माँ की देखभाल करें ताकि वो परीक्षा दे सके।

विद्यालय से लौटते समय उन्होंने बालक के घर जाकर माँ का कुशलक्षेम पूछा औऱ बालक को ढ़ेर सारा आशीर्वाद भी दिया।

ये तो कहानी हुई। अग़र आप कौन बनेगा करोड़पति का नया सीज़न देख रहे हों तो ज्ञान राज नाम के जो प्रतियोगी झारखंड से आये थे उनके जीवन में ऐसा ही हुआ। इंजीनियरिंग करने के बाद जो नौकरी का ऑफर था उसे छोड़कर उन्होंने बीमार माँ की देखभाल करने का निर्णय लिया। आज वो एक शिक्षक हैं औऱ अपने छात्रों को नई टेक्नोलॉजी सिखाते हैं।

असल ज़िंदगी में मैंने स्वयं ये सब बहुत क़रीब से देखा है। मेरी दादीजी को लकवा हो गया था जिसके चलते उनकी हमेशा देखभाल की ज़रूरत थी। एक सहायिका दिनभर के लिये रखी थी। माँ-पिताजी भी उनकी बहुत सेवा करते। पिताजी का रोज़ का रूटीन था उनको व्हीलचेयर पर बैठाकर नहाने के लिये बाथरूम लेकर जाते औऱ स्नान के बाद जब सहायिका की मदद से वो तैयार हो जातीं, तब उनको बाहर लेकर आते, जहां वो सबके साथ बैठ कर बातचीत करतीं। हम लोग उनको अखबार की ख़बरें भी पढ़कर सुनाते। पिताजी ये सारा काम हमारे साथ स्कूल निकलने से पहले करते। भोजन के लिये दादी को सहारा देकर बैठाने का काम हम भाई बहन का रहता।

अब चलते हैं मेरे कॉलेज के दिनों की तरफ़। जिस कॉलेज में मेरा दाखिला हुआ था वो घर से काफ़ी दूर था (पास वाले कॉलेज में दाखिले के लिये जो नंबर चाहिये थे वो मेरे से बहुत दूर थे)। जाने के दो विकल्प थे – या तो कुछ पैदल औऱ कुछ पब्लिक ट्रांसपोर्ट पर निर्भर रहें या साइकल से जाया जाये। तीसरा विकल्प – गाड़ी वाला फाइनल ईयर में आकर मिला (परीक्षा के लिये)। तो साइकल की उस लंबी यात्रा के दौरान रास्ते में जो सुविचार वाले बोर्ड लगे रहते थे वो पढ़ते जाते थे। आज के जैसे मोबाइल फ़ोन तो हुआ नहीं करते थे की ईयरफोन लगाओ औऱ निकल पड़ो। हाँ चलता फिरता आदमी अर्थात वॉकमैन ज़रूर था लेक़िन जल्दी जल्दी बैटरी बदलना भी संभव नहीं था। कॉलेज लगभग रोज़ ही जाना होता था क्योंकि विज्ञान विषय था तो प्रैक्टिकल होते थे। तो ये सुविचार वाले बोर्ड यात्रा के साथी रहे लगभग तीन वर्ष।

भोपाल में जैसे ही आप भेल (BHEL) टाऊनशिप में प्रवेश करते हैं, बिजली के खम्बों पर लगे ये बोर्ड आपका स्वागत करते हैं। पूरे रास्ते ऐसे बोर्ड लगे हुये थे। ऐसा ही एक बोर्ड जो याद रह गया, उस पर लिखा था

माता पिता की सेवा करने वाला पुत्र कभी दुखी नहीं रहता

आपको बहुत से ऐसे उदाहरण मिल जायेंगे जो माता-पिता की देखभाल का ख़ूब दिखावा करेंगे लेक़िन बात कुछ औऱ ही रहती है। कोई अपने पालकों के नाम पर इमारत खड़ी कर ये समझते हैं समाज में उनकी वाहवाही होगी। कोई उनके बुत बनवा कर साल में एक बार साफ़ सफ़ाई करवा कर फ़ोटो खींच कर व्हाट्सएप ग्रुप में शेयर कर देते हैं। लेक़िन वो उन मूल्यों की तो तिलांजलि दे चुके रहते हैं, जिसका अग़र वो पालन करते तो शायद उनके दिवंगत माता पिता ज़्यादा खुश होते। लेक़िन जैसा इन दिनों फ़ैशन है सब चीज़ का दिखावा करिये। ख़ैर।

