Bye, Saeed Jaffrey

November 18, 2015.

Rama and me went back to Shatranj ke Khiladi, Chashme Baddoor and Saeed Jaffrey. Smiled, chuckled over the remains of decencies lost. 'Romba nanna irrikku ( Fine),' exclaimed Rama watching Chashme. Saeed Jaffrey is a pleasant decency; Lallan Mian in Chashme Baddoor reminds clients of financial dues in polite, cynical lines, never ever suggesting violence; maybe those days bankers did the same when corporates did not pay back loans; in a New Delhi with shady lanes; of a New Delhi me has spent some days in ease. Sai Paranjpye and Chashme Baddoor are joys except for two minutes of a needless violence late in the film, suggesting perhaps of times to follow; and Sai is right. Ray can camera a story as few can and Munshi Premchand is a story teller better than all including Rabindranath Tagore; a Kabir; Sadgati with Om Puri and Smita Patil is the other Premchand story Ray filmed. Jaffrey as Mir Roshan Ali holds up to Sanjeev Kumar as Mirza Sajjad Ali; two chess players in ordinary stations cannot but play chess in extra-ordinary times; a chess board limits them; Munshi Premchand did not turn them into patriotic warriors as they could not be; Awadh is lost; they do not know; a king is checkmated, they know. Jaffrey's telling of Urdu is grace though me knows nothing of Urdu; its hard to choose between Urdu and Bengali. Shatranj is a 1977 film (saw it at Eros in 1978), Chashme is 1981; somewhat less tough times made up Sanjeev Kumar and Saeed Jaffrey; they fitted the times; pleasantly drunk times not tight times with gibes exchanged back pats; surely, that's not being oldy. Premchand, Ray, Sai, Saeed Jaffrey ill-fit 2015; wonder whether we have produced many better directors than Ray and Sai; they keep the screen elegant; Saeed Jaffrey and Sanjeev Kumar; Saeed turned bit roles into critical parts; the shootings could not miss him; there are no exaggerations to his style. Saeed Jaffrey is perhaps Nedumudi Venu in Malayalam films. Both are best being low tones as Nedumudi in Lal, Bhadur, Shastri. Saeed Jaffrey to me is like mornings with Mario in Economic Times, Laxman in Times, Busybee (Behram Contractor) in  Evening News; in Chashme Baddoor, the boss in the film is scanning a black and white Economic Times. Today, there is a bareness. Thank you, Janab for the laughs. Me am a bit late over you Saeed Jaffrey as me was laughing.