Subir Sen sang romantic song in the 1950s.

Subir Sen songs are still relevant. Subir Sen, the noted Bengali Singer who had played a great innings in both Mumbai and Bengal had always remained an unsung singer. He had super hit songs in Bengali from the 50s to 70s. Some of his hit songs included “akash jekhane golpo bole”, “chand tumi eto alo kotha hote pele”, “chondon ankha chotto kopal”, “dur diganto dheke aache meghe”, etc. His song “eto sur aar eto gaan” and “saradin tomay bhebe” mesmerized the Bengali audience in the late 50s. Composer Sudhin Dasgupta and Abhijit Banerjee composed some memorable songs for Subir Sen. His other song “ogo shakuntala” composed by Bhupen Hazarika was very well appreciated by the Bengali audience. Some of his other songs included “nogor jibon chobir moton”, “ei ujjal din”, “swarnojhara surjorange”, tomra amar gaan shune”, “tomar hashi lukiye”, “tumi bolechile”, etc. He also sang songs under the composition of Salil Choudhury including “dharaniro pothe pothe”. He also acted in Uttam Kumar’s film Momer Alo, where composer Robin Chatterji had composed songs for him. He was extremely successful in his bollywood venture. He sang the songs in the film Katputli with elegance. The songs were composed by legendary composer Shankar Jaikishan. His song “dil mera ek aas ka panchi” became super hit in the film Aas Ka Panchi. Jubilee Kumar Rajender Kumar gave lips in the song and Shankar Jaikishan composed the song for Subir Sen. He was even impressive in the songs sung in Shammi Kapoor’s film Boy Friend which were also composed by Shankar Jaikishan. His success somewhat got overshadowed due to the similarity of his voice with Bengali singer Hemant Kumar or Hemanta Mukherjee. His songs and the films should be preserved and restored.

Gayatri Bose had sweet voice in the 1950s.

Romantic Singer Gayatri Bose sang many romantic songs during 1950s and 1960s. Some of the songs were for children also. Her song “amar sondhya pradip jolbe angina” composed by Robin Chatterjee was one of the successful songs. Her song “shuktara akashero konete” was one of the other songs. One of her other songs was “ei phalgun hok obosan” which was composed by Shyamal Mitra. There was another song “amar jibone pradeep jalate” which became very popular in the 1950s. Gayatri Bose showed her immense romantic andaz in the song “poddokoli sakal khoje” which was very melodious. Some of her other notable songs included “oi baaje kini rini rini”, “gun gun gun bhramara”, “aakash kandey baatash kaande”, “e mon kemon kore jeneche”, “dure pahar jeno koto”, to mention a few. Gayatri Bose sang many melodious songs in the 1950s. They included “aaj malonche moushami howa”, “andhare prodip mor”, “swapnabhara ei banatal”, “prothom mukul tumi jhorona”, “dekho dekho krishnachura”, “o meghe meghe”, etc. There was strong competition between a number of female singers during the golden age including Sandhya Mukherjee, Geeta Dutt, Alpona Banerjee, Pratima Banerjee, Ila Bose, Shipra Bose, Nirmala Mishra and others. That was one of the reason Gayatri Bose could not dominate the music arena but she had her own identity and singing style which was appreciated by the audience. She had also sang in Uttam Kumar’s films like Bidhilipi where Sandharani acted opposite Uttam Kumar. The music of the film was composed by Kalipada Sen. There were four songs in the film which were sung by Gayatri Bose, Mrinal Chakravarty and Alpona Banerjee. All the songs were very successful. Sandhya Mukherjee and Geeta Dutt sang majority of songs of actress Suchitra Sen. So in the film arena Gayatri Bose’s talent was not exploited to that extent. But she sang brilliant songs in the modern song arena and for those reasons the songs should be preserved.

Nirmala Mishra shared her musical journey before media.

Nirmala Mishra said Carribean humming gave her song “emon ekta jhinuk”. Eminent singer Nirmala Mishra gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika on 16th October, 2011. At an age of 73 years she talked about many unknown facts. She disclosed that her father Mohinimohan Mishra was Pandit, Sangeet Ratna and Sangeet Nayak. He went to Benaras to get those degrees in music. Nirmala Mishra’s second brother who was also a great talented singer was given poison and did not survive, otherwise would have been a great singer. She was very mischievous during childhood, that was the reason she was called “jhamela”. She got typhoid 6 times, for that reason her eyesight was affected. Everyone prescribed her to sing light songs, but her father was upset as he was an eminent classical singer. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had many times given her medicine for voice. Eminent singer Dhananjoy Bhattacharya had helped her in her initial days of career. When composer Nochiketa Ghosh composed a song and asked her whether she could do Carribean humming, she said yes. Nochiketa Ghosh thought about Lata Mangeshkar for the song. But she did the humming, and got the song “emon ekta jhinuk khuje pellam na”. It became super hit. In the same way she got the song “o tota pakhire” from the brilliant composer Prabir Mojumdar. She was called by superstar Uttam Kumar a number of times in his own house whenever Supriya Debi cooked a delicacy of prawns. She was asked to sing songs many times. She talked about her husband also who wrote the song “ami je tomar chirodiner hasi kannar saathi” which was later recorded and became a big hit. Nirmala Mishra said that just as Lata Mangeshkar was called the melody queen of Mumbai, Sandhya Mukherjee the melody queen of Kolkata, similarly she was considered the melody queen of Orissa. She had sung many Oriya songs and majority of them had become hits.

