Indrani Dutta, Sathilekha Sengupta, Monami Ghosh, Somlata stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program.

Indrani Dutta, Sathilekha Sengupta, Monami, Somlata stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program. On 30th April, 2015, Rachana Banerjee called celebrities in Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program. The celebrities included Sathilekha Sengupta, Monami, Somlata and Indrani Dutta. The entire team had come to promote the new Bengali film Belasheshe. Sathilekha Sengupta

had acted opposite Soumitra Chatterjee in the film. They were paired together by Satyajit Ray in the film ghare Baire, way back in 1984. After 31 years they came back together. Soumitra played the role of an old person. He wanted to give divorce to his wife Sathilekha at old age. Their sons and daughters were brought together by the decision. Monami Ghosh, Indrani Dutta acted in the film while Somlata had sung song in the film. Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy directed the film. Shiboprasad Mukherjee came in the show to tell the story of the film Belasheshe. Sathilekha said that her experience of acting in Ray’s film Ghare Baire was grand. She never saw a director of the callibre of Satyajit Ray. She also said academically she never stood second in life. She had passion for theatre that made her actress. Indrani Dutta said that from childhood she learned dancing. She was first a dancer, then an actress. Her family members were good singers. Rachana Banerjee to sing the song “jagorone jay bibhabori”. Indrani Dutta danced in the song. Monami Ghosh also danced on the song of Bhuter bhobishyat. At the end of the show, Monami Ghosh answered maximum number of questions and became Didi No.1. Rachana Banerjee anchored the film very well.

Usha Utthup, Shaan, Babul, Kavita Krishnamurthy stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program.

Usha Utthup, Shaan, Babul, Kavita Krishnamurthy stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. On 29th April, 2015, celebrities stormed Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program. Usha Utthup, Babul Supriyo, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shaan, Tanushree Shankar and Jayati Chakravarty stormed Sourav Ganguly’s Dadagiri Program. Sourav Ganguly asked Babul Supriyo why did he plunge into politics. He won the election under BJP ticket. He said that his market in music was fine. But he wanted to help the poor and the distressed. Recently he released Bengali cassette relating to Rabindrasangeet and other Bengali songs. He sang the song “amar bela je jay saanjhbelate”. Shaan sang his song "bin kuch kahe bin kuch sune hathon me hath liye"

from the hit film PK. He also showed his recent Bengali cassette and CD that was released recently. Sourav Ganguly asked Kavita Krishnamurthy to sing the songs “pyar hua chupke se” from the film 1942 – A Love Story, and “hum dil de chuke sanam” from the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. She said that she was associated with Kolkata for a long time. She sang many songs with Manna Dey and Hemanta Mukherjee. Kavita Krishnamurthy said she released a rabindrasangeet album recently with great singer Hariharan. Tanushree Shankar talked about different dance forms. She said recently she released a recitation album with table player Bikram Ghosh. She initially said being a trained dancer she never recited anything. But Bikram Ghosh said she could manage it. Ultimately it had been released. Jayati Chakravarty sang a rabindrasangeet. Usha Utthup sang the songs “darling ankhon se ankhe char karne do” and then “sinorita” at the end. Sourav Ganguly himself danced with Usha Utthup. All the participants gave correct answers and ultimately Usha Utthup and Babul Supriyo became joint winners with 35 points. Sourav Ganguly anchored the program very well.

Remembering Shankar Singh Raghuwanshi on his anniversary.

Immortal combination of Shankar Jaikishan with Mohammad Rafi. Great composer Shankar Singh Raghubvanshi is remembered on his death anniversary on 26th April, 2015. He was one of the genius composers of the famous duo Shankar Jaikishan. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s a number of composers dominated Bollywood films. Naushad Ali, Roshanlal Nagrath, Madanmohan Kohli, OP Nayyar, all had the class of their own. Shankar Jaikishan composed music in almost 195 films in that golden age. One of the great reasons of Shankar Jaikishan’s huge success was due to the great combination with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi Sahab. 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, released in 1966 including songs like “aja re aa zara aa”, “Japan, Love in Tokyo”, “ o mere shahekhuba”, etc. In Biswajeet’s April Fool, released in 1964 SJ’s composition for Rafi including “aa gale lag ja” had westernized background. At the same time Rafi’s song “tumhe chaha” with Suman Kalyanpur was a great rendition in pensive mood. SJ’s composition for Rafi in Shammi Kapoor’s An Evening in Paris, in 1967, 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, released in 1965 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 which was produced by Raj Kapoor and released in 1954, “hai na bolo bolo”, “re mamma re mamma re” in Shammi Kapoor’s Andaz, released in 1971 and “chakke p chakka” in Brahmchari, in 1969. 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”, “kya kya na kahe” 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 has 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.

Happy birthday to Pooja Bedi.

Happy birthday to Pooja Bedi. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Pooja Bedi, the daughter of legendary actor Kabir Bedi on 11th May, 2015. She was born in a star family with her mother Pratima Bedi being a classical dancerand father being an established actor. Although she came from an acting family as Kabir Bedi had experience of performing in Hollywood films as well, her contribution in bollywood films had not been that substantial. Her film Vishkanya in the early part of her career was based on the story related to snakes. In Indian films fantasies based on the life of snakes had amazed the viewers in the past. The film Nagin in the mid-70s, with Reena Roy, Jeetender, Mumtaz and others, did fantastic business. So Pooja Bedi was lucky to start her career with such films. The film was well appreciated by the audience. Later on her film with Amir Khan, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, did fantastic business. The film was based on teenage romance. Amir Khan always had a special place in the minds of viewers as his romantic appeal always attracted the female audience right from the release of the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Pooja Bedi probably had given her best. Pooja Bedi’s role of a teenage girl did fit the requirement of the story and the film. All the songs in the film became successful including the song “pehla nasha, pehla khumar” sung by Udit Narayan. Viewers of different tastes appreciated the film. Her other notable films included Aatank Hi Aatank and Lootere. She was very impressive in Mahesh Bhatt’s film Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Ayee. It was a film related to human relationship and Pooja Bedi’s performance in a supporting role was appreciated by the critics. She was as impressive as Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Roy in the film. In the late 90s, all of a sudden she faded away from the industry. But she continued to appear in television shows. She was the anchor of the TV shows Not Just Page 3 and Just Pooja in Zoom TV. These programs became very popular in the years when they were telecast. In the following period she even participated as contestant in TV shows like Jhalak Dikhlaja in Sony TV, Heart Beat, Mum Tum or Hum, Jodi Kamaal Ki, Nach Baliye, etc., in Star TV, also Fear Factor – Khatron Ki Khiladi in Colors. The viewers expect her make a comeback in bollywood films in the years to come.

