Shankar Jaikishan composed maximum duet songs of Rafisahab with Suman Kalyanpurji.

The listeners of film songs wish happy birthday to legendary singer Suman Kalyanpur on 28th January, 2017. 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.

Happy birthday to Mala Sinha.

Happy birthday to Mala Sinha. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mala Singh on 11th November, 2018. She had been a legendary actress of bollywood films and contributed in both bollywood films and Bengali films for more than 40 years. In the 50s, Mala Sinha had acted in classic films like Parvarish, Phir Subah Hogi opposite Raj Kapoor. The music composer of Parvarish was Dattaram, while it was Khayyam for Phir Subah Hogi. These films became immortal for their unforgettable songs like “anshu bhari hai”, “woh subah kabhi to ayegi”, etc. Mala Sinha was sublime opposite Dev Anand in the film Love Marriage. The music of the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan was equally grand. The hit songs included “dheere dheere chal”, “kahan ja rahete”, etc. Mala Sinha contributed well in Guru Dutt’s classic film Pyaasa. The romantic andaz displayed by Mala Sinha was very significant in the film in the songs “hum aapke aankho me”, sung by Rafi and Geeta Dutt. Guru Dutt loved Mala Sinha during college life, but failed to marry her. The realistic film received a lot of public appreciation. Mala Sinha continued her dream run in the 60s by performing in historical films like Jahanara opposite Bharat Bhushan. The film was a musical block buster. The songs “baad muddat key eh ghari aye”, “kisi ki yaad me”, etc., composed by Madan Mohan created history. The biggest achievement of Mala Sinha lies in sustaining in bollywood industry amidst high competition from other leading actresses like Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Vaijayantimala, etc. Mala Sinha was brilliant in the film Gumrah opposite Ashok Kumar and Sunil Dutt. She displayed her personality very well in a triangular love story. The songs of the film composed by Ravi was brilliant including “chalo ek baar phir se” and :in hawawon mai” sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Mala Sinha also acted with the next generation of actors like Rajender Kumar and Dharmender. Her successful films opposite Rajender Kumar included Dhool Ka Phool, Lalkar and Geet. Her successful films opposite Dharmender included Ankhen, Neela Akash, Jab Yaad Kisi Ki Aati Hai, etc. which did great business. She was sublime in her performance opposite Dharmender in the film Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi. She did very well in films opposite Biswajeet like Night in London and Shammi Kapoor in Dil Tera Diwana. Mala Sinha played a very long innings in Bengali films as well. Her successful films opposite Uttam Kumar included Khelaghar, Shaharer Itikatha, Bandhu, Putrabadhu, Saathihara, to name a few. She gave able lips in Geeta Dutt’s songs namely “nishi raat banka chaad”, “baashi bujhi ei sure aar dakbe na”, etc. Her other notable films include Dhuli opposite Prashanto Kumar, Abhaya Srikanto opposite Basanto Choudhury, etc. She even featured in modern films in the 90s like Khel where she had played character roles opposite Madhuri Dixit. The viewers expect her to continue in character roles in films in future.

Dev Sahab was remembered on birth anniversary.

Dev Anand was remembered on his birth anniversary on 26th September. Romantic star Dev Anand died in London on 4th December, 2011, at the age of 88 years. Everyone in India mourned his death right from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to superstar Shahrukh Khan, actress Hema Malini to actor Rishi Kapoor. He was staying in London and died out of cardiac arrest as had been said by his son. Most of his fans all across the world had said that they Dev Anand never looked back at life, but looked forward and for that reason became the inspiration for every optimistic film personality. It was the end of an era, as Dev Anand represented Indian films for more than 60 years, right from 1946, when he started his career. His hit films included CID, Kala Pani, Hum Dono, Guide, Jewel Thief, to mention a few. He received filmfare award for best actor for his performance in the films Kala Pani and Guide. He received Dadasaheb Phalke award for immense contribution to bollywood films. He had also being remembered for his brilliant songs of Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt and Lata Mangeshkar like “din dhal jaye”, “kabhi khud pe kabhi halat pe rona hoga”, “piya tose naina lage re”and brilliant compositions of Shankar Jaikishan, Sachin Dev Burman, and others. Evergreen star Dev Anand had this year gave an interview to journalist Gautam Bhattacharya which had been published in Anandabazar Patrika on 25th June, 2011. He had said that he had been busy working with his new film Charge Sheet. He had crossed 88 years and still showed the enthusiasm to work on the sequel of the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, which he made in 1971. When he was asked about Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, he said, if Raj Kapoor would have taken care of his health he would have survived for more time and made more films. Dilip Kumar was happy to be an actor and never showed the interest of directing films. Dev Anand missed his team of performers like Vijay Anand, Kishore Kumar, Sachin Dev Burman, but he said that death was also a reality which people should face. He also said that he never looked back at his work, and whenever his hit films like Hum Dono, or Guide are shown in TV Channels, he hardly had seen them. About the new generation of actors, he had stated that he hated body building and opening of shirts to show the body. He said Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar, or he himself never required to open their shirt to show their body. He did not comment about the question why Rajesh Khanna faded out of the industry after ruling bollywood for short time, while Amitabh Bacchan ruled bollywood for a longer time.

