Golmaal and Jhoot Bole Cowa Kate

Golmaal and Jhoot Bole Cowa Kate:

By: Souvik Chatterji.

Rishikesh Mukherjee had experimented with a number of comedy films in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. His film Golmaal, released in 1979 was a major hit. The story involved a middle class character played by Amol Palekar who had to take the recourse of falsehood to get a job in Urmila Traders Co. His superior officer played by Utpal Dutta, maintained strict rules of discipline in his office. The entire film had serio-comic flavour and the story revolved around the incidents relating to Utpal Dutta and Amol Palekar.

Amol Palekar had to play double roles of the character Ram Prasad and Laxman Prasad, one with moustache and the other without it to satisfy his boss. The elder brother maintained old values and satisfied his boss with his orthodox language. The younger brother went to his boss’s house to teach music and got involved in an affair with his daughter. Ultimately while doing the acting his moustache fell of and led to drama.

Very significantly, the story did involve real life situations and the audience associated themselves with the characters. There were continuation of the same series of films titled Naram Garam and Jhoot Bole Cowa Kate. After Naram Garam, Utpal Dutta died and Rishikesh Mukherjee had to change his team with Amrish Puri and Anil Kapoor in the follwing film. This film also revolved around the same sense of humour associated with lies and recourse to falsehood. Anil Kapoor had to pretend to be a character which was not true to impress Amrish Puri to marry Juhi Chwala, his daughter. There is intellectual humour. But unlike the previous films it was not as successful inspite of good music composed by Anand Milind and songs of Udit Narayan.

This year, 2007, mainly the seriocomic films had become major hits and it proves the point that Indian crowd due to their stress at workplace and tensions admire the comedy films more than other type of films. Comedy is existent in every part of life and laughter can help us to forget our anxieties for the short period of time. One of the good qualities of Rishikesh Mukherjee involved strong script which can inspire new directors to make similar films. Present directors can make films on witty subjects that everybody enjoy. In the new year 2008, Indian audience expect films made on these types of subjects which everybody can enjoy.

Has the filmfare awards done justice to all the celebrities?

Has the filmfare awards done justice to all the celebrities?

By: Souvik Chatterji

Although the film fare awards given to different celebrities for their contribution to Indian films for the last 50 years had provided smiles in the faces of some of the recipients, it never rewarded some of the actors, composers, etc., throughout the years. In respect of the actors Guru Dutt, Rajender Kumar, Dharmender, Pradeep Kumar, never won a single award in the category of best actors. May be there was strong competition from Dilip Kumar or Raj Kapoor, but it is quite strange that Guru Dutt with his performance in Pyaasa or Kagaz Ka Phool, could not qualify for a filmfare award under the best actor category. May be the jury had recognised him as a greater director or producer than an actor. Similarly Rajender Kumar with his performance in Dil Ek Mandir, Mere Mehboob, did not receive any filmfare award for best performance in a lead role. Pradeep Kumar’s performance in Taj Mahal, Bheegi Raat, Bahu Begum, and Dharmender’s performance in films like Satyakam, Guddi, all went unnoticed. Even Jeetender’s performance in Parichay, Khushbu, Kinara, did not impress the jury.

While some of the composers bagged a number of awards, others like Madanmohan with his extraordinary tunes having ghazal orientation did not receive any single award for best composition inspite of providing immortal tunes in Jahan-ara, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saya, Mausam ,etc. Again those composers who had bagged film fare awards one after the other were not recognised for life time contribution to bollywood films. Shankar Jaikishan had bagged film fare awards nine times in their entire career, yet they did not receive Dada Sahab Falke award for life time contribution unlike Naushad, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, who had received these awards under different categories.

In respect of awards for the category of best actresses Sadhna’ s performance in Parakh, Asli Nakli, or Madhubala’s performance in Mughal –i-azam, Barsaat ki Raat, went unnoticed. Actresses in the 90s like Meenakshi Shesadri inspite of providing powerful performances in films like Damini, Ghayal, seldom could impress the jury to qualify for the award in the category of best actress.
In the early 50s, film fare awards were given for best singers and at that time separate awards for male singers and female singers were not given. That deprived Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar from getting more awards at a period when they were dominating the world of playback singing. Rafi had received only 6 filmfare awards as best singer, which dies not reflect his dominance in the 50s and 60s. Manna Dey did not receive filmfare award on the major classical songs he did sing in the notable films including “sur na saje”, “laga chunari me daag”, “kaun aya mere man ke dware”, etc. Sometimes the singers were surprised to get awards on less known songs when the legendary failed to fetch them any award.

May be for the actors, composers, directors, etc., who did not receive any filmfare award, the success of the films had provided incentive for better performance in the future. The Indian audience can answer the question whether the filmfare awards had really done justice to the major celebrities who had contributed to Indian films.

GP Sippy - A legendary filmmaker

GP Sippy: A legendary filmmaker.

GP Sippy, born in 1913, who had died recently, in 2007, can be considered as one of the legendary filmmakers who had the vision of producing films which were rich in content and also addressed the popular tastes of film lovers of the country. Most of his films were directed by his won son Ramesh Sippy.

The notable films include Seeta Aur Geeta, Andaz, Sholay, Shaan, Saagar, etc. His films had a wide range of subjects including the story of two twin sisters in Seeta Aur Geeta, where one of them was oppressed by family members and the other took revenge against such oppression, to story of a widow who required company of another person whose wife died previously in Andaz, 1971. not only that he had produced films which had given the Indian industry huge revenue and stand as one of the most hit films being produced in the entire century, but the different aspects of the films are well appreciated and act as trendsetters for the future generation.

Very significantly GP Sippy, did not cast the same actors in all his films and justified his casting based on the requirement of the story and capability of the actor. For example, Amzad Khan acted as Gabbar Singh in Sholay, and became a role model of all the villains who tried to show the cruel features of dacoits and bandits who operated on the northern part of India. There was a different presentation of his villain in the film Shaan, in 1980, where Shakal acted as industrial giant who operated from abroad. A very polished state of affairs followed in that film. Besides the action sequences in most of his films were very much related to story and formed part of the film.

When films were produced on romantic subjects, the treatment became totally different. Kamal Hassan showed all his choreographic skills and sense of humour as opposed to Rishi Kapoor in Sagar, who was shy and conservative in approach of their own presentation before Dimple Kapadia. Besides, he had shot the sequences in very colourful locations in most of the films.

Another significant part of the films of GP Sippy include very successful music. Shankar Jaikishan had provided very quality music in the film Seeta Aur Geeta, in 1971. After that film Jaikishan died, and RD Burman contributed to the major films produced by GP Sippy and directed by Ramesh Sippy. Even music played a significant role in Shahrukh Khan’s film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman in the early 90s.

There was another hallmark of all these films in the matching of performances by legendary actors. Big B, Shatrughun Sinha and Shashi Kapoor did not find it difficult to act in the same film in Shaan. Dharmender, Big B and Sanjeev Kumar, all played their individual roles in Sholay with variety and composure. Hema Malini and Jaya Bacchan had also done well in their respective roles.

GP Sippy’s films should be preserved and restored for producers of the modern generation to learn how to make the best use of resources made available to them.

Kishore Kumar - the master entertainer of bollywood

Kishore Kumar – the master entertainer of bollywood.

By: Souvik Chatterji.

Kishore Kumar can be considered as one of the immortal entertainers of bollywood who had remained alive in the minds of his numerous admirers across the world. Different TV Channels these days conduct programs on Kishore Kumar and nurture new talents who exhibit singing styles similar to that of Kishore Kumar. His contribution to Indian cinema range from his acting skills to dancing capabilities, singing style to production, direction, etc.

In the mid-50s Kishore Kumar was mainly associated with the Navketan Banner where he provided playback in major films of Dev Anand and his songs like “jeevan ke safar me rahi”, “dukhi man”, etc., which were big hits. His own performance in films like Chalti ka naam gaari, Jhumru, Half Ticket, etc., were very significant. In Chati Ka Naam Gaari, where he acted along with his brothers Ashok Kumar and Anup Kumar, the story showed the life of a car mechanic who had his own garage and unearthed the unlawful deeds of KN Singh in the film. The different sequences in the film were dealt with comedy, including the scene where he wins a car race with his defective car, and at every part of the film Kishore Kumar improvised with his acting skills. His songs with Asha Bhosle including “haal kaisa hai janab ka” was very successful. Half Ticket showed the character of a grown up person whose mind was not matured to that extent. Kishore Kumar almost made the viewers jump out of their seats when his uncle played by Pran, had forcibly put him in mental asylum or when dogs chased him within the film and when he rode on top of a bulldozer and kicked a ball which entered the goal in football stadium in Kolkata. Kishore Kumar also suited himself with the westernised composition of Salil Chowdhury in songs like “aankho me hi tum hi tum ho”.

Kishore Kumar showed his immense comedy skills in other films like Dilli Ka Thag, Mr. X in Bombay, Padosan, and Bengali films like “lukochuri”, “dushtu projapoti”, etc. In Padosan, he performed the role of an actor in nautankis and trained Sunil Dutt to sing songs and sung them in his place to impress the next door neighbour played by Saira Banu. H faced a music competition against Manna Dey in “ek chatur nar” where his non-classical improvisations bewildered the classical notion of Manna Dey. In the 70s , Kishore Kumar concentrated on singing and by the 80s he became the most popular singer of bollywood.

He could soften his voice for the playback of Rajesh Khanna and deepen his bass for the playback of Amitabh Bacchan and it appeared to the viewers that it was the actor who was singing. His composition for his own film Door Gagan ki chaon me, in songs like “bus pyar hi pyar fale” shows his skills in the other fields.

Besides he had provided a number of songs in sombre mood, which had touched the souls of many listeners like “o sham kuch ajeeb thi”, “ teri duniya se”, “ zindagi ka safar”, “pal pal dilke paas”, “hum bewafa hargis na the”, “ mera jeevan kora kagaz”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa”, “sagar kinare,”, etc. Although lack of classical training raises questions on the singing capacity of Kishore Kumar, his co-singers like Asha Bhosle had neutralised the argument by saying that he could imitate different persons, and his capability of modifying his voice to suit the sequence of the films had made him immortal in playback singing history. Just like the way different singers like Shabbir Kumar, Anwar, Mohammad Aziz were tried when Mohammad Rafi died in 1980, as composers could not understand how to replace to Rafi, similarly, Kumar Shanu, Abhijit, Babul Supriyo all made major contribution when Kishore Kumar died in late 80s, because he provided playback for all the leading actors at that time. Till today huge number of singers of the modern generation imitate Kishore Kumar and he is alive in his numerous songs and performances. It is a big debate whether Kishore Kumar was a greater actor or a greater singer. In fact all his acting skills were embedded in his singing and that is why he could sing either like a drunkard, or like a happy person, or show the different emotions of different actors, etc. His films and songs should be preserved to show that playback singing requires the understanding of the emotions of the actors and if the singer is an actor like Kishore Kumar, then songs become realistic, melodious and lively.

Anil Kapoor

Anil Kapoor – the versatile actor of the 80s and 90s.

Anil Kapoor can be considered as one of the most versatile actors who had glorified bollywood films during the 80s and 90s. His initial films like Woh Saat Din caught the attention of film lovers. He also got scope of acting with big stars like Dilip Kumar in films like Mashal in 1984. His transformation by Dilip Kumar from a law breaker to a reformed journalist had made a lasting impression in the mind of filmlovers. He used the tapori language that is spoken by street peddlers in Mumbai in the first part of the film. He ultimately became a journalist and used hi pen to unearth the evils of society. His performance in the multistarrer Subhash Ghai titled Karma is also worth mentioning. Dilip Kumar used the prisoners who were facing life mprisonment and death sentence and all the prisoners Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Naseeruddin Shah helpedDilip Kumar to destroy the terrorist establishments in India.

In the early part of his career hisperformance in the film Meri Jung is worth mentioning. He acted as a lawyer and conducted a trial in the ideal way a trial is conducted in courts f law. In 1986, his film Mr. India based on fantasy made him a superstar. He got the formula by which a person can be invisible and used the formula to take revenge from Amrish Puri who acted as an underworld don who used his troops for unlawful activities. Amil Kapoor’s sense of humour amused the viewers and many viewers started comparing him with Raj Kapoor with his comedy skills.

Gradually Anil Kapoor started performing in all types of films, in films where he depicted an innocent person like Iswar, films where he showed his anger against the society which was dominated by corrupt individuals like Tezaab, and other films like Ram Lakhan. Most of his films had Madhuri Dixit as the actress opposite him and her choreographic skills added flavour in the blockbusters. He also acted in pure comedy films like Jamai Raja, where he smashed the ego and dominance of her mother-in-law played by Hema Malini. The reply were given through comedy and there was action at the end of the film.



In later years Anil Kapoor acted in significant films like Pukar, Lajja, etc. He received the national award for the best actor for performing in the film Pukar, where he playedrole of a patriot. He joined the army but was thrown away from there for false charges that were put against him by Madhuri Dixit. Ultimately he proved himself innocent and prevented a big destructive attempt made by the terrorists.

Anil Kapoor showed his immense personality in films where the character required them. He poured all his composure in the film Nayak, where he became the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra only for 1 days, but showed the standing CM played by Amrish Puri that if there is a will a lot of reformation can be done even in one day. He dismissed all those officers and government servants who were not working and brought in work culture. Amidst his action films he also acted in romantic films like 1942-a lovestory. His lips in the songs like “ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga” and “kuch na kaho, kuch bhi nakaho” composed by RD Burman became superduper hits. He depicted the romance with Manish Koirala at the backdrop of India’s freedommovement.


Even during the days of new actors dominating bollywood, Anil Kapoor comedy impulse in seen in films like No Entry. In a span of 25 years, he has acted in around 100 films and showed his skills in different spheres. His films should be restored to show the new generation that for being a successful actor, comedy, tragedy and personality has to be displayed.



Anil Kapoor Photogallery

Vaijayantimala - the dancing legend of bollywood

Vaijayantimala-the legendary dancer of bollywood.

Vaijayantimala can be considered as one of the greatest dancers of bollywood films who had glorified the films she has acted with her serene performance and notable creative art of choreography. Among all the South Indian actresses, she was probably the path-breakers who blended her acting capabilities with the mudras of Bharatnatyam and other forms of eastern classical dances and inspired the bollywood directors to make films based on those subjects.

She kept her mark in the film Nagin in 1955, opposite Pradeep Kumar, where her performance in the song “man dole” sung by Lata is worth mentioning. She played the role of Chandramukhi in Bimal Roy’s epic film Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, in 1955. She tried to reform Devdas by preventing him from taking recourse to alcohol for forgetting Parbati whom he loved and was married to another person. The same role was played by another established dancer Madhuri Dixit when Sanjay Leela Banshali remade Devdas in recent years. Vaijayantimala received the film fare award for the best supporting actress in Devdas, and she refused it saying that her role was even more important than that of Parbati. In fact Parbati had led to the death of Devdas, on the other hand, Chandramukhi tried to give him a new life, although she could not succeed in her pursuit.

