Biggest bollywood hit films of 1960.

Dilip Kumar, Madhubala Mughal-i-azam.

Biggest bollywood hit films of 1960.

Bollywood films had done business all over India over the last 60 years. In 1960 different types of films were released. In that year the biggest blockbuster was Mughal-i-Azam.

Dilip Kumar and Madhubala were the leading artists of the film Mughal-i-Azam. It was a historical film depicting the history of Akbar, Jehangir and Anarkali. Very significantly Dilip Kumar, popularly known as Tragedy King ruled the team of bollywood actors with his realistic acting. Naushad Ali’s excellent music and Rafi, Lata’s melodious songs in the film was a treat for the years of the audience.

The second biggest hit film of 1960 was Barsaat Ki Raat. Bharat Bhusan and Madhubala were the leading artists of the film. Excellent music composed by Roshanlal Nagrath was added attraction for the viewers. Rafi’s song “zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi wo barsaat ki raat” and Manna Deys song “na to karwanki talash hai” had become immortal over the years. Bharat Bhusan and Madhubala’s excellent performance require special mention. 1960 was a year of musical blockbusters like Kohinoor and Chaudavi Ka Chand.

Kohinoor was the third biggest grosser and Chaudavi Ka Chand was the fourth biggest grosser. Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari were the main artists in Kohinoor, and Guru Dutt and Wahida Rehman were leading artists of Chaudavi Ka Chand. Again the excellent music composed by Naushad Ali in Kohinoor with Rafi’s excellent songs like “madhuban me radhika nachere” and “do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat” stands out even today. In Chaudavi Ka Chand, the excellent ghazals sung by Rafi and composed by Ravi Shankar Sharma including “chaudavi ka chand ho” made the viewers spellbound.


In the same year, Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai was the fifth largest grosser. The film had been directed by Radhu Karmakar and music composed by Shankar Jaikishan. Raj Kapoor, Padmini and Pran were the main artists in the film. Mukesh and Lata Mangeshar’s songs like “o maine pyar kiya”, “mera naam hai raju”, “aa aab laut chale” became everlasting musical masterpieces.

The other hit films in the list of bollywood grosser included Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi, (6th), Love In Simla (7th), Ghunghat, (8th), Kanoon (9th) and Kala Bazaar (10th). The artists who were prominent in those films included Raj Kumar, Meena Kumari, Joy Mukherjee, Sadhna, Rajender Kumar, Dev Anand, Wahida Rehman and others.

The inference that can be made in respect of bollywood films included that Dilip Kumar dominated the bollywood scenario with his brilliant performance, at the same time the other actors who were very close competitors of him included Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, Raj Kumar, Rajender Kumar, and others. As far as actresses were concerned Madhubala, Wahida Rehman, Meena Kumari were the dominating figures in bollywood. Music played a very significant role during 1960.


The composers who dominated the world of music included Naushad Ali, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshanlal Nagrath, Ravi Shankar Sharma, and others. Mohammad Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mukesh and others gave their best in that year to make the films super hit.

Lastly the directors who dominated the scenario included K. Asif, P. L. Santoshi, Mohammad Sadiq, Raj Kapoor, Kishore Sahu, Guru Dutt and others. The high standard of performances of the actors and actresses created huge competition, and the directors utilized their potentiality to the maximum.

Singing superstar Arati Mukherjee, Kaushiki Desikan, Sidhu amazed Mithun Chakravarty.

Sidhu and others in music album.

Singing superstar Arati Mukherjee, Kaushiki Desikan, Sidhu amazed Mithun Chakravarty in Dadagiri.

Singing superstar Arati Mukherjee, Kaushiki Desikan, Sidhu, Sriradha Banerjee, and others amazed Mithun Chakravarty in Dadagiri Program in Zee Bangla on 29th October 2011. Mithun Chakravarty brought all the celebrities after diwali on 29th October, 2011.

Arati Mukherjee had been given ample respect by superstar Mithun Chakravarty. She was asked to sing her super hit song “tokhon tomar ekush bochor bodhye”. In a quiz question a clipping was shown relating to the film Masoom. In the film Shabana Azmi’s lips was shown in the song “do naina”. Kaushiki Desikan, the daughter of Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty came down and touched the feet of Arati Mukherjee to show that she had sung the song. Arati Mukherjee in fact received filmfare award for the best singer for the performance in the film Masoon, where brilliant tunes were composed by RD Burman.

A question was asked relating to a song sung by Kaushiki Desikan, and Sidhu rightly identified her. Sriradha Banerjee sung a hindi song that touched everyone.

Sidhu sang Mithun Chakravarty’s song “yaad aa raha hai tera pyar”. He said everyday he is asked to sing his own song. But he felt privileged to sing the song which made Mithun Chakravarty superstar.

Very interesting questions were asked to the contestants. For example Rabindranath Tagore, used bayul folk tune for the song “Jodi tor dak shune keu na ashe tobe ekla cholo re”. Sidhu answered that dhop is a form of kirtan song.

At the end of the program Sidhu won the competition by giving more number of right answers than the others. But Mithun Chakravarty said, as all the participants were celebrities, it was no one’s victory or loss, everyone participated and exhibited their immense skill in singing.

Rachana Banerjee brought Ghantu in Didi No. 1 on Bhaiyadooj.

Bhaiyadooj.


Rachana Banerjee brought Ghantu in Didi No. 1 on Bhaiyadooj.

Rachana Banerjee’s successful program Didi No. 1 on Zee Bangla Channel on 28th October, 2011, was a bit different.