Happy birthday to Ayesha Takia.

Happy birthday to Chubby Star Ayesha Takia. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Chubby Star Ayesha Takia on 10th April, 2018. Actress Ayesha Takia has a very bright future in bollywood films. There are two categories of actresses who perform in bollywood films. The first category includes the daughters of celebrities who make their debut in films made by their parents. Examples include Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, whose first films had lot of curiousness created in respect of the performance. The second category includes the other actresses who prove their capability by performing in films over a period of time. Ayesha Takia fall in that category. She was born on 10th April, 1986. Her father Nisith or mother Faridah were not celebrities to the stature of Jeetender, or Feroz Khan or Hema Malini whose children joined bollywood films. Ayesha did advertisement relating to complain girl and acted in music video of Falguni Pathak titled “meri chunari ur ur jaye”. She received the filmfare award for best debutant for the performance in the film Tarzan, The Wonder Car. After that few average films like Socha Na Tha, Dil Mange Mor followed. She created attention in the film Shaadi No. 1, where Esha Deol and Soha Ali Khan acted with her. All three of them had husbands like Fardeen Khan, Sharman Joshi, etc., who were addicted towards other ladies. Sanjay Dutt came over there and disclosed the truth relating to the affairs of their husbands with other girls like Riya Sen. At the end of the film Ayesha’s husband and the husbands of Esha Deol and Soha Ali Khan understood their mistake and followed the right path. Ayesha Takia was sublime in the film Salaam-e-Ishq opposite Akshay Khanna. Initially Akshay Khanna did not wanted to marry her for not taking up responsibilities of husband. But later he got convinced and married her. Ayesha gave able lips in the songs “salaam –e-ishq”, “dekho to dekho aisa hota to”, etc. Although the film did mediocre business the songs of the film became super hit. In 2008 and early part of 2009 her films De Taali, Sunday and 8*10 Tasveer did mediocre business. In 2009, Ayesha Takia acted in super hit film Wanted opposite Salman Khan. Her romantic performance opposite Salman Khan was appreciated by all sections of the crowd. Her softness and submissiveness is like by different sections of audience. The song “love me love me” became hit in the film. The film did business of more than 75 crore and established Ayesha Takia as a leading actress along with Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. The viewers also appreciated the good work of Ayesha Takia in films like Paathshala and Aap Ke Liye Hum in 2010. Viewers expect Ayesha Takia to continue her good work and make a comeback as well.

Happy birthday to Pyarellal.

The viewers of Bollywood films wish happy birthday to Pyarellal on 3rd September, 2018. Laxmikant Pyarellal had a very successful career in bollywood films. Their success in the film Parasmani and Dosti had proved the fact that they had emerged in the film arena to play a long innings. In the 70s they gave music in most of the successful films and the music was innovative too. After the death of Jaikishan in 1971, Raj Kapoor used LP in the film Bobby in 1973. The songs “mai shayar to nahi” sung by Shailendra Singh, and songs sung by Chanchal had given them an opening for flourishing their musical careers as well. LP gave successful music in the film Aan Milon Sajna, where songs like “aan milon sajna” sung by Rafi and “acha to hum chalte hai” sung by Lata and Kishore became hits. LP gave successful music in the film Amar Akbar Anthony, where Rafi’ssongs “parda hai parda”, “shirdiwali saibaba”, Kishore’s song “my name is Anthony Gonsalves”, etc., had catered to the popular taste of film music. LP gave successful music in Rishi Kapoor’s film Sargam, with hit songs of Rafi and Lata including “dafliwale”, “koel boli”, “ramjiki nikli sawari”, etc. Even the songs in Rishi Kapoor’s film Karz, including “darde dil” sung by Rafi and “om shanty om” sung by Kishore gave super hit in the late 70s. Songs like “yeh dil tum bin kahin lagta nahi” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film Izzat, and “patta patta boota boota”, sung by Rafi and Lata, in Ek Nazar are quality compositions showing the class of LP. LP also gave quality songs in the film Jeevan Mrityu, with Rafi’s song like “jhilmil sitaronka”, songs like “o sapno ka raja” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film Banphool. LP in many cases compromised with the taste of mass audience in composing music in the late 70s if compared with the superlative class of music composed in the 60s. He even gave classical songs in the 60s like “roushan tumhi se duniya” and “woh jab yaad aye” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film Parasmani based on classical touch. Even then the compositions of LP in the 70s are notable and should be preserved.

