Yeh kaisaa merii taraf hai

Dulhe Raja is one of the most delightful comedies that I have seen come out of Bollywood. It came out in 1998 when comedy was synonymous with Govinda. The story is about Raja (Govinda) who is a dhaabaa waalah (a roadside eatery) who has encroached land within a 5-star hotel which belongs to KK Singhania (Kader Khan). The film revolves around capers where Singhania tries to oust Raja from his land and how Raja constantly outwits Singhania. Singhania has a manager called Baanke (played by Johnny Lever). In the face-offs between Singhania and Raja, Baanke always sides with Raja. While he is the trusted lieutenant of Singhania, he seems to have a soft corner for Raja and helps him often. Singhania gets flustered with this and in one such instance asks him (with hand movements to support the question)

"tum uskee taraf (finger pointing to Raja) ho yaa merii taraf (finger pointing to himself)"

Baanke replies (with hand movements)

"sethji main to aapki taraf hoon (finger pointing to Raja)"

When he is saying this, Singhania looks at his finger's direction and mimicks him

"Yeh kaisaa merii taraf hai (points his finger towards Raja while doing this)"

ये कैसा मेरी तरफ है

Literally it means, you are saying that you are with me, but you seem to be actually with the other person.

Figuratively, it can be used in every such situation, where someone is claiming to be on your side, but actually behaving in a manner which suggests that he is with your opponent.

Sirf main hoon

Guide is is one of my favourite movies not because of any other reason but the music. I think SD Burman did a great job. I must have listened to the Guide - Jewel Thief cassette at least three hundred times during my teenage years, but I never realised that Kya se kyaa ho gayaa and Mose Chhal kiye jaaye are the same tune in two different voices. But then Lata and Rafi were great artistes and Shailendra was a great lyricist too. Enough raving about the music, come to the line featured here. This comes during the climax scene when Raju Guide (Dev Anand) is dying and he has a vision of his spirit (aatma) which goes into a Gitaesque gyaan session about how the spirit cannot be killed and is forever. But I really like the lines and I am going to repeat them verbatim

"maut ek Khayaal hai, jaise zindagi ek Khayaal hai. na sukh hai na dukh hai. na deen hai na duniya. na insaan na bhagwaan. sirf main . main hoon. main. main. sirf main"

"मौत एक ख़याल है जैसे ज़िन्दगी एक ख़याल है. न सुख है ना दुख है, न दीन है न दुनिया, न इंसान न भगवान. सिर्फ़ मैं. मैं हूं. मैं. मैं. सिर्फ़ मैं"

Now this is not a line that can be used unless you are dying and you have had a vision of your spirit. But the lines are powerful and can be used in a different way. We all live in a selfish world, where most of our actions are oriented towards pleasing one's own self. But at times you feel guilty about it. Selfishness is not a much appreciated quality - though we are all selfish. There has been no Gordon Gecko who has come and said something like 'Selfishness is good'. So whenever you need to 'justify' a seemingly selfish action. Use this line. For good measure use the entire dialogue. It works for me. Self is the only true god - worthy of worshipping.

"सिर्फ़ मैं हूं"

You had me at 'Hello'

Another line from an English movie. I try and avoid them, but some of them stake such a strong claim, that you cannot look away. This line is from the 1996 Tom Cruise - Renee Zellweger starrer, Jerry Maguire. Tom plays the eponymous role of Jerry, whereas Renee plays the role of his love interest Dorothy. The tag line of the movie was 'Everybody loved him...everybody disappeared'. In a competitive and cynical world, success is the only god and sports agent Jerry Maguire faces a lot of rough weather in his career. He has had a spat with Dorothy and Dorothy is with a support group of elderly and otherwise single women. They are all discussing how they hate men. And that is when Jerry walks in. He has had a big success in the face of a lot of adversity and feels empty as he is not able to share his success with someone he loves. He goes to the house where the support group is having a meeting, knocks and says 'hello...hello'. Then he goes on for 2 minutes and 47 seconds about how he is looking for his 'wife', how he would not allow her to get rid of him, how he wanted to share his success, how he felt incomplete without her, how he missed his 'wife' and so on. And then he says

"I love you, You...complete me...And I just...."

That's when Dorothy cuts in and says

"Shut up...shut up ...you had me at 'hello'"

The literal meaning of this is pretty obvious but figuratively can be used whenever you have agreed or accepted a proposal or suggestion from someone but the person goes on selling and persuading you. That's when you can say

"You had me at 'hello'

Whether you want to add the 'shut up' - now that I would leave to you.

