Overconfidence nahee honaa chaahiye

This is one film which really left a deep impression on me during my adolescent years. I almost bunked school to see this movie. I cannot explain to you how big an event that is. Ok, the movie I am referring to is Ramgopal Varma's first Hindi film as a director - Shiva. It also introduced Nagarjuna to the Hindi industry. Amla (who later became Nagarjuna's wife), the female lead in Shiva, was an established actress by that time. But the trigger for this post came when I recently heard of the death of Raghuvaran, who made a debut in this film as the villain - Bhavani. His tall gawkish mannerisms, Tamil accented Hindi and high nervous energy almost reminded me of Norman Bates of Bates' Motel fame, but for the fact that Raghuvaran has a much better voice. I found myself mimicking his style and repeating most of Bhavani's dialogues for quite some time. I also distinctly remember my father not liking it too much. But those were the days of writing competitive exams and failing some and passing some. This line came in handy. The background is that Bhavani (Raghuvaran) is a goonda who works at the behest of local politician Tilakdhari (Paresh Rawal as a villain before his comedy stint began). A rival politician Kanta Prasad (Goga Kapoor) meets Bhavani at a place close to a river to negotiate. Kanta Prasad threatens Bhavani that he would expose his boss. When Bhavani responds with a threat that he would murder him, Kanta Prasad dares him to kill him. He says that if he is killed the entire party cadres would rise in revolt and that would be even more damaging for Tilakdhari. Bhavani moves forward to ostensibly hug Kanta Prasad but stabs him in the stomach and kills him. Then for the benefit of the hoi polloi he says that people would realise he is dead only if the body is found. Then he turns to the camera and says

"Over confidence nahee honaa chaahiye"

It is pretty much a simple line and can be used whenever you have scored a Roland to someone's Oliver. After doing so, you could tell them

"Overconfidence nahee honaa chaahiye"

Statutory warning: Please don't attempt the murder along with this line. It could be very very injurious to your health.

Ab janaaze ko rukhsat kee ijaazat diijiye

The 1960 magnum opus Mughal-e-azam once more. Often when you work with voice over artistes or drama artistes and you belabor a point about language or pronunciation too much, a standard response is

"abe mughal-e-azam thoDii banaa rahe hain"

That movie has really set standards in terms of dialogues and attention to detail. Anyways, coming back to the line featured here. Anarkali (Madhubala) takes leave of Salim (Dilip Kumar) towards the end of the movie where she knows that she is destined to be executed and separated from the Prince. She says this line

It means that "kindly permit this coffin/dead body to leave". But figuratively you can use it whenever you are leaving the company of someone who has battered you so much (mentally of course; if you are battered physically you would not be thinking dialogues) that you feel like a living corpse. That is when you can use this line

"Ab janaaze ko ruKhsat kee ijaazat diijiye"

Make up lagaate hi rate double kar diyaa

Hrishida once again. This line is from his 1983 laugh riot Rang Birangi. It is one of his lesser talked about movies. But believe me, it is as good if not better than his other comedy capers like Golmaal and Chupke chupke. It has the irrepressible duo of Utpal Dutt and Amol Palekar teaming up again. The highlight of the film is the line that comes towards the end. I am not going to explain the line. You have got to watch it. But the line is

"अमिताभ बच्चन पागल हो गया है? ये तो होना ही था!"

You have got to see this scene again. In case you have not seen the film - do see the film. But the line featured here comes when Deven Verma who is the scriptwriter of the drama that is being played out in the movie - hires an actor to play the role of a business man (a seth). The plan is that while this hired actor tries to work out the nitty gritties of a deal at a restaurant with Ajay Sharma (Amol Palekar), Nirmala (Parveen Babi; Ajay's wife in the movie) is enacting a scene where she is laughing her heart out with 'another man' Jeet Saxena (Faarooque Sheikh). But when the hired actor arrives at the hotel he demands Rs 200 instead of the Rs 100 that he had earlier agreed to. This prompts Deven to say

"मेक अप लगाते ही रेट डबल कर दिया?"

"Make up lagaate hee rate double kar diyaa?"

