Paint Your Wagon is a 1969 Hollywood film adapted from the 1951 Broadway musical, and set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-Era California. It contains, among many other items; Clint Eastwood playing one side of a Love Triangle and singing songs.
James Coburn & Jean Seberg (The other two sides)
We all know and appreciate Clint's efforts in westerns, including the famous triangle in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".
And so what is our response (at least mine) to this Lover-Boy, song singing, one side of a Love Triangle Clint.
a) Disbelief
b) Amazement
c) Shock & Awe
d) ROFL
e) All of The Above
WHY ?
Because, all us Bollywood fans can see that Clint has not done his homework. Need I mention, "How to do a Lover-Boy, Sing Songs, and play a side of a Love Triangle" is Bollywood 101.
Just to ram home the point; I present 10 Bollywood songs based on a Love Triangle AND picturized with a character playing a piano.
Note that I selected the piano, a "Western" instrument for the following reasons :-
1) Adds a cross-border appeal.
2) Indian instruments like the sitar or tabla just do not have the necessary impact.
Let the education begin.
Film: Dhund
Triangle : Danny Denzongpa (Husband), Zeenat Aman (Wife), Sanjay Khan (Wife's confidant)
Other : A decent whodunit murder mystery, with the love triangle being an added bonus.
Film : Muqaddar Ka Sikander
Main Triangle : Amitabh Bachchan (loves Raakhee), Rakhee (loves Vinod Khanna), Vinod Khanna (loves Raakhee)
Polygon : Rekha (loves Amitabh), Amjad Khan (loves Rekha)
Other : I did not make this up, go see the movie if you do not believe.
Triangle : We have Manoj Kumar, Waheeda Rehman & Mumtaz in here (with Pran in the background.) If Bollywood cannot create a triangle out of this, I would loose all faith in Bollywood.
Other: Note the chandelier & the staircase.
Film : Lal Patthar
Triangle : Vinod Mehra (loves Raakhee), Raaj Kumar (Husband), Raakhee (Wife)
Quadrilateral : Hema Malini (Raj Kumar's Mistress)
Other : Hema Malini considers this role to be one of her best.
Film : Kati Patang
Triangle : This requires the use of advanced math like imaginary numbers. The third side of this triangle is really non-existent, but one of the other sides does not know this.
Film : Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi
Triangle : I am guessing it is Dharmendra, Mala Sinha & Tanuja.
Other : This was Guru Dutt's last film, he did not complete it. His style is evident in this song ( I do not know if he directed it.)
Triangle : Sunil Dutt (Mala Sinha's pre-marriage boyfriend), Ashok Kumar (Mala Sinha's husband), Mala Sinha (a "straying" wife)
Other : Wikipedia informs us that the song was written by Sahir when his love-interest (Sudha Malhotra) got married to someone else.
Film : Teen Deviyaan
Quadrilateral : Nanda, Simi & Kalpana (all love Dev Anand), Dev Anand (Initially loves all 3, the suspense is his final selection.)
Other : Again, I did not make this up.
Best Quip : Simi during the shooting, "This movie should be re-named Ek Dev"
Film : Andaaz
Triangle : Raj Kapoor (Husband), Nargis (Wife), Dilip Kumar (in love with Nargis)
Other : Possibly Bollywood's first major triangle.
Film : Sangam
Triangle : Raj Kapoor (Husband), Vyjanthimala (Wife & loves Rajendra Kumar), Rajendra Kumar (loves Vyjanthimala)
Other : The perfect equilateral triangle, all 3 characters love each other (well the 2 male's is strictly friendly; no "Brokeback Mountain" here.)
More Trivia : Rajendra Kumar's role was written for and first offered to Dev Anand, who refused. Raj then offered it to Dilip Kumar, who wanted to direct the movie, and so Raj refused. The next was Shammi Kapoor, who wanted Raj's role, and so Raj refused once again. Finally, Rajendra Kumar got it.
After this education, do you think Clint can make the transition from the triangle shown below, to any of the 10 triangles shown above.
22 comments:
Oh, my reaction was ROFL, wiping my tears and then ROFLing again!! I'm impressed with your willingness to undertake the conversion, I think scratching my eyes wld be more fun than CE singing :P It's also funny how I'm not familiar with even one of the movies/songs in this post .... Danny Denzongpa actually had a lead in a movie??
CP:))
Thanks for the nice comment.
I did see the CE movie, Paint Your Wagon, back in India in I guess the early 70's; but obviously the irony did not hit home until much later.
Danny Denzongpa played a sort of semi-villain role in that movie, Dhund; he was Zeenat's invalid sadistic husband. His was the best role in that movie, worth a watch.
Awesome Selection.
Clint would surely have learnt a LOT.
Ava:))
Thanks for the nice comment. See, this time I put a Sangam song in here. (& still no Eiffel Tower).
Isn't is amazing how stars get typecast, and usually can shine only in certain types of characters.
We all like to laugh @ BWood heroes attempting to play Western roles, here is an example of a hilarious miscast HWood star.
ROFL Much as I wish I'd never even heard of Clint Eastwood singing, I wouldn't wish it away for the worlds because I'd rather have a world with this post than not! :D
Bollyviewer:)
Thanks for the generous comment, appreciate it a lot.
