baap ka joota agar bachche ke paaon mein aa jaaye to phir vo bachcha nahin reh jaata pitaa ji

 Film: Desh Premee

Year of release: 1982

Spoken by: Raju (younger Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to: Master Dinanath (elder Amitabh Bachchan)

Dialogue writer: Kader Khan

The four goons of the "basti" (group of shanties) where Amitabh lives assault him. He fights back. Just then his father appears and realises that his son is also involved in illegal things. They get into an argument and thats when the younger Amitabh says

"baap ka joota agar bachche ke paaon mein aa jaaye to phir vo bachcha nahin reh jaata pitaa ji"

Appears 1 hr 36 minutes into the film https://youtu.be/znTmaHW8PPg?t=5804

रिटायरमेंट के बाद का मुझे ज़रा भी फिक्र नहीं

Film: Baghban

Year of release: 2003

Spoken by: Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to: Mr Rawat - ICICI Bank Manager and Raj's boss (Avtar Gill)

Dialogue: Achala Nagar

This film was based on an American novel written in 1934 - The Years are so Long by Josephine Lawrence (which later was the basis for a 1937 film Make Way for Tomorrow). It was unbearable. But many people have seen it. Comedian Sanjay Rajoura has an excellent routine based on this film. This film had a great lesson for those who leave all their retirement planning predicated on their children. It doesn't work. And if you are planning to retire in the next 20 years, I can assure you it will not work. It's never too late. Start now. 

So what's the dialogue. 

Well, Raj has four useless sons. The second one (Samir Soni) wants to buy a car and needs Rs 50000 for the down payment. In spite of having kids of his own, he turns to his dad for the money. A more sensible dad would have said what Tigmanshu Dhulia did in Gangs of Wasseypur (beTaa..hamein tumhare lachchan bilkul Thiik nahiin  lag rahe hain...tumse naa ho paayegaa). However, then the film would have ended then and there. We couldn't have had that. 

So Mr Malhotra applies for a loan. His boss Rawat warns him that he has always squandered his wealth on his children and has barely anything left in his retirement fund. A confident Raj Malhotra refuses to accept the sage advice and ensures the film runs for two and a half hours. 

This is the full exchange.

"Malhotra saab, ye jo gratuity ke against aapne 50000 ka loan maangaa hai, aap jaante hain ki iske baad aapke account mein, kuchh bhi nahin bachega...Nahin nahin, aap jaise sincere employee ko naa kaa to savaal hi paidaa nahin hotaa...aur phir aap hamaare dost bhi hain...aapne hamesha doosron ko hamaari investment aur bachat scheme ke baare mein encourage kiyaa hai. Magar Khud ki future ke baare mein nahin sochaa. Jo kuchh bhi kamaayaa, vo bachchon ki zaruuraton aur maangon par kharch kar Daalaa, magar sach baat to yeh hai, ki retirement ke baad, apnaa paisaa hi sabse baDi taaqat hotaa hai."

AB says,

"Sir hamaari taaqat to hamaare bachchon ki muskaane.n hain ...aur paisaa hi kis kaam kaa agar...ain waqt par bachchon ke kaam na aa sake. 

Aur vaise bhi sir, retirement ke baad ka mujhe zaraa bhi fiqr nahin, bhagvaan ki kripaa se chaar chaar beTe hain. Chaar chaar anmol fixed deposit. To chaar chaar fixed deposit, aaTh baazuu, sahaare ke liye itna bahut hai mere liye."

"और वैसे भी सर, रिटायरमेंट के बाद का मुझे ज़रा भी फिक्र नहीं, भगवान् की कृपा से चार चार बेटे हैं. चार चार अनमोल फिक्स्ड डिपॉज़िट. तो चार चार फिक्स्ड डिपॉज़िट, आठ बाज़ू, सहारे के लिए इतना बहुत है मेरे लिए."