जो ऊपर दो कहानी औऱ अपनी दादी के बारे में बताया उसके पीछे कारण था इन दिनों ऐसी खबरें सुनना या पढ़ना जब बच्चे अपने माता पिता को छोड़कर चले जाते हैं या उनकी पूछ परख सिर्फ़ इसलिये करते हैं क्योंकि ज़मीन जायदाद का मामला रहता है। इन खबरों से दुःख तो होता ही है, आश्चर्य भी होता है। ऐसे बेटों की गलतियों के श्रेय ज़्यादातर बहुओं के हिस्से में आता है। चलिये एक बार को मान भी लें की बहू की ग़लती होगी, लेक़िन जिस बेटे को माँ बाप ने पाला पोसा वो कैसे अपने माता पिता के साथ ऐसा व्यवहार होता देख सकते हैं? कहीं न कहीं उनका मौन रहना उस ग़लत व्यवहार को बढ़ावा ही देता है। वैसे ही बड़ा भाई, जिसे मातापिता के न होने पर उनके स्थान पर रखा जाता है, वो कैसे अपने से छोटे भाई बहनों के साथ ग़लत होता देखते रहते हैं ख़ामोशी से? लेक़िन क्या सिर्फ़ संतान ही दोषी हैं? क्या माता-पिता भी कहीं इसके लिये कुछ हद तक दोषी हैं? यहाँ दोषी होने का मतलब क्या वो अपनी संतान से कुछ ज़्यादा की उम्मीद तो नहीं लगा बैठे? ज़्यादातर माता पिता ये मान कर चलते हैं की बुढ़ापे में जब उन्हें ज़रूरत होगी तब उनका पुत्र उनका ख़्याल रखेगा। लेक़िन कई बार ऐसा नहीं होता है। उल्टा माता पिता ही बच्चों के परिवारों का भी ख़्याल रखते हैं।

मुझे याद है जब अमिताभ बच्चन की फ़िल्म बाग़बान आयी थी। किसी कारण से मैं ये फ़िल्म नहीं देख पाया था। छोटे भाई ने फ़ोन कर बोला ये फ़िल्म ज़रूर देखना। जब देखी तो बहुत बढ़िया लगी। लेक़िन सभी को ये फ़िल्म पसंद नहीं आयी। हमारे एक रिश्तेदार फ़िल्म को देखने औऱ बाक़ी लोगों को इसको देखने के लिये बोलने से नाराज़ भी हुये थे। उनका दर्द समझ में भी आता था क्योंकि उनके सुपुत्र औऱ उनके संबंध लगभग ख़त्म से ही हो गये थे।

ख़ैर बात फिल्मों की नहीं है। असल ज़िन्दगी में अमिताभ बच्चन ने जिस तरह से अपने माता पिता की सेवा करी है उसकी भी मिसाल दी जाती है। ऐसी बहुत सी फ़िल्मों का यहाँ उदाहरण दिया जा सकता है।

बाग़बान के अंत का जो सीन है उसमें अमिताभ बच्चन बहुत सारा ज्ञान देते हैं। लेक़िन फ़िल्मों से जो भी ज्ञान मिले, असल ज़िन्दगी में क्यूँ हम ऐसे वाक्ये देखते हैं। भाई बहन के बीच तक़रार फ़िर भी समझ में आती है क्योंकि एक भाई थोड़ा लालची हो जाता है औऱ अपने फायदे के अलावा कुछ नहीं सोचते। लेक़िन माता-पिता के साथ ऐसा व्यवहार कैसे सही हो सकता है? माता पिता उम्र की उस दहलीज़ पर खड़े रहते हैं जहाँ उन्हें बस प्यार औऱ सम्मान की दरकार है। लेक़िन ऐसी बहुत सी संतान हैं जो इतना भी नहीं कर पाती। माता पिता सब इसलिये सह लेते हैं क्योंकि उनके पास औऱ कोई चारा नहीं है। वो अपना बचा हुआ जीवन बस गुज़ारना चाहते हैं।

