Is dunyaa mein taraqqi karne ke liye, naa bolna bahut jaroori hai

Film: Agneepath

Year of release: 1990

Spoken by: Vijay Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to: M S Gaitonde (Vikram Gokhale)

Dialogue writer: Kader Khan

This is the opening scene of Amitabh as an adult in the movie. He is showing sitting in the police station in front of the Commissioner. Kader Khan uses all his skills as a dialogue writer to come up with one punch dialogue after another. However, the one I liked is this one. 

M S Gaitonde is counselling Vijay (don't ask me why!)

"Vijay Chauhan ...tum apni maut ki taraf chal nahiin...balki dauD rahe ho. Kyonki tumhare bosses... jinke liye tum kaam karte ho. Unhen naa sunne ki aadat nahin hai. Aur, tumne to unhen bhi naa kahnaa seekh liyaa hai. 

Vijay responds with a great management lesson. Learning to say no. To your peers, to your subordinates and most importantly, to your bosses. 

"Is dunyaa mein taraqqi karne ke liye, naa bolna bahut jaroori hai, Commissioner"

"इस दुनिया में  तरक़्क़ी करने  के लिए ना बोलना बहुत जरूरी है, कमिश्नर"

And yes, it's pronounced as jaroori and not zaroori, since Vijay Chauhan is not supposed to be very educated. 

bandook bhii dikhaataa hai aur peechhe bhii haTtaa hai

Film : Agnipath

Year of release : 1990

Spoken by : Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Kaancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa)

Dialogue writer : Kader Khan

One of my pet peeves about this film is that everyone calls it Agneepath. While the Johars might have numerological reasons to do so, the people who speak the language have no such reasons. It is, and shall remain for all times to come - AGNIPATH. Now that I have ranted, we get back to this line.

This is a film that got Mr Bachchan his first National Award, though it seemed like the kind of film which justified taking back all rewards given until then. I liked Danny much more than Amitabh and the lesser said about Krishnan Iyer yum yay the better. Roles where accents are required should generally be given to people who either have a neutral accent or the required accent. Mithun has not been able to speak Hindi properly all his life, and he dares to attempt a Tamil accent. Oh the miseries heaped upon us by M/s Johar and Anand. Since both of them are dead, I shall say nothing further.

But I have met a lot of people who adore this film. This film has been part of growing up for many of my friends (like Shiva for me). And I cannot ignore such overwhelming feedback.

Hence I have seen this movie three more times to see what they see in it. I have now put it down to their oculists. But I cannot deny that there are some interesting and stylised lines in this film.

Towards the end, Vijay lures Kaanchaa to his old village and once he has set his trap, he reveals to Kaancha that he is actually the son of Master Deenanath (the man who was brutally lynched to death by Kaancha's henchmen), A cornered Kaancha takes out his revolver and simultaneously, almost instinctively, backs up a few steps. He says

"tumko bhii pataa nahee.n chalegaa, ki kitnee jaldee tum maasTar dinaanaath ke raaste pe chal paDe ho. "

"ei...kaanchaa...saalaa bandook bhii dikhaataa hai aur peechhe bhii haTtaa hai. hai.n. peechhe nahee.n haTne kaa kaanchaa. "

"एई...कांचा...साला बन्दूक भी दिखाता है और पीछे भी हटता है. हैं. पीछे नहीं हटने का कांचा."

Having observed a lot of street fights, I do know one thing. Having a weapon does not always give you the confidence to attack. The confidence to attack or the killer instinct comes naturally. There is a great Damini dialogue about that. I will feature that later. 

English boltaa hai

Film: Agnipath

Year of release : 1990

Spoken by : Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Commissioner M S Gaitonde (Vikram Gokhale)

This line was often used by a colleague of mine, whenever he thought someone was using too much English. Although this is not what Bachchan means in the film. We will come to that in a while. It is strange that the Big B today is known more for his 'maaloom' and 'HaiN' mannerism which is entirely from Agnipath. Though he won his first national award for this film, he almost seems like a parody of his own personality. This is the introductory scene of Amitabh in Agnipath. He is sitting in front of the commissioner of police, who is trying to warn him of the dangers of continuing on the path of crime. Vijay gives a lot of 'gyaan' back to the commissioner. I will cover those in some other posts. But as a direct response to Gaitonde's warning, he whips out a diary from his pocket and says

"yeh dekhaa haiN...haaN? aaj shaam 6 baje maut ke saath apenTmenT hai"

then he pauses and asks the commissioner

"English boltaa hai?...abhee chaltaa hai"

"इंग्लिश बोलता है?...अभी चलता है"

Indians have a very strange relationship with the English language. Here is a gangster, who is uneducated and uses one English word. After using the word, he is asking a commissioner of police (who obviously has cleared the civil services exam) if he speaks and understands English. Hilarious. Later in the same film, in the famous 'I am not a goonda' scene, when a waiter walks up to him and says 'excuse me', Vijay goes wild and breaks a few cups and plates and chides the waiter with

"tum kyaa english boltaa hai"

"तुम क्या इंग्लिश बोलता है"

But a great line to use - multiple usages. Use it like my colleague did, or use it like Vijay did. Your choice.

And finally, it is not "Agneepath" but "Agnipath". But then Karan Johar and family does not know too much Hindi. Nor did Mukul S Anand. Surprising though - Amitabh does.

Now that you have read this post, it's my turn to ask you -

"English boltaa hai?...abhee chaltaa hai"

"इंग्लिश बोलता है?...अभी चलता है"