Why Five ?

What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

There are many movies and TV Serials which I have watched several times. Perhaps even more than five times. Watching a movie again and again depends on its repeat value, my mood set and memory trigger.

While I write this post, I feel the craving again to rewatch a few films in the list. That’s memory trigger.

A movie is oft – viewed if the marginal utility of seeing it recurrently does not diminish. That’s repeat value.

The longing to see a particular movie once again is solely dependent on its genre. Suppose I want to watch a good mind tickling whodunnit and unable to find something interesting enough then I may go back to watching an old one. That is mood set.

Having defined all the factors let me tell you all that I never get bored watching Sir David Suchet as the inimitable Poirot in the TV dramatization of all Christie novels now streaming on OTT.

The same goes for Ms Marple mystery series too although the role of the wooly detective has been played by different actresses.

Apart from the above, a gist of a few movies/serial amongst many, which I have watched quite a number of times are given below :

Zindagi Gulzar Hai (ZGH – Life In Bloom)

My weakness for Pakistani TV Series began with this one. In fact, ZGH revolutionized the concept of TV Serials for Indian viewers who were used to dramas which dragged on to infinity losing track of the original theme.

With ZGH Indian TV got introduced to limited episode Serials with strong storyline, relatable characters and outstanding performances. ZDH is the story of a middle class girl, the rebellious one of three siblings, whose father gets married a second time in the hope of a son. While he visits the family often like a guest, seldom does he take up any responsibility of his daughters. It’s the mother, a school mistress, who brings the girls up labouring hard.

The girls grow up hating not only their father but the ways of male dominated society. The story pivots around the female protagonist who makes a niche for herself by dint of merit and earns her father’s respect and recognition.

I go back to this Serial when I have nothing else to watch as I relate to the characters very much. Further, the story has an interesting romantic angle also which is part of the storyline. The added attraction is Fawad Khan as the male protagonist. He is one of my favourite actors. Sanam Saeed as the female protagonist who does immense justice to her role.

Aradhana (Worship)

It’s a story of an unwed mother who gives away her love child for adoption and gets appointed in the adoptive parents’ household as the child’s nanny to be close to and take care of him. The child is very fond of her nanny. When the brother of the child’s adoptive mother tries to rape the nanny he inadvertently kills him. To protect her child the nanny or the actual mother of the child takes the blame on herself and is punished with life imprisonment.

When the truth is known the adoptive family is ashamed. But on the mother’s insistence they swear not to disclose her identity or the truth to the child. After serving the long sentence she comes to stay in the jailor’s house who has always been very fond of her and treats her like his sister. As fated the jailor’s daughter is in love with her estranged son who is now a fighter pilot like his biological father.

The story takes an added emotional turn when the son sees his mother and instantly feels an indescribable attachment towards her. By now the memory of his nanny is completely obliterated from his mind but he feels as though she knows this aged lady for aeons. The mother knows that he is her son because he is an absolute duplicate of his actual father.

The movie was a Jubilee hit catapulting Rajesh Khanna in double role (as father and son) to super stardom. RK is the first superstar of Bollywood and enjoyed the status of the swoon worthy romantic hero till replaced by the angry young man cult of Amitabh Bachchan.

Anuradha is a tearjerker with soulful scores by S D Burman which are classics. The signature tune in Kishore Kumar’s voice is wistfulness personified. Whenever I see this movie I cry from the very first to the last scene. Even as I write about this film my eyes are welling up. Such is the effect of the movie. On my next watch I shall sit with a bucket to see whether I can fill it up with my lachrymal secretion😭.

Teesri Manzil (The Third Floor)

This is a whodunnit but each time I watch, even after knowing the end, I am on the edge of my seat. It’s trendsetting music by RD Burman is history in itself. The signature background tune which goes like tan tarra has been re-used in many later movies.

Rocky, a singer in a hotel, gets unwittingly embroiled when a young girl commits suicide from the third floor of the same hotel. Years later the dead girl’s sister arrives at the hotel in search of Rocky who she thinks is the cause of her older sister’s death. Unknowingly she falls in love with Rocky. But when she comes to know who he is all hell breaks lose.

The cabaret songs picturised on the one and only Helen and Shammi Kapur are watch worthy thousand times over. Vijay Anand’s taut, expert direction of this murder mystery has enormous repeat value.

Shonaar Kella (The Fort of Gold)

Satyajit Ray’s detective fiction turned into film is a super watch. Feluda or Prodosh C Miter, Ray’s sleuth by choice, accompanied by his young cousin Tapesh Ranjan Mitro or Topshe, land up in the deserts of Rajasthan in search of a small boy who seems to remember his past life. He also talks of precious stones seen by him in his house and a fort made up of gold.

The narrative begins with the boy having left home with Dr. Hazra, a reputed Parapsychologist, who is ‘studying’ the child. They undertake a journey in search of the Gold Fort which the boy craves to see in this life. However, he is not clear about the location of the Fort.

