Thursday, January 30, 2014

Balraj Sahani was a great actor.


Balraj Sahani was a great actor. If the Bollywood films of 1950s and 1960s are seen, it will be known that it was dominated by Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. While Raj Kapoor gave blockbusters like Awaara, Shree 420, Anari, Sangam and other films, Dilip Kumar gave blockbusters like Madhumati, Mughal-I –Azam, Ganga Jumna, Ram Aur Shyam and other films. Balraj Sahani acted in realistic films and maintained and same class in his films in that era. He was not considered to be romantic actor. But his character acting created life in classic films. He was brilliant in the film Do Bigha Zameen in 1953, where he played the character of a farmer who had sold the land and came to the city of Kolkata. He displayed the hardship of a rickshaw-puller in Kolkata. In Seema he played an important role of moulding the character of Nutan, who faced many hardhips in life. He was sublime in Hemen Gupta’s film Kabuliwala. It was written by Rabindranath Tagore. Bimal Roy produced the film. It was released in 1961. He was brilliant in the film Bhabhi released in 1957. He showed the sacrifice of an elder brother of a middle-class family. His wife Pandari Bai sacrificed her life for the wellbeing of the family. He was brilliant in the film Bhabhi Ki Chudiya opposite Meena Kumari. There also both Balraj Sahani and Meena Kumari showed the sacrifice for middle-class family. He played the character of an honest doctor in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Anuradha in 1960. He could not do justice to the singing talent of his wife Leela Naidu in the film. But she also never left her. The film received National Award for best film. Balraj Sahani had acted opposite all the best actresses of silver screen including Vaijayantimala in Katputli, Nargis in Lajwanti, Meena Kumari in Satta Bazaar, Nutan in Seema, to name a few. Whenever he played any character, he kept his mark. He had acting experience of working in Indian People’s Theatre, (IPTA). It never looked that he was acting. His performances were very realistic. There were no mannerisms. He also gave lips in landmark songs of Bollywood films. Some of the brilliant songs included “kahan ja rahe ho’ sung by Mohammad Rafi in the film Seema, “aye mere zohrazabi” sung by Manna Dey in the film Waqt, “aye mere pyare watan” sung by Manna Dey in the film Kabuliwala, to name a few. His films and works should be preserved and restored.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Saswati Guhathakurta, Chaitali Dasgupta and others stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program.


Saswati Guhathakurta, Chaitali Dasgupta stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program.
On 28th January, 2014, Deboshree Roy, the anchor of Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program called the news readers of popular Bengali channels. The celebrities who participated in the program included Saswati Guhathakurta, Chaitali Dasgupta, Indrani Bhattacharya and others. In the program Deboshree Roy asked Saswati Guhathakurta about her experience in anchoring different programs in Bengali Doordarshan from 1975, 76 onwards. She said it was a great experience. She said she herself and Chaitali Dasgupta used to anchor the programs during mid-70s and the viewers used to think that they were sisters. She said that she was interested in music also but due to news reading, anchoring the programs in Doordarshan bangla, her skill of music was left alone. She started acting in tele-serials from 1995. She also acted in the successful serial Kanakanjali in the role of the wife of Dulal Lahiri. Chaitali Dasgupta married renowned Bengali director Raja Dasgupta. Deboshree Roy asked her to share the experience of meeting Raja Dasgupta and how they married. She said that she knew dancing also. During childhood she was shy. Later on she had to do anchoring and she enjoyed the job. From 1995 onwards she started acting in television serials. Indrani Bhattacharya also disclosed her history of entering into Television programs. She stayed in Paris for 2 years. She learned music and sang well. In the second round Shymal Mitra’s son Saikat Mitra was invited to sing songs and ask the celebrities to sing songs on specific subjects. All the celebrities did a great job. Deboshree Roy anchored the program very well.

Superstar Jeet stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.


Jeet stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. Bengali superstar Jeet stormed Sourav Ganguly’s Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program on 28th January, 2014. The entire team of the Bengali film Royal Bengal Tiger had been invited by Sourav Ganguly in the Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. Jeet and Abir Chatterjee are the best actors in the film. The film is directed by Rajesh Ganguly and is scheduled to be released on 31st January, 2014. The film is produced by Neeraj Pandey. He came in the show. Sourav Ganguly asked him how was his experience of working in the film A Wednesday? He said it was great to work with two stalwarts Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in the film. The film won many awards. The film had launched a new actress Shraddha Das. She came in the show. Abir Chatterjee and Jeet told the story of the film. In the film, Abir Chatterjee played the role of a middle-class person. He was a simple person who never reacted to the menaces in the society. Once he met Jeet his old friend, and from that time he learned to fight against evil. The rest of the film was related to the courage that he gained from Jeet. That is the reason why the film is named Royal Bengal Tiger. Sourav Ganguly asked Abir Chatterjee about his experience of working with Sandip Ray to play the character of Feluda. He said it was a great experience. The shooting will begin in February. Sourav Ganguly asked a question, how is Royal Bengal tiger different from other tigers. The answer was the black stripes on the body. Each of them are different from the others. Jeet spoke about his film background. He was involved in family business of selling building materials. After that he went to Mumbai. He came back to Kolkata, acted in the film Saathi, and the rest was history. Jeet answered the maximum number of answers and scored the fastest fifty. He also won the competition at the end by answering maximum number of questions in the slog over round. Sourav Ganguly anchored the program with style.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Salman Khan was brilliant in Jai Ho.


Salman Khan was brilliant in Jai Ho. After almost a year a Salman Khan film had been released. Jai Ho had been released on 24th January, 2014, on a non-festival day. The film had collected 75 crores in 4 days. Whenever the success of Salman Khan’s previous films are compared Jai Ho did not get the opening of Ek Tha Tiger. Actually Salman Khan had set his own standards so high that whenever his films are release there is too much expectation. But there is a limit to box-office collection given by a star. Jai Ho had been directed by Sohail Khan. In this film Salman Khan had launched a new actress Daisy Shah. She had done very well in the film. The theme of the film is very good. Salman Khan an ex-army man had told the persons whom he helped not to tell him thank you. Instead help 3 other persons, who in turn should help 3 other persons. The chain continues. Tabu had played the role of the sister of Salman Khan. She did a fabulous job. Nadira Babbar played the role of the mother of Salman Khan. In the film Danny played the character of home minister and he wanted to kill the Chief Minister. Salman Khan carried the injured Chief Minister and got him cured and fought against the men of Danny. There were cameo performances from Sunil Shetty and Genelia Desouza. Sunil Shetty played the character of a military major who saw Salman Khan helping children. In the last scene he brought a military tanker to help Salman Khan. Genelia De Souza played the character of handicapped girl who could not give her exam and committed suicide. The music of Jai Ho was good. Shreya Ghoshal and Shaan’s song “tere naina maar hi dalenge” became super hit. Sajid Wajid’s tunes were impressive. Salman Khan also showing public concern, did not allow to raise the prices of the film as well. So if the film had collected 75 crores in 4 days, if prices were increased by this time the film would have collected 100 crores. If Salman Khan’s success story from Wanted is traced back, he just had had broken his own records. Dabaang 2 had broken the record of Ready. Ek Tha Tiger had broken the record of Bodyguard. Jai Ho will do business of 150 crores.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Sony TV showed the filmfare awards 2014.