And as you know, his expectation is completely belied. So think twice before saying,

"रिटायरमेंट के बाद का मुझे ज़रा भी फिक्र नहीं"

This scene comes about 26 minutes into the film 

Soch gehri ho jaaye, to faisle kamzor ho jaate hain

Film: Khuda Gawah

Year of release: 1992

Spoken by: Baadshah Khan (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to: Khuda Baksh (Danny Denzongpa)

Dialogue writer: Santosh Saroj & Raj Kumar Bedi

As a younger man, I was once preparing for the NDA SSB interview. There used to be something called Word Association Test in that. So they would give a word and you would have to make a sentence using that word. So the tip that we were given was that leaders do not make complex, convoluted or negative sounding sentences. So if the word is Grass. Then your sentence should be - Grass is green. Instead if you write this:

Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of  monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly referred to collectively as grass.

You are likely to be rejected :)

So any amount of over-analyses will probably lead you to rethink your decision. That's why the Ancient Romans used to burn bridges and boats. That was a good way to avoid intellectual thinking which could lead to retreat. 

Khuda Gawah was another mind numbing film of Amitabh Bachchan but with great visuals. It features this great Amitabh line:

"Khudaa Bakshe, itnaa mat soch. soch gehri ho jaaye. to faisle kamzor ho jaate hain"

"ख़ुदा बख्शे, इतना मत सोच. सोच गहरी जाए, फ़ैसले कमज़ोर  हो जाते हैं"

Or as Modi tells Tata in the movie Narendra Modi:

"Tata saab, jo decision ek minute mein nahin hotaa, vo decision hi nahin hotaa". :)

Ye idli saambar khaate khaate to main mar jaauungaa

Film: Pyar ki Kahani

Year of release: 1971

Spoken by: Ramchand (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to: Ravichand (Anil Dhawan)

Dialogue writer: Vishwamitter Adil

This is a very atypical Amitabh Bachchan dialogue.

This film was a flop based on the 1964 Tamil superhit Kai Kodutha Deivam.

In the original the protagonist (SS Rajendran) goes to Amritsar from Tamil Nadu. In this film Ravi Chand travels from Punjab to Bangalore. TS Raju wrote dialogues in the original movie. The differences between the two movies are a very interesting sidelight.

Ramchand uses the similarity of his name with Ravi chand to use an appointment letter in favour of an 'R.Chand', to benefit a rank stranger whom he wants to help i.e. Ravi Chand (Anil Dhawan).

Once Ravichand gets the job they both sit down to draft a new budget for their house. Ramchand lists a new house, new clothes and other expenses:

"raashan ka Kharcha aur baawarchii ki tanKhwaah DeDh sau rupaye..."

Ravi asks - "ye kyon "

"dekh...khaane peene ke maamle mein tu Taang mat aDaayaa kar

ye idli saambar khaate khaate to main mar jaauungaa...

ek aadh baar chapati to khaa len de naa!"

"ये इडली साम्बर खाते खाते तो मैं मर जाऊंगा, एक आध बार चपाती तो खा लेन दे ना !"

And he pronounces the word saambar as all Non-south Indians do. Like psalm-burr! The correct pronunciation of course is psalm-bar.

साम्बार. 

And no, there is no भ in this word! Ended up losing quite a bit of respect for Amitabh Bachchan after this dialogue. 

Interesting sidelight, in the same scene in the original, Sivaji Ganeshan is cursing chapati. And wanting Tamil samaiyal. The exact dialogue is:

"tanjaavuur samayalkkaaran...nalla samayalkkaaran ..sappaattii muDiyalai ppaa. avanukku ambadu ruubaai daaraaLama kuDukkalaam"

In a funny twist, even after Ram gets Ravi married to a half Punjabi girl and expects to get Punjabi breakfast, he finds to his dismay that the new bride knows how to cook only idlis and saambaar!

I am sure he found solace in his father's advice 

मन का हो तो अच्छा, ना हो तो ज़्यादा अच्छा !