जब तक माता पिता सामने रहते हैं उनकी क़दर नहीं करते औऱ उनके जाने के बाद सिर्फ़ अफ़सोस ही कर सकते हैं। वैसे ये बात सभी रिश्तों पर लागू होती है। कहाँ तो आप सालों साल बात नहीं करते औऱ फ़िर जब अचानक उनके न होने की ख़बर आती है तो जीवन भर न सही लेक़िन उनके जाने के शुरू के कुछ वर्षों तक आप अफ़सोस जताते रहते हैं। उसके बाद वही ढ़र्रे वाला व्यवहार वापस।

अपने आसपास सभी तरह के लोग देखें हैं। वो जो दिखावा करते नहीं थकते, वो जो माता पिता की क़दर नहीं करते औऱ वो भी जो माता पिता को ढ़ेर सारा प्यार देते हैं औऱ उनका ख़ूब सम्मान भी करते हैं। अगर आपके बच्चे ये देख रहें की आप अपने माता पिता से कैसे व्यवहार कर रहे हैं तो आपको अपने साथ भी ऐसे ही व्यवहार की उम्मीद करनी चाहिये। वैसे इतनी कहानी हो चुकी हैं, नहीं तो इस बारे में भी एक कहानी है। उसका नंबर भी आयेगा।

\”शायद आज की पीढ़ी ये भूल जाती है जहाँ आज हम हैं, कल वो वहाँ होंगे। कल वो भी बूढ़े होंगे।\”

बाग़बान

वैसे ये जो सुविचार वाले बोर्ड थे (अब जानकारी नहीं है वो हैं की नहीं। भेल टाऊनशिप भी अब भुतहा जगह हो गयी है), बड़े याद आतें हैं। हाईवे पर कई गाड़ियों के पीछे भी ऐसे ही गुरुमंत्र लिखे रहते हैं। क्या आपने ऐसा कुछ कभी पढ़ा है जो आपको याद रह गया? कमेंट करके बताइये।

आपको नई पोस्ट की जानकारी मिलती रहे इसके लिये आप मुझे फेसबुक, ट्विटर, इंस्टाग्राम या टेलीग्राम पर फॉलो कर सकते हैं। बहुत जल्द कुछ औऱ नया करने का प्रयास है। उसकी जानकारी उचित समय पर।

Bell Bottom review: Wish there was bell to sound script writers to stop writing bottomless scripts

There is catch phrase in Bell Bottom, \’It isn\’t over till it\’s over\’ which is obviously said by Akshay Kumar who is playing the title role. The same catch phrase is true for the ordeal of watching the latest offering by Kumar. It isn\’t over till the end credits start rolling which is 123 minutes after it started playing on Amazon Prime.

Now Akshay Kumar had mastered the art of becoming new age Bharat Kumar. I am sure like many things, he discovered accidentally that was the space he could easily fill. To be fair to him, he was part of many such successful patriotic films. But to give him the credit alone would be wrong. He had directors like Neeraj Pandey and wonderful script writers too. Sadly after successful films the two parted ways and since then Kumar is trying to find the winning combo with little success so far.

Coming to Bell Bottom, if you have seen the promo or if you were lucky enough to watch the film in cinema halls (really? lucky?), you know it\’s about a plane hijack incident and Kumar plays a RAW agent whose code – you guessed it right, is Bell Bottom. Now if you read the synopsis it\’s like tailor-made for Akshay Kumar. There is little that could go wrong. But after spending 123 minutes of a lazy Saturday afternoon, I am sharing the big secret. Everything about the film is wrong.

Script

As said earlier, the script synopsis sounds great. But the full script needs more meat to hold the audience. Here it fails miserably, which has been the case with past so many Akshay films. Agreed the film was shot during strict lockdown conditions but a half baked script won\’t have survived even during the normal times. It looks like the script was not ready and the makers decided to go ahead with the shooting.

Going back to Neeraj Pandey- Akshay Kumar combo (sounds so much like a dish you are ordering that would taste much better than this tasteless film), the characters were fleshed out and there were good, rather excellent actors in other roles too. There are glaring loopholes in the film and without giving away too much let\’s just say ignore them to sit for next 123 minutes.

There is scene in Baby climax (it reads so weird, read that again to get the punch), when the flight is waiting for ATC clearance to take off. Bell Bottom has a similar scene. While the Baby scene had tension building up because you so badly wanted the flight to take off with the prized possession, in this latest offering you don\’t care if the flight is allowed to take off or not. You just want this to end (there is till few minutes left if you check the player). Don\’t worry.