The Colours Channel Showed the Filmfare awards on Republic Day, 26th January, 2014, 8 pm onwards. Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra anchored the program. Ranbir Kapoor jokingly mentioned he acted in 6 films, but other than Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Besharam, all his roles were edited away. He had acted in the films Chennai Express, Ramleela, etc. Farhan Akhtar won the best actor male award in Filmfare awards 2014. He won the award for the brilliant performance in the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. It was a difficult role and he played it in style. For playing real life characters actors are required to do a huge amount of homework. Farhan Akhtar did it and came out with flying colours. He won the award defeating the superstars Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3, Shahrukh Khan in Chennai Express and Hrithik Roshan in Krissh 3. Even Ranbir Kapoor was nominated in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. There were brilliant dance performances in the show. Madhuri Dixit danced in majority of her own songs like “ore piya” and other songs of Dedh Ishqiya. Salman Khan gave a dazzling performance in majority of his songs like “Dabaang”. Katrina Kaif gave fiery dance performance on the song “dhoom dhoom”. Deepika Padukone won the best actor female award in Filmfare awards 2014. She got it for the film Ram Leela. She had a fabulous year. All her films did monumental business including Ram Leela, Chennai Express, Race 2 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Nawazuddin Siddique won the best supporting actor award for his performance in the film Lunchbox. The best actress in a supporting role went to the actress Supriya Pathak for her performance in the film Ram Leela. The best music director award went to Jeet Ganguly, Mithun and Ankit Tiwari for the music of film Ashiqi 2. Arijit Singh won the best male singer award for the song “tum hi ho” from the film Ashiqi 2. Monali Thakur won the best female singer award for the song “sawaar loon” from the film Lootera. Both Arijit Singh and Monali Thakur deserved the awards. Best lyrics award went to Prasoon Joshi for his lyrics in the song “zinda” from the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film won the maximum number of awards. Rakeysh Mehra won the best director award for the brilliant film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film also won the best film award. Veteran actress Tanuja won the lifetime achievement award. She had a huge contribution in Bollywood films of 1960s. Her films Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi opposite Dharmender, Anubhav opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Hathi Mere Saathi opposite Rajesh Khanna and even Bengali films like Antony Firingi opposite Uttam Kumar still is fresh in the minds of the audience. Superstar Amitabh Bacchan gave her the award and acknowledged her great contribution to Indian cinema. The award show was telecast in Sony Entertainment Television on 26th January at 8 pm.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Kamal Hassan won Padmabhushan award, while Sabitri Chatterjee won Padmashree award.


Kamal Hassan received Padmabhushan, Sabitri Chatterjee, Vidya Balan received Padmashree. The Padma awards of 2014 had been announced on the day of Republic Day, 26th January, 2014. Veteran actor and director Kamal Hassan won Padmabhushan award for his excellence in Indian cinema. He received it late. He deserved it earlier. He had won 3 national awards. Many of his Tamil films and hindi films are notable. He is remembered for the great performances in the film Ek Duje Ke liye, Saagar, Chachi 420, Geratfaar, to name a few. Bengali actresses Sabitri Chatterjee and Supriya Debi won Padmashri award late in their life. Both are almost 80 years old. Sabitri Chatterjee had been very powerful actress of Bengali films of 1950s and 1960s. She had acted in 27 films opposite superstar Uttam Kumar. Some of her majestic performances were in Bengali films Morutirtha Hinglaj, Kal Tumi Aleya, Goli Theke Rajpoth, Basant Bahar, Baluchori, Mouchak to name a few. None of the Bengali actresses had comedy timing of the class of Sabitri Chatterjee. Supriya Debi was also successful heroine of superstar Uttam Kumar. Some of her successful films included Meghe Dhaka Tara, Komal Gandhar, Suno Boro Nari, Jibon Mrityu, Mon Niye, to name a few. She also acted in more than 30 films with superstar Uttam Kumar. Vidya Balan won Padmashri award at an early age. She is the best actress of Bollywood films at this point of time. Her performances in films like Ishqiya, Paa, Dirty Picture, Kahaani are matchless. She still has a long way to go. Paresh Rawal won the Padmashree award. He was also a versatile actor and played impressive character roles in films like Wo Chokri, Hera Pheri, Malamaal Weekly, to name a few. With performances in more than 200 films he had huge contribution in Indian cinema. Yuvraaj Singh won Padmashree, for his excellence in cricket. Badminton player Gopichand, tennis player Leander Paez won Padmabhushan award for their excellence in their main sports. While the recipients deserved the great award, there were lot of people who deserved the awards but never got it. For example singers like Manobendra Mukherjee, Geeta Dutt, composers like Madanmohan Kohli, Roshanlal Nagrath, actors like Guru Dutt, Pradip Kumar, actresses like Sadhna, Nanda did not get any Padma award. It is very difficult to choose the right recipient, in a country like India, where so many talents in the respective field galvanize the fine arts. But the Government should make an effort to award all the talented people in the country for better performances in every field.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Farhan Akhtar was best actor while Deepika Padukone best actress in Filmfare awards 2014


Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone won best actor awards in Filmfare Awards 2014.
Farhan Akhtar won the best actor male award in Filmfare awards 2014. He won the award for the brilliant performance in the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. It was a difficult role and he played it in style. For playing real life characters actors are required to do a huge amount of homework. Farhan Akhtar did it and came out with flying colours. He won the award defeating the superstars Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3, Shahrukh Khan in Chennai Express and Hrithik Roshan in Krissh 3. Even Ranbir Kapoor was nominated in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Deepika Padukone won the best actor female award in Filmfare awards 2014. She got it for the film Ram Leela. She had a fabulous year. All her films did monumental business including Ram Leela, Chennai Express, Race 2 and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Nawazuddin Siddique won the best supporting actor award for his performance in the film Lunchbox. The best actress in a supporting role went to the actress Supriya Pathak for her performance in the film Ram Leela. The best music director award went to Jeet Ganguly, Mithun and Ankit Tiwari for the music of film Ashiqi 2. Arijit Singh won the best male singer award for the song “tum hi ho” from the film Ashiqi 2. Monali Thakur won the best female singer award for the song “sawaar loon” from the film Lootera. Both Arijit Singh and Monali Thakur deserved the awards. Best lyrics award went to Prasoon Joshi for his lyrics in the song “zinda” from the film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film won the maximum number of awards. Rakeysh Mehra won the best director award for the brilliant film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. The film also won the best film award. Veteran actress Tanuja won the lifetime achievement award. She had a huge contribution in Bollywood films of 1960s. Her films Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi opposite Dharmender, Anubhav opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Hathi Mere Saathi opposite Rajesh Khanna and even Bengali films like Antony Firingi opposite Uttam Kumar still is fresh in the minds of the audience. The award show will be telecast in Sony Entertainment Television on 26th January at 8 pm.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Amir Khan was excellent in Dhoom 3.


Amir Khan was excellent in Dhoom 3. Amir Khan is one of the Indian actors who had created special attention amongst his fans for signing meaningful films. When he signed Dhoom 3 many viewers raised their eyebrows, how come an actor of the stature of Amir Khan signed such a masala film. But when the same viewers came out of the halls seeing the film they had different opinion. Amir Khan played a double role in the film. Both were the sons of magician Jackie Shroff. He showed his skills in Great Indian circus in a hall in Chicago. But due to the failure of western bank of Chicago to allow the circus to go on and Jackie Shroff could repay the loan. The Bank Manager did not agree and Jackie Shroff committed suicide in front of the manager. Amir Khan and his brother grew up and took revenge by robbing different branches of Western Bank of Chicago. His twin brother looked identical. He was used by elder brother Sahir whenever he required to do a trick and also to do the acrobatic stunts. He also appointed Katrina Kaif who showed her stunts in the same circus and the twin brother Samar (also played by Amir Khan) fell in love with Katrina Kaif. Abhishek Bacchan and Uday Chopra came in the show and identified the act of the two brothers. When both the twin brothers played by Amir Khan were chased by the police, they jumped down the bridge and died. Katrina Kaif continued the great Indian circus. The performance of Amir Khan was per excellence. He played the innocent character of Samar, the weaker brother with beauty. He outshined all the other artists in the film. Pritam’s music was impressive. Mohit Chauhan’s song “tu hi junoon” created magic. The film did business of more than 250 crores and remains the biggest Bollywood blockbuster ever. Amir Khan should get best actor award for supreme performance in the film Dhoom 3.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Happy birthday to Urmila Matondkar.