Meena Kumari films are still relevant today.

Remembering Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari on her birth

anniversary. The viewers of bollywood films remembered Tragedy Queen Meena Kumari both on her birth anniversary on 1st August, 2016 on her death anniversary on 31st March, 2017. Meena Kumari can be considered as the greatest actress of Bollywood during the golden age who had portrayed images and characters showing complexity of the mind of the Indian women and the social ostentations that they had faced during different periods of time. Meena Kumari, born on 1st August, 1932, known as Mahjabeen Bano, stormed into the Indian silver screen in 1952, with the sublime performance in Baiju Bawra. Although the film had been renowned for everlasting composition of Hindustani ragas by Naushad and supreme performance of Mohammad Rafi, with songs like “man tarpata”, “woh duniya ke rakhwale”, etc., Meena Kumari’s performance opposite Bharat Bhushan showed the filmlovers that she had come to conquer Bollywood with her soft style of acting. In the 50s Meena Kumari’s performance in films like Parineeta, 1953, Footpath, 1954, Yahudi, 1958, etc. were appreciated by critics, but she had created her image of martyr in the film Sharda, 1957, where even after having an affair with Raj Kapoor, in the film she had to sarcrifice her affection to marry Raj Mehra, his father, who was much older than her. In Dil Ek Mandir, 1963, Meena Kumari after having affair with Rajender Kumar in her youth had to marry Raj Kumar, due to social pressure. But from the time she had married Raj Kumar, she fulfilled all the duties of a middle class Hindu woman, and brought her sick husband to the hospital at the mercy of Rajender Kumar. She prayed to God, for the recovery of Raj Kumar. Rajender Kumar sacrificed his life to treat her husband and died at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Rafi and Lata, had not lost their significance even today. In 1962, Meena Kumari, performed the role of choti bahu, in Guru Dutt’s Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, the film showing the zamindari raj (dominance of Feudal lords) existing in the British capital in India, that is Kolkata. She was married to the youngest son in a family of zamindars who used to attend mujras in Jaan bazaar, in Kolkata, where performers from Lucknow, Benaras used to come and exhibit their skills of singing classical songs. She tried to retain her husband Rehman at home, and through her conversation, Guru Dutt, the observer came to know about the history of the family. Meena Kumar’s performance opposite Pradeep Kumar, used to create a different dimension, as her pardanashin image had matched with royal style of acting of Pradeep Kumar. After the success of Aarti, 1962; Meena Kumari, acted in the blockbusters Bheegi Raat, 1965, and Bahu Begum, 1967, opposite Pradeep Kumar and Ashok Kumar. In Bheegi Raat, she loved Pradeep Kumar, yet due to an accident which made her legs paralysed she could not attend the engagement and worked in the house of Ashok Kumar as governess. When society boycotted Ashok Kumar, she agreed to marry her, but presence of Pradeep Kumar at the end of the film in the song “dil jo na keh saka” compelled Ashok Kumar to sacrifice his affair and go back to London. It was a film where, Rafi, Lata, Roshan and the actors all had provided their best performance possible. Meena Kumar’s other film with Pradeep Kumar titled Chitralekha was also successful. Meena Kumari had become immortal with her classic performance in the film Pakeeza, 1971, opposite Raj Kumar, which took around 10 years to be completed. It was created on a subject related to women brought up in kotha and exhibited the class of women who could not give the recognition to their next generation as their father’s are not known. The music composed by Ghulam Mohammad, Lata and Rafi’s songs, Kamal Humrohi’s direction (the husband of Meena Kumari) all complemented each other, and the film became historical piece of document. The greatest hallmark of Meena Kumari lied in her ability to depict the helplessness of Indian women existing specially in the 50s and 60s, when the patriarchal society dominated them and they had no independent income to live separately against the pressure of society. In her performances, beauty, aristrocracy, tragedy, personality all blended into one. Whenever we think about cine-classics like Dil Apna aur Preet Parayi, 1960, or Ghazal, 1965, Meena Kumari’s image automatically comes in our mind. She died in 1972, only at an age of 41. Meena Kumari’s films should be restored in an archive for future generations to learn the art of understanding the characters from the core of the heart the way Meena Kumari had done during the golden age of Indian cinema.

