It is the day my 10th-Standard exam is over. Six of us friends have decided we will go to watch the rerun of the James Bond classic Dr. No. We have no phones but we all live within a few kilometers of each other. We all congregate in my house. Any way my house is near to Deviah Park bus stop. We catch the first bus that is on its way to Shivajinagar. 63 or 68 or 95 - one of those. The relief that came with having crossed a major milestone in adolescent life has made way for celebration and the excitement of watching an English Movie on the hip place called MG Road. We make our presence in the bus felt with our excited conversation about the exam paper and our chances of getting the tickets for the movie. The bus reaches Shivajinagar and we hop off and now is the exciting walk to MG road. If anything cool is happening in the garden city of Bangalore, then it is happening here on MG road. What better place to celebrate than this spot. The show starts at 6.15 in the evening. Will there be a long line? Will we get tickets? Going by our record, we should, since it is still 4.30 PM.
After a 20 minute walk we are at Symphony theater. There are about one hundred people in the line to purchase tickets for the "Rear Class". How ever there are only 25 patrons in line for the expensive Balcony class. Daya says 'ivottu ondu dina balcony ge hogona'. (Just for today, lets go to the upper Balcony class). Harsha is all for it, TM, Jay and I are hesitant. Viji smiles and says "hengadru sari" (anything is fine). Kiran tilts the scale by speaking in English "What ever it is, we need to decide fast". The balcony line now has 30 patrons including us. The ticket counter opens at 5.00 PM and we make sure our seats are at the back after we buy the tickets. We also ask when we can go inside the theater. We have another 45 minutes.
TM says lets go to India Coffee house. That is the first thing that comes to his mind since his father worked in Coffee Board. Idly-Vade, Cutlet, Rave Idli and Masal Dose are savoured and topped of with Coffee. We are back in Symphony theater (which is now-a-days called Shankar Nag Chitra Mandira) in time to see the first image projected on the screen which is Gandhiji on the India map. We then watch advertisements for Vicco Vajradanti where an old man crushes some nuts and sugar cane with his bare teeth. This is followed by Sangeeta Bijalani applying Vicco Turmeric Ayurvedic Cream to her ankles which in turn is followed by advertisements for Liril soap and Vimal fabrics. We then get warmed up to the movie with trailers of coming attractions.
"Now starts the movie" I say knowledgeably. But it turns out I am wrong since we need to watch one more trailer. After a couple of such wrong calls from my side, the screen is dark with some scratchy sounds which usually come when something blank is projected on the screen. I am hesitant to call the moment the start of the movie because I was wrong the previous 3 times. So we just watch and there is silence in the theater. Then without warning...
The three zeroes from 007 start moving in from the right of the screen with Sean Connery walking in step to the music. He reaches the middle of screen turns towards the audience and fires with his revolver and immediately....
The big brassy bombastic 'James Bond theme' erupts and we are all sitting on the edge of the seat soaking up this excitement. For me this was the best part of the movie experience. This piece of music so effectively expresses the excitement in James Bond's adventures, the mysterious aura needed for a spy movie and more than anything else it gives such a boost to the listener's mood. And this piece of music with its mysterious aura keeps coming up at tense moments through out the movie to suggest something cool is going to happen to follow. The movie made such strong impression on us, that after watching the movie, we had adjusted our ambitions to be "I will be like James Bond when I grow up"
Even now this music gives me goose bumps. Now imagine my thrill this Friday morning as I sat in the car and turned on NPR's Fresh Air. Who should it be but the man who orchestrated that thrilling music Mr. John Barry himself!! It was a recorded interview and it was being rebroadcast to remember Mr. Barry who died a couple of days back on Jan 30. Even though it is sad that a man who gave such exciting music just passed , I certainly relived my college days listening to this great British Composer.
Here is Mr. John Barry conducting the theme for James Bond. Also at the bottom is Terry Gross's interview with him. May his soul live with us, through his music, for ages and ages.
Here is the link to NPR's Fresh Air program in which Terry Gross interviews John Barry.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/04/133372739/remembering-james-bond-film-composer-john-barry
3 comments:
Chandra Shekar:
Reading your piece and hearing Terry Gross' interview yesterday recreated a lot of the same feelings and memories for me as well and I watched the movie at Symphony around the same time after my SSLC exams (who knows, it may even have been the same day!) but I sat in the middle class.....Thanks,
Madhu Krishnamurthy:
Chandra, wow that is very possible. Thanks for sharing it. You guys must be coming from the Gandhi Bazar / NR colony side. Which bus? 32 ? And, I do know why the music video does not show up in facebook note. It is on my blog. It is such a rasa bhanga. It is like a wedding without the VIPs - namely - cooks.
Chandra Shekar:
Our BTS route number was 13 from Jayanagar/Wilson Garden side and a walk from Hindustan Motors or KSCA down MG road to Symphony, Lido or Galaxy where most of the Bonds played.......India Coffee House for coffee & sometimes other stuff like Masala dose, KC Das for yogurt, Lakeview for ice cream, Rice Bowl/Blue Heaven for noodles etc. ....also, did watch a few good movies in Plaza, Rex and Blue Moon......Gandhi after PUC exams at Lido sitting in the Gandhi class........those were the days!
