I was watching a program being telecast on CNN IBN....it was about music composer Illayaraja.It happens to be his birthday today .Program featured songs from his Hindi as well as Tamil films ..a treat for the ears.... In particular the song "surmai akhiyon main nanha munna ek sapna..." brought back so many memories, memories of Golden era of Doordarshan when every sunday I would watch regional movies showing jewels of Indian Cinema such as Siri Siri Muwa. This telegu movie was remade as Sargam in Hindi and was a huge success. Then there was Apoorva Raagangal, in which Kamal Haasan played a rebellious youth in love with an older woman. I saw many movies starring Kamal Haasan and became a fan of the actor. Much later he entered Hindi movie scene with Ek Duje ke Liye . I even saw original version of "Red Rose" . In Hindi version super star Rajesh Khanna played the role of a hero with a negative shade, originally played by Kamal Haasan.Only superlatives can be used for his performance. The less said about 'red Rose " and Rajesh Khanna , the better !
Such was the influence of those south Indian movies that my best friends Uma and Lakshmi were from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Now ...there is no time to watch movies ,not even Hindi and English ones so regional cinema is a thing of past...Doordarshan bhi ab door se bhi regional films nahin dikhata hai ....and in any case no body watches Doordarshan anymore.I can never forget the sensitivity with which south Indian directors treated the difficult subjects of their movies.
Man to yahi karta hai ki ....Koi lauta do mere beete hue din.....!