In Bimal Roy’s Madhumati, in 1958, Vaijayantimala exhibited her class of dancing opposite Dilip Kumar and showed her innocence in a role related to women of hilly region of India. Her performance in songs like “aaja re pardesi”, “dil tarap tarap ke keh raha hai a bhi ja”, composed by Salil Chowdhury had impressed the film lovers, and they lamented her death shown in the film. She also displayed her choreographic skills in the film Katputli, where songs like “bol re katputli” composed by Shankar Jaikishan became big hits.

In the early 60s she displayed the role of village girl in the film Ganga Jumna. She adapted herself to the bhojpuri accent used in the film. If the other films had marked her dancing capabilities Sangam marked her acting potentiality. She had an affair with Rajender Kumar, yet Raj Kapoor married her not knowing her liking, and at the frag end of the film, when Raj Kapoor wanted to sacrifice his love, she questioned his authority to take decision about her, because from the time she married him she fulfilled all the responsibilities of a hindu wife. Rajender Kumar sacrificed his life by killing himself. Vaijayantimala received the film fare award for the best actress for performing in the film Sangam.

At the same time she had acted in female oriented roles like Amrapali, where she depicted the role of a devdasi who performed her art in Indian temples.

Her films opposite Rajender Kumar including Zindagi, Aas ka Panchi, Ganwar, Suraj, Saathi, etc., were very successful. She played a very significant part in Vijay Anand’s crime thriller Jewel Thief in 1967. Her brother was kidnapped by the Jewel Thief played by Ashok Kumar and throughout the film she cultivated an image of a character Amar who never existed. Her lips in the song “rulake gaya sapna mera” is worth mentioning.

She also performed well in the film Choti Si Mulakat opposite Uttam Kumar which was based on child marriage. They were married together when they were infants but some of the family members did not accept the marriage. Later when they met each other not knowingly to be spouses, they entered into affair and the child marriage stood in their way. Them their identity was disclosed. Vaijayantimala almost acted with all the leading actors of the golden age of Indian cinema. He married Dr. Bali and left films in early 70s. Her success had paved way for other notable South Indian actresses like Hema Malini, Jaya Prada, etc., who made significant contribution to Indian films. Her films should be restored for cinematic, musical and choreographic landmarks they were created during that age.

Bhupinder Singh - the passionate singer of bollywood

Bhupinder Singh: The passionate singer of bollywood:

Ghazal singers in India and other parts of the world have very limited number of audience, as the lyrics are very meaningful and require knowledge to appreciate them and the tunes also bear slow and soft image. In Indian films ghazals were used in the 50s, 60s by the thoughtful composers of that period including Madanmohan, Jaidev, Naushad, Khayyam, Shankar Jaikihsan, Roshan, etc. and sung in most cases by Mohammad Rafi and Talat Mehmood.

Bhupinder Singh, started his career as playback singer in the film Haqeeqat, in 1964, composed by Madanmohan, where he also acted as one of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in India’s war against China. The song “hoke majboor mujhe usne bulaya hoga” was sung by Bhupinder Singh along with Rafi, Talat Mehmood and Manna Dey. Bhupinder Singh had played important instruments like different types of guitars, etc., for composers like RD Burman.

As his deep voice having intoxicating appeal suited the criteria for singing ghazals, he made major contribution in refined commercial films where tunes were not composed for commercial requirement but to impress the music lovers. If any director had done justice to the young ghazal singer it was Gulzar and Bhupinder Singh got recognition in singing important songs for his films in general.

His song “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din”, in the film Mausam , 1975, is one of the most soft ghazals Madanmohan had composed in his career. Sanjeev Kumar recollected his past while his car crossed the roads towards Darjeeling and the song was played in the background. His songs in Parichay, 1972, picturised on Sanjeev Kumar, including “mitwa” and “bite na bitay raina” exhibits his strong command over classical songs.

His two songs in Gharonda, 1977, including “ek akela is shahar me” and “do diwane shahar me” picturised on Amol Palekar, had the flavour of urbanised folk song and he was successful to blend his voice with the remote style of composition of Jaidev. There was excellent use of the violin in the song “ek akela is shahar me”. The philosophical words of Gulzar like “in umrase lambi sarko ko manzil pe pahuchte dekkha nahi, is anjabeesi shahar me jana pehchana dhoonta hai” was given right expression by Bhupinder Singh and carried the essence of the phrase the sweetest songs are those which carry the saddest thoughts. Bhupinder also brought out the pensive mood of Jaidev’s creation in the songs “zindagi, zindagi, o mere ghar ana zindagi” and “zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the” in Uttamkumar’s Dooriyan in 1980. He also sang a notable ghazal titled “karoge yaad to” composed by Khayyam in the film Bazaar.

Bhupinder Singh also sang notable classical songs in the film Kinara, 1977, composed by RD Burman and picturised on Jeetender and Dharmender, including “naam gum jayega”, “ek hi khwab kaibaar dekha maine”, “meethe bol bole”. The other ghazal which was successful in the early 80s included “huzur is kadar bhi na itrake chaliye” picturised on Naseeruddin Shah in the film Masoom, where Suresh Watkar accompanied Bhupinder Singh. Excepting few ghazals sung by Jagjit Singh including “tumko dekha to yeh khayal aya” picturised on Farooq Sheikh and ‘tum itna jo muskura rahi ho” from the film Arth, the use of ghazals in bollywood films almost became extinct from the mid-80s.

Bhupinder Singh restricted his passion for ghazals in his private albums. Excepting Mohammad Rafi, no other classical singer could shine above a limited level, because the mass are attracted towards popular music which in major cases include non-classical compositions. That was the reason why Manna Dey having immense control over ragas, had lesser songs than he deserved in his career. Bhupinder Singh’s songs should be restored to honour the classical and ghazal andaz of the singer that had been exhibited in refined commercial films of bollywood.

Did Rafi face any competition in bollywood films?

Did Rafi at all face any competition in the golden age of bollywood films?

Whenever the golden age of Indian films are revisited, one of the most notable personalities, Mohammad Rafi, comes into our mind automatically. Much had been written about the maestro and yet not everything has been written. If Rafi had sung around 26,000 songs within a span of 35 years, then the obvious question hovers in the mind of music lovers is that did Rafi at all face any competition during the golden age.



Before answering the question, the other singing personalities should be referred, among female singers Lata Mangeshkar, Samshad Begum, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, Suman Kalyanpur, Sudha Malhotra, were the dominating figures, while Manna Dey, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, were the male singers contributing to playback singing in Indian films. Mukesh mainly contributed to films of Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar, although he had sung hit songs for Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, specially when they were composed by Shankar Jaikishan or Salil Chowdhury. Talat Mehmood was mainly associated with Dilip Kumar, Hemant Kumar and Kishore Kumar were associated with Dev Anand, Manna Dey was associated with Raj Kapoor, Mahendra Kapoor contributed to Manoj Kumar’s films and BR Chopra’s films.

In respect of female singers Shamshad Begum faded away in the 60s and Geeta Dutt, after the death of Guru Dutt, did not make major contribution to Indian films. Asha Bhosle initially was associated with compositions of OP Nayyar and Ravi, but sang under most of the big banners from the 70s. That leaves us with the nightingale of India that is Lata Mangeshkar. If Rafi had faced true competition from any singer then it was Lata all the way. The statistics of around 440 duets being sung by Rafi and Lata, provides the picture that the film industry was equally dependant on Lata Mangeshkar as they were dependant on Mohammad Rafi.



Very significantly those composers who were obsessed about Rafi, the same composers had liking for Lata. Shankar Jaikishan had provided immortal duet songs for Rafi and Lata and Asha like “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe”, “ kaise samjhayun bari nasamajh ho” in the film Suraj, in 1966. Naushad’s composition “do sitaron ka zamee par hai milan aaj ki raat” for Rafi and Lata, in the film Kohinoor, in 1960, bolsters his liking towards both the singers. Roshan had experimented with the title song in Barsaat ki raat, in 1960, with both Rafi and Lata. He also asked Rafi and Lata to sing the song “dil jo na keh saka” in the film Bheegi Raat, in 1965, separately at different times in the same film. Laxmikant Pyarellal had composed the duet song of Rafi and Lata titled “woh jab yaad aye bahut yaad aye” from the film Parasmani, in 1963.

Besides Kalyanji Anandji, composed the song “akele hai chale ayo” for both Rafi and Lata who had sung it at different times in the film Raaz in 1968. Besides if Madan Mohan had tremendous liking for Rafi with songs like “tum jo mil gaye ho”, “tumhari zulfoke saye me sham karlunga”, he had equal love for Lata with songs like “tu jaha jaha chalega”, “zarahsi aahat hoti hai”, etc. Besides he composed the same song “teri aankho ke siva duniya me rakha kya hai” for both Rafi and Lata in the film Chirag, 1968. Ghulam Mohammad had provided immortal duet for Rafi and Lata titled “chalo dildar chalo” in the film Pakiza in 1971.

Excepting mid-70s, when Kishore Kumar had sung for leading actors like Amitabh Bachhan, Vinod Mehra, etc., Rafi never faced any competition from any male contemporary singers. Even in that age, Rafi was preferred by those composers like Madan Mohan, Naushad, who had classical affiliation and never compromised with class. Manna Dey faced Rafi in musical competitions with his versatile classical orientation in songs like “yeh isq isq”, from the film Barsaat ki raat, composed by Roshan. The debate relating to Rafi’s competitors can go on, and some of the music lovers highlight the song in Amar Akbar Anthony, in 1977, “humko tumse ho gaya hai pyar”, where Rafi sung for Rishi Kapoor, Kishore Kumar for Amitabh Bacchan and Mukesh sung for Vinod Khanna, to emphasis the fact of equal popularity of Mukesh and Kishore Kumar with Rafi. But if the interviews of leading composers, lyricists, producers and directors are studied, there is no second opinion that Rafi was given separate consideration and given added honour without disrespecting any of the other singers who also had made significant contribution to the world of playback singing in bollywood films.


Related Reading

• Immortal Ghazals sung by Mohammad Rafi.
• Awards received by Mohammad Rafi in his illustrious career.
• Mohammad Rafi- the greatest voice of the last century.
• Rahul Dev Burman’s immense respect for Mohammad Rafi.
• Laxmikant Pyarellal’s immortal relationship with Mohamand Rafi.
• OP Nayyar’s immortal relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Salil Chowdhury’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Ravi’s memorable combination with Rafi.
• Roshan's everlasting bond with Mohammad Rafi.
• SD Burman and Mohammad Rafi.
• Rafi’s pleasant memories with Madanmohan.
• Khayyam and Jaidev’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Kalyanji Anandji’s association with Mohammad Rafi.
• Naushad’s association with Rafi.

Bollywood Films and their Official Websites

Bollywood Films and their Official Websites

Our readers are invited to contribute to the list. Pls mention other sites via comments.

• Bombay To Bangkok

starring Shreyas Talpade, Lina Christianson, Vijay Maurya, Manmeet Singh, Jeneva Talwar, Yateen Karyekar, Naseeruddin Shah.

Bombay To Bangkok official website : http://bombaytobangkok.erosentertainment.com

• Dus Kahaniyaan

starring Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Nana Patekar, Dino Morea, Vivek Oberoi, Tanushree Datta, Bipasha Basu, Esha Deol, Arbaaz Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza, Neha Uberoi, Neha Dhupia, Masumi Makhija, Jimmy Shergill, Arjun Rampal, Soha Ali Khan.

Dus Kahaniyaan official website : www.duskahaniyaan.com

• Halla Bol

starring Ajay Devgan, Vidya Balan, Pankaj Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Ruby Bhatia, Mukesh Tiwari, Lekh Tandon, Darshan Jariwala.

Halla Bol official website : www.hallabolthefilm.com

• Jab We Met

starring Shahid Kapur, Kareena Kapoor.

Jab We Met official website : www.jabwemetthefilm.com

• Jodhaa Akbar

starring Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai.

Jodhaa Akbar official website : www.jodhaaakbar.com

• Karma Confessions and Holi

starring Sushmita Sen, Randeep Hooda, Suresh Oberoi, Rati Agnihotri, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Deepal Shaw, Drena De Niro, Naomi Campbell, Sticky Fingaz, Vincent Curatola, Kumar Pallana.

Karma Confessions and Holi official website : www.kchthefilm.com

• Khoya Khoya Chand

starring Shiney Ahuja, Soha Ali Khan, Sonya Jehan, Rajat Kapoor,

Khoya Khoya Chand official website : www.khoyakhoyachand.com

• Meerabai Not Out!

starring Mandira Bedi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Eijaz Khan, Anupam Kher, Anil Kumble.

Meerabai Not Out! official website : www.mnothefilm.com

• Om Shanti Om

starring Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Shreyas Talpade.

Om Shanti Om official website : www.omshantiom.com

• Strangers

starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Kay Kay Menon, Nandana Sen, Sonali Kulkarni.

Strangers official website : www.strangersfilm.com

• Taare Zameen Par

starring Aamir Khan

Taare Zameen Par official website : www.taarezameenpar.com

• Welcome

starring Feroz Khan, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Mallika Sherawat, Paresh Rawal.

Welcome official website : www.welcome-thefilm.com

Archives :

• ...Yanhaan

starring Jimmy Sheirgill, Minnisha.

...Yanhaan official website : www.yahaanthefilm.com

• 26th July At Barista

starring Kabir Sawhney, Simran Vaid, Rohini Hatangdi, Seema Pande, Ashish Duggal, Anil Mahatre, Sumeet Malhan, Gopi, Ramanna, Ramesh Suneja, Rita Joshi, Sameep Kank, Raju Kher, Amita Nagia, Shashi Sharma, Himani Chawla, Shailesh Mehta.

26th July At Barista official website : www.26thjuly.com

• 36 China Town

starring Shahid Kapur, Kareena Kapoor, Upen Patel, Akshay Khanna

36 China Town official website : www.36chinatown.com

• 50 Lakh

starring Pavan Mallhotra, Mohit Chadda, Virendra Chauhan, Sindhu Tolani, Shashank, Janardhan Chowdhary, Abhishek Kumar.

50 Lakh official website : www.50lakhthefilm.com

• AabraKaDaabra

starring -

AabraKaDaabra official website : www.akd3dplus.com

• Aap Kaa Surroor - The Moviee

starring Himesh Reshammiya, Hansika Motwani, Mallika Sherawat.

Aap Kaa Surroor - The Moviee official website : www.aapkaasurroorthemoviee.com

• Aap Ki Khatir

starring Akshaye Khanna, Priyanka Chopra, Dino Morea, Ameesha Patel, Suneel Shetty.

Aap Ki Khatir official website : www.aapkikhatirfilm.com

• Aashiq Banaya Aapne

starring Emraan Hashmi, Tanushree Dutta, Sonu Sood.

Aashiq Banaya Aapne official website : www.aashiqbanayaaapne.com

• Ahista Ahista

starring Abhay Deol, Soha Ali Khan.

Ahista Ahista official website : www.ahistaahista.com/

• Aitraaz

starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra

Aitraaz official website : www.aitraazthefilm.com

• Alag

starring Akshay Kapoor, Diya Mirza, Sharat Saxena.

Alag official website : www.alagthemovie.com/

• Ankahee

starring Aftab Shivdasani, Esha Deol, Amisha Patel.

Ankahee official website : www.ankaheethefilm.com/

• Anthony Kaun Hai

starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi.

Anthony Kaun Hai official website : www.anthonykaunhai.com/

• Apaharan

starring Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar, Bipasha Basu

Apaharan official website : www.apaharan.com

• Aparichit

starring Vikram, Sadha, Vivek, Prakashraj, Naseer, Saurav Shukla, Yana Gupta.

Aparichit official website : www.aparichit.com

• Apna Sapna Money Money

starring Ritiesh Deshmukh, Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra, Jackie Shroff, Suniel Shetty, Shreyas Talpade, Anupam Kher, Chunky Pandey.

Apna Sapna Money Money official website : www.muktaarts.com/newsite/apnasapnamoneymoney.asp

• Apne

starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty.

Apne official website : www.apnethemovie.com

• Apne

starring Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Katrina Kaif, Shilpa Shetty.

Apne official website : www.apnethemovie.com

• Aryan

starring Sohail Khan, Sneha Ullal.

Aryan official website : www.aryanthefilm.com

• Baabul

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, John Abraham.

Baabul official website : www.baabulthefilm.com

• Bachke Rehna Re Baba

starring Rekha, Mallika Sherawat, Paresh Rawal.

Bachke Rehna Re Baba official website : www.bachkerehnarebaba.com

• Bas Ek Pal

starring Sanjay Suri, Urmila Matondkar, Juhi Chawla, Jimmy Shergil.

Bas Ek Pal official website : www.basekpal.com/

• Being Cyrus

starring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani, Simon Singh.

Being Cyrus official website : www.beingcyrus.com

• Bewafaa

starring Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen

Bewafaa official website : www.bewafaathefilm.com

• Bhagam Bhag

starring Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Paresh Rawal, Lara Dutta, Tanushree Dutta.

Bhagam Bhag official website : www.bhagambhagthefilm.com/

• Bhool Bhulaiya

starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Amisha Patel, Shiny Ahuja, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav.

Bhool Bhulaiya official website : www.bhoolbhulaiyaa.com

• Bhoot Unkle

starring Jackie Shroff

Bhoot Unkle official website : www.bhootunclethefilm.com

• Big Brother

starring Sunny Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Shahbaaz Khan, Sayaji Shinde, Farida Jalal, Avtar Gill.

Big Brother official website : www.bigbrotherfilm.com/

• Black

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Nandana Sen.

Black official website : www.black-thefilm.com

• Bluffmaster

starring Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh.

Bluffmaster official website : www.bluffmasterthefilm.com

• Bombay To Goa

starring Sunil Pal, Raju Shrivastava, Ehsaan Qureshi, Tinu Anand, Vijay Raaz.

Bombay To Goa official website : www.bombaytogoa.erosentertainment.com

• Bose - The Forgotten Hero

starring Sachin Khedekar, Rajpal Ydav, Rajat Kapoor

Bose - The Forgotten Hero official website : www.bosethefilm.com

• Buddha Mar Gaya

starring Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Rakhi Sawant.

Buddha Mar Gaya official website : www.buddhamargaya.erosentertainment.com

• Cash

starring Ajay Devgan, Zayed Khan, Suniel Shetty, Reitesh Deshmukh, Diya Mirza, Esha Deol, Shamita Shetty.

Cash official website : www.cash-thefilm.com

• Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii

starring Rahul Bose, Zain Khan, Raj Bhansali, Deeptiman Chaudhury, Rajesh Khaira.

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii official website : www.ck2mk.com

• Cheeni Kum

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal.

Cheeni Kum official website : www.erosentertainment.com/cheenikum/

• Chup Chup Ke

starring Shahid Kapur, Kareena Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Sushma Reddy, Rajpal Yadav.

Chup Chup Ke official website : www.chupchupke.com

• Corporate

starring Bipasha Basu, Kay Kay Menon, Sammir Dattani, Rajat Kapur, Minnisha Lamba, Raj Babar.

Corporate official website : www.corporatethefilm.com

• Darling

starring Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol, Isha Koppikar.

Darling official website : www.darling.erosentertainment.com

• Delhiiheights

starring Jimmy Shergill, Neha Dhupia, Om Puri, Kamini Khanna, Rohit Roy, Simone Singh, Vivek Shauq.

Delhiiheights official website : www.delhiheights.com

• Dharm - Come, Question Your Faith

starring Pankaj Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, K K Raina, Daya Shanker Pandey, Hrishita Bhatt.

Dharm - Come, Question Your Faith official website : www.dharmthefilm.com

• Dhokha

starring Muzammil Ibrahim, Tulip Joshi, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Ashutosh Rana.

Dhokha official website : www.dhokathefilm.in

• Dhol Kiska Bajega ?

starring Sharman Joshi, Kunal Khemu, Tusshar Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Tanushree Dutta.

Dhol Kiska Bajega ? official website : www.ppcdholthefilm.com

• Dil Diya Hai

starring Emraan Hasmi, Ashmit Patel, Geeta Basra, Mithun Chakraborty.

Dil Diya Hai official website : www.dildiyahai.com

• Dil Dosti Etc

starring Imaad Shah, Shreyas Talpade, Ishitta Sharrma, Smriti Mishra, Nikita Anand.

Dil Dosti Etc official website : www.dildostietc.com

• Don

starring Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Boman Irani, Kareen Kapoor.

Don official website : www.donthefilm.com

• DOR

starring Ayesha Takia, Shreyas Talpade, Gul Panag.

DOR official website : www.dorthefilm.com

• Dosti - Friends Forever

starring Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta.

Dosti - Friends Forever official website : www.dostifriendsforever.com

• Dus

starring Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Zayed Khan, Esha Deol, Shilpa Shetty, Diya Mirza, Raima Sen.

Dus official website : www.dusthefilm.com

• Ek Ajnabee

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Perizaad Zorabian.

Ek Ajnabee official website : www.ekajnabee.com

• Ek Chalis Ki Last Local

starring Abhay Deol, neha Dhupia, Vinay Apte, Ashok Samarth, Deepak Shirke, Snehal Dhabhi.

Ek Chalis Ki Last Local official website : www.eckll.com

• Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena

starring Fardeen Khan, Feroz Khan, Koena Mitra, Kay Kay.

Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena official website : www.ekkhiladiekhaseenathefilm.com/

• Eklavya - The Royal Guard

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff.

Eklavya - The Royal Guard official website : www.eklavyatheroyalguard.com

• Elaan

starring Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Rahul Khanna, Amisha Patel, Lara Dutta, Mithun Chakraborthy

Elaan official website : www.elaanthefilm.com

• Family - Ties Of Blood

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Aryaman, Bhoomika Chawla, Shernaaz Patel

Family - Ties Of Blood official website : www.familytiesofblood.com

• Fanaa

starring Aamir Khan, Kajol, Rishi Kapoor, Tabu, Shiney Ahuja.

Fanaa official website : www.fanaa.com

• Fareb

starring Manoj Bajpai, Shilpa Shetty, Shamita Shetty

Fareb official website : www.farebthefilm.com

• Gandhi My Father

starring Akshaye Khanna, Darshan Jariwala, Bhumika Chawla, Shefali Shah.

Gandhi My Father official website : www.gandhimyfather.erosentertainment.com

• Garam Masala

starring Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Rimi Sen.

Garam Masala official website : www.garammasalamovie.com

• Golmaal - fun unlimited

starring Ajay Devgan, Tusshar Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi, Rimii Sen & Paresh Rawal

Golmaal - fun unlimited official website : http://www.golmaalthefilm.com

• Good Boy Bad Boy

starring Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Isha Sharvani, Tanushree Dutta, Paresh Rawal.

Good Boy Bad Boy official website : www.muktaarts.com/newsite/goodboybadboy.asp

• Guru

starring Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vidya Balan, Madhavan, Mallika Sherawat.

Guru official website : www.guru-themovie.com/

• Hattrick

starring Kunal Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Danny Denzongpa, Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar.

Hattrick official website : www.utvmotionpictures.com/hattrick-movie.asp

• Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

starring Kay Kay Menon, Chitrangda Singh and Roshan Ahuja

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi official website : www.hkathefeature.com

• Heyy Babyy

starring Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan, Reitesh Deshmukh, Vidya Balan.

Heyy Babyy official website : www.heyybabyy.erosentertainment.com/

• Holiday

starring Dino Morea, Gulshan Grover, Nauheed Cyrusi, Kashmera Shah, Anahita Uberoi.

Holiday official website : www.holidaythefilm.com

• Home Delivery

starring Boman Irani, Vivek Oberoi, Mahima Choudhary, Ayesha Takia.

Home Delivery official website : www.homedeliverythefilm.com

• Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.

starring Abhay Deol, Minissha Lamba, Shabana Azmi, Boman Irani, Kay Kay Menon, Raima Sen, Amisha Patel, Karan Khanna, Sandhya Mridul, Vikram Chatwal, Ranvir Shorey, Dia Mirza, Arjun Rampal, Suzanne Bernert, Naseruddin Shah.

Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. official website : www.honeymoontravelspvtltd.com

• Hulchul

starring Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi.

Hulchul official website : www.hulchulthefilm.com

• Hum Tum

starring Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee

Hum Tum official website : www.yashrajfilms.com/humtummicro/

• Humko Deewana Kar Gaye

starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Bhagyashree.

Humko Deewana Kar Gaye official website : www.humkodeewanakargaye.com

• I See You

starring Arjun Rampal, Vipasha Agarwal, Boman Irani, Chunkey Pandey, Sonali Kulkarni.

I See You official website : www.iseeyouthefilm.com

• Jaan-E-Mann

starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta

Jaan-E-Mann official website : www.jaanemann.com

• Jawani Diwani

starring Imraan Hashmi, Celina Jaitley, Hrishita Bhatt, Mahesh Manjrekar.

Jawani Diwani official website : www.jawanidiwanithefilm.com

• Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

starring Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol, Lara Dutta, Amitabh Bachchan.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom official website : www.yashrajfilms.com

• Jigyaasa

starring Hrishitaa Bhatt, Vikas Kalantri, Varsha Usgaokar, Mukesh Tiwari.

Jigyaasa official website : www.jigyaasa.com

• Johnny Gaddaar

starring Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dharmendra, Vinay Pathak, Rimi Sen, Zakir Kusain, Shiva.

Johnny Gaddaar official website : www.johnnygaddaar.com

• Kaafila

starring Sunny Deol, Polina Stoynova, Sudesh Berry, Sandeep Kang.

Kaafila official website : www.kaafilathemovie.com/

• Kaal

starring Ajay Devgan, John Abraham, Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol, Lara Dutta.

Kaal official website : www.kaalthefilm.com

• Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

starring Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Abhishek Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta.

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna official website : www.kankthefilm.com

• Kabul Express

starring John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid, Hanif Hum Ghum, Linda Arsenio

Kabul Express official website : www.yashrajfilms.com

• Katputtli

starring Milind Soman, Mink Brar, Sameer Dharamadhikari, Yukta Mookhey, Seema Biswas.

Katputtli official website : www.Katputtli.com/

• Khosla Ka Ghosla

starring Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Parveen Dabas, Tara Sharma.

Khosla Ka Ghosla official website : www.utvmotionpictures.com

• Kisna

starring Viviek Oberoi

Kisna official website : www.kisnathefilm.com

• Koi Aap Sa

starring Aftab Shivdasani, Natassaa, Dipannita Sharma.

Koi Aap Sa official website : www.koiaapsathefilm.com

• Koi Mere Dil Main Hai

starring Priyanshu, Diya Mirza, Rakesh Bapat, Neha

Koi Mere Dil Main Hai official website : www.koimeredilmeinhai.com

• Krrish

starring Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Rekha, Nasseruddin Shah.

Krrish official website : www.krrishthemovie.com

• Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye

starring Arshad Warsi , Mahima Chaudhary, Parvin Dabas, Sandhya Mridul, Shravan, Mahima Mehta.

Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye official website : www.kmhjthefilm.com

• Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye

starring Arshad Warsi , Mahima Chaudhary, Parvin Dabas, Sandhya Mridul, Shravan, Mahima Mehta.

Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye official website : www.kmhjthefilm.com

• Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamaana

starring Rekha, Mahima, Kim Sharma, Vasudhara Das.

Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamaana official website : www.kkhzthemovie.com

• Kya Love Story Hai

starring Tusshar Kapoor, Ayesha Takia, Karan Hukku, Kareena Kapoor.

Kya Love Story Hai official website : www.kyalovestoryhai.com

• Kyon Ki...

starring Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Rimii Sen, Jackie Shroff.

Kyon Ki... official website : www.kyonki.com

• Kyun Ho Gaya Na

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Vivek Oberoi.

Kyun Ho Gaya Na official website : www.kyunhogayana.com

• Lage Raho Munnabhai

starring Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Jimmy Shergil, Dia Mirza.

Lage Raho Munnabhai official website : www.lagerahomunnabhai.com/

• Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi

starring Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Sameer, Nauhid.

Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi official website : www.lifemeinkabhiekabhiee.com

• Little Terrorist

starring -

Little Terrorist official website : www.little-terrorist.com

• Lucky - No Time For Love

starring Salman Khan, Sneha Ullal, Mitun Chakraborthy.

Lucky - No Time For Love official website : www.luckythefilm.com

• Main Aisa Hi Hoon

starring Ajay Devgan, Esha Deol, Sushmita Sen.

Main Aisa Hi Hoon official website : www.mainaisahihoon.com

• Main Meri Patni Aur Woh

starring Rajpal Yadav, Rituparna Sengupta

Main Meri Patni Aur Woh official website : www.mainmeripatniaurwoh.com

• Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

starring Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen, Katrina Kaif, Arshad Warsi, Sohail Khan.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya official website : www.mainepyaarkyunkiya.com

• Malamaal Weekly

starring Paresh rawal, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rima Sen, Rajpal yadav, Arbaaz Khan.

Malamaal Weekly official website : www.malamaalweekly.com

• Mangal Pandey - The Rising

starring Amir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Amisha Patel.

Mangal Pandey - The Rising official website : www.msn.co.in/mangalpandey/

• Manorama Six Feet Under

starring Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Raima Sen, Vinay Pathak, Sarika.

Manorama Six Feet Under official website : www.manoramasixfeetunder.com/

• Marathon

starring Bikram Saluja, Mandira Bedi, Purab Kohli, Sammir Dattani.

Marathon official website : www.marathonthefilm.com/

• Matrubhoomi

starring Tulip Joshi, Sudhir Pandey, Sushant Singh

Matrubhoomi official website : www.matrubhoomithefilm.com

• Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar

starring Hazel, Ruslaan Mumtaz, Kanwaljeet Singh, Menekka Arora.

Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar official website : www.mp3thefilm.com

• Mere Jeevan Saathi

starring Akshay Kumar, Karishma Kapoor, Amisha Patel

Mere Jeevan Saathi official website : www.merejeevansaathithefilm.com

• Metro

starring Shilpa Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Shiney Ahuja, Kaykay Menon, Konkona Sen Sharma, Sharman Joshi, Kangana Ranaut.

