Phir Mile Sur? Nah!

I am a big fan of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara. I remember watching it on DD as a kid and singing along with it, making up lyrics in the languages that i did not know. When i heard that it was going to be remade with the current actors, musicians and sportspersons, i was thrilled. This was last week. I have waited one whole week for its Republic Day launch. And in the meantime, i have watched its making on Youtube, told about it to friends, and when they asked if it was going to be on DD again, i said, No. Its on Zoom- isko dekho. ;)So i wake up early today morning to watch it on Zoom. It started off well with A R Rahman and Big B. But yes, like all remakes, as it progressed, it was disappointing. Despite the fresh faces and all the hype, it did not work for me. And this is why:

• My personal grievance is that Hrithik was not featured in the video.
• It failed to hold my attention after the first time. My dad asks me halfway through the video- is it a one hour program?
• Suriya and Vikram should have in the same frame when the Tamizh bit came on. And what happened to Kamal Hassan?
• Where are the cricketers?
• The diversity came across very well with the multifarious actors but i failed to see the unity.
• I could see that people on screen were acting in most parts. The effortlessness on screen that was in the original was missing. It looked like it was more about looking good than being a part of a national integration video.
• Among the over-actors are Priyanka Chopra, Shahid and Deepika. The leggy Deepika, for God's sake looked like she dropped in directly after shooting for some ad! And you could have given the remix of Bakhuda Tumhi ho as playback for Shahid's part and not known that he was actually crooning mile sur into the mike!

But it also worked for me in bits-

• Salman Khan with the deaf and mute kids. It was really touching.
• The bit with Shobhana and Shaimak Davar doing some sort of jugalbandi.
• Atul and Sonali Kulkarni- they looked real.
• Amir Khan's taare zameen par inspired part.
• Sivamani drumming by the lakeside.
• The last part of the video with the sports persons- that was when i could actually see this feeling of National integration and pride of being Indian on screen. Thats perhaps because they were not acting!
  

The original had some really memorable parts:

• The mahout on the elephant during the malayalam playback.
• Amitabh, Jeetendra and Mithun, arm in arm, singing Mile Sur like they meant it.
• Shabani Azmi's part. Where do we have actors like her these days?!

The older version, like most people are saying now, is untouchable. It is simple, charming and works because it has real people. This one is more bollywood centric, glamorous and a poorer cousin of the original. It so totally proved that Zoom TV is behind its making! Isko dekho par without any expectation!

PS: Bad day for me. Nadal pulled out of the Australian Open. Was hoping for a Nadal- Federer final!