Happy birthday to Vidya Balan.

Happy birthday to Vidya Balan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Vidya Balan on 1st January, 2020. Vidya Balan had shown her potentiality in sophisticated roles in the past. This year she won the Star Screen award for best actress for her performance in the film Tumhari Sulu. 2011 had been her year. Her performance in the role of Silk Smita in the film Dirty Picture had been appreciated by the audience. In fact her performance had been the best performance of the year by any female actress. She also won national award for the performance in Dirty Picture. 2012 had also been her year. She was unparallel in the film Kahaani. The performance has been the best performance of the year. She also got married in 2012. She received filmfare award for best actress for the performance in the film Kahaani. In 2013 her film Ghanchakkar did not do great business. In 2014 her film Bobby Jasoos did medium business. In 2019 her film Chandrayan opposite Akshay Kumar did business above 200 crores.

Vidya Balan attracted the attention of cultured audience through her soft performance in Pradeep Sarkar’s film Parineeta. It was an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s successful novel Parineeta. Vidya Balan reached the depth of the character that was related to life of Kolkata during the 18th century. Vidya Balan acted opposite Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan and balanced their performance with her own performance. She also gave able lips in the song “piyu bole, piya bole” sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal which became super hit. Vidya Balan was also impressive in the film Lage Raho Munnabhai opposite Sanjay Dutt. The film was based on the story of the transformation of Munna Bhai, who was notorious for his unlawful activities through the dictates of Mahatma Gandhi. He told lies to Vidya Balan about being a Professor, but gathered some courage to tell the truth that he was not a Professor. The songs “pal pal pal” created a theme for the film and he performance of both Sanjay Dutt and Vidya Balan was very impressive. Although Vidya Balan’s films like Kismat Conection with Shahid Kapoor or Hey Baby opposite Akshay Kumar did mediocre business in the last few years, the viewers had seen her strong performance in the film Bhoolbhulaiya. She had done a good job opposite Abhishek Bacchan and Big B in the film Paa in 2009. She loved Abhishek Bacchan. Their child Big B suffered from a strange disease. Before death Big B united Abhishek Bacchan and Vidya Balan. Her reserve performance once again amazed the viewers. She received the filmfare award for the best actress in 2010 for her brilliant performance in the film Paa. In 2010, her other performance in the film Ishqiya opposite Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi was well appreciated by the viewers. Her role of a widow was really experimental in nature. The character as depicted by Vidya Balan had amazed many viewers. She received the star entertainment award for the best actress for the phenomenal performance in the film Ishqiya. She should continue to act in reserve roles which suit her characteristics in the years to come.

Happy birthday to Nana Patekar.

