Arijit Singh, Aneek, June Banerjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program

Arijit Singh, Aneek, June Banerjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.

Sourav Ganguly invited celebrities in Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program on 19th November, 2013. Arijit Singh, Aneek, June Banerjee, Sayoni, Hiron Chatterjee and others came in the show. Arijit Singh, June Banerjee and Hiron Chatterjee were part of the team of film Majnu. Majnu is the new film which is going to be released very soon. Srabanti Chatterjee had been cast opposite Hiron Chatterjee in the film. Sourav Ganguly asked Arijit Singh to sing a song. He sang the song “hum tere bin ab rah nahi sakte”. He also sang the title song of Dadagiri. He asked Sourav Ganguly to sing it. He jokingly said if Arijit Singh was asked to face Wasim Akram in his first spell was it possible, so Arijit Singh was fit to sing the title song of Dadagiri than Ganguly himself. Sourav Ganguly asked Hiron Chatterjee to say about the film Majnu. He said that it was a romantic film. Srabanti Chatterjee had been cast opposite him. Arijit Singh and June Banerjee had sung playback songs in the film. Aneek was asked to sing a song. He paid his tribute to singer Manna Dey and sang the song “sabai to sukhi hote chai.” Sourav Ganguly greeted him saying that he was the champion of Zee Saregamapa Program in Bengali and also in Hindi in 2007. In the slog over round, Arijit Singh gave maximum number of right answers and became the champion of the show. Sourav Ganguly asked Arijit Singh, June Banerjee and Aneek to sing a song together. They sang the song ‘jana ajana pathe cholechi.’ Sourav Ganguly anchored the program very well.

Deboshree Roy stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Season 5.

Deboshree Roy stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1, Season 5. Deboshree Roy is the new anchor of Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program, Season 5. Season 4 was anchored by Rachana Banerjee and she did a great job. The opening session took place on 17th November, 2013. Rachana Banerjee and Deboshree Roy, both were present in the program. Footballer Prashun Banerjee came with his wife and said that Rachana Banerjee had done a great job, and he had that believe that Deboshree Roy would do a better job. Magician PC Sarkar Junior and his wife were the guests of the show. Their youngest daughter Mumtaz Sorkar was one of the contestants of the show. The 4 participants of the show included Mumtaz Sorkar, Mimi, Subhashree and Tanushree. Babul Supriyo came in the show and asked the contestants to sing songs. Subhashree sang the song from the film Paran Jay Joliya Re. Tanushree, Mimi and Mumtaz Sorkar also sang songs. Jojo sang a song and asked Mumtaz Sorkar to dance opposite George Baker. Jeet Ganguly came and sang his super hit songs from the Bengali films. He had composed music in many super hit films and sang some of the hit songs like “dhaker tale komor dole”, “paran jay joliya re”, “bhojogourango”, to name a few. All the celebrities came and said that Deboshree Roy was their idols and they had great confidence on her. Mir Afsar Ali came with his band Bandage and sang the song “hoy to tomari jonyo” and dedicated it to the wife of PC Sirkar Junior. The show started with a bang. Everyone expects that Season 5 will be as good as season 4.

Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury rocked Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program.

Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury rocked Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program.

Sabita Choudhury, the wife of Salil Choudhury and Antara Choudhury rocked Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program on 16th November, 2013. The program was dedicated to the maestro Salil Choudhury. Incidentally 19th November is the birth anniversary of Salil Choudhury. Everyone in the program paid respect to the great composer who had left us many years ago. One of the judges Akriti Kakkar sang the song “aja re pardesi”. Sabita Choudhury told everyone that Bimal Roy, the director of the film after the recording of the song was not insisting in keeping the song in the film Madhumati. Then Salil Choudhury and Lata convinced him in respect of its relevance in the film. The rest was history. One of the child contestants sang the song “jhilmil jhauer bone jhikimiki” composed by Salil Choudhury. Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury sang the song themselves. Sabita Choudhury told the contestants that her husband Salil Choudhury composed the song based on Punjabi folk and the hindi version “naam mera nimmo, makam ludhiyana”. Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury shared few photos of Salil Choudhury with giants of Bollywood industry like Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle and others. Thereafter Antara Choudhury showed a photo of her learning the song “kali re kali re” from her father Salil Choudhury. Sabita Choudhury also shared the information that Salil Choudhury was a great cook and he liked different dishes including the mutton dishes. One of the child contestants sang the song “maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune” which was sung by Mukesh in the film Anand. One program was too small to show tribute to a legend of legends of the calibre of Salil Choudhury. Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury were very happy about the fact that the child contestants tried their best at the early age and showed their respect to Salil Choudhury. Jishu Sengupta, the anchor of the show, and the other judges Kumar Shanu, Akriti Kakkar and Joy Sarkar were very happy that Sabita Choudhury and Antara Choudhury shared their memories of Salil Choudhury with the new generation.

