Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The storyteller



While watching Prem Rog on TV this afternoon, I thought  of a classmate/friend of mine, Anita Rawat , the great storyteller who narrated the story of this film to me (us)almost 3 decades back.

I don't know how many people are aware of this genre and talent of(film) storytelling. She used to start from the casting and could make her listeners visualize 'The End',on the screen.These sessions used to take place in the free periods at some corner of the playground of the school while enjoying the winter sun and continued in various parts throughout the week.The mesmerized listeners were found in tears sometimes.I wonder if there is a 'Filmfare Award' for such orators.

When I saw this film with my friends,whom I was visiting, in a theatre which is now submerged in water along with the orchards,bazaars, schools, a palace and a clock tower of Tehri Garhwal, I had already heard the story. OMG !! She had even described the cleavage of the heroine so vividly.

When I returned from Dehradun to Pauri after one of my winter-breaks and announced that Sunjay Dutt was looking great in Vidhata
I was requested by SD fans to tell the story,I couldn't continue after 5-6 minutes."Picture Khatam"??They asked. We all had a good laugh.Then I realised that Storytelling is not everybody's cup of tea or bowl of popcorn.