I too prefer Clint with guns, however, he was pretty good in Bridges of Madison County.
And, old Hindi songs are my absolute favorites.
That was one very funny post! Never thought Bollywood movies offered so much insight into geometry. :D
@Anonymous:)
Thanks for the wonderful comment. Bollywood sometimes surprises us all.
Fabulous selection of songs! I haven't seen Paint your Wagon but I seriously doubt that Clint Eastwood would be able to come anywhere near any of these Hindi film heroes/heroines.
A sort of pseudo love triangle song with a piano would be Dil ke jharokhe mein tujhko bithaake: the Shammi Kapoor character loves Rajshree, she loves him but is engaged to Pran, who wants to marry her because of her (wealth? beauty? I don't remember, but not because he loves her).
Dustedoff:)
Thanks for the nice comment.
I should have created a "Top 12" list; because "Dil Ke Jharoke Mein" & "Aaj Ki Raat Mere Dil Ki Salaami Le" were under consideration. I reluctantly eliminated them since I was not sure of there being a triangle. But as songs they most certainly belong with the 10 I selected; perhaps even better than some on the list.
... and then there's Mujhe tum mil gaye humdum from Love in Tokyo, which looks like a triangle, but is really a straight line. The Asha Parekh character is being blackmailed by the Pran character to pretend she loves him, though she and Joy Mukherji are in love.
Dustedoff:))
That is such a nice song, thanks a lot for suggesting it. OK so 12 has become 13, knowing your knowledge it should not take too long to reach say 20.
what a fabulous post samir. Really enjoyed reading it. All the songs are so nice. And the piano....ya a must for all genteel people :) Among my favourite songs is dil to hai dil- didnt know it was from MKS. Clint Eastwood as a siging lover ...........way out:))
Yword:))
Thanks for the nice comment.
Loved the phrase "genteel people".
That Dil To Hai Dil is a great song.
No one can say Clint did not try different roles :)
These are a few great picks!! loved them all!
Cigarette Sally:
Thanks for appreciating the choices.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Was going through your earlier posts and noticed this one. I remember I used to laugh at those mandatory piano songs but now I sort of get nostalgic. Here is my favourite,'chehre pe khushi' from Waqt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov6FO63u1qs
Shilpi :))
Thanks for commenting on an older post, with a great song, really like it & the movie. I too used to laugh at these songs when I was younger, but have grown to like them.
Samir, thanks for visiting my blog. I just had a chance to visit yours, and this one was just brilliant! Thanks for giving me a laugh on a Sunday afternoon. The songs are excellent choices...
Let me add Main dil hoon ik armaan bhara from Anhonee (Nargis - Raj- Nargis triangle), and Manzil wohi hai pyar ka from Kathputli (Balraj Sahni loves Vyjayanthi who loves Jawahar Kaul, who loves her, but thinks she loves Balraj Sahni - yes, it's *that* complicated!).
Anuradha :))
Thanks for appreciating my blog and adding a great comment.
As I have commented before, it is indeed funny as to how even Hollywood stars get typecast and look out-of-place in a situation made for Bollywood stars.
Love your suggested songs & LOL @ "that complicated".
Apropos Sangam song:
I do not see Sangam as a perfect equilateral, rather more of an isosceles triangle. Rajendra Kumar loves Vaijayantimala, she loves him. Both are socially compatible, he is well-groomed, well educated, sober. Raj Kapoor would die for Rajendra Kumar, so would he for him. But Raj Kapoor and Vaijayantimala? She considers him loud, irresponsible, over possessive, irritating.
Bollywood generally does a good job of solving a triangle. In this case Rajendra Kumar - Vaijayantimala should live happily ever after. But Raj Kapoor gets her, Rajendra Kumar dies. Very illogical. I have done some research on Bollywood mathematics. The serious flaw in Sangam has occurred due to a simple error in mathematics. Here is a simple problem in Mensuration:
You are standing on the roof of a building of height h, by the side of a road, the distance of the building to the median of the road being a. At a distance of b from the foot of the perpendicular from the building to the road, a vehicle starts moving at a uniform speed u nearer to you. At what speed and angle should you throw a projectile so as to hit the moving vehicle.
Situation in the film:
Vyjayantimala has been repeatedly thwarted in her attempts to disclose her love to Rajendra Kumar - sometimes she has been pulled away by Raj Kapoor in the party to dance with him, sometimes her parents butt in just when she is at the critical point in her telecon with Rajendra Kumar. Therefore, she goes up the roof with her saheli, waits for Rajendra Kumar to pass by in his car, and throw the love letter crumpled in her hand.
The mathematician Raj Kapoor had hired to advise had given the right solution. So why the disaster? They forgot to notice the tree below, the love letter gets entangled in its branches. The heroine and her sakhi fiddle with a hook to retrieve it when Raj Kapoor passes by and the letter falls in the basket of his cycle.
Knowledgeable people say Raj Kapoor had the tree brought in deliberately as he was besotted with Vyjayantimala both in the film and real life, and wanted to get her at any cost, even if it meant disaster to his dear friend.
@AK :))
You win the "Filmfare Bollywood Mathematician Lifetime Achievement Award".
Still ROFLing over your brilliant comment, and so mathematically correct as well.
Post a Comment