She had brought 5 small girls as participants and 5 boys to get involved in the festival of bhaiya dooj. In Bengali bhaiyadooj is called bhaiphota. In the list of boys Ghantu, a fat small child was brought who had been the star of the show Dance Bangla Dance also shown in Zee Bangla Channel sometime back. Ghantu had been the darling of many Bengali stars including Mithun Chakravarty.

In the first round, within 1 minute, the girl participants had to recite the poem “bhaiyer kopale dilam phota”, and give the 5 brothers sweets. Those who could complete the entire ritual got 25 points. The little girls did a good job. At the end of it, the boys gave them gifts.

Rachana Banerjee conducted the entire thing in style. In the second round a singer was called up to sing songs relating to bhaiya dooj. He sang songs like “phoolon ka taaron ka” from the film Jewel Thief. The child participants tried their best to sing whatever they could.

In the entire program Rachana Banerjee stressed on the need for maintaining cultural norms, because Dhanteras, choddoshakh, choddopradip, deepabali, all ends with the end of bhaiyadooj. That was the purpose why child contestants were called on that day instead of adult contestants. Rachana Banerjee did a great job.

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol.

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to action star Sunny Deol on 19th October, 2011. He had been a sensation in bollywood films. Being the son of successful actor Dharmender, he had the pressure of proving his capability the early part of his career.

Although he started with romantic films like Betaab in the early 80s, within short period of time he built a macho body and acted in action films one after the other. He became the lead actor in most of the films of Raj Kumar Santoshi. Most of those films were anti-establishment films where his anti-establishment- image amazed the viewers. After Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender, probably Sunny Deol was the only star whose action image was accepted by audience of different tastes.

He received the filmfare best actor award for his brilliant performance in the film Ghayal. He took revenge against smuggling don Balwant Rai played by Amrish Puri. He got awarded for his brilliant performance in the film Damini opposite Meenakshi Sheshadri. He played the role of an upright lawyer who helped a lady like Meenakshi who was threatened by her inlaws against giving testimony in a rape case. The film became the greatest hit of the year. Sunny had to very high standard of acting from his rival Amrish Puri in both these films who maintained the standard of acting he displayed in art films directed by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and others.


Sunny’s film Gadar Ek Premkatha, based on hindu-muslim vengeance during partition broke the record of hit films in India. He went to Pakistan to bring his wife Amisha Patel and small son, and faced the resistance of orthodox muslims under the leadership of Amrish Puri. He fought his way out and brought his family to India. He displayed the passion of being a true Indian in style.

His other hit films included Ghatak, Samandar, Darr, Joshilay, Tridev, Vishwaatma, to name a few. He was considered to be one of the best body-builders of the country in the 90s. He also produced few films and did well in them as well. Other than Sanjay Dutt, no other actor was as successful as Sunny Deol in action films.

He is presently busy with his sequel film Ghayal returns. 2011 had been a successful year for him. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana did excellent business at the beginning of the year. For the first time, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmender were seen in the same film together. He was a great crowd puller in the 90s, viewers want the same magic back.

The viewers expect him to continue the strong performance and contribute in bollywood films in future

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol.

Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Dharmender.

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to action star Sunny Deol on 19th October, 2011. He had been a sensation in bollywood films. Being the son of successful actor Dharmender, he had the pressure of proving his capability the early part of his career.

Although he started with romantic films like Betaab in the early 80s, within short period of time he built a macho body and acted in action films one after the other. He became the lead actor in most of the films of Raj Kumar Santoshi. Most of those films were anti-establishment films where his anti-establishment- image amazed the viewers. After Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender, probably Sunny Deol was the only star whose action image was accepted by audience of different tastes.

He received the filmfare best actor award for his brilliant performance in the film Ghayal. He took revenge against smuggling don Balwant Rai played by Amrish Puri. He got awarded for his brilliant performance in the film Damini opposite Meenakshi Sheshadri. He played the role of an upright lawyer who helped a lady like Meenakshi who was threatened by her inlaws against giving testimony in a rape case. The film became the greatest hit of the year. Sunny had to very high standard of acting from his rival Amrish Puri in both these films who maintained the standard of acting he displayed in art films directed by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and others.

Sunny’s film Gadar Ek Premkatha, based on hindu-muslim vengeance during partition broke the record of hit films in India. He went to Pakistan to bring his wife Amisha Patel and small son, and faced the resistance of orthodox muslims under the leadership of Amrish Puri. He fought his way out and brought his family to India. He displayed the passion of being a true Indian in style.

His other hit films included Ghatak, Samandar, Darr, Joshilay, Tridev, Vishwaatma, to name a few. He was considered to be one of the best body-builders of the country in the 90s. He also produced few films and did well in them as well. Other than Sanjay Dutt, no other actor was as successful as Sunny Deol in action films.

He is presently busy with his sequel film Ghayal returns. 2011 had been a successful year for him. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana did excellent business at the beginning of the year. For the first time, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmender were seen in the same film together. He was a great crowd puller in the 90s, viewers want the same magic back.

The viewers expect him to continue the strong performance and contribute in bollywood films in future

Apurba Roy bewildered Deboleena Dutta in Mirakkel Program in Zee Bangla.

Apurba Roy bewildered Deboleena Dutta in Mirakkel Program in Zee Bangla.

Apurba Roy bewildered Deboleena Dutta in Mirakkel Program in Zee Bangla Channel on 26^th October, 2011.

Actress Deboleena Dutta came as guest judge in the program along with the other judges Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Srilekha Mitra. The participants were excellent on the day of Deepavali.