Salil Choudhury is remembered on his birthday.

Remembering Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudhury, noted scholar, poet, composer and literary giant was remembered on his death anniversary on 5th September, 2013. He was also remembered on his birthday on 19th November, 2013. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years. His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers. On the other hand his strength in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Choudhury hugely experimented with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment. Salil Choudhury used the different playback singers in Bengal and explored their talents to the brim. Some of the great compositions include “eso kache boso” sung by Tarun Banerjee, “pallabini go sancharini” sung by Dwijen Mukherjee, “Jodi jante go tumi jante” sung by Manobendra Mukherjee, “jai jai din” sung by Biswajeet Chatterjee, to name a few. The list can go on. Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular. Bimal Roy’s film Do Bigha Zameen was based on Salil Choudhury’s literature. His music in the films Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati, Musafir, Parakh, Jagte Raho, Anand, Maya, Rajnigandha, etc., stand out as landmarks in Indian film history. He received filmfare award for brilliant performance in the film Madhumati. All the songs in the film including Lata’s “aja re”, “ghari ghari”, Rafi’s “tute hue khwabonme”, “jangal me mor nacha”, Mukesh’s “dil tarap tarap ke”, “suhana safar aur mausam hasin” touched the souls of numerous Indians in the late 50s. Other notable songs of Salil Choudhury in bollywood films include “tasveer teri dil me” from Maya, “zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai”, “kahin dur jab din dhal jaye” from Anand, “rajnigandha” from Rajnigandha, “jago mohan pyare” from Jagte Raho, “dil tadpe tadpaye” from Poonam Ki Raat, to name a few. Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. One article is not enough to reiterate the immortal works of the giant creator. The creations should be preserved and restored.

Anik, Debu, Imon and others sang well in Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program.

Anik, Debu and others sang very well in Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program.

Singer Anik, Debu, Sidhu, Pata and others stormed Zee Bangla Saregamapa Program on 15th November, 2013. They sang with the child contestants. Jishu Sengupta anchored the program. Anik sang a duet song with Ronita Banerjee “tum jo aye zindagi me baat bangayi”. It was originally sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in the film Once Upon a Time in Mumbai which was composed by Pritam. The judges Kumar Shanu, Akriti Kakkar and Joy Sarkar appreciated Ronita Banerjee for her effort. Kumar Shanu asked Anik to sing a song. Anik said her childhood hero and guru was Manna Dey. He did not get a scope of getting the blessings of the great singer. He died recently. He brought a harmonium and sang Manna Dey’s song “kophota chokher jol phelecho je tumi bhalobasle.” Anik sang the song very well. Pota sang the song of Cactus titled “oi je hold pakhi”. Debu sang the song “ei poth Jodi na shesh hoi tobe kemon hoto tumi boloto” with a child contestant. The song was originally sung by Hemanta Mukherjee and Sandhya Mukherjee in the film Saptapadi. The song was picturized on Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. All the judges Kumar Shanu, Akriti Kakkar and Joy Sengupta appreciated the effort of the child contestant because the song had some element of acting and that was done very well by the child contestant. Imon Chatterjee sang the song “ek chatur naar karke singar” with a child contestant. The child contestant sang the version of Manna Dey while Imon Chatterjee sang the version of Kishore Kumar. Everyone appreciated the effort of the child. Sidhu also sang a duet song with a child contestant. Jishu Sengupta appreciated the contestants very well.

Happy birthday to style -queen Zeenat Aman.

