Monthly Archives: October 2021

When Ravi Kishan played Ravi & Kisan in Ravi Kisan. This is not a joke…

Ravi Kishan, as we all know, is one of the most popular actors from India. After starting off in Hindi cinema, he shifted base to Bhojpuri and the rest is history. He became the biggest Bhojpuri star in a matter of few years.

Following this, he returned to Hindi cinema and left his mark playing mostly serious characters; the opposite of what he did in Bhojpuri films. In last few years, he has given fine performances in Hindi films like Mukkabaaz (2017), Batla House (2019) and Marjaavaan (2019).

But Ravi Kishan has another rare achievement which also doubles up as an interesting trivia. He once did a movie titled Ravi Kisan [another way to pronounce his name]. Yes, you read it right. It was a Bhojpuri movie released in 2008.

I am unable to find any other example of an actor acting in a film titled after his own full name. At the most, I can recall Sunny Deol doing a film called Sunny in 1984 and playing the titular character in it. But the title only had his first name.

But there’s something more interesting about Ravi Kishan acting in Ravi Kisan. Contrary to what some of you might feel, the film is not a biopic on him. It’s actually a story of twins named Ravi and Kisan. And both are played by Ravi Kishan in a double role.

I tried searching about the film’s story or synopsis on the internet but I couldn’t find any. I then realized the film is available on YouTube officially on T-Series’s Bhojpuri channel. After watching few parts of it, I realized it has a story similar to plenty of Hindi films of the yesteryears.

So, there’s an ailing old man who wants to name all his assets and properties to his son. But their evil relative, who wants to capture all his wealth, conspires with the lawyer. The old man can’t read English. So the lawyer prepares the will in English saying that the evil relative will be the receiver of the property and assets. The old man signs it as he trusts the lawyer blindly.

Watch the full movie Ravi Kisan

The relative happily captures the wealth and kills the old man’s son. The man has twins named Ravi and Kisan. While Kisan turns out to be a rogue youngster, Ravi grows up to be a sanskari and religious guy. The rest of the film is about how the brothers teach their relative a lesson.

I came to know about this movie years ago when Ravi Kishan spoke about it inside the Bigg Boss house during the very first season of the show in 2006-07. He said he is the only actor in the world to have a film titled on his full name.

In case you know any more such examples, feel free to mention them in the comments.

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‘90s Flashback: Ajay JADEJA averaged 354 in this tri-series

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1998 had Sachin Tendulkar written all over it. The legendary Indian batsman literally had a dream run that year. His most memorable outing came in the Sharjah cup played between India, Australia and New Zealand. But Ajay Jadeja also had the time of his life in 1998.

Just before going to Sharjah, India hosted a triangular series with Australia and Zimbabwe. This ODI [one-day international] tournament happened just after the India beat Australia in the test series by 2-1.

It was a series where Jadeja averaged a mammoth 354.

He showed his class in the first match itself at Kochi when India was in trouble at 80 for 3 against Australia. He got going right from the start and scored 105 not out off 109 balls with 12 fours. India scored an impressive 309 for 5 and won the match by 41 runs. This was the famous match where Tendulkar picked up 5 wickets for just 32 runs.

Ajay Jadeja — Photo source: SportzCraazy.com (For representational purpose only)

In India’s next match against Zimbabwe at Baroda, Jadeja again came into bat when his side was in a spot of bother at 95 for 3. He had a good partnership with Sourav Ganguly (82) and later with Hrishikesh Kanitkar (35) and remained unbeaten at 79 off 77 balls. Zimbabwe gave a scare, which they did so often to India in the ‘90s, but fell short by 13 runs.

Jadeja didn’t get much chance to bat during India’s match against Australia at Kanpur. Tendulkar was in a hurry to chase down a modest target of 223 by scoring 100 off just 89 balls with 5 fours and as many as 7 sixes, which was rare for that era. But Jadeja did face 31 balls and remained unbeaten on 6.

In the next match at Cuttack, Zimbabwe once again gave a scare to India and it was Jadeja again to the rescue. He walked in when India were reduced to 26 for 3 with Ganguly, Tendulkar and VVS Laxman gone.