Apurba Roy played the role of an uneducated guide in Kolkata. His funny English bewildered Deboleena Dutta, Srilekha Mitra, Paran Banerjee and Rajatavo Dutta. Deboleena Dutta said she had not seen a better performance than what Apurba Roy gave. When foreigners came to visit Victoria Memorial in Kolkata, Apurba Roy the guide could not communicate in proper English, when they asked which language he understood, he said body language. He got the prize of Rs 25000 for the best performer and the anchor Mir Afsar Ali gave it to him even before the judges adjudicated him as the best performer.

Pallabi Mukherjee did not give a great performance comparing her previous ones with the present one. Fatik Purokayet (Maduli) again did a great job. After his comedy performance Mir sang “kalipujo bole khulechi botoler chipiguli, maduli” in his usual style.

Vicky and Partho were excellent again. Vicky played the role of a horse, while Partho was a groom. At the end of their performance they gave a message, as dacoits they stole the hearts of the judges and viewers of the program. Mir joked with Deboleena Dutta, saying that he saw Goddess Kali in the body of Deboleena Dutta.

Nirmala Mishra said Carribean humming gave her song "emon ekta jhinuk khuje pelam na".

Nirmala Mishra.

Nirmala Mishra said Carribean humming gave her song “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pelam na”.

Eminent singer Nirmala Mishra gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika on 16th October, 2011. At an age of 73 years she talked about many unknown facts.

She disclosed that her father Mohinimohan Mishra was Pandit, Sangeet Ratna and Sangeet Nayak. He went to Benaras to get those degrees in music. Nirmala Mishra’s second brother who was also a great talented singer was given poison and did not survive, otherwise would have been a great singer.

She was very mischievous during childhood, that was the reason she was called “jhamela”. She got typhoid 6 times, for that reason her eyesight was affected. Everyone prescribed her to sing light songs, but her father was upset as he was an eminent classical singer. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had many times given her medicine for voice.


Eminent singer Dhananjoy Bhattacharya had helped her in her initial days of career. When composer Nochiketa Ghosh composed a song and asked her whether she could do Carribean humming, she said yes. Nochiketa Ghosh thought about Lata Mangeshkar for the song. But she did the humming, and got the song “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pellam na”. It became super hit. In the same way she got the song “o tota pakhire” from the brilliant composer Prabir Mojumdar.

She was called by superstar Uttam Kumar a number of times in his own house whenever Supriya Debi cooked a delicacy of prawns. She was asked to sing songs many times. She talked about her husband also who wrote the song “ami je tomar chirodiner hasi kannar saathi” which was later recorded and became a big hit.

Nirmala Mishra said that just as Lata Mangeshkar was called the melody queen of Mumbai, Sandhya Mukherjee the melody queen of Kolkata, similarly she was considered the melody queen of Orissa. She had sung many Oriya songs and majority of them had become hits.

Happy birthday to Raveena Tandon.

Raveena Tandon.

Happy birthday to Raveena Tandon.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Raveena Tandon on 26th October, . She was a versatile actress of the 90s. Initially when she joined films her performance opposite Akshay Kumar and Govinda attracted the attention of many viewers.

Her films Mohra opposite Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty, Aatish and Vijeta opposite Sanjay Dutt, Vinashak opposite Sunil Shetty got great box-office success. In Vijeta she played the role of an honest police officer who loved a lawyer Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt took law in his own hands to punish the killers of his senior lawyer played by Aloknath. Raveena realized that her superior police officer Amrish Puri was a criminal himself and sided with Paresh Rawal. The performance of Raveena in a daring role in Vijeta amazed the viewers. She also showed her comedy skills in the film Andaz Apna Apna opposite Ami Khan and Salman Khan. She was the mate of rich girl Karishma Kapoor. But instead she pretended to be the rich girl and Karishma Kapoor pretended to be the maid. The film directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi did brilliant business in the early 1990s.


But later on in her career she got challenging roles. She got the national award for the best actress for her brilliant performance in the film Daman. It was related to ill-treatment of women. She was sublime in the film Shool opposite Manoj Vajpayee, where the corruption in politics was at issue. Shool showed the high level of corruption in Bihar to such extent that some of the politicians wanted to ban the film.

She gave landmark performance in the film Jago opposite Sanjay Kapoor. Her daughter was raped by miscreants in local train in Mumbai and she prayed for justice in court of law. Manoj Vajpayee, the police officer in the film faced the resistance from different members of the society in proving the case. Her performance in the court scene amazed the viewers and she got critical acclamation for the performance in the film.


Raveena Tandon was brilliant in the film Daava opposite Akshay Kumar. She acted in other hit films like Officer opposite Sunil Shetty, Ladlaa opposite Anil Kapoor, Zid opposite Sunny Deol, to name a few. It is a pity that when she was at the peak of her career that she left films after getting married and begetting children. In 2011 she had acted in the film Buddha Hoga Tera Baap. She had also acted in the film Aap Ke Liye Hum. The viewers want her to make a complete return to bollywood films in character roles as she still has a lot of acting left in her.

Manna Dey said Jagjit Singh had been the greatest ghazal singer ever.

Chitra Singh Jagjit Singh.


Manna Dey said Jagjit Singh had been the greatest ghazal singer ever.

Renowned singer Manna Dey had given an interview in Anandabazar Patrika on 15th October, 2011. He had shown his grief for the untimely death of Ghazal King Jagjit Singh.

