Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Talat Mehmood was remembered on death anniversary.


The owner of velvette voice Talat Mehmood was remembered on his death anniversary on 9th May, 2016. The listeners of bollywood music wish happy birthday to legendary singer Talat Mehmood on 24th February, 2015
. He was a leading performer in bollywood films during the 40s, 50s and 60s. Along with Rafi, Mukesh and other leading singers of bollywood Talat Mehmood sang notable songs in the films of leading stars of bollywood. He rendered his voice for most of the actors of the bollywood during the 40s and 50s including Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Bharat Bhushan, and others. His landmark songs included “dil-e-nadan tujhe hua kya hai” composed by Ghulam Mohammad and picturised on Bharat Bhushan, in the film Mirza Ghalib in 1954, “koi nahi mera” composed by Shankar Jaikishan and picturised on Dilip Kumar in the film Daag in 1952, “mai dil hoon ek armaan bhara” picturised on Raj Kapoor in the film Anhonee in 1952, etc. He sang landmark songs for Dilip Kumar also in the films Footpath, Devdas, etc. All the leading composers of bollywood films of that age namely Naushad Ali, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan Lal Nagrath, Madanmohan Kohli , OP Nayyar, Salil Choudhury, SD Burman and others used him in different films. His other landmark songs included “phir wohi sham” composed by Madanmohan and picturised on Bharat Bhushan in the film Jahan-ara released in 1964. Talat Mehmood acted in a number of films including Dil-e-Nadan opposite Shyama, Raftaar opposite Nadira, Waris opposite Suraiya, Ek Gaon Ki Kahani opposite Mala Sinha and also showed his acting talent in those films. He had been mainly associated with ghazals and soft romantic songs. His vibrating technique in rendition had charmed many listeners of the golden age. He also sang light songs for many composers. His other songs included “jalte hai jiske liye” composed by SD Burman in the film Sujata, “humse aya na gaya” composed by Madanmohan in the film Dekh Kabira Roya, “itna na mujhse tu pyar bara” composed by Salil Choudhury in the film Chaya, “aye mere dil kahin aur chal” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Daag, to name a few.. Talat Mehmood had a number of basic discs in Bengali as well. His landmark songs included “chander eto alo” and “alote chayate” composed by Robin Chatterjee, “duti paakhi duti teere” composed by Kamal Dasgupta, etc. The sweetness of his voice was well appreciated by the Bengali listeners as well. His songs and films should be preserved and restored.

Shamshad Begum was a singing sensation.


Shamshad Begum the owner of voice like bell of temple. Shamshad Begum was a legendary singer and the gain of the voice still haunts music lovers. She was born on 14th April, 1919 and died on 23rd April, 2013. She was born in Lahore. From there she came to Mumbai with Mehboob Khan. Her talent was recognized by music director Ghulam Haider in the early 1930s. After Naushad Ali became successful he recorded songs with new singers as well in the early 1950s, but kept working with Shamshad in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Naushad Ali chose his favourite singer Begum once again to sing four out of the twelve songs in Mother India. Begum is credited with singing one of the first Westernised songs, "Meri jaan...Sunday ke Sunday" by Ramchandra. She kept getting more offers to sing songs and was the highest paid female singer from 1940 to 1955 and again post Mother India in 1957 to 1964. In 1949, music directors S. Rajeshwara Rao, M. D. Parthasarathy and Balakrishna Kalla asked her to sing "Jaiyo Jaiyo Shipayon Bazar" for P. Bhanumati in the film Nishan, produced by Gemini Films of Madras, which became highly popular. In 1954, when OP Nayyar got a break as a composer, he approached Begum to record songs for Mangu. Nayyar described her voice as resembling a "temple bell" for its clarity of tone. He worked with her until the late 1960s and gave her many hit songs, including "Ab To Jee Hone Laga" from Mr. & Mrs. '55, "Main Jaan Gayi Tujhe" from Howrah Bridge, "Zara Pyar Karle" from Mangu (1954), "Saiyan Teri Ankhon Mein" from 12' O Clock (1957), "Thodasa Dil Lagana" from Musafirkhana, and many others. Incidentally Shamshad Begum sang around 160 duet songs with Rafisahab. Majority of them rocked Bollywood music in the 1950s. Some of the most famous ones included “leke pehela pehela pyar” in film CID composed by OP Nayyar, “thandi hawaye kaalighatayen”, “husnwalen wafa nahin karte” in Love in Simla, composed by Iqbal Qureshi, “mai jaan gayi tujhe saiyan” in Howrah Bridge composed by OP Nayyar, “gao tarane manke” in Aan composed by Naushad Ali, “dhoom dharaka dhoom dharaka” in film Amber, “door koi gaye dhun yeh sunaye” in Baiju Bawra composed by Naushad Ali, “ho bachpan ke din bhula na dena” in Deedar composed by Naushad Ali, “nadi kinare saath hamare” in film Babul composed by Naushad Ali, to name a few. Shamshad Begum had other solo hits like “ek do teen aaja mausam hai rangeen” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in film Awaara in 1951. From the 1970s Shamshad Begum faded away from the industry, but her brilliant bass still haunts the listeners.

Happy birthday to dancing legend Aruna Irani.


Happy birthday to dancing legend Aruna Irani. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dancing legend Aruna Irani on 3rd May, 2016. She had made her debut as a child actress in the film Ganga Jamuna in 1961. She played the role of the smaller version of Azra in the film. She played similar roles in films like Jahanara in 60s. But her fantastic dancing skills launched her in super hit films like Farz which was released in 1967. She danced opposite Jeetender in the film Farz in Rafi’s song “mast baharon ka mai aashiq”, and that cemented her career in bollywood films. After that she got dance-based roles one after the other in bollywood. But due to comedy pairing with Mehmood in films like Humjoli, she got roles in the range of vamps rather than frontline heroines. She was brilliant opposite Mehmood in the Jeetender starrer Waarish in 1968. The music of RD Burman was brilliant with Rafi’s hit songs like “ek bechara pyar ka maara”. She amazed the viewers with the role of a gypsey woman in Jeetender’s film Carwan released in 1971. Her dance number in the song “dilbar” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and “chadti jawani” sung by Mohammad Rafi had shaken up bollywood in the early 70s. Her dancing skills were used to perfection by Showman Raj Kapoor in the film Bobby especially in Shailendra Singh’s song “mai shayar to nahin”. Her successful films in 70s and 80s includes Khel Khel Me, Buddha Mil Gaya, Laila Majnu, Ek Nari Ek Brahmchari, Qurbani, Sargam, Rocky, Love Story, etc. In negative characters in films like Qurbani she had amazed the viewers. From late 80s, she switched to character roles and became one of the leading actresses in that field. She received filmfare award for the best supporting actress for her brilliant performance in Madhuri Dixit’s film Beta. Her brilliant performance in films like Raja Babu, Ghulam-e-Mustafa, Kartavya, had created a separate place in the hearts of millions of filmlovers. Viewers got astonished to realize how an able dancer in her teenage, had transformed into a brilliant character artist who could do any type of role starting from comedy acting to serious roles to roles of negatives characters. She should have won many more filmfare awards for epic performances in films like Bobby, Qurbani, Haseena Maan Jayegi. She also played notable role in Priyadarshan’s film Khatta Meetha released in 2010. She also had received filmfare lifetime achievement awards. She said that she knew nothing. Dilip Kumar brought her to the beautiful world of bollywood. She learned everything and was indebted to the viewers for their love and affection. It was her humility which spoke out and made everyone enchanted. The viewers expect the veteran of more than 300 films to continue the great work that she started 40 years ago.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

OP Nayyar and Rafisahab were made for each other.


