tumhaare fatehpur me.n jo doodh rupaye kaa bees ser miltaa hai, jaante ho yahaa.n kitnaa milegaa

Film : Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam

Year of release : 1962

Spoken by : Master Babu (Krishan Dhawan)

Spoken to : Bhootnaath (Guru Dutt)

Dialogue writer : Abrar Alvi

Another round of increase in milk prices today, reminds me of this line and hence this unplanned post. There is nothing fantastic about this line in terms of language or delivery. But the content is certainly fantastic, when seen from the prism of 2012.  Probably 50 years hence, another blog reader would die reading this post. Probably someone might die even now. 

Bhootnath or Atulya Chatterjee has come from Fatehpur village in Nadia district to the big bad city of Kolkata. He comes to stay in the house of his 'mu.nhbola' jija or so-called brother in law i.e. Master Babu. Bhootnath expresses surprise over how everything is so big in the big city. 

"dada re dada, itte baDe baDe makaan hai.n yahaa.n - itte baDe baDe makaan. ki hamree to gardan hee ainTh gaee"

"दादा रे दादा, इत्ते बडे बडे मकान हैं यहां - इत्ते बडे बडे मकान. कि हमरी तो गर्दन ही ऐंठ गई"

Master Babu responds with 

"yahaa.n kii har baat baDee hai bhaiyya, makaan baDe, log baDe, naam baDe, daam bhee baDe. tumhaare fatehpur me.n jo doodh rupaye kaa bees ser miltaa hai, jaante ho yahaa.n kitnaa milegaa? gyaarah ser"

"यहां की हर बात बडी है भैय्या, मकान बडे, लोग बडे, नाम बडे, दाम भी बडे. तुम्हारे फ़तेहपुर में जो दूध रुपए का बीस सेर मिलता है, जानते हो यहां कितना मिलेगा? ग्यारह सेर"

All Bhootnath can manage is a bewildered monosyllable 

"sirf!"

I could not manage even that. 

A 'ser' is roughly equivalent to 1 kilogram. 1 kilogram is slightly more than 1 litre. So the equation here is more than 20 litres of milk for one rupee! That was the price in the village. The big bad city turned the equation into 11 litres of milk for one rupee. The current rate in Delhi is Rs 33. And today it goes up to Rs 35 per litre. That is a sustained rate of 12.65% compounded per annum over half a century. Forget property, forget stocks, forget gold. The thing you should invest is in milk. :)

Also reminds me of the other line by GhaDii Babu - ghaDii bhramnaashinii hai. Time can get rid of the worst presumptions and confusion. 

kaunsaa cigarette laaoo.n aap ke liye

Film : Dil Tera Diwana

Year of release : 1962

Spoken by : Diwan Badriprasad acting as Raamdeen driver (Ulhaas)

Spoken to : Mohan and Anokhe (Shammi Kapoor and Mehmood)

Dialogue writer : Pa NeelakanTan and Inder Raj Anand

This was a remake of the 1958 Sivaji Ganesan comedy Sabaash Meena. Great music by Shankar Jaikishan. This scene has subsequently been repeated in various forms in many films. The father is a martinet (Diwan Badriprasad) and the son (Mohan ) seeks some freedom. One day the son plans to sneak away to watch a play with his friend (Anokhe). Diwan senses this and asks the driver to slip away and takes his place. Mohan and Anokhe are oblivious that the driver is in fact Mohan's father. Mohan continues to curse his lack of freedom. They finally ask the driver to go and buy some cigarettes. Diwan is initially shocked at being asked to do that but recovers and turns around and asks the two

"kaunsaa cigarette laaoo.n aap ke liye?"

"कौनसा सिगरेट लाऊँ आपके लिये?"

In unison, both Mohan and Anokhe say

"Five, Five ..." and as they are about to say the last 'five', they see the face of the driver and together jump out of the car window. 

Absolute copy of the Sivaji/Chandrababu/SV Ranga Rao scene and I found the original more delightful. 

soorat se dil kaa pata naheeN chaltaa

Film : Prem Patra
Year of release : 1962
Spoken by : Dr Arun Kumar (Shashi Kapoor)
Spoken to : Arun's aunt

Dr Arun's aunt is eager to fix his marriage with the local landowner's daughter. This would help him to get the requisite money to fund his higher studies abroad. Dr Arun has been heartbroken because of his scholarship having been cancelled for a flimsy reason. So he has kind of resigned himself to his fate. His aunt is trying to emotionally blackmail him and says,

"chaaho to kal laRkee dekh aao "

"चाहो तो कल लड़की देख आओ"

"dekhne se kyaa hotaa hai. soorat se dil kaa pataa naheeN chaltaa. jab wo aapko pasand hai - to bas Theek hai"

"देखने से क्या होता है. सूरत से दिल का पता नहीं चलता, जब वो आपको पसन्द है - तो बस ठीक है"

In English there is a saying - face is the index of the mind. Here is a version trying to negate that saying. It is interesting that you can often find good lines contradicting the inherent wisdom in each other. Sometimes even in the same language.

chale to aRhaaii chaal nahee to chale hee naheeN

Film : Prem Patra
Year of release : 1962
Spoken by : Kavita's mother
Spoken to : Kavita (Sadhna)

This is a decent Bimal Roy film (not one of his best) with a very complicated story.

"Maa meraa iraadaa hai, maiN aaj raat hee ki gaaDee se Darjeeling chalee jaaooN"
"माँ मेरा इरादा है, मैं आज रात ही की गाड़ी से डार्जीलिंग चली जाऊं"

"Aaj kaise. parson to tere paas hone kee party jo hai?"
"आज कैसे? परसों तो तेरे पास होने की पार्टी जो है?"

"naheeN maa party rehne do. maiN aaj hee jaanaa chaahtee hooN"
"नहीं माँ पार्टी रहने दो. मैं आज ही जाना चाहती हूं"

"Ajeeb laRkee hai, chale to aRhaaii chaal, naheeN to chale hee naheeN"
"अजीब लड़की है, चले तो अढ़ाई चाल, नहीं तो चले ही नहीं"