The allure
of this article was its promise to reveal to us, at last, the implications of
the iconic dialogue that has haunted us for years. Why was it iconic when
neither the actor nor the character ever was? The answer must lie in the words themselves.
Disappointingly,
the article is another bogey, another Rahul-Vatsiyan mediocrity trying to catch
our eyeballs, like the lifting of a eunuch’s skirt with nothing to show
underneath. The implication turned out to be, hold your breath, it was “a great
example of understanding the value of silence.”
Ergo, If Hangal stepped out asking “Itnee garmee kyun hai?”, he would have understood the value of heat. Brilliant insight.
Ergo, If Hangal stepped out asking “Itnee garmee kyun hai?”, he would have understood the value of heat. Brilliant insight.
And then it informs us in phrases seemingly cut and pasted from an IITian’s tale, that “The drama in the scene was heightened to such a level that the spectators found it easy to cry than to see Rahim's about to happen condition.”
First of
all, I have never, never, seen anyone cry for Rahim chacha. In the 70s, moviegoers
used to clap when Sachin died.
Secondly, the
thing about “about to happen condition” needs to be explained to me again. “Than”
what? If you have to murder the language, just murder it please. But don’t hack
at the tenuous threads of semantics which bridge this chaotic world to our
comprehension.
Undeterred,
I continued in my quest, and examined the implications from all possible
dimensions. Here are my thoughts on why Hangal chacha’s iconic phrases were
really a statement on his times, 1975.
Itna sannata kyun hai bhai? Wherefore this silence?
Politically - The gagging of the press during the emergency
Economically - The stagnant licence-raj economy
Sociological - The society obdurately ossified in its caste and class divisions, after the collapse of Nehruvian optimism
Technological - The echoing silences in our labs with all the brain-drain
Biological - The departed stirrings under his lungi
Philosophical - If I break this silence with this question and no one speaks yet, did I break the silence?
Metaphysical - Our essential existential alienation despite the multitudes
Literal - Which bad joke did I just missed?
Psychological - Am I going deaf too?
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