The combination of OP Nayyar and Mohammad Rafi was like tea and milk. The musiclovers had remembered legendary composer Omkar Prasad Nayyar, popularly known as OP Nayyar on his birthday on 16th January, 2016. 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. The relationship between the two greats can be compared as tea and milk. 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. OP Nayyar received the filmfare award for the best music director only once in his career. Credit goes to Rafisahab for the great rendition of each songs of Naya Daur. 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. Rafisahab was the first choice of OP Nayyar, and inspite of Raj Kapoor’s voice having closeness with Mukesh and Manna Dey. OP Nayyar gave all the songs of Do Ustad released in 1959 to Mohammad Rafi Sahab. Even in Bharat Bhushan’s Phagun, OP Nayyar composed all the songs for great Rafi Sahab. So of the most super hit songs included “kaun se pardesi mera dil le gaya”, “tum rooth ke mat jana”, “mai soya ankhiya miche”. Qamar Jalalabadi’s words were as brilliant as Rafisahab’s velvety voice. 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. OP Nayyar composed peppy numbers for Rafi Sahab in Dharmender’s film Muhobbat Zindagi Hai in 1966. Rafisahab’s song “na jaane kyun” was as brilliant as “tumhari mulakat se” and “yeh purnur chehra yeh dilkash ada”. 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.

Mehmood Rafi and shankar jaikishan had great combination.


Death Anniversary of Mehmood and remembering him with Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi. The viewers of Bollywood films remember Mehmood on his death anniversary on 23rd July, 2016. The viewers of bollywood films remembered Mehmood and showed their respect to legendary comedian Mehmood on 29th September, 2015. He was an indispensable actor during the 60s and 70s. He had acted in different types of roles ranging from serious ones in Choti Behen to villainish roles in Pyaasa and obviously serio-comic roles in Gumnaam. He was the other comedian other than Johnny Walker, who had given lips in majority of songs in landmark films. His combination with Subha Khote and Dhumaal, was as brilliant as the legendary pairs of Dharmender Hema Malini or Shashi Kapoor Nanda. Shankar Jaikishan had always been known to set trends and not follow any existing system created by the other compositions. SJ used Lata to her limit in Barsaat in the late 40s, during a time when the other female singers like Noorjahan, Suraiya, Samshad Begum, Rajkumari were also prominent in singing playback songs in bollywood films. SJ never stuck one single team and that was one of their secrets of success in bollywood films. In respect of Mehmood, it was a tradition for most of the composers to use Manna Dey to sing for Mehmood, most of which were very very successful. SD Burman used Manna Dey to sing “duniya bananewale” in the film Ziddi for Mehmood, where he used Rafi to sing the songs for Joy Mukherjee like “bolo bolo, aye dildaar”, etc. RD Burman used Manna Dey to sing the songs “sawaariya” and “ek chaturnaar” in the film Padosan for Mehmood. LP used Manna Dey to sing “o mere maina” in the film Pyar Kiye Ja, for Mehmood. There are numerous other examples where Manna Dey was used by the composers to suit Mehmood. Shankar Jaikishan had something else in mind. He used Manna Dey in very serious classical songs like “sur na saje” in Basant Bahar, emotional songs like “tu pyar ka sagar hai” in Seema, or folk songs like “chalet musafir” in Teesri Kasam. When it came to Mehmood, SJ experimented with Rafi, and those songs probably are considered the most successful songs of Mehmood in his entire career. The song “ajahu na aye balma sawan bita jai” in the film Saanjh Aur Sawera, picturized on Mehmood, stands out as one of the most classically oriented compositions of SJ for Rafi. The song had both appeal for the mass and also the class. The song “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” in Gumnaam, became a trademark song of Mehmood. Rafi almost reproduced the style of dialogue throwing of Mehmood in the song and it appeared to the masses that the song was sung by Mehmood himself. SJ used Rafi to sing the song “mai rickshawala” in the black and white era in the film Choti Bahen, during a time when Mehmood’s image was not created. Mehmood almost made people cry in the film and the credit goes to Rafi’s emotions in the song. In the film Zindagi, Rafi’s song for Mehmood titled “ghungharwah mora cham cham baje”, became big hit. The other hit songs of Rafi for Mehmood composed by SJ include “o gori chalona hans ki chaal”, “zindagi mujhko dikhade raasta”, “mai hoon jaani tera”etc. Rafi’s presence was felt in the films Beti Bete, Bhai Bhai, etc. where Mehmood had prominent roles and SJ composed the music of those films. Even the song “bakhma bakhma” in the film Shatranj became successful. Even in the duets that were sung for Mehmood, SJ created a new trend in allowing Suman Kalyanpur to sing some of the songs with Rafi or Sharda to sing some of them, in addition to Lata who had sung around 440 duets with Rafi during the golden age. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Rafi and Mehmood should be restored for their filmic appeal and versatile creations.

Jajjit Singh compositions had not been forgotten by people.


Jagjit Singh’s excellent compositions will remain immortal forever. The listeners of music all over the world wish happy birth anniversary to Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh on 8th February, 2016. Listeners of ghazals remember the king of ghazals Jagjit Singh on 10th October every year. Ghazal King Jagjit Singh passed away on 10th October, 2011. In respect of his excellent ghazals his listeners have remained speechless. His voice had been used to heal sadness and sickness. He had been the only singer who had composed and sung songs on the poetry of legendary Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee titled “Nayidisha” in 1999 and “Samvedna” in 2002. Along with his wife Chitra Singh, he was the first Indian composer to have used digital multi-track recording for the album “Beyond Time” in 1987. His original name was Jagpreet Singh. He learned khayal, dhrupad, thumri from Ustaad Jamaal Khan. His album “The unforgetables” in 1976, mesmerized the audience. His baritone voice made everyone enchanted. He departed from classical ghazals to a more refined romantic rendition, by keeping the soul of the lyrics intact. He created a different gharana, a bit different from the other legends of ghazals like Mehedi Hassan, Talat Mehmood, Mohammad Rafi, Noor Jahan, Begum Akhtar, etc. His compositions in the duet albums “Ecstasies”, “A Sound Affair”, “Passions”, with Chitra Singh were unparallel. Jagjit Singh’s excellent bass was balanced by Chitra Singh’s high notes in most of the ghazals. Duet ghazals like”duniya jise kehte hai jadoo ka khilouna hai”, “kaun keheta hai muhobbat ka zuban hoti hai”, etc., will remain immortal for ever. After the death of his son Vivek at the age of 21 years, Chitra Singh left singing. But Jagjit Singh’s later albums were full of pathos, but the excellent lyrics of the shayar’s or poets or given adequate expression by the legendary Ghazal King. The titles of his music albums were also thoughtful including Hope, Insight, Mirage, Kahkashan (Galaxy), etc., to name a few. Jagjit Singh probably had sung with the best poets of the country in the 80s and 90s including Nida Fazli, Qateel Shifai, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Sudarshaan Fakir, Zaka Siddiqi, Nazir Bakri, Faiz Ratlami and others. It required huge talent and innovation to do justice to the thoughtful words shown in the poem. In whichever field of music Jagjit Singh had ventured he had struck gold, whether his albums in bhajans or gurbani. Jagjit Singh enriched hindi film music with his excellent compositions in the film Saath Saath and others. His film songs like “tumko dekha to ye khayal aya”, “tum itna jo muskura rahi ho”, “hoton se chulo tum” had remained historical masterpieces. His songs in TV Serial Mirza Ghalib had enchanted numerous listeners. A Padmabhushan being awarded to the musical maestro was not enough to reward his brilliance. One article is too small to highlight his achievements. His immortal works should be preserved and restored.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Mamta Sharma and Zee Bangla Little Champs Program.


Mamta Sharma stormed Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champs Program Successful singer came to Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champs Program on 20th July, 2013. She came and stole the show. She sang the successful song “munni badnaam hui” from Salman Khan’s film Dabaang. She asked the anchor Jishu Sengupta to dance with her. Jishu Sengupta had been anchoring the program for the last 3 months. Haimanti Shukla, Kumar Shanu and Mahalakshmi Iyer, the judges welcomed her for her excellent performance. She had received numerous awards for the song “munni badnaam hui” and after different composers started taking her. She had sung many notable songs in different films. Her song “tinku jiya” in the film Yamla Pagla Deewana with Javed Ali was a smash hit. Anu Malik composed the music of the film. She also sang the song “anarkali disco chali” from the film Housefull 2. Other than item numbers she had song many other types of songs. She sang the song “tu kamaal di kuri” with Suchith Sureshan in the film Son of Sardar. Sajid Wajid composed the music of the film. She also sang the songs “fevicol se”, and “pandeyji seeti” from Salman Khan’s super hit film Dabaang 2. The same team Sajid Wajid, producer Arbaaz Khan and Mamta Sharma were involved in the success of the film and the songs. In 2013 she sang the successful song “baap ka maal” in the film Zila Ghaziabad. She had sung the duet song with Sukhwinder Singh. In the film Himmatwala, she had sung the song “dhoka dhoka” composed by Sajid Wajid and co sung by Bappi Lahiri and Sunidhi Chauhan. In the Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champions program many child participants had sung difficult songs. The judges had supported them also and give them good remarks. Kumar Shanu had many times given them the certificate by the singing the line “jamiye dili gaane gaane”. Haimanti Shukhla had commented “kya baath kya baath” a number of times. The Program organizers had also brought experts in the musical field to judge the child participants. On one of the programs singer Koushiki was called up, the daughter of Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty, on one of the programs Nirmala Mishra had also been called up. Mamta Sharma will also appear on 25th July, 2013, edition of the program Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champs Program.

