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diptanshukashyap28 · 2 years

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Why Indians Need to Watch Frank Capra’s Movies? - July 20, 2022

If you're a fan of Old Hollywood, you can realize the significance of Frank Capra (1897-1991) in the American Film Industry. An Italian by origin, he spent 89 years in the United States. His life story was that of a "rags to riches" one - an ideal example of achieving the American Dream. He also served in the United States Army during the Second World War - and made several war documentaries. One can learn about it in the Netflix series Five Came Back - with Guillermo del Toro narrating his story. Capra has influenced many directors of the post-World War II era (from Indian directors like Satyajit Ray & Raj Kapoor to foreign directors like Akira Kurosawa, Steven Spielberg, & Francois Truffaut). But what is it that makes Capra's work evergreen?

Before I start, I wish to talk about my rendezvous with Capra. I first heard about him when he attended the 1972 Oscars to co-present the Best Director Award with Natalie Wood (to William Friedkin for The French Connection). I watched six of Capra's movies between December 2021 and July 2022. They are:

It Happened One Night (1934)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

You Can't Take It with You (1938)

Mr. Smith s Goes to Washington (1939)

Meet John Doe (1941)

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

(1) Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night

(2) Raj Kapoor and Nargis in Chori Chori

I loved every single picture. While watching It Happened One Night, I found it similar to the 1956 Raj Kapoor-Nargis starrer Chori Chori (not to mention their final collaboration). The screwball comedy got remade in several Indian languages - even the 1991 movie Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (with Aamir Khan and Pooja Bhatt). The key themes the movie exhibits are the class and socio-economic differences between the two lead characters - along with love, freedom, poverty, unemployment, etcetera.

It would also be interesting to know that It Happened One Night was the first of the three movies to win the "Big Five" awards at the Oscars: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. The other two movies are One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Silence of The Lambs (1991).

Below are the heroes of Capra:

(1) Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

(2) James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Deeds and Mr. Smith grabbed my attention because of the themes discussed in the two (like corruption, misuse of power, beliefs in democracy, patriotism, etcetera). The most significant element is the depiction of the ideal 'American Hero' - which one can see in Gary Cooper and James Stewart, respectively. However, the hero is something that every nation wishes to have - including ours. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town got remade in Bengali (Raja-Saja of 1960 with Uttam Kumar) and Tamil (Nallathambi of 1949 with S. Krishnan). Whereas Mr. Smith Goes to Washington did not have an Indian adaptation.

However, Mr. Smith reminded me of how the English tried to suppress such movements during the freedom struggle. Scenes like 'young boys printing newspapers and citizens launching movements to prove a man's innocence & bureaucrats and politicians trying to stop it' remind us of such events. One must remember that it got released less than three years before Gandhiji launched the Quit India movement of 1942. Even after independence, now and then, we come across news headlines featuring similar happenings.

(3) Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in Meet John Doe

(4) Amitabh Bachchan and Shabana Azmi in Main Azaad Hoon

Meet John Doe is about a "grassroots" political campaign created unwittingly by a newspaper columnist with the involvement of a hired homeless man and pursued by the paper's wealthy owner. The renowned Indian adaptation of the film is the Amitabh Bachchan-Shabana Azmi starrer Main Azaad Hoon (1989). It's one of the rarest movies where Bachchan has not fought the corrupt violently.

Although John Doe survives in the end, Azaad kills himself to stay true to the words of the reporter's fictional character. Azaad could have avoided it - but he did not do it so that the people's anger and urge to fight the corrupt system never cool down. Azaad also leaves a message for his supporters and appeals that Azaad should evolve in them. Capra claimed that he never found a satisfying ending for Meet John Doe. However, Main Azaad Hoon provides a finale that suits the main character's commonality and mythic stature.

(5) Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Jean Arthur, and Edward Arnold in You Can’t Take It with You

And finally, You Can't Take It with You (for which he won his third Directing and second Best Picture Oscar) has a similar theme to It Happened One Night. It's a love story of a successful banker's son and his stenographer. In several Bollywood movies, we see romances between a rich boy and a poor girl (and vice versa) - but they are not like the romances between Capra's characters.

(6) Donna Reed, Stewart, and Karolyn Grimes in It’s A Wonderful Life

This article would be incomplete without talking about It's a Wonderful Life (his first movie after leaving the Army) - which gives an important lesson about the significance and beauty of human life. It teaches us that our work can impact the people we come across - and those with friends are never lonely.

But that's not all!

We live in his world. It is the "Capra Universe" - where demons of society have surrounded us - and all we need is a "hero" to fight against them. Indeed, there are various Indian movies with similar themes (and distinct from Capra's plots). However, one can the difference only after watching them. Capra has taught us that you can be a rebel or an "angry young man" - without having a gun or a weapon to fight the system and beating up the bad guys. All you must do is to believe in yourself and the moral principles of society. He gave complex social and economic problems a human face - showing unemployment and vast concentrations of economic power.

Elaborating on the themes expressed in Capra's most famous works, two of the most reoccurring subjects are selflessness and a familial sense of community. That's why there is always strong support for the lead characters.

The only difference between Capra's movies and the Indian versions is the inclusion of songs - a standard Indian Cinema formula.

With themes depicted in them and the problems we see around us, Indians must watch some of Capra's movies. There have been directors who have remade them in the Indian context (and there will be in the future, no doubt). However, they won't have the exact authenticity as those of Capra's movies.

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diptanshukashyap28 · 3 years

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No 4 (All The President’s Men - A must read for Journalists) September 4, 2021

I’m writing today about a book, which is an imperative lesson for a crash course in Investigative Journalism. "All The President's Men", written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, is a must-read for budding journalists.

The book is a narrative of the "Watergate Scandal", which is also one of the darkest moments in American History. For those who don't know about it, the scandal began on June 17, 1972, when five burglars got arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate complex of buildings in Washington, D.C. This was no ordinary robbery: The prowlers were connected to the reelection campaign of the then-President Richard Nixon, and they got caught wiretapping phones and stealing documents. Nixon took aggressive steps to cover up the crimes. However, when reporters Woodward and Bernstein revealed his role in the conspiracy, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974.

"Watergate" remains relevant even today because the scandal changed American politics forever, leading many citizens to question their leaders and think more critically about the presidency. It influenced journalism extensively, including India, as there have been talks about the Pegasus topic as "India's Watergate Moment".

The book covers every single instance of the entire reporting. If you read it, you will find that there is no use of first-person narration. With the help of an anonymous source under the name "Deep Throat" (later revealed to be Associate Director of the FBI Mark Felt), Woodward and Bernstein brought forward a Pulitzer-winning investigation. Like usual journalists, they also had to face death threats and regular monitoring or bugging by "The President's Men", including some Government Officials.

With the help of Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, Managing Editor Howard Simons and Metropolitan Editor Harry S. Rosenfeld, the pair brought forward one of the most horrific tales of American History.

After the end of the reporting and publishing the story, and what happened after that, which included court dates and deep-background investigations, Woodward and Bernstein gave a brief account about Nixon post-Watergate. This is covered in detail in the sequel "The Final Days".

The movie has had a profound effect on my life as it was watching the film that I made up my mind to pursue Journalism. I read the book in my second year of college. This book was truly unbelievable. While I was reading it, I found it more realistic through its narrative. With so much drama in all the proceedings, "All The President's Men" is a must-read. Truth is stranger than fiction and also more thrilling, which the book proves.

Link for the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38uuNiH607M

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