bataane se baat hee paraayee hotee hai babuji, paraaye apne nahee.n ho jaate

Film : Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Year of release : 1978

Spoken by : Roopa (Zeenat Aman)

Spoken to : Ranjeev (Shashi Kapoor)

Dialogue writer : Jainendra Jain

A film about beauty and how it is perceived. Ranjeev dislikes ugliness of every sort. So much so that when his BaDe Babu (David) shows him his reflection in a funny mirror (which distorts the reflection), he recoils in horror. Roopa is an otherwise beautiful girl with a figure to die for, but one side of her face is scarred. She however presents (initially due to a coincidence and later by design) only her left profile, which leads him to believe that she is beautiful. But like with all Indian heroines, moral pangs catch up with her and this scene features her in the temple in a moral quandary about keeping her scarred face from Babuji (Shashi Kapoor). Ranjeev comes in to the temple at that moment and sees her crying. He asks her,

"kyaa baat hai"

She says

"kuchh nahee.n"

He persists

"Roopa kyaa baat hai, bataaogii nahee.n mujhe"

She comes up with this line.

"bataane se baat hee paraayee hotee hai babuji, paraaye apne nahee.n ho jaate. jaane deejiye mujhe"

"बताने से बात ही पराई होती है बाबूजी, पराये अपने नहीं हो जाते. जाने दीजिये मुझे"

This dialogue has been suggested by the same man who inspired the creation of this blog. He has never been able to convince me that this is a great line. But has gamely tried for over 3 years now. I have finally deferred to his wish. 

Please do let me know, if you like this line. It essentially suggests - to quote my friend "99% of the people do not listen to your woes with an effort to empathise. They just listen for the fun of it. And hence you should be careful while sharing your sorrows with others - no matter how sympathetic they might seem."

My friend also deserves an award for noting a dialogue of Zeenat Aman from SSS. Most other men were too busy elsewhere. 

Comes at around 1 hour 15 minutes into the movie. 

mujhe laDkiyo.n ke dil se koee dilchaspii nahee.n, isiiliye to aaj tak zindaa hoo.n

Film : Don
Year of release : 1978
Spoken by : Don (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Sonia/Kamini (Helen)
Dialogue writer : Salim Javed


This line comes in the scene just before the song "Yeh mera dil". The 2006 version dropped this line while retaining the earlier, 'romantic baate.n mujhe bahut bore kartee hai.n' line. So I thought I might bring up this line up. Ideal time. Valentine season!

Sonia (Kamini) responds to Don's 'romantic baate.n' jibe with this line -

"insaan ye jaan saktaa hai ki chaand aur sooraj me.n kyaa chhupaa hai, lekin ye kabhii naheen jaan saktaa, ki ek laDkii ke dil me.n kyaa chhupaa hai."

Don continues in his laconic way, with this line -

"mujhe laDkiyon ke dil se koee dilchaspii nahee.n, iseeliye to aaj tak zindaa hoo.n....  oh god getting late."

"मुझे लडकियों के दिल से कोई दिलचस्पी नहीं, इसीलिये तो आज तक ज़िन्दा हूं"

Jab aag jalegii sab haath taapne dauDenge

Film : Junoon

Year of release : 1978

Spoken by : Sarfaraaz Khan (Naseeruddin Shah)

Spoken to : Hafeez Khan (Benjamin Gilani)

Dialogue writer : Prof Satyadev Dubey and Ismat Chugtai

The upcoming Vishal Bharadwaj film Saat Khoon Maaf reminded me of the earlier film that was based on  a Ruskin Bond novel - Junoon (Flight of the Pigeons). Wonder why I did not feature it on the blog earlier?

The background of the film is the 1857 revolt and the events that happened in and around Delhi. Sarfaraaz was part of the battalion of which Mangal Pandey was a part. He is constantly ranting about the 'firangees' and their atrocities. He is also on a sort of recruitment drive for soldiers as he believes the British rule India was about to come to an end.  Sarfaraaz tells  Hafeez Khan (Benjamin Gilani) that they should also join the revolt, Hafeez is unsure and looks up to his cousin Javed Khan (Shashi Kapoor) for direction. But Javed is not present at that moment. Hafeez says,

"ham to aapke saath hai.n...agar Javed bhai...."

