Toba Tek Singh

 (e-content developed by Dr N A Jarandikar)

Toba Tek Singh

“Toba Tek Singh” is a story written by Sadat Hasan Manto. Manto is a Urdu writer After Partition, Manto migrated (स्थलांतरित होणे) to Pakistan. The common deprived people (वंचित लोक) are the main characters in Manto's literature. 'Toba Tek Singh' is a powerful story by Manto which makes a harsh comment on the idea of Partition.

        The story "Toba Tek Singh” revolves around Bishan Singh. The story takes place in an asylum (वेड्यांचे इस्पितळ) in Lahore. After partition of India, it is decided that like the civilians, the lunatics (वेडे) also should be exchanged. So, it is decided that the Muslim lunatics from India will be sent to Pakistan and the Hindu, Sikh lunatics will be sent to India. The lunatics from the Lahore asylum are confused because of the partition and the idea of the exchange.

Like other lunatics, Bishan Singh is also confused. Bishan Singh belongs to a village named Toba Tek Singh. So, everyone in the asylum calls him Toba Tek Singh. He is a landlord (जमीनदार). He is in the asylum for last fourteen years. During these fourteen years, he has never slept on the ground. He le standing all the while. His feet and ankle are swollen. For every question he has a strange answer — “Upar di gudgud…”.  He has a family and a daughter, Roop Kaur. After partition, all his family members migrate to India. And now Bishan Singh too will be shifted to India. But Bishan Singh is interested neither in India nor in Pakistan. All the time, he goes on asking where is his village, Toba Tek Singh?

Finally, the lunatics are exchanged on the Wagah Border. Here again Bishan Singh asks, “Where is Toba Tek Singh?” and the officer replies that it's in Pakistan. All of a sudden Bishan Singh runs back crying “Upar di gurgur …” As Bishan Singh is a harmless fellow (निरुपद्रवी व्यक्ती), the officers allow him to stay there. Bishan Singh stands there for the whole night. It is a severely cold night. In the morning, all the officers listen to a heart-rending cry (हृदयद्रावक किंकाळी) from Bishan Singh and find him lying on the ground. Thus, Bishan Singh leaves the world lying on the land which belongs to neither India nor Pakistan.

The major setting of the story is an asylum. All the characters are the lunatics. But these insane people (वेडी माणसे) behave very wisely. Manto presents the whole world of lunatics in a comic way. But the undertone of the story is very serious. It is the harsh comment on the futility (निरर्थकता) of partition. The story is a good example of ‘black comedy’.

 

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Bollywood

 (E-content developed by Dr N A Jarandikar)

Bollywood

The term ‘Bollywood’ is associated with the Indian film industry. In India, the film industry started towards the end of the 19^th century. At first, it was a silent movie. It was without dialogues and music. Dadasaheb Phalke is considered as the father of Indian cinema. His film “Raja Harishchandra” is the first full-length Indian film. It was released in 1913. “Alam Ara” is the first Indian sound film. In the pre-independence India, films were mainly mythological in nature. At that time, women were not allowed to play roles in the films. Even watching a play was considered a more serious business than watching a film. But in course of time, the film industry changed rapidly. Now it has become the biggest entertainment industry.

The term ‘Bollywood’ is mainly used for Hindi cinema. Before 1947, the film industry was located in Bombay, Calcutta and Lahore. But after 1947, Bombay became the centre for the Hindi film industry. Earlier Mumbai was known as Bombay. So, on the model of ‘Hollywood’, Indian Hindi film industry is called ‘Bollywood’.  Earlier, it was known as ‘Bombay Cinema’. In 1970s film journalism coined the term ‘Bollywood’. Today, Bollywood is the largest film making industry in the world.

In 1940s, the Hindi cinema left the mythological plots, and it became highly realistic. It focused on the day-today social issues. Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Guru Dutt are the important directors and film producers of this period. In fact, the decades of 1940s to 1960s are termed as the golden age of Indian cinema.

But a major change came in the decades of 1970s. Indian cinema now focused on the darker side of social life. For the first time, the underworld and criminal world was explored by Indian film industry. The disappointed youth after independence of India was craving to change the established corrupt social world.  And so, the concept of ‘angry young man’ came forward. “Zanjeer” and “Deewar” are the two classic examples of this type of film. Amitabh Bachchan emerged as a new youth icon in the decades of 1970s.  

Unreliable plot, element of melodrama, chance element, songs, dance, dashing heroes, fighting scenes, violence etc are the important features of Bollywood. That’s why Bollywood is also known as “Masala Movies”.

The Bollywood movies of 1970s were counter attacked by a new wave cinema. It was also known as “Parallel Cinema”. It rejected the Masala Movie features. Its plots were realistic and without any kind of melodrama. Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani are some important names associated with this kind of cinema.

Today, Hindi films are following different conventions and models. It has become a global cinema. But still it is fondly called a Bollywood.

After 1990s, the south Indian film industry is also flourished. It is following the Bollywood model. Hyderabad and Chennai are its centres. It is known as Kollywood (Kannada film industry) and Tollywood (Tamil film industry).   

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