Prasenjit Chatterjee and Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program.


Superstar Prasenjit Chatterjee stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program. Superstar Prasenjit Chatterjee came as guest judge in the program Zee Bangla Mirakkel on 29th August, 2013. The judges Rajatavo Dutta, Paran Banerjee and Srilekha Mitra were there as usual. Mir Afsar Ali asked Prasenjit Chatterjee about his new film Parichay which had been shot in the picturesque location of New Castle. The young actors and actresses were also brought in show to speak about the experience of the film. The artist Mishti had been launched in the film. Prasenjit Chatterjee played the role of the father of the girl Mishti in the film. The new actress had presently acted in the film Parichay and after that she had been offered a role in a Bollywood film. When Prasenjit Chatterjee was asked about funny instances in his life he gave information about his co-stars. He said one of his friends and popular actor Tapas Pal at one point of time was very foody. He was busy with a number of films of directors Tarun Majumdar. Incidentally Tapas Pal acted in many successful films of Tarun Majumar namely Dadar Kirti, Bhalobasha Bhalobasha, to name a few. When director Tarun Majumdar told Tapas Pal that he must live in strict diet, Tapas Pal used to look into the tiffin box of all the co-stars. If he found some delicious food, he asked the co-star to share some of that food. Later on Tarun Majumdar said “what was the point of asking him to stay in strict diet, when he ate the food of other co-stars.” The performers of the Zee Bangla Mirakkel show dedicated their acts on the different films of Prasenjit Chatterjee. Prasenjit Chatterjee had acted in more than 200 films in the last 30 years. Subhashis Mukherjee did parody by singing the songs of Prasenjit Chatterjee’s films with words of his own. At the end of the show a joint act was done by Vicky and Apurbo Roy. Apurbo Roy had experience of acting with Prasenjit Chatterjee in the program Zee Bangla Banglar Sera Poribaar. So here also he acted a part which could annoy the veteran actor. Prasenjit Chatterjee laughed at his performance and the performance of Vicky, when he said Prasenjit Chatterjee’s walking style was created because he had to walk across muddy roads in villages in West Bengal and carry two buckets full of water which were very heavy.

In Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program magician PC Sarkar said many things.


Magician PC Sarkar Junior stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program. Magician PC Sarkar Junior stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program on 31st July, 2013. He came with his wife in the show. They were invited as guest judges along with the main judges Paran Banerjee, Srilekha Mitra and Rajatavo Dutta. Mir Afsar Ali asked PC Sarkar Junior about his experience of working with lions in many magic shows. He said his wife never liked the games. She feared if in any of the games, the lion instead of getting hypnotized then it could lead to danger of life. Later PC Sarkar Junior taught the same game to his daughter who also showed the magic with lion. One of the performers Subhashis Mukherjee did his show relating to parody singing with Palash Adhikari and dedicated it with PC Sarkar Junior and his wife. He changed the lyrics of famous songs of Manna Dey and sang them very well. Incidentally it was the birthday of PC Sarkar Junior. Mir Afsar Ali and all the judges of Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program wished happy birthday to the magic giant. Mir Afsar Ali also asked whether the myth relating to PC Sarkar’s capability of changing the time of the day was true. It was a famous myth during the 1960s. When PC Sarkar, the junior, the son of PC Sarkar, was asked about it, he said it was also a myth for him. He himself became famous for vanishing a running train in his shows. Visitors used to get hypnotized in his shows. The mentors acted out a play remembering Satyajit Ray’s Hirak Rajar Deshe. There Utpal Dutta played the role of Hirak Raja and the magician’s role was played by Santosh Dutta. Here Dr. Krishnendu was the Hirak Raja and Saurav Paludi was the magician. Magician king PC Sarkar Junior was moved with the brilliant performances of the performers.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Kisi Se Na Kehna did well due to brilliance of Utpal Dutt, Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval.


Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval were excellent in film Kisi Se Na Kehna. Actors Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval were a brilliant intellectual pair who stormed Bollywood films in the 1980s. They were cast in different experimental characters after the pair of Naseeruddin Smita Patil and Om Puri Shabana Azmi. Kisi Se Na Kehna was a light-hearted comedy film made by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in 1983. The film was produced by Ashok Raut or Jayant Pathare. The music was composed by Bappi Lahiri. In the film Farooq Sheikh became the general manager of the firm run by SN Banerjee. He fell in love with Deepti Naval who was the niece of SN Banerjee. Utpal Dutta, the father of Farooq Sheikh wanted to get him married to girl who knew Indian traditions and did not know the language. Utpal Dutta himself went to see a number of girls and found that the ones who were modern learned poor culture and were disrespectful towards elders. He asked Farooq Sheikh to marry only that girl who knew not a single letter of English. Sayeed Jaffery helped Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval to get married. He asked Deepti Naval and SN Banerjee to pretend that they were from the village and never heard any English word in life. Deepti Naval faced huge trouble as she was a learned doctor, but she managed the false relationship. Deven Verma, her cousin brother was the relief character in the film who was seen with different girlfriends at different times. At the end of the film when Utpal Dutta faced a heart attack, Deepti Naval had to give an injection to save him and told the truth. At the beginning Utpal Dutta told her to leave his house but after hearing the version from Sayeed Jaffery reconciled the situation. Hrishikesh Mukherjee gave a great message in the film. He showed the world that development is not based on roughness created by advanced education but the humbleness earned by traditional knowledge. Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval after creating havoc with brilliant performances in the films Saath Saath, Katha, Chasme Badoor, continued the dream run in the film Kisi Se Na Kehna. Utpal Dutta had a class of his own when it came to acting. Right from negative roles in the films Barsaat Ki Ek Raat to comedy roles in Golmaal and social roles in Kisi Se Na Kehna, he became the pride of the industry in character roles. Sayeed Jaffery was a great actor and showed his class in films like Shatranj Ki Khiladi, Masoom and many other films. The music of Bappi Lahiri was impressive with Asha Bhosle’s song “kisi se na kehna” which was very soft and melodious. The film should be restored and preserved.

When Shahrukh Khan came to Indian Idol Junior Show he encouraged the participants.


Superstar Shahrukh Khan came to the Indian Idol Junior show. Superstar Shahrukh Khan and actress Deepika Padukone came to the Sony TV Indian Idol Junior show on 3rd August, 2013. The Indian Idol Junior show is running for more than 2 months and the judges Shreya Ghoshal, Vishal and Shekhar had adjudicated the rounds for that time. Presently many finalists are showing their talents in the final stages of the show including Anmol, Nirvesh, Debanjana, Sonakshi, Akash, Anjana, Priyam and Sugandha. Shahrukh Khan told the viewers that it was his second occasion to act opposite Deepika Padukone in Chennai Express after the super hit film Om shanti Om. Om Shanti Om was the first film of Deepika Padukone and she herself was also indebted to Shahrukh Khan for the success in film career. The participants also sang some of the hit songs of Om Shanti Om including “ankhon me teri ajab si ajab si adayen hai”. Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone danced with the participants as well. The director of the film Rohit Shetty also came in the show to speak about the film Chennai Express. The film is going to be released on 9th August. There is huge hype about the film as it is an id festival release. Previously Idd had been a successful period of release of superstar Salman Khan with majority of films like Dabaang, Wanted, Bodyguard being released at that time. This time superstar Shahrukh Khan is looking at the huge business during id. Director Rohit Shetty is associated with huge number of comedy films and hit films of Ajay Devgan including All the best, Golmaal, Golmaal Returns, Bol Bacchan, to name a few. This is the first time he is working with Shahrukh Khan. In the film Shahrukh Khan played the character of a north Indian person who came down all the way from North India and fell in love with a South Indian girl from Rameshwaram who was also the daughter a don of the place. The film had been produced by Ronnie Screwwala, Sidharth Roy Kapoor and Gauri Khan and music is composed by Vishal Shekhar. Already the dance number “1 2 3 4” with South Indian actress Priyamani had created storms all over India. Shreya Ghoshal wished her best for the release of Shahrukh Khan’s film Chennai Express.