Kumar Shanu gave excellent interview in Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day Program.

Kumar Shanu gave excellent interview in Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day Program. Kumar Shanu, the successful Bengali singer was the guest in the program Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day on 24th April, 2015. He gave a splendid interview before Devshankar Halder. Kumar Shanu firstly appreciated Zee Bangla’s effort to organize a great program which pays tributes to parents of different individuals. There had not been any program like this before. He then said that he had seen many people worshipping different Gods by using flowers, fruits and incense sticks. But he realized that there is no bigger God than father and mother in life. So he worshiped his father Kedarnath Bhattacharya and mother. He said his father Kedarnath Bhattacharya was a great Bengali singer. But he was very strict person. He got a lot of beating in his childhood. But he understood his father’s love for him. When Shanu became a superstar in Mumbai between 1989 to 1995 he took his father and mother in helicopter and showed every part of Mumbai flying at low distance. He took his mother in flight and when she held his hand once the flight took over, he said the memory was so grand. He said whenever his father used to scold him in the morning, when he returned back at night he used to wake up Shanu and give him rasogolla. Shanu could realize the immense love of his father and mother in life. He said that he grew up in extreme poverty. But he rose to fame with the blessings of father and mother. He had only one grief that he could not save his parents when they were hospitalized. He himself was not a doctor. He spend money for best treatment. But lifespan is determined by God so he could do nothing. He also said that whenever his father used to ask him to help a poor person he did so. Once his father asked him to pay a needy person one lakh rupees. He did so. In the program the two old gentleman and lady were neighbours of him, not his own parents. He played for them. They had a daughter who lived at a distance. Both the old persons lived in an old age home. Shanu gave right answers one after the other and earned money for the medical treatment of the these parents and tour of Goa for the old persons. Shanu sang a number of his hit songs including “kuch na kaho kuch bhi na kaho”, “tujhe dekha to yeh jana sanam”, to name a few. The old couple blessed Kumar Shanu.

Happy birthday to Mamta Kulkarni.

Happy birthday to Mamta Kulkarni. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mamta Kulkarni on 20th April, 2015. She played very significant roles in the films of 90s. She was given prominent roles in successful bollywood films during that period. Rakesh Roshan gave a significant role to Mamta Kulkarni in the film Karan Arjun. She was the wife of Salman Khan in the film. Both Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan were shown to have two lives. In their first lives they were tortured and killed by Amrish Puri. In their second life they were born at other places but came to Rajasthan to stop the illegal activities of Amrish Puri and his men. Mamta Kulkarni and Kajol contributed with their respective roles along with Rakhee, who had the prominent part in the film. Although the film was related to superstitious beliefs, Rakesh Roshan succeeded in entertaining the audience and the film ended up being big hit. Mamta Kulkarni was cast opposite Salman Khan in the film Karan Arjun, while Kajol was cast opposite Shahrukh Khan. Mamta Kulkarni got the role of her lifetime in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s film China Gate. She was the relative of Om Puri who called him up to rescue the villagers from the rule of dacoits in the region. Om Puri was a retired major, who left the armed forces after one of their missions failed. Om Puri called all his friends who worked in the last mission, including Amrish Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Danny, Tinu Anand, Jagdeep , etc., and formed a team to combat the dacoits. Mamta Kulkarni kept the retired military officers in her house and provided them food and amenities during their stay. The dacoits created pressure so that Mamta Kulkarni would have asked the military officers led by Om Puri to go way. She did not do so. The police office in that jurisdiction Paresh Rawal conspired with the dacoits and betrayed the military officers. But ultimately the military officers under the leadership of Om Puri succeeded in killing the dacoits and bringing peace within the village. The film was off-beat in nature and Mamta Kulkarni showed her acting skills in the film. Her other successful films also included Krantiveer, where she acted opposite Atul Agnihotri. Nana Patekar and Dimple Kapadia had the main roles in the action film, but Mamta Kulkarni showed her frustration after she came to know about her father being involved in the gang of lawbreakers who were responsible for riots and other destructive activities. The film was related to corruption existing in society which included the police officers, judges, the executive and politicians. After the late-90s all of sudden Mamta Kulkarni left bollywood films. Viewer remember her both in glamourous and non-glamourous roles. Now that she had attained age, she can contribute in character roles. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in recent bollywood films and entertain the viewers once again just like the way she entertained the viewers in the films of the 90s.

Happy birth anniversary of Manna Dey.