Metro official website : www.metro-thefilm.com

• Mixed Doubles

starring Rajat Kapoor, Koel Purie, Ranvir Shorey, Konkana Sen.

Mixed Doubles official website : www.mixeddoublesthefilm.com

• Mr. Hot Mr. Kool

starring Zulfi, Yash, Priya, Samikha

Mr. Hot Mr. Kool official website : www.mrhotmrkool.com/

• Mujhse Shaadi Karogi

starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra

Mujhse Shaadi Karogi official website : www.mujhseshaadikarogithefilm.com

• Munnabhai M B B S

starring Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Dutt

Munnabhai M B B S official website : www.munnabhaimbbs.com

• My Bollywood Bride

starring Kashmera Shah, Jason Lewis, Neha Dubey, Gulshan Grover, Sanjay Suri.

My Bollywood Bride official website : www.mybollywoodbride.com

• My Brother...Nikhil

starring Sanjay Suri , Juhi Chawla, Victor Banerjee, Lillete Dubey, Dipannita Sharma, Purab Kohli, Gautam Kapoor, Shweta Kawaatra, Shayan Munshi, Peeya Rai Choudhary, Sujoy Ghosh.

My Brother...Nikhil official website : www.mybrothernikhil.com

• My Wife's Murder

starring Anil Kapoor, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Nandana Sen

My Wife's Murder official website : www.mywifesmurder.factoryatwork.com

• Naach

starring Abhishek Bachchan, Antra Mali

Naach official website : www.naach.factoryatwork.com

• Naksha

starring Sunny Deol, Viveik Oberoi, Sameera Reddy, Jackie Shroff

Naksha official website : www.nakshathefilm.com

• Namastey London

starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif

Namastey London official website : www.erosentertainment.com/namasteylondon/

• Naqaab

starring Bobby Deol, Akshay Khanna, Urvashi Sharma.

Naqaab official website : www.tips.in

• Nishabd

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jiah Khan.

Nishabd official website : www.nishabdthefilm.com

• No Entry

starring Salman Khan, Esha Deol, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Fardeen Khan, Celina Jaitley, Lara Dutta.

No Entry official website : www.noentrythefilm.com

• No Smoking

starring John Abraham, Ayesha Takia, Paresh Rawal.

No Smoking official website : www.nosmoking.erosentertainment.com

• Omkara

starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Konkana Sen Sharma, Bipasha Basu, Naseeruddin Shah.

Omkara official website : www.omkarathefilm.com

• Paap

starring John Abraham, Udita Goswami, Dr. Mohan Agashe, Gulshan Grover.

Paap official website : www.paapthefilm.com

• Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav

starring Suniel Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar, Jhony Lever, Masumi, Kim Sharma, Anupama Verma

Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav official website : www.plpy.com

• Paheli

starring Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Juhi Chawla, Suniel Shetty, Rajpal Yadav.

Paheli official website : www.pahelithefilm.com

• Parineeta

starring Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Raima Sen.

Parineeta official website : http://www.parineetathefilm.com

• Partner

starring Salman Khan, Govinda, Katrina Kaif, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav.

Partner official website : http://www.erosentertainment.com/partner/

• Phir Hera Pheri

starring Akshay Kumar, Suniel Sheety, Paresh Rawal, Bipasha Basu, Rimmi Sen, Rajpal Yadav, Johhny Lever

Phir Hera Pheri official website : www.phirherapheri.in

• Phir Milenge

starring Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan

Phir Milenge official website : www.phirmilenge.com

• Provoked

starring Aishwarya Rai, Miranda Richardson, Navin Andrews, Nandita Das, Rebecca Pidgeon, Robbie Coltrane, Steve Mcfadden, Nicholas Irons, Raji James, Deborah Moore.

Provoked official website : www.provokedthemovie.com

• Pyaar Ke Side / Effects

starring Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat.

Pyaar Ke Side / Effects official website : www.pksethefilm.com/

• Pyare Mohan

starring Fardeen Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Amrita Rao, Esha Deol, Boman Irani.

Pyare Mohan official website : www.pyaremohanthefilm.com/

• Raincoat

starring Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai, Mouli Ganguli, Annu Kapoor.

Raincoat official website : www.raincoatthefilm.com

• Rakht

starring Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu, Neha Dhupia, Amrita Arora.

Rakht official website : www.rakht.com

• Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan, Prashant Raj, Sushmita Sen, Mohanlal, Nisha Kothari, Sushant Singh.

Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag official website : www.rgvkiaag.com

• Red

starring Aftab Shivdasani, Celina Jaitley, Amrita Arora

Red official website : www.red-thefilm.com

• Risk

starring Randeep Hooda, Tanushree Dutta, Vinod Khanna.

Risk official website : www.riskthefilm.com/

• Rog

starring Ilene Hamann, Irfan Khan, Suhel Seth, Himanshu Malik

Rog official website : www.rogthefilm.com

• Rudraksh

starring Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Bipasha Basu, Isha Koppikar

Rudraksh official website : www.rudrakshthefilm.com

• Run

starring Abhishek bachchan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Bhumika Chawla

Run official website : www.runthefilm.com

• Sacred Evil

starring Sarika, Lynsey Pow.

Sacred Evil official website : www.sacredevil.com

• Salaam Namaste

starring Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta

Salaam Namaste official website : www.yashrajfilms.com

• Salaam-E-Ishq

starring Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Akshaye Khanna, John Abraham, Sohail Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Juhi Chawla, Ayesha Takia, Vidya Balan, Perizaad Zorabian, Shannon Esra.

Salaam-E-Ishq official website : www.salaam-e-ishq.com

• Shaadi No.1

starring Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Jayed Khan, Sharman Joshi, Ayesha Takia, Esha Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Ria Sen, Aarti Chabria, Sophie Chaudhary.

Shaadi No.1 official website : www.shaadino1thefilm.com

• Shaadi Se Pehle

starring Akshaye Khanna, Aayesha Takia, Mallika Sherawat, Suniel Shetty, Rajpal Yadav.

Shaadi Se Pehle official website : www.shaadisepehle.com

• Shabd

starring Sanjay Dutt, Aishwarya Rai, Zayed Khan

Shabd official website : www.shabdthefilm.com

• Shakalaka Boom Boom

starring Bobby Deol, Upen Patel, Celina Jaitley, Kangana.

Shakalaka Boom Boom official website : www.shakalakathemovie.com/

• Shikhar

starring Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Shahid Kapur, Amrita Rao, Jawed Sheikh.

Shikhar official website : www.shikharmovie.com

• Shootout At Lokhandwala

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Neha Dhupia, Rohit Roy, Dia Mirza, Aarti Chhabria, Rakhi Sawant.

Shootout At Lokhandwala official website : www.shootoutatlokhandwala.com/

• Siskiyaan

starring Neha Dhupia, Sonu Sood, Sachin Khedekar.

Siskiyaan official website : www.siskiyaan.com

• Socha Na Tha

starring Abhay Deol, Ayesha Takia

Socha Na Tha official website : www.sochanatha.com

• Swades

starring Shahrukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi

Swades official website : www.swades.com/

• Swami

starring Manoj Bajpai, Juhi Chawla.

Swami official website : www.Swamithefilm.com

• Ta Ra Rum Pum

starring Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji

Ta Ra Rum Pum official website : www.tararumpum.com

• Taarzan The Wonder Car

starring Vatsal Sheth, Ayesha Takia.

Taarzan The Wonder Car official website : www.taarzanthewondercar.com/

• Tango Charlie

starring Suniel Shetty, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Bobby Deol, Tanisha

Tango Charlie official website : www.tangocharliethefilm.com

• Tathastu

starring Sanjay Dutt, Amisha Patel, Jaya Prada.

Tathastu official website : www.tathastuthefilm.com

• Taxi No. 9211

starring John Abraham, Nana Patekar, Sameera Reddy, Sonali kulkarni.

Taxi No. 9211 official website : http://www.taxi9211.com/

• The Film

starring Mahima Chaudhary, Ranvir Shourie, Khaled Siddiqui, Vaibhav Jalani, Chaahat Khanna.

The Film official website : www.thefilmthefilm.com

• The Namesake

starring Kal Penn, Tabu, Irrfan Khan, Jacinda Barrett.

The Namesake official website : www.foxsearchlight.com/thenamesake/

• Tom Dick And Harry

starring Dino Morea, Jimmy Shergill, Anuj Sawhney, Celina Jaitley, Kim Sharma

Tom Dick And Harry official website : www.tomdickandharrythefilm.com/

• Traffic Signal

starring Kunal Khemu, Neetu Chandra, Ranveer Shourie, Konkana Sensharma, Upendra Limaye, Sudhir Mishra.

Traffic Signal official website : www.trafficsignalthefilm.com

• Umrao Jaan

starring Aishwarya Rai, Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Suneil Shetty

Umrao Jaan official website : www.umraojaanthefilm.com

• Undertrial

starring Rajpal Yadav, Monica Castelino, Kader Khan, Prem Chopra, Rajesh Puri, Mukesh Tiwari, Pratima Kazmi, T. K. Choudhary, Suneel Rege.

Undertrial official website : www.undertrialthefilm.com/

• Unns

starring Sanjay Kapoor, Rituparna Sengupta, Sudanshu Pandde, Juhi babbar

Unns official website : www.unns.in/

• Vaada

starring Arjun Rampal, Amisha Patel, Zayed Khan

Vaada official website : www.vaadathefilm.com

• Vaastu Shashtra

starring Sushmita Sen

Vaastu Shashtra official website : www.vaastuthefilm.com

• Viruddh

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sharmila Tagore, John Abrahim, Anusha Dandekar, Sanjay Dutt.

Viruddh official website : www.viruddhthefilm.com

• Vivah

starring Shahid Kapur, Amrita Rao.

Vivah official website : www.rajshriproductions.com/

• Wajaah

starring Arbaaz Khan, Gracy Singh, Shamita Shetty, Zulfi Sayed

Wajaah official website : www.wajaah.com

• Waqt - A Race Against Time

starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Shefali Shah

Waqt - A Race Against Time official website : www.waqtthefilm.com

• Yakeen

starring Arjun Rampal, Priyanka Chopra, Kim Sharma

Yakeen official website : www.yakeenthefilm.com

• Yatra

starring Rekha, Nana Patekar, Deepti Naval.

Yatra official website : www.yatrathemovie.com

• Yuva

starring Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukharji

Yuva official website : www.yuvathefilm.com

• Zinda

starring Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Celina Jaitley, Mahesh Manjrekar.

Zinda official website : www.zindathefilm.com

• Zindaggi Rocks

starring Sushmita Sen, Shiney Ahuja, Kim Sharma.

Zindaggi Rocks official website : www.zindaggirocks.com/

Patriotic actor Manoj Kumar

Manoj Kumar – the patriotic actor of bollywood

Manoj Kumar, better known as Bharat Kumar, was one of the most patriotic souls in bollywood who devoted his life towards the making of patriotic films. Born on 24th July, 1937, Harikishen Goswami, better known as Manoj Kumar, made his debut in the film Fashion in 1957. As he was obsessed towards Dilip Kumar, one of the greatest actor of bollywood and started keeping his name in the name of Manoj Kumar, the character played by Dilip Kumar in the film Shabnam.

He got recognition in Vijay Bhatt’s film Hariyali Aur Raasta, in 1962, opposite Mala Sinha, where the music of Shankar Jaikishan, became super hit and the film provided him stable place in bollywood. He got a notable role in Raj Khosla’s crime thriller “woh kaun thi” where the twin sister of his wife played by Sadhna was shown at different times to make him insane and he unfolded the truth on the death of the twin sister when everyone came to know that Sadhna was not ghost, but the villain Prem Chopra had used her to make Manoj Kumar insane and inherit the property according to the will created by his ancestors. It wasthe greatest horror film of that age and outstanding music of Madan Mohan had hypnotised the audience.

His next film directed by Vijay Bhatt titled Himalay Ki God Me, in 1965, was also successful. Manoj Kumar again acted in a suspense thriller titled Gumnam, where the members of dance club were hijacked and left in an island and the villain Tarun Bose went on killing one after the other. The music of Shankar Jaikishan was super hit with immortal songs of Lata titled “gumnam hai koi”, songs of Rafi titled “ek ladkine mera jina mushkil kar diya” and “o mere man”, etc. Also Mehmood’s song sung by Rafi, “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” amused the crowds.

From 1965, Manoj kumar associated himself with patriotic films and his film Shaheed based on the life of Bhagat Singh became very big hit with Rafi’s song “ay watan ay watan” creating patriotic passion in the minds of numerous Indians. Bhagat Singh had been remade in the recent years with Ajay Devgan and Bobby Deol playing the role that Manoj Kumar had played before. He was inspired by the slogan of Lal Bahadur Shastri, that is “jai jawan jai kisan” and made a film based on that subject titled Upkaar in 1967. the film showed the life of a farmer and also brought patriotic subject related to Indian army. Mahendra Kapoors’ song “mere desh ki dharti” became superhit and people identified Manoj Kumar as Bharat Kumar. Manoj Kumar received the film fare award for best direction for the film Upkaar.

Manoj Kumar’s other films like Aadmi, opposite Dilip Kumar, Patthar ke Sanam also became successful. Rafi’s title song in Patthar ke Sanam, astonished the listeners. He also acted in the film Do Badan, where music composed by Ravi and sung by Rafi, including “bhari duniya me”, etc., appealed to the crowd. Manoj Kumar continued with his patriotic films by either directing, or acting in films like Puram aur Paschim, Beimaan, Roti Kapda Aur Makaan, Kranti, etc. Puram aur Paschim depicted the relationship of life of the eastern countries and western countries.He received the film fare award for the best actor in 1972 for performing in the film Beimaan.

He also acted in a number of crime thrillers like Anita and in the major number of these films he played the role of the doctor. In the 80s his film Kranti, which was based on the freedom movement of India became successful with Dilip kumar, Shatrughun Sinha also providing notable performances. His films should be restored for revisiting the freedom struggle movement of India and admiring his patriotic spirit displayed in several films.

Jaya Bacchan - the most natural actress of bollywood

Jaya Bacchan – the natural actress of bollywood.

Jaya Bacchan can be considered as one of the natural actresses who made acting look so easy during the 70s and 80s. Born on April 10th, 1948, Jaya Bacchan made her debut in the Bengali film Mahanagar directed by renouned director Satyajit Ray in 1965. She played the role of the sister of Anil Chatterjee, a middle class Bengali whose financial needs compelled his wife to work in a sales office which was remote in those days. She started her hindi career with the film Guddi, directed by Rishikesh Mukherjee. The film depicted the passion of young girls towards bollywood actors whom they used to worship like Gods. In the film she was obsessed towards Dharmender and Utpal Dutt, took his help to make the little girl understand that whatever is shown in the films are untrue and they are customised on larger than life image, in fact most of the heroes and heroins are ordinary human beings without having supernatural capabilities. Jaya Bacchan’s innocence in the film amazed the viewers.

