The final concert
Our last joint concert was held on the College Day '2000 held at the University Hall in Trivandrum, Kerala. It was the "final" day, hence I had been running around trying to get the equipment, men & materials in place for the "Big" show. It all started this way - As we knew very well, Dil Mein kabhi Kabhi was a very special song. In fact, some of the background pieces required a group of 20 violins & a solo violin. We were also trying to locate a flutist. After checking out with all the contacts I knew, I located Mr Krishna Kumar, just 1 day before the program. He gave me the address of a young artist named Mukesh. So, that day I went all the way beyond Kovalam, to this persons house. I was happy to see that he was very dedicated - always playing the Violin. Hence, I took it as a good portent & we decided the plans for the day. The next day, we spent a lot of time co-ordinating together & performed "World Of Peace" & "Dil mein" to a packed audience. I guess they liked it....

The students liked the violin bits very much, as there was considerable debate of the distinct voice which was our style. Actually, the video is planned as the following:

A guy is searching for the VCD of Endless Love in a Video library, after taking the CD, he comes out. When he looks at the road, he sees her in front of him, the road is very noisy, cars honking, traders talking to each other, when their eyes meet the noise is replaced by the sound of the wind, all the onlookers become blurred. He can see only her face in the distance. There's a close up of her face. She looks tired at first, her expressions become sadder & tears fill up in her eyes, his vision also becomes slightly blurred & the camera focusses on the single tear-drop that comes out of his eyes....The entire scene blurs off...

The guy is lying on his bed, his hands behind his head & thinking about the days long gone past.(The intro of the song begins - the single violin)
scene-1: The screen blackens & light comes, like a painful memory long since forgotten... The next shot is of his face from a side, looking through her hair on to the palm trees in the background. He slowly turns his face to hers & her face becomes visible, she's stroking her cheek against his, the camera is between positioned from his back, we can see her face & his cheek, his face is not fully visible, her arms are around him & she's sitting on his lap...

The piano bit before the flute piece - The scene blackens.

The flute piece - It's the evening, the sky is having an orange color, the camera focusses on the clouds moving fast away from each other. The sea is shown & the sun slowly sinks down into the horizon....

The piano intro - They walk laughing & holding their hands, down a street oblivious of the crowd around them, there's a slight slow motion effect & the scene is in black & white. She is looking very happy & is holding his hand, he is smiling & saying something to her while she is shaking her head - not vigorously, but in average speed.

The second piano, with the female seconds - The scene changes, they are both kids, that means about 5 yrs of age. She is dressed in a white frock, (b/w camera) while he is wearing a school uniform. He is chasing her, and they are in a childrens park. She is running in front, teasing him, occasionally turning back & making faces, while he though having his huge school bag on his back is chasing her. Both are smiling. This is also in slow motion - pehla nasha type.

The piano, this time repeating the same tune again - The next scene - they are in school & while the entire class is having lunch, he is talking to her (she sits in the next bench) & he is telling her something very seriously while she is listening very intently. The camera focusses on both their faces.

Those chords in sequence just before the song starts - It is the beach, the sun is almost going to set. There's a golden hue to everything, the children are walking away from the camera, only their silhouettes can be seen, moving along the beach, in the right direction (of the viewer). They have held their hands together. The frock of the girl & the shorts of the boy can be seen clearly outlined against the sinking sun & her pigtails also. As they move, the silhouettes slowly, turn into that of a young woman & a man & she holds her arms around the arms of the guy (her hands around his arms her fingers on his shoulder) & her head is shown resting on his shoulders.

The song, 1st paragraph - The sun is shown directly as a very bright glow of disk, shining brightly downwards. The guy is wearing a jacket, his hands in the jacket pockets. The camera comes down showing him, he looks up at the Sun directly, squints his eyes & puts a hand up to shield himself from the sun. All the hues are in grey color, the guy looks sad, frustrated & tired. He looks around - he is obviously looking for someone & the concentration & frustration is visible in his face - the expression says: If only I could even get a faint glimpse of her, if only I could get a faint glimpse of her…, then he shakes his head & walks away slowly into the crowd….