Happy Birthday to style –queen Zeenat Aman. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to style – queen Zeenat Aman on 19th November, 2013. She had dominated bollywood films in the 70s. She created attention with her successful performance in Dev Anand’s film Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Hare Rama Hare Krishna was released in the year 1971. She played the role of a girl who became addicted to drugs. She became a style icon during the period when European Hippies and other communities influenced fashion all over the world. She had acted opposite all the leading stars of bollywood films in the mid-70s. Her successful films opposite Big B included Don, Dostana, Lawaarish, etc. In Don, she had shown martial art and the ability to adapt herself in action films. She was extremely successful in Raj Kapoor’s film Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She played the role of a village girl whose face got burned and disfigured. The film was related to the romantic relationship of Zeenat with Shashi Kapoor, who was an urbanized youth. Lata’s songs in the film including “satyam shivam sundaram” composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal require special mention. Zeenat gave able lips in the songs. In the early 80s Feroz Khan gave a stylish image to Zeenat in the film Qurbani. She played the role of a hotel singer and stormed bollywood with her performance. Her lips in the songs “aap jaisa koi mere zindagi me aye”, “laila ho laila”, etc., in the film Qurbani created sensation. Feroz Khan and Vinod Khanna also gave memorable performances in the film. The film ended up being blockbuster. She also acted in serious films like Insaaf Ki Taraazu. In the 80s she acted opposite other stars as well. Her film Abdullah opposite Sanjay Khan did great business. The songs of Abdullah composed by RD Burman like “maine pucha chaand se” sung by Mohammad Rafi also became super hit. Zeenat was also known for contributing in action films like Shalimaar opposite Dharmender, Don opposite Big B, Ram Balram opposite Dharmender. In all those films the roles required action stunts. Zeenat did show her martial art stunts in the film Don. Her roles are idolized and reworked by Priyanka Chopra in Don – the Chase Begins. Zeenat gave good lips in qawallis as well. One example was in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi. It was released in 1977. She gave lips in Asha Bhosle’s song “hai agar dushman zamana” opposite Rishi Kapoor. Rishi Kapoor gave lips in Rafi’s portion with his own brilliance. Zeenat Aman left films in the mid -80s when she was at the summit of her career. Her films should be preserved.

Happy birthday to Sushmita Sen.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Sushmita Sen on 19th November, 2013. After creating a mark in the fashion world she made notable contribution in films as well. She won the Miss World Crown in the early 90s and at that time remained one of India’s best beauties along with Aishwarya Rai. She had impressed the viewers with the film Mai Hoon Na opposite Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan came to find his own brother in an educational institution after a long time. Shahrukh Khan fell in love with Sushmita Sen in the film. The online chemistry appealed to the masses. Both of them gave able lips in the song “mai hoon na”. Zaid Khan, Amrita Rao and Sunil Shetty also did very well in the film. She faced the glamour of Katrina Kaif in the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, opposite Salman Khan and yet impressed the viewers with her unique performance. She was a nurse in the medical clinic of Salman Khan and she was asked to play the role of his first wife to satisfy Katrina Kaif. Salman Khan went on saying lies one after the other and Sushmita Sen had to help him for the wrongful cause. A time came when Sushmita could not bear any more. At the end of the film Salman Khan married her as she really loved him. Sushmita Sen gave brilliant lips in the song “laga laga laga re”. She even did well in roles of second heroines like the one she played in Salman Khan’s film Bibi No. 1. Salman Khan was married to Karishma Kapoor and he lived with Sushmita after having an affair with her when he went for a foreign visit. When the question came as to upbringing of Salman Khan’s children Sushmita Sen failed miserably. Anil Kapoor and Tabu helped Karishma Kapoor to create ill-feelings of Salman Khan against Sushmita Sen and ultimately the family peace was restored in favour of Karishma Kapoor. The songs picturised on Sushmita Sen and Salman Khan became super hit like “ishq sona hai”, “chunari chunari”, etc. Sushmita Sen also acted in challenging roles in films like Chingari, which were made for response from critics and Sushmita had shown her acting skills in these types of films. Her other successful films include Aaghaaz, opposite Sunil Shetty, where she played the role of police officer, Zor, opposite Sunny Deol, etc. Both Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai joined bollywood films more or less at the same time and there was an express competition between both of them as both had come from the fashion world. Although Sushmita Sen showed her potentiality in many films and the films had done well in box-office, she was not as lucky as Aishwarya Rai in bagging the big banners of Subhash Ghai, Sanjay Leela Banshali, Ram Gopal Verma, etc. Sushmita has also appeared as judges in many dance competitions hosted in different TV Channels in recent years along with other celebrities like Wasim Akram and others. The viewers still believe that Sushmita Sen has a lot of acting left in her and she can do even better in bollywood films in future including her film relating to Benazir Bhutto. She had done a great job in Anil Kapoor’s film No Problem was released in 2010. Aneez Bazmi had directed the film. There are other stars in the film including Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Khanna in the film. The film did not do great business. The viewers wish the best for Sushmita Sen for the films that are going to be released in future.