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. 

partner ab bol hee diyaa hai to dekh lenge

Film : Sholay
Year of release : 1975
Spoken by : Jai (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Veeru (Dharmendra)
Dialogue writer : Salim-Javed

I have been meaning to put this on this blog for a long time. But then, the entire screenplay of films like Deewar and Sholay will walk into this blog.

However, this line has often been used by me. I was recently working with a colleague. We both had committed to completing a lot of work, and she voiced her concern about having bitten off more than we could chew. I responded with this classic line, she instantly cracked up laughing. Sometimes these film line references go abegging, when the interlocutor does not understand the reference. But this line did not suffer that fate.

But the triggering cue for finally putting this line up came recently after the fifth match of the India Sri Lanka test series.
India had wrapped up the series 5-0. Sarandeep Singh and Vivek Razdan were commentating along with Narottam Puri on DD National (don't ask me why I was watching that!). Narottam Puri asked Sarandeep as to what India's chances were in Australia. Sarandeep predicted that we would win all the one dayers there. Then he paused and looked at Vivek. Then he said.
"main kuchh zyaadaa to nahii.n bol gayaa"

Lo and behold! Vivek responded with this very line. "तब रोक न पाया मैं आंसू" as Amitabh's father would have said. And then I had to put this up.

This is from the first reel of Sholay. Thakur is a policeman and escorting the two convicts in a train. They get into a discussion about whose job is better. Veeru suggests that both Jai-Veeru and Thakur work for the same thing - money. Thakur refutes that and says, he works to uphold the law, whereas Jai-Veeru break it. Jai interrupts with his trademark style line -

"aur dono.n hee kaamo.n me.n,  bahaaduri kee zaroorat hotii hai"
Veeru backs that up with
"haa.n hotii hai"
achchhaa... tum apne aap ko bahut bahaadur samajhte ho
agar mauqaa mile, to dekh lenaa thaanedaar saahab, ham dono.n pandrah bees par to bhaari paRenge...kyo.n jai, mai.n zyaadaa to nahiin bol gayaa naa
partner ab bol hee diyaa hai to dekh lenge

mujhe laDkiyo.n ke dil se koee dilchaspii nahee.n, isiiliye to aaj tak zindaa hoo.n

Film : Don
Year of release : 1978
Spoken by : Don (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Sonia/Kamini (Helen)
Dialogue writer : Salim Javed


This line comes in the scene just before the song "Yeh mera dil". The 2006 version dropped this line while retaining the earlier, 'romantic baate.n mujhe bahut bore kartee hai.n' line. So I thought I might bring up this line up. Ideal time. Valentine season!

Sonia (Kamini) responds to Don's 'romantic baate.n' jibe with this line -

"insaan ye jaan saktaa hai ki chaand aur sooraj me.n kyaa chhupaa hai, lekin ye kabhii naheen jaan saktaa, ki ek laDkii ke dil me.n kyaa chhupaa hai."

Don continues in his laconic way, with this line -

"mujhe laDkiyon ke dil se koee dilchaspii nahee.n, iseeliye to aaj tak zindaa hoo.n....  oh god getting late."

"मुझे लडकियों के दिल से कोई दिलचस्पी नहीं, इसीलिये तो आज तक ज़िन्दा हूं"

Bbuddah hoga terra baap - Amitabh Bachchan's dialogue error

The just released Amitabh Bachchan film pays a tribute to a lot of his famous dialogues. But I was surprised and hurt that a perfectionist like Amitabh flicked a Bob Christo dialogue as his own. Incidentally Bob Christo had passed away earlier this year on 20th March. 

You can read this dialogue on one of my earlier posts here. 

You can watch the entire scene here, starting at time code 07:33. Ram Sethi protests Bob Christo's forcible entry into the line. Bob Christo mouths this line. Amitabh just copies the line at 08: 34

हम भी वो हैं जो कभी किसी के पीछे नही खड़े होते. जहा खड़े हो जाते है लाइन वहीं से शुरु हो जाती है.

