Video: A geometrical representation of Kashmir
Audio: A song by Tibet Bakal
Otto Lang’s ‘Search For Paradise’, 1957
At SearchKashmir not only are some old dreams of ‘Earthly Paradise Kashmir’ catalogued, but not so strangely it is also helping re-create some old dreams. Here is someone’s visual interpretation of Dimitri Tiomkin’s score for Otto Lang’s ‘Search For Paradise’ (1957). The film was about two WW-II pilots, two Marco-Polos searching for paradise in East and of course visit Kashmir. It is about the adventures they have, there are high flying planes (new Jet planes meant new age of science ), fast flowing rivers (there was US presence in the region) and invincible mountains (Nanga Parbat was conquered only in 1953).
Also this was probably the last time word ‘Shalimar’ was weaved into western classical music, a long tradition starting from Amy Woodforde-Finden setting Adela Florence Nicolson/Laurence Hope’s ‘Kashmiri Song’ to music in 1902.
Kikli for Heer
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| Heer Ranjha (aka Beauty of Punjab aka Hoore Punjab, 1929). Starring Sulochana (aka Ruby Meyers) and D.Billimoria. |
Kikali kalir di!
Hold hands and whirl around
My brother’s turban is brown
His wife’s veil is red
Which she just won’t shed
Heer comes from Kashmir
Ranjha is of Hindustan
~ A translation of Punjabi folk song ‘Kikali kalir di‘ by Nirupama Dutt (from ‘The Tenth Rasa: An Anthology of Indian Nonsense’ (2007)) from version given in ‘Punjabi lok Git’, compiled by Devendra Satyarthi and Mohinder Singh Randhaw in around 1956 and published in 1961. Kikali would be Punjabi equivalent of Kashmiri Hikat.
The usage of Kashmir and Hindustan in the lines, rather than alluding to origins of the fabled lovers, is meant as a tease, to show the incomparability of two. A popular device used in wedding songs to show the unbalanced scale between bride (usually on the higher end) and groom (at the lower end).
I came across it while looking for Devendra Satyarthi’s travelogue on Kashmir from 1930s (which I did manage to track down! And will make available soon. Available Here). Legendary Punjabi folklorist Devendra Satyarthi was the first to introduce Mehjoor’s work to India.
Now, re-watch Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar (2011), which was a re-take on story of Heer-Ranjha, with a Kashmiri Heer and an Indian Ranjha.
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Magic of the Mountains, 1955
Magic of the Mountains
Directed by Mushir Ahmed.
This collage of beautiful images was winner of President’s Gold Medal for the Best Documentary Film at 3rd National Film Awards of 1955.
And it has bits of Kashmiri music filtering in and out. (I believe legendary Raj Begum can also be heard in one of the songs.)
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Kashmir Before Our Eyes, in Thrissur, Kerala
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| Ajay Raina offering details to a man who wanted to show film about Bhands to his young students (‘The Play is on’ by Pankaj Rishi) and wanted to know more. |
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Snapshots:
A young man told Ajay Raina why in his film ‘Tell Them “The Tree they had Planted, Has Now Grown’, it seemed he was trying to balance things out. What didn’t he just point out ‘wrong’ as wrong? Why didn’t he put the blame somewhere
Ajay explained.
I remember when the film first came out in 2001, it was kind of a wake-up call. I call to return back to ‘our’ stories. It was inspiring. I was in college and there yet existed no middle discourse on Kashmir. No proper conversation. Thanks to the feast, I got a chance to talk to the filmmaker. Mostly talked about films and memories.
I asked the questioner if he was worried about Muslims, did the film make him fear them. He laughed and replied, ‘Why should I be! I am a Muslim. But a wrong is a wrong and has to be pointed out.’ He was concerned about the new trend of public Janmashtami celebrations in Kerala.
While talking about the films and the cultural spaces in Kashmir, Ajay was kind enough to introduce me to the audience and asked me to speak a bit. I mostly talked about other things. Like the fact, how Malayalam is living thriving language, that how the entire discussions on the films were mostly held in the local language. Something that the Kashmiri in me finds surprising.
