As we were returning from our dinner outing to Bombay Blue on Friday, the song ‘Aal izz well’ played on the Radio. My younger brother in the 9th grade started talking about the play he had performed at his annual day function in school and and recollected how each actor backstage, put their hand to their hearts and said ‘Aal izz well’ to themselves before going onstage. “Did that have any effect at all, whatsoever?” I asked him, with a hint of sarcasm in my voice.
“Yes, of course,” replied my brother. “I grew confident and did not forget even a single line of mine!”
This got me thinking the immense power certain dialogues can have on us. It is interesting how a certain line from a certain movie becomes timeless as it sticks in our mind, becoming embedded in our daily lingo very often. A line from the famous Shahrukh Khan movie of the same title “Kuch Kuch hota hai..tum nahi samjhogi!” is such a common line for lovers to quote to each other that it works magic even today, after 12 years of its realease !
Another day, when a friend of mine made a mistake while painting a poster, another friend genially said, “Koi baat nahi Senorita, Bade Bade deshon mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain!” quoting the eternal Raj of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ).
A dialogue that has been timeless providing a base for numerous advertisements and humour shows, is the one between Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in Deewar. When Amitabh’s Vijay says, “Mere paas gaadi hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai, tumhare paas kya hai?” Shashi Kapoor’s Ravi Verma proudly replies, “Mere paas Maa hai!” This dialogue has raised the ‘Maa’ to a higher pedestal than before, if possible, by depicting that the worth of ‘Maa’ surpasses every valuable material possession one may have. It is probably even more popular because it draws from the pre-dominant values of the Indian culture of viewing ‘Maa’ as a Godly and an indispensable figure.
The power of dialogues is only re-enforced by the enormous popularity of those from the classic movie ‘Sholay’ penned down by the award-winning duo of Salim-Javed in their prime. Whether it is Amjad Khan’s “Kitne aadmi the…Tum teen aur woh do bahut na-insaafi hai!” or whether a friend wants to fool around with another, or there’s a feud between two, and it is Dharmendra’s line - “Kutte, Kaminey, main tera khoon pee jaunga” that immediately comes to mind, each and every dialogue of Sholay has impacted all and sundry.
Sunny Deol, though now fading into oblivion, is still widely popular for his line in Daamini, “taarikh pe taarikh, taarikh pe taarikh”, such is the power of dialogue.
It is most fascinating to observe how some lines affect our daily, banal activities by adding that filmy spice to our regular chatter. Some lines are also very effective in saying something in a catchy way, that may otherwise sound terribly lame and unattractive when uttered ordinarily.
So, lets continue observing and applying the filmy twist to our daily banter. “Jeeyo, haso, muskurayo, kya pata.. Kal Ho na Ho!”
