I'm back with a report of an unforgettable week end in Florence.
It all started few weeks ago when I came to know that the River to River Film Festival was showing some RK's movies honoring him twenty years after his death.
I went there with a group of aficionados willing to see the films as much as I did...
Florence itself is some amazing city you want to visit once in your life, but the excitement was all for the movies...needless to say that it has been the first time for me to watch RK films at a movie theater...well it was Sunday 7th of December and me and my group of friends came to lunch at an Indian restaurant, we were 12 at that time, chatting and eating happily and checking for the clock as we did not want to miss Awara!!
Yes on the afternoon we were going to watch the special film and we were all so happy, up till now I still can't believe it but...we arrived at the cinema and there we met other friends for a total of 17 people almost.
The magic was about to begin, just from the entrance of the movie hall as there were posters from the films Awara, Shri 420 and Bobby.
The hall was full and many among the audience were watching the film for the first time.
How can I express the magic, the dream that has been being there, looking at people's reactions to the film, I was totally fascinated from seeing for the first time in my life Raj saab on a big screen...geez was he the handsomest or what?? So young, elegant, soulful
The audience was captured by the story, the characters and the songs...in the darkness of the cinema I got emotional more than once!!
At the end a big applause came spontaneous from the audience and my friends and I were so happy, the air around us was electric with the magic of RK's Awara, that lovable little/big vagabond has had the ability once again to conquer the hearts of people no matter the distance in time, place or culture.
Next day it was the turn of Shri 420, before that we went to a meeting about RK and his music in films, quite an interesting meeting with a musician and then a fan of RK films too.
it has been so touching listening to a professional in music, a guy from the west saying the same exact things I felt about Raj Kapoor, at some moment this musician, whose name is Paolo Scarnecchia, was pointing to us how RK could reach his audience through "a wave of warmth" the warm of his feelings... I could have said word for word all that he was saying, the innocent gaze of the little vagabond, his humanity... if this wasn't touching enough, later it has come the totally unforgettable expierience of watching my all time beloved movie, again at the beautiful old Odeon Cinema in Florence, with friends...
The copy they did use was original, not a dvd or something and fortunately it all has worked well...you know how it could be with old movies...
Needless to say that during that day I felt happy, more happy than ever before, I knew I had something more in my life, some more richness inside coming from the beauty of watching Shri 420 at the cinema.
Of course I did notice before how handsome Raj saab was, but watching him on a big screen has made me live some unforgettable moments I can barely write and put on words.
I could follow the entire film without reading subtitles for the so many times I had already watched this film on my tiny tv set.
So I could appreciate every single second of it, the songs, the dialogs, costumes and the magic this film can create again and again...looked quite as Raj saab himself was around us during those couple of days...I wish he could have been alive and knowing...maybe somehow he knows how he can touch and let his audience dream, hope and feel a better person through this film all over again.
I wish he could be here now as I could thank and bow to him again and again for the beauty, humanity and innocence he has created with his art/heart.
Of course at the end of the movie the applause has come again, and I left Florence a happier person, aware of the fact that this experience maybe has made me a better person, it has caused my sense of life to grow in a dense and sweet mood.
Wherever you are, thank you so much Raj saab, you heart was big enough to reduce whatever distance between us!
Write By RKfan from Raj Kapoor Fanclub
http://s6.zetaboards.com/RajKapoorFanclub/topic/8518568/1/#new
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