Surprisingly, India didn’t lose any further wicket in the innings as Jadeja and Mohammad Azaharuddin had an unbeaten record 4^th wicket partnership of 275. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 116 and Azhar on 153. The team won by 32 runs.

Highlights of the 1st match of the series

India then met Australia in the final at Delhi. Batting first, they could only muster a score of 227 all out. But Jadeja remained the top-scorer with 48 off just 49 balls with 5 fours. After being unbeaten in the whole series, India lost the final by 4 wickets after a good fight with the ball.

Interestingly, Jadeja got out for the only time in the series in the final when he was caught and bowled by Michael Kasprowicz. I remember Ian Chappell pointing out that if he hadn’t got out in the final, he would have had no average in the series, which would have been a rarest of the rare case.

Jadeja scored a brilliant 354 runs in the series. He was hitting the ball effortlessly as if playing in the nets. Out of his six ODI 100s, two came in this tournament itself. As he got out just once, his average stood at a towering 354. He was rightly adjudged the Man of the Series. (See the scorecard of each match of the series HERE)

On a less serious note, the series was played in the scorching heat of April. During almost every innings, Jadeja and Azharuddin batted with a handkerchief around their necks. It was later found that they used to wet the hanky, refrigerate it and later tie it around their necks to beat the heat.

I was impressed with the hack and tried it a few times as a kid. It’s not a bad time to repeat it all over again after 23 years. This October heat is getting unbearable!

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Udit Narayan & K Krishnamurti’s underrated gem in an underrated film

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Veteran singers Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishmamurti have provided Hindi film lovers with a list of gems, both together and individually. In fact, they were the undisputed singing stars of the 1990s, along with Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik.

As we are aware, Hindi cinema produces movies in hundreds every year. And as was the case in the 90s, every film ought to have a good number of songs. With such high number of tracks coming out each year, there is always a possibility of some gems getting unnoticed, more so if the film doesn’t do well at the box office.

Such has been the fate of a soulful and soothing romantic number ‘Yeh Shaamein’ sung by Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurti in Shyam Benegal’s Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992). The lyrics are penned by Vasant Dev while Vanraj Bhatia, the go-to man for music in parallel cinema, is the composer. It’s picturized on Rajit Kapur and Pallavi Joshi.

There are certain songs that created an impact after repeated listening while there are others that touch you instantly. ‘Yeh Shaamein’ easily falls into the latter category. As far as my personal experience is concerned, I became its admirer as soon as I heard it for the first time more than a decade ago while watching Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda.

It is one of those songs where all the three components – lyrics, music and singing – achieved brilliance and its result is there for you to see [rather, hear].

Kapur and Joshi’s performances are also undeniable as they have added plenty of life to the visuals. They broke the myth that you need conventionally good looking ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’ to display chemistry in a romantic number. If you have dedicated artistes who know their craft and can emote effortlessly, that’s all you need.

Here’s the song

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda is based on the classic Hindi novel of the same name by Dharmveer Bharti. It’s about a storyteller Manek Mulla (Kapur) and it features one storytelling session he has with his friends where he narrates the stories of three girls (Rajeshwari Sachdev, Pallavi Joshi and Neena Gupta) that entered his life at different points.

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The ensemble cast also includes Amrish Puri, Riju Bajaj, Raghuvir Yadav, KK Raina, Anang Desai, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Ila Arun and Himani Shivpuri.

The film challenged conventional storytelling with some intelligent use of flashback. The personal story of Manik Mulla indirectly makes a statement on the society and its rigid norms, especially in rural areas back then. Although Manek is the storyteller, at the end of the day he is still just a character in the entire scheme of things.

Having read the book before watching the film, I feel this is one of the rare movies that lives up to the literature it is based on.

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‘Yeh Shaamein’, however, never got its due as the film just didn’t click at the box office. As clichéd as it may sound, it was way ahead of its times. It deserved to have been made in today’s era of OTT.

But it has started finding an audience in the era of social media. This is evident from the numerous conversations I have had both online and offline related to this movie. Hopefully, one day it will be appreciated among the lovers of unconventional cinema… along with the song.

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda is on Amazon Prime Video but, unfortunately, not for those staying in India.

But the film is available on YouTube. Watch it below: