So, as a child when the video was first released, it was one of these repeatedly played videos on several chart shows by different media stations. The whole Bread-boy and Rich girl love story fascinated me as a child . I was also mad at the rich girl who kept on ignoring the poor bread boy's love. OK.
NOSTALGIA ASIDE
With all our interesting sessions with Dr. Prabha on Marxism , I think the whole song-incident made me think of the class factor that operates throughout the video, with two strong symbols of the two polars . A well dressed , upto-shape , girl in sneakers jogging with an Ipod ( probably) symbolizing the bourgeois and the lean looking bakkare , clad in slippers who pushes the bread bike , symbolizing the working class. Marx claimed that the struggle between these two classes would be 'endless' ( as clearly seen in the video , their unison happens in the form of a day dream). Can't a bread-boy love a rich girl? Has love been commercialized ? Why? Or is it the result of the articulation of this commercialisation by diverse agents like media?
Ladies, your thoughts first.. Gents of course are welcome too.. ;)
Ladies, your thoughts first.. Gents of course are welcome too.. ;)
( Isuru, I am sorry for choosing a graphical content in this post. It was a very spontaneous moment. However, I am 100% sure that you know this visual which hit all of us a decade ago :D and who doesn't know Iraj :P ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70VUYE4Z2lI
This is very coincidental indeed :D
ReplyDeleteA few months back I saw this video playing on tv and I had the same thoughts about the visuals. The bread-boy feels ashamed of his love in the end, and he only feels his love is validated when the rich girl smiles. It's actually a personal favourite video of the old IRAJ hits, because he sings absolute rubbish now (sigh... a time gone by), but still a modern day reflection shows a very typical romantic stereo-type of love between classes, where that love is only validated when the upper-class validates it
Thinking on the contrary I remember a hindi movie I once saw on TV where an upper-class boy fights with his father to marry a lower-middle class girl. It was one of my favorites. The couple are university students and their wedding happens in the university premises under the protection of their colleagues. It could be said that the university is still a premise that equalize people to some extent.
ReplyDeleteYour idea that the university is premise that equalize people to some extent means 'education' is a form of class mobility since very early days. Plus, English is considered the gold token to establish one's self in a high status in the society. Hopefully, we are inside that tiny bubble from which the majority of the people in our country are distanced. (So, count your blessings...You are blessed! We are blessed!) :)
DeleteTrue that this disparity between classes has become a popular concept in modern day media. Just read an award winning novel, watch a teledrama or a music video,....it's usually about a clash between a rich girl and a poor boy or the vice versa. This mismatch is what the society expects from any form of entertainment. As a result, the producers/authors of different texts (novels,teledrmas,music videos etc...) exploit these subtleties in order to commercialize their products/texts. That's how it goes on...That's what Iraj does in his music videos...
ReplyDeleteNaveen
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite songs by Iraj. In fact, I can remember the lyrics of the entire song.
Now you have mentioned it, I also see the possibility of reading that video in a Marxist angle. Plus, this trend is still resurfacing in our visuals. Remember, Sandun Perera's Thibuna Nam Hogak. I think all of us are familiar with this song, which still is a favorite in the private buses. That is just one example! Seems like people are not getting fed up of rich VS poor business.
And Lihini, I totally agree with you. This reminds me the golden past of Iraj, which is no longer with him.