Happy birthday to Bappi Lahiri.

Happy birthday to Bappi Lahiri. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Bappi Lahiri on 25th November, 2016. He had huge contribution in bollywood music during the 70s and 80s and his compositions are remembered even today. He is the son of famous Bengali singer and composer Aparesh Lahiri. Aparesh Lahiri had very impressive basic discs and the songs like “takka tare”, “jhar” stormed the Bengali audience in the 50s. His composition for Lata Mangeshkar, titled “ekbar bidae de ma” in Bengali films should his capability of using powerful resources successfully. Bappi Lahiri emerged in the bollywood film arena, when composers like Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Madan Mohan, SD Burman, died and composers like Laxmikant Pyarellal, RD Burman, Kalyanji Anandji were the main competitors in the late 70s. Bappi created an impression before the audience with his compositions for the film Zakhmee where Sunil Dutt and Asha Parekh were the main performers. The music of his film Namakhalal became super hit. Big B’s lips and Kishore Kumar’s song “ki pag ghungru”, made Bappi Lahiri a big star in the early 80s. He also gave ppular music in the film Sharabi, where again the Big B, KK combination stormed bollywood. The song “imtehan ho gayi intezr ki” became super hit. Bappi Lahiri and KK combination did work also in the films of Mithun Chakravarthy. All the songs of the film Disco Dancer became super hit where Bappi Lahiri himself sang hit songs like “yaad aa rahai”, etc. The other hit films where Bappi Lahiri contributed well include Thanedaar, with Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit, where the song “tama tama loge” became very popular. Bappi Lahiri was very successful in his composition of music for Bengali films as well. His music in Uttam Kumar’s last film Ogo Bodhu Sundari became super hit. KK’s songs “ami ekjon santoshito”, “shikte tomai hobe”, etc., became very successful. The other hit Bengali films where Bappi Lahiri made valuable contribution include Guru Dakhina and Amar Sangi. The hit songs include “o amar gurudakhina”, “prithibi hariye geche”, “sangi, sangi”, “jekhanei thako”, etc. He sang the song “u lala u lala” in the film Dirty Picture. The film had reciprocated the great music trend of 1980s when Bappi himself composed music in films like Himmatwala. Bappi Lahiri had been often criticized for copying music from international films and other sources, as his tunes were very similar to others tunes. But that controversy is faced by lot of modern composers as well. The big thing is Bappi Lahiri had entertained audience of bollywood films for more than 15 years. His admirers expect him to compose innovative tunes in more films in future.

Legendary singer Manobendra Mukherjee made complicated Bengali songs modern.

Manobendra Mukherjee was one of the legendary classical singer of Bengal who had simplified classical ragas and used them in Bengali modern songs. His romantic song “ami eto je tomay bhalobesechi” written by Shyamal Gupta and composed by himself had classical touch embedded in it. His other own composed song “emni kore porbe mone baki jibon dhore” was also a masterpiece related to classical andaz. Manobendra Mukherjee’s pure classical numbers were even more melodious. One example is “ei moushumi mon shudhu rong bodlay”. In this song there was a small alaap or khanak taken at the place “mori je hay” where Manobendra had used the sargam by uttering in “aa aa” form. It was brilliant. There were other romantic songs like “boroshaklanto o duti nayan mele”. The song had been composed by Anal Chatterji. Manobendra Mukherjee had another master piece “bolo raat bolo se kothay”. The song was totally raga oriented. Manobendra Mukherjee was sublime in the song “ei nil nil jal sagore” composed by Probir Mojumdar and “tomar pather prante moner monidip jele rekhechi” composed by Satinath Mukherjee. Some of his own compositions like “ei ganga sei padda” and “sei bhalo ei bosonto noi” had absolute romantic andaz. Manobendra Mukherjee had given adequate expression to songs composed by Himangshu Dutta including “birohini chiro birohini”, “tumi je andhar”, “biroho barisha”, etc. The songs were difficult in nature and Manobendra was probably the most classically trained singer to do justice to them. Manobendra had also sung some of the songs created in thumri style. One example was “koto je soyechi betha” composed by Chinmoy Lahiri. One more classical number included “tumi to dariye acho”. Articles after articles can be devoted to Manobendra Mukherjee whose classical touch was as elegant and stylish as Neil Harvey’s wristy strokes.

Satinath Mukherjee was sublime both in his songs and music.