Happy birthday to Manna Dey. The listeners of bollywood music and also Bengali music wish happy birthday to Legendary singer Manna Dey on 1st May, 2015. He is the only legendary singer who had survived for more than 90 years. He had sung more than 5000 songs in different languages hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, etc. He died last year making everyone sad. Manna Dey had a very sweet relationship with Sudhin Dasgupta. He was used by almost all the leading composers of Bengal namely Anil Bagchi, Nochiketa Ghosh, Salil Choudhury and others. But probably his westernized andaz was used to the limit by Sudhin Dasgupta. Sudhin Dasgupta used Manna Dey in Uttam Kumar’s film Goli Theke Rajpoth with the song “lag lag lag lag bhelkir khela”. Manna Dey’s songs “ami agantuk” and “ke prothom kache esechi” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta in Uttam Kumar’s film Shankhabela created sensation in Bengali celluloid in 1966. Manna Dey’s songs “ami kon pothe je choli” and “bachao ke acho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Choddobeshi became super hit as well. In the 70s, Manna Dey’s songs “esechi ami esechi”, “lekha porata shikhe phele” and “paye paye joriye rakho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Har Mana Har created sensation as well. Uttam Kumar gave the lips of his lifetime in the film Har Mana Har. While major success of Sudhin Dasgupta came in Uttam Kumar’s films, he made major contribution in Soumitra Chatterji’s films as well. The songs “ei shohor theke aro anek dure”, “hoyto tomari jonyo”, “jibone ki pabona” in the film Teen Bhubaner Pare, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta and sung by Manna Dey showed the westernized orchestration of the giant composer. Sudhin Dasupta’s songs in Soumitra’s films Prothom Kodom Phul and Bosonto Bilaap were equally successful. Manna Dey’s all round musical skills were used to perfection in these films. Even the song “ogo tomar sesh bichare asay” sung by Manna Dey in bayul andaz in Kali Banerjee’s legendary film Dak Horkora, and composed by Sudhin Dasgupta made the viewers speechless. Manna Dey sang many numbers of solo numbers as basic discs under the compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta. One of the notable songs included “ami taar thikana rakhini”. The songs of Sudhin Dasgupta and Manna Dey combination should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Moushumi Chatterji.

Happy birthday to Moushumi Chatterji – the charming star from Bengal. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Moushumi Chatterji on 26th April, 2015. Moushumi Chatterji, the Bengali actress acted both in Bengali and hindi films and showed her skills in both of them. She acted in the Bengali film Balika Badhu, where the film was based on child marriage and impressed the directors and producers with her performance. From that time she ventured in Bombay and tried her luck in bollywood industry. Her film Anurag opposite Vinod Mehra became super hit. She played the role of a blind girl and got appreciation of the crowd. The songs in the film became very successful including songs like “woh kya hai” sung by Rafi. SD Burman composed the music of the film. She acted in action films like Goutam Govinda. The film was related to the story of Shashi Kapoor, a police officer who came to the village and trained all the rustic villagers the manner of self-defense. Shatrughun Sinha was his own brother, which was disclosed at the end of the film. Moushumi Chatterji showed her humour in the respective role. Moushumi also acted in suspense-thrillers like Benaam, opposite Big B, where there the anxiety relating to the kidnapping of her son was at issue. She expressed her feelings very well in the film. She was brilliant in the film Manzil Manzil, opposite Big B. It was the remake of Mrinal Sen’s Bengali film Akash Kushum. Akash Kusum was based on the story relating to Soumitra Chatterji presenting a false story about himself before Aparna Sen with the help of his friend Shubendu Chatterji. In the hindi version also the story line was not changed. Moushumi Chatterji’s smile had a beauty of its own which she expressed in majority of films in style. While acting in a number of bollywood films, she stormed Bengali films with her performance in the super hit film Ogo Bodhu Sundari, opposite Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar. The film was released in 1980. The story was based on how Uttam Kumar, an academician brought a girl from the streets and taught her literature. Moushumi expressed the difficulty of forgetting her rustic language which she adopted from the environment she came from and learning the new language. The music given in the film by Bappi Lahiri became super hit. Songs like “ami ekjon shantoshisto”, “shudhu tumi nou obolakanto”, etc., sung by Kishore Kumar became super hit. It was incidentally the last film of Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. Her comedy conception was used by Gulzar and other directors very successfully. Her film Angoor opposite Sanjeev Kumar showed her comedy skills. The film was based on Uttam Kumar’s film Bhranti Bilas and had similarity with Shakespeare’s play Comedy of Errors. Sanjeev Kumar played the double role in Angoor that was played by Uttam Kumar in the Bengali film Bhranti Bilas, while Moushumi Chatterji played the role of his wife which was played by Sabitri Chatterji in the Bengali film. The two brothers were identical twins and Moushumi Chatterji got confused with her own husband and his brother. Deven Verma played a double role along with Sanjeev Kumar as his servant. Her other successful films included Pati Patni Aur Woh, opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Ghayal, as the sister-in-all of Sunny Deol and many other films. Even she had acted in landmark Bengali films like Kori Diye Kinlam based on the epic novel of Bimal Mitra. In 2013, she had acted in successful Bengali film Gainar Baksho. She had acted in the role of a widow who died and the spirit of the widow tortured the other women in the family. She acted with Konkona Sen Sharma and Srabanti Chatterjee in the film. The viewers expect Moushumi to contribute in character roles in bollywood films in future.

Happy birthday to Ayesha Takia.