Bappi Lahiri took the stage by storm when he came in Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program.


Disco King Bappi Lahiri stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel program. Bappi Lahiri came to the Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program on 5th August, 2013. He stole the show. He had answer for every questions in the form of songs. When the achor Mir Afsar Ali asked him what did Bappi Lahiri do when he had differences with his wife? He said he sang his own composed song “pyar manga hai tumhi se, na inkaar karo”. Mir, the participants and all the judges Srilekha Mitra, Paran Banerjee and Rajatavo Dutta laughed at his reply. The famous parody singer Subhashis Mukherjee sang songs composed and sung by Bappi Lahiri by changing the lyrics of those songs. Vicky danced on those songs. He picked and chose the hit songs of Bappi Lahiri. He sang “tolte tolte, pore gechi manhole khola dhakna” which was based on Bappi Lahiri’s composed song “chalte chalte mere yeh geet yaad rakhna kabhi alvida naa kehna”. Bappi Lahiri himself was very impressed with the effort. Subhashis Mukherjee also used Bappi Lahiri’s songs “tohfa tohfa tohfa, laya laya laya”, then “e amar gurudakkhina”. Vicky imitated the dance steps of Mithun Chakrvarty who had given lips in maximum songs of Bappi Lahiri. Bappi Lahiri said that he had composed songs for 4 generations. He composed songs in superstar Uttam Kumar’s film Ogo Bodhu Sundari, Prasenjit Chatterjee’s film Amar Sangi, numerous films of Mithun Chakravarty and many films of Deb. Mir said it proves the fact that composer never grows old. His songs are as young as can be mentioned. At the end of the show Bappi Lahiri came at the middle of the stage and sang his song “angna me baba duare me ma”. He said his father Aparesh Lahiri and mother Basabi Lahiri, both eminent singers of their times, were born and brought up in Pabna in Bangladesh. So gave his best wishes to those participants who came from Bangladesh to Kolkata to perform in Mirakkel 6 program. Bappi Lahiri also sang an English song that he composed for old people of England. He recorded the song in a studio of London and informed them about the song. He had composed songs for football worldcup also.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Vaijayantimala and Rajender Kumar were outstanding in Aas Ka Panchi.


Rajender Kumar and Vaijayantimala did well in the film Aas Ka Panchi. The film Aas Ka Panchi was released in the year 1961. It was directed by Mohan Kumar. The music was composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The film was produced by J Om Prakash. The hero and heroine Rajender Kumar and Vaijayantimala did well in the film. In the film it was shown that Rajender Kumar, the son of Naseer Hussain had a childhood ambition of being a military officer. His father never liked that. When Rajender Kumar passed his BA exam, he got him employed in the same office where he had worked in the post of accountant. As Rajender Kumar was not inclined for that job he could not do it properly and lost the job after some period of time. He fell in love with Vaijayantimala, the daughter of Raj Mehra. Vaijayantimala told Rajender Kumar that he could not qualify to get officerial post in the military, he could start as ordinary jawan. He took her advise and joined the army. Raj Mehra wanted to get Vaijayantimala married to a doctor played by Shivraj. As Raj Mehra expected his daughter to marry a respectable person in the society, he could not tolerate her love affair with an ordinary soldier in the army like Rajender Kumar. While Rajender Kumar represented the army in one of the wars, he was severly injured, the operation of him was done by his friend Shivraj. He finally recovered. Vaijayantimala accepted him as her husband. The music in the film was very impressive. The lyrics were written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. The landmark songs included “dil mera ek aas ka panchi” sung by Subir Sen, “dheere chalo zara” sung by Subir Sen and Lata Mangeshkar, “tumi roothi raho” sung by Mukesh, “ab char dino ki chutti hai’ sung by Mohammad Rafi, to mention a few. Very significantly Subir Sen was given a big break by Shankar Jaikishan after the film katputli. The performances of all the character artists in the film were excellent including Raj Mehra, Nasir Hussain, Mumtaz Begum, Leela Chitnis, Sundar and others. Vaijayantimala was ruling the film industry at that time, so her name was name to carry any film. Although Rajender Kumar did not become Jubilee Kumar by that time, yet Aas Ka Panchi showed that he had a lot of promise. The film should be preserved and restored.

Jeet and Subhashree promoted film Boss in Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program.


Superstar Jeet and Subhashree stormed Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program. Superstar Jeet and actress Subhashree came to the Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program on 8th August and stole the show. They gave for the promotion of their new film Boss that is release this week at the time of Eid. Actress Subhashree had been every successful opposite the other Bengali superstar Deb. The anchor Mir Afsar Ali greeted Jeet and Subhashree well in the show. They were greeted by the judges as well Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Srilekha Mitra as well. The mentors Dr. Krishnendu, Sourav Paludi, Subhadeep and Arnab gave a special performance related to a court scene. All four of them represented the public prosecutor, the accused, the judge and the investigating police officer. Sourav played the character of the thief (the accused), Dr. Krishnendu played the character of the Public Prosecutor, Arnab played the character of the investigating officer while Subhadeep played the character of the judge. It was an awesome performance full of wit. Subhashis Mukherjee gave a hilarious presentation of parody with Palash Adhikari and Sangeet Tiwari. He played the character of singer Tansen. Palash Adhikari played the character of Emperor Akbar, while Sangeet Tiwari played the character of comedian Birbal. Subhash Mukherjee cleverly used the songs of films of superstar Jeet, changed the lyrics and fitted them in the context of the play. All of them did a great job. Both Jeet and Subhashree then came up on the stage and showed few steps related to the new songs of the film Boss. One of the judges Rajatavo Dutta had played the character of villain in the film Boss opposite Jeet. The other performers like Tapadyuti Dutta, Zameel Hussain, and others also did well. The elimination in the competition had started and one contestant is eliminated in every show.

Humraaz became super hit due to performances of Sunil Dutt and Raj Kumar.


Sunil Dutt and Raj Kumar were sublime in the film Humraaz. Director BR Chopra directed many multi-starrer films and all of them did great business. Humraaz was one of the blockbusters released in 1967. In the film Vimi, the daughter of military officer Manmohan Krishan loved Raj Kumar and secretly married him. But Raj Kumar was send to the warfront and she came to know that he was no more. She gave birth to a daughter which was kept a secret by Manmohan Krishan. After 4 years of marriage, when Manmohan Krishan was in his last days the secret was disclosed. It was also mentioned that Vimi’s daughter Sarika was studying in a Boarding School, and the details relating to that was given to Vimi. Sunil Dutt, discovered that Vimi secretly went to a hotel to meet Raj Kumar, her earlier husband, and to find the truth took the disguise of a bearded man and stayed in a hotel to discover the matter. On one of the days Vimi was killed. Then Balraj Sahani had investigated into the matter. Raj Kumar and Sunil Dutt came to Ooty to take Sarika when they came to know that Madan Puri had taken her to that place. Madan Puri extracted money from his father-in-law and gave Sarika falsely mentioning that she was his granddaughter. Sarika after the killing of Vimi became dumb. At the end when the death scene of Vimi was shown by Iftekar and Mumtaz, which was recorded in a camera, everyone came to know Madan Puri killed Vimi. In a tassle to rescue Sarika, Raj Kumar was killed. The performances of Raj Kumar, Balraj Sahani, Sunil Dutt were excellent. The beautiful locations of Darjeeling and other places mesmerized the audience. BR Chopra utilized the best composition of music director Ravi Shankar Sharma. The songs of Mahendra Kapoor, “neele gagan ke tale”, “kisi patthar ki moorat se”, “na muh chupake jiyo”. Mahendra Kapoor also won filmfare award for his brilliant singing in the film Humraaz. BR Chopra did a great job as a producer and director. The film ended up being the 4th biggest blockbuster of 1967 after Upkar, Ram Aur Shyam and Farz. The film should be restored and preserved.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Sudipa Mukherjee, Shukla Mukherjee, Sneha Chatterjee came in Zee Bangla Didi No 1 Program.


