One of the finest elevator pitches: 'A hilarious comedy of youth to outwit an old genius'. Much before the phrase 'elevator pitch' became common, the movie folks and advertising folks used to have the 'high concept'. A high concept is nothing but the summary of an idea that one can succinctly communicate or pitch to a client/ studio. This movie, Chupke Chupke, is about 48 years old and Hrishikesh Mukherjee nailed the elevator pitch perfectly (see the encircled line) - 'A hilarious conspiracy of youth to outwit an old genius!. Those days, one did not have YouTube and very few movie halls coul ..read more

Raj Kapoor’s movie Shree 420 released in 1955 and soon went on to become a mega hit. Around the same time, Hinduja’s was a fledgling business group with Indian roots (having its headquarters in Iran) and was looking to grow their profile in the international market. They figured that Hindi cinema would be the perfect way to popularize India in Iran.    Hinduja bought the rights for Shree 420 for Rs 5,000/-, dubbed it in Persian and screened it at Tehran’s Kucha e Lalzar cinema. The movie turned out to be such a hit that when Raj Kapoor visited the cinema hall, he had to be escorted ..read more

My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves: Anthony Prabhu Gonsalves (12 June 1927 – 18 January 2012) was the first ‘music arranger’ in the Hindi Film Industry.   Amitabh Bachchan’s character in the movie Amar Akbar Anthony was initially to be called Anthony Fernandes. However, ‘Fernandes’ was not fitting into the meter of a song that Laxmikant Pyarelal were composing. Pyarelal suggested that they change it to ‘Anthony Gonsalves’ instead and that’s how it came to be. Many people did not know it then but Pyarelal was actually paying a tribute to his guru who taught him how to play the violin.   An ..read more

G Sandhya A lot of us who grew up wary of math have the experience of understanding units of measurement in the abstract. For instance, how many of us know exactly how far you have to walk if someone tells you the bus stop is approximately 300 metres away? Or if someone said they are looking for a room that’s about 100 sq feet? Usually, it’s a vague idea but that’s only because of a lifetime of observation of how better math-versed people talk about the physical world.  When I was helping my children with their introduction to measurement, I happened to notice that the school started w ..read more

Team Storywallahs Which one of us hasn’t grown up with reading, and breaking our hearts over, Kabuliwala? Or found resilience, strength and hope by reflecting on the lines from Where The Mind is Without Fear? On Rabindranath Tagore’s 161st birth anniversary this year, here’s a heart warming book, perhaps lesser known to non-Bengali readers, that you can read with or even to your child — The Champa Flower. Illustrated by Jaikar Marur, the book sees Tagore exploring the alternate worlds of a child’s imagination. Playful in both narration and character, The Champa Flower (Champa Ka Ek Phool in ..read more

Storywallahs Editorial Team We are almost on the eve of yet another mother’s day. The flowers, presents and brunch plans are all over the place. Our social media feeds are about to be filled with pictures of children and their mothers, posts which will try to express what a mother means to us, but will fail. Because it’s hard to encapsulate in a few words the essence of our mothers, let alone express how we love them.  So this Mother’s Day, a reading list of children and their mothers. A great way for mums to connect with their kids of course – so many of these are read-aloud – but als ..read more

‘A woman doesn’t rule, Didda. Only a man can occupy a throne. You know that.’ A Review of Devika Rangachari’s Queen of Ice By Maitri Vasudev for Storywallahs Queen of Ice by Decika Rangachari   “Pay attention,” I command and they all lean forward…”I will throw before you all a heap of apples. How many can each of you get hold of?” The question hangs in the air like a challenge. If you thought the ancients only held contests to pick suitable husbands for their royal daughters, think again. Devika Rangachari’s Queen of Ice might be sensitised historical fiction and not Drupada’s myt ..read more

Imagine you are an actor and your first movie has just released and it is a Superhit. You are over the moon. Directors and producers are lining up at your doorstep with scripts. This is your moment. You have to grab the opportunity by the horns. You are afraid that this euphoria may not last long or a new actor will overtake you next Friday. So, what do you do? Well, most people would sign at least 4-5 movies and a couple of brand endorsements right away. Aamir Khan is known to have signed more than 12 films immediately after the success of his first movie, QSQT. Now consider this. The first ..read more

Many seasons ago, when I had just begun my journey as a Storyteller, taking baby steps and trying to make my way into the wondrous world of stories, I had planned for a storytelling performance at a popular cultural space in Bangalore. Now, this was a space where I had watched some of my favourite artists showcase their work. Incidentally, it was also the place where my initiation into the world of storytelling had happened. Another opportunity of being able to perform at this space that was so special to me in ways more than one was something that I treasured. And I wanted to make sure that ..read more

Kisiki muskurahaton pe……. It is a pleasant Wednesday afternoon in Bangalore and I am reading a book in the comforts of my cosy room. There is construction going on in the neighbourhood. I think the carpenter is drilling holes into something and the noise is almost deafening. From amidst the coarse noise, I catch the faint sound of the radio that the workers play to break the monotony of their almost robotic job. They mostly play some evergreen Hindi classic and today is dedicated to Raj Kapoor. The number that is now playing is, “Kisiki muskurahaton pe ho nisaar, Kisika dard mil sake toh le ud ..read more