Satinath Mukherjee was one of the versatile classical singers who did not get dues during the golden age. The 50s and 60s were categorized with notable classical and semi-classical singers in the Bengal arena where Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Dhananjoy Bhattacharya, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh and other giants galvanized the world of modern songs. Satinath Mukherjee, the guru of notable singer Shyamal Mitra, had a huge partnership with lyricist Shyamal Gupta and presented his flora of classical ragas in Bengali modern songs. His songs “pashaner buke likhona amar naam”, “bono patho majhe”, “jibone Jodi deep”, etc. were milestones of Bengali modern songs. He sang separate private songs involving “raag pradhan” which described the movement of separate ragas like Imon, Baghesri, Darbari Kanada, Behag, Ashawari, etc. His song on raag bageshri included “elo jochona se tobu”. His song on raag bairagi included “dake na keno je banshi”. His song on raag behaag included “gelo je logon chole”. His song on raag bhairav included “jagiche bhore probhat robi”. His song on raag bhupali included “kotha je banshori baaje”. His song on raag darbadi kanada included “e bedona kemone sohi”. His song on raag desh thumri included “boroshar rate jagi”. His song on raag kalawati included “baje keno beena”. His song on raag komol ashavari included “modhu rati bhor hoi”. His song on raag madhab todi included “ke jano dake nishibore”. His song on raag manj khamaj included “tomare bhulite ogo”. His song on raag nandkauns included “kotha tumi ghanashyam”. His song on raag pahari thumri included “emono dine se kothay”. His song on raag patdeep included “kano janina baje”. His song on raag yaman included “na go na jeyona”. Some of his classical songs included “bojhona keno ami je koto eka”, “jedin jibone tumi”, “baluka belay kurai jhinuk”, to name a few. Very significantly most of the songs were composed by himself. As a composer he used to be considered a giant of giants. His compositions for other legendary singers included “tomar pother prante moner monideep jele rekhechi” and “bhule gechi kobe” sung by Manobendra Mukherjee, “eto alo aar eto hasi gaan” sung by Shyamal Mitra, “ami cheyechi tomay” sung by Dhananjoy Bhattacharya, “tomar moto amiyoto koto soyechi” sung by Pannalal Bhattacharya, to name a few. Besides his own student Dipak Maitra had sung few songs composed by Satinath Mukherjee included “koto kotha bola holona”. Satinath Mukherjee is associated with the compositions for the two maestros in Indian music namely Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. Lata’s first record in Bengali namely “akash pradeep jale” and “koto tara” were the compositions of the genius Satinath Mukherjee. Satinath Mukherjee’s landmark compositions for Mohammad Rafi included “ekhono biday bolona”, “pakhitar buke jeno teer merona”, etc. It is very sad that Satinath Mukherjee’s immense musical talents were not used in Bengali films. He had sung rare songs like “majhe nodi bahe re” in Tapan Sinha’s film Atithi, songs in Uttam Kumar’s film Bon Palashir Padabali, etc. Otherwise Satinath Mukherjee, the sincere student of Ustad Bare Ghulam Ali Khan was one of the revolutionary singers and composers who remained an institution by himself. His students included singer and composer Jotileshwar Mukherjee who carried on the legacy of Satinath Mukherjee. The songs and creations of Satinath should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Juhi Chawla.

Happy birthday to sweet star Juhi Chawla. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to sweet star Juhi Chawla on 13th November, 2016. Juhi Chawla stormed bollywood films in the 90s. Her first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak became super hit in the late 80s. Her pair with Amir Khan was well accepted by the audience. The songs in the film became very successful. The landmark songs included “aye mere humsafar”, “papa kehte hai” sung by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and others. From that time many producers and directors did cast her opposite Amir Khan in many films. The film also started a new trend of romantic films one after other after 15 years of domination of action films under success of Angry young man Amitabh Bacchan. Salman Khan’s film Maine Pyar Kiya followed very soon. Her comedy andaz in the film Ishq opposite Amir Khan was well appreciated. Her romance with Amir Khan started with quarrels as against the affair of Kajol and Ajay Devgan in the same film. The film did great business. Juhi Chawla acted in romantic films opposite all the leading actors of bollywood, including Rishi Kapoor in Bol Radha Bol and Eena Meena Dika, Anil Kapoor in Deewana Mastana, Jhoot Bole Kowa Kate, Amir Khan in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, to name a few. In the mid-90s she acted in a number of films opposite superstar Shahrukh Khan. Her major films opposite Shahrukh Khan included Duplicate, Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, etc. She started her production house Dreams Unlimited along with Shahrukh Khan and produced many films. One of the hit films included Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. Both Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla acted in the film. Juhi Chawla also acted in films opposite other actors. Her performance in character roles in the recent times had also impressed the crowds. Some of her recent films included Salaam-E-Ishq opposite Anil Kapoor. She played the role of a middle-aged woman whose husband got attached with another woman. She got dejected at the beginning, but keeping in mind the interest of her children, she compromised with Juhi Chawla. Juhi Chawla acted in action films like Darr as well. She performed opposite Sunny Deol and Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan acted in a negative role in the film who was killed at the end by Sunny Deol. Juhi Chawla’s dance performance in the film in songs like “tu meri saamne” still haunts the viewers. In 2012 she had acted in a number of films like Main Krishna Hoon, Son of Sardar. Son of Sardar was released in November, 2012, and there was lot of hope relating to the film where Juhi Chawla had a great role. The film did business of more than 100 crores and her performance opposite Sanjay Dutt created attention. In 2013, she had acted in the film Gulaab Gang. The film had been released. The viewers expect Juhi Chawla to continue the quality work in future.