But in an elaborate interview he said that Jagjit Singh was the greatest Indian ghazal singer ever. He said he had great relationship with Ghazal singer Talat Mehmood. Talat Mehmood used to stress on romantic ghazals. On the other hand Mehedi Hassan of Pakistan sung huge number of classical ghazals. Many ghazals all across the world had imitated Mehedi Hassan for a long period of time. Ghulam Ali also had been appreciated all across the world for his classical ghazals.


Jagjit Singh devolved a style of his own, but he reached ghazals to the common man in the best possible manner. Manna Dey said he had great attachment with Chitra Singh. She was known to Manna Dey even before marriage when she was Chitra Dutta.

Manna Dey in fact sang a song with Jagjit Singh which was composed by eminent music director Jaidev. Manna Dey appreciated Jagjit Singh’s excellent music composition. Most of his brilliant songs were composed by himself including “tumko dekha to ye khayal aya” from the film Saath Saath.


Manna Dey appreciated Jagjit Singh’s excellent pronunciation of urdu talaffus. He said the way Jagjit Singh had pronounced the lyrics of the shayeri, he himself could only do it. Manna Dey at an age of 90 years had mentioned that as long as ghazals will survive all across the world, Jagjit Singh will remain in the minds of numerous musiclovers in every part of the world. He had become immortal through his excellent works.

Vikash Bhalla had been eliminated from Zee TV Star Ya Rockstar Program.

Vikash Bhalla.

Actor and serial star Vikash Bhalla had been eliminated from Zee TV Star Ya Rockstar Program held on 23rd October, 2011. He had sung very well for the last 3 weeks.

All the participants did extremely well during Shammi Kapoor night before Asha Parekh on 22nd October, 2011. Participant Sumeet Raghavan said that he was sad about him always being less votes by the public. He said if Alisha Chinoy and Anu Malik had appreciated him for his performance in the previous 2 weeks, there was no reason why should have been there in the bottom two.


Two weeks back he sang Mohammad Rafi’s song “tum jo mil gaye ho to yeh lagta hai ke jahan mil gaya” from the film Hanste Zakhm composed by Madanmohan Kohli. On the following week he sang Mohammad Rafi’s song “kya hua tera wada” from the film Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin. Both Alisha Chinoy and Anu Malik appreciated him a lot.

Mansie Parekh and Sachin were adjudicated as best two singers of the week. The judges liked them a lot. Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoy had loved the participants and encouraged them at every level.

Mir Afsar Ali, Saheb Chatterjee and others rocked in Mithun's Dadagiri.

Mir Afsar Ali.


Mir Afsar Ali, Saheb Chatterjee and others rocked in Mithun’s Dadagiri.

Actor Mir Afsar Ali, Saheb Chatterjee and others rocked in Mithun Chakravarty’s successful program Dadagiri shown in Zee Bangla Channel held on 22nd October, 2011. The celebrities who were invited included Bidipta Chakraborty, Saheb Chatterjee, Mir Afsar Ali, Biswanath Choudhury, Anindya Banerjee and Swaralipi.

Mithun Chakravarty asked questions in every round. There had been new names of rounds if compared with Dadagiri program previously anchored by Sourav Ganguly. The new names included pack up or panga, quick or quack, etc. A clipping was shown of Mir’s acting in the film Bong Connection.

Mithun showed a clipping of football player David Viya (villa) of Spain and the question was asked to Anindya Banerjee. He could not answer it. Mir was asked about the singers of the song “ay khuku ay”. Mir answered that the song was sung by Hemanta Mukherjee and Srabonti Majumdar. A clipping was also shown from Mithun’s film Jaag Utha Insaan, where Sri Devi acted opposite Mithun Chakravarty.


The googly round was excellent. There was a question if 1=2, 5=7, then 11 = “koto hobe”. The answer was “koto hobe”. The answer was there in the question. Biswanath Choudhury answered most of the questions in the rapid fire round called quick or quack and won the Dadagiri competition.

Mithun Chakravarty asked Mir Afsar Ali to sing the song “awesome sala” which he used to do after imitating Mithun Chakravarty himself. Mithun Chakravarty had proved himself to be an excellent anchor. Right from Dance Bangla Dance to Dadagiri, he had proved his versatility.

Rachana Banerjee invited Madhumanti Maitra, Malobika Sen and other celebrities in Didi No. 1 in Zee Bangla Channel.

Arjun Chakravarty

Rachana Banerjee invited Madhumanti Maitra, Malobika Sen and other celebrities in Didi No.1 in Zee Bangla Channel.

Rachana Banerjee invited Madhumanti Maitra, Malobika Sen and other celebrities in Didi No. 1 in Zee Bangla Channel on 21st October, 2011. The celebrities who were invited included Urmimala Basu, Malobika Sen, Madhumanti Maitra, Arpita Baker, Seema Acharya Choudhury.

Urmimala Basu in the first round had recited an excellent poetry. She had performed in many roles in Sruti Natak in All India Radio. Madhumanti Maitra, an eminent newsreader in DD Bangla Channel, for years, had also recited an excellent poetry.

Seema Acharya Choudhury was an excellent kirtan singer. She sang a kirtan in a brilliant way. In the second round actor Arjun Chakravarty came and sang brilliant songs. Rachana Banerjee the anchor of the program appreciated him. Arjun Chakravarty sang Manna Dey’s song “pucho na kaise maine rain bitayi” in the film Meri Surat Teri Ankhen. He asked the contestant the Bengali version of the same song which was titled “aruno kanti” in style.

Arjun Chakravarty also sang Jagjit Singh’s brilliant song “hoton se chulon tum” in style. It was from the film Prem Geet. As Arjun Chakravarty acted in many hindi films also, his affiliation towards ghazals were very high.

