‘Bal Gandharva’ – A Nice Tribute To The Legend
The ‘Bal Gandharva’ movie opened this week. I was eagerly waiting for its release, and managed to catch this afternoon’s show. I normally don’t blog about cinema; unless I am really impressed (or extremely disappointed) with a specific movie. ‘Bal Gandharva’ clearly falls in the former category…hence this brief blog post.
This movie provides a great snapshot into the life of the legendary Marathi Theater artist and singer Narayan Shripad Rajhans (popularly known as ‘Bal Gandharva’).
[Do read this great speech by Pu La Deshpande (from 1988) describing the greatness of Bal Gandharva. I will quote a few of lines: “महाराष्ट्राने तीन व्यक्तींवर जिवापाड प्रेम केलेलं आहे. ही महाराष्ट्राची सांस्कृतिक दैवतं आहेत असं म्हटलं तरी चालेल. पहिले म्हणजे छत्रपती शिवाजी महाराज, दुसरे लोकमान्य बाळ गंगाधर टिळक आणि तिसरे बालगंधर्व.”
Roughly translates as: “Maharashtra has given undying love to three great individuals. These three can be referred to as the cultural/historical gods of Maharashtra. First one is Shivaji Maharaj, second Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and third Bal Gandharva.”]
Coming back to the movie, Subodh Bhave in the lead role of Bal Gandharva is terrific. The screen-play, the sets, the direction are all excellent. At times, the movie has a slight documentary like feel and the viewer is transported to Maharashtra in the early part of the 20th century – an era that represented the golden age of Marathi Theater. The movie is thoroughly entertaining and engrossing. Music is an integral part of the movie and Anand Bhate has does an amazing job of singing the original Bal Gandharva classics.
‘Bal Gandharva’ presents many of the key events and periods in the life of Bal Gandharva, in a balanced manner, often leaving the interpretation to the viewer. His early years with the Kirloskar Natak Company…His amazing potrayal of female roles… Setting up his own Gandharva Natak Mandali… Struggles with his personal family life… His constant desire to leave no stone unturned to create a grand production for the audience, at any cost… His utter mismanagement of finances and resulting huge debts… The waning years of his career when theater audiences started defecting to the new medium of cinema… and through all this, his total perseverance and steadfast devotion to his primary love – Theater.
From a historical perspective, this movie shows many important characters and events. Lokmanya Tilak listening to a young Narayan (aged 10) and referring him as ‘Bal Gandharva’ for the first time, Anant Kanhere shooting Collector Jackson at a theater in Nashik, Ram Ganesh Gadkari at his death bed, Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur, Maharaja of Baroda, a young V Shantaram convincing Bal Gandharva to switch to this new medium called ‘Cinema’,…and many more. I personally like historical movies and Bal Gandharva scores really well in this area as well.
Do watch ’Bal Gandharva’ if you are a fan of theater, history or music. The movie has English sub-titles.
I will close with this line (by Ga Di Madgulkar?): “”असा बालगंधर्व आता न होणे!”
American Sports & Business Jargon
Sports jargon is an integral part of the American business language (especially so, in the Sales Department). For someone who is new to the American business world, terms like ‘Basic blocking and tackling’ or ‘Hail Mary’ may not make any sense. These terms are derived from American Football, Basketball and Baseball (there are few from Ice Hockey and other sports as well). Here is an attempt to explain some of these terms … Please do add more terms as well as better explanations! I will expand the blog post with the additions.
Brett Favre’s recent ‘Hail Mary’ pass
“Drop the ball” (Origin: Football). Meaning: Make a (often silly, and avoidable) mistake. Usage: “Please, don’t drop the ball on that one <important project> !”.
“Hit it out of the park” (Origin: Baseball). Meaning: Register a big win/success. Usage: That was a terrific sales quarter… he just hit it out of the park!”.
“Basic blocking and tackling” (Origin: Football). Meaning: Taking care of the basics in any engagement/project. Usage: “You need to focus on the basic blocking and tackling here for this project .. forget all the fancy and cool stuff! “.
“Full Court Press” (Origin: Basketball). Meaning: Well planned, steady, aggressive plan of action. Usage: “Let’s get a full court press on this one…”.
“Punt it away” (Origin: Football). Meaning: Just push it out for now..avoid it. Usage: “Just punt that away. We are not going to get involved in that opportunity”.
“Just take a wild swing at it” (Origin: Baseball) Meaning: Just venture a wild guess/try at something. Usage: “I have no idea! Just take a wild swing at that one.. and see what happens”.
“Hail Mary” (Origin: Football) Meaning: Try a near impossible long-shot attempt at something. Usage: “That’s a real tough opportunity… Oh well, let’s just try a Hail Mary!”
“Double Play” (Origin Baseball) Meaning: Get two successes in one attempt.
“Home Run” (Origin: Baseball) Meaning: A big win/success.
Pune Food Nostalgia – 1980s Favorites
Pune has always been a great place for foodies..for many decades. There are iconic restaurants, bakeries and stores like Cafe Good Luck, Vaishali, Dorabjees or Chitales – that have been favorites of many generations.
Here’s my personal favorite list from the 1980s… Many (if not all) are still very popular today. Unfortunately, some have shutdown. (Note – there are many others from that time frame as well..please add your comments; I will update the blog post)
Vaishali - The classic Pune favorite! Around since the 1960s. Famous for their South Indian and other snacks. Location: FC Road. Read more here: http://aparanjape.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/restaurant-review-vaishali-written-in-1994/
Roopali - Vaishali’s sister restaurant. In addition to the popular Vaishali menu, they also serve a South Indian Thali and Rava Dosa. Location: FC Road.