Rebel star Shammi Kapoor was remembered with Rafisahab on birth anniversary.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to rock and roll star Shammi Kapoor on 21st October, 2016. He died in 2011 making huge number of audience sad. He had remained a dancing sensation in the 60s. Shammi Kapoor is also admired a lot by a big section of music lovers because most of the hit songs of the 50s and 60s belonged to him and the legendary singer Mohammad Rafi had sung immense number of brilliant songs for the stylish actor. Although in the early part of his career he had mediocre films like Laila Majnu, he bounced back in style with the film Tumsa Nahi Dekha in 1957 and Dil Deke Dekho in 1959. His stylish andaz and dancing mannerisms like Elvis Priestley created a separate image before the viewers. He in fact modernized Indian films. His combination with Shankar Jaikishan and Mohammad Rafi was very grand. SJ composed music in almost 22 films of Shammi Kapoor and the songs of those films are still considered musical gems. Hit songs include “yahoo chahe koi mujhe jungle kahen”, “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “meri yaar shabba khair”, “ay ay ya karoon me kya sukoo sukoo” sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Junglee, “tumse accha kaun hai”, “lal chari”, “humko hai tumse pyar”, “meri muhobbat jawan raha hai”, sung by Rafi, composed by SJ in Janwar, “aye gulbadan”, “awaz deke”, composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Professor, “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, “yeh rang badalti duniya me”, “hoshiyaar”, “tumne kisi ki jaanko jate hue dekha hai”, composed by SJ, sung by Rafi in the film Raj Kumar, “aasmaan se aya farishta”, “raat ke humsafar”, “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “dewaane ka naam to pucho”, “tera dil hai mera” composed by SJ and sung by Rafi in the film An Evening in Paris, “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche”, “dil ke jharoke me”, “chakke pe chakka”composed by SJ sung by Rafi in the film Brahmchari, to name a few. Shankar Jaikishan composed music in other less known films of Shankr Jaikishan like Boy Friend, Andaz, Singapore, Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Jawan Muhobbat. Mohammad Rafi’s hit songs in those films include “dil use do jo jaan de den”, “re mamma re mamma re”, “hai na bolo bolo”, “tumse accha kaun hai”, “janam janam ka saath hai”, etc. The list can go on. Shammi Kapoor received filmfare award for best actor only once, for the performance in the film Brahmchari in 1968. But that cannot show his dominance in bollywood films in the 60s. If Rajender Kumar portrayed the sophisticated style of romance in the 60s, Shammi Kapoor portrayed the westernized dimension. Actors like Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet followed the Shammi Kapoor style and got success in contemporary films like Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Mere Sanam, etc. Shammi Kapoor acted opposite all the leading actresses of bollywood films in the 60s, including Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir Ki Kali, Sadhna in Raj Kumar, Asha Parekh in Teesri Manzil, Saira Banu in Junglee, Rajashree in Janwar, Hema Malini in Andaz, Mala Sinha in Dil Tera Diwana, Nutan in Laatsahab, etc. After the 70s, he switched to character roles and there also showed his skills. Shammi Kapoor and Mohammad Rafi combination was phenomenal even in other films where music was composed other than Shankar Jaikishan. For example OP Nayyar was unparallel in Kashmir Ki Kali, Tumsa Nahi Dekha, RD Burman was excellent in Teesri Kasam, Ravi was brilliant in China Town. Some of his memorable films in old age include Betaab, Bidhata, Prem Rog, Parvarish, etc. His films and songs should be restored to remember the golden age of Indian films with colourful music.

Happy birthday to Sushmita Sen.

Happy birthday to Sushmita Sen. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Sushmita Sen on 19th November, 2016. After creating a mark in the fashion world she made notable contribution in films as well. She won the Miss World Crown in the early 90s and at that time remained one of India’s best beauties along with Aishwarya Rai. She had impressed the viewers with the film Mai Hoon Na opposite Shahrukh Khan. Shahrukh Khan came to find his own brother in an educational institution after a long time. Shahrukh Khan fell in love with Sushmita Sen in the film. The online chemistry appealed to the masses. Both of them gave able lips in the song “mai hoon na”. Zaid Khan, Amrita Rao and Sunil Shetty also did very well in the film. She faced the glamour of Katrina Kaif in the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, opposite Salman Khan and yet impressed the viewers with her unique performance. She was a nurse in the medical clinic of Salman Khan and she was asked to play the role of his first wife to satisfy Katrina Kaif. Salman Khan went on saying lies one after the other and Sushmita Sen had to help him for the wrongful cause. A time came when Sushmita could not bear any more. At the end of the film Salman Khan married her as she really loved him. Sushmita Sen gave brilliant lips in the song “laga laga laga re”. She even did well in roles of second heroines like the one she played in Salman Khan’s film Bibi No. 1. Salman Khan was married to Karishma Kapoor and he lived with Sushmita after having an affair with her when he went for a foreign visit. When the question came as to upbringing of Salman Khan’s children Sushmita Sen failed miserably. Anil Kapoor and Tabu helped Karishma Kapoor to create ill-feelings of Salman Khan against Sushmita Sen and ultimately the family peace was restored in favour of Karishma Kapoor. The songs picturised on Sushmita Sen and Salman Khan became super hit like “ishq sona hai”, “chunari chunari”, etc. Sushmita Sen also acted in challenging roles in films like Chingari, which were made for response from critics and Sushmita had shown her acting skills in these types of films. Her other successful films include Aaghaaz, opposite Sunil Shetty, where she played the role of police officer, Zor, opposite Sunny Deol, etc. Both Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai joined bollywood films more or less at the same time and there was an express competition between both of them as both had come from the fashion world. Although Sushmita Sen showed her potentiality in many films and the films had done well in box-office, she was not as lucky as Aishwarya Rai in bagging the big banners of Subhash Ghai, Sanjay Leela Banshali, Ram Gopal Verma, etc. Sushmita has also appeared as judges in many dance competitions hosted in different TV Channels in recent years along with other celebrities like Wasim Akram and others. The viewers still believe that Sushmita Sen has a lot of acting left in her and she can do even better in bollywood films in future including her film relating to Benazir Bhutto. She had done a great job in Anil Kapoor’s film No Problem was released in 2010. Aneez Bazmi had directed the film. There are other stars in the film including Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Khanna in the film. The film did not do great business. The viewers wish the best for Sushmita Sen for the films that are going to be released in future.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan.