Happy birthday to Chubby Star Ayesha Takia. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Chubby Star Ayesha Takia on 10th April, 2015. Actress Ayesha Takia has a very bright future in bollywood films. There are two categories of actresses who perform in bollywood films. The first category includes the daughters of celebrities who make their debut in films made by their parents. Examples include Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, whose first films had lot of curiousness created in respect of the performance. The second category includes the other actresses who prove their capability by performing in films over a period of time. Ayesha Takia fall in that category. She was born on 10th April, 1986. Her father Nisith or mother Faridah were not celebrities to the stature of Jeetender, or Feroz Khan or Hema Malini whose children joined bollywood films. Ayesha did advertisement relating to complain girl and acted in music video of Falguni Pathak titled “meri chunari ur ur jaye”. She received the filmfare award for best debutant for the performance in the film Tarzan, The Wonder Car. After that few average films like Socha Na Tha, Dil Mange Mor followed. She created attention in the film Shaadi No. 1, where Esha Deol and Soha Ali Khan acted with her. All three of them had husbands like Fardeen Khan, Sharman Joshi, etc., who were addicted towards other ladies. Sanjay Dutt came over there and disclosed the truth relating to the affairs of their husbands with other girls like Riya Sen. At the end of the film Ayesha’s husband and the husbands of Esha Deol and Soha Ali Khan understood their mistake and followed the right path. Ayesha Takia was sublime in the film Salaam-e-Ishq opposite Akshay Khanna. Initially Akshay Khanna did not wanted to marry her for not taking up responsibilities of husband. But later he got convinced and married her. Ayesha gave able lips in the songs “salaam –e-ishq”, “dekho to dekho aisa hota to”, etc. Although the film did mediocre business the songs of the film became super hit. In 2008 and early part of 2009 her films De Taali, Sunday and 8*10 Tasveer did mediocre business. In 2009, Ayesha Takia acted in super hit film Wanted opposite Salman Khan. Her romantic performance opposite Salman Khan was appreciated by all sections of the crowd. Her softness and submissiveness is like by different sections of audience. The song “love me love me” became hit in the film. The film did business of more than 75 crore and established Ayesha Takia as a leading actress along with Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. The viewers also appreciated the good work of Ayesha Takia in films like Paathshala and Aap Ke Liye Hum in 2010. Viewers expect Ayesha Takia to continue her good work and make a comeback as well.

Deboshree Roy stormed Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day program.

Deboshree Roy stormed Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day program. On 16th April, 2015, renowned Bengali actress and MLA Deboshree Roy was invited in the show Zee Bangla Happy Parents Day along with her mother and sisters. The scheme of the program is related to answering relevant questions. Based on the answers the contestants are given prizes which are related to the wishes for the parents. Deboshree Roy placed very elementary wishes. She wished a Mobile Phone for her mother. She wished some funding for her Charitable Association which are catered to building old age homes and caring for the animals including dogs. She wished for funding for ayurvedic treatment of her mother. Mr Halder, the anchor of the program asked different questions to Deboshree Roy. Deboshree said that from childhood she and her sisters were able dancers and performed in many jalshas in Kolkata. Her mother used to take them. She said her sister was mischievous during childhood. One day she kept the shoes of her home tutor away. He could not find the shoes. She talked also about her other sister Krishna Mukherjee, the mother of Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee. She asked one question using the helpline with Krishna Mukherjee. It was related to a clipping shown asking for the name of the festival. Krishna Mukherjee said it was called Buri Parwa in Marathi. Deboshree Roy informed everyone about Krishna Mukherjee. She said Krishna Mukherjee was a successful singer and she sang duet songs with Mohammad Rafi in international shows in the 1970s. Deboshree Roy also said that her mother learned singing from Shyamal Mitra. She said her mother liked Bengali films a lot. She used to take money from her father to attend the matinee shows of Bengali films of the golden age. A question was asked about the ingredients of cooking Hilsa or Ilish. Deboshree Roy gave the right answer in respect of the spices given including posto or poppy seeds, mustard oil, salt, turmeric, etc. Deboshree gave all correct answers and all her wishes were fulfilled. Debshankar Halder anchored the program extremely well.

Happy birthday to Arshad Warsi.

Happy birthday to Arshad Warsi. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Arshad Warsi on 19th April, 2015. During the last few years he had featured in one successful bollywood film out of every four films released during that period. In 2011, Arshad Warsi was successful in the film Double Dhamaal. He acted alongside Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Javed Jaffery and others. Although the film did not do great business, his performance was appreciated by the audience. His greatest recognition came in the role of circuit in the film Munnabhai MBBS and Lageraho Munnabhai. In both of these films he had played the role of the assistant of Sanjay Dutt and used his gundas to evict tenants and other persons when they were paid for doing so. Both the films were serio-comic in nature and in that respect Arshad Warsi’s comedy conception entertained the viewers. In Munnabhai MBBS he used his muscle power to help Sanjay Dutt for giving exam on medical science and also for treating patients. In Lageraho Munnabhai, he compelled the academicians to give answers to Vidya Balan on questions related to Mahatma Gandhi on behalf of Sanjay Dutt. Sanjay Dutt knew nothing about the questions but due to the help of the academicians proved before Vidya Balan that he was a learned Professor. Arshad Warsi’s lips in the songs “lage raho munnabhai”, and “munnabhai mbbs” in both these films require special mention. Arshad Warsi had been great asset to the bollywood industry for his comedy skills especially due to the fact that in the last few years the only type of films which did steady business includes comedy films. His performance in the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, with Sanjay Dutt and Isha Koppikar requires special mention. While Sanjay Dutt was an orthopedic surgeon in the film Arshad Warsi was an actor. He made an excellent submission in an artificial courtroom where the divorce of Salman Khan with Sushmita Sen was organized to impress Katrina Kaif. His comparison of Salman’s relationship with Sushmita Sen with a car whose break had failed and which dashed with every object on the road made everyone laugh. His lips in the song “saajan” along with Isha Koppikar, was equally impressive. Similarly he had done a great job in the film Salaam Namaste with Saif Ali Khan in the role of a lawyer. Whenever Saif Ali Khan required legal assistance during fight against Preeti Zinta he took the help of Arshad Warsi and he gave a witty answer. His performance in the film Dhamaal was equally brilliant. He was one of the four friends including Ritesh Deshmukh, Javed Jaffery and other who went to Goa to get treasure. They were stopped at every point by Sanjay Dutt, the police officer who also went to Goa for the treasure. At the end of the film the money had to be given for the cause of orphan children. In 2010, he had already showed his metal in the film Ishqiya, with Vidya Balan and Naseeruddin Shah and the film You, me and ghost. Ishqiya had got both commercial success and critical acclamation. Arshad Warsi had started his own production and is committed to do well there too. In 2014 he acted in the film Ishqiya 2, with Naseeruddin Shah and Madhuri Dixit. Although the film did not do great business but the film was appreciated. Arshad Warsi was sublime in many films including Golmaal and Golmaal Returns and viewers expect the ever-smiling talented actor to continue his brilliant work in future also.