Darshan - One of the first restaurants in Pune to introduce international fastfood cuisine to Pune (started in 1970s). Famous for a variety of dishes (Indian and Global Cuisine and Fruit Juices/Milk-Shakes). Location: Prabhat Road.
Marz-o-rin – The famous sandwich on M.G.Road. Located in an old historic building. Famous for a variety of sandwiches (must try – chicken sandwich), bakery items and shakes.
Pasteur Bakery – Famous for their cakes and pastries. Location: M.G. Road
Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale – The quintessential ‘Puneri’ store famous for milk-products, Mithai and other snacks (such as the legendary ‘Bakarwadi’). Locations: Laxmi Road, Deccan
Supreme Pizza – One of the first places in Pune that offered Pizza (and have maintained that same consistent ‘Indian Pizza’ taste) since the early 1980s. Locations: J.M. Road, Prabhat Road
Santosh Bakery – Famous for Pattice, Cream-Rolls and other bakery items. Location: Apte Road
Hindustan Bakery – Famous for Pattice (originally available only on Sundays, later on available everyday). Location: Laxmi Road
Dorabjees (Store) – The store has been around since the 1920s. (Its entrance was featured in the Raj Kapoor’s 1960s hit movie ‘Sangam’). The store stocked a variety of international and hard to find food items for a long time. Location: Camp.
Dorabjees (Restaurant) – Dorabjees is a small restaurant in the lane behind the famous Dorabjees Retail Store. Famous for their Biryani. Location: Camp. [Apparently, the Dorabjees Store and Restaurant are not related (not owned by the same family/group. Can someone validate?]
Kayani Bakery – Famous for their famous biscuits. Location: East Street.
Sujata Mastani – Made the ‘Mastani’ (Mango milkshake with mango icecream) famous! Location: Sadashiv Peth, near Bharat Natya Mandir
Bedekar Misal – One of the top ‘Misal’ places in Pune..around for over 50 years. Location: Laxmi Road
Janaseva - Famous for their ‘Sabudana Kichadi’ and ‘Kharvas’ and many other items. Location: Laxmi Road
Appa’s Canteen Deccan Gymkhana – One of the oldest canteens that is still functional (around for 70+ years). Famous for their ‘Khichadi Kakdi’, ‘Batata Vada’ and other items. Location: Deccan Gymkhana Sports Club
Deccan Queen Dining Car – Famous for their unique menu items (dating back to the 1930s/1940s..) – Scrambled Eggs, Chicken Cutlet, Fried Fish, Baked Beans/Toast, etc. Unfortunately, the Dining Car was discontinued a few years back (replaced by a Pantry Car).
Kukuckuku Chicken – One of the early restaurants in the Deccan Area that offered various types of Chicken dishes – Tandoori Chicken, Butter Chicken, Soups, Sandwiches, etc. Location: Deccan Gymkhana.
Baker’s Basket – Introduced in the mid 1980s brought a variety of cakes, pastries’ and baked items (many for the first time …) to Pune. Locations: Multiple locations across the city
Shreyas – Famous for their Maharashtrian Food. Location: Apte Road.
Shabri – Famous for their Maharashtrian Food. Location: F.C. Road.
Sapna – Famous for their Gujrati Food. Location: J.M. Road
Chinese Room Oriental – One of the first places in Pune to specialize in Chinese food. Location: Karve Road
Jayashree PavBhaji – One of the early Pav Bhaji and Juice specialists. Location: Tilak Road (near Sarasbag).
Khyber – Famous for Punjabi food/Tandoor – one of the earliest places in Deccan Gymkhana area (since 1960s)
Kwality – Punjabi and Continental (around since 1960s). Location: East Street
Lateefs
Mona Foods - Famous for their Chana Bhatoras. Location M.G. Road
Coffee House – Famous for their British Menu (dated back to 1930s) – Fish & Chips, Mutton Cutlet, etc. Shutdown in 1980s and was replaced by a South Indian Snacks restaurant (quite popular) with the same name. Location: Camp
Amir Hotel (Peshwa Inn) – One of the best fine multi-cuisine restaurants in Pune of the 1970s/80s. Unfortunately the hotel was shut down in the 1990s. Was located near Pune Station.
Blue Diamond – Great multi-cuisine restaurant (Ashwamedh) and coffee shop - back when Pune had only one 5 Star Hotel! The restaurant has since been replaced by a couple of other ones.
One Year Of Blogging – Musings Of A Global Citizen
Today, I complete one year in blogosphere. It has been an interesting and fulfilling journey with over 50 Posts and over 400 Comments. Many thanks to everyone who provided feedback and support! I realize that my list of topics is extremely diverse; and it was great to get inputs for all of them.
Over this past week, I spent some time thinking about the 10 articles I liked the most. It was a hard choice, but this is what I came up with.
As always, your overall thoughts and comments are most welcome – as I continue with the musings of a global citizen.
Driving In Europe – How It’s Different From U.S.
The Greatest Technological Achievement Of The 20th Century – The Apollo 11 Mission To Moon
An Indian Road Trip in the 1980s – We sure have come a long way!
Can Pune Emulate The Silicon Valley Technology Startup Ecosystem?
Slumdog Millionaire – The Most Over Hyped, Most Average Movie Ever?
Did India Skip The 20th Century?
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