Happy birth anniversary to Johnny Walker.

Happy birth anniversary to Johnny Walker. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to comedy star Johnny Walker on 11th November, 2018. His popularity in bollywood films was immense during the 50s and 60s. He used to be considered the second hero opposite legendary stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt and others. Rafi had a huge contribution in the success of Johnny Walker, the elegant comedian of the 50s and 60s. Most of the songs sung by Rafi for Johnny Walker were hits and caught public attention. Rafi even imitated the style of dialogue delivery of Johnny Walker. Johnny Walker acted both in lead roles in notable films as well as supporting roles in hit films of stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, Dev Anand, and others and the different composers who composed music in those films including OP Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan, SD Burman, Salil Choudhury, Ravi, Naushad, Dattaram, Laxmikant Pyarellal and others composed catchy songs of Rafi which were picturised on the legendary comedian. The songs in the film CID, composed by OP Nayyar, including “ai dil mushkil jeena yahan”, picturised on Johnny Walker were melodious. OP Nayyar’s composition for Johnny Walker in the film Aar Paar titled “are na na na na nana touba touba” was also equally hilarious and melodious. Rafi imitated the dialogue throwing style of Johnny Walker in the film in style. The song in the film Mr. and Mrs. 55, composed by OP Nayyar and picturised on Johnny Walker, including “jane kahan mera jigar gaya ji” became extremely popular. The song was as popular as some other of the songs of Rafi like “dil par hua aisa jaadoo”. The other songs were picturised on the hero of the film Guru Dutt. Rafi’s song in Raj Kapoor’s film Chori Chori composed by Shankar Jaikishan was also hit titled “all line clear”. Johnny Walker became an indispensable part of the films of Guru Dutt and used to get important roles in the films of Guru Dutt. In the film Pyaasa, Rafi’s song “tel malish” picturised on Johnny Walker became landmark hit. SD Burman, the composer of the song modified his style of composition to suit the song of Rafi in the film. In the film Ustadon Ke Ustad, Rafi sang a very peppy number for Johnny Walker titled “maine kaha tha aana Sunday ko”, composed by music director Ravi. In Dilip Kumar’s Madhumati, Rafi’s song for Johnny Walker titled “jangal me mor nacha kisi ne na dekha” became super hit. Salil Choudhury, the brilliant composer composed the songs of the film and received the filmfare award for the best composer in the year 1959. The song “mai bombai ka babu” from the film Naya Daur was also successful. OP Nayyar’s composition for Rafi suited the style of acting of Johnny Walker and impressed the viewers. The other songs of Rafi which became successful include “gareeb janke”, from the film Chu Mantar, where Johnny Walker played the leading role. Even the songs in the film Chaudavi Ka Chaand, composed by Ravi became extremely successful. Johnny Walker’s songs in the same film “mera yaar bana hai dulha” and “yeh duniya gol hai” became extremely successful. Rafi’s song “nashe me hum nashe me tum” in Johnny Walker’s film Black Cat also became extremely popular. In the film Johnny Walker, there were few hit numbers composed by OP Nayyar for Rafi including “bekithiyaar hoke pyaar”, “bachke balam chal”, “mooh se mat”. Some of these songs were duets and Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle also sung well. In the film Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi, Rafi’s song for Johnny Walker titled “suno suno Miss Chatterjee” became extremely popular. OP Nayyar’s background beat was very melodious. Laxmikant Pyarellal composed very melodious songs for Johnny Walker and Biswajeet in the film Night in London. Most of the songs became super hit. Johnny Walker was probably the only comedian who had given lips in so many hit songs of Rafi, even considering Manna Dey’s songs for Mehmood. The list of films where Rafi had sung for Johny Walker can go on and cannot be covered in one article. The songs and the films should be restored and preserved.