Happy birthday to Kamal Hassan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to versatile actor Kamal Hassan on 7th November, 2016. He had been a versatile figure both in bollywood films and South Indian cinema. In 2013 he was busy with the film Viswaroopam II. In the early 80s, his film Ek Duje Ke Liye stormed bollywood. It was a teenage love story where Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri reached their performance to huge number of Indians. Kamal Hassan also showed his exceptional dancing skills in songs like “hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye”. The music was composed by LP and the music astonished the viewers. He followed it up with his brilliant performance in the film Saagar. In Saagar, Ramesh Sippy experimented with a triangular love story with Kamal Hassan, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. The songs of the film composed by RD Burman became super hit. Some of them included “o maria”, “chehera ho”, “saagar kinare”, “jane do na”, etc. Kamal Hassan brought tears in the eyes of his audience through his sacrificing performance as died at the end of the film to save Rishi Kapoor. Besides he also exhibited his acrobatic skills in the film. The film did brilliant business due to power pact performance of Kamal Hassan, Dimple Kapadia and Rishi Kapoor. From that time onwards he acted in different types of films, both having commercial significance and also art value. He acted in the film Geraftaar opposite Big B and Rajnikant. The viewers remember his comedy film Chachi 420. He received a number of national awards for best actor in the last 30 years. He had remained an all-time superstar in South Indian film industry. Kamal Hassan used all the legendary actors of bollywood in the film Chachi 420 as a director and emerged victorious. Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Amrish Puri, Tabu were balanced by the brilliant performance of Kamal Hassan himself who played the role of lady Chachi. He took a brilliant make up and created a hilarious script and Om Puri, Amrish Puri, did their best to make the film super hit. He had proved his worth in every department of film making, whether acting or direction. In 2009 also Kamal Hassan came up with ten roles in the film Dasaavatharam. He had acted opposite Asin, Mallika Sherawat and others. He played ten different characters and all the roles were played with different dimensions. Besides he had played many daunting characters in Tamil films and bollywood films like the one in the film Hindustani. Kamal Hassan, received Padmashree, but that had not been a right recognition of his success. His film Viswaroopam also created sensation. The viewers expect him to show the dynamism in future too as they still know that Kamal Hassan still has a lot of acting left in him.

Happy birthday to Tabu.