Within short time, Gulzar understood the acting capabilities of Jaya Bacchan and did cast her opposite Sanjeev Kumar in Koshish, in 1972, in a deaf and dumb role. She exhibited the pleasure, pain and other emotions of deaf and dumb only through her eyes and facial expressions. She also displayed the feelings for her father played by Sanjeev Kumar in Gulzar’s film Parichay in 1972. She was the eldest of the 5 children who became orphans and their grandfather Pran brought them to his own house for education. She was hostile towards her grandfather who did not accept her mother as daughter-in-law and compelled Sanjeev Kumar to create his separate establishment who died out of sickness. She influenced the other children who became naughty and stubborn and the film ends with Jeetender’s victory in transforming the children with love and affection. The story has reflections of Hollywood film The Sound of Music and Uttam Kumar’s Bengali film Joyjoyanti.


Jaya Bacchan moulded her image into a woman who understood middleclass sentiments and sacrificed her priorities for benefit of her family and the society as a whole. She depicted the image in Rishikesh Mukherjee’s film Abhimaan, where she was asked to perform on stage by established singer played by Amitabh Bacchan who later could not accept her popularity which superseded Big B’s image as singer. She sacrificed her singing for the benefit of the family and the story depicted the helplessness of middleclass women who never can reach their destination for the social taboos. She won the film fare award for the best actress in 1974 for Abhimaan. The next year she again won the film fare award for the best actress for performance in the film Kora Kagaz where again she showed the level of compromise of Indian women who always try to balance and adjust the priorities of the inlaws and their own parents and most often fail in their attempt if the husbands are unreasonable. Her performance in Milli opposite Amitabh Bacchan, where she dies at the end of the film due to sickness, after engaging the entire flat complex with her childish activities, brought tears in the eyes of the audience who were not prepared to see her die at the end.

Jaya Bacchan also provided immortal performances in commercial films like Anamika, opposite Sanjeev kumar, Zanjeer and Sholay opposite Amitabh Bacchan. In Sholay, the flashback showed her youth and exuberance and she became calm, quite after the death of her husband and made a last outburst at the end of the film with the death of Amitabh Bacchan. In the film Naya Din Nayi Raat, she depicted the character of a woman who leaves home for declining to marry the husband who was arranged for her and met 9 different persons in the nine days where Sanjeev Kumar played the character of all those nine persons, including a doctor, a drunkard, a patient suffering from leprosy, etc. Films like Nauker, where she again won film fare award for best actress opposite Sanjeev Kumar, bolstered the myth that she balanced the dynamic acting skills of Sanjeev Kumar and critics claimed that Jaya Bacchan and Sanjeev Kumar formed the most powerful acting pair in bollywood and no other pair excepting Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil, and Om Puri and Shabana Azmi could show the variety of performances that they had shown.

In the mid-80s she faded away from the film arena as she was busy with her family, but she made a comeback in character roles in films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Fiza, etc., where she played the role of the mother of Rithwik Roshan. Jaya Bacchan’s films should be preserved in an archive to inspire the new generation of actors and actresses to know the skill of natural acting.

Sanjeev Kumar - the dynamic actor bollywood

Sanjeev Kumar – the most versatile actor of bollywood.

Sanjeev Kumar can be considered as one of the most versatile actors who had glorified bollywood with his depth of understanding characters and dynamic performance in numerous films in Bollywood. Harihar Zariwala, better known as Sanjeev Kumar, was born on 9th July, 1938, and made his debut in the film Hum Hindustani in 1960, but got his role as a hero in the film Nishan in 1966.

As the directors and producers of the 60s and 70s, recognised the supreme calibre of Sanjeev Kumar in understanding the emotions of different characters from the depth of his heart, they started casting him in experimental roles. He acted in the role of an insane person in the film Khilona, 1970, opposite Mumtaz and got critics acclamation. His lips in Rafi’s song titled “khilona”, was well appreciated by music lovers. In Parichay, 1972, he acted in the role of classical singer who was rebuked by his father Pran (an industrialist) and to leave his house to create separate identity. Neither his wife was accepted his father, nor could he appreciate the musical skills of his sons, according to whom music was a substandard professions only practiced by tawaifs in kothas. Sanjeev Kumar contracted incurable disease and died leaving 5 children including Jaya Bacchan, the eldest of them and Master Raju, the youngest, who were brought back by Pran and reformed by Jeetender the compassionate teacher who felt the pains in the minds of these children who required love and not over strictness displayed by Pran. Sanjeev Kumar gave supreme lips in Bhupinder Singh’s songs “Mitwa” and “beeti na bitai raina”. The audience were in tears to see Sanjeev Kumar shedding blood while singing as he coughed out to death. Brilliant performances in each and every film of Gulzar made Sanjeev Kumar, the greatest actor of his generation.

He received the national award for the best actor in 1971, for his natural performance in the film Dastak, 1971, which was based on the pains of young couple who could not find a reasonable accommodation in the city of Mumbai, and went on searching them from one place to another which was a burning problem in those days and still remains a big concern today. He received his second national award in Gulzar’s film Koshish, in 1973, which was based on deaf and dumb subject. He himself was deaf and dumb and learnt to use sign language taught in deaf and dumb schools and taught Jaya Bacchan, who was also deaf and dumb to express herself with those signs. He did not have any dialogue in the film. There were so many soft emotions in the film, once Dina Pathak asked Sanjeev Kumar to tell his name which was haricharan, he just took a chilli and put it on her foot, as chilly is green meaning hari and feet resembles charan. At the same time he showed his sense of humour in Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta aur Geeta, 1972, opposite Hema Malini.

In 1975, Sanjeev Kumar, acted in the role of his lifetime in the film Sholay, where he played the role of a zamindar of a village in north India, who retired as a police officer and faced the challenge of dacoits in the Chambal region with a 2 man army of Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender who were offenders themselves. The film was based on real life incidents and Ramesh Sippy’s blockbuster remains India’s most debated film of the millennium. He brought entire expression of horrified soul when Amzad Khan severed his two hands by giving a horrified look. The same expression was displayed at the end of the film when he deformed the hands of Amzad Khan, bringing all the feelings of revenge against a group of dacoits who killed everyone in his family and horrified the villagers with their tyranny. Sanjeev Kumar won the film fare award in the same year with his performance in the film Aandhi opposite Suchitra Sen. He was also nominated for the best actor award for his serene performance in the film Mausam opposite sharmila Tagore, in the same year, where his reflections in the song “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din” sung by Bhupinder Singh still haunts film lovers.

He also won best actor award for the film Arjun Pandit, in 1976, where he was the compounder of a village doctor and gave his entire savings for the education of the son of the doctor. The pains in the role of the rural character as displayed by Bengali actor Kali Banerjee in the film Arohi directed by Tapan Sinha was well matched by Sanjeev Kumar’s brilliant acting skills.

The list of outstanding performance of Sanjjev Kumar, include Shikar, 1968, Satyakam, Alaap, etc., and it can go on as he was seen in almost every alternate film made at that time. If Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah depict realistic acting after specialising in acting with experience of learning performing arts in acting schools and schools of drama, Sanjeev Kumar belong to a unique gharana where no training is given in respect of perceiving the feelings of human beings through the senses and displaying them with expressions. He films should be restored for immense filmic value.

Sonu Nigam - the dynamic singer of bollywood

Sonu Nigam – the most dynamic singer of Bollywood.

When Mohammad Rafi died in 1980, a number of producers in bollywood were concerned about the fate of playback singing with respect to those stars like Dilip Kumar or Shammi Kapoor, who were indebted with Rafi’s voice. A number of playback singers Shabbir Kumar, Anwar, Mohammad Aziz, who used Rafi’s singing style tried to fill up the vacuum created by his untimely death, but the audience could not forget Rafi and the search for singers having similar amount of sweetness of voice never ended.

Sonu Nigam, born on 30th July, 1973, gained the attention of music lovers across the country with his popular music competition TVS Saregama featured in the Television which viewers in India and abroad enjoyed for a long period of time. He brought legendary composers like Naushad, OP Nayyar, Khayyam, etc., to the program and gained respectability in the minds of musical experts. At the age of 3 years, he joined his father Agar Kumar Nigam on stage in singing Rafi’s song “kya hua tera wada”. He learnt music from Ustad Maha Kanjar Naveed. He sang a number of Rafi’s songs in T Series and his song “accha sila diya tune mere pyar ka” familiarised his voice with the Indian audience.

He made the youth of the country spellbound with westernised tunes and romantic presentation in his private album titled Diwana. His prominent songs include “kuch tum socho, kuch hum soche”, “diwana, mai hu diwana tera”, etc. Slowly all the leading composers in bollywood showed faith in Sonum Nigam and he became a phenomenon. Gradually his other albums “Jaan”, “Yaad”, “Chandan ki doli”,

His songs in JP Dutta’s film Border and Refugee, composed by Anu Malik touched the minds of young and old, all sections of the society. Significantly, the lyrics written by Javed Akhtar were also meaningful. Popular songs include “mere humsafar, mere humsafar”, “panchi nadiya”, “hume jab se mohabbat ho gaya hai”, “sandese ate hai”, etc. His songs in the film Pardes, titled “yeh dil diwana”, song titled “satrangi re” from the film Dil Se, also attracted the attention of music lovers.

With providing hits one after the other he caught the attention of composer AR Rehman and made his presence felt in the minds of music lovers with songs “sathiya sathiya” from the film Saathiya, which not only gave him fame but also provided him the filmfare award for the best singer in 2002. He had inherent classical touch in his voice which wa well exploited by AR Rehman. His songs in the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum, titled “suraj hua madhyam”, film Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai titled “is pyar ko” entertained the audience. Just like Rafi, Sonu Nigam, provides very strong expression in the songs and by this period of time had evolved his own style of singing.

In 2003, Sonu Nigam again won the filmfare award for the best singer with the song “kal ho na ho” in the film Kal Ho Na Ho. He also won the national film award for singing in the same film. In recent years his television program Indian idol, which was based on musical competition, where he participated as one of the judges along with Anu Malik and Farah Khan had mesmerised viewers across India and abroad. In his statements towards young singers, he strongly expresses his respect for Mohammad Rafi, once he said to one of the participants “mera gana gana tumhare bus me hai, Rafisahab ka gana gaan tumhare bus se bahar hai”.

He also acted in a number of films and participated in programs organised on All India Radio. In the last few years his songs in most of the successful films of bollywood are memorised by the youth and many upcoming singers consider him as role model. His successful songs in the recent years include “pal pal” from Lage Raho Munna Bhai, “humko maloom hai” from Jan-e-Mann, “kabhi alvida na kehna” from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, “piyu bole” from Parineeta, “Salaam-e-ishq” from Salaam-e-ishq, etc. Even in the middle of strong competition from different types of singers in bollywood, Sonu nigam has created a style of his own and is scheduled to make major contribution for bollywood films in years to come. The songs from his successful films should be restored for new singers who are interested to use the classical skills taught by major gurujis in India in both eastern and western songs.

Sharmila Tagore- Soft romantic actress of bollywood

Sharmila Tagore – the symbol of Bengali Beauty in Bollywood:

Sharmila Tagore is one of the remote actresses gracing bollywood during 60s and 70s, who had rabindrik image which depicted a unique appeal for the film lovers of the country.

She started her career with the Bengali film Apur Sangsar, in 1959, the third episode of the Apu Trilogy directed by one of the greatest directors of the world Satyajit Ray. Scenes depicted by Ray, where she was silent, her expressive eyes spoke for herself. She acted in other films of Ray including Seema Baddha, Aranyer Dinratri, Debi, etc., but viewers had acknowledged her sublime performance opposite Uttam Kumar, in Ray’s film Nayak, 1966, which was based on the biography of Bengal’s greatest superstar of all times. Sharmila played the role of a journalist and her submissiveness before a popular matinee idol shot in Rajdhani Express depicted the bashfulness of Bengali women of that age.



In 1964, Sharmila began her career in hindi films in Shakti Samanta’s musical blockbuster Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964, opposite Shammi Kapoor. She displayed the role of submissive Kasmiri woman and gave elegant lips in OP Nayyar’s songs sung by Asha along with Rafi including “isharo isharo”, “diwana hua badal”, etc. The same pair was launched again by Shakti Samanta, in An Evening in Paris, 1967, this time Shankar Jaikishan’s composition of music flabbergasted the audience, including duet songs sung by Asha and Rafi like “raat ke humsafar”, etc. The entire film was shot in France and Indian audience got an additional flavour of rich locations in addition to popular music.

Sharmila Tagore acted in successful films after that period including Yakeen, Satyakam opposite Dharmender, Talash opposite Rajender Kumar, Dastan opposite Dilip Kumar, Aradhana, Safar, Amar Prem opposite Rajesh Khanna, Mere Humsafar opposite Jeetender. Most of these films had excellent music and that contributed to the success of the films in addition to romantic performance of Sharmila Tagore opposite all these actors.

In the mid -70s Gulzar gave a new dimension to the performance of Sharmila Tagore by casting her in a double role in Mausam opposite Sanjeev Kumar. She was the daughter of a village doctor near Darjeeling, who treated Sanjeev Kumar while he came to that place while studying medical science. He went abroad for further education, within short time Sharmila gave birth to his daughter which was played by Sharmila again and due to victim of circumstances she became a tawaif. The entire film hovers around that relationship and Sanjeev Kumar, the father at the end of the film takes her back to the city. The film was based on reflections and Madan Mohan’s music, Gulzar’s lyrics and the songs sung by Lata, Bhupinder Singh and Rafi, including ‘dil dhoonta hai phir wohi” touched the soles of the viewers. She won the national award for the best actress in that year for sublime performance in Mausam.

Sharmila Tagore’s performance in Gulzar’s film Namkeen opposite Sanjeev Kumar is worth mentioning. She played the role of the eldest daughter of Wahida Rehman ( a widow of a poor rural family) and acted as a guardian for the other two sisters who received support from the truck-driver played by Sanjeev Kumar. Besides her performance opposite Uttam Kumar in films like Amanush, Anand Ashram, Dooriyan, is worth mentioning. In Anand Ashram, she married the doctor who opened a dispensary in the village for treatment of poor, helpless villagers and she ably supported her husband in the noble mission. Unfortunately she died while giving birth to her child. The rest of the film relates their relationship with the next generation but throughout the film Uttam Kumar mourned the untimely death of her wife and displayed her immense love for Sharmila.

Dooriyan relates to complex relationship between the husband and the wife which leads to separation and again unification at the end of the film as the children of the couple could not stay without their parents together. Very soft virtues of husband wife relationship was displayed in the film and the duet song “zindagi zindagi” sung by Anuradha Porwal and Bhupinder Singh and “zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the” talked about them. Jaidev’s everlasting tunes have not lost significance even today. In recent years Sharmila Tagore won national award for best supporting actress in Goutam Ghosh’s Abar Aranye. Although Sharmila Tagore did not belong to the category of powerful dancers like Vaijayantimala or aristocrat performers like Meena Kumari, her soft, docile, submissive, understanding characteristics have given a separate dimension to bollywood films for which her films should be preserved and restored.