Urmila Matondkar had always remained underrated actress.
The viewers of Bollywood films wish happy birthday to Urmila Matondkar on 4th February, 2014. Urmila Matondkar had always remained underrated actress inspite of providing landmark performances in her illustrious career. She started her career as child artist in Shekhar’s Kapoor’s off-beat film Masoom in the early 80s. Although Shekhar Kapoor made the film with intellectual performers like Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, the commercial audience had enjoyed the film to the fullest extent. Bhupinder Singh’s song “huzur is kadar bhi na itrake chaliye”, Anup Ghoshal’s song “tujhse naraz nahi zindagi” composed by RD Burman still remains a landmark in Indian film music. In the same film Urmila Matondkar’s lips in the song “lakri ki kaathi” is still remembered by cinematic crowd in India. Urmila was sublime in Ram Gopal Verma’s ghostly venture “bhoot”. She played the role of the unsatisfied soul who got into the body of another individual to take revenge against the ghastly murder committed some time back. Her performance in off-beat films had compelled producers and directors to cast her in complex roles in serious films like Pinjar, Tehzeeb, etc. In Tehzeeb she complimented the powerful performance of Shabana Azmi, who was considered the greatest Indian actress of all times by eminent director Tapan Sinha. If those performances show the depth of acting of Urmila Matondkar, their performance in commercial films show her adaptability in any form of situations. She was brilliant in the film Rangeela opposite Amir Khan and Jackie Shroff. The film was commercially successful and Urmila adjusted her stylish image to perfection in the film. She was successful in many commercial films including Daud, opposite Sanjay Dutt, Judaai opposite Anil Kapoor and Sri Devi, to name a few. Even her dance numbers in films like China Gate had amazed the viewers. But she had remained underrated all along her career. Neither she was considered the competitor of Juhi Chawla or Kajol in the mid 90s, nor Rani Mukherjee or Preeti Zinta in the late 90s, nor Katrina Kaif or Priyanka Chopra in the present period. Whenever complex roles are created, producers and directors think about Urmila Matondkar, but when the films end up in success, her name is forgotten. Urmila Matondkar should ignore the publicity and reaction of media towards her and continue the good work that she had done till date.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha struck gold in R Rajkumar.


Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha were awesome in R Rajkumar.
The film R Rajkumar did business of more than 65 crores. The film had been super hit. The business of the film got affected due to release of Dhoom 3 in the last week of December which did business of more than 230 crores. It had been directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Viki Rajani and Sunil Lulla. The music of the film had been composed by Pritam. Shahid Kapoor worked for Drug racket holder Sonu Sood. The racket was controlled internationally by Sridhar who operated it from Malaysia. Shahid Kapoor fell in love with Sonakshi Sinha, who was the nephew of Ashish Vidyarthi, who was also another drug racket holder. Sonu Sood compromised with Ashish Vidyarthi with the condition that he wanted to marry Sonakshi Sinha. Shahid Kapoor challenged him that he would not allow Sonakshi Sinha to be married on the day of Dussehra, instead he would marry her. The rest of the film was related to oppression of Ashish Vidyarthi, keeping Sonakshi Sinha within 4 walls. At last there was furious action between Sonu Sood and Shahid Kapoor resulting in Shahid Kapoor killing Sonu Sood. He also killed the international drug dealer. The music of Pritam was successful. The songs “gandi baat” sung by Mika Singh and Kalpana Patowari, “mat maari” sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Kunal Ganjawala, “saree ke fall sa” sung by Antara Mitra and Nakash Aziz became smash hits. Shahid Kapoor is second best dancer in India after Hrithik Roshan. He rocked the screen with each of his dance performances. Sonakshi Sinha was graceful at every stage of the film. The performances of Sonu Sood, Ashish Vidyarthi, Asrani, Achut Potdar and Mukul Dev were per excellence. The film became super hit and ended the dry run of Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha. Both required a hit. Both should do better job in 2014.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Happy birthday to Bobby Deol.


Happy birthday to Bobby Deol. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Bobby Deol, on 27th January, 2014. He had acted in many successful films in his long career, and the new generation expects even better performance from the stylish actor. In 2013 film Yaamla Pagla Deewana 2 did not do great business. He is busy with the film Border 2. In 2012 his first film Players did not do great business. He played the role of a magician in the thriller film of Abbas Mastan. But Abhishek Bacchan played the lead role in the film. As Bobby Deol’s role was small in the film, he had hardly big role to play in the success or failure of the film. Being the son of Dharmender and brother of Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol required some special skills to create his identity and look different to the viewers. He showed his stylish accent in the film Gupt which was a murder mystery. Bobby Deol was alleged to have killed his father Raj Babbar and was sent to jail. He escaped from the jail with the help of Manisha Koirala and proved himself innocent. He matched the villainish performance of Kajol in the film and balanced the performances of a series of villains in the film including Prem Chopra, Raza Murad, etc. Om Puri was sublime in the role of a police inspector and Bobby Deol showed his personality when both of them met each other. He even gave good lips in the songs composed by Viju Shah like “bechaniya”, “gupt, gupt”, etc. Producers started casting Bobby Deol in stylish roles especially in action pact films like Soldier. He did very well opposite Preeti Zinta. Most of the film was shot in Australia and Bobby Deol proved himself both as a romantic actor and also action. All the songs of the film were hit including “soldier, soldier”, “mehfil me ekbaar”, etc. His action stunts opposite Suresh Oberoi was ably appreciated by the viewers. After few years Bobby Deol changed his hair style but continued to act in action films like Badal and Bicchu. In both these films his heroine was Rani Mukherjee who added attraction in the films. Bobby Deol brought out the vengeance in the character of terrorists especially in the film Badal. But someway or the other due to strong domination of Shahrukh Khan mainly in romantic films, Bobby Deol’s films did mediocre business and he did not get the recognition he deserved. Even in suspense thrillers like Ajnabee, Bobby Deol balanced the villanish performance of Akshay Kumar and individual performances of Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu. The film had many twists and turns and Bobby Deol ultimately took revenge against Akshay Kumar for planting a false case against him. Bobby Deol even did well in the film Aur Pyar Ho Gaya opposite Aishwarya Rai. His films Jhoom Barabar Jhoom did not do that well in 2007, but his film Heroes in 2008 did good business. In 2009, his film Ek, The Power of One did moderate business. He had shown excellence in action films, but for the last few years action films did not do great business. With strong competition from Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Amir Khan and the new heroes Bobby Deol has to do something exceptional to maintain his stardom. In 2011, all the three Deols namely, Bobby Deol, Sunny Deol and Dharmender appeared in the film Yaamla Paagla Deewana. The film had been released in January, 2011 and did great business Bobby Deol played the role of a thief who was reformed by his brother Sunny Deol. He showed his comedy instincts in the film. The film was named with Mohammad Rafi’s super hit song “jat yaamla pagla deewana” picturised on actor Dharmender in the mid 70s in the film Pratigya. In 2013 he acted in the Yaamla Pagla Deewana 2. But the film did average business. The viewers expect him to do even better in bollywood films in the years to come.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Suchitra Sen remained immortal on her death.


Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. He was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks ago. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 83rd birthday on 6th April, 2013. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 30
films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved. It is a pity that Suchitra Sen had gone behind the purdah. The media people cannot approach her to get interview. The films of Suchitra Sen should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to OP Nayyar and looking back at his combination with Mohammad Rafi.