Time we started giving credit to the guy who actually said it and the guy who wrote it, i.e. Bob Christo and Inder Raj Anand, respectively. 

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. 

Jo pachchees baras me.n nahee.n huaa woh ab hogaa

Film : Deewar

Year of release : 1975

Spoken by : Vijay Verma (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Rahim Chacha (Yunus Parvez)

Dialogue writer : Salim-Javed

The coolies of the dockyard are sitting and sipping tea in the canteen. Rahim is very concerned about Vijay's act of defiance in refusing to pay protection money (hafta). He says

yahaa.n Gareeb ko sau baate.n soch ke chalnaa paDtaa hai. aur phir ye log to mawaalii Thahare, inke munh kaun lage

यहाँ ग़रीब को सौ बातें सोच के चलना पडता है, और फिर ये लोग तो मवाली ठहरे, इनके मुंह कौन लगे. 

Another coolie eggs him on with this line,

Theek kehte ho raheem chacha bilkul Theek kehte ho

ठीक केहते हो रहीम चाचा बिलकुल ठीक कहते हो.

Suitably encouraged, Raheem continues his litany.

pachchees baras ho gaye hame.n yahaa.n kaam karte. hamane nahee.n dekhaa koee kulee unhe.n haftaa dene se inkaar kar de

पच्चीस बरस हो गये हमें यहाँ काम करते. हमने नहीं देखा कोई कुली उन्हें हफ़्ता देने से इनकार कर दे.

And the laconic Vijay pauses for a while and then says sententiously,

raheem chaacha jo pachchees baras me.n nahee.n huaa woh ab hogaa. agale hafte ek aur kuli in mawaaliyo.n ko paisaa dene se inkaar karne vaalaa hai. 

रहीम चाचा, जो पच्चीस बरस में नहीं हुआ वो अब होगा. अगले हफ़्ते एक और कुली इन मवालियों को पैसा देने से इनकार करने वाला है.

This is the line which later gives rise to  the "Peter ab ye taalaa mai.n terii jeb se chaabee nikaal ke..." line. But that line will come in some other post.

So when India wins the cricket World Cup after 28 years, the Left front loses Bengal after 34 years, and there is history being made all around. This is a great line to use. 

Remember the Emirates line - when was the last time you did something for the first time. So whenever you do that, use this line.

aisa to aadmii life me.n do-ich time bhaagtaa hai

Film : Amar Akbar Anthony

Year of release : 1979

Spoken by : Anthony Gonsalves (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Robert (Jeevan)

Dialogue writer : Kader Khan

This was one of my favourite Amitabh Bachchan films when I was a kid. I saw Deewar, Sholay, Trishul and Zanjeer much later!

Kishan Lal (Pran) has become a mafia don and smuggler after usurping the business of Robert (Jeevan). Robert falls upon bad days and becomes a coolie on Kishan's dock. While unloading 'sona', the two meet each other and have kind of a show down. Suddenly the police lead by Kamal Kapoor (Narang of Don) arrive and everyone runs for their lives. Robert escapes with a case of gold and a revolver. Anthony trips Robert while running and stylishly delivers this line

See it here

"aisaa to aadmii life me.n do-ich time bhaagtaa hai, olympic ka race ho ya police ka case ho. tum kaay me.n bhagtaa hai bhaai?"

"ऐसा तो आदमी लाइफ़ में दोइच टाइम भागता है, ओलिम्पिक का रेस हो या पुलीस का केस हो, तुम काय में भगता है भाई?"

This line was a favourite as a kid, along with the famous mirror scene. 

ek aap hai.n, ek saale vo the

Film : Sharaabi
Year of release : 1984
Spoken by : Vicky (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Sudhir and his gang

This is one of the most interesting sequences of the film. Sudhir and his gang of goons accost Vicky on his way and relieve him of his gold chain, wallet and other possessions. When he goes to a slightly lower class bar - he finds that Sudhir and his gang have also come there. He goes and tells them that they are all very 'shareef' i.e. decent and good people. However, he also says that he has been waylaid by a bunch of goons who have taken away his money and his gold chain.