Kumar Shanu, Sujoy Ghosh and others stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.

Sourav Ganguly invited celebrities in the Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program including Kumar Shanu, Haimanti Shukla, Sujoy Ghosh, Oindrila Sen, Soham Chakravarty and others. Sourav Ganguly asked Kumar Shanu to sing the first song he sang in Bollywood films. He sang it. Sourav Ganguly disclosed that he believed in ghosts. Soham Chakravarty said that while shooting a film when he was staying in a house, he saw a shadow of a lady who disappeared in a room. Haimanti Shukla said she did not believe in that. Kumar Shanu said he also believed in ghosts. Sourav Ganguly said he came to Jodhpur for shooting an advertisement film. He came with his wife. He was given a big room to stay in one of the hotels which was palace was at one point of time. He got so scared that during the night he could not sleep for two nights. As it was during summer, he used to go for the shooting at 4 am in the morning. His wife Dona Ganguly used to switch on the lights and stay awake from 4 am to 6 am and only slept when the sun came up. When Sourav Ganguly asked Sujoy Ghosh about Kahaani, he said that Aladin was a disaster. After the failure of the film, he had a last chance of proving his worth as a director by making a good film. Kahaani happened. He congratulated the entire team of Kahaani, including the artists Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee and everyone. Sourav Ganguly said he saw it 3 times to understand the plot. Sujoy Ghosh said that the Durga Puja that was shot was Ballygunge Cultural Durga Puja. Soham Chakravarty said that he started acting at the age of 3 years in Anjan Choudhury’s film Choto Bou playing the role of the son of Ranjit Mullick and Sandhya Roy. After that he got the chance in Satyajit Ray’s film Shakha Prashakha. Sourav Ganguly asked Haimanti Shukla to sing the song “amar mallika bone”. Kumar Shanu said that he won the filmfare award back to back 5 times for the best playback singer. Then he told other singers should also get the award. The press and media misinterpreted it saying if Shanu himself received awards what will happen to the other singers. He did not get a 6th award ever. At the end of the show Kumar Shanu answered the maximum number of questions and became the champion.

Happy birthday to sweet star Juhi Chawla.

Happy birthday to sweet star Juhi Chawla. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to sweet star Juhi Chawla on 13th November, 2013. Juhi Chawla stormed bollywood films in the 90s. Her first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak became super hit in the late 80s. Her pair with Amir Khan was well accepted by the audience. The songs in the film became very successful. The landmark songs included “aye mere humsafar”, “papa kehte hai” sung by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and others. From that time many producers and directors did cast her opposite Amir Khan in many films. The film also started a new trend of romantic films one after other after 15 years of domination of action films under success of Angry young man Amitabh Bacchan. Salman Khan’s film Maine Pyar Kiya followed very soon. Her comedy andaz in the film Ishq opposite Amir Khan was well appreciated. Her romance with Amir Khan started with quarrels as against the affair of Kajol and Ajay Devgan in the same film. The film did great business. Juhi Chawla acted in romantic films opposite all the leading actors of bollywood, including Rishi Kapoor in Bol Radha Bol and Eena Meena Dika, Anil Kapoor in Deewana Mastana, Jhoot Bole Kowa Kate, Amir Khan in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, to name a few. In the mid-90s she acted in a number of films opposite superstar Shahrukh Khan. Her major films opposite Shahrukh Khan included Duplicate, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, etc. She started her production house Dreams Unlimited along with Shahrukh Khan and produced many films. One of the hit films included Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Both Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla acted in the film. Juhi Chawla also acted in films opposite other actors. Her performance in character roles in the recent times had also impressed the crowds. Some of her recent films included Salaam-E-Ishq opposite Anil Kapoor. She played the role of a middle-aged woman whose husband got attached with another woman. She got dejected at the beginning, but keeping in mind the interest of her children, she compromised with Juhi Chawla. Juhi Chawla acted in action films like Darr as well. She performed opposite Sunny Deol and Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan acted in a negative role in the film who was killed at the end by Sunny Deol. Juhi Chawla’s dance performance in the film in songs like “tu meri saamne” still haunts the viewers. In 2012 she had acted in a number of films like Main Krishna Hoon, Son of Sardar. Son of Sardar was released in November, 2012, and there was lot of hope relating to the film where Juhi Chawla had a great role. The film did business of more than 100 crores and her performance opposite Sanjay Dutt created attention. In 2013, she had acted in the film Gulaab Gang. The film is yet to be released. The viewers expect Juhi Chawla to continue the quality work in future.