Subir Sen sang landmark songs in 1950s and 1960s.

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.

Actress Shyama remained immortal in her romantic films.

Shyama, the veteran actor remained immortal in her works. Veteran Bollywood actor Shyama passed away on the morning of November 14, 2017 at the age of 82. Her daughter Shirrin told indianexpress.com that her mother was suffering from a lung infection, and her health deteriorated further because of that. The cremation took place at 2.30 pm at Marine Lines in Mumbai today. The actress was known for her roles in movies like Aar Paar, Barsaat Ki Raat, Sawan Bhadi, Milan and Sharada. In a more than four-decades-long career, Shyama acted in about 175 movies. She won the Filmfare Award Best Supporting Actress award for her performance in Sharada. It is very sad. The film fraternity and viewers were shocked to hear her death. She was one of the very beautiful actresses of the 1950s and 1960s. Her dance performances, powerful acting and great expression still haunt the viewers. She rose to stardom with Guru Dutt’s film Aar Par. Her lips in Geeta Dutt’s song “ae loji hari piya hui teri jeet re”, “ sun sun sun sun zalima” became super hit. OP Nayyar composed the music of the film. Aar Par was a super hit film of 1954. She did well opposite Dilip Kumar in the film Amar. Madhubala was the other lead actress of the film. She did well in Raj Kapoor’s film Sharda. Meena Kumari played the lead role in the film. It was a super hit film of 1957. Shyama did not fear even negative characters. In Sharda in the later part of the film her role was negative. Shyama (born Khurshid Akhtar; 7 June 1935 – 14 November 2017) was a Hindi movie actress. Her best known roles were in Aar Paar (1954), Barsaat Ki Raat (1960) and Tarana. She was also noticed for her versatility through her performances in Milan, Bhai-Bhai (1956), Mirza Sahiban (1957), Bhabhi (1957) and Sharda, for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was the actress in late 50s who has been most responsive to the rhythm and lyrics of the music directors and poets. Songs picturised on her such as "Ae dil mujhe bata de", "O chand jahan wo jaye", "Ae lo main hari piya", "Dekho, wo chand chhup ke karata hai kya ishare", "Chhupa ke meri aankhon ko", Sun Sun Zalima and "Ja re ka re badara" are examples of her sensitive acting. She did a double role in Do Bahen(1959) portraying twins who were completely different in characters. Shyama arrived in Mumbai from Lahore in the 1940s. As a young girl, she acted in a few films like Noorjahan's husband Shauqat Rizvi's Zeenat (1945) and Meerabai (1947). Director Vijay Bhatt gave her the stage name Shyama, by which she is credited in her movies. She had starring roles in Guru Dutt's classic Aar Paar, and later in Barsaat Ki Raat, which was perhaps her best performance. She was a major star in the 1950s and 1960s and acted in more than 150 movies many in starring roles. Johnny Walker and Shyama had worked in films like Choo Mantar, Aar Paar, Musafir Khanna, Khota Paisa and Khel Khilari Ka. She was married to cinematographer Fali Mistry in 1953, and the couple had two sons, Faroukh and Rohinton and a daughter Shirrin. Fali Mistry passed away in 1979, thereafter she continued to stay in Mumbai. Her close friend were actress Ameeta and Johnny Walker. Nasir Khan, Johnny Walker’s son expressed his grief on hearing the news. In an interview with Mid-Day, he said, “It’s really disheartening to know about the demise of Shyama aunty. She had done several films with my father and in a lot of them she was opposite him also. In fact, in the film that was made on his name ‘Johnny Walker’, she was the heroine with him.

Gayatri Bose songs were very popular in 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 experience before newspaper.

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, 2018. 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.

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, 2018. 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, 2018. 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.