Arjun Chakravarty also sang ranbindrasangeet “mono mor meghero sangi” in style. Questions were related to the songs of Arjun Chakravarty. But all the celebrities told their own stories before Rachana Banerjee. Rachana Banerjee conducted the program extremely well.

Happy birthday to Shammi Kapoor.

Shammi Kapoor, Nasir Hussain, Dev Anand, OP Nayyar, Joy Mukherjee.

Happy birthday to Shammi Kapoor.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to rock and roll star Shammi Kapoor on 21st October, 2011. He died this year making huge number of audience sad. He had remained a dancing sensation in the 60s.

Although in the early part of his career he had mediocre films like Laila Majnu, he bounced back in style with the film Tumsa Nahi Dekha in 1957 and Dil Deke Dekho in 1959. His stylish andaz and dancing mannerisms like Elvis Priestley created a separate image before the viewers. He in fact modernized Indian films.

His combination with Shankar Jaikishan and Mohammad Rafi was very grand. SJ composed music in almost 22 films of Shammi Kapoor and the songs of those films are still considered musical gems. Hit songs include “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “meri yaar shabba khair” sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Junglee, “tumse accha kaun hai”, “lal chari”, sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Janwar, “aye gulbadan”, “awaz deke” composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Professor, “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, “yeh rang badalti duniya me” composed by SJ, sung by Rafi in the film Raj Kumar, “aasmaan se aya farishta”, “raat ke humsafar”, “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” composed by SJ and sung by Rafi in the film An Evening in Paris, “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche”, “dil ke jharoke me” composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Brahmchari, to name a few. The list can go on.


Shammi Kapoor received filmfare award for best actor only once, for the performance in the film Brahmchari in 1968. But that cannot show his dominance in bollywood films in the 60s. If Rajender Kumar portrayed the sophisticated style of romance in the 60s, Shammi Kapoor portrayed the westernized dimension. Actors like Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet followed the Shammi Kapoor style and got success in contemporary films like Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Mere Sanam, etc.

Shammi Kapoor acted opposite all the leading actresses of bollywood films in the 60s, including Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir Ki Kali, Sadhna in Raj Kumar, Asha Parekh in Teesri Manzil, Saira Banu in Junglee, Rajashree in Janwar, Hema Malini in Andaz, Mala Sinha in Dil Tera Diwana, Nutan in Laatsahab, etc. After the 70s, he switched to character roles and there also showed his skills.

Some of his memorable films in old age include Betaab, Bidhata, Prem Rog, Parvarish, etc. His films and songs should be restored to remember the golden age of Indian films with colourful music.

Pallabi Mukherjee amazed Sonali Choudhury in Zee Mirakkel Program.

Sonali Choudhury, Kharaj Mukherjee in Bye Bye Bangkok.

Pallabi Mukherjee amazed Sonali Choudhury in Zee Mirakkel Program.

Pallabi Mukherjee amazed Sonali Choudhury in Zee Mirakkel Program held in Zee Bangla Channelon 19th November 2011. Mir Afsar Ali anchored the program in front of Rajatavo Dutta, Paran Banerjee and Srilekha Mitra who were the judges of the program.

Sonali Choudhury, famous for playing an important role in Zee Bangla Channel serial Agniparikkha became the guest judge of the program. She had also acted in hit Bengali films like Bye Bye Bangkok. Pallabi Mukherjee one of the participants amazed her. She created a story, where she mentioned that she had gone to act in the serial Agniparikkha in the role of Sonali Choudhury. Although her dialogues were well said, but because of her habit mentioning phrased used in Mirakkel program like “kothae chile ostad” her job was gone. She went for the other serials in Zee Bangla Channel. She also went to Didi No. 1 program, but wherever her phrases used in Mirakkel created debacle. She made everyone laugh with the play.

Palash Adhikari did an excellent job with his ventriloquism, with a puppet monkey and a puppet duck. Apurbo Roy again gave an apurba performance. He played the role of a thief, his father being a politician. He said he went to jail after committing theft, whereas the politicians stole everything after coming out of jail. All the judges Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Srilekha Mitra appreciated him.

Fatik Purokayet or Maduli did an excellent job again. Mir Afsar Ali again sang the patent song “maduli, sporshokator bishoyguli keno tui chuli”. Istiaq Nasir was eliminated from the show. He was bald headed, that was the reason everyone associated him with the character Shakal in the film Shaan, where Kulbhushan Karbanda played the role of a bald man. Istiaq had come from Bangladesh and said that he learned a lot in the Mirakkel Program in Zee Bangla Channel. Mridul Bhattacharya, the guest performer performed at the end of the show.

Raju Middya astonished actor Biswajeet Chakraborty in Zee Mirakkel Program.

Raju Middya.

Raju Middya astonished actor Biswajeet Chakraborty in Zee Mirakkel Program held in Zee Bangla Channel on 18th October, 2011. Bisawjeet Chakraborty was the Guest judge of the program.

Raju Middya showed the way a drama actor (jatra actor) in Bengal would have talked if he would have been a bus conductor in a private bus of Bengal. Paran Banerjee, the judge commented that Raju Middya’s performance had the flavor folklore of villages of Bengal.

Vicky and Partho were excellent on 18th October, 2011. Partho played the role of blind Dhritarashra of Mahabharata. Vicky asked witty questions and Partho replied to them in the most funny style as possible. Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Srilekha Mitra gave standing tribute to Vicky and Partho. Mir Afsar Ali said whenever Boris Becker, Steven Edberg used to make comeback, the media flashed about them, so he wanted to mention that Vicky and Partho had made a comeback.