"ek aap hai.n, ek saalo vo the"

A la Marc Antony, he gradually establishes the fact that the goons that he is referring to and the current lot of 'decent' men are the same. He bashes them up one by one. He keeps on repeating the line

"एक आप हैं, एक साले वो थे"

But not until he has collected a lot of applause from the front benchers and the back benchers.

Ilaaqaa tumhaaraa hai aur maiN akelaa hooN

Film: Zanjeer

Year of release : 1973

Spoken by : Vijay Khanna (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Sher Khan (Pran)

If you have been following this blog, then you would have read other interesting posts from this film. If you haven't, I suggest you go to the labels section and click on Zanjeer and read all the posts before reading this.

Vijay goes to Sher Khan's area in response to the challenge that he had thrown to him at the police station. Sher Khan had said that Vijay's arrogance was due to his uniform and his position. Vijay is obviously eager to dispel this notion. So he reaches in mufti at Sher Khan's joint and says,

"yehee hai vo ilaaqaa, jahaan log tumheN jaante hain? Sher Khan ab na to vardi hai na kursi aur naa hee mai duty par hooN"

And polishes off his dramatic entry with a counter challenge (in what would later become the characteristic angry young man style) -

"ilaaqaa tumhaara hai aur maiN akelaa hooN"

"इलाक़ा तुम्हारा है और मैं अकेला हूं"

jahaa.n dekhtee hai.n ek rishtaa qaayam kar letii hai.n

Film : Kabhi Kabhie
Year of release : 1976
Spoken by : Amit Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Pooja Khanna (Rakhee Gulzar)

Amit is a poet and he has gone to Pooja's college to recite his poetry. Pooja (among all the other girls) is enamoured of this tall, shy poet with a great voice. When she goes to take his autograph, he starts flirting with her. He praises her eyes. Pooja asks him what's so special about her eyes. A normal person would have been cornered by such a direct question. But Amit is a poet. So he comes up with a great response. He says,

"jahaa.n dekhtee hai.n ek rishtaa qaayam kar letii hai.n"
"जहां देखती हैं एक रिश्ता क़ायम कर लेती हैं"

On a lighter note, I used to wonder (and still do) about the way the title of the film was written. Why was the first 'Kabhi' written with just the 'i' and the second 'Kabhie' is written with 'ie'. Do write in and let me know, in case you know the answer.

yeh subah itnii jaldii kyo.N aa jaatee hai

Film : Sharaabi
Year of release : 1984
Spoken by : Vicky Kapoor (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Munshi ji (Om Prakash)

Vicky Kapoor is a motherless boy, who has been brought up by Munshi ji, while Vicky's father Rai Sahab Amarnath Kapoor has been busy in 'business' meetings. As an aid to keeping him quiet as a baby, Rai Sahab has advocated the use of a 'capful' of brandy. The 'capful' turns into a 'glassful' and eventually a 'bottleful'. And Vicky grows up as a young man to be an alcoholic or 'Sharabi'. He keeps irregular hours - wakes up late and sleeps late. One such morning, after a long drunken night, when he is being woken up by Munshi ji (the trusted retainer), he complains and says

"munshi ji, yeh subah itnii jaldii kyo.N aa jaatee hai?"
"मुंशी जी, ये सुबह इतनी जल्दी क्यों आ जाती है?"

kabhii aane ko kehtii hai, kabhii jaane ko kehtii hai

Film: Sharaabi
Year of release : 1984
Spoken by : Vicky (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Munshi (Om Prakash)

I saw this film when I was moving into adoloscence. It was a big hit with me. I used to wake up at 3 in the morning and sing the songs of the film. I was quite besotted with everything about the film. Now when I look back, I wonder how I did not turn into an alcoholic given my level of enchantment with this film. But even now when I see this film, I see many lines which I have used time and again in my life - sometimes in jest, sometimes in seriousness.

Here is one of them.