Father of the boy, a small book shop owner, sees danger when another boy of his son’s age and same pet name, living in the same locality, gets kidnapped by unknown miscreants. The boy is returned when they realise he is not the same Mukul they are looking for.

Mukul’s father requests Feluda to join Dr. Hazra to ensure the duo’s safety. However, when Feluda meets the boy and Dr. Hazra he has grave suspicions.

The film is a thriller which can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike. The cinematography highlighting the beauty of Thar desert, the thrill of adventure, the uncommon storyline and the subtle humour introduced through the unforgettable and irreplaceable character of Lal Mohun Ganguly (Santosh Dutta) who is a thriller writer without any experience of actual thrill in life make this movie a classic and repeatedly watchable.

Joi Baba Phelunath (Hail Felunath)

Another masterpiece by Ray with the trio Feluda, his young cousin Topshe and Lal Mohun Ganguly or Jatayu (writer’s pseudonym). This time in the ancient city of Varanasi. The trio is enjoying a vacation whence an aristocratic Bengali family invites them to their house. The patriarch of the family is also a fan of detective novels. He has a puzzle for Feluda to solve. In this second Feluda film the detective meets his nemesis Mohan Lal (Utpal Dutt).

It is said that Ray was inspired by his favourite actor, Soumitra Chatterjee, the doyen of Bengali cinema, in his conceptualization of a Bengali sleuth with brain and brawn. Perhaps it was to give a boost to the youth of Bengal to pay attention to physical fitness along with mental alacrity and develop an insatiable thirst for in depth and boundless knowledge that Ray sculpted his hero. Having read the entire Feluda series, over and over again, I can say this definitely that Feluda is greatly influenced by the handsome persona of Soumitra Chatterjee. Why? Because all Ray’s short stories and books contain numerous self drawn sketches. Ray was versatile and charismatic. He was as good an artist who not only sketched all the characters in his books but also the frames and shots of his films.

Feluda is pragmatic, instinctive, inquisitive, observant, smart, reflective but at the same time unassuming. Hailing from a middle class family he is neither elitist nor idiosyncratic. His sleuthing acumen is as formidable as his quick reflexes when it comes to physically intimidating or overpowering the culprits.

In both Ray’s Feluda films, his muse, Soumitra Chatterjee, essayed the role of the detective to perfection. Later after Ray’s demise and SM’s refusal to enact as Feluda, the other Feluda stories were narrated on celluloid by his son, Sandip Ray. Feluda was played by Sabyasachi Chakroborty and later Abir Chatterjee with just the right panache. All these films are universally enjoyable and repeatedly watchable.

Jab We Met (When We Met)

After social drama, thrillers (mostly) and tearjerker, it’s time for eternal romance. This movie, which I have watched repeatedly losing count of time, is I believe the ultimate in modern day romance where two strangers of absolutely opposite nature and class come together by chance. The girl is loquacious, simple and full of self love. The boy is a poor rich guy who has lost interest in life. Pitted together they make an odd jodi or couple. Gradually, the vivaciousness of the girl rubs on the quiet and reserved boy who learns to love life.

The boy helps the girl to abscond from her large, conservative but hospitable and friendly family to marry the boy she is in love with. He returns to rejoin his business as a completely changed man – a people’s person.

But life takes a turn for trouble when he introduces a product in the market in the name of the girl whom he had met accidentally and secretly fallen in love with. One fine morning he is accosted by her family members who accuse him of hiding the girl – Geet. To his utter surprise, the boy comes to know that Geet is missing. He embarks on a journey to find Geet. But when he meets her he is heartbroken to see Geet a completely changed person – subdued, lost and broken.

I am not a Kareena Kapoor Khan fan but in this movie she excelled as Geet. However, it’s Shahid Kapoor as the poor rich guy who is a heartstealer. Director, Imtiaz Khan tasted success overnight, as the movie became an unexpected super duper hit, more so, because the much talked about off screen Shahid-Kareena romance had taken a sour turn during the making of the movie. Yet there was no lack of chemistry between the two on screen. The movie has beautiful songs composed by Pritam including the classic aaogey jab tum o saajna, sung to perfection by late Ustad Rashid Khan – the maestro of Hindusthani Classical Music.

It is legendary that Ustadji agreed to record for a film and requested the music composer to teach him the techniques as he was not used to renditioning in studios. The classical maestros of India mostly perform live innovating on stage during their performances. They are not habituated to singing on tracks for a playback which is a completely different genre of music. However, it is the Ustad’s humility and simplicity which is touching as well as something to learn from who confessed his lack of experience promptly and guilelessly. Alas! Ustadji left us for heavenly abode too young in his late fifties this year after prolonged suffering from prostrate cancer. Had he lived longer Indian classical music would have been endlessly enriched by his contributions.

Since, the post has turned out to be very lengthy I refrain from adding more to the list.

Those who are interested in Indian/Pakistani cinema/serial can have a go for the aforementioned ones as per your choice of genre. As you can make out these are a mix of adult and children’s films, are in different languages – Hindi, Urdu and Bengali – and highly recommended at least from my side.

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