Happy birthday to Lara Dutta.

April is the birthday month of Lara Dutta. She was born on 16th April, 1978. Lara Dutta is perhaps one of the most underrated actress of bollywood films in recent years. She possessed same amount of talent like that of Priyanka Chopra, yet could not attain the level that Priyanka attained within the short time. During the month of her birthday, viewers wonder whether any of new films will bring back the stardom of the attractive actress. She started her career with Priyanka and Akshay Kumar in Andaz and showed a lot of promise. But after doing great job in films like Bardasht opposite Bobby Deol, Zinda opposite Sanjay Dutt, Bombai Se Aya Mera Dost with Abhishek Bacchan, some way or the other lost focus. She was also not as lucky in respect of bagging important roles like Priyanka Chopra. She showed her standard of smartness and comedy instincts in films like No Entry and Partner. No Entry is probably one of the greatest hits of Lara Dutta till now. She balanced the comedy instincts of Anil Kapoor and did outcast Bipasha Basu, Celina Jaitley and Esha Deol in the film. Her lips in the main songs in the film were also appreciated. She was sublime in Partner opposite Salman Khan. Her lips in the songs “maria maria” and others did attract the viewers. Her acting was equally realistic. In 2009, she even showed her daring nature in accepting a role of village girl opposite Irfan Khan in the film Billu Barber. She acted hardly without any make up and brought out the innocence of a village girl in the film. The big question lies in the minds of people whether Lara Dutta can get her stardom back with her performance in the film Housefull. She had learned scuva diving and showed acrobatic stunts which hardly any actress had done in Indian celluloid till now for the performance in the film Blue. Besides she had acted with Katrina Kaif, the reigning queen of bollywood in the same film. But inspite of her performance opposite her in that film being appreciated by the viewers, Blue was considered the biggest flop of Akshay Kumar and bollywood films released in 2009. After huge amount money being spend in underwater shooting the viewers could not appreciate the great pains taken by the entire team of Blue. Let us hope that Lara Dutta retains her popularity with the film No Entry Main Phir Entry and provide stiff competition to Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif in future.

Happy birthday to Jaya Bacchan.

Happy birthday to Jaya Bacchan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Jaya Bacchan on 9th April, 2015. She was considered to be one of the most powerful actresses of films during the 70s and 80s. Her effortless performance in different types of roles had inspired other actresses to follow her later on. Jaya Bacchan started her career with an impressive role in Satyajit Ray’s film Mahanagar in 1965. She played the role of younger sister of Anil Chatterji and adapted herself in the role of realistic actress who show least amount of mannerisms in that film. In the bollywood film Guddi, she played the role of a common girl who was inspired by bollywood films. Utpal Dutta, her uncle took her to film studios to show that actors like Dharmender and others were made stars by the sheer effort of the cameraman, make-up man, director, producer and others and larger than life image is created by the technicians. Jaya Bacchan showed the innocence required from the role of a common teenager in the film. In the 70s, Jaya Bacchan acted in refined commercial films opposite Sanjeev Kumar and got appreciation from the mass and the critics. She was sublime in Gulzar’s film Koshish, where she herself along with Sanjeev Kumar played the role of a deaf and dumb couple who educated their child and learned communication by attending classes in deaf and dumb schools. She acted in the film Naya din nayi raat, opposite Sanjeev Kumar, where Sanjeev Kumar played 9 roles of 9 different persons. She left her house and met all the nine separate persons and met her husband which was also played by Sanjeev Kumar. She had very peculiar experiences of meeting drunkards, persons suffering from leprosy, smugglers, etc. and expressed her emotions very well. She was sublime in Gulzar’s film Parichay in 1972, where she played the role of the eldest sister of Sanjeev Kumar. She and her brothers and sisters became orphans after the death of their parents and were brought by Pran, their grandfather to their ancestral house. Jeetender was invited to teach the children and she got involved with Jeetender at the end of the film. She expressed her love for her father and hatred towards grandfather for not accepting her mother in the house like any intellectual actress. Her lips in the song “biti na bitai rehna” sung by Lata and Bhupinder Singh require special mention. Jaya Bachhan was equally sublime in commercial films like Sholay, Zanjeer, etc., opposite Big B. If her performance opposite Sanjeev Kumar in films like Anamika, Nauker, showed her class of acting, her performance opposite Big B in films like Bangsi Aur Birju or Abhimaan or Milli showed her spontaneous presence before the commercial crowd. In Abhimaan, all the songs of Lata like “teri bindiya re”, “tere mere Milan ki yeh raina”, etc., almost appeared like songs of Jaya Bacchan. Critics feel that she even did better than Big B in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s classic film. She became a myth in the 70s, after performing in any time of film including Manoj Kumar’s Shor to Yash Chopra’s Silsila. Even the medium-budget films like Piya Ka Ghar did business due to sheer brilliance of performance of Jaya Bacchan. In the late 90s, she again made a comeback in character roles in films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Fiza, etc., and showed the audience that she had not lost her touch in acting. The viewers expect her to continue the great work in bollywood films, as there is no doubt that she had equal potentiality like Shabana Azmi or Smita Patil and could have been chosen for any art film made by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and others during the 80s, had she not left films for bringing up Abhishek Bacchan and her daughter.

Happy birthday to Dancing Star Jeetender.