Natwar Shah (Ranjeet) is dancer Meena's (Jaya Prada looking at her beautiful best) agent. He tries to hitch her up with wealthy patrons and get rich in the process. Vicky is one such target. Natwar goes to Vicky to sell him tickets of one of her dance shows. When Vicky sees Meena's photo - he is besotted with her. He buys all the tickets of the show. When Meena is about to start her performance, she sees only two people in the hall - Vicky and Munshiji. She is upset and conveys her feelings to Vicky. She feels that he has insulted an artiste by acting in this manner. Vicky apologises but also drops in some heavy dialogues about his being a patron who could genuinely appreciate her art and also applaud her more than a 1000 members in the audience could. As he is about to leave, Meena asks him to wait. A flustered Vicky says, in his characteristic style;

"bhai kamaal hai munshii jii, kabhii aane ko kehtee hai kabhee jaane ko kehtee hai"
"भइ कमाल है मुंशी जी, कभी आने को कहती है, कभी जाने को कहती है"

A line which can be used very effectively with your lover :)

Jab tak baiThne ko naa kahaa jaaye sharaafat se khaDe raho

Film : Zanjeer
Year of release : 1973
Spoken by : Inspector Vijay Khanna (Amitabh Bachchan)
Spoken to : Sher Khan (Pran)

Read the earlier post before reading this.

Sher Khan casually moves towards the chair kept in front of Vijay with an intention of sitting in . Before Sher Khan can actually sit, something happens. The slow and deliberate movements of Sher Khan and the sitting form of Vijay do not allow you to be prepared for what follows. They are in stark contrast to the sudden explosion of energy. You can actually feel the 'angry young man' in what follows. Vijay jumps out of his chair and kicks away the chair with great alacrity. A stunned Sher Khan stands wondering what will follow next. What follows next is this great line penned by Salim-Javed.

"Jab tak baiThne ko naa kahaa jaaye sharaafat se khaDe raho"
"जब तक बैठने को ना कहा जाये शराफ़त से खडे रहो"

Even in normally civilised settings - in offices and at homes - you have unwanted visitors who drop in unexpectedly and try to get overly friendly. Your entire body and soul wishes them to go away. You would love it if you could kick the chair away (before they plonk themselves in it) and say

"जब तक बैठने को ना कहा जाये शराफ़त से खडे रहो"

Of course, it will never happen in reality. But you can watch this scene and replay it in your mind. It will surely make you smile.

kabhii kabhii ye kaam bhee karnaa chaahiye

Film : Sholay

Year of release : 1975

Spoken by : Jay (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Veeru (Dharmendra)

Veeru and Basanti (Hema Malini) are now a proper romantic couple. Veeru wants Jay to go to Basanti's mausee (aunt) and ask for Basanti's hand. Jay is very skeptical of Veeru's 'love' and his desire to 'marry'. See how the scene opens.

Veeru : Jay...

Jay : hmmm...

Veeru : aaj maine kuchh sochaa hai...

Jay : hmm...kabhii kabhii ye kaam bhee karnaa chaahiye

The sardonic Jay is heaping scorn on Veeru and his ability to think. I do loads of this 'kaam' and wish more people in this world would do so too. :)

As Jay says,

हम्म... कभी कभी ये काम भी करना चाहिये

kitnee door hai babuji... hindustaan me to hai naa

Film: Laawaaris

Year of release : 1981

Spoken by : Heera (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Ranvir Singh (Amjad Khan)

This was Amitabh at his absolute peak. He just could do no wrong. But when you take the era out of the equation and see this film today, it is a film which deserves its rightful place in a trashcan. The film is about a bastard (laawaaris) who grows up to be Amitabh Bachchan. This one act turns the status of Laawaaris into 'hot'. Now everyone wants to disown their parents. Oh it is so fashionable to wallow in a sea of self pity. More about that wallowing later.