Raj Kumar - The Stylish Actor of Bollywood

Raj Kumar – the stylish actor of Bollywood.

Raj Kumar can be considered as one of the most stylist actors of bollywood whose style of stretching the dialogues with a unique manner of expression entertained the film lovers for the last 50 years. Born on 8th October, 1926, his original name was Kulbhushan Pandit, but he gained popularity in Indian silver screen with the name of Raj Kumar. He started his career with the film Merry Women, in 1952, but got recognition after acting in an epic role opposite Nargis in Mehboob Khan’s cine-classic Mother India in 1957. Although it was a female oriented movie with Nargis showing the struggle of a widow in a peasant family in rural India who had faced the crude realities of life after Raj Kumar died in bringing up her two sons Sunil Dutt and Rajender Kumar, Raj Kumar kept his mark in the initial part of the film.

Raj Kumar started getting prominent roles in the 60s with the success of the film Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi in 1960 opposite Meena Kumari and Nadira. He was sublime in the performance relating to complexity of emotions in the films as he had to balance the duties towards his wife Nadira in spite of having weakness towards the nurse played by Meena Kumari. Raj Kumar also acted with his personality in the film Dil Ek Mandir, 1963, where he played the role of the sick husband of Meena Kumari and was treated successfully by the doctor played by Rajender Kumar who died at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in both these films became evergreen hits.



In mid-60s Raj Kumar displayed a new style of performance in the film Kajal, 1965, where the song sequences with his role of a drunkard appealed to the masses. The songs “chulene do nazuk hoton ko”, “yeh zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye to accha ho”, composed by Ravi and sung with a sombre expression of Mohammad Rafi had astonished the viewers. At that time Raj Kumar appeared in multi-starrer films of BR Chopra including Waqt, 1965, along with Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor and Humraaz, 1967, along with Sunil Dutt. He acted in a unique role in Neel Kamal opposite Wahida Rehman and Manoj Kumar, where he used to appear in the dreams of Wahida Rehman and reflected a past relationship. Ravi’s composition and Rafi’s song “tujhko pukare tera pyar” became super duper hit at that period. He was well appreciated in the film Heer Ranjha, opposite Priya Rajwangsh and the songs of Rafi and Lata including “yeh duniya yeh mehfil” composed by Madan Mohan became everlasting hit.

Raj Kumar also performed well in historical roles like Lal Patthar in 1971 which was the hindi adaptation of Bengali Superstar Uttam Kumar’s film Lal Pathor made in 1964. the royal nature of lifestyle of the badshahs residing near Agra was displayed with style by Raj Kumar. He also complimented Meena Kumari in Kamal Humrohi’s musical blockbuster Pakiza, 1971. His dialogue “yeh paer bari haseen hai, ise zameen par mat phekna, maile ho jaenge” was memorised by numerous film lovers in India and abroad. Ghulam Mohammad was excellent with his use of the dholak and the duet song Rafi and Lata titled “chalo dildar chalo” picturised on Raj Kumar and Meena Kumari symbolised majestic romance.

After performing in other significant roles in films like Maryada, 1971, Raj Kumar shifted to action films in the 80s and 90s. In the 80s his film Bulandi stormed the silver screen, where he played the role of a Professor and used the students of his institutions to raise their voice against corrupt businessmen operating in the society. The dialogues in the film including “humko mita sake zamane me dum nahi, humse khud hai zamana, zamane se hum nahi” almost reciprocated his personality.

He continued to perform in big productions including Subhas Ghai’s Saudagar, in early 90s opposite Dilip Kumar and Tiranga opposite Nana Patekar. In Saudagar, he did maintain his family heritage which confronted with Dilip Kumar’s set of values and the audience enjoyed their clash of personality and witty postures. With his death in the mid-90s, the generation of stylist actors faded away.

His son Puru Raj Kumar, is sometimes seen performing with stylish endeavour in films like Mission Kashmir, opposite Sanjay Dutt, but he gets mainly characters resembling anti-heroes. Raj kumar’s films should be restored to update the present generation with the blend of personality with style and depth of performance which Raj Kumar had displayed for the last 50 years.

Sadhna - The romantic actress of Bollywood

Sadhna’s contribution to Indian films:

Amongst the established actresses of the 50s and 60s, Sadhna graced the silver screen with her remote style of soft performance and made a significant impact in the golden era of Indian films. Sadhna made her debue in the film Love in Shimla, in 1959, opposite Joy Mukherjee. She made a haircut and created a distinct identity and the new generation started following her style with Sadhna cut. She amazed the film lovers with her serene performance in Raj Khosla’s Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, 1962, opposite Joy Mukherjee. It was a black and white classic but scenes were shot at picturesque locations in Jammu and Kashmir. OP Nayyar made as many musical experiments in the film as possible.

Sadhna made the musical sequences of the song “aap yu hi agar humse milte rahe” sung by Asha and Rafi immortal, by making postures in a manner by which a peacock welcomes the monsoon. The other songs in the film titled “bahut shukriya, bari meherbani” sung by Asha and Rafi, also impressed the filmlovers. After acting in Asli Nakli, opposite Dev Anand and Dulha Dulhan opposite Raj Kapoor, Sadhna addressed the purdanashin community of Aligarh, Lucknow and the middle-east countries with her dynamic performance in the film Mere Mehboob, opposite Rajender Kumar in 1963. Her combination with Rajender Kumar was well appreciated in the film Aarzoo in 1965. Sadhna gave tremendous lips for Lata’s extraordinary songs like “mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam”, “aji ruth kar ab kaha jaiyega”, “bedardi balma”, etc.


While performing in romantic films Sadhna also excelled in ghostly characters in suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, 1964, opposite Manoj Kumar, Mera Saya, opposite Sunil Dutt, Anita, etc. Woh Kaun thi was probably the most successful horror film made in that age. Manoj Kumar played the role of a doctor who was horrified by presenting the sister of his wife who was a twin. Sadhna played in double role and till the end of the film every person started believing that Sadhna was a ghost. The villain in the film Prem Chopra was told by the lawyer in the family that the property of Manoj Kumar will revert back to him if it can be proved that he is insane.

So throughout the entire film Sadhna was presented at every place, sometimes near graveyard, sometimes in some other fields and Manoj Kumar started disbelieving his wife who knew nothing about her twin sister. After the doctor advised Manoj Kumar to go to Shimla for change of mind he found Sadhna there also and ultimately the death of twin sister led to disclosure of the truth. Madan Mohan’s outstanding compositions sung by Lata were picturised on Sadhna including “naina barse”, “lagja gale”, etc. In Mera Saya also Sadhna displayed the fearful entity and the superlative composition of Madan Mohan including “tu jaha jaha chalega” etc. added glamour in the coloured blockbuster.

Sadhna also performed in other films like Raj Kumar opposite Shammi Kapoor in 1965, Hum Dono, etc. In the late 60s Sadhna suffered from infirmity which changed her face and lost her romantic look, although her strong performance compelled producers to launch her in films like Isq Par Zor Nahi opposite Dharmender, Aap Aye Bahar Aye opposite Rajender Kumar, Inteqam, etc.

Sadhna’s films should be restored and preserved to bring back the memories of horror films which entertained and horrified film lovers during the golden age.

Rebel Star - Shammi Kapoor

Shammi Kapoor – The rebel star of Bollywood

Shammi Kapoor can be considered as the rebel hero of the 60s who broke the convention of other actors dominating the film arena. Shammi Kapoor, born on 21st October, 1931, better known as Shamsher Raj, was the second brother of Raj Kapoor and had a unconventional career graph if compared with other heroes of that age. In the early 50s his films like Rail Ka Dibba, 1953, Laila Majnu, Sipah Salar, did not make any significant impact on the film lovers, because his brother Raj Kapoor, was dominating the film arena with his realistic films. He transformed himself and followed the rock and roll dance postures of Elvis Priestley and started a new innings with film Tumsa Nahi Dekha, 1957.

The Indian audience was not habituated to seeing male dancers at that point of time except classical performances of Gopi Krishan. His dancing capabilities with rock and roll music composed by different composers and epic combination with Mohammad Rafi gave a different dimension to his career. The songs in Tumsa Nahi Dekha, including “yu to humne lakh hasin dekhe hai” sung by Rafi and composed by OP Nayyar became a super duper hit and the combination stormed the film world with the next film Dil Deke Dekho where music was composed by Usha Khanna with songs like “dil deke dekho del deke dekho” etc.

Black and white classics were transformed into coloured films and Shammi Kapoor was benefited the most with films like Junglee opposite Saira Banu, Janwar opposite Rajashri, Kashmir Ki Kali opposite Sharmila Tagore, etc., which were shot at picturesque locations in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and had melodious music. Shankar Jaikishan composed the maximum number of songs for Shammi Kapoor and nearly all of them were super hits. Prominent among them include “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “ meri yaar shabba khair”, “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, etc.

In the mid-60s Shammi Kapoor created a dance-based trend of films which were followed by other actors of that age including Joy Mukherjee and Biswajeet who had similar story lines as that of Shammi Kapoor. Films like Rajkumar opposite Sadhna, Teesri Manzil opposite Asha Parekh, Latt Saheb opposite Nutan, An Evening In Paris, Prince opposite Vaijayantimala, were very successful. The subject matter in those films involved soft romantic stories with element of comedy embedded in them. Rajender Nath as comedian accompanied Shammi Kapoor in a number of films. Some of the songs in Rock and Roll andaz include “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche”, “aja aja”, “tumse accha kaun hai”, etc.

Teesri Manzil included a suspense thriller where Prem Nath acted as a villain for the first time. Shammi Kapoor received the best actor award for performing in the film Brahmachari, 1968, where he run an orphanage and looked after small children who were left there by their parents who never wanted to bear the liability of maintaining their children. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film like “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “dil ke jharoke me”, “chakke pe chakka” were very big hits with Rafi excelling in one song or the other.

In the early 70s, after acting in Andaz, opposite Hema Malini in 1971, Shammi Kapoor, put on weight, started keeping beard and switched of to character acting in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc., where he acted as the father of Amitabh Bacchan or Vinod Khanna, etc. Notable films include Betaab in 1983. He received the best supporting actor award for performing in Vidhata, 1982, along with Dilip Kumar. As acting talents were inherent in the Kapoors, Shammi Kapoor did not find it difficult to perform in character roles and he is still acting in these types of roles these days.

Even then Shammi Kapoor is remembered for introducing the trend of dancing in Indian films with westernised mannerisms in the 60s which were carried forward by heroes of the later age. Rafi’s songs picturised on him including “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “raat ke humsafar”, “ai chand zara ruk ja”, “dil use do jo jaan dede”, etc., have an everlasting effect even today. His films should be restored to honour the exotic locations, brilliant music and overall entertainment in the 60s.

The megastar of the Millenium - Amitabh Bacchan

Amitabh Bacchan – The megastar of the millennium

If any personality in Indian silver screen had single-handedly determined the fate of the big productions in the 70s and 80s it is Amitabh Bacchan. He created a larger than man image in the 70s which addressed the grievances of numerous Indians against the corruption existing in the Indian society. He gave a new meaning to action films where the message against the evils existing in the society reached each and every film lover in India and abroad.

Born in 1942, he made his debue in the film Satwa Hindustani in 1969. His initial films included Anand and Namak Haram directed by Rishikesh Mukherjee, and small roles in films like Reshma Aur Shera. But he showed his angry young man image in the film Zanjeer, 1973, where acting as a police officer he addressed the corruption existing at that time.

From Deewar, 1975, Amitabh Bacchan became the uncrowned monarch of Indian silver screen. He portrayed the character of Haji Mastan and showed the country that evils of the underworld can be prevented only by taking revenge by another person who comes from a respectable family and becomes a victim of oppression of the members of the underworld. The film directed by Yash Chopra also exploited very catchy script written by Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Big B died at the end of the film after Shashi Kapoor, the police officer (his brother) had shot him when he refused to surrender. The action scene in the godown in the film had been watched by film lovers numerous times and even respectable people started admiring action films.

In Sholay, 1975, the greatest hit of the last millennium, Big B along with Dharmender helped the Thakur of the village played by Sanjeev Kumar to face the dacoit operating with the Chambal region. Although it was based in real life incidents taking place at that time when the dacoits grew in strength and the police and administration failed to arrest them in the mid-70s. not only had Big B showed his action skills, but his baritone voice was exploited for serio-comic performance in the film as well. He balanced the villainous performance of Amzad Khan and strong performance of Sanjeev Kumar with his personality. During that age he also acted in the role of poet in the film Kabhi Kabhi, 1975 and comic role in Chupke Chupke, 1975 along with Dharmender.

His acting capabilities encouraged producers and directors in the late 70s to make films based on all the elements of entertainment that can be expected by film lovers including dance sequences, comedy, action, etc. On one side he acted in realistic films like Abhimaan, Milli, Alaap, etc. opposite Jaya Bacchan, Rekha and other actresses. In the action films Parveen Bhabhi accompanied him the most. In Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977, he showed his impulse on comedy roles alongside the serious performance of Vinod Khanna and musical performance of Rishi Kapoor. Producers and directors were encouraged to make multi-starrer films where Big B was accompanied by Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, etc.

Shaan, released in 1980, is a an example of multi-starrer film, where Ramesh Sippy had showed exotic locations, good action sequences and provided entertainment to the film lovers. Big B was well supported by fine acting of Shatrughun Sinha. Besides there are films which were dependant on Big B along and became super hits by his own calibre like Don, 1978, Kalia, etc. In the early 80s, he faced the strong personality of Dilip Kumar in the film Shakti, 1982, his father who was a committed police officer and he acted in the role of a smuggler and confronted at every part of the film with this father’s notion of law-bearer. People enjoyed his loud style of dialogue delivery with Dilip Kumar’s soft style of dialogue delivery. Rakhee’s performance in the role of his mother was well appreciated by film lovers across the world.

In the mid-80s, Big B became an institution of acting by himself and films where he played double roles were admired by the viewers as well. In Akhree Rasta, 1986, his performance in the role of father who got out of prison and took revenge against the perpetrators of crime who wrongly convicted him for a crime which he did not commit had shown the audience that he had matured to act in character roles as well. No actor in Indian celluloid could show anger for the rightful cause with the sharpness that Big B had shown. He had also sung with his own voice in few films including Silsila, 1983.

These days with his son acting in numerous films, and he is seen in many character roles the new generation looks at Big B with the impression of a character artist. But the new generation should watch his films of 70s, 80s to understand the growth of action films and departure of the film making from the way it was done at that time. For reference Big B had lend his beautiful voice in Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ki Khiladi, 1977. It is difficult to highlight his performance in more than 150 films in a career spreading over 35 years, but his films should be restored to show the beginning of transformation of Indian cinema with the advent of modern techniques and birth of action films.