Looking back at combination of OP Nayyar and Mohammad Rafi. The musiclovers had remembered legendary composer Omkar Prasad Nayyar, popularly known as OP Nayyar on his birthday on 16th January, 2014. He had died few years back, but his tunes had remained immortal for the audience of bollywood films for years. Whenever the name of OP Nayyar appeared in the minds of the audience, the name of immortal singer Mohammad Rafi had come together, without whom OP Nayyar was incomplete. OP Nayyar started his career with the film Kaneej in 1949. Guru Dutt had created his image in bollywood films in different categories being a thoughtful director and producer, dynamic actor, good choreographer. One of the numerous reasons for which his films became super hit in the 50s and 60s included the brilliant songs sung by Rafi during the golden age. Rafi’s songs in Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar, released in 1954 and composed by OP Nayyar became super hit. It was followed by Mr and Mrs. 55 released in 1955. Songs picturized on both Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker had melody and sweetness. Rafi’s songs like “dil pe kiya aisa jaadu”, “muhobbat karlo aji karlo”, “sun sun sun sun zaalima”, composed by OP Nayyar, created landmark in the mid-50s and Rafi emerged as the greatest singer of bollywood films during that time. In many of the songs Geeta Dutt did a great job in duets sung along with Mohammad Rafi. The same combination of Guru Dutt, OP Nayyar and Rafi gave everlasting hit in the film 12 O Clock with songs like “mai kho gaya”. Also in CID, OP Nayyar and Rafi combination created gold with songs like “aye dil mushkil jeena yahan”, “leke pehla pehla pyar”, “ankhon hi ankhon me”, etc. The magic combination of Rafi and OP Nayyar mesmerized the audience in Dilip Kumar’s Naya Daur. The super hit songs “saathi hath barana”, “mangke saath tumhara”, “mai bombai ka babu”, contributed a lot in the absolute success of the film. The brilliant combination of OP Nayyar and Rafi continued in Raj Kapoor’s film Do Ustad. All the songs in the film became extremely popular including “tu ladki mai ladka”, “ruk ruk ruk, chor na de diwane”, “nazron ke teer mare kas kas kas”, etc. Joy Mukherjee’s film Ek Musafir Ek Hasina did brilliant business in the early 60s. Raj Khosla’s musical thriller released in 1962 addressed every section of the society with romantic performance of Joy Mukherjee and Sadhna. All the songs of Rafi and Asha picturized on Joy Mukherjee and Sadhna became super hit. It includes songs like “aap yuhin agar humse milte rahe”, “mujhe dekhkar aapka muskurana”, “phir tere shahar me”, “mai pyar ka rahi hoon”, “bahut shukhriya, bari meherbani”, “humko tumhari isqh ne”, to name a few. Rafi was elegant as ever in the songs “phir tere shahar me” and “humko tumhare ishq ne”. OP Nayyar was probably at his best in the film and his blend of eastern and western music created the romantic mood for the film. Joy Mukherjee, Rafi and OP Nayyar’s magical combination continued in the film Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon. Most part of the film released in 1963 was shot at picturesque locations of Jammu & Kashmir and the landscape was as romantic as the songs sung by Rafi and Asha in the film. The prominent songs included “banda parwar, thamlo jigar”, “lakho hai nigahon me”, “nazneen bara rangeen hai wada tera”, “aanchal me sajalena kaliyan”, “zulf ke chayon me chehere ka ujala lekar”, to name a few. Rafi had shown his excellent classical skills in the songs “zulf ke chayon me”, and “aancal me sajalena kaliyan”. Asha Parekh showed her dancing skills to perfection in the film. Rajender Nath played the role of the relief character in the film. In fact OP Nayyar maintained the same standard of music in Shammi Kapoor’s film Kashmir Ki Kali and Biswajeet’s film Mere Sanam which were made after Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon. Joy Mukherjee’s combination with OP Nayyar continued in the film Humsaya. In that film Sharmila Tagore got the lead role opposite Joy Mukherjee. By that time due to emergence on new actors and actresses in bollywood films, Joy Mukherjee’s popularity declined and the film also did moderate business. In respect of the songs, Rafi’s song “dil ki awaaz bhi sun” became hit. But OP Nayyar gave a number of songs to Mahendra Kapoor was well which did not strike gold in the box –office. Besides Rafi’s western romantic mood is utilized by OP Nayyar in a very stylish way in the songs “Diwana hua badal, sawan ki ghata chayi” and “Yeh Chand Sa Roshan Chehera” in the film Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964 picturised on Shammi Kapoor and “Humne to dilko aap ke kadmome rakh diya, is dil ka kya karenge yeh ab aap sochiye” in the film Mere Sanam, 1965 and “Phir Miloge Kabhi is baat ka wada karlo, humse ek aur mulakat ka wada karlo” in the film Yeh Raat Phir Na Ayegi, picturised on Biswajeet. In all these songs the sarengi and santoor had played a very pivotal role accompanied by the intoxicating appeal of Rafi’s voice. In the film Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi, Rafi’s ghazal “aap ki haseen rukh” composed by OP Nayyar and picturised on Dharmender was extremely romantic and made the audience spellbound in the early 60s. The list of films where OP Nayyar and Rafi’s magic flabbergasted the listeners just goes on including films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Basant, Phagun, Kismat, etc. One article is too small to explain the domination of OP Nayyar and Mohammad Rafi in bollywood films of the 50s and 60s. But the songs and the films had not become obsolete and listeners can listen to them again and again. The songs and the films should be restored.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Happy birthday to Subhash Ghai.


Happy birthday to Subhash Ghai. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Subhash Ghai on 24th January, 2014. Subhash Ghai was considered to be the second showman of bollywood films after Producer Director Raj Kapoor. Subhash Ghai had made different types of films over the last 30 years and in most of the cases the films had appealed to the masses. His film Karz in 1979 was based on story of reincarnation of Rishi Kapoor who had been killed by Simi Garewal in his previous life. He identified his mother and sister and unfolded the truth relating to the murder by Simi Garewal. Subhas Ghai was successful to motivate LP to create landmark tunes in the film with Rafi’s song “darde dil” and Kishore’s song “om shanti om” becoming landmark hits in the early 80s. Karz was remade in the recent past with Himesh Reshamiya playing the role of Rishi Kapoor. But the magic of Subhash Ghai’s Karz could not be repeated again. His film Karma in 1985 had a subject related to terrorism. Dilip Kumar was the jailor whose family was killed by the terrorist gang led by Anupam Kher. He was imprisoned in the respective jail of Dilip Kumar and took revenge by escaping from the prison and killing his family members. Anupam Kher’s performance opposite Dilip Kumar changed the shape of his career and he became landmark villain in the following years. Dilip Kumar created a force with criminals like Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Nasiruddin Shah who were facing imprisonment. They helped him in his fight against terrorism and the mission was successful. Subhash Ghai’s film Khalnayak was based on the creation of an offender by the evil forces. Sanjay Dutt was compelled to become a criminal and joined the criminal gang. He was arrested by Jackie Shroff and he fled from the prison. Madhuri Dixit the wife of Jackie Shroff helped him to catch Sanjay Dutt at the end of the film. Subhash Ghai also experimented with legendary actors like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar in the film Saudagar. He had the guts to experiment with new actor and actresses and many of them rose to stardom with the start given by Subhash Ghai. Manisha Koirala started her career with Khalnayak and later on became a successful actress of the 90s. His other successful films include Kalicharan with Shatrughun Sinha, Yadein with Hrithik Roshan, Hero with Jackie Shroff, Taal with Anil Kapoor. Very significantly the music in the films of Subhash Ghai had been extremely successful and LP had played an important role in composing music for his films. Last year Subhash Ghai made Yuvvraaj with Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anil Kapoor. The film did not do great business but the music composed by AR Rehman stole the hearts of the audience. All the songs became super hit including “tu muskura”, “shano shano”, etc. Subhash Ghai was instrumental in giving opportunity to new talents in the world of singing like Benny Dayal, Javed Ali in the film Yuvvraaj. Viewers will always remember Subhash Ghai for giving scope to newcomers who had always became great stars in bollywood in future like Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, to name a few. The list can go on. The viewers expect him to continue the good work and create better films in future.

Happy birthday to creative composer AR Rehman.


Happy birthday to AR Rehman. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to AR Rehman on 6th January, 2014. In 2011, he had been remembered for his brilliant music in the film Rockstar. In 2013 he composed brilliant music in the film Ranjhanaa. AR Rehman’s receiving of Oscar for specific song and background score of the film Slumdog Millionaire had been a reward for the excellent music he had composed in Indian films during the last 15 years. That includes the music for the films in bollywood industry and South Indian industry. The film produced by Anil Kapoor had shown the realistic picture of the reaction of the police department whenever a slumdweller earns huge sum of money after participating in a quiz competition held in a TV Channel. The depiction of the life in a slum is well appreciated by both the intellectual viewers and also the general audience. The background score created by AR Rehman had created theme music for the film. In fact as the film was realistic in nature there was not much scope of creating that many number of songs. In fact the Indians are very happy about the recognition of AR Rehman due to his consistent composition of legendary tunes. AR Rehman had entertained the viewers with his innovative music for more than 15 years. His music in the film Roja, with Arvind Swamy and Madhu astonished the viewers of bollywood films a lot in the early 90s. The songs “roja janeman” and “dil hai chota sa” became super hit in the early 90s. Chitra, Hariharan and other singers contributed very well in the film Roja. AR Rehman’s music in the film Bombay was successful as well. Songs like “tu hi re” sung by Hariharan stormed bollywood films. AR Rehman was sublime in the film Saathiya. Sonu Nigam’s song “saathiya” and other songs of the film were very melodious. A R Rehman was brilliant in Taal. Songs like “ishq bina kya jina”, “rabba jogi” etc. were unique in nature. In 2008, all the tunes of AR Rehman were unique. The songs in the film Jodha Akbar had mughal andaz like the one “khwaja meri khwaja”. In Jane Tu Yaa Jane Na, AR Rehman catered to the tastes of the young crowds. Songs like “pappu cant dance sala”, “kabhi kabhi aditi” were full of energy and rhythm. On the other hand the music in the film Yuvvraaj, was romantic with songs like “tu hi to meri dost hai”, “shanno shanno”. Viewers feel that AR Rehman still has a lot of music left in him. He is expected to do more experiments in the films in future after winning the Oscar award for Slumdog Millionaire.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone received best actor actress award in Screen Awards 2014.