The viewers of Bollywood fims wish happy birthday to dancing star Jeetender on 7th April, 2015. Jeetender started his career in the early 1960s with the patronage of eminent director V. Shantaram. He was launched as hero opposite Rajashri in the film Geet Gaya Pattharone in 1964. At that time Jeetender had to face the competition from the rulers of bollywood films like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rajender Kumar and others. Probably Jeetender spend his toughest time of the career to cement his place between 1964 to 1970, when viewers starting recognizing Jeetender and appreciating his acting and dancing skills. The singer played a huge role in the success story of Jeetender was Mohammad Rafi. Rafi’s everlasting songs for Jeetender created a hall mark for super hit music which was one of main reasons for box-office success of the films. In the film Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne, Ramlal Choudhury composed the music. Mahendra Kapoor sang the hit song “ayiye padhariye” for Jeetender. In Jeetender ‘s film Gunahon Ka Devta, released in 1967, Shankar Jaikishan used Rafi in hit songs. Rafi’s song “humko to barbaad kiya hai” became bumper hit. Rafi and Manna Dey’s song “ayi hai bari door se mehmil me” is worth mentioning. Rafi Jeetender combination rocked bollywood with the film Farz in 1967. Laxmikant Pyarellal composed loud music for Rafi in songs like “mast baharon ka mai aashiq”, “baar baar din yeh aye” and “tujhse aye haseena”. Jeetender showed his dancing skills and viewers started calling him jumping juck. At the same time viewers enjoyed the western andaz of Mohammad Rafi in the peppy numbers. In Boond Jo Ban Gayi Mooti, released in 1967, Satish Bhatia composed music of the film. Mukesh’s song “yeh kaun chitrakaar hai” for Jeetender became big hit. In 1968, again Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi combination struck gold for Jeetender in the film Mere Huzur. Rafi’s song “rukh se zara naqab uthayo mere huzoor” had ghazal andaz. Raj Kumar also played important role in the film. Manna Dey sang excellent classical song “jhanak jhanak tori baje payelia”. Rafi was majestic in the songs “wo khushi mili hai mujhko”, “kya kya na sahe humne sitam aap ki khatir”, “gum uthane ke liye mai to jiye jayunga”. Hasrat Jaipuri wrote excellent lyrics for the film. In 1968 Jeetender acted in the film Suhaag Raat. Kalyanji Anandji composed the music of the film. Mukesh’s song “khush Raho” became hit. The Rafi Jeetender combination was back in 1968 with the film Aulad. Chitragupt composed music in the film. Rafi’s song “abke bahar ayi hai” had brilliant melody. The rendition of the song was splendid. Rafi and Lata’s duet song “armaan tha humein jinka” became bumper hit. Rafi and Lata’s duet song “nazuk nazuk badan mora” had folk effect. RD Burman composed music for Jeetender’s film Waris in 1969. All the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. All the songs became smash hits including “ek bechara pyar ka maara”, “lehrake aye hai jhoka bahaarka”, “kabhi kabhi aisa bhi hota hai”, etc. The LP Rafi and Jeetender combination dominated the chartbusters in 1969 in the films Jigri Dost, Do Bhai and Jeene Ki Raah. Jigri Dost’s songs of Rafi were super hit including “dil me kya hai”, “mere desh me pavan chale”, “raat suhaani jag rahi hai”, etc. Jeene Ki Raah’s songs were equally hit including “aa mere humjoli aa”, “aane se uske aye bahaar”, “ek banjaara gaye”, “chanda ko dhoonde sare tare nikal pare”. The magic continued in the film Do Bhai. Rafi was sublime in the songs “is duniya me aye duniyawalon”, “o geet nahin ban sakte”, “samne aaj dono jahan kea aa”, “jeena hai tere banker”. Rafi sang around 369 songs for Laxmikant Pyarellal in between 1963 to 1980. In that list at least 100 songs were picturized on Jeetender. LP used Rafi for Jeetender for the title song “dharti kahe pukarke” in the film Dharti Kahe Pukaarke in 1969. LP Rafi Jeetender combination stormed bollywood in the film Humjoli in 1970. All the songs of Rafi became bumper hit including “tik tik tik mera dil dole”, “hai re hai neend nahi aye”, “chal shuru ho ja”. Shankar Jaikishan continued with Rafi in Jeetender’s film Ek Naari Ek Brahmchari. Rafi was sublime in the songs “chirag kis ke ghar ka hai”, “are tu hai buddhu brahmchari”. Rafi LP and Jeetender again created magic in the film Himmat in 1970. All the songs became super hit including “hai shukr ke tu hai ladka”, “o piyo piyo ka zamana aya”, “das gayi nagin”, “maan jayiye”. In the 1970s Jeetender became a leading star of bollywood and never looked back. It is difficult to cover all the songs of Rafi for Jeetender because he had sung almost 100 songs for Jeetender. Viewers of bollywood films were entertained in other films of Jeetender including Banphool, Carwan, Badalte Rishtey, Aasha, etc. All the songs and the films should be preserved and restored.

Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had been remembered on 6th April, 2015.

Suchitra Sen had been remembered on 6th April, 2015. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2015. 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. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birthday on 6th April, 2014. 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 3 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.

Sushant and Dibakar Banerjee were excellent in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi.