The team of Aschorjo Prodip stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.

The team of Aschorjo Prodip stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.

Director Anik Dutta had made a new film Aschorjo Prodip. It has been based on the literature of Sirshendu Mukherjee. Saswata Chatterjee played the character of a middle class person in the film. He initially was an ordinary salesman. Srilekha Mitra played the role of his wife in the film. All of a sudden he received an aschorjo prodip, that means a light from where a character Genie came out. The role had been played by Rajatavo Dutta. From that time whenever he told his wishes Rajatavo made the difference and Saswata became rich. Rupa Bhattacharya played the role of a private secretary of Saswata Chatterjee. She did not like him when he was a middle class person. But when he became rich she fell in love with him. The music of the film had been composed by Raja Narayan Deb. He had given good music in the film. Sanjoy Biswas played the role of a comedian in the film. All these characters were invited by Sourav Ganguly in the show. Sourav told Saswata Chatterjee that he saw the film Kahaani 3 times to understand the story. But Kahaani had been a brilliant film of Sujoy Ghosh, due to brilliant acting of Vidya Balan, it was also due to brilliant acting Saswata Chatterjee. His character of serial killer Bob Biswas had been liked by people of different parts of the country. Sanjoy Biswas made Sourav laugh by saying his wife always suspected that he had affairs with other women. So after the program he had to go to Nandan and stay there for the night. At the end of the show Rupa Bhattacharya answered the maximum number of questions and became the champion of the program.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to versatile actor Kamal Hassan on 7th November, 2013. He had been a versatile figure both in bollywood films and South Indian cinema. Presently he is busy with the film Viswaroopam II. In the early 80s, his film Ek Duje Ke Liye stormed bollywood. It was a teenage love story where Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri reached their performance to huge number of Indians. Kamal Hassan also showed his exceptional dancing skills in songs like “hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye”. The music was composed by LP and the music astonished the viewers. He followed it up with his brilliant performance in the film Saagar. In Saagar, Ramesh Sippy experimented with a triangular love story with Kamal Hassan, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. The songs of the film composed by RD Burman became super hit. Some of them included “o maria”, “chehera ho”, “saagar kinare”, “jane do na”, etc. Kamal Hassan brought tears in the eyes of his audience through his sacrificing performance as died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor. Besides he also exhibited his acrobatic skills in the film. The film did brilliant business due to power pact performance of Kamal Hassan, Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor. From that time onwards he acted in different types of films, both having commercial significance and also art value. He acted in the film Geraftaar opposite Big B and Rajnikant. The viewers remember his comedy film Chachi 420. He received a number of national awards for best actor in the last 30 years. He had remained an all-time superstar in South Indian film industry. Kamal Hassan used all the legendary actors of bollywood in the film Chachi 420 as a director and emerged victorious. Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Amrish Puri, Tabu were balanced by the brilliant performance of Kamal Hassan himself who played the role of lady Chachi. He took a brilliant make up and created a hilarious script and Om Puri, Amrish Puri, did their best to make the film super hit. He had proved his worth in every department of film making, whether acting or direction. In 2009 also Kamal Hassan came up with ten roles in the film Dasaavatharam. He had acted opposite Asin, Mallika Sherawat and others. He played ten different characters and all the roles were played with different dimensions. Besides he had played many daunting characters in Tamil films and bollywood films like the one in the film Hindustani. Kamal Hassan, received Padmashree, but that had not been a right recognition of his success. His film Viswaroopam also created sensation. The viewers expect him to show the dynamism in future too as they still know that Kamal Hassan still has a lot of acting left in him.

Jaikishan and Rafi's bond cannot be forgotten.

Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal is remembered on 12th September, his death anniversary in 2013. The listeners of music all over the world wished happy birthday to legendary composer Jaikishan better known as Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal on 4th November, 2012. He was part of the legendary duo Shankar Jaikishan who dominated bollwood music during the 1950s and 1960s. Rafi had a very sweet relationship with Shankar Jaikishan but unfortunately their relationship had not been glorified in bollywood history. Whenever contribution of composers relating to classic creations involving Rafi are highlighted the name of Naushad, Roshan, Madanmohan, OP Nayyar are glorified and the contribution of Shankar Jaikishan is ignored. If Rafi’s stylish andaz relating to westernized compositions are adequately it is Shankar Jaikishan who had used it to perfection. They had used Rafi for singing romantic songs with Japanese orchestration in Love in Tokyo including songs like “aja re aa zara aa”, “Japan, Love in Tokyo”, “ o mere shahekhuba”, etc. In Biswajeet’s April Fool SJ’s composition for Rafi including “aa gale lag ja” had westernized background. SJ’s composition for Rafi in Shammi Kapoor’s An Evening in Paris like “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “raat ke humsafar”, had loud French music with echo effect and Rafi’s intonation was also westernized. Shankar Jaikishan gave a completely different style of music to Rafi in Rajender Kumar’s Aarzoo with songs like “aji ruth kar ab”, “chalke teri aankho se”, “ai nargisi mastana”, etc. SJ had given songs addressing children to Rafi including “nanne munne bache teri mutthi me kya hai” in Boot Polish, “hai na bolo bolo”, “re mamma re mamma re” in Shammi Kapoor’s Andaz and “chakke p chakka” in Brahmchari. Rafi pronounced the words with childish accent and SJ used the orchestration to attract children. There were ghazals also given by SJ for Rafi including “rukh se zara nakab” in Jeetender’s Mere Huzoor, “unke khayal aye to” in Raj Kumar’s Lal Patthar, “saaze dil ched de” in Pradeep Kumar’s Rajhaath, etc. Besides SJ’s creation involving Rafi in somber mood had created great impact including songs like “teri zulfon ki judai to nahi maangi thi” in Dev Anand’s Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” in Shammi Kapoor’s Junglee, “yaad na aye” in Rajender Kumar’s Dil Ek Mandir. Shankar Jaikishan had used Rafi’s classical andaz in the songs “radheke tune bansoori churai”, “ajahu na aye”, etc., and combined the ragas with devotional andaz. SJ had given music in almost 200 films within the span from 1949 to 1971, and at least each year they composed music for approximately 10 films. As Rafi was given predominance over other male singers SJ had use him in regular intervals even without doing injustice to Mukesh, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Talat Mehmood and others. Songs like “kaun hai jo sapno me aya” from Jhuk Gaya Aasman, “to bura maan gaye” from Ayee Milan Ki Bela, “yeh ankhen” from Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, “tujhe jeevan ki dor se” from Aasli Nakli, “dheere dheere chal” from Love Marriage, “badan pe sitaren lapete hue” from Prince, “mai kahin kavi na banjayun” from Pyar Hi Pyar, “mai gayun tum so jao” from Brahmchari, had not lost their flavour even 40 years after their creation due to sheer brilliance of Shankar Jaikishan. It is really tragic neither Shankar Jaikishan had received the accolades that they deserved nor Rafi’s association with them had been glorified but history says that the combination of Rafi with Shankar Jaikishan had produced invaluable creations which had become immortal over the period of time. Rafi had a dream run in the 60s, mainly in the films of Jubilee Kumar, Rajender Kumar for more than a number of reasons. Firstly Rajender Kumar acted in the production and direction of biggest banners of bollywood in the 60s. Secondly from 1963 to 1966, all his films ended up in silver jubilee showing his immense popularity and strong presence in the box-office. Shankar Jaikishan was equated with God in the early 60s and the main reason of the box-office success of Jubillee Kumar’s films was the superlative music given to him by both SJ and Naushad. In the film Ayee Milan Ki Bela, all the songs of SJ, picturised on Rajender Kumar and sung by Rafi became super hit The immortal songs include “mai pyar ka diwana“, “aha aye Milan ki bela“, “tum khamseen ho“, “to bura maan gaye“, “o sanam tere ho gaye hum“. Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu’s online chemistry in the film helped in the success of the film. SJ’s composition in the film Aarzoo, Humrahi and Sasural for Rajender Kumar and Rafi were equally rich. The brilliant songs include “chalke teri aankhose“, “ae nargisi mastana“, “aji ruth kar ab“, “yeh aansoo meri dil ki zubaan hai“, “teri pyari pyari surat ko“, “mujhko apne gale laga lo“, to mention a few. Sadhna complimented the powerful performance of Rajender Kumar in Aarzoo. The brilliant combination of Rafi, SJ and Rajender Kumar, continued in the film Dil Ek Mandir and Jhuk Gaya Aasman. Prominent songs include “yaad na jaye“, “jahan koi nahi“, “dil ek mandir hai“, “o priya kaun hai jo sapno me aya“, “kahan chal diye“, to mention a few. SJ Rafi and Rajender Kumar continued in the film Aman, where songs like “surahidar garden koel si hi awaz” still mesmerizes the