1st paragraph - Tere yaadein - He is standing on one side on a huge bridge (that bridge we see everyday when we go back in the 6:00pm bus from Mahape to Thane), there's no-one around, the camera is on the other side. When he comes into view, it slowly moves around, the viewer feels as if his poin of view is being shifted towards the right, but slightly towards the guy. The cold wind blows against him & he gives a slight shiver. His hands are holding the railings of the bridge & he sees the sun slowly going down.
She is there beside him - looking at the sunset, & the he keeps his arms around her, she looks at him & smiles. He looks at her & his face first has a smile, then his expression becomes sadder while she slowly blurs away from his eyes, he slowly walks away from the bridge. From his walk it's obvious, he's praying that she'll come & he's just trying to think of some excuse to stay there for some more time….

2nd paragraph - Zulfein Tere mere - The next scene - in her room. He is wearing a jeans & T-shirt, she's wearing the same dress, but with a long skirt. She is sitting on his lap, her arms are around him. The camera is on one side, we can see her outline clearly against him. His face is on the side, facing the camera, her face is on the other side, hence it is not visible, behind his face. Her arms are around his neck, his arms are around her, his chin towards her shoulder, he is brushing his face against her hair, her hair is all around his face. He moves his face towards hers & looks into her eyes, they look at each other & the emotion of so much love is shown on both their faces, his eyes fill up with emotion (tears fill up) & he holds her face with one hand, looking deeply into her eyes, & she seeing that immediately gives him a huge hug. The camera is facing her back now. The viewer can see his face & he slowly puts his hands behind & strokes her back, intermittently, putting her hair between his fingers & looking at it, like a child is looking at his mothers hair & strokes her hair…He looks very calm & contented, like he already has all the happiness in the world…

2nd paragraph - tere yaadein… - He is shown in his room, sitting on his table. His table is right beside a window from where he can see the street below. His face is very sad, because he has just woken up from the daydream, mentioned in the previous scene. It's evening time, the sun is above, but it's very shady in his room. He gets up & the next shot is his face against the grills (it's not bars, but a grill which can be lifted up & down, with a cord - like in Tu mile, dil khile song), the shadows fall on his face & he looks out of the window, the street & the people below slowly blur out of view.

The wind - The river, near the bridge. It is not dark, but the entire water looks very gloomy with a light cardboard colour. It's a huge river, which looks almost like a sea. For mile & miles around there's nothing but water & there is nothing on the sides of the river, but barren land & bushes…A boat is seen faraway on the river. It's obvious that a man is sleeping on it/ seems to be sleeping. The camera focusses on his face. He is looking at the sky, looking angry, he shivers because of the cold wind……………

The humming (without the violins) - The scene is shifted to Goa, they are sitting together facing the sea on the side of the Fort (near sterling resorts), her head is resting on his shoulder, it's evening & they are talking about something, but this time they have sober faces. There's gloom, their faces on screen are in the shade hence slightly dark - in fact it is very dark, you can only make out the features.

The humming (with violins) - The waves of the ocean are seen, the water is dark, but the sunlight falls on it causing it to glitter, (like in the song from the film Baazi). And a long shot is taken of the whole scene, their sitting & the waves below. Calm, but ominous, like the coming doom.

The sssssssssssssssshh (with drums), in the last half of the 2nd humming - The camera whirrs around, everything is a blur & it finally rests on her eyes, he's back on the street facing her. Her eyes are full to the brim, but she manages to squeeze the tears back into her eyes with inhuman effort.

The solo violin…(2nd time) - She looks down, takes a deep breath & walks forward, he stands opposite to her direction. While going, she brushes slightly against him (her arms), but she is deliberately looking straight, away from him. He is tired & shaken after seeing her after such a long time & seeing the unfathomable grief in her eyes a moment ago. He manages to whispher "Kiran…., Kiran", but she doesn't look at him & she walks past him. He justs watches her go away……

The 3rd paragraph - Haste gaate - The girl & the guy are sitting on the verandah, in the ground floor of her house. There's a slight rain going on, the camera is on the opposite side of the rain (i.e., we see them "through", the rain). They are laughing & he is singing along with his guitar, the words of the song…(haste gaate & udne, gaane…) She's wearing a T-shirt (this will be shown as lying in the airbag in the end) & skirt, & suddenly she runs out in the rain daintily, takes a full circle (whirls around - she's happy, laughing all the way), & goes to the plant on the ground & plucks of the flower. She then runs back inside, kisses the flower & gives it to him, he's standing now, the guitar by his side, he kisses the flower & keeps it inside a greeting card on his shirt pocket…& the camera blurs, showing both of them in an embrace "through" the rain.