Sudipa Mukherjee, Shukla Mukherjee, Sneha Chatterjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program. Rachana Banerjee invited the entire team of Rannaghar Program in Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program on 19th August, 2013. The team included Sudipa Mukherjee who is the anchor of the program, Shukla Mukherjee, Sneha Chatterjee and Sonali Choudhury. Zee Bangla Rannaghar Program is shown everyday at 5 pm in Zee Bangla Channel. All these hosts are famous for hosting cookery shows in Zee Bangla. Ranchana Banerjee asked Sudipa Mukherjee about her experience in the show. She said the program had crossed 2500 episodes and is running excellently. Sneha Chatterjee said that she had a great experience in hosting the shows in the houses of renouned personalities. Shukla Mukherjee is called kitchen queen and had written many books of cookery. Sonali Choudhury said she enjoyed the anchoring of the program on Sundays. In the first round, the contestants were asked to make samosas with the ingredients. Sudipa Mukherjee did in shortest time and won Kitchen Chimney as prize. In the second round Biswanath Choudhury came in the musical section. He had also anchored the Rannaghar program for some episodes. He said he had excellent experience of going to Purulia. In the villages of Purulia he met the common villagers and their simplicity touched him. He also said there was red palash flowers in the hills of Purulia which looked like red carpet. He also understood the poverty of the common man in the village. All the contestants were asked to sing songs in the second round. Shukla Mukherjee sang the song “sadher lau banailo more bairagi”. Biswanath Choudhury stayed in the show for one more round. All the cookery show anchors brought with them brilliant delicacies. Sudipa Mukherjee brought khitchuri. Sonali Choudhury brought hilsa fish. Biswanath Choudhury brought sweet curd ( mishti doi). Shukla Mukherjee and Sneha Chatterjee brought sweets. The palatable dish was eaten by all the participants and Rachana Banerjee. At the end of the show Sneha Chatterjee gave all the answers in the rapid fire round and won all the prizes that were left over. The other three contestants Sudipa Mukherjee, Shukla Mukherjee and Sonali Choudhury had won many other prizes. Rachana Banerjee anchored the program very well.

Arijit Singh came in Zee Bagla Saregamapa Little Champs Program.


Arijit Singh stormed Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champs Program. Singer Arijit Singh came to Zee Bangla Saregamapa Little Champs Program on 23rd August, 2013. He came, saw and conquered. The judges of the program namely Kumar Shanu, Akriti Kakkar, Joy Sarkar and Koushiki welcomed him in the show. The anchor of the show Jishu Sengupta told Kumar Shanu that it was an occasion when the singer of the older Ashiqi film and the singer of the present film Ashiqi 2 is seen together. Jishu Sengupta asked Kumar Shanu and Arijit Singh to come to the stage and sing the songs of Ashiqi film. Kumar Shanu sang his famous song “sanson ki zaroorat hai jaise” from the film Ashiqi. Arijit Singh sang his song from the film Ashiqi 2. Arijit Singh recently had sung many impressive songs in Bollywood films and also Bengali films. He came to the stage and sung the song “phir le aya dil” from the film Barfi. The film was an excellent film. The song was composed by Pritam Chakravarty. Arijit Singh had also acted as an assistant to Pritam for some time. In 2013, all his songs in the film Ashiqi 2 had become super hit. Some of the songs included “tum hi ho”, “meri aashiqi”, to mention a few. His song “kabira” in the film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani became smash hit. Ranbir Kapoor’s film did business of 189 crores this year and one of the reasons for extreme success was the melodious music. His song “Kashmir me tu kanyakumari” from the film Chennai Express also became super hit. Shahrukh Khan’s film had made business of more than 200 crores and is declared the greatest blockbuster of 2013. Arijit Singh sang many super hit songs in Bengali films. Some of his hit songs included “Dadagiri, title track” in the Bengali Zee Bangla Program Dadagiri, “na re na” from the film Bojhena Sei Bojhena, “din khon mapa ache” from the film Hawa Bodol. In 2013 his songs in Jeet’s super hit film Boss also became very popular. Some of his hit songs included “mon majhire”, “icche joto uriye debo”. The child participants were appreciated by Arijit Singh. They were encouraged by his statements. Jishu Sengupta anchored the program very well.

Subhashis Mukherjee deserved the winner cap of Zee Bangla Mirakkel 7 Program.


Subhashis Mukherjee became champion of Zee Bangla Mirakkel 7 Program. Performer Subhashish Mukherjee became champion of Zee Bangla Mirakkel 7 Program on 25th August, 2013. Incidentally, Zee Bangla Mirakkel 7 Program ended with the grand finale on 25th August, 2013. He had been famous for his musical parodies which he done along with play acting on each of the episodes. In the final round the markings were done by the judges Paran Banerjee, Rajatavo Dutta and Paran Banerjee. In the final round, Subhashis Mukherjee defeated Krishna Banerjee, Jamil Bhai, Tapadyuti Dutta, Sayon, Mithun and Mrinmoy. They also did very well. In the final round, singer Monali Thakur came as guest judge. She sang the song “anjana, anjani”, the title song of the film Anjaana Anjaani. She appreciated the performances of all the performers. From Monday, 26th August, 2013, Zee Bangla Dadagiri Program with Sourav Ganguly will begin and Mirakkel season 7 had ended. Subhashis Mukherjee played out the roles of singers Manna Dey, Hemanta Mukherjee, Sandhya Mukherjee, AR Rehman and others in a Circus. He changed the words of the songs of those singers like “ami jharer kache rekhe elam amar thikana”, “a gaaner projapoti pataye rong charay”, to mention a few. In addition to singing out the songs, Subhashis Mukherjee had acted very well, and the songs had fitted the comedy sequence very well. Mrinmoy, played the character of Salman Khan in Dabaang. In the final round there a number of star performances of champions of the show and also the groomers. Apurbo Roy played the character of scare-crow or Kaktarua in the finale. Sonali Choudhury acted with groomers, Subhadeep, Dr. Krishnendu, Arnab and Sourav in as small skit relating to operation in an operation theatre. Actress Oindrila also performed with Palash Adhikari, Sangeet Tiwary and Fatik Purokayet.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Saswata Chatterjee and his wife came to Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar.


Saswata Chatterjee and his wife, Subhashis Mukherjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee, the anchors of the program of Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar, stormed Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar with the celebrities invited on 1st April, 2014. The celebrities included Subhashis Mukherjee and his wife Ishita Mukherjee, Saswata Chatterjee and his wife Mahua Chatterjee, Rupanjana and her husband Rezaul and others. In the second round, three scenes from three films of Saswata Chatterjee were shown and his wife Mahua Chatterjee was asked which one of the roles he liked the most. The roles were in films like Kahaani, Bhuter Bhobiswat and others. His wife Mahua Chatterjee liked the role of Bob Biswas, the serial killer in the film Kahaani. There were three dishes also produced before Mahua Chatterjee. She was asked if ilish fish was offered to Saswata Chatterjee, what would have been the vegetable with which he would have loved to eat, whether Pui Sakh or Kachu. She said it was Kachu. In the second round, three scenes from three comedy films were shown to Subhashis Mukherjee and his wife Ishita Mukherjee. The films were Pather Panchali where Tulsi Chakravarty played a comedy role, Jamalaye Jibonto Manush where Bhanu Banerjee played a comedy role and Pyaasa where Johny Walker played a comedy role. Both Subhashis Mukherjee and Ishita Mukherjee agreed that they liked the role of Tulsi Chakravarty in the film Pather Panchali the most. Rupanjana was asked about the name of the school in which Rezaul studied. She answered it was St. Zaviers. Rezaul also acted in Bengali films recently. He said he had taken tips from Rupanjana as well. Prasenjit Chatterjee said that whenever he met Subhashis Mukherjee he always found him god-fearing. He did the pronam at every part of the house and then only got out of the house. In the Bhoolbhulaiya round, all the husbands had to go to the bhoolbhaiya and bring an ornament for the wives. They met Palash Adhikari, Subhashis, Fatik Purokayet and others. Each of those participants who previously showed their acting skills in Zee Bangla Mirakkel Program showed their comedy instincts in this show as well. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee anchored the program very well.