Farhan Akhtar rightly received best actor jury Screen Awards 2014.
The Screen awards of 2014 had been announced. Farhan Akhtar had rightly received the best actor award in the jury category for his performance in the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. He really portrayed the character of Milkha Singh very well in the film. Shahrukh Khan received the best actor award in the popular category for his performance in the film Chennai Express. Aamir Khan also gave splendid performance in the film Dhoom 3 and Hrithik Roshan was sublime in Krish 3. Both of them remained unrewarded. Also Ranbir Kapoor’s brilliant performance in the film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani deserved an award. Deepika Padukone won the best actress award both in the jury category and the popular category. She was brilliant in the films Chennai Express and Ramleela. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was adjudged the best film of the year. Arijit Singh won the best male singer award for the song “tum hi ho” in film Ashiqi 2. Shreya Ghoshal won the best female singer award for the song “sun raha hai na” from the film Ashiqi 2. Pritam received the best music director award for the romantic music in the film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Rishi Kapoor received the best villain award. Amitabh Bacchan was given lifetime achievement award for his contribution to hindi cinema. The Zee Cine Awards and the Filmfare awards are yet to be given. It is interesting to see who bags the best actor and best actress award over there.

Happy birthday to Minissha Lamba


Happy birthday to Minissha Lamba. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Minisha Lamba on 18th January, 2014. She had been a new icon of bollywood films who had become popular during the last few years and is about to act in big banner films. She started her career in bollywood films with the film Yahaan in 2005. It was directed by Sujit Sircar and he was looking for a newcomer at that time. Minisha Lamba created an impression and bagged an important role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s successful film Corporate. Corporate was based on the complexities faced by the workers and the employers of the corporate world which is crude reality in the metros. Most of the employees in the corporate world become mentally sick with the monotonous work culture and demand of fulfilling targets. Bipasha Basu gave a lifetime performance in the film and Minisha Lamba also was appreciated for her strong performance. She acted in small budget films like Anthony Kaun Hai, Dus Kahaniya, Honeymoon Travels Kaun Hai and became a regular actress in contemporary films. Then she got a lifetime role in the film Bacchan Aye Haseeno, opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Newcomers in bollywood dream about getting roles under the Yashraj Banner. Minissha Lamba got the role in the very early part of her career. Bacchna Aye Haseeno was the story of Ranbir Kapoor who had met three different girls in his life and each of the girls had a great influence on his character. He had different experiences with Minisha Lamba, Bipasha Basu and Deepika Padukone and all the experiences eventually shaped his character. Minnisha Lamba gave able lips in the song “ki mujhe pyar hai” composed by Vishal Shekhar in the film. The music of the film was very impressive with hit songs like “bacchna aye haseeno”, and other songs. In 2008, Minisha Lamba also acted in an important character in the action film Kidnap. She played the role of the daughter of Sanjay Dutt was lived separately from her mother due to differences between each other. Imran Khan, the relative of Amir Khan, kidnapped her and asked for heavy ransom from her father Sanjay Dutt. Although Sanjay Dutt did not fulfill any of the father’s responsibilities till the call of kidnapper was made, his influence in the society was used for releasing his daughter. He took the call of Imran Khan as a challenge and the rest of the film involved the struggle of Sanjay Dutt in bringing Khan to task. She did well opposite Boman Irani in Shyam Benegal’s film Well done Abba. Minissha Lamba was sublime in the film and showed signs of a matured actress. In 2012 she had acted in the film Joker opposite Akshay Kumar and Zilla Ghaziabad opposite Sanjay Dutt and Vivek Oberoi. With a number of new actresses like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Asin, increasing the competition amongst heroines, Minissha Lamba has a challenging task of maintaining her stardom and perform even better in the new films in future.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Guru Dutt and Mohammad Rafi made for each other.


Magic combination of Guru Dutt and Mohammad Rafi. Eminent director, actor and producer Guru Dutt had a great relationship with legendary singer great Mohammad Rafi Sahab. Just because the relationship lasted for 14 years till the sad death of Guru Dutt in 1964, Rafisahab did not get an opportunity to contribute in more than 100 songs for Guru Dutt. But majority of the songs were masterpieces which adorn the golden music of the 1950s and 1960s. Rafi’s songs in Guru Dutt’s Aar Paar, released in 1954, composed by OP Nayyar became super hit. On one hand Rafisahab reflected the andaz of Guru Dutt in the songs “sun sun sun sun zalima” and “mohabbat kar lo jee bhar lo”, on the other hand sang with comedy andaz for Johnny Walker for the song “na na na na nan a tauba tauba”. Geeta Dutt did a great job in the duet songs opposite Rafi Sahab. In the film Baaz released in 1953, Rafisahab’s song “jo dil ki baat hoti hai” became very popular. It was followed by Mr and Mrs. 55 released in 1955. Songs picturized on both Guru Dutt and Johnny Walker had melody and sweetness. Rafi’s songs like “idhar tum jawan ho” for Guru Dutt composed by OP Nayyar had romantic andaz, while the song “jaane kahan mera jigar gaya ji” for Johnny Walker had comedy andaz, most of the songs created landmark in the mid-50s and Rafi emerged as the greatest singer of bollywood films during that time. The same combination of Guru Dutt, OP Nayyar and Rafi gave everlasting hit in the film 12 O Clock with songs like “mai kho gaya”. Even Rafi Sahab’s song “tum jo hue mere humsafar” had romantic andaz which mesmerized the audience. When Guru Dutt used SD Burman for composing songs in the film Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ka Phool, Rafi was used brilliantly for the legendary music of those films. Both the films won national and international awards and remain a landmark in the field of story-telling. Rafi’s songs “sar jo tera chakrae” picturised on Johnny Walker and “hum aapke aankho me” and “yeh mahalon yeh takhton yeh taajon ki duniya” picturised on Guru Dutt had emotions, passions, comedy, tragedy everything embedded in them. Rafi’s duet combination with Geeta Dutt was bolstered in the film. The lyrics were outstanding as well. The films marked the best music given by SD Burman in his entire lifetime. Guru Dutt can boast himself to have given lips in one of Rafi’s best ghazals sung in the history of bollywood films titled “chaudavi ka chaand”. Guru Dutt picturised the song sequence with colour, showing his passionate relationship with Wahida Rehman in the film Chaudavi Ka Chand. Ravi’s music in the film showed the pardanashin culture of muslims in India during the early 60s. Most of the songs had very strong urdu lyrics of Shakeel Badayani. Rafi Sahab’s song “mili khak me muhobbat” was sang in an outstanding way. Other songs of Rafisahab in the same film included “yeh duniya gol hai”, “mera yaar bana hai dulha”, “yeh lucknow ki sar zameen”. Johnny Walker gave lips in a number of songs of Rafisahab in the film. Rafi also sang songs for Guru Dutt in the film Saanjh Aur Sawera, composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The title song “yehi hai wo saanjh aur sawera” sung by Rafi became very popular. The duet song of Rafisahab and Suman Kalyanpur in the same film titled “ajahu na aye, balmaa sawan beeta jaye”, had brilliant classical andaz. Meena Kumari balanced the powerful performance of Guru Dutt in the film. The other films where Rafi had contributed for Guru Dutt include Bharosa, released in 1963, where Ravi composed melodious tunes including “yeh jhuki jhuki naina” picturised on Guru Dutt and Asha Parekh. The other good song of Rafi Sahab included “is bhari duniya me” in Bharosa. In Guru Dutt’s film Suhaagan in 1964, Rafisahab’s song “tu mere saamne hai” was very sweet. Guru Dutt’s music in the film Baharen Phir Bhi Aayegi composed by OP Nayyar, created sensation in the mid -60s. It was a tragedy, that Guru Dutt died before the release of the film and could not see the success of the film. The songs sung by Rafi and picturised on Dharmender mesmerized the audience and still haunts people all over the world. One of those brilliant songs include “aap ki haseen rukh me aaj naya nur hai, mera dil machal gaya to mera kya kasoor hai”. The uniqueness of Guru Dutt’s relationship with Rafi lies in the fact that whether the composer was OP Nayyar or Shankar Jaikishan or SD Burman or Ravi, the music composed for whom had philosophical thoughts embedded in them and Rafi gave expression to the mesmerizing lyrics of evergreen tunes which had become immortal over a period of time. The films and the songs should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to royal actor Pradeep Kumar.


Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari for playing historical characters emerged as the most royal pair of the millennium. The viewers of Bollywood films wish happy birthday to Pradeep Kumar on 4th January, 2014. The 1950s and 1960s are categorized by the huge number of period films created after doing adequate research on the relevant historical characters. Whenever the elegant pair of actors and actresses of bollywood films are thought about the combination of Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala gets the privilege. Their combination gave the greatest hits of bollywood history and Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor being stars, their stardom reached Europe and Middle-East, so their hit films were the most famous films in the 50s and 60s like Awaara or Madhumati. But whenever reference comes about the most royal pair of bollywood films, Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari’s name comes at the beginning. Pradeep Kumar acted in around 6 films with Madhubala, including Rajhath (1956), Yahudi Ki Ladki (1957), Gateway of India (1957), Police (1958), Mahlon Ki Khwab, (1960) and Passport (1961). But other than Rajhath and Gateway of India the other films did not do impressive business. In the early 50s, he acted opposite Meena Kumari in the film Bandhan. They also acted in the film Adil – e – Jahangir. But the pair actually got accolades for refined viewers with the film Aarti in 1962 under Rajashree Productions. In the film, their characters were noble, they came together to serve the poor. Ashok Kumar played the role of materialistic doctor who came in the way for his affection towards Meena Kumari. From that time the combination of Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, composer Roshan and singer Mohammad Rafi resulted in magic. All the songs of Aarti composed by Roshan and sung by Rafi were majestic in nature catering to the tastes of cultured audience including “ab kya misaal doon mai tumhare shabab ki”, “baar baar mohe”, “aap ne yaad dilayatha to mujhe yaad aya”, etc. Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari acted together in Kidar Sharma’s Chitralekha in 1964. Pradeep Kumar played the role of royal Samanta Beejgupta during the famous Gupta age. Roshan and Rafi combination again created magic with the legendary bhajan “man re to kahe na dheer dhare”. Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari and Ashok Kumar came out with another triangular love story in the film Bheegi Raat in 1965. It was Kalidas’s film. The film had powerpact performances of all the three. The Roshan Rafi combination again created gold with the songs “jane yeh kaun hai”, “dil jo na keh saka”, etc., which became super hit. In 1967, Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari acted in two films of M. Sadiq’s films Bahu Begum and Noorjahan. Again Roshan Rafi combination was at their best. In Bahu Begum, along with Rafi’s “hum intezar karenge”, Manna Dey showed his brilliance in the qawallis picturised in dargas, and Lata was brilliant in the song “duniya kare sawal”. Ashok Kumar was sublime in performance in a sacrificing role opposite Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari. In the 70s, with the death of Meena Kumari, and the retirement of Pradeep Kumar from lead roles, the royal style of romantic stories faded away which were prevalent during the golden era. All the films of Pradeep Kumar and Meena Kumari combination require preservation and restoration for the romantic appeal, royal style of performance, elegance and superlative class of music.

Kinjal Chatterjee, Sanchita, Saptak and others stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.


Kinjal Chatterjee, Sanchita, Saptak and others stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. On 13th January, 2014, the day of Lohri and eve of makar sankranti, Sourav Ganguly invited singers in the Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. The celebrities who were invited included Kinjal Chatterjee, Sukanya, Sanchita Bhattacharya, Saptak Bhattacharya, Rathijit Bhattacharya and Madura Bhattacharya. When Sourav Ganguly asked Kinjal Chatterjee about his background he said he was a Law student. He studied LLB in Hajra Law College, Kolkata. His passion towards music drew him to songs from the 3rd year. He got an opportunity to show his talent in the Zee Bangla Channel. From there he never looked back. Kinjal Chatterjee sang a song. Sukanya sang the song “shundari kamala”. She had recently sang in bengali films like Shukna Lanka. Rathijit Bhattacharya contested Zee Bangla music contest and also Zee TV music contest. He ranked in the program and kept his mark. He sang a song. Saptak Bhattacharya married Manali Dey. So both the personalities are from the entertainment world. Manali Dey had been successful star of Bengali films and tele-serials. Sourav Ganguly asked Madura Bhattacharya why did she change her name. She replied that it was for numerology. There are numerous instances of changes of the names of celebrities. Singer Kavita Krishnamurty had original name of Sharda. But due to the presence of famous singer Sharda Rajan of the song “titli uri” from Suraj, she changed her name to Kavita. At the end of the show Rathijit Bhattacharya gave maximum answers in the slog over round and got the prize money for scoring fastest fifty. Kinjal Chatterjee asked Sourav Ganguly what is the secret in respect in respect of his high level of confidence. He said it was his passion towards cricket. He was dropped a number of times from the national team, but he fought hard and got back to the Indian team due to passion towards cricket. All of them sang a group song together. Sourav Ganguly handled the celebrities very well with a lot of wit.

Happy birthday to dashing star Namrata Shirodkar.


Happy birthday to dashing star Namrata Shirodkar. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dashing star Namrata Shirodkar, one of the successful actresses of 90s, on 22nd January, 2014. She was the sister of successful star Shilpa Shirodkar and also a colourful personality. She showed her skills in the fashion world as well. She did extremely well in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s film Pukar, opposite Anil Kapoor. She played the role of the daughter of a military major and interacted with Anil Kapoor. Anil Kapoor wanted to marry her, but her mother played by Rohini Hattangiri, was not interested as she got sick with the life military personnel. Madhuri Dixit was a friend of Anil Kapoor, and due to jealousy with Namrata Shirodkar, she hatched a plan of disgracing Anil Kapoor. A false case was filed against him and he was thrown out from the armed forces. Namrata also left for accomplishing her career as a model and Anil Kapoor had to struggle to prove himself to be innocent. The film took a turn in the second half as Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit worked together to prevent a terrorist attack from Danny and his men. Anil Kapoor received national award for his impressive performance in Pukar. Namrata’s performance was well appreciated. The film created patriotic feeling amongst the viewers. Namrata Shirodkar was sublime in her role in the film Aghaaz. Sunil Shetty came to the city of Mumbai for education of her sister. But as Sunil Shetty did not fulfill the demands of the underworld group in the film, his sister was raped. Sunil Shetty filed a suit against all the members of the housing complex to make them aware of their responsibilities. All of them had scene the incident yet due to fear none of them raised any hue or cry. Namrata Shirodkar helped Sunil Shetty a lot in understanding the nature of people in Mumbai who were professionals and not as simple as rural people. Her friendship with Sunil Shetty was depicted well in the film. She even played a significant role in getting his sister admitted in a college in the neighbouring area. Sunil Shetty united the local people in their fight against the demands of the underworld and killed the suspected culprits. Namrata did her best in the film Vastav, opposite Sanjay Dutt. It was film totally based on the underworld people in Mumbai. Sanjay Dutt, who was a law-abiding citizen, killed one of the underworld person and from that time went on killing the other mafias and became an underworld don. But he also faced the agonies of living a life full of fear against the police. Namrata Shirodkar played the role of the wife of Sanjay Dutt in the film. She adjusted herself with the life led by Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt received filmfare award for his performance in the film. Namrata Shirodkar left films at a time when she was being given good offers and challenging roles by many bollywood directors and producers. The viewers of bollywood films expect her to make a comeback as it there is requirement of experienced actresses in characters roles in modern films.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Happy birthday to Reena Roy.