Sushant and Dipakar Banerjee were excellent in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. Director Dibakar Banerjee started with a bang in the film Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. The film had been released recently and is doing extremely well. With Yash Raj Productions the film was shot in Kolkata and had a medium budget. On the first day the film did business of 7 crores. If the film can finally do business of 50 crores it will be a successful film. Saradindu Banerjee’s character Byomkesh Bakshi is known to everyone in India. Satyajit Ray used superstar Uttam Kumar to play the role of Detective Byomkesh Bakshi in the film Chiriakhana in 1967. Basu Chatterjee used Rajat Kapoor to play the role of Byomkesh Bakshi for Doordarshan. Anjan Dutta used Abir Chatterjee for three different films related to Byomkesh Bakshi. Recently Dipankar Banerjee had got a new Byomkesh in the form of Sushant Singh Rajput related to the Saradindu Banerjee’s story of Satyaneshi and Pather Kanta. In the film the story reveals Kolkata of 1940s. It was during the 2nd world War. Byomkesh completed studies. At that time he found his friend Ajit’s father missing who was a chemist. Ajit was played by Anand Tiwari. Ajit’s father created a new version of heroine which could be mixed in pan masala but not detected till it entered the blood of human being. Dr Anukul Guha instigated him to create it. In the film the role of Dr Anukul Guha was played by Neeraj Kabi. Then Ajit’s father was killed. Satyawati’s mesho was also killed after that. It was because the dead body of Ajit’s father was kept in the factory of Satyawati’s mesho. In this film the role of Satyawati was played by Divya Menon. Swastika Mukherjee played the role of Anguri Devi. She loved Dr Anukul Guha. Under his instruction she set poison in the soup of Satyawati’s mesho and killed him. Byomkesh unearthed the mystery. He found that the drug racket run by Young Chang from Shanghai operated in Kolkata as well. Dr Anukul Guha created a plan whereby he had given information to the Japanesh soldiers to penetrate into Kolkata from the Ganga ghats, in return he could dominate the drug racket to transport drugs via waterways across South East Asia. For achieving his target he befooled the Chinese mafias, Japanese soldiers and even the British Deputy Commissioner played by Mark Bennington. Byomkesh found the deadbodies of related persons including a student and a Japanese lady teacher, all killed by Dr Anukul Guha. At the end Byomkesh called all the parties and disclosed the truth and left Dr Anukul before the drug peddlars before he killed Anguri Devi. The performance of Neeraj Kabi was the best. He terrified and astonished everyone with his weird performance. Sushant Singh Rajput was excellent in his role. His eyebrows were joined together to give a detective’s look. Swastika Mukherjee did a great job for her seductive role. Chang did well for his role in the China Town within Kolkata. Divya Menon and Anand Tiwari were impressive in their roles. The entire credit goes to the director Dipakar Banerjee who had a herculean task of reproducing Kolkata of 1940s. The trams of those days, the vintage cars gave a vintage look to the city at the time of 2nd World War. Viewers should watch the film.

Happy birthday to Jaya Prada.

Happy birthday to Jaya Prada. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Jaya Prada on 3rd April, 2015. Jaya Prada was considered as one of the most gifted actresses of bollywood films of the 80s. She shook the Indian audience with her dancing skills in the film Shankaravaranam. In the late 70s her film Sargam opposite Rishi Kapoor became superhit with a brilliant story and excellent songs. She played the role of a deaf and dumb girl who had immense dancing callibre which was unearthed by Rishi Kapoor in the film. The film created sensation in both in North India and South India. The music composed by LP was brilliant by every musical standard and Lata and Rafi were sublime in the songs “dafliwale dafli baja”, “koel boli”, “ramjiki nikli sawari”, etc. In an age of action pact films of Big B, Vinod Khanna, Sargam being a romantic film with Rishi Kapoor and Jaya Prada did excellent business. From that time Jaya Prada became the no. 1 bollywood actress and acted opposite all the leading stars of bollywood. Her other superhit films include Sharabi, opposite Big B, Akhree Rasta opposite Big B, Kamchor opposite Rakesh Roshan, to name a few. She acted in a number of films opposite Jeetender as well and all of those films were successful. At that time she got stiff competition from Sri Devi, another South Indian actress who had both acting talent and dancing talent. The films where both of them acted together, the viewers were confused to choose between the two. In Akhree Rasta Jaya Prada did equally well like Sri Devi. In the 90s, also Jay Prada’s films especially opposite Big B did good business, like Indrajeet or Aaj Ka Arjun. In those films while Big B concentrated on action sequences, Jaya Prada played the romantic part to perfection. With the emergence of new actresses in bollywood films in the 90s like Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, Jaya Prada faded away from the bollywood industry. She joined politics and had been the parliamentarian for more than a decade. Besides she had played important roles in tamil films and other South Indian films over the years. A number of cinema halls in Mysore and Bangalore were named after her. In 2010, she had been expelled from the Samajwadi Party by Mulayam Singh Yadav along with other primary members. That can give her some time to devote in bollywood films as well. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in bollywood films in character roles as many of them feel that she still has a lot of acting left in her.

Happy birthday to Ajay Devgan.