Dolly Basu, Papiya Sen came to Zee Bangla Didi No 1 Program.


Dolly Basu, Tanima Sen, Papiya Sen and Aloknanda Ray stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program. Dolly Basu, Tanima Sen, Papiya Sen and Aloknanda Ray stormed Zee Bangla Didi No. 1 Program on 31st March, 2014. Deboshree Roy, the anchor of the program asked Dolly Basu about her childhood. She said she was born and brought up in New Delhi. She joined theatre in Delhi and continued it in Kolkata. Then she acted in a number of serials including Rashi shown in Zee Bangla Channel. Papiya Sen said she being the sister of Sabyasachi Chakravarty had always been asked about her background. She also came from Delhi. In school days she used to beat her friends and even Sabyasachi Chakravarty when he faced attack from any friend he called his sister. After the death of her father everyone settled in Kolkata. Aloknanda Roy said that she had acted in Satyajit Ray’s film Kanchenjungha in 1962. After that she got married. She stopped acting for a long time. Then she made a comeback. When the film Kanchenjungha received a number of awards, she did not have the maturity to understand the gravity of the film and the subject. She did not even fear the strict personality of Satyajit Ray. It was fun acting in such a film. Tanima Sen was funny. She said that the first time she went with her husband for dating she ate milk. In the second round Jojo came to ask musical questions. Tanima Sen sang the song, “eh kya bolti tu, sun, suna” and made everyone laugh. She said by singing one line she had previously won the Didi No. 1 title. The same thing happened here also. She answered one after the other puzzles and riddles and became the Didi No. 1 again. Deboshree Roy anchored the program in style.

Last year Biswajit Chakravarty came to Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar.


Biswajeet Chakravarty and his wife, Subhadra, Manasi and others stormed Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. On Poila Boishaksh, 15th April, 2014, the first day of Bengali new year, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee called the celebrity couples in the program Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. The celebrities included Biswajeet Chakravarty and his wife, Subhadhra Chakravarty and her husband Firoz, Manasi Sinha and her husband Shankha Sinha, and others. There five different rounds of Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar Program including Shubho Drishti, Saat Pake Bandha, Kal Ratri, Phool Sajja and Amar Sangi. In one of the rounds Biswajeet Chakravarty was asked the question which actor’s role would he had loved to play between Chabi Biswas, Kamal Mitra and others. He said he would have loved to play the character of Chabi Biswas. No other actor had played the role of father better than Chabi Biswas. In the Saat Pake Bandha round Shubhadra Chakravarty danced in the song number “samundar me nahake aur bhi namkeen ho gayi ho”. She danced with her husband Feroz. In the Kalratri round Feroz was asked about which Bengali dish he liked the most. Both Feroz and Shubhadra Chakravarty said it was Sorshebata Ilish. In the Kalratri round, Shankha Sinha was asked which of the cold drinks he liked the most. Both he and Manashi Sinha said it was nimbu pani. Her husband was not very fond of different types of juices. In the Foolsajja round, the celebrities were required to search an ornament from a bhoolbhulaiya. Palash Adhikari who played the role of the mother in law said that how come Shubhadra Chakravarty instead of selecting heroes as life partner selected Feroz? Fatik Purokayet told Biswajeet Chakravarty that once his wife said that there was a quarrel going on in the neighbourhood. His wife asked Biswajeet Chakravarty to solve the problem. He said he went to find solution. But the quarrel started from the time he intervened. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee anchored the program very well. As it was Poila Baishakh, the celebrities were given sweets as well.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Last year Dulal Lahiri and Dwijen Banerjee came with their wives in Tumi Je Amar.


Dulal Lahiri, his wife, Dwijen Banerjee and others stormed Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. On 22nd April, 2014, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee, the anchors of the program Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar, invited a number of celebrities with their wives. The celebrities included Gautambabu and his wife, Dulal Lahiri and his wife, Dwijen Banerjee and his wife, and others. There were a number of rounds in the show including Saat Pake Bandha round, Kalratri round, Fulsojja round, etc. In the Kalratri round, three songs were played before Dulal Lahiri. All the 3 songs were related to royal Bengal jalsha, including Manna Dey’s song “behag Jodi na hoy raji” in Uttam Kumar’s film Dui Purush, Manna Dey’s song “hajar takar jharbatita” in Uttam Kumar’s film Stree, and Manna Dey’s song “kaharba noy dadra bajao” in Uttam Kumar’s film Sanyasi Raja. Both Dulal Lahiri and his wife chose “behag Jodi na hoy raji”. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee asked Dulal Lahiri’s wife, isn’t she sick of seeing her husband playing villainish roles one after the other for the last 30 years in Bengali films. She said she was used to it, but Dulal Lahiri’s mother used to feel bad whenever the hero was supposed to beat Dulal Lahiri in the films. 3 scenes from the films of Prasenjit Chatterjee were shown. Dulal Lahiri and his wife were asked which one out of them would Dulal Lahiri want to act in. He said the film was Bikram Singha. Gautambabu’s wife was asked which shirt he did wear when he first came to see her. She said it was a blue shirt which was a right answer. Dwijen Banerjee and his wife were also asked about their experiences of married life. In the Foolsajja round, all the husbands were send to a golokdhanda (bhoolbhulaiya) from where they had to bring an ornament for their wives. They faced all the actors in the that golokdhanda, including Subhashish Mukherjee, Palash Adhikari, Fatik Purokayet and others. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee handled the celebrities very well.

Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt did well in the film 2 States.


Due to heroics of Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt the film 2 States already did business of 65 crores. The film 2 States had not been a film of superstar Salman Khan or Shahrukh Khan. So the expectation of the film in the box-office was not great. In 2014, Salman Khan’s Jai Ho did business of 115 crores. Gunday did business of 70 crores. After that there has not been any film to cheer about in the box-office. 2 States had already done 65 crores business in the first week. The film is going strong. The credit goes to the realistic acting of Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt and other co-artists of the film. The film is based on rich literature of Chetan Bhagat. The film had been directed by Abhishek Varman. It had been produced by Karan Johar and Sajid Nadiawala. Shankar Ehsaan Loy composed the music of the film. In the film it had been shown that Arjun Kapoor was a Punjabi. He was the son of Amrita Singh and Ronit Roy. He met Alia Bhatt in the IIM Ahmedabad Mess for the first time. He fell in love with her. In his own house there was no peace. Arjun’s father Ronit Roy was expelled from the Indian army. From that time he used to return back home well drunk. He used to break glasses at home and shout at his wife Amrita Singh. For lack of peace at home, Arjun Kapoor stopped communicating with his father. Alia Bhatt came from a Tamil family of Chennai. Her father Shiv Kumar Subhramanium and mother Revathi expected her to marry a traditional Tamil. Arjun Kapoor after passing out purposely took a posting in Chennai in Yes Bank, so that he could impress Alia Bhatt’s parents. He helped her father to create power point presentation. He gave an opening to her mother in singing in annual function of Yes Bank. The story of the film is related to convincing the parents of Alia and Arjun Kapoor about the marriage. Through the film it has been shown still the cultural differences exist in India. It is not easy to bridge the gap which happened in the film. The performances of Ronit Roy, Alia Bhatt, Arjun Kapoor, Amrita Singh, Revathi and others were excellent. The music of Shankar Ehsaan Loy was brilliant. Especially the song of Arijit Singh and Chinmayi Sripada titled “mast magan” was really impressive. It is great that the film had done business worth 65 crores. It will definitely cross 80 crores business which is a big landmark for a medium budget film.

Manoj Kumar received Dadasahab Phalke Award in 2016.