Happy birthday to Megastar Amitabh Bacchan.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to the megastar of bollywood films Amitabh Bacchan on 11th October, 2018. Born in 1942, he had been the most popular actor of the entire millennium. In the 70s his films like Zanjeer, Sholay, Deewar created a new age of action films. His angry young man image created a revolution during an age when corruption became rampant in India. If Zanjeer was related to the obstacles faced by an honest police officer to safely perform his duties, Deewar was based on the contradiction of two brothers of whom one was a police officer, while the other was compelled to be a smuggler due to social compulsions. Sholay was based on the story of domination of the Chambal region of India by dacoits. The Thakur (played by Sanjeev Kumar) of the village employed two brave criminals namely Big B and Dharmender to face the dacoits. Big B was a very powerful actor and became the choice of all the leading directors of the 70s and 80s. His films included Abhimaan directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sholay directed by Ramesh Sippy, Zanjeer directed by Prakash Mehra, Deewar directed by Yash Chopra, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat directed by Shakti Samanta, Amar Akbar Anthony directed by Manmohan Desai, to name a few. The other factor which singled out Big B with the other actors in terms of his versatility was his baritone voice which he modulated to perfection. His comedy films like Namakhalal, Chupke Chupke, Amar Akbar Anthony, created new dimensions in Indian film history. His notable films during the 80s included Shakti, Akhree Rasta, Inquilab, etc. Even in the 90s his films like Akela and Indrajeet carried his strong personality forward. Big B had played a huge innings as a character actor and his films like Black, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, etc., showed the viewers, that after Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar, Big B was an actor with whom the directors could do any experiment. His performance in his son Abhishek Bacchan’s films like Bunty Aur Babli had also been notable. In 2010, he received the national award for the best actor for the third time for his excellent performance in the film Paa. In 2011, he was absolutely brilliant in the role of an academician in Prakash Jha’s film Aarakshan. In 2013, his performance in Prakash Jha’s film Satyagraha was brilliant. Day by day his acting skills are just getting better and better and he is experimenting in different types of roles. Even in Kaun Banega Crorepati he is the anchor and his profound educational background and pure hindi accent amazes the viewers. Sony TV cannot think about any other anchor other than Amitabh Bacchan. The viewers expect him to continue the great work that he started 40 years back.

Helen was indispensable in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Helen was an indispensable figure of bollywood industry in 1950s, 60s and 70s. She had remained an exceptional dancer and featured in majority of bollywood fllms in the 60s and 70s. She was probably one of the most indispensable figures in bollywood during 60s and 70s. Without her films like Gumnaam, Teesri Manzil, Jewel Thief, Inteqam, Carwan, Night in London, etc. would have been incomplete. She had acted opposite leading stars of the 60s and 70s, for example, in Gumnaam she acted opposite Pran, In Teesri Manzil she acted opposite Shammi Kapoor, in Jewel Thief she acted opposite Dev Anand, in Night in London opposite Johnny Walker to name a few. She in fact filled in the empty space created by prominent dancer Cuckoo in the 50s. One of her most memorable films included Gumnaam, which was released in 1965, where she played the role of one of the few persons who were taken to an isolated island. She was killed along with a number her friends by Tarun Bose in the film who was identified by Manoj Kumar at the end of the film. Her dance number in the songs “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” and “is duniya me jeena ho to” composed by Shankar Jaikishan were brilliant by every judging standards. She was put to test in her dance no. in the song “muqabla hum se na karo” in the film Prince along with Shammi Kapoor and Vaijayantimala. She did the western part while Vaijayantimala did the eastern part. Whenever she got a scope of performing opposite Shammi Kapoor her performance used to get a different dimension as he was the only male star in the 60s to dominate bollywood films with rock and roll dance performances. Both of them did well in the film Teesri Manzil. The song “o haseena zulfonwali” is remembered for the dance of both Helen and Shammi Kapoor. Helen got a villainish role in the film and trapped Shammi Kapoor in a murder case where the actual murderer was Prem Nath. Helen even got few roles of heroines in the 60s including the role in the film Pyar Hi Pyar where she acted opposite Mehmood, where the main roles were played by Dharmender and Vaiyantimala. Her prominent roles continued in the 70s, including her cameo in the song “piya tu ab tu aja” composed by RD Burman in the film Carwan, her role in the film Sholay, where her dance number in the song “mehbooba mehbooba” amazed the viewers. The villainish roles continued like the one in Big B’s film Don, where her song “yeh mera dil” became a runaway hit. Kareena Kapoor danced in the same item number as that of Helen when the film was remade by Farhan Akhtar, with Shahrukh Khan. Her other notable films include Mere Jeevan Saathi, Hindustani, Half Ticket, etc. She even acted in character roles in the 90s in films like Akela and Khamoshi. Her performance in the film Khamoshi had been appreciated by all section of viewers. In one article it is not possible to cover the contribution of Helen, who had dominated bollywood films of 60s and 70s. The admirers of Helen expect her to make more contribution in bollywood films in character roles as she has a lot acting still left in her.