Time travel: Those were the days

Fiery 50s
A truly black ‘n’ white era, the 1950s was a time of recovery. While the world was licking its WW-II wounds, India had just gotten used to the idea of freedom. As the Indian Constitution came into effect in January 1950, a wave of optimism swept the country. It was a simple life, peppered with fond viewing of cinema that was largely dominated by the likes of Suraiya, Madhubala, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Nargis-starrer Mother India caught the imagination of the entire nation as it became the ultimate saga of sacrifice and a salute to womanhood. There were golden oldies like Awara, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Shree 420 and Kagaz Ke Phool. Then came the watershed moment in Indian cinema; Satyajit Ray released Pather Panchali in ’55. And who can forget the charisma and magnetism of the undisputed King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, who continues to be worshipped by music lovers across the globe. The Italian beauty, Sophia Loren, became the ultimate diva for movie buffs, who were enamoured by her seductive eyes. The decade also saw a rise in scientific temper. Not only was the hydrogen bomb developed during this time, but also Sputnik-1 was fired in 1957.

Swinging 60s
Bollywood was a smash hit, beginning with Mughal-e-Azam, where Madhubala danced to ‘pyar kiya toh darna kiya’ and immoratlised a rebellious love story. Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, a love triangle, became a classic. It gave Vaijanthimala, Indian cinema’s first seductress, and the trend of shooting song sequences abroad, primarily in Switzerland. Teesri Manzil shot to all-time 25 must-sees. Aradhana, a remake of Hollywood To Each His Own, was voted best film by Filmfare Awards, Sharmila Tagore, the best actress award, and Kishore Kumar, best singer for the intense ‘Rup tera mastana’. Dev Anand’s Guide became the evergreen hero’s best work. Inteqaam offered the best cabaret song, Lata’s first in the genre, in ‘aa jaane ja’, picturized on golden girl Helen. Jeetendra danced into limelight with Farz and was nicknamed Jumping Jack. As the East was swinging, far away Beatles had taken birth. The rock band spun social and cultural revolutions in England. Further West, Marilyn Monroe kept the rumour mills running wild with her affair with US president John F Kennedy, more so when she sang at a public function for his birthday. This decade saw the meteoric rise of the fabulous Indian spin quartet of Bishan Singh Bedi, BS Chandrashekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan.

Sizzling 70s
On the heels of psychedelic sixties came the true disco generation – the sizzling seventies, a decade which saw the Indo-Pak war at its outset. As hippie culture hit India, the Western influence became hip ‘n’ happening, as was clearly visible in Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, the song and the movement. While the evergreen Dev Anand did manage his share of screen space, it was the king of romance, Rajesh Khanna, who swept Bollywood off its feet. Leaving them all dreamy-eyed was Hema Malini. Short skirts or the skinny chooridaars, whatever Hema wore, became a rage. While men fell in love with her, women blindly aped the puffy hairdo and the little nuances. Not too far away, the cult musical, Grease, saw John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John light up the screen with their wild ‘high-school meets gymnastics’ moves. Then there was Bruce Lee, who made Kung Fu the sharpest martial art with ‘Enter The Dragon’. The American superhero, Superman, too flew into many a heart. It was also an era of woman power — from Margaret Thatcher in UK to Indira Gandhi back home. On court, Prakash Padukone created the record of being national badminton champ from 1970 to 78, Indian roads were ruled by the loud Lambertta & Bullet and the comfy Ambassador and Fiat.

Electric 80s
Practical classicism is wont to follow the tender romantic age. And that’s what happened in this decade. With his ‘angry young man’ image, Amitabh Bachchan became the big name that he continues to be. As young boys emulated his look and style, women swooned over his ruthless on-screen image. What helped was his still-talked-about affair with the sensuous Rekha. It was an unforgettable 1983 for cricket lovers as Kapil paaji and his team brought the cup home. Glued to their radios, men cheered on as Team India fashioned the dramatic win. ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson topped the charts, just like ‘Material Girl’ Madonna. But it was Princess Diana who became the style diva. The ‘natural’ love story between two adolescents in Hollywood blockbuster Blue Lagoon took the world by storm. Tennis became a rage in this decade, which saw queen of the court, Martina Navratilova, along with Steffi Graf & Gabriela Sabatini and Boris Becker compete. Mythology, too, got real as the biggest Indian epic – Ramayana – became a super-hit TV series, one of the first soap operas on colour television. Though computers had logged in by this time, nothing could match the craze for the common man’s car — Maruti 800.

Novel 90s
Indian women left the world beauty and literary scenes blazing in their trail as they sashayed through 1990s. If Sushmita Sen wore the Miss Universe tiara, becoming the first-ever Indian to win the coveted title, Aishwarya Rai broke a decades-old jinx by becoming the only other Indian after Rita Faria to wear the Miss World crown. In no less a feat that embodied the spirit of beauty with brains, Arundhati Roy bagged the Booker with her God of Small Things and journalist Barkha Dutt became a household name as she covered real time Kargil War even as bofors guns thundered behind her. Capturing the drama of a sinking ship, Titanic rose to win 11 Oscars and immortalize the steamy scene between Kate Winslet and Leonardo De Caprio. Back home, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol sizzled the silver screen with Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and AR Rahman created waves with soul-stirring music in Roja. The cricketing scene got fiercer with Bengal Tiger Saurav Ganguly, The Wall Rahul Dravid and Very Very Special VVS Laxman entering the pitch. Leander Paes reserved a permanent place in the hearts of Indians by bringing an individual Olympics medal in tennis. TV became the window to the whole wide world. American soaps Baywatch, Beverly Hills, Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara grabbed a lot of eyeballs.

Naughty 00s
The new millennium rattled the United States right at the outset. What began as a promising 2K soon turned into a decade ruled by the war on terrorism. Iraq, Afghanistan, London bombings and Mumbai attacks — Al Qaeda became a name that everybody knew, and feared. Amidst the gloom came a rags-to-riches story of J K Rowling, who gave the world Harry Potter. Enjoying almost identical popularity, if not critics’ nod, was the K serials in India. The young and brash Ekta Kapoor belted out one hit saas-bahu saga after the other. Another woman who wowed the audiences was Anjelina Jolie.
The 2000s have also been about what they call the reality TV. Highly exaggerated and mostly staged, these shows have brought out the voyeur in all of us. And then came Slumdog Millionaire. A British film about India, it swept the Oscars and transported A R Rahman to the Kodak Theatre, where he mouthed the country’s favourite dialogue — Mere paas ma hai. The political circles too saw some great moments — US got its first African American president in Barack Obama and India got Manmohan Singh as its PM and Pratibha Patil, its president.
 
(This is my another piece which was published in TOI)