Bas. Rulaayegaa kyaa

Munnabhai MBBS was one of the greatest hits of 2003. It is said that initially Shahrukh Khan was supposed to play the eponymous role that Sanjay Dutt eventually did with such elan. But apart from the commercial success that the film enjoyed, it was also a very well written movie with many memorable lines. The line featured here comes when Masood (the hospital sweeper played by Surendra Rajan) is cribbing about how many times he has to clean the same area in the hospital. Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) goes and gives him a big hug (or jaadoo kee jhappee) as he calls it and thanks him profusely. When he does that, Masood completely melts and his entire demeanour changes. As Munna continues reinforcing the positive message about his appreciation for what Masood does, Masood stops him short and says

"Bas. Rulaayegaa kyaa"

"बस. रुलायेगा क्या?"

Literally it means - enough, do you want me to break down and cry? But the figurative usage could be everytime, you have a discussion with a relative, a colleague or friend and that person is using a very sentimental tone. He could be praising you, thanking you or even referring to you - but in a sentimental or emotional manner. That is when you would say

"Bas rulaayegaa kyaa"

"बस रुलायेगा क्या"

Jab tum achchhaa kehtii ho to bahut hee achchaa lagtaa hai

Time to go back to Gulzar. This is one of my favourite lines ever. Featured in one of Gulzar's seminal movies - Aandhi (1975). The film is based on a female politician - Aarti Devi (played by Suchitra Sen) and her relationship with a hotelier - JK (Sanjeev Kumar). In this particular scene, Aarti is listening to JK reciting poetry over the phone. When he has finished reciting it, he asks Aarti - achchee hai naa?

Aarti reaffirms - "Bahut achchee hai"

JK says "Pataa hai...jab tum achchaa kehtii ho ...bahut hee achchaa lagtaa hai"

"पता है ...जब तुम अच्छा कहती हो ...बहुत ही अच्छा लगता है"

The line is pretty straightforward if you look at it. The male protagonist recited a poem, the female protagonist confirms her approval. But then the male protagonist says, that the approval - the praise becomes ten times more powerful and relevant when it comes from the female protagonist. And that is where lies the proverbial usage of this line. We all have our soft spots or hot spots or whatever else it is that HR calls it these days. These are things that motivate us. You could call them our drivers. Sometimes these 'things' that motivate us - these 'drivers' are not abstract but personified as individuals. So we like it when 'so and so' praises us. Whereas the same praise when received from another individual does not have the same impact. We all have people whose approval we cherish. Whose praise is something we look forward to. Or as JK said

"जब तुम अच्छा कहती हो ...तो बहुत ही अच्छा लगता है"

Arre naukree milee hai tankhaa naheeN

I have had a lot of queries on the line which features as the title of this blog. Many readers have asked me if I propose to explain this line in detail. I will, I will. But that will have to wait. For the moment, I am featuring another line from that cult classic - Chashme Baddoor.

Siddhaarth Paraashar (Faarooque Sheikh) is an intelligent and educated young man who is in love with Neha Raajan (Deepti Naval). They normally meet at Rajnigandha restaurant and have a tooty fruity ice cream and a coffee. So one day when Siddhaarth goes to meet Neha, he tells her that he has landed a job. Neha is thrilled. She immediately tells the waiter (Keemti Anand) to get a 'double tooty fruity' ice cream. Siddharth's immediate response is

"अरे नौकरी मिली है तंख़्वाह नही"
"Arre Naukri mili hai tankhaaah nahin"

A slightly ruder way of saying the same thing would be

"गांव बसा नही मंगते आ गये"

Literally, the featured line means that I have landed something good, but it is yet to yield fruits. So let us not jump to conclusions and get carried away.

This is a classic line, which I have used many times as a freelancer. If I had landed a lucrative assignment my friends would clamour for a 'treat'. And then I would say this line. So the next

"अरे नौकरी मिली है तंख़्वाह नहीं"

If you have a more thick skinned set of friends, use the other line

"गांव बसा नही मंगते आ गये"

Nayaa khel nayee taash

The Big B is back. This time from the 1976 movie Hera Pheri. In the movie Amitabh plays a conman - Vijay who,along with his partner in crime Ajay (Vinod Khanna) run various scams. In one such scam, Vijay goes to a gambling house and sits down on a high stakes table to play cards. The table is classified as 'no limit' by Asrani, who is a regular patron in that place. When Asrani welcomes Vijay to the table, he says

"Partner, kyaa khayaal hai - naye mehmaan ke saath nayaa khel? No limits? Cut for deal..."

As he proffers the deck of cards, Vijay in that familiar baritone says

"No - nayaa khel nayee taash"

"No नया खेल नयी ताश"

And he asks for a new deck of cards. When you start a new venture, or you take over as the head of an existing venture, many a times you would like to make a new beginning in more ways than one. It could mean a new office, a new car, new staff or even a new mobile phone. Some people take this to excessive limits too. But nonetheless, whenever you are in a new place, and you are trying to get something new, use this line

"नया खेल नयी ताश "