Eminent actor Manoj Kumar received Dadasahab Phalke Award in 2016. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Manoj Kumar on 24th July, 2016. He is almost 75 years old now. He started his career as a romantic hero, then showed his skills in the field of direction and created a separate identity as a patriotic hero. He later on earned the name of Bharat Kumar. Harikishan Giri Goswami, better known as Manoj Kumar, was a big admirer of Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. He was obsessed with Dilip Kumar’s performance in the film Shabnam, in 1949, and kept the name of the character of the film, which was Manoj Kumar. Although he started his career in the film Fashion in 1957, he got recognition with a lead role in the film Kaanch Ki Gudiya in 1960. Vijay Bhatt directed Hariyali Aur Raasta in 1962 changed the destiny of Manoj Kumar as a romantic hero. The songs of the film were composed by genius of genius Shankar Jaikishan, and with Mala Sinha’s assistance Manoj Kumar reached the hearts of millions of music lovers in the country. The songs in the film including “ifteda-e-ishq”, “yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta”, sung by Mukesh and Lata astonished the viewers. The film became super hit. In the mid-60s, Manoj Kumar landmark roles in suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, 1964, and Gumnaam, 1965. Woh Kaun Thi was a horror film of Raj Khosla where Manoj Kumar played the role of the doctor who got scared with the ghostly appearance of Sadhna, who played a double role in the film. He solved the mystery in the film got Prem Chopra arrested at the end after realizing that his wife had a twin sister who was used as a ghost. The music of Madan Mohan was brilliant and Lata’s songs “naina barse rimjhim”, “lagja gale”, etc., created sensation. Gumnaam was a murder thriller which stormed bollywood in the mid-60s. More than seven friends were given offer of going for holidays, but the flight was hijacked and the friends had to land at an island. Each of them was killed one after the other and no one knew who killed them. Manoj Kumar solved the mystery and unearthed the truth that Tarun Bose was the actual murderer. The music composed by Shankar Jaikishan was extraordinary with songs like “jane chaman shola badan” sung by Rafi and Sharda, “gumnaam hai koi” sung by Lata, “is duniya me jeena ho to”, “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” sung by Mohammad Rafi, etc. Manoj Kumar started his second innings with patriotic films like Shaheed, Upkaar, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti, moved the viewers and earned him respect. He directed of those films and got filmfare award for best director for excellent work in films like Upkaar and Roti Kapda and Makaan. His film Upkaar also received the national award for best film in 1967, and he gave life to the slogan of PM Lal Bahadur Shastri titled “jai jawan jai kisan” with Upkaar. In fact Upkaar, was the highest grosser film in 1967, surpassing all the other super hit films like Ram Aur Shyam, Jewel Thief, etc. The songs in Upkaar composed by Kalyanji Anandji were also brilliant including “mere desh ki dharti” sung by Mahendra Kapoor and “kasme wade pyar wafa sab” sung by Manna Dey. After Upkaar a big section of the crowd used to call Manoj Kumar as Bharat Kumar, as his patriotic feelings used to reflect in his creations. His other successful films as hero also include Patthar Ke Sanam, Anita, Aadmi, etc. He acted with childhood idol Dilip Kumar in Aadmi and Kranti. The songs of most of his films were of excellent class. Naushad’s creation in Aadmi, and Rafi’s songs like “na aadmi ka khoi bharosa”, “aaj purani rahon se”, etc., had remained invalueable assets over the period of time. The viewers expect him to continue the excellent work as a director in the years to come.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Shankar Jaikishan composed maximum duets for Suman Rafi.


The listeners of film songs wish happy birthday to legendary singer Suman Kalyanpur on 28th January, 2014. Suman Kalyanpur glorified Indian music of the 50s and 60s, with her romantic rendition of landmark songs. She had sung songs in many languages. She had sung almost 200 duet songs with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi. Shankar Jaikishan in the 60s made immense number of experiments in bollywood film music. Right from westernized compositions to Indian classical songs to folk tunes, the compositions had a wide variety. Rafi was the automatic choice of the legendary musical duo, with his tremendous range and romantic appeal. Suman Kalyanpur sang landmark duet song with Rafi under the composition of giant composers during the 60s, including Naushad “dil-e-betaab ko sinese lagana hoga”, in Palki, Madanmohan “baad muddat ke yeh ghari aye”, Jahanara, Roshan “rahe na rahe hum”, in Mamta, Khayyam “parbaton ke pero par sham ka basera hai”, in Shagun, to name a few. Suman Kalyanpur sang many immortal duet songs with Rafi in the 60s and 70s under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan. In Dil Ek Mandir, the title song “dil ek mandir hai” was sung by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur with utmost elegance in 1963. The song was sung after the death of Rajender Kumar in the film and therefore the singers displayed the tragic andaz in the song. Rafi had his own solo songs in the film like “jahan koi nahi” and “yaad na jaye” which immortal over a period of time. Suman Kalyanpur’s solo song “juhi ki kali meri ladli” also had a soothing appeal. In Saanjh Aur Sawera, in 1964, the classical song “ajahuna aye balma, sawan bita jaye” was probably one the most immortal duet sung by Suman Kalyanpur with Rafi composed by SJ. In 1964, Biswajeet’s April Fool had a number of romantic songs of SJ sung by Rafi. Rafi was unparallel in the song “aa gale lag ja”. Suman Kalyanpur accompanied Rafi very well in the songs “tujhe pyar karte karte” and “kehdo kehdo jahan se kehdo”. In Sunil Dutt’s film Beti Bete, the song “agar terii jalwa numai na hoti” showed the melodious impact of duet of Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan. The duet “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye” sung by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur composed by SJ in Shammi Kapoor’s Rajkumar again stormed box-office in 1964. In 1966, Rafi and Suman’s duet “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe mere raazdaar” in Rajender Kumar’s super hit film Suraj stands out as the most romantic song of the film. Rafi sang for Rajender Kumar while Suman Kalyanpur sang for Vyjayantimala. In the late 60s, Shankar Jaikishan’s rock and roll composition for Shammi Kapoor in the film Brahmchari had probably the most entertaining duets of Rafi with Suman Kalyanpur titled “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawanpar”. The brilliant orchestration was loud but rhythm –oriented as well. The film ended up being blockbuster and the music of the film played a very important role in the success of the film. Shankar Jaikishan composed a very romantic duet in Uttam Kumar’s film Choti Si Mulakat, titled “tumhe dekha, tumhe chaha” Rafi and Suman. Rafi sang Uttam Kumar’s portion while Suman Kalyanpur had sung Vaijayantimala’s portion. The list of Rafi Suman duets under Shankar Jaikishan was too long. In the early 70s, SJ’s composition for Suman Kalyanpur in Shammi Kapoor’s film Andaz was well received by the audience. The song “hai na bolo bolo” was sung by Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur, Sushma Shreshta and Pratibha. After the death of Jaikishan in 1971, many producers and directors who were involved with Shankar Jaikishan shifted towards RD Burman and Laxmikant Pyarellal. So Suman Kalyanpur’s scope of singing duets with Rafi reduced down inspite of Shankar providing good tunes to both Suman Kalyanpur and Rafi. Shankar Jaikishan composed hit song of Suman in Dharmender’s film Resham Ki Dori, “behnane bhai ki kalayi se” in the mid -70s. Rafi’s duets with Suman Kalyanpur under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan require both restoration and publicity.

Rafisahab was instrumental in the success of Jeetender.


Rafi’s brilliant combination with Jeetender in the 1960s. 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.

Who was bigger tycoon Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar?


