Monday, November 27, 2006

Punjabi Film in English: Basheera in Trouble!

When I was younger, I had many close friends whose parents spoke English with a heavy Punjabi accent. Words like "sweetie" were pronounced "saveetie", "do not" was pronounced "donut", and the city of Scranton was pronounced "Suck-a-rrranton" (the "r" was rolled). It was these very friends who introduced me to this skit from a Pakistani comedy show called Fifty Fifty. Very popular during the late 70's and early 80's, Fifty Fifty was a weekly comedy show very similar to Saturday Night Live, and the skits were always hilariously funny. By the mid 1980's, all the episodes were available on VHS (which is how I saw them) for ex-pats living overseas, and now in the year 2006, they are all available on YouTube. High Five!

This skit, a fake trailer for Pakistan's first Punjabi film in English, is by far my favorite Fifty Fifty skit of all time. Aptly titled Basheera in Trouble, it pokes innocent fun at the accent and the story lines seen in some Punjabi films.






My favorite scene is at the end, where the guy puts his pagar(turban) down on the floor and says, "My prestige is under your feet, don't kick it, don't kick it!". I also like how that guy in the beginning says "suppose". He's got style.

8 comments:

Aisha said...

lol :)

keda said...

very funny. though i couldn't understand half of it :)

i had a good friend at uni in london who went on to produce and direct bollywood films. we used to run around the sculpture studio at college pretending to be charlies angels and other mad dramatic ways to avoid real work.
he would put on a stronger accent and we'd be falling about laughing. awww i miss him now.

Chic Mommy said...

Keda, I actually had to watch this a couple times to understand what was being said as well. The intro is all in Urdu, but the rest is in Punjabi-style English.

Up-ay (Up)
Vat-vay (What?)

The more I watch it, the more I pick up something I missed. Like that scene where Raro is singing a song before Basheera walks in, I couldn't understand what she was saying but after listening a few times, I figured out it's about birds and passengers. Later she explains "birds and passengers are never back", I didn't understand that the first time around. And I love how she says, "You are a great liar, I donut believe you!" Classic.

... said...

hahahaha, omg i'm dying laughing in the library. how come i didnt know about this before THANKS for introducing me.

August Sunshine said...

LOL! That was hilarious! Mansoor and I watched it several times to really understand it. We're still missing parts of it though.

In the first scene you hear: "Tell me about my Raro," and Raro is the name of the girl in the next scene. Response: "Suppose I don't tell you, then?" I don't understand what Basheera says after that.

And, I loved these two: In the romance scene, Basheera says, "Ki payee speaking eh Raro? Just you shut up!"

And the unforgettable melodies: "Bano princess is very sad vey, give your shoulder to my doli, brother vey."

Hahaha, thanks for sharing this!

Bee Amma said...

man: SHUDTTUP
woman: veeey tuun aap shudtup veeey

hahahahaha

Chic Mommy said...

august, that part is confusing to me too, he's yelling so much. But that's the style of Punjabi films, they yell alot. I think he said, "Well if you don't tell me, then...." then I don't know what he said, but he slams that 'bandook' gun at his chest so maybe he's saying he's going to shoot him?

Also, I LOVE that line by Kazi Saab, "Son, Shall I sa-tart the Nikkah?"

Chic Mommy said...

he he, I had to watch this again, just for laughs, and I've found another favorite line from this skit, "Up-ay! Get Up-ay busdila (coward)!"