Sangeet Tiwary and the other performers also did extremely well. Biswajeet Chakraborty said their experience in Hongkong during the shooting of Sandip Ray’s Tintorettor Jishu. Bibhu Bhattacharya who died very recently selected a food item and later realized that it was a preparation of octopus. Paran Banerjee also disclosed the details of the lunch experience.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.

Aroti Mukherjee.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by Robin Chatterjee.


Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011.

Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc.

In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music.


Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee.

Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Happy birthday to acclaimed actor of actors Om Puri.

Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah.

Happy birthday to actor of actors Om Puri.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to actor of actors Om Puri on 18th October, 2011. Om Puri, along with Naseeruddin Shah used to be considered and is still considered the most versatile actor of all times. Born on 18th October, 1950, Om Puri learned acting from Film and Television Institute of India. He was an alumnus of 1973 batch of Delhi School of Drama along with Naseeruddin Shah.

He was the automatic choice of the greatest directors of Indian films like Satyajit Ray who did cast him in Sadgati, Govind Nihalini who had cast him in Aakrosh, Ardha Satya, etc., Ketan Mehta who had cast him in Mirch Masala, Gulzar, who had cast him in Maachis, to name a few.

But when question came in relation to awards, critics feel that Om Puri, did not receive the recognition he deserved. He received national awards for best actor for his performance in the films Arohan and Ardhya Satya. But there is no justification as to the fact why did not receive a national award for his lifetime performance in the film Aakrosh. He did not have a single dialogue, and in a mute role, he expressed his agony, which was at par with some of the best Hollywood actors of all times.

His performance in Satyajit Ray’s film Sadgati requires special mention. He died at the end of the film while cutting wood for cremation purposes for Mohan Agase in the film. He made the classic literature of Munshi Premchand immortal with his performance. He was sublime in Mirch Masala. He was outstanding in Tamas.

Although he won a number of international awards, that does not justify his immense acting skills. He won the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for his performance in the film Ardhya Satya in 1984. He won Brussels International Best Film Actor award in 1998 for his performance in the film My Son the fanatic.

Even his performance in commercial films like Ghayal or Gupt or China Gate requires special mention. In the last 10 years he had featured in every alternate films including Gulzar’s Maachis, Priya Darshaan’s Malamaal Weekly, Raj Kumar Santoshi’s Pukar, Sohail Khan’s Dabaang. His performance in small roles in landmark films like Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi had amazed everyone. In the last few years his performance in Saif Ali Khan’s film Qurbaan, Ashay Kumar’s film Action Replay had been very impressive.

Even in commercial films like Salman Khan’s Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Om Puri played the role of a wrestler very well. He balanced the performances of Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher. In 2011, viewers are waiting to see his performance opposite Shahrukh Khan in the film Don 2 – the chase continues.

The viewers and critics feel that Om Puri should continue his brilliant work irrespective of adequate justice being done through the awards, because his actual admirer are the immense number of viewers who had always considered him a genius of genius.

Sachin impressed Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoi in Star Ya Rockstar Program in Zee TV.

Anu Malik, Kailash Kher, Salman Khan.

Sachin Pilgaonkar impressed Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoi in Star Ya Rockstar Program in Zee TV.

Sachin impressed Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoi in Star Ya Rockstar in Zee TV held on 15th October, 2011. Many filmstars and serialstars sung songs including Debina Banerjee, Ragini Khalla, Manish Paul, Neha Marda, Sumeet Raghavan, and others.

Sachin Pilgaonkar had been acting in Marathi and hindi films from the age of 8 years. He had acted in award winning films and commercial films. Viewers still remember his excellent performance as child artist in films like Brahmchari, Jewel thief, etc. He sang the song “pyar hume is mor pe le aya” and amazed Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoy. In the last week he sang the song “mai aya hoon” brilliantly. It appeared that if Sachin would not have been an actor he would have been a successful singer.

Ragini Khalla sang the song “lag ja gale”. Alisha Chinoy commented that her “sur” was not right. It was very classically oriented rendition of Lataji and required a lot of expertise. Sumeet Raghavan sang Mohammad Rafi’s song “tum jo mil gaye ho”. He did well, but the minute classical touch in the song could not be given. Even then Anu Malik and Alisha Chinoy gave good remarks.

Debina Banerjee sang the song “zara zara mehekta hai”. Alisha Chinoy said the effort was good, but lot of hard work is required to actually do justice to the song. Anu Malik was a bit liberal in his comment.

The effort of all the actors and actresses were good. But as music is a totally skilled area of work, a lot of practice has to be there to come up to the mark. At the end of the program Sachin sang the song “hoton se chulon tum” to give tribute to great ghazal singer Jagjit Singh who passed away a week back. Everyone paid their respect to the departed soul.

Raju Middya was excellent before Kanchon Mallick in Zee Bangla Mirakel Program.

Kanchon Mallick.

Raju Middya was excellent before Kanchon Mallick in Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program.

Contestant Raju Middya was excellent before Kanchon Mallick once again in Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program. Mir Afsar Ali had been the anchor of the program for the last 4 months. Subhankar Chatterjee is the director of the program. Srilekha Mitra, Paran Banerjee and Rajatavo Dutta had been the judges for the last 4 months.

On the 12th October, 2011, Kanchon Mallick came as guest judge. He explained a lot of things relating to animation. He explained how the sound of lazy ducks can be made or any type of leech. Raju Middya showed the musical conversion of mirakkel program. He took out the jokes of all the other contestants and sang out the pieces in the form of parody. Kanchon Mallick was amazed.