You can use this line whenever someone asks for more money than agreed initially. So if you hire a painter to paint your house. After you have arranged (or rather ransacked) your house on the D-day, this guy arrives and says

"saahab do sau rupaye zyaadaa lagenge"

You could retort with

"मेक अप लगाते ही रेट डबल कर दिया?"

taKhaliyaa

And now the fifties makes a debut. Though Mughal-e-azam was released in 1960 - it was in the making, largely during the 50s. Of course, the Dilip Kumar-Madhubala affair also lent a special flavour to this film, but this film in my opinion is one of the greatest examples of what great writing should be. The dialogues and screenplay have been the source of constant copying across ages. Sample this

"YalGaar ho" used by Ismail Durbaar in a TV reality show as his war cry:)

"Shahenshaah baap ka bhes badal ke aayaa hai?" copied by Salim Javed 15 years later in Deewar

"Mujrim bhaai ka bhes badal kar aayaa hai". The list goes on and on. It is one such film where you do not understand anything (due to the quality of Urdu used) but still like the sound of it).

Coming down to the line featured here, it is not a line - it is a word. When I first saw this film I was a teenager. When I came out of the cinema hall, the only word I remembered was this. Oh the no of times I have used this word. I just love it.

taKhaliyaa

It means solitude. But in the movie, it is used by the emperor or the prince every time they wish to be left alone. The imperious tone in which it is said gives the word its special flavour. So next time you are in a meeting room and wish everyone to leave, go ahead and say "taKhaliyaa". Beware. Be prepared to explain the meaning to those around. But very quickly they will learn the meaning and start doing the needful. It is so much more courteous than "all of you get the hell out of here". Try it.

Jinke apne ghar sheeshe ke hoN woh doosron pe patthar naheeN phenkaa karte

The sixties makes a debut on this blog!

One of my earlier posts had prompted a comment from one of the readers - he had indicated that this line was his favourite. Thought it was time to include it. This is from the 1965 movie Waqt (directed by Yash Chopra - the man who dominates most awards functions these days). Waqt was one of the original multi-starrers and lost and found story. This genre reached its zenith in the 70s and 80s. The movie is about a rich man - Lala Kedarnath (Balraj Sahni) who is destituted and devastated by an earthquake. His three sons are separated and end up in three different vocations. The eldest son Raja (Raj Kumar) becomes a thief, the middle son Ravi (Sunil Dutt) becomes a lawyer. Will leave out the other details - you might want to see the film yourself. Raja's 'boss' is Chenoy Seth (Rehman), who is quite upset with Raja's desire to mend his ways and walk the straight path. So the scene begins when Chenoy tells Raja

"to raaja main jitnee muhabbat kartaa hoon utnee nafrat bhee kar saktaa hoon"

Raja disdainfully and in characteristic style retorts with

"muhabbat aur nafrat...

chinaai seth jinke apne ghar sheeshe ke hon woh doosron par pathar nahee phenkaa karte"

and then he cracks the wine glass that he has been toying with all this while on the table. Chenoy's sidekick whips out a knife which prompts another classic line (but that I will feature later).

The line is pretty much a straightforward translation of the famous English proverb

"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others"

But the charm here is the way Raj Kumar chews and spits out every word. It is said that Raj Kumar was asthmatic and hence had to devise that style to effectively deliver his lines. Reminds that the other great deliverer of dialogues the Big B is also asthmatic.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, it is not a precondition to be asthmatic to say this line. You can say this whenever a person seemingly vulnerable, tries to attack another person. Oblivious to the fact that if he is attacked he would be hurt badly. So if a person himself speaks in borderline English and pokes fun at somebody else's English, you could say

"Chinaai seth, jinke apne ghar sheeshe ke hoN ...woh doosron pe patthar naheeN phenkaa karte"

GunDoN ko ek laakh aur bhale aadmi ko ek hazaar

Featuring the 1981 movie Chashme Baddoor again. Omi (Rakesh Bedi) is reading a news item which says that a rich businessman's daughter has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have demanded a ransom of 1 lac Rs. The news item further goes on to say that anyone who gives information about the whereabouts of the girl would get a reward of Rs 1000. This prompts Omi to say

"Dhat tere ki, GunDoN ko ek laakh; aur bhale aadmi ko ek hazaar - yeh bhi koii baat hai"

Literally this means - One lakh for the goons and the good man gets just one thousand - how unfair. There is a saying in Hindi

"HaNs chugegaa daanaa dunkaa kauvaa motii khaayegaa"

"हंस चुगेगा दाना दुनका कौवा मोती खायेगा"

This statement also broadly means what Omi has said in his own style. You can use it if a less-deserving person in your office gets paid much more than you. You can use it if a less deserving bowler gets more wicket than a deserving one (Yuvraj Singh getting five and Kumble getting one). So on and so forth. Whenever someone perceived to be less-deserving gets more than someone perceived as deserving, you could say

"GunDoN ko ek laakh aur bhale aadmi ko ek hazaar!"

"ग़ुंडों को एक लाख और भले आदमी को एक हज़ार!"

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"