SCFZ poll: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

[flip]

Polling the films of director Hrishikesh Mukherjee

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Mukherjee films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: umbugbene, greennui, evelyn, bure, m arkadin, mrcarmady, nrh, brian d, mesnalty, kanafani, st gloede, ofrene, silga, greg x, therouxxx

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

we'll use the extended rules for this poll, which means:

• if you've seen an odd number of mukherjee films, you can round up instead of down when determining the length of your ballot. so if you've seen 7 films, say, you can list a 4-film ballot instead of the usual 3 films

• if you've seen more than 10 of his films, your ballot can extend beyond five films (to a maximum of 8). so if you've seen 13, you can list up to 7 films. that will help to ensure we can get a top ten.

[thoxans]

khubsoorat

*seen two (will attempt to add to this prior to poll's end; getting burnt out on halloseen features tbh)

[Holymanm]

who's this man

[brian d]

seen 1

gol maal

[therouxxx]

Khubsoorat
Guddi
Mili

[liquidnature]

never heard of this person, but i've now the urge to eat a hershey kiss

[Lencho of the Apes]

Not a fan; he's more miss than hit for me. Seen five.

Anari
Gol Maal was okay I guess.

[...]

Chupke Chupke

Only seen two and a half from Mukherjee

[nrh]

hrishikesh is a favorite, a kind of singular figure in hindi popular film, seen 16 which is missing a number of major films especially from the '60s.

chupke chupke
naram garam
alaap
anand
gol maal
aashirwad
guddi
abhimaan

definitely an iconic figure in hindi's popular film, the movies especially from the '70s comedy period are sort of iconic in the way lubitsch movies are in english; nearly anytime someone makes an intelligent, slightly grounded comedy even now they are immediately compared to hrishikesh. also think he's a filmmaker where the films, especially in his smoother seeming '70s comedy period, tend to reveal themselves more to you the more of them you watch, with this overarching focus on the needs and dangers of deception in a hypocritical society appearing again and again in ways that are often odder than would initially seem...

[Umbugbene]

...overarching focus on the needs and dangers of deception in a hypocritical society appearing again and again in ways that are often odder than would initially seem...

That seems like a pretty accurate description, NRH. I've seen 12, all of them this year including one earlier this evening. Mukherjee's films remind me of 1930s Hollywood for their combination of straightforward entertainment with a strong social conscience. Bawarchi is a real delight, easily my favorite, though the others are pretty consistent.

1. Bawarchi
2. Khubsoorat
3. Chupke Chupke
4. Gol Maal
5. Anari
6. Anand

[MrCarmady]

Obligatory 'what's a good one to start with?'

[charulata]

would count myself as having watched 14. have seen more but it was years ago and am not counting those.

chupke chupke
gol maal
khubsoorat
anand
guddi
abhimaan
naram garam
alaap

[nrh]

Obligatory 'what's a good one to start with?'

i'd probably pick the 2 most widely beloved '70s comedies, gol maal or chupke chupk, maybe only giving gol maal the edge because chupke chupke has an elaborate running joke involving informal/formal types of spoken hindi that doesn't translate (although i remember the subtitles doing a pretty good job of explaining in the version i watched).

[bipolarvision]

seen 12 so far

khoobsurat
alaap
chupke chupke
golmaal
anand
mili
bemisal

[flip]

*seen two

thoxans, you can pick our next director if you like!

i got some deadlines this week, so i'm probably not starting a new poll before friday, so no rush

[thoxans]

if

the next person in line can go. don't think i have any directors left whose filmography i've thoroughly enough explored to make it interesting

[flip]

the next person in line can go. don't think i have any directors left whose filmography i've thoroughly enough explored to make it interesting

i thought we'd finally have our rob reiner poll, which i was looking forward to

[flip]

Seen five.

if thoxans doesn't want to pick a director, then it's lencho's option, though i know you've declined the last few times. if you want to pick a director for our next poll, feel free, and if not, the opportunity will be charulata's

[thoxans]

rob reiner

i gotta work on getting to ten! currently at eight. missing such classics as alex & emma and the bucket list

[flip]

it's fine to nominate a director when you haven't seen ten of their films, just as long as you let me know that's the case (i assume nominators have seen 10+ unless they tell me otherwise), and as long as you reasonably expect some other scfzer might have seen ten.

[Lencho of the Apes]

Oh, hll, let's see... is anyone 10+ on Tomas Gutierrez Alea? I don't think I am, even; I'll check. If he doesn't work, give it to charulata.

[flip]

that would be an interesting poll, if anyone has seen several gutierrez alea films, please post here! hopefully someone has seen 10+

[brian d]

i've got 8. if we get close and it would help for me to have 10 i don't mind watching a couple of his shorter films to get there.

[Lencho of the Apes]

I only have 5.

[Umbugbene]

I've watched 5 by TGA.

[oscarwerner]

Only 2 by TGA

[flip]

i'll give gutierrez alea another day, but i'm not feeling optimistic he'll have the views for a good poll. if not, we'll need a different nomination, so charulata, if you'd like to pick the director we poll next, feel free to suggest someone!

if i haven't heard from charulata by friday morning (assuming gutierrez alea doesn't work), then i'll offer the nomination to bipolarvision

[FLABREZU]

I've seen NONE of this man's cinema

[charulata]

Not sure if it will work but my first pick is Dominik Graf. Will come up with some alternates as well soon. I've watched 9 from graf but can watch another one soon if that's a catch.