Ep 294: Dance Dance For the Halva Waala
The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma
Is There a Single Takeaway From a Film?
A lot of cultural criticism these days is centred on ideology. We just sort of layknow, just looking for that one easy take away from it. With a good film, with a Ith a good, complex film, they won't have those answers. And i think that also is very often a function of just, you know, we have very finite time too.
You can lose yourself in cinema -- and you can find yourself in it. Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty join Amit Varma in episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the films in their lives, why we should watch old films, why we should watch new films, why Bollywood and Hollywood and other woods are all great, and why we live in a wonderful technicolor world. This episode is a celebration of cinema!
(For full linked show notes, go to SeenUnseen.in.)
Also check out: 1. Jai Arjun Singh on Twitter and Instagram. 2. Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai -- Subrat Mohanty and Pavan Jha's podcast. 3. Jai Arjun Singh Lost It at the Movies -- Episode 230 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. Jabberwock — Jai Arjun Singh’s blog. 5. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron: Seriously Funny Since 1983 — Jai Arjun Singh. 6. The World of Hrishikesh Mukherjee -- Jai Arjun Singh. 7. Popcorn Essayists: What Movies do to Writers -- Edited by Jai Arjun Singh. 8. The Golden Era -- Subrat Mohanty's YouTube playlist of 100 lesser-known songs from the golden era of Hindi film music (mostly 1935-65). 9. The Unseen Lata -- Subrat Mohanty's YouTube playlist of 54 lesser-heard songs from Lata Mangeshkar, from 1948 to 1976. 10. Old posts by Subrat Mohanty from the Passion For Cinema web archives. 11. Some Spotify playlists, courtesy Nishant Shah, from Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai episodes: 1, 2, 3, 4. 12. Pavan Jha's YouTube channel. 13. The only 1980s Maltova Mum commercial I could locate from the 1980s. (Couldn't find Singer.) 14. Kashmir Ki Kali -- Shakti Samanta. 15. Mughal-E-Azam -- K Asif. 16. Khuda Nigehbaan Ho -- Song from Mughal-E-Azam, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni. 17. Cinema Paradiso -- Giuseppe Tornatore. 18. Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan -- talk show by Tabassum. 19. Old episodes of Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan with RD Burman, Deepti Naval, Anand Bakshi and Bhupinder. 20. The Indiana Jones and Superman franchises. 21. The Evil Dead -- Sam Raimi. 22. Sam Raimi, Wes Craven and John Carpenter. 23. The Fugitive and The Bodyguard. 24. The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- Milan Kundera. 25. The Antichrist -- Friedrich Nietzsche. 26. The 400 Blows -- Francois Truffaut. 27. Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom -- Pier Paolo Pasolini. 28. Łódź Film School and Andrzej Wajda. 29. Do the Right Thing -- Spike Lee. 30. On Exactitude in Science (Wikipedia) -- Jorge Luis Borges. 31. Titus Andronicus -- William Shakespeare. 32. A Chess Story (previously published as The Royal Game) -- Stefan Zweig. 33. The World of Yesterday -- Stefan Zweig. 34. The Friday the 13th franchise. 35. Tracy and Hepburn -- Garson Kanin. 36. Bhimsen Joshi, Mallikarjun Mansur, Kumar Gandharva and Lata Mangeshkar on Spotify. 37. Vijay Anand, Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. 38. Guide -- Vijay Anand. 39. Kaagaz Ke Phool -- Guru Dutt. 40. Jean-Luc Godard and Federico Fellini. 41. Shankar–Jaikishan, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, Mukesh, KA Abbas, Ramanand Sagar and Kidar Sharma. 42. Aag, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Awaara, Barsaat and Shree 420.43. Nargis and Nadira. 44. Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh -- Song from Shree 420, sung by Asha Bhosle and Manna Dey, music by Shankar-Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra. 45. Orson Welles. 46. Squid Game on Netflix. 47. The Immediate Experience -- Robert Warshow. 48. Dil Dhadakne Do, Luck by Chance and Gully Boy -- Zoya Akhtar. 49. Casablanca -- Michael Curtiz. 50. Yudh and Tridev -- Rajiv Rai. 51. Amit Varma’s Twitter threads on the MAMI festival from 2018 and 2019. 52. The Art of Translation -- Episode 168 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arunava Sinha). 