Singers who had contributed for the RK Banners

Contribution of singers for the RK Banner:

RK Production contributed in the making of successful bollywood films for the last 60 years. Music had played a very significant part in the success of those films. Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, etc., played a major role, although a lot of songs in these films were sung by other singers as well. Lata Mangeshkar in fact created her identity with the songs “jiya beqarar hai”, “hawa me urta jaye” in the film Barsaat, 1949, and continued her brilliance with songs like “dum bhar jo udhar mu phere” in Awara, 1951, “rajaki ayegi baraat” in Aag, 1953, “Jago Mohan Pyare”, in Jagte Raho, 1956, “ban ke panchi gaye pyar ka tarana”, in Anari, 1959, “woh basanti” in Jis desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, 1961, to name a few.

Mohammad Rafi, had sung very significant songs under RK Banner, which became hits and sometimes brought the climax of the films. In Shri 420, 1955, Rafi started the song “ramaiya vasta maiya” which was continued by Lata and was finished of by Mukesh. In the award winning film Boot Polish, Rafi’s song “nanne munne bacche tere muthi me kya hai” was very big hit. Rafi made the tragic end for the film Sangam, 1964, with the song “ki tum naraaz nahi hona”. Mukesh and Manna Dey matched Raj Kapoor’s voice and both had sung huge number of songs under RK Banner, including “awara hoon”, “sab kuch sikha humne”, “har dil jo pyar karega”, “jane kaha gaye woh din”, “dost dost na raha” etc. ( by Mukesh), “ pyar hua ikraar hua”, “mur murke na dekh”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “dil ka hal sune dilwala”, “chalat musafir”, etc., (by Manna Dey). Geeta Dutt sung “bolo sha wai wai” in Jagte Raho, Asha Bhoshle had sung “mur mur ke na dekh”, in Shree 420, etc.

But as the span of production under RK Banner continued for more than 50 years, a number of singers died, composers died, resulting in fresh use of new talents under the RK Banner. Shailendra Singh made his debue in Bobby, 1973, with the song “mai shayar to nahi” and suited Rishi Kapoor along with Chanchal who made his debue in the same film. Other hit songs of Shailendra Singh include “hum tum ek kamre me bandh ho”, “ge ge ge ge, mere saiba”, etc. Suresh Watkar, Ravindra Jain sung songs in films like Prem Rog, 1982, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 1985, etc., and these voices evenly matched with Rishi Kapoor or Rajeev Kapoor, etc. As playback singing contributed a lot in the creation and nurturing of images of actors and actresses for the last 50 years, the suitability of singers with heroes and heroines had made notable impact on the liking of the films by viewers.

It is a tragedy that Raj Kapoor died in 1988, otherwise the 4th generation of his family, Ranbir Kapoor may have made a debue under RK Production. Although Ranbir Kapoor, has made his debue in the film Sawaariya, he has not brought forward the legacy of his family under a film produced under RK Banner. For the last 5 years competition in the world of playback singing is very stiff and the heroes and heroines are expected to have suitable combination with all singers. Only time can tell whether Ranbir Kapoor’s voice matches with Sonu Nigam, or Udit Narayan, or Himesh Reshamiya, etc. If Rishi Kapoor, produces any film in future under the RK Banner, he has to weigh the choice of singers who can suit his son’s voice and the acceptability of the songs will depend on that criteria.

In a nutshell it can be said that RK Banner, had shaped, carried forward the musical significance of bollywood films in the last century and the present generation of the Kapoor family has to rise up to the expectations of the filmlovers in India and abroad to maintain the rich standard of music that had been the hallmark of successful films made in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Raj Kapoor - The greatest showman of Bollywood

Raj Kapoor – The Stylish Showman of Bollywood.

Raj Kapoor can be considered as the most colourful personality that had glorified the Indian silver screen for the last 60 years. Not only was he a stylish showman, and more than that he was a grand creator with majestic vision. Born in 1924, Raj Kapoor, learnt all the skills relating to direction in films within short period of time. Having the rich legacy of acting in Prithvi Theatres created by his father, he acted in some of the drama launched by his father and stormed into the film arena with the film Aag in 1947, which was directed by himself.



In Barsaat, 1949, Raj Kapoor formed a majestic romantic pair with Nargis and music directors Shankar Jaikishan, lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, cameraman Radhu Karmakar and other dignitaries who contributed to RK films. The romantic story was a super duper hit with Lata’s songs like “jiya beqararhai”, “hawa me urta jaye”, etc, becoming trend setters. Within a shot time Raj Kapoor started making films which conveyed a very strong social message. His film Awara, 1951, was based on the theme that human being is a victim of circumstances and even if the son of a barrister is uprooted from his royal family which happened to Raj Kapoor in the film and brought amongst thieves and lawbreakers (played by KN Singh) he ends up being an awara, who cannot give his father’s recognition. It has happened with a lot of people in India, who got involved in unlawful activities due to circumstances. His film was well appreciated in Russia, and Raj Kapoor became an international figure. The same film had shown other directors how to picturise dream sequence songs like “ghar aya mera pardesi”. Besides Shankar Jaikishan’s prelude in the song “awara hoon” sung my Mukesh depicted Raj Kapoor as the pied piper of Hamlin, and after that film in every film of Raj Kapoor, the prelude used to make people understand that he is appearing.

After having success in films like Andaz, 1949, directed by Mehboob Khan opposite dilip Kumar, Aah, 1953, Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in the next blockbuster Shri 420, in 1955. All the songs in the film including “mur murk ke na dekh”, “pyar hua ikrar hua”, “dil ka haal sune dilwala”, “ramaiya vasta maiya” were super hits and the film used the available singing giants in India including Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Lata, Asha, etc. Raj Kapoor’s display about the corruption in society with the adaptation of mannerism of Charlie Chaplin amused the viewers. The image of Nadira depicted in the film gave her the identity of villanious performer for the rest of her career. In Jaagte Raho, 1956, Raj Kapoor acted in a film with hardly any dialogues and showed the social crimes taking place in different floors of the same building where a poor villager can feel ashamed of. The film won international award in Berlin film festival.

Raj Kapoor’s other films like Anari, 1959, opposite Nutandirected by Rishikesh Mukherjee, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, 1960, opposite Padmini, also had strong social message and depicted Nehru’s dream of socialism embedded in them. The songs in all these films were superhits and Raj Kapoor convinced the group of dacoits operating in the Chambal region to surrender before the police in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai. He received filmfare award for the best actor for both these films. With the advent of colour Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, 1964, showing tripartite affair with Rajender Kumar and Vijayantimala became the biggest hit of that age. Raj Kapoor’s other films like Phir Subah Hogi, 1958, opposite Mala Sinha, Chalia, 1960, opposite Nutan, Dil Hi To Hai, 1961, opposite Nutan, Teesri Kasam, 1966, opposite Wahida Rehman, Diwana, 1967, opposite Saira Banu, Around the world, 1967, opposite Rajashri, Sapno Ka Saudagar,1968, opposite Hema Malini, etc., all had classic picturisation, strong performance and outstanding music. From the 70s Raj Kapoor mainly concentrated on production and direction of films including Mera Naam Joker, 1971, Bobby, 1973, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, 1977, Prem Rog, 1982, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 1985, etc.



Raj Kapoor’s films dealt with diversified subjects, sometimes involving teenage romance, sometimes oppression of women, sometimes, corruption in the society. He showed the other directors that film is a medium from where lot of messages can be given to the society. As he could play more than 10 instruments while giving lips in songs picturised in his films it always appeared that he was singing, the skill which Rishi Kapoor, his son developed in later age. He changed his team of music composers from Shankar Jaikishan, to Laxmikant Pyarellal and Ravindra Jain and in all his films there was meaningful music which did reach out to the masses. If the films where Raj Kapoor acted as hero can be scanned it will be found that he has almost worked with every giant music composer of that age, Naushad composed music for Andaz, Dastan, etc., Roshan for Dil Hi To Hai, Salil Choudhury for Jagte Raho, Kalyanji Anandji for Chalia, Dulha Dulhan, OP Nayyar for Do Ustad, Khayyam for Phir Subah Hogi, Dattaram for Parvarish, RD Burman for Dharam Karam, etc., to name a few. There was a time when Raj Kapoor lost count about the number of awards he had received, sometimes as best actor, or best director, or best producer, etc. He died in 1988 after receiving Dada Saheb Falke award, the greatest award for any film personality in India. His films should be restored for social awakening, musical value and lessons relating to strong picturisation of sequences.

Rishi Kapoor- The romantic personality of Bollywood

Rishi Kapoor – one of the most romantic personalities of Bollywood.

Rishi Kapoor, born on September 4th, 1952 can be considered as one of most romantic heroes who glorified bollywood during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. As he inherited the grand legacy left behind by Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor, he had a great challenge of matching the performance of his father, uncles and grandfather who had entertained the Indian filmlovers for the last 60 years. He showed his acting potential while playing the younger stage of Raj Kapoor in the film Mera Naam Joker, 1971.


But his romantic image was created in the film Bobby, 1973, where Raj kapoor introduced stories relating to teenage romance and both Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia established themselves as romantic actors of that age. Rishi Kapoor also received film fare award for best performance in the film. Typically in the mid seventies, a lot of producers and directors got inclined to make anti-establishment films where Amitabh Bacchan, (in Deewar, Sholay, 1975), Shatrugun Sinha (in Kalicharan), Vinod Khanna (in Khoon Pasina), raised voice against the evil practices of society. All these actors had strong personalities and their performances were well appreciated by film lovers across India. In the same period, whenever producers and directors thought about launching romantic characters name of Rishi Kapoor automatically came in their mind.



In Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977, Rishi Kapoor balanced the personality of Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bacchan’s sense of humour, with his image of singer. His lips in the songs “parda hai parda”, “shirdiwali saibaba” sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal stands out as some of the best lips ever given in bollywood films. Rishi Kapoor developed the capability of giving brilliant lips in qawallies, which are not easy to sing. No other hero before Rishi Kapoor, had popularised qawallies the way he had done. Rafi’s qawalli in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi, 1977, titled “hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi gham nahi”, and Shailendra Singh’s qawalli “zamane ko dikhana hai” in the film Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, composed by RD Burman gave the impression before the film lovers that it was Rishi Kapoor who was singing. He also contributed in the musical competition in the film Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi, where Rafi, Kishore and RD Burman sang a number of songs.
In the film Sargam, 1979, Rishi Kapoor played the dafli opposite Jaya Prada, to perfection and the songs of the film including “koel bole”, “dafliwale daflibaja”, “ramjiki nikli sawari” entertained the film lovers with the romantic story. In Karz, 1980, Rishi Kapoor’s performance transformed the murder mystery created by Subhas Ghai, into a musical blockbuster, as his lips in the songs “darde dil, darde jigar” sung by Rafi and “Om Shanti Om” sung by Kishore Kumar, entertained the filmlovers.

It was due to Rishi Kapoor, the producers showed the courage of picturising a romantic story like Laila Majnu, 1977, in the background of middle east countries, where Rafi’s songs like “tere dar pe aya hoon”, “barbad muhobbat ki dua saath liye ja”, etc., were all superhits. In the 80s, Rishi Kapoor provided decent performance opposite Dilip Kumar in the film Duniya, where Dilip Kumar took revenge against the perpetrators of crime who ruined his life. In films like Saagar, 1985, Rishi Kapoor balanced the strong performance of Dimple Kapadia and Kamal Hassan in a film related to tripartite affair. The exotic location of seashores, colourful costumes and decent acting was the hallmark for success of the film Saagar. Films like Sitamgar, Chandni, Bol Radha Bol, etc.,were also successful. His performance in Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog and Henna produced under RK Banner is worth mentioning.



In the 90s also he made his presence felt in films like Damini, where the story was based on the bravery showed by a middle class housewife in unfolding the truth relating to evil practices taking place in a rich family. Rishi Kapoor had to balance the strong performance of Meenakshi and Sunny Deol in a film which had depicted crude realities of life. With the arrival of new stars in bollywood, Rishi Kapoor switched over to character roles. The biggest victory of Rishi Kapoor lies in the fact that he created his own style of acting without imitating Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor or Shashi Kapoor. Further the strong dominance of Amitabh Bacchan as angry young man did not affect Rishi Kapoor’s romantic image and filmlovers loved to see both of them in films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Kabhi Kabhi, Naseeb, Coolie, Ajooba, etc. With the debue of his son Ranbir Raj Kapoor (this was the actual name of Raj Kapoor) in the film Sawaaria, there is lot of expectation of the film lovers of strong performance from his next generation as the Kapoors are probably the only family in Indian filmworld where the 4 generations have contributed to the development of bollywood films and kept their mark in all aspects of film including acting, direction, production, etc. Rishi Kapoor’s films should be restored to show the film lovers the art of doing justice to good songs created in good locations and proper display of characters of romantic stories.

Wahida Rehman - powerful actress of bollywood

Wahida Rehman – the versatile actress of Bollywood.

Indian bollywood is generally dominated by actors and heroes for the last 50 years. But due to the sheer brilliance of some powerful actresses female dominated films also gained prominence. Wahida Rehman, the powerful actress of 50s, 60s and 70s belong to that category, where depth of acting had outplayed her glamour and choreographic skills. Born on 14th May, 1936, she made her debue in film CID, 1956, where Guru Dutt was the producer. It was the role of a vamp girl, but ultimately Wahida Rehman helped the hero to unearth the truth relating to a murder mystery.

After performing in films like Solwa Saal with Dev Anand, Wahida Rehman got the scope of acting in the role of a tawaif in Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, 1957. The story depicted the evil effects of materialism, where the brothers were not prepared to recognise their relatives unless there was any monetary consideration. Wahida Rehman even being a tawaif, had shown the spark of humanity in a society where the fellow students (Mala Sinha) failed to show the same spirit.

She also dramatised the character of a heroin in Guru Dutt’s Kagaz Ka Phool, 1959, which depicted the darker side of filmworld. When one or two films become successful, the celebrities became exceedingly popular and the moment one film fails, the same persons loose recognition. It has been an eternal truth. Geeta Dutt’a song “wakt ne kiya kya haseen sitam” in the same film picturised on Wahida Rehman became a big hit. Her combination with Guru Dutt was well appreciated in the film Chaudavi Ka Chand, 1960, where she depicted the purdanashin character of muslim educated society.


Wahida Rehman’s ability to go deep into the characters she had played compelled Satyajit Ray to cast her in the film Abhijan, 1961, where she played the role of the wife of a car driver, and showed the fate of rural women in the state of Bihar and its outskirts. She used broken Bengali, and critics across the world acknowledge the fact that she had hardly acted in the film, everything was natural.

In the 60s, with the advent of coloured films, Wahida Rehman, transformed her image into glamourous heroin and contributed in musical blockbusters. She had shown her dancing capabilities in Dev Anand’s Guide, 1965, where songs like “piya tose naina lage re”, “aaj phir jine ki tamanna hai” were super hits. In Raj Kapoor’s Teesri Kasam, 1966, she blended her classical dance skills into the rural dance theme used in fairs (nautankis) held in rural India. Shankar Jaikishan’s composition and Lata and Asha’s songs including “a a bhi ja”, “mare gaye gulpham”, “pan khai saiwa”, etc., were super duper hits. Wahida Rehman balanced Dilip Kumar’s outstanding performance in the films Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram aur Shyam, Aadmi, 1967, etc., with her romantic performance. In all these films she also displayed her choreographic skills. She played significant roles opposite Rajender Kumar in the film Palki, Dharti, etc. Besides she had also displayed a weird character in the film Neel Kamal opposite Raj Kumar and Manoj kumar.