listeners. Rafi, Rajender Kumar and SJ created history even in the film Suraj. The songs “kaise samjhayun“, “chehere pe giri zulfein“, “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe“, “baharon phool barsao” had become immortal over the years. Rajender Kumar and Vaijayantimala’s screen presence were as majestic as the voice of Rafi and the quality of music of Shankar Jaikishan. The other films where the magic combination of Rafi, Rajender Kumar and Shankar Jaikishan made people speechless include Zindagi and Sangam, with the prominent songs being “pehle milethe sapno me” and “meherban likhoon“. When Shammi Kapoor was informed about Rafi’s death in 1980, he was told by the informer that he had lost his own voice. In other words it was said that Rafi’s voice had reached the soul of Shammi Kapoor, whose success in bollywood films was largely dependent on the golden voice of Rafi. Shankar Jaikishan had contributed in around 22 films of Shammi Kapoor and without the magical duo Rafi’s combination with Shammi Kapoor would not have fulfilled the popular demands of the musical audience. If SJ’s composition for Raj Kapoor mark the music catered to the masses, the composition for Rajender Kumar mark the sophisticated tunes catered towards the cultured audience, the compositions for Shammi Kapoor mark the westernized andaz addressed for the young generations. Shammi Kapoor brought the rock and roll andaz of Hollywood films in hindi films, and SJ and Rafi combined together to bring the energetic andaz of Shammi Kapoor who was considered to be a rebel star in the 60s. In fact his style was imitated by Joy Mukherjee and Biswajeet who were also blessed with melodious songs sung by Rafi in the 60s. SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi combined together to give superhit songs in the film Junglee, including “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “meri yaar shabba khair”, “chahe koi mujhe jungle kahen”, etc. Saira Banu made her debut opposite Shammi Kapoor and the Subodh Mukherjee film became a trend setter for other directors of producers of the 60s. SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi created the same magic in the film Janwar. Songs like “tumse achha kaun hai”, “lal chari maidan khari” became superhit along with romantic performance of Rajashree in the film. SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi combination in the film Raj Kumar was equally sublime with songs like “hum hai rajkumar”, “tumne pukara aur hum chale ayen”, “tumne kisiki jaan ko”, to name a few. Sadhna was sublime along with Shammi Kapoor in the film. SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi created magic again in the film An Evening in Paris. All the songs of the film became super hit including “aji aisa mauka”, “aasman se aya farishta”, “raat ke humsafar”, “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “mera dil hai tera”, “diwane ka naam to pucho”, to name a few. The foreign locations of Paris were as majestic as the European music of SJ and modernized performance of Sharmila Tagore in the film. The brilliant combination of SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi again created magic in the film Brahmchari. All the songs in the film including “dil ke jharoke me”, “chakke pe chakka”, “mai gavun tum so jayo”, “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche” created storm in bollywood films. Shammi Kapoor won the filmfare for best actor for his performance in Brahmchari, and Shankar Jaikishan won the film fare for best music director for the same film, while Rafi won the filmfare for best singer for singing the song of the same film. Again Rajashree was sublime in the film. SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi were equally brilliant in the film Prince where Vaijayantimala acted opposite Shammi Kapoor. Rafi’s songs “muqabla hum se na karo” was as hit as “badan pe sitaren lapete hue”. The same combination came up with brilliant songs in the film Laat Sahab. The songs “sawerewali gari se chale jayenge” and “aye chaand zara chup ja” became superhit. Nutan contributed well opposite Shammi Kapoor. The magic combination of SJ, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi contributed even in GP Sippy film, Andaz. All the songs of Rafi like “dil use do jo jaan deden”, “hai na bolo bolo”, “re mamma re mammare” became superhit. Hema Malini performed for the first time opposite Shammi Kapoor. The brilliant combination of SJ, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi ended with sad demise of Jaikishan in 1971. Articles after articles can be devoted on the magic combination who even created magic in other films like Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Jawan Muhobbat, etc. Critics argue that OP Nayyar and Ravi also contributed in Shammi Kapoor’s films, but their music was also influenced by Shankar Jaikishan’s tunes. The films and the songs of Shammi Kapoor, Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi should be preserved for the future generations. A big section of music lovers agree that had Jaikishan not died in 1971, Rafi’s dominance in bollywood music not suffered at all. In fact SJ’s tunes were brilliant and were specifically catered towards the likings of common mass. They were not that technical which could not reach the audience. Besides SJ gave tunes in around 10 films per years all along the 50s and 60s, the era when Rafi was unbeatable.