Happy birthday to Ajay Devgan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Ajay Devgan on 2nd April, 2015. He had contributed a lot in bollywood films in the last 20 years. He started his career with the superhit film Phool Aur Kaante. As his father Veeru Devgan had a great background of training actors for action sequences and Ajay Devgan started his career with the latent quality of an action hero. The action sequences in Phool Aur Kaante were excellent. Also the music of the film became hit with songs like “premi pagal awara”, “tumko milne ko dil karta hai”, etc., sung by Kumar Shanu and Alka Yagnik, which were picturized on Ajay Devgan and Madhu. The other successful films of Ajay Devgan include Ishq, Dilwale, Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, etc. In Ishq, he acted with Amir Khan, Juhi Chawla and Kajol, and contributed well in the comedy sequences of the film. The film was based on the story of affairs between rich and poor people and the fathers of Juhi Chawla and Ajay Devgan never wanted to get their children married to poor people. The music of the film was very successful with songs like “ishq hua”, “humko tumse pyar hai”, etc. Ajay Devgan also acted in very serious films like Raincoat opposite Aishwarya Rai, which was directed by Rituporno Ghosh, Zakhm, Gangaajal , etc. He had created an identity of a reserve actor and that image helped him in getting landmark roles for the last 10 years. His other successful films include Golmaal and Golmaal Returns. In both Golmaal and Golmaal Returns Ajay Devgan acted with other comedians like Arshad Warsi and Tushaar Kapoor and maintained the rhythm of the film. Tushar Kapoor played the role of a deaf and dumb character in the film and at the end of the film got the job, the girl for marriage, as against the interests of his other friends. Ajay Devgan married successful actress Kajol and both had acted together in a number of films like Pyar To Hona Hi Tha, Ishq, You, Me and Hum, etc., most of which were successful. Even Ajay Devgan’s role of a ghost in the film Kaal opposite Lara Dutta, John Abraham and others were well appreciated by viewers. His performance in patriotic roles like that of Shahid Bhagat Singh also requires special mention. His film All the best did brilliant business in 2010. Although the credit for the success of the comedy film goes collectively to the effort of Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu and others, but Ajay Devgan’s anticipation of viewers accepting comedy stories require appreciation. In the following year also he had acted in the comedy film Atithi Tum Kab Jayoge with Konkona Sen Sharma and Paresh Rawal. He also acted in other challenging films like Aakrosh with Bipasha Basu and Akshay Khanna, Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, to name a few. 2011 had been a successful year. Ajay Devgan’s Singham had done business more than 100 crores and ranked among the 5 big hits of the year. In action films he had shown his skills over the years. The expectation from Ajay Devgan had just grew and grew. 2013 had been an excellent year for Ajay Devgan. 2 of his films Bol Bacchan and Son of Sardar did business of more than 100 crores. In 2013 his film Himmatwala in the first 3 days had done business of 30 crores. In 2014 his film Action Jackson did not do great business. The viewers expect Ajay Devgan to continue his good work both as an actor and also producer, director in the years to come.

Remembering Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari on her death anniversary.

Remembering Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari on her death anniversary. The viewers of bollywood films remembered Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari both on her birth anniversary on 1st August, 2013 on her death anniversary on 31st March, 2015. Meena Kumari can be considered as the greatest actress of Bollywood during the golden age who had portrayed images and characters showing complexity of the mind of the Indian women and the social ostentations that they had faced during different periods of time. Meena Kumari, born on 1st August, 1932, known as Mahjabeen Bano, stormed into the Indian silver screen in 1952, with the sublime performance in Baiju Bawra. Although the film had been renowned for everlasting composition of Hindustani ragas by Naushad and supreme performance of Mohammad Rafi, with songs like “man tarpata”, “woh duniya ke rakhwale”, etc., Meena Kumari’s performance opposite Bharat Bhushan showed the filmlovers that she had come to conquer Bollywood with her soft style of acting. In the 50s Meena Kumari’s performance in films like Parineeta, 1953, Footpath, 1954, Yahudi, 1958, etc. were appreciated by critics, but she had created her image of martyr in the film Sharda, 1957, where even after having an affair with Raj Kapoor, in the film she had to sarcrifice her affection to marry Raj Mehra, his father, who was much older than her. In Dil Ek Mandir, 1963, Meena Kumari after having affair with Rajender Kumar in her youth had to marry Raj Kumar, due to social pressure. But from the time she had married Raj Kumar, she fulfilled all the duties of a middle class Hindu woman, and brought her sick husband to the hospital at the mercy of Rajender Kumar. She prayed to God, for the recovery of Raj Kumar. Rajender Kumar sacrificed his life to treat her husband and died at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Rafi and Lata, had not lost their significance even today. In 1962, Meena Kumari, performed the role of choti bahu, in Guru Dutt’s Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, the film showing the zamindari raj (dominance of Feudal lords) existing in the British capital in India, that is Kolkata. She was married to the youngest son in a family of zamindars who used to attend mujras in Jaan bazaar, in Kolkata, where performers from Lucknow, Benaras used to come and exhibit their skills of singing classical songs. She tried to retain her husband Rehman at home, and through her conversation, Guru Dutt, the observer came to know about the history of the family. Meena Kumar’s performance opposite Pradeep Kumar, used to create a different dimension, as her pardanashin image had matched with royal style of acting of Pradeep Kumar. After the success of Aarti, 1962; Meena Kumari, acted in the blockbusters Bheegi Raat, 1965, and Bahu Begum, 1967, opposite Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar. In Bheegi Raat, she loved Pradeep Kumar, yet due to an accident which made her legs paralysed she could not attend the engagement and worked in the house of Ashok Kumar as governess. When society boycotted Ashok Kumar, she agreed to marry her, but presence of Pradeep Kumar at the end of the film in the song “dil jo na keh saka” compelled Ashok Kumar to sacrifice his affair and go back to London. It was a film where, Rafi, Lata, Roshan and the actors all had provided their best performance possible. Meena Kumar’s other film with Pradeep Kumar titled Chitralekha was also successful. Meena Kumari had become immortal with her classic performance in the film Pakeeza, 1971, opposite Raj Kumar, which took around 10 years to be completed. It was created on a subject related to women brought up in kotha and exhibited the class of women who could not give the recognition to their next generation as their father’s are not known. The music composed by Ghulam Mohammad, Lata and Rafi’s songs, Kamal Humrohi’s direction (the husband of Meena Kumari) all complemented each other, and the film became historical piece of document. The greatest hallmark of Meena Kumari lied in her ability to depict the helplessness of Indian women existing specially in the 50s and 60s, when the patriarchal society dominated them and they had no independent income to live separately against the pressure of society. In her performances, beauty, aristrocracy, tragedy, personality all blended into one. Whenever we think about cine-classics like Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi, 1960, or Ghazal, 1965, Meena Kumari’s image automatically comes in our mind. She died in 1972, only at an age of 41. Meena Kumari’s films should be restored in an archive for future generations to learn the art of understanding the characters from the core of the heart the way Meena Kumari had done during the golden age of Indian cinema.