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Triumph of Human Spirit
Dec 28, 2005 12:38 PM 14504 Views
(Updated Dec 28, 2005 12:38 PM)

Every stage in life tests us with some problems or others. And in real life most of us have to battle out these problems to survive or be successful. But how  successful has Bollywood been in depicting the struggles of common man? Not very  much I must say.


Hollywood had movies like Forrest Gump, Schindlers List, Men of Honor, Chariots of Fire to name a few which depicted the triumph of human spirit over adversity. Most of Bollywood movies think inspiration means our hero does some weird business strategies and becomes an over night millionaire. Or he ends up on other side of the law, and after some time mouths platitudes about society’s injustice to him. Or our hero has to go and bash up a dozen goons single handedly without suffering a single scratch.


We had the recent movie Waqt where Akshay Kumar is thrown out of home by Amitabh Bachan in order to make him realize his responsibility, and what does Akshay do, he enters a singing contest and becomes an overnight star. Is this the only way one can do well, are they not other avenues? Life is not just about overnight success, its about fighting every small battle you have and winning it. It could be personal, career related, education related, but its how you overcome the challenges at every corner in your life.  And yes there are a couple of Bollywood movies which have been inspirational for me. These movies depicted the true triumph of human spirit over adversity, provided you looked for the proper message. Inspite of movies like Waqt, I must say 2005 provided at least 3 such movies in this list Black, My Brother Nikhil and Iqbal. So here goes my list of movies which inspired me in some way or other.




  1. Dosti: This 1964 movie by Rajashri Productuions starred two unknown actors Sushil Kumar and Sudhir Kumar and was directed by Satyen Bose. It was a very heart warming tale of friendship between two people one of whom is lame and other is blind. One of the best movies made about friendship, it shows how true friendship manages to weather all sorts of tests and tribulations.  And the songs in this movie affirm the message “ Raahi Manwat Dukh Ke Chinta”  where the protagonist advises his friend not to get bogged down by sorrow, “Jaane Walo Zara “, where the blind person asks people to accept him as a human being and “Chaahonga Main Tujhe “ where the true depth of friendship is depicted.




  2. Anand:  What would you do if you know that you are afflicted with a terminal disease and you would die in a couple of days soon? If you are Anand you would take it as it comes, and spreads cheer and happiness to every one, and what’s more you would make a normally cynical Babu Moshai to value life more. That the movie is a classic is beyond doubt, but what makes it greater is the message it sends “Life is short, take every part of it as it comes “.  As Anand says “Zindagi Kaise Yeh Paheli Haaye, Kabhi To Hasaye, Kabhi To Rulaye” but he is at same time pensive about this death when he looks at “Kahi Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye “. But that doesn’t prevent Anand  from spreading happiness as in “Maine Tere Liye Hi Saath Rang Ke Sapne”. Anand gives out a simple message “Babu Moshai Zindagi Lambi Nahin Badi Honi Chahiye”.




  3. Iqbal: For me this is the best movie of 2005, more so than Black, which while a great movie in itself, had a distinctly western feel. Iqbal is totally  Indian in context, and you can literally smell the earth in this movie. Iqbal comes from a rural background, is poor, and worse is totally deaf and dumb. But all these factors against him, don’t prevent him from pursuing his goal of becoming a cricketer. What I loved about Iqbal is that Muslims are not stereotyped as sherwani wearing, burqa clad, paan chewing, shayari spouting types like in normal Bollywood fare. It’s a movie which shows that Muslims are very much like us, and they are also people with dreams like us. Iqbal is truly heart warming in its depiction of the struggle against adversity and Nagesh Kukunoor never goes over board with the emotions. In a Bollywood where people with handicaps are made fun of, it was refreshing to watch a movie like Iqbal. And of course not to forget the brilliant performances by Shreyas Talpade,  Shweta Prasad and of course Naseeruddin Shah.




  4. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa: What inspiration you might get from the story of a loser one might wonder? Yes if you go by conventional Bollywood standards, the hero, Sunil, is a total loser. He flunks in his exams, tries to break up an affair, fudges his marks card , loiters around for the whole of the movie and what is worse, in the end loses the heroine to some other guy, a cardinal sin in Bollywood. But that’s the message, what directors Kundan Shah, says is you might not be brilliant, might not be handsome, might not have a great job and might not even have a girl friend. So what don’t worry, the world still has place for people like you. You are what you are, and should never worry about what you are not. KHKN  came during a very low phase in my life and the movie gave me that feeling, in spite of losing everything, I am still there and no point in brooding. The best part of KHKN is climax, Sunil loses the girl he loves, but he doesn’t drown himself in drink neither does he sacrifice his life. He takes it cheerfully and proceeds to date the next female who comes along. That is life for you, you win some, you loose some, but you need to get along with life. KHKN is SRK’s best performance to date, before he got stuck in those Raj-Rahul roles.




  5.   My Brother Nikhil: This is certainly one of the best movies about AIDS in Bollywood. Sanjay Suri a vastly under rated actor puts in a great performance as an AIDS victim who is deserted by his family and his girl friend. His only hope is his sister , great performance by Juhi Chawla, who stands by him through thick and thin. And this is one movie where Gays are not shown as belonging to Mars, but as normal human beings like you and me, and who also deserve a place in society. Though the end is tragic, the hope lies in the message it sends out to AIDS victims that there are people who care for you, and who are sensitive to your feelings.






Other movies which I would include in this list are Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Black, Lagaan, Khamoshi, Koshish.


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