Happy birthday to Reena Roy. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Reena Roy on 7th January, 2014. She faced the strong competition of the performers of the 70s and yet could survive for more than 15 years in bollywood films. She came at a time when Hema Malini, Rekha, Parveen Babi and other actresses were at their peak. But she impressed the viewers with her natural performance in Subhash Ghai’s film Kalicharan, opposite Shatrughun Sinha. The film was based on the story of a prisoner who was reformed and given training to work in the police force and thereafter help the investigation agency in tracking down the culprits. Reena Roy’s dance performance in the song “jareja” sung by Lata, was well appreciated. In the late 70s Reena Roy kept her mark with her performance in the film Nagin. It was a multistarrer film where Firoz Khan, Mumtaz, Jeetender, Sunil Dutt, all were sublime in their respective roles. The story was based on fantasy where the snakes changed their form and took revenge against human beings who had killed their fellow snakes at different periods of time. Although the story had no practical base, but the entertaining performance of most of the stars including Reena Roy, converted a normal film into a hit venture. Reena Roy acted in multistarrer films of other directors like Manmohan Desai. In Naseeb, she played the role of a worker in a restaurant where Big B himself worked. The film became extremely successful with powerful performance of Shatrughun Sinha, Rishi Kapoor and Hema Malini. The music of the film was extremely successful. Pran and Amzad Khan played key roles in negative characters. In the 80s, with the advent of action films new action stars adorned bollywood films. Actors like Rajnikant tried their luck in bollywood after playing successful innings in South Indian films. Even during that period Reena Roy was successful in her performance opposite Rajnikant in the film Andha Kanoon. Andha Kanoon was related to the revenge that was taken by Rajnikant against Pran, Prem Chopra and Danny after they killed his family members. Reena Roy played the romantic character opposite Rajnikant and kept her mark opposite many stars in the film. Later on she married Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan and left films. But even these days whenever she is seen in character roles like the one in Abhishek Bacchan’s film Refugee, the viewers enjoy her presence to a big extent. The viewers expect her to continue her good work in the years to come.

Happy birthday to Sonali Bendre.


Happy birthday to Sonali Bendre. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Sonali Bendre on 1st January, 2014. Sonali Bendre showed a lot of promise in the 90s when she joined bollywood films. She had spontaneity in her performance and did not imitate any star. She was sublime in Aamir Khan’s film Sarfarosh. Sarfarosh was the film based on the story of an honest police officer who addressed the corruption existing in the police department itself and the other wings of the Govt. Sonali Bendre ably assisted Aamir Khan in his noble mission. Jagjit Singh’s song “husnwale” became very successful. Her performance in Sunil Shetty’s film Bhai requires special mention. Although she loved Sunil Shetty like Pooja Batra but when she knew that Pooja Batra was also attached to him, she sacrificed her love. She died at the end of the film while fighting for the cause of Sunil Shetty. In fact she helped Sunil Shetty to learn urbanized style of living as he came from the hills and was uneducated. She acted in completely different role opposite Shahrukh Khan in the film Duplicate. Shahrukh Khan played a double role in the film, one having an affair with Juhi Chawla while the other having an affair with Sonali Bendre. She acted opposite Shahrukh Khan who played the role of the smuggler. From the time the two characters interchanged Sonali Bendre expressed the astonishment in style. Her lips in the song “mere mehboob mere sanam” require special mention. Although the film had mainly comedy element in it, the powerful performance of Sonali Bendre and Juhi Chawla helped the film to be successful. Her other hit films include Hum Saath Saath Hai, opposite Salman Khan, Zakhm with Ajay Devgan, to name a few. She received the star-screen best supporting actress award for her brilliant performance in the film Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. Her performance in the film was as outstanding as Anil Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai. After success in films like Jis Desh Me Ganga Rehta Hai with Govinda, Major Sahab, etc., she left films in 2002. She appeared in many TV programs in a number of private channels, in some of them being the judges of those programs. But she was not found in prominent roles in the films released in the last few years. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in character roles in future.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Happy birthday to Nana Patekar.


Happy birthday to Nana Patekar. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to actor Nana Patekar on 1st January, 2014. He created a different style of acting which had no similarity with the commercial actors like Shahrukh Khan or art film actors like Naseeruddin Shah. After Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri, he was probably the other actor who allowed the directors to do any experiment with him. He drew the attention of viewers all across the country with his strong performance in the film Prahar in the late 80s. He not only acted in the film but also directed the film. The film was related to the story of a young boy whose mother was dragged into unlawful activities. He learned took military training and provided guidance to new students who joined the armed forces in India. The training schedule was very hectic and the strictness of Nana Patekar appealed to the masses. After the training was over, one of his students who lost his legs while facing terrorists was killed by the underworld group. Nana Patekar came to Bombay, and took revenge against all of them. He was given shelter by Dimple Kapadia, who was the sister of Madhuri Dixit, the wife of Nana’s student. The civilians in the area did not like the intervention of military personnel in the area. After Nana killed all the underworld members, he was tried in a court. The court ordered him to be sent to a mental asylum as he started taking the responsibilities of all the other civilians. The film had a strong social message and was admired by the intellectual viewers. Nana Patekar stormed bollywood films with strong performance in the film Krantiveer. The film showed the use of common people by political leaders for creating riots and clashes between different communities. Nana Patekar killed most of them and supported the effort of Dimple Kapadia who played the role of a daring journalist. If his reserve personality in the film Prahar was appreciated, his aggressive acting in the film Krantiveer amused the viewers. He also acted in comedy roles in films like Raju Ban Gaye Gentleman with Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. He was also sublime in the film Yashwant with Madhu. His uprightness caused trouble for his wife and friends. He was also sublime in a muslim role in the film Ghulam-i-mustafa. He played the role of an underworld person who worked for the cause of a political leader played by Paresh Rawal. His wife Ravina Tandon was killed in the process. He then helped a South Indian family led by Aruna Irani, and stayed in her house to prevent the rival groups from creating any trouble against the family. The film had a strong message of national integration. Nana Patekar also did a fantastic job in the film Hum Dono with Rishi Kapoor. He balanced the romantic acting of Rishi Kapoor opposite Pooja Bhatt with his witty performance and strong action. He did well opposite Big B and Tabu in the film Kohram. Whenever people saw films like Ab Taak Chappan or Vadh, they had appreciated his strong personality which has always raised voice against the evil practices in the country. In Vadh he went on killing persons one after the other till it was discovered that he was the real killer. His negative acting in films like Parinda opposite Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff was also appreciated. Nana Patekar was brilliant with Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor in the film Welcome. His role of mafia don amazed the viewers whose sister Katrina Kaif, who wanted to marry Akshay Kumar. But Akshay Kumar’s uncle Paresh Rawal never wanted Akshay to marry Katrina, due to Nana Patekar’s involvement in underworld activities. The film ended up being one of the super hit films of 2009. He also showed his skills in the film Dus Kahaniya. The film consisted of 10 different stories compiled together. In one of the stories he played the role of a Christian who lost his wife. He travelled in a bus with balloons and disclosed to a fellow traveler that he was taking it to give the gifts in the birthday of his wife. The fellow traveler landed in a graveyard and understood that he was giving it in the grave of his wife. It was one of the films where Nana Patekar’s performances touched the minds of the viewers. He continued his different type of acting in other types of films like Ek: The Power of One. Bobby Deol was the leading actor in the film. Nana Patekar was the investigating officer who discovered that Bobby Deol was the criminal. In 2013 he acted in the film Ab Tk Chappan 2. In 2014 is busy with the film Welcome Back. The viewers expect him to continue the good work in 2014 and show more dynamism in commercial and art films in future.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Happy birthday to Stylish Star Bipasha Basu.


Happy birthday to Stylish star Bipasha Basu. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Bipasha Basu on 7th January, 2014. She had remained one of the smart aggressive actresses who acted in different kinds of roles over the last 5 years. 2012 is very important for her. Her film Players had been released in 2012 where she acted opposite Abhishek Bacchan, Bobby Deol and Sonam Kapoor. Her film Aatma in 2014 relating to ghoshts was very frightening. Bipasha Basu showed her romantic presence in landmark films in 2009 like All the best. She acted opposite Ajay Devgan and made everyone laugh with her hilarious performance. She has been one of the most sought after models who had become indispensable in bollywood films in the last few years. In the Lux Sabse Favourite Kaun night she won the award for the most style icon of 2009. Her stylish andaz had been appreciated by the viewers of the modern days. When she initially joined bollywood films in Ajnabee with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, her smartness and aggressive performance was discussed amongst producers and directors. With passage of time new producers found similarity of Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie and Sofia Lorrain and started giving her roles which were both bold and beautiful. She was considered an art-film actress after her restrained performance in Madhur Bhandarkar’s off-beat project Corporate. Her hit films include Ajnabee, Bacchna Aye Haseeno, Race, etc. She had bagged the award for the most stylish icon last year in 2008, during a year when other bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra had stormed bollywood films with their stylish performances and westernized dress-ups. Although the complexion of Bipasha Basu was darkish, her looks were unique and that was the reason she was used by directors of different dimensions. In films like Dhoom 2, where Aishwarya Rai showed challenging stunts opposite Hrithik Roshan, Bipasha Basu complimented Abhishek Bacchan in the film with her smart performance. Till date she had performed in more stylish roles than tradional characters. It did not matter to her that she had not been identified as romantic stars like Preeti Zinta, or Rani Mukherjee or Kareena Kapoor, who had ruled bollywood films for the last 5 years, as long as her performance in contemporary films were appreciated and her films did brilliant business in India and abroad. Even with increase of age, viewers had to accept her presence in films in 2008, like Bacchna Aye Haseeno, where she had performed opposite younger stars like Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba. In an interview before a private channel Ranbir Kapoor mentioned that Bipasha Basu was the most matured actress who had acted opposite her in his short career. Beyond style and dance performances she had very strong acting conception which had still kept her in the rat race. In 2010 she acted in offbeat roles like the one in the film Aakrosh where she played the role of the wife of Paresh Rawal. She acted very well opposite Akshay Khanna and Ajay Devgan in the film. The viewers expect her to continue her brilliant work in bollywood films and show more dynamism in future.