Raj Kapoor versus Dilip Kumar. Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar had remained the greatest legends of hindi cinema for the last 100 years. Ranbir Raj Kapoor, also known as Raj Kapoor, was the son of legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Muhammad Yusuf Khan, also known as Dilip Kumar was the son of Fruit tycoon Lala Ghulam Sarwar. Raj Kapoor was born on 14th December, 1924, while Dilip Kumar was born on 11th December, 1922. They acted together only in one film titled Andaz in 1949, which was directed by Mehboob Khan. There were a lot of striking points of the two superstars who ruled bollywood films during the 40s, 50s and 60s. Raj Kapoor was awarded Padmabhushan in 1971, while Dilip Kumar was awarded Padmabhushan in 1991. Raj Kapoor was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke in 1987 and Dilip Kumar was awarded Dadasaheb Phalke award in 1994. In 1947, Raj Kapoor acted opposite Madhubala and Begum Para in the film Neel Kamal. In 1947, Dilip Kumar acted in the successful film Jugnu, although he started his career with the film Jwar Bhatta in 1944. While Raj Kapoor got the title of showman, with his projection of larger than life romantic stories in films like Barsaat, 1949, Awaara, 1951, Shree 420, 1955, Sangam, 1964, etc; Dilip Kumar got the title of Tragedy King with his projection of the sad personality in films like Devdaas, 1955, Musafir, 1957, Madhumati, 1958, Mughal –i-Azam, 1960, etc. Both the actors acted opposite leading actresses of the golden age including Nimmi, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Wahida Rehman, Vaijayantimala, to name a few, although Raj Kapoor acted in 17 films opposite Nargis, while Dilip Kumar acted in 7 films opposite Vaijayantimala. While Raj Kapoor at an age of 22 years married Krishna Kapoor at an age of 16 years who was his maternal cousin in 1944; Dilip Kumar at an age of 44 years married Saira Banu at an age of 22 years in 1966. Both Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar supported the Congress, but although Raj Kapoor did not join active politics, Dilip Kumar became Member of Rajya Sabha and also Sheriff of Mumbai. While Raj Kapoor had marathon combination with composer Shankar Jaikishan, lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri and singers Mukesh, Lata and Manna Dey, who worked with him in more than 15 films; Dilip Kumar had immortal bond with composed Naushad, lyricist Shakeel Badayani and singer Mohammad Rafi who had contributed in more than 15 films of the legend. While Raj Kapoor won filmfare awards in different categories including best actor, best director, best producer, etc; Dilip Kumar won the filmfare award for best actor for record 8 times. Raj Kapoor had died in 1988 and Dilip Kumar had retired from films after acting in the film Qila, many years ago. Their works should be preserved and restored.

Monday, May 2, 2016

The nation remembers Satyajit Ray.


The nation remembered Satyajit Ray on 23rd April, 2016. The nation remembered Satyajit Ray on his death anniversary on 23rd April, 2016. Not only he was the recipient of the prestigious Oscar awards, he was the path-breaker in Indian films who taught the next-generation the art of story-telling. In 2010, Society had celebrated the 89th birth anniversary of the legendary director by showcasing some of his notable works like ‘Agantuk’, (The Stranger), ‘Jalsaghar’, (The Music Room), ‘Charulata’, (The lonely wife). The films were shown in Cinemax, Metro Big Cinemas and NCPA. After the films were shown, the significance of such films was discussed by Bhawna Somayya, ex-editor of Screen, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh and film academicians from all across the country. Besides, discussions were held to highlight the contribution of Ray as a writer, an illustrator, an activist of the film society movement and a filmmaker. Internationally acclaimed directors like Shyam Bengal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, were greatly influenced by Satyajit Ray’s films like Apu Trilogy, Jalsagar, Nayak, Mahanagar, etc., and they themselves became eminent story-tellers of the following period. The use of nature, the birds, and background, and the use of theme music in translating an unknown event to a group of individuals had enchanted the thoughtful directors all across the world. Even directors of the present period like Goutam Ghosh are influenced by the works of Satyajit Ray. He made Abar Aranye which was a sequel to Satyajit Ray’s film Aranyer Dinratri. A personality like Ray could only make a film like Kanchenjungha, where the greatness of the Himalayas overshadowed the ego of a materialistic industrialist played by Satyajit Ray. An important part of Satyajit Ray’s creations include his literature on diverse subjects. While his Sandip Ray had taken the challenge of converting the Feluda Series into feelings, his literature relating to horror-based subject matters, his series of 12 stories are yet to be converted into films. Sandip Ray’s films Bombaier Bombete, Kailashe Kelenkari, Baksho Rahasya, based on epic literature of Ray had got good response from the viewers. But Ray’s brilliant stories in the 12 series like Ebaro Baro, Aro Baro, Ek Dojon Goppo, Aro Ek Dojon, Eker Pite Dui, are yet to see the light of celluloid. Ray’s stories like Khagam, based on the theme of human being converted into a snake, Pterodactyler dim, based on the prehistoric era, Fritze, based on the topic of life in a doll, Asomongobabur Kukur, based on the weird mannerisms of dogs, had bewildered the readers. If such stories are adapted and made into films, the viewers will enjoy them to the brim. The legacy of Ray whether in the form of neo-realistic films like Pather Panchali, or suspense –thriller stories relating to Feluda Series or Professor Shanku, still continues, even 18 years after his death. The stories should be translated in different languages, and films should be preserved and restored.

Kanchan Mallick and his wife, Haranath Chakravarty and his wife came in Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar Program.


Kanchan Mullick, Madhumanti Maitra, Haranath Chakravarty stormed Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. On 7th May, 2014, Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee brought celebrities in the show Zee Bangla Tumi Je Amar. The celebrities included Kanchan Mallick and his wife Pinki, Haranath Chakravarty and his wife Rajashri, Ashok Viswanathan and his wife Madhumanti Maitra and Shamik Sinha and his wife. Shamik Sinha came with his guitar. He was asked by Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee to sing his song “ami je bibahito”. In the song he had mentioned about the bad effects of marriage. Then he was asked whether he composed the song after knowing the ill-effects after marrying his wife. He then said it was a satire. Kanchan Mallick called his wife Anarkali. He was a thin and lanky person. Prasenjit Chatterjee brought a weight machine and measured his weight. It came to 53 kilograms. His wife Pinky was asked about his weight. She said it was between 51 to 55 kgs. It was a right answered. She in fact lifted her husband in her lap. Madhumanti Maitra said a beautiful poetry in the show. Both she and her husband were part of the cultural events in Bengal. Madhumanti was a news reader in Bengali channels for a long time. Ashok Viswanathan was the son of noted actor N Viswanathan and also directed intellectual Bengali films like Shunyo theke Shuru. Haranath Chakravarty directed many films of Prasenjit Chatterjee. He also acknowledged the co-operation and assistance of Prasenjit Chatterjee who acted in his films like Shahurbari Zindabad. Prasenjit Chatterjee also said that during shooting, food came from the house of Haranath Chakravarty and their relationship was almost like brothers. At the end of the show Kanchan Mullick and his wife Pinki who gave maximum right answers and also brought ornament from his wife from the golokdhanda facing Palash Adhikari, Subhashis Mukherjee, Fatik Adhikari and others in the shortest time became the champion. Prasenjit Chatterjee and Rachana Banerjee anchored the program in style.

In 2013, Ritwik Chakravarty and Konkona Sen Sharma won Vivel Filmfare Awards.


Ritwik Chakravarty and Konkona Sen Sharma won Vivel Filmfare Awards 2013. The Vivel Filmfare Awards 2013 had been given in 2014. It is better known as Vivel filmfare Awards East. It is related to Bengali films primarily. Ritwik Chakravarty won the best actor award for his performance in the Bengali film Shobdo. Konkona Sen Sharma won the best actress award for her performance in the Bengali film Gainar Baksho. Both of them deserved the awards. Indranil Sengupta won the best supporting award for his performance in the film Chander Pahar. Moushami Chatterjee won the best supporting award for her performance in the film Gainar Baksho. She should have won the best actress award. The film Gainar Baksho revolved around her. There was no point in giving her best supporting actress award. Arijit Singh won the best male singer award for his brilliant song “mon majhi re” in the film Boss. Annesha Datta Gupta won the best female singer award for her song in the film Rupkatha Noy. Jeet Ganguly won the best music director award for the composition of music in the film Boss. Bappi Lahiri handed the award to Jeet Ganguly. Lifetime achievement award was given to Late Suchitra Sen and Madhabi Mukherjee. Jaya Bacchan handed the award to Madhabi Mukherjee. Chander Pahar had been adjudged the best film of the year 2013. It is a pity that Filmfare Award East was not introduced during the 1950s and 1960s. The Bengali Swarnajug started in the 1950s and continued till early 1970s. There were Bengal Film and Journalists Association Awards but no filmfare awards East. It would have been very interesting to see the competition during that era in respect of best acting, whether it was superstar Uttam Kumar or Basanta Choudhury, or Asit Boron, or Bikash Roy. In the female category also there was huge competition with Suchitra Sen, Arundhuti Debi, Manju Dey, Sabitri Chatterjee, Sumitra Debi, Deepti Roy and others. There was huge competition among parallel film directors like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak with commercial directors like Ajoy Kar, Tapan Sinha, Agradoot, Agragami, and others. Music directors like Robin Chatterjee, Anupam Ghatak, Sudhin Dasgupta, Dr. Nochiketa Ghosh produced gems after gems.