Met ‘Cine Nun’, Sister Jesme, author of Amen, an autobiographical work dedicated to Jesus and critical of sexual repression in Catholic Kerala. She said she believed in Catholic Aesthetics.
A man asked me about my religious beliefs. I answered I had none worth speaking. He then introduced himself as a Rationalist born in a Muslim family. He wanted to know why wasn’t there a secret society of Rationalists/Atheists in Kashmir…could it be formed…would it help? I told him there are enough secret societies and enough open secrets in Kashmir. He asked me why was I wearing a naerwan.
A man asked me where was I from. I told him I was from no where in particular. ‘Good. I thought you are from JNU. I have lived in Delhi for 30 years.’ He then suggested a solution to Kashmir. ‘Kashmiris should be kept naked. They carry guns in pherans.’ I was reminded of a story about Akbar and the reason why it was said he introduced Pheran to Kashmir. ‘To make fierce Kashmiris effeminate,’ said Kashmiris to Angrez log.
A young student was happy about watching the films, it helped him know more about the Kashmiri friends he had back in Mangalore.
An old man, a teacher, asked Ajay Raina more about Bhands. He wanted to introduce his students to the folk art of Kashmir.
Kashmir in His Majesty’s Secret Service
And while we are still on philims…a bit of trivia.
What are the odds that a Bond flick would have two Kashmir born actresses in it? A million dollar odds.
Zaheera (credited as Zara) in her debut film ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969). She played the role of Indian ‘Angel of Death’ in this Bond flick.
Zara (21 at the time), was born in Kashmir and went to live in England when she was 12. And studied economics in London.
Joanna Lumley who played the English ‘Angel of Death’ in the film was born in Srinagar in 1946 to a British Indian Army officer.
Based on these facts, I declare ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’ (1969) to be the official favouritest Bond flick of all Kashmiris.
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Previously: Peter Fleming in Kashmir, 1935. The younger brother of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond fame.
Bilhana’s Love Story in Film
The Rafi song from Shabab (1954) [movie link], the initial line is from Zauq and rest of the lyrics are by Shakeel Badayuni.
Shabab (1954) was inspired by love story of 11th century Kashmiri poet Bilhana. The original story is available as: Bilhaniyam, play written by Narayana Shastri, then there is BilhaniyaKavya and the Bilhaniya-Charitra. And as Bilhaniyamu, a late-eighteenth-century Telugu reworking of a Sanskrit poem, deemed immoral in Victorian era. The episode is said to taken place in court of King Anhil Pattana of Gujarat, and may or may not have been biographical.
In the story, Bilhana is introduced as a blind man to a Princess he is supposed to teach. The princess is introduced to him as a leper. All this so that the handsome man does not seduce the Princess. But the ploy is exposed when Bilhana accidentally, in a moment of joy, describes in lucid details beauty of book. The veil of deception is lifted. The two naturally do end up falling in love. The King, of course, is not happy. So, ‘Off with the head’, he goes. While in prison, Bilhana composes 50 erotic verses that come to be known as Chaurapanchasika (the Fifty Stanzas of Chauras)[a vintage English edition]. There are multiple versions to the story. In the Southern version, the King is impressed by the verses, and the two get together. In the Kashmiri version, the poet awaits the judgement.
In the film version, to keep with the cinematic trends of the time, Bilhana meets a Devdas-ish end. And so does the heroine.
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Interestingly, there is South Indian film from 1948 called Bilhana inspired by the same story.
Kasam Tonight, 1947
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| Palladium. October 1947. |
Qasam: The film that was playing at Palladium in October 1947 as Srinagar prepared for war.
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| Remains of Palladium Cinema Hall, Lal Chowk, Srinagar. June, 2008. Burnt down in 1992. |
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Santosh Painter
Cut out this bit about Ghulam Rasool Santosh (Srinagar, 1929 – Delhi, 1997) from docu “Contemporary Indian Painting” (1985) by K. Bikram Singh. [Full film here]. famous for paintings replete with tantric motifs. Trained under N.S. Bendre.
