WHO'S WHO?

Consider this story:

“There was once an extremely beautiful woman, considered by all to be the most beautiful woman in the world, who had the power to make any man who saw her fall in love with her. When it was time for her to get married, men from all over the land sought her hand, but none were good enough for her. Finally, after waiting long for a worthy groom, she married the prince of the neighboring kingdom, a man who was noble, brave and very much in love with her. Their marriage was happy, and they were content in each other’s arms.

But the rumors of her beauty extended far beyond the land, and an evil king ruling the lands across the seas came to hear of her. By the very description of her he was besotted, and he set out to find her and make her his.

He crossed the ocean, and ventured close to place she was staying. And when he set eyes on her for the first time, he realized how true the rumors were. He went up to her, enchanted her and before she could resist his charms, he was taking her to his own capital across the ocean.

The good prince, on finding his wife kidnapped, swore to get her back, and avenge this blow to his honor and family by the evil king. He, along with his brother amassed the largest army ever assembled, crossed the ocean, and attacked the walled capital of the evil king.

Many heroes fought in the war, many heroes died on both sides, and after a long siege, the walls were breached, the city was sacked and evil king was killed. The good prince found his wife, and took her home.

But upon reaching back home, the good prince felt a pang of doubt plague his heart. He began to his wife to be impure, touched by another man, and banished her from the palace. Although he lived to regret this decision, he never searched for her, and she died in obscurity.”

Now comes the important question of ascertaining who is who. And the historical premise of the story. Here are the top two candidates:

Story: The Ramayana, The Iliad

The good prince: Rama, Menelaus

The brother: Laxmana, Agamemnon

The evil king: Ravana, Priam/Paris

The woman: Sita, Helen

The similarities between the two epics seem uncanny, considering no influence between the cultures that created them in the age they were created. One can only conclude collective icons and cultural archetypes at work. Interesting, one must say.

DHISH-KAAON!

If you’ve ever seen an Indian film produced before 2000 (and in many cases even after that, and possibly even today) which featured one of those classic shoot out scenes between the police force (usually featuring a dashing police officer with a paunch and a disproportionate number of havaldars) and a smuggler/ drug lord/ bandit-in-the-forest/ good-guy-who-the-police-hated, you would undoubtedly noticed the peculiar sound effects attached to gun shots, especially in case of bullets fired from the police inspector’s pistol.

It went something along the lines of “Dhish-Kaaon”, which does sound indeed peculiar when put into perspective.

Now, the gun shots fired in Hollywood movies falling in the time period, made using similar technology, featuring similar sequences featured basically only the “Dhish-“, but missed out the comet tail of the “-Kaaon”. Also, if you ever heard a gunshot being fired, you’d notice that the tail was missing from the overall sound effect. Which brings us to the question: Where did the “Kaaon” originate?

Now, my guess is that the first director who ever wanted to film a gunshot (and you’ll be surprised how late someone thought up of this idea, directors during the first couple of decades of Indian films couldn’t get beyond poor landless farmers being oppressed and twins being separated in religious festivals)probably took out a gun, went far far away from any town to avoid any chances of shooting someone (with a gun, not a camera), into the hills, and fired a shot just to see how it sounded. And Viola! He heard a “Dhish-Kaaon” little realizing that the “Dhish” was the gunshot, and the “Kaaon” was the echo of the shot against the hills. And the dimwit recorded the entire thing.

Anyways, thanks to his error of judgment and ignorance of Doppler’s Effect, the “Dhish-Kaaon” became a trademark sound, almost a brand identity for gunshots in Indian cinema, and has ruled the auditory aspects of every violent scene that Indians could create in almost a hundred years of film making.

And today, in spite of newer and better technology, education in the film industry and shooting ranges within cities, the “Kaaon” lives on, forever haunting every “Dhish” incorporated in Indian films.