The Generation Gap!

Cheeniya sir,

Nice one! You almost brought a lump to my throat with this piece.

In my parents' family, Tamil movies were an integral part of the entertainement schedule, especially since there was no TV in those days of yore. Dad often used to talk about Appa Duraiswamy. And other reel greats like RengaRAo (cigar smoking,shawl draped, chauffeur driven Benz cars), elegant screen moms like Kannamba, a pouty,petulant Savitri, a dead pan faced Gemini-who can ever forget them!

A few years back had an opportunity (read: financial grant) to work on inter-generational courtesies. i chose the Nattukottai Chettiars and was surprised to find that cinema was one of the main fields where the change was most felt.

But inter-generation differences- as I age by the day, I feel that I of 20 years back belonged to another generation totally. I used to be a great fan of the Mallu actor Sukumaran. After Satyan and before Mamootty,Mohanlal, he was one of the better actors in Malluwood. This was in the 70s. In the 80s, I found Sukumaran unbearable. In the 90s, coming back to his movies, I found him tolerable again. Now I enjoy movies starring his sons- the star Prithviraj and the actor Indrajit. When I see them on screen, I feel that I watched their father in a previous generation or even birth.

As is said, time and tide---. Sometimes we span many generations in one life-time. And sometimes, many life-times cross us in one generation.

regards
Vidya

(Disclaimer: This post is not to patronise or promote Cheeniya and his senile ramblings. It is a mere enunciation of opinion, very personal of the author)

 

Dear Sri,
Typically belonging to "your generation" ( though younger than you, ofcourse !:tongue ), I very much enjoyed the second para you have written.
I am sure you have enjoyed as much as I have, the subtle love scenes between Padmini & Shivaji Ganesan, the stalwarts of yesteryears. With their eyes & body language, they conveyed much more depth than what is shown more explicitly in today's movies !
If I sit & watch yesteryear's movies fondly all over again, my grand daughters comment how my taste can be " so bad". They wonder how I had the patience to enjoy the "over acting" of Shivaji.
Without knowing any dance, how Bhanumathi could dance her way into our hearts ! Without dubbing, B Saroja Devi's lispy tamil was par excellence !
The fluttering of eyelashes of old time heroines fluttered the hearts of young men who were watching the movie !
An occasional belly-dance by a vamp was fun to watch. But now omelettes are made & tops are spun on the belly ! What a rapid progress !
Last evening I went to "namesake" - a movie which reminded me of old times !

Your brand of humour is unbeatable, Sri.
Love,
Chithra.

 

Dear cheeniya sir,
i am digging into all your old posts and having a gala time today. enjoyed this post and all the replies too...i realize i do not belong to your generation as i always laughed at the coughing mother...your narration was too good and made me Big LaughBig Laugh:rotfl:rotfl<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" oreferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><vath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></vath><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape id=_x0000_i1026 style="WIDTH: 21.75pt; HEIGHT: 20.25pt" alt="0" type="#_x0000_t75"><v:imagedata o:href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/images/smilies/biglaugh.gif" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Krish\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape><v:shape id=_x0000_i1027 style="WIDTH: 29.25pt; HEIGHT: 11.25pt" alt="0" type="#_x0000_t75"><v:imagedata o:href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/images/smilies/rotfl.gif" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Krish\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image002.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape><v:shape id=_x0000_i1028 style="WIDTH: 29.25pt; HEIGHT: 11.25pt" alt="0" type="#_x0000_t75"><v:imagedata o:href="http://www.indusladies.com/forums/images/smilies/rotfl.gif" src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\Krish\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image002.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>

chithra mam your fb too was very good i cud visualize my mother saying that..(An occasional belly-dance by a vamp was fun to watch. But now omelettes are made & tops are spun on the belly !)

that was a great sense of humour…
regards
Mindi

 

Dear Cheeniya Sir

I used to enjoy Shivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganeshan movies especially
Palum Pazamum, Pasa Malar, Then Nilavu, Kalyana Parisu and so many other movies of those times.

Now a days except a few there is no thrill in watching movies. Those days we used to wait to go to theatre and watch the movie. Now a days since we can watch sitting at home it is not so exciting.

Regards
Viji

 

Dear Cheeniya sir,

I enjoyed this post :rotfl, especially the part about the ailing, coughing father. There was this pot of boiling milk overflowing, whatever it was supposed to symbolify. And songs every five minutes added just for the sake of them.

 

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

Your blog on 'The Generation Gap' brought back memories of old Hindi movies dating back to the '60s and '70s. Indeed, it is a personal generation gap for me! I used to be a big fan of Dev Anand and watched all his movies, couldn't stand it if someone said something mean about his acting or mannerisms! Now, barring a few exceptional films like 'Kala Pani', 'Hum Dono' or 'Guide', I wonder what I saw or admired in Dev Anand. So I am not surprised at your grandson's reaction at all.

Some really good Hindi movies like Lagaan or Mangal Pandey, Swades, or Mozhi, Abhuyum Naanum in Tamizh must be applauded.

I think one must change with the times and learn to watch the run-of-the-mill films mindlessly!

Padma

 

Dear Sri,

Idiot Box is one thing which makes the family members to assemble in one place... Otherwise, with this fast dynamic world... There is no time for meeting / chit chatting with the parents / grand parents also... Gone are the days, where we spend time with our grand parents or parents and have a peaceful chat etc...

With regard to generation gap... the gap is becoming shorter... in the sense, earlier we used to say 20+year old movies as older generation... Now even the 5+ year movies becomes older generation movies... The concepts and thought process of the current generation moves very fast...

The Thangavelu's Bairavan from Kalyana parisu and Nagesh's Dharumi in Thiruvilayadal are enjoyable any day and by any generation... But with the modern Vadivelu / senthil-kaudamani... it is becoming too monotonous and stero typed... Also with too many channels available and everybody hosting the same sequence, it becomes over dosage...

Those days there were only one channel and had lot of movies and good stuff... so we had variety and choice... Now quality comedy and instant sense of humour is becoming a rare comedy... No comedy scenes comes without double meaning or attacking some fiath or person....

Also, the subtle presentations are gone... and there is no place for sentiments...

Thanks to all, I get to read the (G)olden threads...

Veda