Path: newshost.vu.nl!surfnet.nl!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!zdc!zippo!news From: ADhareshwar@WorldBank.Org (Ashok) Newsgroups: rec.music.indian.misc Subject: At the RMIMehfil: Desert Island Soundtracks Date: 9 Jul 1996 23:21:56 GMT Organization: World Bank Lines: 213 Message-ID: <4rupik$tf@doc.zippo.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: adareswa.worldbank.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.99.6 In the mid-70s, a book appeared titled 'Stranded' edited by influential reviewer of rock music, Lester Banks. The idea was this. He had asked 14 of his colleagues, critics for various magazines, to imagine themselves stranded in a desert (deserted, rather, I suppose, for uninhabited) island for life, without prospects of a rescue. They were to choose one LP album they'd like to take with them on such a journey and contribute an essay on it. The result was an interesting book, with essay-length musings around selected LPs. I don't know if this was the origin of the idea of Desert Island Records (DIR), but the idea got popularized then on. For example, if you browse through 'Pulse' (the free music monthly that you can pick up in any Tower store), you'll see a regular feature called Desert Island Discs (DID), where readers submit their lists of 10 CDs they'd like to have with them if they are to be stranded. You can discover some pretty far-out artists and records in this column. For the RMIMehfil in Washington (to use the felicitous expression coined by David Windsor), we were looking for some activities other than quizzes and singing; any exercise that would encourage interactions in small groups. We were concerned that in a 20-plus assembly, some people would feel too shy to initiate contact with other participants. We decided to experiment with a variation on the Desert Island theme as a way of allowing people to chat around in a relaxed fasion. Participants were divided into three groups, with a facilitator each. The instructions were somewhat like: "Your team is about to embark on a voyage and there is a good chance that you will be shipwrecked in a deserted island. There is no chance of a rescue, but ample food and shelter and a cassette deck. The group exercise is to arrive at a list of 10 film soundtracks your group would like to carry on the journey. If your group cannot reach a consensus on a list of 10 films, you'll be shipwrecked with no music! After an unspecified amount of time passes, we'll gather together and each group will chose a spokesperson to present the group's Desert Island Soundtracks/Films." I did not get enough feedback from the participants to judge whether the exercise was a success, whether people had a good time or they just complied with hosts' instructions out of politeness, while they'd rather be doing the electronic equivalent of "Tin kanshtar peeT peeT kar ... " [yaar mere mat buraa maanana ... :)] Anyway, I thought the lists might have value as information, of a non-random sample survey variety at least. Here they are. First came Pradeep to present his group's list and unrolled the following, with very witty commentary: 1. Main Khiladi Tu Anadi 2. Stuntman 3. Ghar Mein Ram Gali Mein Shyam 4. Sajan Chale Sasural 5. Ramgarh Ke Sholay 6. Jai Santoshi Ma 7. Madam X 8. Ijazat (struck out, replaced by Bazigar) 9. Upkar 10. Basant Bahar Well, looked like 'Ijazat' would fit quite well in Pradeep's narrative, but he insisted on erasing it; t I suppose, for Pradeep anything by G. is like a holy cow! The narrative couldn't weave in 'Basant Bahar' properly, but looks like the group had enough members who enjoyed seeing that film in such a list! With that list out of the way, here are the groups and their lists of DISs or DIFs: Group A Group B Group C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sami * Neha * Ketan * Madhuri Faez Ajay N. Pradeep Himamshu Anurag Sanjay Jayashree Mohan Suneeta Surendra Roopa Sunit Udit Vinod Helen # Arup # Ajay D. ** Ashok ** Chetan ** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIS/DIF ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shabab Guide Madhumati Moghal-E-Azam Kabhi Kabhie Mamta Mamta Bandini Bandini Chitralekha Abhiman Abhiman Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Aradhana Aar Paar Chalti Ka Nam Gadi Pyasa Baiju Bawra Dastak Barsat Ki Raat BarsatKi Raat Aradhana Madhumati Hum Dono Padosan Hum Dono TGharKeSamne Madhumati Anand Pakeezah ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Sami, Neha, and Ketan were the facilitators for the respective group. # Helen and Arup joined the exercise midstream and happened to sit with Neha's group. ** It was sort of unspoken, unannounced understanding that the hosts would be passive observers, noting the dynamics and interesting developments. It was adhered to pretty well, except it appears that Chetan started vetoing