The flute piece… - It's very dark, he's on a hill-side looking at the full moon, clouds move across it, his eyes & the moon are focussed in the camera, it's pitch dark.

The violin piece - A cliff, his silhouette is shown across it, the sound of the waves crashing can be heard & the spray of the waves rise far above his head, it's not actually a cliff, just a small patch of slightly raised rock against the ocean, the waves (very high) can also be seen. He plays the violin to the tune of the song….

The second violin solo - A player is playing the violin - the focus first goes to him. It’s a stage in a huge auditorium & an entire orchestra is around him. A 100 violins, the entire orchestra including a grand piano on a huge stage. The single stage light from above is focussed on him. The camera focus is shifted to his face. It's obvious that he has become very emotional & the strain is visible on his face.

The fourth paragraph - Tere bahon ke darmiyan…- He starts the song…The audience faces are shown, all listening I rapt attention, some women, with tears in their eyes… After the "high", the audience stands up & claps, he opens his eyes, looks sad, but manages to smile & nod his head…

5th paragraph - Lehrata - A back shot of her walking, her saree is blown towards her back, & is for a moment floating…

Masoom si aankhen - Her eyes as a child is shown then the camera moves back, revealing a old b/w photograph of her only, standing for a formal photo.

Phoolon si who khushboo, halka sa who nasha… - They sitting together on a park bench, as adults talking to each other, smiling....

Yu hamein tarsate hain - The camera is on the opposite side of the table - The guy sitting in front of his table, leaning back on his chair, looking above & thinking, looking very sad.

The rest of the song - The guy puts on his jacket. His face is showing an amount of determination, he takes his cell-phone, dials a number & he talks seriously, over the phone. His face looks very grim. He wears a Ray-ban & goes out. His mercedes is waiting in front of his home (Now a large mansion somewhere in the U.K). He drives the car to a nearby restaurant & enters the bar, then he turns back & notices & familiar scent, & someone sitting with her back towards him in the restaurant. He looks carefully… can it be her ?. He moves forward, with a "let's see what'll happen attitude", slightly swaggering & closes her eyes from behind… the camera shows the front of her face asking "who is it ?", "who is it ?" & then he lets go, she looks back & sees him. She is a stranger !. Then he looks around, is embarassed & says sorry..
The next scene is a small fishing pond, and an old man fishing there, yes !, this guy itself, he's old now & in his pockets lies the greeting card & the dried up flower. As each car comes, looks around, searching for her, searching, searching…….
The next scene shows her photo being blown away by the wind, through the streets, between the fallen leaves, the Old man is asleep (dead ?) in a bench near by, an small girl picks up the photo & trudges away….

The song ends, the piano solo version of the song is slightly heard in the background - The camera goes down from above, the actors are smiling at each other in one part of the room, the director is talking animatedly with the other people in another part of the room, a chair is shown (alone), no-one is sitting on it. It is labelled as "Music Director", then the scene changes, my face is shown from the side, the background is dark blue color walls, oak furniture. A tear drop falls down from my eyes & I get up from the chair & go. After I leave, the camera focusses on my desk, a greeting card is lying there opened, a breeze comes & it's page turns & inside is seen a dried up white flower - The same flower shown in the video as the girl giving the guy, The T-shirt of a girl on top of a pile of clothes on a air-bag & a calendar hung on the wall, with the dates crossed by a line. Each date has a number 700, 701, 702……

In the present date, it is written - Still waiting for Kiran….and "kash ye sapne sach hothe…"
Back to the band...   


   

   

   

   

   

   

 


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