Abu Henna Ronny did a great job on the episode. Sajal was eliminated on that day. He had mentioned many good experiences sometimes in respect of gate keeper, sometimes in respect of beggars. Mir asked Kanchon Mallick to stand around Sajal to see who was thinner than the other.

The finale of the Mirakkel program is approaching. Fatik Purokayet, Raju Middya, Vicky and Partho, etc., are the strong claimants of the title. The viewers expect even better performance from all of them in the coming episodes.

Kanchon Mallick stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program on 11th October 2011.

Kanchon Mallick.

Kanchon Mallick stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program on 11th October 2011.

Kanchon Mallick had acted in different films and TV Serials as a comedian.

He was asked by Mir Afsar Ali about the technique of giving background voice in animation films. Kanchon Mallick made everyone spellbound by his brilliant performance and gave an example. He said he was motivated by actor Kharaj Mukherjee. He said that once he was asked to speak the language of a lazy duck. He imagined the beak of a duck and then made sounds like “pack pack” which he used to be seen made by ducks in ponds. He also showed the background dialogue of a egoist leech. Kachon Mallick said that there was no model to follow. Whatever he had done he did it from imagination.

The judges Paran Banerjee, Srilekha Mitra and Rajatavo Dutta were amazed by the experience of Kanchon Mallick. The participants performed very well. Pallabi Mukherjee and Shashi gave a “jugalbandhi” performance. Pallabi Mukherjee played the role of a radio jockey in FM channel. She ended up with her brilliant imitation of actress Koel Mallick and Rachana Banerjee.

Fatik Purakayet who was called “maduli” gave a brilliant performance. He had been made famous by the patent dialogue of Mir Afsar Ali “kothae chile ostad”. Palash Adhikari did his excellent “ventriloquism” with a puppet in the disguise of monkey and cat. He was appreciated a lot by the judges. The rest of the performers also did extremely well.

Raju Middya was excellent before Srilekha Mitra and others once again in Mirakkel Program.

Raju Middya.

Raju Middya was excellent before Srilekha Mitra and others once again in Mirakkel Program.

Raju Middya was excellent once again in Mirakkel Program in Zee Bangla Channel on 10th October, 2011. Mir Aksar Ali had anchored the program for the last 4 months. The three judges Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Srilekha Mitra had shown their patience in meticulously judging the performances of all the participants for the last 4 months.

Raju Middya had been the star of the show for a long period of time. On 10th October, 2011, he mentioned a program in one of the villages. In that program the singer had to sing songs of legendary singers including Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Bappi Lahiri and others. The great part of Raju Middya lied in imitating all those singers, and bringing in the dialogues of Srilikha Mitra, Mir, Paran Banerjee and Rajatavo Dutta in them. He described the baseless requests of the villagers in respect of the songs also in style. Someone wanted to hear classical song of Hemant Kumar. Being a singer, the performer required to fulfill the request of the audience.

Vicky and Partho were the other talented contestants in the program. They performed in their own way. Partho and Vicky always had come up with new subjects right from microphone to seller of curd. Sangeet Tiwary did well in the program. He mentioned many jokes, some of which were intelligent in nature. Sajal also did very well. He never had got good reviews from the judges due to mentioning his stories in a hurry. But his subjects were very interesting.

Expiry of Jagjit Singh is a great blow for the world of ghazals and bollywood films.

Jagjit Singh.


Expiry of Jagjit Singh is a great blow for the world of ghazals and bollywood films.

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh died in Lilavati Hospital on Monday, 10th October, 2011, at the age of 70 years. He suffered brain haemorrhage. He had been awarded Padmabhushan previously. He was born on 8th February, 1941. His only son Vivek died in a car accident at the age of 18 years in 1990.Condolences came right from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Lata Mangeshkar. Lataji said his death was huge loss to the industry. Pankaj Udhas, Asha Bhosle, Usha Utthup, Shobha Mudgal all had condoned his untimely death and tried to give strength to his wife Chitra Singh who had sung numerous brilliant ghazals with Jagjit Singh. Jagjit Singh’s ghazals right from “kabhi kabhi yun hamne” to “dard-e-dil ko kami na ho jaye”, to “muh ki baten sune har koi”, “baat nikle to phir”, had always touched the hearts of numerous listeners all across the world. In addition to being a great ghazal singer having baritone voice he was a great human being, who had done charities and many a times sang without remuneration for charitable organizations.

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh’s voice was utilized exhaustively in bollywood films. There was a time, during the 50s and 60s, when ghazal featured in every alternative film including Chaudavi Ka Chand, Mirza Ghalib, Jahanara, Mere Mehboob, Taj Mahal, Barsaat Ki Raat, etc. The songs of Rafi, Talat Mehmood, Suraiya, and others and the compositions of musical maestros like Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Madanmohan, OP Nayyar, kept the flavor of ghazals intact during the golden age.


But from the 70s, music lost its overall efficacy in bollywood films with the advent of action films. Orn in 1941, Jagjit Singh stormed the world of ghazals during the 80s, during a time, when the legendary composers like Jaikishan, Roshan, Madanmohan, Ghulam Mohammad, all expired. Kuldeep Singh composed landmark songs for him in the film Arth. Jagjit Singh’s ghazals “tum itna jo muskura rahi ho”, “koi yeh kaise bataye”, “jhuki jhuki si nazar” bewildered the audience with romantic appeal. Raj Kiran gave lips in the legendary songs.