Sarfaraaz interrupts him and says,

"Hafeez, jab aag jalegii sab haath taapne dauDenge...Jaaved bhaai bhi..."

"हफ़ीज़, जब आग जलेगी, सब हाथ तापने दौड़ेंगे...जावेद भाई भी..." 

referring to the inevitability of the revolt spreading throughout the country. So true. On the eve of the 62nd Republic Day, I think about all those who literally lit that fire, because as Sarfaraaz said, there is no shortage of people to bask in the warmth of a fire which is already lit. The ones who actually light the fire are rare...As my boss used to say, 

"Many talk, few do"

So spare a thought for those who light such fires. And if you want to know what happens to them in the end (in case you haven't already guessed it) watch this movie. On second thoughts, do watch out for a fire that is lit. Much more simpler to run towards it...

bardaasht kii koii had naheeN hotee

Film: Besharam
Year of release: 1978
Spoken by: Ramchandraji (A K Hangal)
Spoken to: Ram (Amitabh Bachchan)

A K Hangal should have debuted on this blog with that classic from Sholay "itnaa sannaaTaa kyoN haiN bhai". But as luck would have it, it is this line that marks his debut here.

Besharam is directed by Deven Verma and is one of Amitabh's weak films. This is the only film in which Amitabh plays the role of an LIC agent (probably explains the title :))

Pande (Jagdish Raj) is insulting his father Ramchandraji in Ram's presence. Tony (Imtiaz Khan) taunts Ram about his predicament. Ram goes and grabs Tony's collar. His father stops him. Ram angrily says

"Bardaasht kii bhii koii had hotee hai"
"बर्दाश्त की भी कोई हद होती है"

Ramchandraji very calmly responds:

"bardaasht kii koee had naheeN hotee...kuttaa agar aadmii ko kaaT le to aadmii kutte ko naheeN kaaTtaa"
"बर्दाश्त की कोई हद नहीं होती...कुत्ता अगर आदमी को काट ले तो आदमी कुत्ते को नहीं काटता"

Of course, as the film goes on to prove, that he was not quite right. But then this was an interesting line.

BaDe log badtameezee bhee karte haiN to baDee

Film : Main Tulsi tere Aangan Ki
Year of release : 1978
Spoken by : Thakur Ajmer Singh (Goga Kapoor)
Spoken to : Ajay Chauhan (Vinod Khanna)

During a polo match, Naini (Neeta Mehta) also comes to join Ajay and Pratap (Deb Mukherjee)'s team. Thakur Ajmer Singh (the opponents' captain Goga Kapoor) suggests that Naini is being included to distract them. He says

"कभी हम इनकी ख़ूबसूरत आंखों को देखेंगे, कभी हम इनकी पतली कमर को देखेंगे, कभी..."
"kabhii hum inkee khoobsoorat aankhoN ko dekhenge
kabhee hum inkee patlee kamar ko dekhenge, kabhee... "
"Ajmer singh, shut up", says Naini. If she had not interjected (on behalf of the censors methinks), Ajmer would have made some uncivil references about some body parts of Naini.
Ajay says they didn't need distractions to beat Ajmer. But he says he was surprised such a "puraane thakur vansh kaa sapoot ek laDkee se itnee baDee badtameezee kar rahaa hai".

Ajmer comes up with a line that could be best described as 'noblesse oblige' in reverse.

"BaDe log badtameezee bhee karte haiN to baDee"

"बड़े लोग बद्तमीज़ी भी करते हैं तो बड़ी"

There was a time when you would expect eminent people to be role models. These days if at all they are role models - then it is for the wrong things.

So if you belong to the tribe called 'baDe log' and are wont to committing 'badtameezee', justify your acts with this classic,

बड़े लोग बद्तमीज़ी भी करते हैं तो बड़ी

Isiiliye to paidal jaa rahe ho

Kamal Kapoor was a lesser known relative of Raj Kapoor. In the movie Don, he plays Narang who is instrumental in getting Jasjeet (Pran) back into the folds of crime. In Farhan Akhtar’s 2006 version, Pavan Malhotra essays the role of Narang.

