Bolly-mad!

I am sitting in front of the TV… ‘Chak de India’ movie is on and the final match is going to take place… Shah Rukh enters the dressing room of his team… at the same time, unnoticed by me, my husband has entered my room and is also watching the scene… the dressing room is energized waiting for the final… here I m also excited, in my mind I have also become part of the team… Shah Rukh is going to address his team one last time before they take the field… the environment is tense…

“Sattar Minute…!!!” I say with passion…and my husband jumps from where he is sitting… “Arre are u doing PhD or what, keep quiet!” , he says, startled by my sudden exclamation…

A second later, Shah Rukh echoes the same, “Sattar Minute”, as if on cue from me… and I say to poor hubby: “dekha, maine use sikhaaya!”…!!!

Bollywood movies have always held a special place in the heart of us bolly-mads. Some actors have had a dedicated fan following due to certain mannerisms, peculiar dialogue delivery or particular dress sense.

My friend Vinay has been a great fan of Dharmendra since he was a kid. Not a day passes when he does not say one of the following memorable dialogues:

“Kutte, kaminey, main tera khoon pee jaoonga!” (most famous)
“Basanti, in kutton ke saamne mat naachna!” (from the classic, Sholay)
“Maa kasam, chunn chunn ke maroonga!” (eeks, violent!)

He also declaims the dialogues in the inimitable Dharam style which sounds more like he is constipated and just wants to escape after delivering the dialogue…!!! And when he is not sprouting dialogues, he entertains us with ‘Dharmendra Dance’ imitations… who can forget the funny dance moves of Dharam, esp in the song ‘Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana’ ?

While in hostel, I had the chance of being with one of the most bolly-mad people I have come across, my friend Reshma. We used to watch movies on the hostel TV, usually when the warden was too busy to stop us or too fed up to do so…! The first time I sat with Resh for a movie was when ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ was being telecast. I love these family movies where things always turn right in the end. I was watching with rapt attention but my attention was repeatedly diverted by something which was sounding suspiciously like the dialogues of the movie being echoed. I finally turned around to check and what did I see... Resh was actually mouthing all dialogues first before the characters…I mean, all of them!!! She gave me an apologetic smile; I guess she just can’t control herself when in front of a bollywood film. And guess what, I almost fell off my chair with laughter when I heard Resh making shehnai sounds which were part of the background score (before Mohnish Behl’s wedding, in case u want to know) exactly in sync with the tune…!!! Now will u call Resh mad or genius? To me, she is just another Bolly-mad!

As for me, I have PhDs in a lot of Bollywood movies. And of course, most of them star my favorite Shah Rukh. If I am teary eyed at “Agar Ganga ki hifaazat karna pyar hai, to hai, pyar hai!” (from Pardes), I m lost in the magic of romance during “Paas, aur paas…” (from Dil to Pagal Hai)… I cry when Kajol bids adieu to Shah Rukh standing on the train footboard in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and I cry again seeing salt n pepper haired Shah Rukh n Preity unite after years of judaai in Veer Zaara. Sniff sniff… I need some more tissues now…!!!

When I was in school, we used to declaim speeches like ‘Friends Romans n Countrymen, lend me your ears…’! I sometimes wonder if a day will come when a generation of school kids will stand in declamation competitions with the followings entries:

“Sattar minute!”
“Aadarniya Sabhapti Mahodaya!” (need an introduction? Chatur’s speech in 3 Idiots)
“Main kaidi no. 786” (Veer Zaara)

And so on n so forth… and on that day, we will well n truly have a generation of Bolly-mads!!!