Actors

Ever since the trailer of the film was out Lara Dutta got special mention for her role as Indira Gandhi. Getting the look is fine. It\’s what the script offers after the look that matters. And she is not present throughout the film (it\’s not about her). Adil Hussain is great actor but had very little to do in this film. Vani Kapoor continues her War role of a song, couple of scenes and pack up. It\’s sad to see actors like Huma Qureshi, like Hussain, have been reduced to itsy bitsy roles.

And Akshay Kumar has age catching up with him. Fast. How on earth can he be passed off as a 30/32 year old is beyond me. I mean he is no Aamir Khan who works really hard on his character/look. That Kumar cannot act is a well known secret. It\’s just that producers get their money back and that\’s how he has survived. But not anymore. He reinvented himself to become the Bharat Kumar Hindi film industry was looking for. After all these years, looks like time has come for him to reinvent again. A lean, mean, fit Akshay Kumar is fine but films need more. There are other actors vying for the Bharat Kumar slot like Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. So there is competition for Kumar.

There are two songs in the film. First one is picturised on Kumar and Kapoor and the other one plays in the background during the climax. The KK song is pretty early in the film and it\’s not even on my playlist, which kind of explains there is nothing much to write when it comes to music.

I think the makers also realised the film will not have a long shelf life, like say Baby (I have lost the number of times I have seen it),  and hence thought it best to release it on Amazon Prime before it\’s too late.

I was wondering what if the code name was either Sunder, Saand, Pucchi or Dollar given to other RAW agents in the film, instead of Bell Bottom?

While you think about it, look for Baby. It must be playing on one of the platforms and may be watch it again. Give this bottomless movie a miss.

Mumbai Diaries 26/11 review: A lifeless saga

Hospital drama in India have been popular but so few have been created. The ones that were, had less to do with hospitals and more to do with individuals. The best one I had seen and still remember something about is \’Lifeline\’. I still remember the title music by Vanraj Bhatia. In case you are wondering, it was on Doordarshan (yes the golden days when DD had awesome content). It looked like a real hospital and the characters (both doctors and patients) were believable.

Then there was Pakistani serial \’Dhoop Kinare\’ which was thoroughly enjoyable (again less about hospital and more about relationship between a young doctor and her senior). In between there was Sanjeevani which I haven\’t seen (I believe it was inspired by Dhoop Kinare) and then there was one with title Hospital but it was more about a journalist trying to expose wrongdoings going on and less about the hospital.

The 26/11 terrorist attacks has so far been seen from the eyes of cops, from Taj hotel staff member and now we have the doctor\’s side of the attack in the latest web series available on Amazon Prime – Mumbai Diaries 26/11. Interestingly, all the versions cover the attacks but the focus remains on whose version it is. So the first installment focussed on police version of the attack and it\’s aftermath, the Taj hotel was about attack on hotel and how this staff member saves lives of hotel guests.

Some thirteen years after the November 26, 2008 attack we get the doctor version of it. Like 9/11, this attack was widely covered on television (too much of it, if you ask me) but more on that some other time. While the other two versions were based on real life characters, I don\’t know if it\’s based on real life doctors present that day.

The plot

Since we all know about the attack and the plot and those behind it, there is nothing much to add. But this series is based on what happened at the hospital on that fateful day and creates the ground for what will happen in the night. So we have three fresh doctors who report to join as trainee doctor. There is no shortage of characters here and hospital also becomes a character. With other normal serials, the space where it is played out has little to contribute. But when it\’s about hospital, it becomes a character too. Unlike the spic and span hospitals which have been part of other serials, the Bombay General Hospital in this series, is as sarkari as any govt hospital could be. Overworked doctors, shortage of supplies and those stained walls – you get the perfect hospital setting.

Characters

As I said, there is no shortage of characters in this series. Bad thing is they all have a background story. But the good thing is it applies only to the hospital staff or couple of patients. Else it would have been endless series instead of just eight episodes. So there is Dr Kaushik who is head of trauma department and he has a team of nurses, attendants and the three trainee doctors who join him on the fateful day.

There is also the CMO and director social services played by Konkona Sen Sharma who is not a qualified doctor. There is just one patient who is there from the first episode till the last – one septuagenarian Punjabi lady. There are more patients but she is the only one writer could give some sort of flesh and bone.