Jasjeet is an ace safecracker who is now going straight. He works in a circus as a trapeze artist. As an aside, this is a very funny costume that Jasjeet puts on – a black underwear on an all white body hugging dress. You can safely be expected to laugh for 93 minutes after seeing this costume once. Of course, you could laugh longer if you have the lung power. On his way back from one such performance, Narang accosts him. Narang is sitting in an expensive car. He offers Jasjeet another safecracking job. Jasjeet responds in characteristic Pran style

नही नारंग मै दूसरे रास्ते जा रहा हू
Kamal Kapoor retorts with the classic

इसीलिये तो पैदल जा रहे हो

This is Bollywood’s reference to the classic Robert Frost poem ‘The road not taken’

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Of course, the meaning has been slightly inverted by Narang here, though he is suggesting clearly that it is the road taken by Jasjeet, that has made all the difference.

Varnaa kyaa

A great line from the 1978 superhit Pati Patni aur Woh. I think this was the only comedy in the career of Baldev Raj Chopra (Yashraj Chopra's elder brother). He was more famous for his social films and thrillers. A standard tale (though uncommon at that time) of a husband, wife and the 'other' woman (the mistress), it also featured that very famous comedy song - ThanDe ThanDe paani se nahaanaa chaahiye".

The film starts around the time when Ranjeet Chaddha (Sanjeev Kumar) gets married to Sharda (Vidya Sinha). Ranjeet's friends tell him that in matters of the wife, the husband should always bat on the front foot and dominate her from the word go. They use a very quaint phrase for it - they call it "billii maarnaa" बिल्ली मारना.

Ranjeet takes their advice and constantly threatens Sharda. He tells her to do something quickly and ends the order with a very stentorian sounding

"varnaa" वर्ना

Whenever Sharda hears the 'varnaa' she completes the order on the double. However, one day when Ranjeet tells her that he has an early morning tour the next day and he wants hot water ready by 5 am. As is his wont. he adds the customary 'varnaa' in a threatening tone. Sharda loses her patience and turns around and asks Ranjeet

वर्ना क्या...?

varnaa kyaa...?

And a sheepish Ranjeet says

"वर्ना मै ThanDe paanee se hee nahaa लूंगा"

" varnaa maiN ThanDe paanee se hee nahaa loongaa"

So if you are being constantly bullied by someone - your boss, your spouse, your sibling - whoever. And you want to call his/her bluff, go ahead and say

"वर्ना क्या..."

Main aaj kal kamaal kar rahee hoon

I try and avoid Salim-Javed, but it is hard to do that. What a body of work they have!

More of matter and less of art. This line is from the 1978 Yash Chopra classic Trishul. Probably one of the earliest corporate warfare movies in Hindi cinema. Vijay Kumar (Amitabh Bachchan) is the illegitimate son of Raj Kumar Gupta (Sanjeev Kumar) and Shanti Devi (Waheeda Rehman). Vijay grows up with a burning desire to right the wrongs - perceived and real - done to his mother. After his mother's death, Vijay sets himself up as a builder who challenges the might of M/s RK Gupta. One of R K Gupta's employees - the very efficient Geeta (Raakhee Gulzar) - is fired by R K Gupta. He is under the impression that she has been passing vital information to Vijay. Although the misunderstanding is cleared up (in fact by Vijay himself in a dramatic moment), Geeta still decides to part ways with RK Gupta. Post her separation, she meets Vijay in a five star hotel coffee shop. Vijay starts the conversation with

"Geeta mujhe tumse kuchh kaam hai. isiiliye milnaa chaahtaa thaa. "

"aaj kal  kyaa kar rahee ho"

to which Raakhee responds with

"tumne sunaa hogaa, jo log kuchh nahee.n karte, kamaal karte hai.n. main aaj kal kamaal kar rahee hoo.n"

" तुमने सुना होगा, जो लोग कुछ नहीं करते, कमाल करते हैं. मैं आज कल कमाल कर रही हूं"

I haven't found a better description by lotus-eaters of their vocation. Nick Nolte came close in the Three Fugitives (1989) when he said "I am in between jobs". But this is really interesting. More so probably because it is in Hindi.

Literally it means "I am doing wonderfully well these days". But it would actually mean that you are doing nothing - simbly sitting idle (sic). So go ahead, when you do not have any work to do and someone asks you what you are doing, tell them

"मैं आज कल कमाल कर रहा/रही हूं"

Conversely, do not say "main kamaal kar rahaa hoon" unless you are implying that you are doing nothing. We live in strange times - all communication is strangely layered.