Besides Wahida Rehman had the record of choosing challenging roles throughout her career. In 1961, she performed in a ghostly character opposite Biswajeet, in the film Bees Saal Baad, where the Bengali role was played by Manju Dey, in Jighansa, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of Baskervilles”. Again she performed the role of nurse who treated insane patients by showing them that she was their better half and became insane at the end of the film Khamoshi, 1969. She had also showed the character of rural women in the background of Rajasthan in the film Reshma Aur Shera, 1971, and received national award for best performance.

In the 70s and 80s, she had acted in character roles, and her performance in Kabhi Kabhi, 1975, opposite Amitabh Bacchan, was well appreciated. In the 80s, she played a significant role in Gulzar’s film Namkeen, where she portrayed the character of a mother of three children who interacted with a truck driver who showed sympathy for the family. She showed the anxiety of a widow in a needy family and kept her mark opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, who were the co-performers in the film. Besides her performance opposite Dilip Kumar, in Mashal, 1984, where she supported her husband as a middle class journalist, and died in the film for lack of treatment out of poverty, is worth mentioning.

If Madhubala is remembered for her glamour, Vaijayantimala is appreciated for her dancing capabilities, then Wahida Rehman is sublime in her experimental roles where characters became lively due to her strong performance. Wahida Rehman’s films should be restored in an archive to show that popularity can be achieved by sheer brilliance of performance.

Jubilee Kumar- Rajender Kumar

Rajender Kumar’s contribution to Indian Cinema

Rajender Kumar, better known as Jubilee Kumar, was one of the unsung heroes in Indian films, who entertained millions of film lovers with his soft style of acting during the golden age, but did not receive the recognition he deserved. Rajender Kumar, born on 29th July, 1929, made his debue in the film Jogan in 1950, where the main character was played by legendary actor Dilip Kumar. In the 50s he got recognition in Mehboob Khan’s film Mother India, 1957, where he played the role of the son of Nargis.

But his romantic image was created in the film Dhool Ka Phool, 1959, and Goonj Uthi Sehnai, 1959. He started moulding himself with the image of tragedian like Dilip Kumar, and songs in the film Goonj Uthi Sehnai, composed by Vasant Desai and sung by Rafi including “jeevan me priya tera saath rahe” created an immortal combination of Rafi with Rajender Kumar, which dominated bollywood films for another 15 years.

Rajender Kumar, was successful to portray the poetic community of Aligarh, Lucknow, etc. in the film Mere Mehboob, 1963, where he formed a new romantic pair with Sadhna, and the ghazals in the film “mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam” reached the urdu speaking audience across middle east and stretched beyond India. He did not show any mannerism and sung the song with a microphone at the university hall. In Dil Ek Mandir, 1963 and Sangam, 1964, Rajender Kumar played the role of the central hero who was admired by Meena Kumari and Vaijiayantimala respectively in those films, but had to sacrifice his love for the benefit of the other friends. In both the films Rajender Kumar died at the end of the films. In Sangam, 1964, the film that gave the maximum revenue to showman Raj Kapoor, when Rafi’s song “ki tum naraz na hona” was played at the end of the film, when Raj Kapoor and Vaijayantimala immersed his ashes in Tribeni waters at Allahabad where river Ganges and Yamuna had met, the filmlovers were all in tears. His image of sacrifice in each and every film made him a legend and he received the title of Jubilee Kumar, as his major films from 1963 to 1966, all ended up in golden jubilees.


Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi had a great role to play in the success of Rajender Kumar. Probably other than Raj Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishan had not shown the amount of devotion towards rich, melodious music, the way it was displayed in each and every film of Rajender Kumar. Rafi’s songs in the film Humrahi, “yeh ansoo meri dil ki zuban hai,” “mujhko apne gale lagalo” were as majestic as Rajender Kumar’s lips and Shankar Jaikishan’s composition. With the advent of coloured films, majority of Rajender Kumar’s films were shot at romantic locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and his costumes, the songs, the colour and location synchronised with each other in most of the films. His soft, romantic films in that age include Chirag Kahan Roshni kahan, Aman, Talash, etc.

His film Aye Milan Ki Bela, 1964, Jhuk Gaya Asman, 1968, opposite Saira Banu, involved soft romantic stories, but the charm of Rafi’s songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan, like “to bura man gaye”, “tum khamseen ho”, “kaun hai jo sapno me aya” all had mesemerised the audience with romantic appeal. In Aarzoo, 1965, Rajender Kumar became handicapped by losing his leg, and tried to forget Sadhna whom he loved and never wanted to marry due to his disability, again the songs and the story telling impressed the viewers. Marriage was arranged with Feroz Khan, but he being a friend, ultimately helped Sadhna to marry Rajender Kumar. Rafi and Lata were at their best in Shankar Jaikishan’s songs “aji ruth kar ab kaha jaiyega”. Besides other songs like “chalke teri ankho se”, “ai nargisi mastana” were all hits.

In the film Suraj, 1966, Rajender Kumar played a royal character being the prince who never knew his background and grew up as a dacoit and the enter film hovered around the theme of finding his actual heritage. His performance opposite Vaijayantimala was well appreciated by film lovers. There were musical competitions in the film with the song “kaise samjhayun bari nasamajh ho” where Lata and Rafi faced each other in classical contest. All the songs in the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan became successful including “baharon phool barsao”, “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe”, “titli uri”, etc.

Rajender Kumar acted in diversified subjects including relationship of poets in the film Palki, patriotic subject matters in the film Dharti, role of dacoits in Gora Aur Kala, etc. In the mid-seventies with the advent of action films, Rajender Kumar faded away from the film arena. His films at that period include Aap aye Bahar Aye, Do Jasoos, etc. He acted in character roles in few films where his son Kumar Gaurav played the central character. He did not receive the acclamation during the age for the strong dominance of Dilip Kumar who was unparallel in tragic roles and dominated the film world. His films should be preserved and restored in an archive to recollect the age when soft romantic films dominated bollywood.

Naushad's relationship with Rafi

Naushad’s association with Rafi:

Naushad Ali, is probably one of the grand composers of Indian silver screen who had been successful to bring out the Hindustani ragas that were captivated in the darbars of nawabs and feudal lords and simplified them for the common man. Born in 1919, he did spend his childhood in Lucknow, and learned music from Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali and Ustad Babban Saheb.

Naushad had shaped the careers of a number of singing legends in the country including Saigal, but his association with Mohammad Rafi had marked the most golden combination which galvanised the outstanding music composed during the golden age in Indian music, the 50s and 60s. His composition in the film Dulari, 1947, for Mohammad Rafi titled “suhani raat dhal chuki” makes a music lover addicted and it has an appeal even after 60 years of its composition.

Baiju Bawra, with Bharat Bhusha and Meena Kumari, in 1952, marks the best creation possible from any composer, it had bhajans, extraordinary use of Hindustani ragas, folk songs and possibly Naushad had been successful to use the range of Rafi to the fullest extent. Other than “woh duniya ke rakhwale”, “tu ganga ki mauj”, there were many songs which explained the relationship of the ragas with rain, the seasons of nature, etc. Naushad received film fare award for the best music composed in that year.

In Uran Khatola, 1955, Naushad’s composition for Rafi, “woh durke musafir, humko bhi saath lele re” showed his capability of using chorus with eastern effect. Naushad’s composition in Son of India, “dil torneewale”, duet for Rafi and Lata, shows the effective use of instruments in that age when recording was not developed to that extent. In Dilip Kumar’s Kohinoor, 1960, Rafi’s songs “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “do sitaron ka zamee par hai Milan aaj ki raat” marks Naushad’s control over bhajans and songs with chorus effects. In Rajender Kumar’s Mere Mehboob, 1963, Naushad had explained the transformation of nasams into ghazals. His songs “mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam”, “tumse izhaar-e-haal kar baithe”, “ai husn zara jag tujhe isq dikhaye” enchanted the listeners. Naushad’s compositions were as outstanding as Shakeel Badayani’s lyrics and Rafi’s golden voice.

Naushad experimented with his classical control in Leader, 1964, where Rafi’s songs “tere husn ki kya tariff karun”, “ek shahenshah ne banwake haseen tajmahal”, “apni azaadi ko hum hargeez meeta sakte nahi”, had romantic appeal, classical appeal and the symbol of freedom movement embedded in them. Rafi was outstanding in every song in that film. In Dil Diya Dard Liya, 1966, Rafi’s songs “sawan aye ya na aye”, “dilruba maine tere”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, “guzre hai” were masterpieces which matched Naushad’s compositions for Lata “phir teri kanani yaad ayi”. Ram Aur Shayam, 1967, the film where Dilip Kumar acted in double roles, had comedy, dance sequences, action and every element for which filmlovers visit cinema halls. Yet Naushad’s composition and Rafi’s songs superseded every other element. The notable songs include “aye hai baharen”, “aaj ki raat mere”, etc.

In Aadmi, 1967, Naushad’s compositions for Rafi including “aaj purani raho par”, “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, showed the depth of thinking of the composer, where the songs matched the sequences of the film where Dilip Kumar amazed the viewers with his performance in wheel chair. Besides, Naushad had used folk songs to a great extent where the subjects in the films required them. For example in the film Ganga Jumna, 1961, his composition for Rafi including “nain lar jaihe” was created with bhojpuri effect, and Rafi had succeeded in pronouncing it in the manner expected from him. Rafi’s songs in Rajender Kumar’s Palki, Ganwar, composed by Naushad were also outstanding.

Besides just like Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad for doing justice to Rafi and Lata, had not done injustice to other singers. He used Bare Ghulam Ali khan in the film Mughal-I-Azam, in 1960, to sing a thumri, the way Shankar Jaikishen asked Bhim Sen Joshi to sing a classical composition in Basant Bahar, 1957. It is tragic that the film industry, could not utilise Naushad’s talent in 1970s and 80s, but if Shankar Jaikishan had utilised Rafi’s range in singing westernised compositions, Naushad had used Rafi’s classical andaz in the best possible manner. He was rightly awarded Dada Saheb Falke for his epic creations in the 40s, 50s, 60s. Rafi’s archive should contain Naushad’s compositions, because his career was given the right direction by legendary creations of the versatile genius.


Related Reading

• Immortal Ghazals sung by Mohammad Rafi.
• Awards received by Mohammad Rafi in his illustrious career.
• Mohammad Rafi- the greatest voice of the last century.
• Rahul Dev Burman’s immense respect for Mohammad Rafi.
• Laxmikant Pyarellal’s immortal relationship with Mohamand Rafi.
• OP Nayyar’s immortal relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Salil Chowdhury’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Ravi’s memorable combination with Rafi.
• Roshan's everlasting bond with Mohammad Rafi.
• SD Burman and Mohammad Rafi.
• Rafi’s pleasant memories with Madanmohan.
• Khayyam and Jaidev’s relationship with Mohammad Rafi.
• Kalyanji Anandji’s association with Mohammad Rafi.
• Naushad’s association with Rafi.

Meena Kumari - The Tragedy-queen of Indian cinema

Meena Kumari – the tragedy queen of Indian Cinema.

Meena Kumari can be considered as the greatest actress of Bollywood during the golden age who had portrayed images and characters showing complexity of the mind of the Indian women and the social ostentations that they had faced during different periods of time. Meena Kumari, born on 1st August, 1932, known as Mahjabeen Bano, stormed into the Indian silver screen in 1952, with the sublime performance in Baiju Bawra. Although the film had been renowned for everlasting composition of Hindustani ragas by Naushad and supreme performance of Mohammad Rafi, with songs like “man tarpata”, “woh duniya ke rakhwale”, etc., Meena Kumari’s performance opposite Bharat Bhushan showed the filmlovers that she had come to conquer Bollywood with her soft style of acting.


In the 50s Meena Kumari’s performance in films like Parineeta, 1953, Footpath, 1954, Yahudi, 1958, etc. were appreciated by critics, but she had created her image of martyr in the film Sharda, 1957, where even after having an affair with Raj Kapoor, in the film she had to sarcrifice her affection to marry Raj Mehra, his father, who was much older than her. In Dil Ek Mandir, 1963, Meena Kumari after having affair with Rajender Kumar in her youth had to marry Raj Kumar, due to social pressure. But from the time she had married Raj Kumar, she fulfilled all the duties of a middle class Hindu woman, and brought her sick husband to the hospital at the mercy of Rajender Kumar. She prayed to God, for the recovery of Raj Kumar. Rajender Kumar sacrificed his life to treat her husband and died at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Rafi and Lata, had not lost their significance even today.



In 1962, Meena Kumari, performed the role of choti bahu, in Guru Dutt’s Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, the film showing the zamindari raj (dominance of Feudal lords) existing in the British capital in India, that is Kolkata. She was married to the youngest son in a family of zamindars who used to attend mujras in Jaan bazaar, in Kolkata, where performers from Lucknow, Benaras used to come and exhibit their skills of singing classical songs. She tried to retain her husband Rehman at home, and through her conversation, Guru Dutt, the observer came to know about the history of the family.



Meena Kumar’s performance opposite Pradeep Kumar, used to create a different dimension, as her pardanashin image had matched with royal style of acting of Pradeep Kumar. After the success of Aarti, 1962, Meena Kumari, acted in the blockbusters Bheegi Raat, 1965, and Bahu Begum, 1967, opposite Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar. In Bheegi Raat, she loved Pradeep Kumar, yet due to an accident which made her legs paralysed she could not attend the engagement and worked in the house of Ashok Kumar as governess. When society boycotted Ashok Kumar, she agreed to marry her, but presence of Pradeep Kumar at the end of the film in the song “dil jo na keh saka” compelled Ashok Kumar to sacrifice his affair and go back to London. It was a film where, Rafi, Lata, Roshan and the actors all had provided their best performance possible. Meena Kumar’s other film with Pradeep Kumar titled Chitralekha was also successful.

Meena Kumari had become immortal with her classic performance in the film Pakeeza, 1971, opposite Raj Kumar, which took around 10 years to be completed. It was created on a subject related to women brought up in kotha and exhibited the class of women who could not give the recognition to their next generation as their father’s are not known. The music composed by Ghulam Mohammad, Lata and Rafi’s songs, Kamal Humrohi’s direction (the husband of Meena Kumari) all complemented each other, and the film became historical piece of document.



The greatest hallmark of Meena Kumari lied in her ability to depict the helplessness of Indian women existing specially in the 50s and 60s, when the patriarchal society dominated them and they had no independent income to live separately against the pressure of society. In her performances, beauty, aristrocracy, tragedy, personality all blended into one. Whenever we think about cine-classics like Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi, 1960, or Ghazal, 1965, Meena Kumari’s image automatically comes in our mind. She died in 1972, only at an age of 41. Meena Kumari’s films should be restored in an archive for future generations to learn the art of understanding the characters from the core of the heart the way Meena Kumari had done during the golden age of Indian cinema.