Jagjit Singh kept his mark in the art film Saath Saath. All the songs were composed by himself. The songs “tumko dekha to yeh khayal aya”, “yeh tera ghar yeh mera ghar”, “hum zindagi ke rah me majboor ho gaye”, sung by Jagjit and Chitra Singh, contained sweetness and depth of voice. The lyrics were excellent. The performance of Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval were remembered by the audience even after 30 years of the release of the film.

The other hit film song of Jagjit Singh included “hoton se chulon tum” in the film Prem Geet. But if the success of Jagjit Singh is compared with the private albums, Ecstasies, A Sound Affairs, Passion, etc., made with Chitra Singh, the success looks insignificant. After the death of his son Vivek at the age of 21, Chitra Singh stopped singing. The last album of Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh included Someone Somewhere.

Although he had sung landmark songs in films like Dushman, Sarfarosh, Tarqeib, but it was not proportional to his immense ghazal talent. No other ghazal singer in India had galvanized the world of ghazals to the extent Jagjit Singh. The composers could have experimented more with the legend of legends.

One article is too small to highlight the achievement of giant singer like Jagjit Singh. He will always live in the hearts of thoughtful listeners for ever and ever.

Happy birthday to dream-girl Hema Malini.

Hema Malini.


Happy birthday to dream-girl Hema Malini.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dream girl Hema Malini on 16th October, 2011. She was the uncrowned queen of bollywood films of the 70s.

Her strong dancing skills gave her a separate place in bollywood films. Her performance in the film Sapno Ka Saudagar opposite Raj Kapoor was extremely successful in the late 60s. From there she never looked back. Her film Abhinetri opposite Shashi Kapoor became super hit. Her successful films opposite other stars included Gora Aur Kala opposite Rajender Kumar, Burning Train opposite Dharmender, Johnny Mera Naam opposite Dev Anand, to name a few. Gora Aur Kala became super hit with the successful songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal like “tu meri sapno ka rani banegi”, “dheere dheere bol”, etc.


Within short time she formed a brilliant combination with Dharmender and their films started rocking bollywood in the 70s. The pair started off with films like Naya Zamana, Raja Jani and went on to give all time hits like Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, Charas, Sholay, etc. If Sholay is remembered for superlative camerawork of Ramesh Sippy, villainish andaz of Amzad Khan, angry image of Big B, then it is also remembered for tremendous dance performance of Hema Malini. She danced on top of glasses in the song “jab tak hai jaan”. Besides she showed her bravery also in the film by riding on the horse-cart against the gang of dacoits of Gabbar Singh.

Hema Malini did extremely well in off-beat films as well. One of her landmark films included Kinara opposite Jeetender and Dharmender. Gulzar’s films was based on dancing and Hema Malini’s classical dance balanced the story line where Jeetender’s car struck Dharmender and killed him on the spot. Dharmender was the husband of Hema Malini in the film and she lived with his memory in the film.

Hema Malini’s films opposite Big B also did great business. Some of their hit films included Desh Premi, Satte Pe Satta, etc. In the last few years Hema Malini had been seen contributing in character roles in bollywood films like Baghban. She must be proud about the success of her daughter Esha Deol, but is respect of glamour and beauty and dancing skills still Hema Malini is remembered for her dominance during the 70s.


In the recent years Hema Malini acted in many matured roles. She had acted very well in the film Aarakshan in 2011, opposite Amitabh Bacchan. She was the trustee of an organization catered to give higher education in India and reinstated Amitabh Bacchan as the Principal of that institution.

The viewers still believe that a lot of dancing skills are still left in Hema Malini and she should still act in bollywood films in future.

Happy birthday to Amitabh Bacchan

Amitabh Bacchan with Rishi Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Amitabh Bacchan.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to the megastar of bollywood films Amitabh Bacchan on 11th October, 2011. Born in 1942, he had been the most popular actor of the entire millennium.

In the 70s his films like Zanjeer, Sholay, Deewar created a new age of action films. His angry young man image created a revolution during an age when corruption became rampant in India. If Zanjeer was related to the obstacles faced by an honest police officer to safely perform his duties, Deewar was based on the contradiction of two brothers of whom one was a police officer, while the other was compelled to be a smuggler due to social compulsions. Sholay was based on the story of domination of the Chambal region of India by dacoits. The Thakur (played by Sanjeev Kumar) of the village employed two brave criminals namely Big B and Dharmender to face the dacoits.



Big B was a very powerful actor and became the choice of all the leading directors of the 70s and 80s. His films included Abhimaan directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sholay directed by Ramesh Sippy, Zanjeer directed by Prakash Mehra, Deewar directed by Yash Chopra, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat directed by Shakti Samanta, to name a few. The other factor which singled out Big B with the other actors in terms of his versatility was his baritone voice which he modulated to perfection.

His comedy films like Namakhalal, Chupke Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony, created new dimensions in Indian film history. His notable films during the 80s included Shakti, Akhree Rasta, Inquilab, etc. Even in the 90s his films like Akela and Indrajeet carried his strong personality forward.

Big B had played a huge innings as a character actor and his films like Black, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, etc., showed the viewers, that after Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar, Big B was an actor with whom the directors could do any experiment. His performance in his son Abhishek Bacchan’s films like Bunty Aur Babli had also been notable.


In 2010, he received the national award for the best actor for the third time for his excellent performance in the film Paa. In 2011, he was absolutely brilliant in the role of an academician in Prakash Jha’s film Aarakshan. Day by day his acting skills are just getting better and better and he is experimenting in different types of roles. Even in Kaun Banega Crorepati he is the anchor and his profound educational background and pure hindi accent amazes the viewers. Sony TV cannot think about any other anchor other than Amitabh Bacchan.

The viewers expect him to continue the great work that he started 40 years back.