You know it’s funny how you recall your bygone days! You always dig into nostalgia, realising some was good, some bad. I was obsessed with local cinema, not just because I wrote about it, but because I believed in analysing the why and what of it. You may not believe it, but I even enjoyed the ethnic cinema. This is not the place to discuss this, but some funny points are worth talking about.

Like other people, I, too, enjoyed the war of the words between Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureishi. For instance, when, once, in a film, Rahi, in his garajdar awaz, asked MQ, “Oey, kawn ae toon, oey?”, MQ, with his typically restrained, but baritone delivery, replied, “Tera piyoo!” And the audience just laughed their hearts out!

But, the one that takes the cake with Rahi, was his habitual exclamation in most films. Mostly, when faced with a villain, or one of the cronies, who had the audacity to talk gruffly to Rahi, he shot back with, “Hollee bol, oey!” (meaning aahista bol!). It never ceased to amaze me that throughout the film, Rahi was the one, who gave vent to his jazbaat in full blast, but, he was angrily asking the other fellow to lower his voice and temperature! The irony would not be lost on the audience. “Hollee bol oey” should’ve floored the opponent with mirth! In fact, once when Omar Sharif faced him in a film, he replied to Rahi, “Khuda ke liyay, ab to bus kar do, Rahi Sahab! Aap har film mein yahi kartey ho!”

I will report back on other fun points of our movies in the coming episodes.