53. Dead Poet's Society -- Peter Weir. 54. The desire to help, and the desire not to be helped — Roger Ebert’s review of Goodbye Solo. 55. Pauline Kael on Amazon. 56. Dekalog — Krzysztof Kieślowski. (And Roger Ebert’s essay on it.) 57. The Dead — John Huston. 58. In the Bedroom -- Todd Field. 59. Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) and Parineeta (Pradeep Sarkar). 60. Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth. 61. Raag Darbari (Hindi) (English) — Shrilal Shukla. 62. PG Wodehouse on Amazon and Wikipedia. 63. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 64. Dharmyug and Dharamvir Bharati. 65. Andha Yug (Hindi) (English) -- Dharamvir Bharati. 66. Suraj ka Satvaan Ghoda -- Dharamvir Bharati. 67. Gunahon Ka Devta — Dharamvir Bharati. 68. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 69. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 70. Anil Biswas, SD Burman, Chitragupt, Roshan, C Ramchandra and Madan Mohan. 71. Naushad and Aan. 72. Maan Mera Ehsan -- Song from Aan, sung by Mohammad Rafi, music by Naushad, lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni. 73. Sebastian D'Souza, Anthony Gonsalves, Ghulam Mohammed and Mohammed Shafi. 74. Khayyam and RD Burman. 75. The Long Tail -- Chris Anderson. 76. The Sound of Music -- Robert Wise. 77. Do-Re-Mi -- Song from The Sound of Music. 78. Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi on Spotify. 79. Tosca -- Giacomo Puccini -- performed at Arena di Verona. 80. Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Lizzo and Billie Eilish on Spotify. 81. About That Time -- Lizzo. 82. Renaissance -- Beyoncé. 83. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil -- Karan Johar. 84. Aar Paar, Geeta Dutt and Eminem. 85. Pet Shop Boys, Guns N' Roses, U2, REM and Stone Temple Pilots on Spotify. 86. Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. 87. How This Nobel Has Redefined Literature -- Amit Varma. 88. Mera Joota Hai Japani -- Song from Shree 420, sung by Mukesh, music by Shankar-Jaikishen, lyrics by Shailendra. 89. Sahir Ludhianvi and Majrooh Sultanpuri. 90. Do Bigha Zamin -- Bimal Roy. 91. Dharti Kahe Pukaar Ke -- Song from Do Bigha Zamin, sung by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar, music by Salil Chowdhury, lyrics by Shailendra. 92. Varun Grover Is in the House -- Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 93. Mondegreen. 94. Tragedy -- Bee Gees. 95. Aap Jaisa Koi -- Song from Qurbani, sung by Nazia Hassan, music by Biddu Appaiah, lyrics by Masth Ali & Shashi Pritam. 96. Ek Akela Is Shaher Mein -- Song from Gharaonda, sung by Bhupinder Singh, music by Jaidev, lyrics by Gulzar. 97. Jonathan Haidt on Amazon. 98. Amar Akbar Anthony and Andrei Tarkovsky. 99. 2001: A Space Odyssey -- Stanley Kubrick. 100. Mirza Ghalib (and the show on him by Gulzar). 101. Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, Jackson Pollock, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso and the Pre-Raphaelites. 102. The Wire, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. 103. Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, Coen Brothers and Preston Sturges. 104. Ball of Fire -- Howard Hawks. 105. The Lady Eve -- Preston Sturges. 106. Barbara Stanwyck and Lawrence Olivier. 107. Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma and Alfred Hitchcock. 108. How to Read and Why -- Harold Bloom. 109. Malayankunju -- Sajimon Prabhakar. 110. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar -- Prakash Mehra. 111. Agatha Christie on Amazon and Wikipedia. 112. Nayak -- Satyajit Ray. 113. Prakash Mehra and Kader Khan. 114. Laawaris -- Prakash Mehra. 115. Don and Majboor. 116. Sample SSR conspiracy theory: He’s alive! 117. David Cronenberg. 118. Masaan — Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and written by Varun Grover. 119. Moonlight — Barry Jenkins. 120. Chacha Bhatija, Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony and Dharam Veer -- Manmohan Desai. 121. Man, Woman and Child -- Erich Segal. 122. Man, Woman and Child (1983 film) -- Dick Richards. 123. Masoom -- Shekhar Kapoor. 124. Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Mrinal Sen and Robert Bresson. 125. Au Hasard Balthazar -- Robert Bresson. 126. Uski Roti -- Mani Kaul. 127. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 128. Calcutta 71 -- Mrinal Sen. 129. Ivan's Childhood, Solaris and Andrei Rublev -- Andrei Tarkovsky. 130. Stanislaw Lem on Amazon and Wikipedia. 131. Cahiers du Cinéma and Mayapuri. 132. Black Friday and Paanch -- Anurag Kashyap. 133. Navdeep Singh, Sudhir Mishra, Neeraj Ghaywan, Raj Kumar Gupta and Rajkumar Kohli. 134. Nagin and Nagina. 135. Jaani Dushman -- Rajkumar Kohli. 136. Three Colors: Blue -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 137. Three Colors: Red -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 138. Three Colors: White -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 139. The Double Life of Veronique -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 140. The legendary Babbar Subhash. 141. Dance Dance -- Babbar Subhash. 142. Aagaya Aagaya Halwa Wala -- Song from Dance Dance. 143. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro -- Kundan Shah. 144. Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar -- Song from CID, sung by Shamshad Begum, Asha Bhosle and Mohammad Rafi., music by OP Nayyar, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. 145. Rote Hue Aate Hain Sab -- Song from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, sung by Kishore Kumar, music by Kalyani-Anandji, lyrics by Anjaan. 146. Kai Baar Yun Bhi Dekha Hai -- Song from Rajnigandha, sung by Mukesh, music by Salil Chowdhury, lyrics by Yogesh. 147. Rim Jhim Gire Saawan -- Song from Manzil, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, music by RD Burman, lyrics by Yogesh. 148. Andrew Sarris and André Bazin. 149. Sergei Eisenstein and the Odessa Steps sequence. 150. Court — Chaitanya Tamhane. 151. Khosla Ka Ghosla, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Love Sex Aur Dhokha, Shanghai and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! -- Dibakar Banerjee. 152. Jean Renoir. 153. Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu. 154. Tokyo Story -- Yasujirō Ozu. 155. Rashomon -- Akira Kurosawa. 156. The 2012 Sight and Sound poll of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time. 157. Early Summer -- Yasujirō Ozu. 158. Make Way for Tomorrow -- Leo McCarey. 159. Citizen Kane -- Orson Welles. 160. Vertigo -- Alfred Hitchcock. 161. Setsuko Hara. 162. Sara Akash -- Basu Chatterjee. 163. Bhuvan Shome -- Mrinal Sen. 164. KK Mahajan. 165. One Cut of the Dead -- Shin'ichirō Ueda. 166. Unsane -- Steven Soderbergh. 167. Promising Young Woman -- Emerald Fennell. 168. Psycho -- Alfred Hitchcock. 169. Hitchcock's Films Revisited -- Robin Wood. 170. Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Witness, Dead Poet's Society and The Truman Show -- Peter Weir. 171. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. 172. John Ford and Girish Shahane. 173. Everything is Cinema -- Don Palathara. 174. Hi Mom! -- Brian De Palma. 175. Taxi Driver -- Martin Scorcese. 176. Joyful Mystery -- Don Palathara. 177. The Postman Always Rings Twice -- Tay Garnett. 178. Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- John Huston. 179. Noir’s arc - notes on an excellent anthology -- Jai Arjun Singh. 180. Key Largo -- John Huston. 181. Gun Crazy -- Joseph H Lewis. 182. Sullivan's Travels -- Preston Sturges. 183. O Brother, Where Art Thou? -- Coen Brothers. 184. Winchester '73 and Bend of the River -- Anthony Mann. 185. Shaheed (1948) -- Ramesh Saigal, starring Dilip Kumar. 186. Andaz -- Mehboob Khan. 187. Duniya Na Mane -- V Shantaram. 188. Some Like it Hot and Ace in the Hole -- Billy Wilder. 189. Ernst Lubitsch and James Wong Howe. 190. Sweet Smell of Success -- Alexander Mackendrick. 191. Mere Apne -- Gulzar. 192. Haal Chaal Thik Thak Hai -- Song from Mere Apne, sung by Kishore Kumar and Mukesh, music by Salil Chowdhury, lyrics by Gulzar. 193. Mr Sampat -- SS Vasan. 194. Miss Malini -- Kothamangalam Subbu. 195. Mr. Sampath: The Printer Of Malgudi -- RK Narayan. 196. Achhe Din Aa Rahe Hain -- Song from Mr Sampat, sung by Shamshad Begum and ML Vasantakumari, music by Balkrishna Kalla, lyrics by Pandit Indra Chander. 197. Parakh -- Bimal Roy. 198. O Sajna Barkha Bahaar Aayee -- Song from Parakh, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, music by Salil Chowdhury, lyrics by Shailendra. 199. Oonche Log -- Phani Majumdar. 200. Major Chandrakanth -- K Balachander. 