Happy birthday to style icon Hrithik Roshan.


Happy birthday to style icon Hrithik Roshan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to superstar Hrithik Roshan on 10th January, 2014. He has been considered as one of the greatest style icons of India and probably the most dynamic actor ever to grace Indian silver screen. In 2010, he won the award for the style icon in Lux Sabse Favourite Kaun award. 2013 had been a great year for him. His film Krish 3 did business of more than 230 crores. 2012 had been important year for him. His film Agneepath released in January did business of more than 125 crores. He acted in the same role which Big B had played 20 years back. He had acted opposite Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor, so viewers were curious to see his performance in the film. He is also working on the film Krrish 2 which is going to be released in the year 2013. When he appeared in his father Rakesh Roshan’s project Kaho Na Pyar Hai in 2000, he broke all types of records that were set up in Indian cinema in respect of revenues derived from successful films. He played a double role with the title Rohit as an Indian and Raj as a Kiwi citizen. The smartness and elegance that he showed in the Kiwi character was unparallel considering the capability of all the leading superstars of the country. He acted opposite Amisha Patel who was also sublime in the film. Last but not the least his dancing capability was appreciated by every section of the crowd, especially in songs like “pyar ki kashti me”, “kaho na pyar hai”, “haseeno ki mehfil”, etc. But after the success in Kaho Na Pyar Hai, his off-beat films like Fiza and Mission Kashmir did not get proper response from the crowd. He gave spirited performance opposite Karishma Kapoor in Fiza and Preeti Zinta in Mission Kashmir. In fact he dared to even act in a negative character in the film Mission Kashmir opposite Sanjay Dutt in the early part of his career, which other actors of his age would not have dared to do. He gave adequate lips in the song “bhumaro bhumaro” in Mission Kashmir. After a series of medium budget films like Mai Pyar Ki Diwani Hoon, he again stormed box-office with the success of his film Koi Mil Gaya. He received the filmfare award for the best actor again with dynamic performance in the role of a mentally retarded person. The film was shot in Australia by director Rakesh Roshan and Preeti Zinta and Rekha did very well in their respective roles. The relationship with Aliens was well expressed by Hrithik Roshan. He again received filmfare award for best actor in the film Dhoom 2. Again he acted in a negative character in the form of international thief. He became notorious for his planned stealing operations in partnership with Aishwarya Rai. His deeds or misdeeds were detected by the intelligent investigator played by Abhishek Bacchan. He left him without charges after Hrithik transferred the stolen property to Abhishek Bacchan. Hrithik Roshan showed some acrobatic stunts which only Hollywood actors could have taken in the film. The dance performance in the song “dhoom machale” was brilliant by international standards. Hrithik Roshan made the viewers speechless with his dynamic performance in the film Krishh. He acted opposite Priyanka Chopra and exhibited the supernatural powers that he inherited from his father who received them from aliens. The scenic beauty of South East Asian countries amazed the viewers along with the performance of Hrithik Roshan. In 2008, Hrithik Roshan’s brilliant performance in the role of Mughal Emperor Akbar astonished the viewers. He complimented the dynamic performance of Aishwarya Rai in the film Jodha Akbar which was first blockbuster of 2008. He won the filmfare award for the best actor in 2009 for best performance in Jodha Akbar. His other hit films included Laksh, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, etc. Indian viewers are not that much fond of westernized performances, otherwise with the multitalented approach to films, Hrithik Roshan would have dethroned Shahrukh Khan from the Number One position long time back. Viewers waited for the 2 grand releases of Hrithik Roshan, namely Kites and Guzarish in 2010. Both the films did not do well in the box-office. If Spanish version being inadmissible and ununderstandable to rural mass of India was the root cause for average business of Kites, lack of interest towards serious films on the part of the audience may have effected Guzarish. But Hrithik Roshan acted well in both the films. But he bounced back with Agneepath. Krishh 3 had been his greatest blockbuster ever after doing business of more than 230 crores. There is lot of expectation from the viewers from his films as he is considered a superstar, so he is required to give a bigger hits in 2014.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Happy birthday to Deepika Padukone.


Happy birthday to Deepika Padukone. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Deepika Padukone on 5th January, 2014. Deepika Padukone, the daughter of renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone, started her career in the fashion world from where the producers and directors got impressed. 2013 had been a great year for her. Her film Chennai Express opposite Shahrukh Khan had done business of more than 230 crores. Her film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani opposite Ranbir Kapoor did business of 189 crores. Her film Race 2 opposite Saif Ali Khan did business of 95 crores. She made a dream debut in the film Om Shanti Om, opposite Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan was one of the biggest icons of bollywood films till 2007. Akshay Kumar had shaken up the box-office domination of Shahrukh Khan after giving many blockbusters in the last few years. It was a dream which came true for Deepika Padukone to act opposite Shahrukh Khan in the romantic blockbuster. Farah Khan and Shahrukh Khan searched a new face for the film. Deepika Padukone answered their query. The film was related to reincarnation. Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan had double roles in the film. Deepika was killed by breaking out of fire in a grand studio. The entire story of her death was recreated to bring the perpetrators of crime before the people at large. The soul of Deepika Padukone did the rest. The film had similar story line like that of Karz. But the excellent music of the film and decent performance from Deepika Padukone and Shahrukh Khan had converted a decent film into a commercially successful mission. The songs of Sonu Nigam and others like “tumko paya hai to jaise”, “om shanty om”, “ankho me teri”, etc., became landmark hits in 2007. Deepika Padukone bagged the best debutant award in the filmfare and Om Shanti Om bagged filmfare awards under different categories. As Deepika Padukone created a huge expectation from the performance in the first film the viewers started believing in her capability in the following films as well. She did well again in 2008 in the film Bacchna Aye Haseeno opposite Ranbir Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Bipasha Basu. The film was related to the story of how Ranbir Kapoor met three girls namely Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba and how their interaction created an impact in the life of Ranbir Kapoor. Again the fabulous locations and quality music composed by Vishal Shekhar impressed the viewers. The hit songs included “bacchna aye haseeno”, “ki mujhe pyar hai”, etc. Deepika Padukone probably matched Ranbir Kapoor the best if compared with the other performers in the same film. In 2009, Deepika’s much awaited film Chandni Chowk To China was released in January. She had acted opposite superstar Akshay Kumar who had shown his action skills and comedy skills as well in the film. For the requirement of the film Deepika Padukone had learned martial art as well which was done by Priyanka Chopra in the past. But the film did mediocre business. The other film of Deepika Padukone that was released in 2009 was Love Aaj Kaal. It was the film of Saif Ali Khan and he acted opposite Deepika Padukone. The film became a big hit and the romantic combination of Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone was accepted by the audience. The music of Pritam was well appreciated by the audience including the song “chor bazari”. After that Deepika Padukone had acted in many films in 2010, including Billo Barbar, Lafange Parindey, Larenge Hum Ji Jaanse, etc., and acted opposite many actors including Farhan Akshtar, Abhishek Bacchan (where he played the role of Masterda Surjo Sen in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s flm), etc. 2011 had been a successful year for Deepika Padukone. Her performance opposite Saif Ali Khan and Big B in the film Aarakshan had been appreciated by the viewers. The film did excellent business too. In 2012 her film Cocktail opposite Saif Ali Khan did good business. The viewers expect Deepika Padukone to revive her position in 2014 with the success of the films Race 2, Chennai Express and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and continue her great work in the years to come in bollywood films and other films.