Ketan! [What's up? Some Gujarati StarWars going on between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo? :)] A tally count shows: Popular soundtracks: Madhumati xxx Abhiman xx Aradhana xx Bandini xx Barsat Ki Raat xx Hum Dono xx Mamta xx Popular music directors: SD Burman: 10 (Abhiman (2), Aradhana (2), Bandini (2), Chalti Ka Nam Gadi, Guide, Pyasa, Tere Ghar Ke Samne) Roshan 5 (Barsaat Ki Raat (2), Mamta (2), Chitralekha) Salil Chowdhuri 4 (Madhumati(3), Anand) Naushad 3+ (Baiju Bawra, Moghal-E-Azam, Shabab; Pakeezah counted for GM.) Jaidev 2 (Hum Dono) G. Mohammad 1 (Pakeezah) Hemant 1 (Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam) Khayyam 1 (Kabhie Kabhi) Madan Mohan 1 (Dastak) OP Nayyar 1 (Aar Paar) RD Burman 1 (Padosan) Lyricists are not independently determined, once the MDs are given, but in any case, here are the tallies (using + for shared films): Sahir 7 Majrooh 6+ Shailendra 4++ Shakeel 4 Anand Bakshi 2 Hasrat 1 Rajinder K. 1 Gulzar +++ Yogesh + Kaif Bhopali + Kamal Amrohi + In terms of group process, team A allocated a film to each of the 7 members, so the battles were confined to the remaining 3! [They also must have finished in a hurry, because they seem to have spent more time on the alternate list. :)] For group B, Neha started with a brainstorming session getting people to name possible films, thus accumulating a huge list of films. Then she took a vote for each film and chose the ones to receive most number of "aye's". This winnowed things down to 11 and now a vote was held, in reverse as it were, to determine the film the group was least unwilling to let go (The unlucky film was 'Umrao Jaan.') Group C, after the slash-and-burn StarWars, appeared to have gotten down to a placid discussion and gone for "best film of the MD" as the basis. If fandom (fanaticism?) for a particular artist played a role at all, it appears to be a modest one. I think Sami's influence is evident more in the choice of Naushad film ('Shabab') rather than the number of Naushad films in his group (2 out of 10 is not unreasonable). There were more SD Burman films (5!) from Neha's group than from Ketan's. The only Madan Mohan film came from Sami's group not Chetan's (I suspect that, with Chetan, the film would have been 'Dekh Kabira Roya.'). Perhaps, Pradeep's handicap was that he has too many different territtories to defend (SC, KK, SDB, and Gulzar). One more reason not to have too many Gods. :) Faez was visibly unhappy in group B, not to have a single Naushad film, but decided not to block the consensus. (If I was an active participant, I would have tried to argue for Aaram/Tarana for Anil Biswas and Anarkali/Navrang for C. Ramchandra; 'Yasmin' I knew would stand no chance.) Some observations on the selctions: - Most of the favourite soundtracks have hit songs by a variety of singers (full or partial exceptions include 'Pakeezah' and 'Mughal-E-Azam', 'Dastak' and the surprise entry 'Mamta'). - 'Madhumati' appears to be the most popular Hindi film soundtrack. No surprise there; just a confirmation. - SD Burman appears to be the favorite MD. Again, not a surprise, although I wasn't ready for the extent by which it was so. - Roshan's popularity was a pleasant surprise, although I am puzzled by 'Mamta' being selected by two groups. I would have expected 'Taj Mahal' to pull it off. - I am surprised by the low count tally for Madan Mohan. - Finally, let me come to the most absorbing aspect of the lists. Like the dog did not bark, the MDs missing from the list are a fascinating bunch; in fact, they elicit a differing range of reactions from me in terms of surprise/no suprise and approval/troubling: -- Khemchand Prakash: Not very surprising, though I though 'Mahal' might come through (in group C, Anurag did push for it.) The zero is troubling. -- Anil Biswas: No surprise, but very troubling. (I don't think a single film by him was discussed even.) -- Laxmikant Pyarelal: Didn't know what to expect! Can't say I find the zero troubling. :) -- C. Ramchandra: Shocking in both senses. ('Anarkali' and 'Albela' were discussed.) -- Shankar-Jaikishan: I must say I am flabbergasted or something like that! I would have been willing to lay heavy odds that the S-J tally would not be zero. I do find the zero partially troubling. On the one hand, I am pleased that movies of the ilk of 'Dil Apna Aur Preet Paraai' and 'Dil Ek Mandir' didn't show up [And heaven forbid 'Junglee' or 'Sasural.' :)]. On the other hand, I would have liked to see a representative from soundtracks of the calibre of 'Barsaat', 'Basant Bahar', 'Seema', 'Aah', and 'Patrani.') Gee! I got carried away by the analysis! Let me revert to the whole point of the exercise before I sign off. It would be nice to know people's thoughts regarding small-group activities like this one. Ashok PS: A question I got asked about the exercise: How does one decide which group wins?!