Happy birthday to Tabu on 4th November. All the viewers of bollywood films had wished happy birthday to Tabu on the 4th of November, 2016. Although these days Tabu is not in the news to the extent she used to be few years back, she still enjoys popularity from bollywood audience. In 2015 her performance in Ajay Devgan’s film Drishyam was awesome. In 2014 her performance in the role of elder sister of Salman Khan in the film Jai Ho was well appreciated by the audience. When she entered films, within very short period of time she was recognized by the directors of parallel films and realistic films and experimented with her in dynamic roles. Gulzar gave her a challenging role in the film Machis. It was related to the story on terrorism existing in Punjab in the 90s. Tabu represented a member of a family who was affected by such terrorism. Her performance stand out among other notable performances of Om Puri and Chandrachud Singh in the same film. She played a challenging role in the film Tarqeeb. The film was related to suspense of her death. She was killed and Nana Patekar did an impressive investigation to unearth the truth as to her killing. The first part of the film showed Tabu’s struggle in maintaining her family and her fight against poverty. The early part her relevance in respect of finding the motive of killing her in the film. She played the role of a strict police officer in the film Kohram with Nana Patekar. Nana Patekar took the disguise of a journalist to unearth the identity of Big B in the film who was alleged to have been involved with criminal activities. At the end of the film both Big B and Nana Patekar co-operated with each other in their fight against Danny and his men who were really involved with anti-national activities. Tabu was very impressive in her respective role in the film Hu Tu Tu. She also changed her image by performing in serio-comic performance in the film Bibi No.1, where she played the role of the wife of Anil Kapoor who helped Karishma Kapoor to bring peace in her family after her husband Salman Khan got involved in extra-marital affair with Sushmita Sen. Tabu had acted in off-beat films like Chandni Bar and received critics acclamation for her performance in those types of films. She also acted in Mira Nair’s Hollywood film Namesake. Last year she played a notable role in the film Cheeni Kum with Big B where she depicted the character of a middle-aged lady who entered into an affair with an old man. She is probably one of the Hyderabadi actresses, who had done well both in bollywood films as well as South Indian films. Even more than that her performance in the comedy film Hera Pheri, where she acted opposite Sunil Shetty had no similarity with the role of village girl in Virasat where she acted opposite Anil Kapoor. She had showed her range of acting over the last 15 years and other than Dimple Kapadia there are no actresses of contemporary period who has equal potential as that of Tabu. Although she had acted in Telegu films in 2008 like Pandurangadu, she had not played any important role in any bollywood film in 2009. In 2010, she acted in the film Toh Baat Pakki, but that film did mediocre business. In 2012 Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai opposite Salman Khan and Govinda was supposed to be released. But it is supposed to be released in 2014. The other film Life of Pi was released and she got critical acclamation. In 2014, she was seen in Salman Khan’s film Jai Ho, which was previously name as Mental. Jai Ho did business of 115 crores. Her admirers expect her to make a strong comeback in bollywood films and contribute in both commercial and off-beat films.

Remembering Shankar Singh Raghuvanshi on birth anniversary.

Immortal combination of Shankar Jaikishan with Mohammad Rafi. Great composer Shankar Singh Raghubvanshi is remembered on his birth anniversary on 15th October, 2016. He was also remembered on death anniversary on 26th April, 2016. 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 superstar Shahrukh Khan.

Happy birthday to superstar Shahrukh Khan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to superstar Shahrukh Khan on 2nd November, 2016. He was the ruler of bollywood industry in the 90s. Right from Baazigar, Shahrukh Khan gave blockbusters one after the other. After Amitabh Bacchan, he is the next superstar, whose screen presence had carried through many big budget films. 2011 had been a great year for Shahrukh Khan. He had produced the costliest film in Indian history Ra One. The film in the first week had already done business of more than 50 crores. Although the film had not broken the record of Salman Khan’s film Bodyguard this year which had done business of 150 crores, the film had created a new trend, and Shahrukh Khan’s excellent acting, stunts and enthusiasm had been praised a lot by the viewers. In 2012, Shahrukh Khan’s romantic film Jab Tak Hai Jaan was released on Diwali, on 13th November. It was the last film of Yash Chopra. He died recently. This was the first time Shahrukh Khan had acted opposite Katrina Kaif. AR Rehman composed the music of the film. The film did business of 115 crores. 2013 had been even more successful year for Shahrukh Khan. His film Chennai Express released in August, 2013, did business of more than 210 crores. The film broke the record of Amir Khan’s The Three Idiots and stands as the biggest blockbuster ever. 2014 had been a bigger year. Shahrukh Khan’s film Happy New Year did business of more than 150 crores in the 1st weeks. It has the potential of doing business of more than 200 crores. Shahrukh Khan had a grand combination with Director Karan Johar, and most of the films directed by him ended up being super hit. The notable films include Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, etc. Shahrukh Khan also gave able lips in hit songs of these films including “kuch kuch hota hai”, “suraj hua madhyam”, etc. In 2010, their grand combination gave another hit titled My Name is Khan. Shahrukh Khan played the lead role in the film and did a great job opposite Kajol. Shahrukh Khan also succeeded in negative roles. The greatest example includes Darr. There he played a negative character opposite Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla. On one hand he gave good lips in the songs “tu mere samne”, on the other hand his attack on Juhi Chawla made the viewers understand that he could act in any type of films. He received filmfare award for the negative category as well. He was played a challenging role in Mani Ratnam’s film Dil Se. The film was related to terrorism in North East India and Shahrukh Khan died with Manisha Koirala in the film. Shahrukh Khan has the record of bagging 7 filmfare awards for best actor, which is the second best record after Dilip Kumar who had won it 8 times. Shahrukh Khan, better known as King Khan, had acted in the films of almost all the leading directors of the country, including Amol Palekar’s Paheli with Rani Mukherjee. Besides he had acted opposite different actresses like Kajol in the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Preeti Zinta in the film Veer Zara, Anushka Sharma in the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jori, to name a few. Shahrukh Khan opened own production house titled Dreams Unlimited with Juhi Chawla, and the films produced by such combination like Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani also did good business. Shahrukh Khan had ruled the industry for more than 15 years. Shahrukh Khan is also known for high level of energy. He had sponsored the Kolkata Knight Riders IPl team which had been captained by Sourav Ganguly. Although the team had performed is a disastrous manner, Shahrukh Khan had always encouraged his players. Shahrukh Khan’s team under the captainship of Gautam Gambhir had also won the IPL Trophy this year. The viewers are waiting for his next film that is going to be released in 2015. He is breaking his own records. So there are more surprises in future.