Both Mahender (Ranjeet) and Heera are Ranvir's sons. Mahender is the legal one and Heera is the illegal one. Neither Heera nor Ranvir are aware of this fact. Fate dishes up Heera to land up as an employee on Ranvir's estate. One day, when Dr Goyal (Om Prakash) finds that Ranvir has run out of his medicine, he asks Mahender to immediately get some stock. Mahender refuses to go on some flimsy pretext. Heera volunteers.

"Laaiye Doctor saahab; babuji is ghar me jab tak aapkaa ye naukar zindaa hai, aise kaamoN ke liye aapko koee takleef naheeN karnee paDegee, davaai maiN le aataa hooN"

"लाइये डॉक्टर साहब, बाबूजी इस घर में जब तक आपका ये नौकर ज़िन्दा है, ऐसे कामों के लिये आपको कोई तकलीफ़ नहीं करनी पडेगी, दवाई मैं ले आता हूं"

Ranvir says

'magar shahar bahut door hai"

Heera says

"kitnee door hai babuji... hindustaan me to hai naa"

"कितनी दूर है बाबूजी...हिन्दुस्तान में तो है ना?"

Often you find people finding excuses to turn a 'non-work' into a Herculean task. Here is a great line to trivialise a big job.

MaiN tumheN is tarah Khaamosh naheeN hone dooNgaa

Film : Anand

Year of release : 1971

Spoken by : Dr Bhaskar (Amitabh Bachchan)

Spoken to : Anand Sehgal (Rajesh Khanna)

This is the climax scene of the tear-jerker Anand. Still manages to clean my eyes out, though I would have seen it over 100 times.

Anand is bed-ridden and about to breathe his last. Suddenly a desperate Dr Bhaskar tells Dr Prakash Kulkarni (Ramesh Deo) that Dr Shastri (who is a cancer specialist) might have found some new miraculous cure for the disease and rushes out to Dr. Shastri's house. A dying Anand begs Bhaskar to stay, as he knows that it is futile to find a cure at this late stage. Even Prakash tells Bhaskar not to be foolish and stay with Anand during his dying moments. But a stubborn Bhaskar goes anyway.

While Bhaskar is away, Anand is dying and asks for Bhaskar. When he realises that Bhaskar is not there, he asks Prakash to play the tape which has Bhaskar's and his voice. It is the same "maut too ek kavita hai" poem in Bhaskar's voice which ends with the "zindagi aur maut to oopar waale..." dialogue (which you can read here). If you have seen the scene, you would remember that between Bhaskar's poem and Anand's dialogue there is a long interlude when Anand is figuring out what he should say. In fact, Bhaskar has to goad him with the famous 'tumhe bhee bolnaa paDegaa bolne ke liye" dialogue (Read it here). This interlude is used very cleverly in the climax.

So as Anand listens to the poem on death in his friend Bhaskar's voice, he dies with a last scream of "babu moshaai". There is a hushed silence all around. This is broken by Bhaskar who bursts into the room with

"Prakash, Dr. Shastri..."

He breaks off as he realises that Anand is dead. He turns to the supine form of his friend and delivers those great lines which will give you gooseflesh even if you are part human. Full humans beware.

"naheeN ...maiN tumheN is tarah Khamosh naheeN hone dooNgaa"

"नहीं...मैं तुम्हें इस तरह ख़ामोश नहीं होने दूंगा"

"Chhah maheene se tumhaaree bak bak sun rahaa hooN maiN"

"छह महीने से तुम्हारी बक बक सुन रहा हूं मैं"

"bol bol ke meraa sar khaa gaye ho tum. bolo...baateN karo mujhse - baateN karo mujhse - baateN karo mujhse"

"बोल बोल के मेरा सर खा गये हो तुम. बोलो...बातें करो मुझसे - बातें करो मुझसे - बातें करो मुझसे"

That's when the tape interlude ends and Anand's voice rings out from the Sony tape recorder. For a moment, everyone feels that the prankster in Anand has actually come to the fore. In a moment they realise, it is only the tape. That's when the words dry up and everyone breaks down. Great scene.