201. Jaag Dil-E-Deewana -- Song from Oonche Log, sung by Mohammad Rafi, music by Chitragupt, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. 202. Birendranath Sircar, RC Boral and Timir Baran. 203. PC Barua, Bimal Roy and KL Saigal. 204. Devdas (1936) -- PC Barua. 205. President -- Nitin Bose. 206. Ek Bangla Bane Nyara -- Song from President, sung by KL Saigal, music by RC Boral, lyrcs by Kidar Sharma. 207. Street Singer -- Phani Majumdar. 208. Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Hi Jaye -- Song from Street Singer, sung by KL Saigal, music by RC Boral, lyrics by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. 209. Wajid Ali Shah. 210. Shatranj Ke Khilari -- Satyajit Ray. 211. Duniya, Yeh Duniya, Toofan Mail-- Song from Jawab, sung by Kanan Devi, music by Kamal Dasgupta, lyrics by Pandit Madhur. 212. Rajnigandha -- Basu Chatterjee. 213. Rajnigandha/राजनीगंधा -- Mannu Bhandari. 214. The Conversation -- Francis Ford Coppola. 215. Deer Hunter -- Michael Cimino. 216. The Godfather -- Francis Ford Coppola. 217. The Godfather: Part 2 -- Francis Ford Coppola. 218. Sisters -- Brian De Palma. 219. Blow Out -- Brian De Palma. 220. Blowup -- Michelangelo Antonioni. 221. The Long Goodbye and Nashville -- Robert Altman. 222. The Missouri Breaks -- Arthur Penn. 223. The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, What's Up, Doc? and Targets -- Peter Bogdanovich. 224. This is Orson Welles -- Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich. 225. Hitchcock -- Francois Truffaut. 226. Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep and To Have and Have Not -- Howard Hawks. 227. The Big Sleep -- Raymond Chandler. 228. William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway on Amazon. 229. Johny Mera Naam and Jewel Thief -- Vijay Anand. 230. Sholay -- Ramesh Sippy. 231. Back to the Future -- Robert Zemeckis. 232. Mr India -- Shekhar Kapoor. 233. Rahul Rawail, JP Dutta, Mukul Anand and Rajiv Rai. 234. Hathyar and Ghulami -- JP Dutta. 235. Raat Bhat Jaam Se Jaam Takrayega -- Song from Tridev with galaxy of villains. 236. Naseeb -- Manmohan Desai. 237. Dan Dhanoa, Mahesh Anand, Dalip Tahil and Tej Sapru. 238. The Ramsay Brothers! 239. Don't Disturb the Dead: The Story of the Ramsay Brothers -- Shamya Dasgupta. 240. Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche -- Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay. 241. Veerana -- Ramsay Brothers. 242. Purana Mandir -- Ramsay Brothers. 243. Govinda! 244. Ilzaam -- Shibu Mitra. 245. I am a Street Dancer and Main Aaya Tere Liye from Ilzaam. 246. Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction -- Quentin Tarantino. 247. Halloween -- John Carpenter. 248. A Nightmare on Elm Street -- Wes Craven. 249. Scream -- Wes Craven. 250. Terminator 2: Judgment Day -- James Cameron. 251. Mad Max: Fury Road -- George Miller. 252. Nicholas Cage and Keanu Reeves. 253. Wild at Heart -- David Lynch. 254. Red Rock West -- John Dahl. 255. The Last Seduction -- John Dahl. 256. Edward Norton in American History X and Rounders. 257. New Delhi Times -- Ramesh Sharma. 258. Drohkaal -- Govind Niahalani. 259. Gupt and Mohra by Rajiv Rai. 260. Sonam! 261. Wild -- Nicolette Krebitz. 262. Waves -- Trey Edward Shults. 263. Climax -- Gaspar Noé. 264. Mother! -- Darren Aronofsky. 265 Eho — Dren Zherka. 266. The Magic Mountain -- Thomas Mann. 267. Invisible Cities -- Italo Calvino. 268. Cosmicomics -- Itali Calvino. 269. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller -- Italo Calvino. 270. A House For Mr Biswas -- VS Naipaul. 271. A Bend in the River -- VS Naipaul. 272. Middlemarch -- George Eliot. 273. Mrs Dalloway -- Virginia Woolf. 274. To the Lighthouse -- Virginia Woolf. 275. Decline and Fall -- Evelyn Waugh. 276. Scoop -- Evelyn Waugh. 277. Brighton Rock -- Graham Greene. 278. Brighton Rock (1948 film) -- John Boulting. 279. Kingsley Amis and Martin Amis. 280. Lucky Jim -- Kingsley Amis. 281. The Siege Of Krishnapur -- JG Farrell. 282. Alfie -- Lewis Gilbert. 283. Get Carter -- Mike Hodges. 284. Blame it on Rio -- Stanley Donen. 285. Gangs of Wasseypur -- Anurag Kashyap. 286. Tamas -- Govind Nihalani. This episode is sponsored by Capital Mind. Check out their offerings here. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art by Simahina, in a homage to Jackson Pollock.
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