The real culture of a people lies embedded in their customs, folk dances, folk lore, traditional beliefs, and the folk songs. No country of the world is an exception to it. We can easily compile a cultural history of a people of specified class after we study their customs, traditions, folklore, dances and songs. Invariably all the communities have this great wealth of their intangible culture, which does find expression at the time of their festivals or festivities. India being a vast country has a rich treasure of folk songs which obviously exhibit the culture of various communities inhabiting this vast land. Indian folk songs are interwoven around some legends or traditional tales which are presumed and passed on to the next generation through the same. These folk songs may be laden with joy or sorrow or some historic event or legendary myths. Folk songs of the Himachal Pradesh are distinct from those of the Punjab or Haryana. The love stories or traditions of Heer-Ranjha, Shirin-Farhad, Laila- Majnu can still be found on the lips of the people even in the remote countryside of the Punjab. These songs are accompanied with dance or music. The folk songs from Rajasthan are still inspiring and they speak of the valour shown by the Rajputs or their women folk in the face of heavy odds. Even a most cowardly person would be transformed into a courageous or brave person after listening to the folk songs of Rajasthan. If one wishes to have the glimpses of Lord Krishna and his Radha and the Gopikas, one should visit the Uttar Pradesh where in the Brijbhumi these folk songs are still heard more frequently and especially at the time of certain festivals like Holi, Diwali, Dussehra and Raksha Bandhan. If you go to deep South, there you shall come across the South Indian folk songs which, even if you do not follow, you would definitely enjoy, for their sweet and melodiously modulated voice. So is the case with songs from the interior of Assam and Nagaland besides Orissa and Bihar. But one thing which speaks through all these folk songs from different parts of the country in Indian culture is so subtly embodied in them that only a man with keen insight can decode and decipher them. But one thing which every lay man can understand is that they are quite sweet and are almost identical [...]
Archive for August 1st, 2007
Posted in 
OLD IN COLOR
August 1st, 2007 
Deepak WE SHALL never know if K.Asif visualized his Salim in a green vest swooning over a reclining Anarkali swathed in turquoise and sea green or if Guru Dutt would approve of his classic brooding Pyaasa being infused with colour. But we do know that Dev Anand is pleased with both his roles in the colourised Hum Dono and that B R Chopra has watched Naya Daur twice after it’s been coloured, and is also rather pleased with the outcome. A NEW LEASE OF LIFE Fifty years after its theatrical release in 1957, B R Chopra‘s Naya Daur; with actors Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, will release all over India in its colour version with Dolby digital surround sound. Chopra’s son Ravi has called it a “tribute” to his father. Ravi teamed up with West-wing Studios, USA, and the restoration of the film was completed in four months by Prasad EFX, Chennai, with technicians working round the clock to restore the only surviving composite dupe negative. Daddy Chopra was not very happy with the idea initially, and was persuaded of the possibilities after seeing Naya Daur in colour, with Vyjayanthimala in a purple blouse and pink sari and Dilip Kumar in a green kurta with a pink scarf. But he intends to colourise all seven of his father’s black and white films with Gumrah being next on the list. GURU DUTT’S LAST WISHThat might sound like blasphemy to historians and purists, but besides a strong commercial opportunity, there is also a pragmatic strategy behind the trend of colourisation. Arun Dutt, son of legendary filmmaker Guru Dutt, is currently working towards colourising Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam followed by Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool. COMMERCIAL SENSE So far the only case study available to these producers and print owners is Mughal-E-Azam, released in 2004 in colour, 44 years after its original opening. K Asif made the film on a budget of Rs 1.5 crore and made a profit of Rs 3 crore in 1960. In 2004, coloured, in Dolby and Cinemascope, it made Rs 10 crore nationally. It was a success nationally, in spite of a mediocre release since it came with other big films. The success of Mughal-E-Azam has encouraged other filmmakers to try the same route but not all stories that clicked then can appeal to the youth now. Business opportunities are huge for a re-mastered, restored, reinvented [...]
INDIAN CULTURE IN DAILY LIFE
August 1st, 2007 Deepak INDIAN CULTURE IN DAILY LIFE “A nation without a cultural heritage is like an orphan who has nothing to fend upon”, said Emerson. Indian culture is deeply rooted in her past-the glorious and the not so glorious past. Indian culture is essentially religious and spiritualism is the breath of its nostrils. Religion is our soul and philosophy. It is our blood, our very life. If you take out religion from India, nothing remains. India is the motherland of our race and Sanskrit is the mother of the Indian and European languages. It is the mother of our philosophy; mother of our mathematics; though our mathematics were taken abroad by the Arabs, she is the mother through the Buddha of much of the ideas embodied in Christianity; mother through the village-community of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all. The traits of culture, which India gave, can be seen in a number of foreign countries. The continuity and vitality of Indian culture is amazing, indeed.It is a very powerful, all absorbing and all embracing process. In the past, it has received, adopted and digested the elements of many different cultures-Indo-European, Mesopotamian, Iranian, Greek, Roman, etc. With each new influence, it has somewhat changed, being influenced by the foreign culture and influencing it in return. But it has retained its peculiar traits. India has never lost the pride of her cultural sublimity. Indian culture has proved its strength and maintained its vitality throughout.The enduring quality of Indian culture represents the happy synthesis of worldliness and renunciation. Indians are developing materialistic attitude and wish to enjoy all the amenities of life, but at the same time, they are not neglecting the moral aspects of life; they are equally conscious of treading on the path of Dharma. India, a virtual continent, is the land of many people who profess to different religions and have, to an extent, a very large variety of sub-cultures. Yet unlike Europe, India continues to be a common home for all her people, practising “a rich unity in diversity”. Another remarkable aspect of Indian culture in our daily life is its firm belief in peace and non-violence. Gandhiji simply highlighted the value of Non-violence through his practising what already had been preached for ages in our country. The old way of Indian life has, however, ceased to remain affected by the new forces [...]
