Life In Retro

For quite sometime now,I have been living in the past with regards to TV shows.As a couch potato of the highest order,it is my prime duty to watch TV with a religious fervour.And I do not disappoint.Getting bored of the routine storyless soaps and endless punar janams of my usual channels,I switched on to Times Now."Total Recall",which is aired on the weekends is such a refreshing breath of TV show air.Every week,they showcase the life and times of a famous personality of the yesteryears or sometimes they discuss the changing trends in cinema.
I had the most enjoyable experience watching the Total Recall of Shammi Kapoor,Shankar Jaikishan,Naushad and Guru Dutt.Really,one does gets transported back to the days of yore,when these legends walked on the earth and mesmerised us with their work.No wonder the years between 1940 and 1960 were called the golden years of Hindi cinema.
Shammi Kapoor,the eternal entertainer.Watching him jump with a wild Yahoo!!,serenade actresses with that slight mischievous smile and unruly hair and emote effortlessly is a sheer visual treat.He had none of today's six or eight pack abs to boast of,only oodles and oodles of unmatchable energy and talent.
The music of Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad has been a benchmark for others to follow and no doubt,many reams of paper have been exhausted in singing their peans.But the truth remains:listening to those gems,those wonderfully composed lyrical masterpieces,one cannot help but marvel at three of God's children who came,saw,conquered and etched their mark in our hearts forever.
Guru Dutt.A synonym for maverick cinema.His movies,gloomy and depressing,yet encompassing true slices of life were filled with insights into behavior of every kind.It is really sad that he passed away at a young age.There is no telling how much more he could have accomplished if he had lived.His characters were flesh and blood,with flaws and blemishes,whom we could connect with.The haunting,gripping and soulful music was a notch above everything;the tunes completely captured the mood of the film.
I was in seventh heaven of delight when I discovered this quaint little one hour show.Revisiting those old times and learning more about the legends gone by is a good use of an hour.One thing though-even if all of these wonderful gifted people have passed on to the kingdom of heaven,their creations are here to stay.They will remain etched onto the hearts and minds of people,for generations to come.