Yesterday at 07:49 • UnlikeLike • 2 peopleLoading....Chandra Shekar Also, since route # 13 also covered a stop at NIMHANS, you probably remember people saying sometimes " He should be put on route # 13" or "He must have arrived on #13" or " # 13 hatthistheeni baddi magane" or something like that......therefore, as soon as I got a Hercules Bicycle and later a Honda bike, I avoided that bus altogether;))
Madhu Krishnamurthy:
You are bringing up a lot of memories too. We used to say the same about Route 4. Our access to Wilson Garden was # 23. (Yashwantha Pura to BSK II stage via double road, wilson garden, behind lal bagh, Chandra/Lakshmi Sagar kalyana mantapa, madhavan park and so on.
Malli Sannappanavar:
Wow wonderfull article, Takes me to my old days at my native and Tent and so many of my scandals :)
Chandra Shekar:
Madhu, I do remember the old Route # 4-Many ways to reach the same destination as the wise would say. Route # 61 (later 14) from 18 th Cross would have brought you to my home at the very end. What # was the longest BTS route from Yeshwan...thpur to 4th block Jayanagar via KG circle to city market to chamarajpet etc ?
@ Malli, looks like you were the Mr. Kiss kiss Bang bang in the Tent of those days;) As you know, On FB with your friends, you can always come clean of all your scandals and be absolutely certain that they will remain confidential forever! Just kidding.....FB is not Ishtene......
Madhu Krishnamurthy:
Chandra, #1 was from esantpura to 4th block. That was the bus which would be so crowded that the bus would literally be tilted to the left by the weight of foot-board travelers. Men were hanging from the rear foot-board and women in the front door. The conductor had the privilege of hanging out with the ladies in the front, so to speak. When the bus made sharp turns around Netkallapa circle or South End or Nagasandra many of foot-board travelers would pull in their behinds to prevent it being scrapped off by the Tar road.
Nandakumar Chowdappa:
Wonderful memories Madhu ! We used to take the same #63 to MGRoad. There was a #64 too, but that would go all the way from Vijayanagar to Yeshwantpur and then Shivajinagar. I think these days this route is used for bangalore hop-on trip :D We took #64 only when we were returning from a place and had ample time to reach home !
Also, our college route was #60A which was called the school-college route. There were atleast 30 schools and colleges all along its journey from Vijayanagar to Jayanagar. Since it was all bus passes, drivers used to avoid stopping at cruci...al places. If #60A maintained a journal, it would tell more colorful stories than Bollywood, Tollywood, Sandalwood, Kollywood combined !! This #60A passed through Gandhi Bazaar and Chamarajpet, right in front of Vidyarthi Bhavan and other famous hotels there. There were a lot of instances that people who bought tickets till Vijayanagar would get off at Gandhi Bazaar not being able to withstand the temptation of a hot crispy Masala Dosa and ample coconut Chutney. The waiters there purposely shouted, "ondu massaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaale double roast...
Madhu Krishnamurthy :
Conductor: passo kaaso?
Chandra Shekar :
And once upon a time one of those conductors may also have said, "Appadiya" or "Mind it" before he left for Chennai and movies.....
Bhaskar Kalale :
@Madhu. Nice story. Though for me it didn't happen in Blore, nonetheless experience was the same EXCEPT I was there to watch the Bond Girls and those 'special' scenes! Oh BTW, Bond Girls were my inspiration to come to the US!!!
Madhu Krishnamurthy :
Malli,when you said scandals you did not mean what chandra said right?
@BK, if you are still inspired, you may have to go back to India. Aishwarya almost had us believe that she was the next bond girl. But I wont be surpised if Bollywood is ...the source for bond girls in future.See more
Prathibha Keshavamurthy :
Madhu, idella nenne aayteno annuvaShTu chennaagi nenapide ninage :-) tuMba chennaagi bardidiya
Harsha SrinivasaRao :
Madhu you must be from RK Narayan's family, brillintly written. You have not recollected the favourite dialogs of us. I think you should do it next time.
Veena Gowda :
thx madhu,reminded me of the bus tour we gals would take from Malleswaram to Shivajinagar to watch those English movies on MG road,shop at Commercial street & eat at Tiffany's!
Mahesh Longa :
As in the 80's.... a red and black spiral on screen would take you to 'Flash back' ......very interesting! I remember saving money to hit the theatres on hired cycles; 15 paisa an hour. Cycle around Cubbon park. Its not that long ago as you seem to place it ' Ondhan ondhu kaala dhali'. Do u think our kids will ever have that experience?
I like the way you, notice the dark screen and scratchy sounds, with the sound of something like a digital fart. and then .....John Barry's theme explodes. Great... I have put the 007 scene emerging on my wall.
Chandra Shekar :
@Longa, our kids will have that experience for an expensive fee in a concocted "Back to the future" entertainment package at a resort or a Bollywood theme park if some enterprising fellows conceive the idea much like the fake village exper...iences they have created for tourists all over India (e.g. Chowki Dhani on the outskirts of Jaipur).....but an authentic, original experience where after a long bicycle ride (sometimes a double or triple ride-dodging cops etc) the thrill of even getting the tickets to the movie (which was not always guaranteed) may be difficult to replicate......Indian news review at the beginning & the National anthem at the end with the screen itself going up and down for each show.......all of that was indeed 'Ondhanondhu Kaaladhalli" :)See more
2 hours ago • LikeUnlike.Harsha SrinivasaRao Madhu . incidently my son is also a huge fan of James Bond, as a 4 yrs he used watch all bond movies along with me and tried to emulate Bond on kissing scenes with me :)) Now he runs away whenever there is such scenes. But, loves Bond moves and the action in it.
Post a Comment