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol.

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to action star Sunny Deol on 19th October, 2016. He had been a sensation in bollywood films. Being the son of successful actor Dharmender, he had the pressure of proving his capability the early part of his career. Although he started with romantic films like Betaab in the early 80s, within short period of time he built a macho body and acted in action films one after the other. He became the lead actor in most of the films of Raj Kumar Santoshi. Most of those films were anti-establishment films where his anti-establishment- image amazed the viewers. After Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender, probably Sunny Deol was the only star whose action image was accepted by audience of different tastes. He received the filmfare best actor award for his brilliant performance in the film Ghayal. He took revenge against smuggling don Balwant Rai played by Amrish Puri. He got awarded for his brilliant performance in the film Damini opposite Meenakshi Sheshadri. He played the role of an upright lawyer who helped a lady like Meenakshi who was threatened by her inlaws against giving testimony in a rape case. The film became the greatest hit of the year. Sunny had to very high standard of acting from his rival Amrish Puri in both these films who maintained the standard of acting he displayed in art films directed by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and others. Sunny’s film Gadar Ek Premkatha, based on hindu-muslim vengeance during partition broke the record of hit films in India. He went to Pakistan to bring his wife Amisha Patel and small son, and faced the resistance of orthodox muslims under the leadership of Amrish Puri. He fought his way out and brought his family to India. He displayed the passion of being a true Indian in style. His other hit films included Ghatak, Samandar, Darr, Joshilay, Tridev, Vishwaatma, to name a few. He was considered to be one of the best body-builders of the country in the 90s. He also produced few films and did well in them as well. Other than Sanjay Dutt, no other actor was as successful as Sunny Deol in action films. He is presently busy with his sequel film Ghayal returns. 2011 had been a successful year for him. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana did excellent business at the beginning of the year. For the first time, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmender were seen in the same film together. He was a great crowd puller in the 90s, viewers want the same magic back. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana 2 was released in 2012. It did not do that amount of business. The viewers expect him to continue the strong performance and contribute in bollywood films in future.

Happy birth anniversary of Rebel Star Shammi Kapoor.

Viewers remembered Shammi Kapoor on his birth anniversary on 21st October, 2016. Rebel Star Shammi Kapoor is remembered on 14th August, 2015, his death anniversary, for his immense contribution to Bollywood films. On 14th August, 2011, veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, passed away. He was 79 years old. The country had become sad due to his demise. He brought a new wave in Indian films with powerful performances in films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Janwar and other films. He used to be called Rebel Star and the Indian Elvis Priestley. One thing for which viewers used to be mad to see his films during 60s used to be the everlasting music in the films and brilliance of Mohammad Rafi in those songs. Rafi had sung 341 songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan during his illustrious career with 216 solos. Very significantly 3 of the filmfare awards that Rafi received during 60s had been composed by Shankar Jaikishan. They included “teri pyari pyari surat ko kiski nazar na lage” from the film Sasural, “baharon phool barsao” from the film Suraj and “dilke jharoke me mujhko bithaker” from the film Brahmchari. But in the list of songs sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, at least half of the total sungs were composed for Shammi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan worked together for around 22 films, most of which did great business in the 60s. If Rafi’s songs sung for Shammi Kapoor are remembered for the loud music and melo-dramatic dance numbers, there were lot of songs which were ever romantic and touched the hearts of the viewers. In the film Junglee, Rafi’s songs “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” and “meri yaar shabba khair” had very melodious appeal and the sweetness of Rafi haunted the listeners for years. In Shammi Kapoor’s Professor, the songs “awaz deke hume tum bulayo”, “mai chali mai chali”, probably had set the mood of the film. From that time Rafi, Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan created magic in one film after the other. In Raj Kumar, Rafi’s soft numbers for Shammi Kapoor like “yeh rang badalti duniya me”, “tumne kisiki jaan ko jate hue dekha hai” made the viewers speechless. Even the western numbers of Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi stole the hearts in the 60s. In the film Janwar, Rafi’s number “meri muhabbat jawan rahegi” and “humko hai tumse pyar” had been the most romantic songs in the film, where the landscape of Kashmir and Rafi’s melodious voice complimented each other. In the film An Evening in Paris, Rafi’s songs “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” and “raat ke humsafar” were the most romantic numbers which were more melodious than the loud numbers which equally became hits. In Shammi Kapoor’s Brahmachari, probably the best songs included “mai gayun tum so jayo” and “dil ke jharoke mai”. “mai gayun tum so jayo” was sung twice by Rafi in the film, one with a even slower rhythm. Shankar Jaikishan’s background music was as brilliant as Rafi’s singing style for Shammi Kapoor. In the film Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Rafi’s soft number “janam janam ka saath hai” had remained evergreen and melodious for years. In Latt Sahab, Rafi’s romantic number with Asha Bhosle titled “aye chaand zara ruk ja” haunted the listeners for years after years. Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan combined together in other films of Shammi Kapoor like Prince, Buttameez, Laat Sahab, Ujala, Chote Sarkar, Hong Kong, etc. There were many more romantic numbers of Rafi sung for Shammi Kapoor, which cannot be covered in a small article. In Shammi Kapoor’s Jawan Muhabbat, the song “jawan muhabbat jahan jahan hai” was very romantic. The last film where Shankar and Jaikishan worked together for Shammi Kapoor included Andaz. The songs “dil use do jo jaan de de” and “re mamma re mamma re” were brilliant both in form and orchestration. It was very unfortunate that Jaikishan died in 1971,and after that Shammi Kapoor also added weight and switched to character roles in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc. The magical combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi ended and the era of romantic songs also suffered a set back. Some section of listeners argue that Rajender Kumar probably received the more romantic numbers sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, but Shammi Kapoor’s combination with Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan was phenomenal which swept the youth and took them to a different inspite of Shammi Kapoor being called a rebel star and Shankar Jaikishan providing the most loud bomblastic numbers for Rafi. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shammi Kapoor, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan should be preserved.