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| Gandharbal Kashmir by N.S. Bendre. Previously: Kashmir Canvas of Bombay Progressives |
G. R. appended his Hindu wife’s name ‘Santosh’ to his after marriage. Daughter married a Hindu and son a Sikh. Lived in Delhi.
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My favorite G. R. Santosh anecdote that I first heard at Hari Parbat from an uncle:
When pandits started building a ‘modern-updated’ temple on Parbat, G. R. Santosh was a much saddened man. He had spent quite some time studying the hill looking for tantric motifs in its rocks, offering an entire aesthetic theory based on what he saw in the hill. Now there was a wall coming around the main syen’der-ed rock. He pleaded, he cried, told them to stop and not mess with the yantra. The work continued. A new temple came up around a rock caught in between marbled walls. A work that still continues.
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Kashmir in Kerala film fest
I spent this Sunday doing nothing but watching films and just films. Traveled from Cochin to Trivandrum to catch some short films made by Kashmiris on the “Pandit” experience.
First up was in “showcase” segment Siddharth Gigoo’s The Last Day (12 min.). Siddharth Gigoo was already was a poet, then a novelist and now he is a filmmaker. The scene he picked to shoot is something that a lot a pandit’s witnessed and can relate to. Old pandits slow dying in Jammu with fading memories of Kashmir. The execution is simple. Not bad for a first attempt.
Second up was Rajesh Jala’s 23 Winters (30 min.), competing in ‘Fiction’ category. The story follows the “Back to Kashmir” trip of a pandit in Delhi named Bhota (a popular nickname among pandits of a certain generation) who is suffering from schizophrenia. It makes strong use of visuals and sounds to put the viewer in the mind of the protagonist. The experience is unnerving. Specially when you know it is not fiction.
The director was present at the function, so later had a little chat with him over a coffee (which he generously sponsored). Rajesh Jala was living with the real life protagonist Bhota as a neighbor in a Delhi camp for nine years. When he started shooting him last year, he didn’t know Bhota was going to visit Kashmir and have a breakdown. Rajesh went back to Kashmir to trace him and get him medical help.
I could hear sneers in the hall during the screening. Rajesh probably heard that. Even though I didn’t ask, he did mention its not a film for everyone and its the only way he could have made this film.
The use of radio sounds in the film reminded me of a little video I made around 4 years ago:
In addition to these two movies, there was Firdous/Paradise (11 min) by Tushar Digambar More. What this film offers is the ‘military’ experience of Kashmir. The episode takes place inside an abandoned Pandit house where a group of troops and a local Muslim villager, under some sort of protective custody, take shelter during a “cordon and search” operation. Here they share a brief conversation on the former owners of the house. By the end of the story we realize, unknown to him, the helpful and decent villager has lost his house to the operation.
The surprise for me in this little film was a sequence in which an officer goes through an old family album he finds in the house. The bits and pieces from this blog have again helped someone fill a gap.
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| A screenshot from the film |
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| Photograph of of a Kashmiri Pandit Family taken in front of their farm house at a stones throw from the famous Neolithic site of Burzahom, Kashmir in 1930s. Shared by a reader, Man Mohan Munshi Ji, in 2010 |
Although the makers didn’t give credit or a line of thanks. Some of those images are from this this blog. Some from vintage books. Some shared generously by readers from their private albums.
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Oddly enough there was a Bulgarian film too that somehow reminded me of Kashmir. Tzvetanka by Youlian Tabakov (66 min). This stylish documentary tells the story of modern Bulgaria, mapping it to the events in the life of a girl born in a bourgeois family just before World War 2. By the end of the war, her idyllic life is destroyed with the coming of communist regime. The regime ends in 1989, democracy comes, she thinks the world will now be a better place. It turns out to be a mirage. She realizes world is still the same. It’s the same men from the regime now championing the cause of democracy. Revolution came and nothing changed. It is clear that this woman has seen a lot in her life and yet her love for life is unshakable and inspiring.
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After catching these films (and around 15 others), I headed further south to Kanyakumari. Where I was greeted by this:
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