Jojo, Sriradha Banerjee, Sampa Kundu and Sahajma stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program.

Jojo, Sriradha Banerjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program.

On Sunday, 3rd November, 2013, on the day of Laxmipuja and Diwali, Rachana Banerjee, the anchor of the program invited the singers in the program Zee Bangla Didi No. 1. All the singers in the program are popular in Bengal. Sohojma was one of the folk singers who sang a folk song. One of the specialities of her song presentation was that she always required another dancer to do play acting when she was singing. Jojo came on the stage and complimented Sohojma when she sang the palli geeti which is called folk song. Rachana Banerjee showed a fill in the blanks in the screen and asked Sriradha Banerjee to first fill up the missing words. Then she asked her to sing the song. It was Manna Dey’s song “lal nil sabujeri mela boseche” in Uttam Kumar’s film Chirodiner. Rachana Banerjee sang the song well. It was composed by composer Dr. Nochiketa Ghosh. Raghob Chatterjee came in the 2nd round which was musical round. He sang the song “allah ke bandeh”. He had classical orientation, so showed some skills in respect of such singing. Singer Sampa Kundu was asked to solve a riddle. There were 3 pictures shown in the screen. She was asked to mention the word. The answer would have been uniform which she could not say. In the fourth round relating to puzzles, Jojo answered the maximum number of answers and became Zee Bangla Didi No. 1. She did not play the rapid fire round at the end, but won a lot of prizes in the show. Rachana Banerjee anchored the program very well.

Happy birthday to Esha Deol.

Happy birthday to dashing star Esha Deol. The viewers wish happy birthday to dashing star Esha Deol on 2nd November, 2013. She studied in Mithibai college in Mumbai. She was good soccer player and also learned Bharatnatyam and Orissi dance. 2011 is a special year for Esha Deol. She is acting in the film Tell Me O Khuda which had been released on 27th October and Chai Garam which is going to be released in 2011 itself. In Tell Me O Khuda Dharmender, Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna acted opposite her. The other film Chai Garam will be released in December, 2011. Govinda, Sunil Shetty and Celina Jaitley had acted opposite her in the film. The film had been directed by Aditya Dutt. Esha Deol started her career with the film Koi Mere Dil Se Pooche. But within 2004 she got big hits like Dhoom. The film did excellent business and Esha Deol never looked back after that. She played her part very well in the film LOC Cargill. She did a great job in the film Kaal opposite other established stars like John Abraham, Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and Lara Dutta. It was a suspense thriller, with Ajay Devgan playing the role of ghost to perfection. She played her role very well in the film Yuva. There also she acted opposite other big stars like Abhishek Bacchan, Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi. In No Entry she played a cameo role opposite Salman Khan. She was the wife of Salman Khan, who had extra-marital affairs and went on telling lies after lies. At the end of the film Salman Khan’s lies were unfolded and that worsened the cause of his friends Anil Kapoor and Fardeen Khan. No Entry was the biggest hit film of 2005. She continued acting in other comedy films like Shaadi No. 1 opposite Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan and others. In 2007 her films Darling and Cash were very impressive. In 2008, her film One Two Three opposite Tushar Kapoor and Sunil Shetty did well. Her comedy timing was well appreciated by the viewers. In 2010, she was busy with the films Kaanch –the broken glass, and Ghost Ghost Na Raha. Ghosh Ghosh Na Raha had not been released and remained a future project. Being the daughter of superstars Dharmender and Hema Malini, there is still a lot of expectation from Esha Deol. Viewers expect that she will do even better in future.