There is a bad cop too who is after the good doc for not following the due process of informing the police about cases that should be reported. He is as foul mouthed as police characters get and he is also after a nurse for…

Since it\’s a sarkari hospital so things are in short supply but the canteen has fruit salad to offer. There is no link but just wanted to mention this. It gives you fair and not so lovely amount of idea that stage is set.

Before the terrorist storm the hospital, background stories of all the main docs (old and new both) needs to be set up. So before the terror unfolds we get to know about these characters and what all is wrong with their lives. Sounds like a regular soap opera where something or other is wrong day after day? The busy doc has no time for his wife, the pampered kid of doctor couple doesn\’t like all the attention, another trainee doc has typical middle class background where her parents ask her to offer sweets to her senior, the nurse couple is trying hard to offer a better life to their kids and hubby is selling hospital secrets to journos. Did I miss something? Oh yes. Communal harmony – we need to have a Muslim character too to complete the script and here he is in form of the male trainee doctor. The recipe looks complete. The scriptwriter managed to finish it in eight episodes nahin toh there was ample scope for extra marital angle as well. A bolder script writer would have introduced a gay/lesbian angle too. Blame it on short and sweet series.

Performance

To be fair to the actors, they have done a good job. It\’s not your run of the mill kinda set up where you look good and mouth few lines and done. They had to learn procedures and mouth what a doctor would. So good job by all.

Except Mohit Raina, there is no one else that stays with you. He is not there in every frame but whenever he is there, he just steals the show. Konkona Sen Sharma plays her part perfectly, like she always does.

Shreya Dhanwanthari as TV journalist chasing exclusives is superb. Having played print journalist in Scam and TV journalist in Mumbai Diaries 26/11, she is learning journalism on the job.

Writing

The first and may be the second episode manage to hold your attention. But third episode onwards it\’s downward journey as far as writing is considered. The tension which should be part of hospital drama is missing and the writers seem to have lost plot. Bits and pieces manage to hold it together but a better script could have done wonders. Watch Scam or Delhi Crime, again if you have already, to know what I mean.

There is scene in episode seven where doctor needs to operate upon a patient and there is some senti line thrown in by one of character. It was supposed to be rather emotional high point, choking and tears welled up kind of scene. But nothing happens. For a person who gets emotionally invested rather easily, I was completely not interested in whatever was happening. Like Mohit Raina in the last episode who looks at one of trainee crying over a dead body and pleading for help.

There is another scene which is so so filmy. One character has to call his wife using mobile of another character. Unable to reach, he tries to message to only discover a secret on the mobile. I have tried not to give away too much info by smartly omitting the names. 🙂

Verdict

As mentioned in the beginning, I began watching this series hoping to get a good hospital drama (even after knowing the story). But was let down by poor writing, which is often the case these days. And why the hell we cannot have series without the F word and reference to ladies? The docs use F word like there is no tomorrow and the less said about the gaalis the better. It\’s actually my pet peeve with content creators. I also realised that there is hardly any series without these words. Like writers who use these words in any and every situation, the viewers have also started treating it as normal. (Angry face).

There is lot of blood and gory cuts, stitches and shots of human organs. So if blood is not what you like to see, you can give it a miss. Otherwise watch it for Mohit Raina and hope he gets better scripts.

Writing is like breathing

Why I Blog is like asking Why I breathe. To blog was not a choice when I became aware of the blogging platforms. It was an escape I always wanted as a writer. Before blogging happened it was maintaining a diary. But as it happens, I stopped writing for various reasons, primarily being I did not want to share my thoughts to self.

Writing for someone always has its own trappings and while the writer in you would be happy to be part of the creative process, writing for your self is far more liberating.

First there are no set things to keep in mind so you can pretty much write the stuff that you want to send out. Second and very important is this is real you. You are not taking your riders on a ride and nor are you creating any false notions about yourself. You are exposing yourself to the world and that take whole lot of courage.

Different people have different ways to get things out of their system. Some paint, others sing, some dance, others think. I write.

Whoever said writing is therapeutic wasn\’t wrong. It sure is and something more.

Expressing yourself to others is a big challenge because you have to speak in language they understand. Its like a movie which we like or a song we fall in love because it captures your mood in a manner no other song managed to do.

Writing to me is something very personal since I do not comment on what is happening around me, nor am I writing about any particular genre but rather what is inside me.