Happy birthday to Mallika Sherawat.

Happy birthday to Mallika Sherawat. The viewers of Bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mallika Sherawat on 24th October, 2016.

Mallika Sherawat had transformed herself. When Mallika Sherawat initially joined bollywood films, she was considered as an actress who was only inclined to expose herself. Her films Murder and Khwawish were related to body exposure. Although Murder became superhit and Reema Lamba, better known as Mallika Sherawat became a hot star in 2004, she still required films which could allow her to show her acting talents. She also received international recognition with her performance in a small role in the film Myth, opposite Jackie Chan. From the film Pyar Ke Side Effects opposite Rahul Bose, viewers started recognizing her as a talented actress. She was sublime in the film Aap Ka Suroor, where she played a negative role. Also her dance number in the Abhishek Bacchan’s Guru titled “maiya maiya” brought her prominence. She did a great job in the film Maan Gaye Mugha-i-Azam. She was the wife of stage actor Paresh Rawal. She got attached with Rahul Bose, a member of the audience. Rahul Bose used the entire acting crew of Paresh Rawal to address terrorists. In his operation Mallika Sherawat played the major role. Mallika’s lips in the song “maan gaye mughal-i-azam” entertained the crowds. The song was made in the form of -a satire, and the play Mughal-i-Azam also created with the idea of addressing political questions of the relevant period. In Welcome, she pretended to be the wife of Akshay Kumar, on the request of Paresh Rawal. Paresh Rawal never wanted his relative Akshay Kumar to marry a girl from a criminal family. But he entered into an affair with Katrina Kaif, the sister of underworld dons Nana Patekar and Anil Kapoor. When Mallika Sherawat wept before Feroz Khan, the boss of both Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar, the marriage was cancelled. Although the role was short, Mallika Sherawat did very well. She was sublime in the film Ugly Aur Paagli, opposite Ranbir Shorey. The film was related to betting, and Mallika had given slaps after slaps to Ranbir with one kiss only in a comedy drama. In 2009, Mallika Sherawat featured in Kamal Hassan’s action drama Dasavatharam along with Asin. The other film Dhakreys Bed had convinced the viewers that Mallika can act, and given a proper script, can do better than other actresses of the contemporary period. She had transformed herself into a promising actress. The viewers expect her to continue the good work and not sign cheap roles where only exposure is required, not acting.

Happy birthday to Malaika Arora Khan.

Happy birthday to Item –queen Malaika Arora. The viewers of bollyood films wish happy birthday to Item-queen Malaika Arora on 23rd October, 2016. She had been an important figure in the bollywood industry for the last 10 years. Her father worked in Merchant Navy. She was selected as one of the MTV VJs when MTV started operation in India. She also did shine in the modeling world. After that she became number one item dancer in bollywood films. Her dance in the film Dil Se stormed bollywood. She danced in the song “chaiya chaiya” opposite Shahrukh Khan in the film. The cameos in bollywood films in the item numbers continued. She made a special appearance in Bobby Deol’s film Bicchu. She got a bigger role in the film Kaante. Her item number titled “kaal dhamaal” in the film Kaal again created attention. She also danced in item numbers in the film Om Shanti Om and Hey Babby in 2005. Then again in the film Welcome, her item number in the song “hoont rasiley” became the most popular song of the entire film. She danced opposite Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar in the film. She married Arbaaz Khan and has a son named Arhaan. She acted in the film Housefull. In 2010, she stormed bollywood again in Arbaaz Khan’s film Dabaang, in the item song “munni badnaam hui”. The film was the most successful song of the year. The major credit goes to the high class of dancing of Malaika Arora Khan. As far as her dancing capabilities are concerned she had established herself in bollywood. But she requires to play notable roles in social films to prove her acting capability. Helen, who initially got roles of vamps, later on when acted in films like Khamoshi, had shown the viewers that she had lot of acting talent. Malaika Arora Khan was the co-producer of the super hit film Dabaang 2. She danced in one of the songs of the film as well. Due to Salman Khan magic the film did business of more than 158 crores. The co-production and direction of Arbaaz Khan had been well appreciated by the viewers. Viewers expect Malaika Arora to act in prominent roles in future and expect that upcoming year will be a successful year for year.