Happy birthday to Nana Patekar. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to actor Nana Patekar on 1st January, 2020. He created a different style of acting which had no similarity with the commercial actors like Shahrukh Khan or art film actors like Naseeruddin Shah. After Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri, he was probably the other actor who allowed the directors to do any experiment with him. He drew the attention of viewers all across the country with his strong performance in the film Prahar in the late 80s. He not only acted in the film but also directed the film. The film was related to the story of a young boy whose mother was dragged into unlawful activities. He learned took military training and provided guidance to new students who joined the armed forces in India. The training schedule was very hectic and the strictness of Nana Patekar appealed to the masses. After the training was over, one of his students who lost his legs while facing terrorists was killed by the underworld group. Nana Patekar came to Bombay, and took revenge against all of them. He was given shelter by Dimple Kapadia, who was the sister of Madhuri Dixit, the wife of Nana’s student. The civilians in the area did not like the intervention of military personnel in the area. After Nana killed all the underworld members, he was tried in a court. The court ordered him to be sent to a mental asylum as he started taking the responsibilities of all the other civilians. The film had a strong social message and was admired by the intellectual viewers. Nana Patekar stormed bollywood films with strong performance in the film Krantiveer. The film showed the use of common people by political leaders for creating riots and clashes between different communities. Nana Patekar killed most of them and supported the effort of Dimple Kapadia who played the role of a daring journalist. If his reserve personality in the film Prahar was appreciated, his aggressive acting in the film Krantiveer amused the viewers. He also acted in comedy roles in films like Raju Ban Gaye Gentleman with Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. He was also sublime in the film Yashwant with Madhu. His uprightness caused trouble for his wife and friends. He was also sublime in a muslim role in the film Ghulam-i-mustafa. He played the role of an underworld person who worked for the cause of a political leader played by Paresh Rawal. His wife Ravina Tandon was killed in the process. He then helped a South Indian family led by Aruna Irani, and stayed in her house to prevent the rival groups from creating any trouble against the family. The film had a strong message of national integration. Nana Patekar also did a fantastic job in the film Hum Dono with Rishi Kapoor. He balanced the romantic acting of Rishi Kapoor opposite Pooja Bhatt with his witty performance and strong action. He did well opposite Big B and Tabu in the film Kohram. Whenever people saw films like Ab Taak Chappan or Vadh, they had appreciated his strong personality which has always raised voice against the evil practices in the country. In Vadh he went on killing persons one after the other till it was discovered that he was the real killer. His negative acting in films like Parinda opposite Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff was also appreciated. Nana Patekar was brilliant with Akshay Kumar and Anil Kapoor in the film Welcome. His role of mafia don amazed the viewers whose sister Katrina Kaif, who wanted to marry Akshay Kumar. But Akshay Kumar’s uncle Paresh Rawal never wanted Akshay to marry Katrina, due to Nana Patekar’s involvement in underworld activities. The film ended up being one of the super hit films of 2009. He also showed his skills in the film Dus Kahaniya. The film consisted of 10 different stories compiled together. In one of the stories he played the role of a Christian who lost his wife. He travelled in a bus with balloons and disclosed to a fellow traveler that he was taking it to give the gifts in the birthday of his wife. The fellow traveler landed in a graveyard and understood that he was giving it in the grave of his wife. It was one of the films where Nana Patekar’s performances touched the minds of the viewers. He continued his different type of acting in other types of films like Ek: The Power of One. Bobby Deol was the leading actor in the film. Nana Patekar was the investigating officer who discovered that Bobby Deol was the criminal. In 2013 he acted in the film Ab Tak Chappan 2. In 2014 is busy with the film Welcome Back. The viewers expect him to continue the good work in future and show more dynamism in commercial and art films in future.

Salman Khan's Dabaang 3 did business of 150 crores in 9 days.

Salman Khan came back with Dabaang 3 after 7 years of the 1st 2 parts of Dabaang franchise.Dabaang 3 did business of 150 crores in 9 days. Dabaang was a blockbuster doing 140 crores business in 2010. Dabaang 2 was a superhit film doing 158 crores in 2012. This time in 2019, in Dabaang 3 Salman Khan appeared with a new team directed by Prabhudeva. This is the third instalment of the 'Dabangg' franchise, and the audience is well-acquainted with the larger-than-life, lovable cop and his world. Chulbul (Salman) spends his average day romancing his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi), troubling his brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) and fighting and reforming goons. All is well, until he busts a prostitution racket and saves a bunch of girls, which angers the ringleader, the rich and powerful Balli (Sudeep). Cut to, Chulbul Pandey’s beginnings, a huge chunk of the first part of the film is about his younger days, his love interest – the beautiful and naive Khushi (Saiee) – and the circumstances that urged him to turn over a new leaf and become Robinhood Panday. There are ample clap-worthy and seeti-maar moments in Prabhudeva’s 'Dabangg 3' for Salman Khan fans to lap up. Yes, he takes off his shirt, flaunts his well-toned, perfectly-greased body and beats up the goons to pulp. The action is raw and solid, however, some action scenes (like Chulbul's introductory sequence) are unreasonably stretched. While the story is clearly predictable, in this one again, Salman’s star power, swag and style remain intact. There is an attempt to infuse comedy in the story, but it seems rather forced. The storyline is not cohesive and the narrative is loosely strung together. Sudeep is menacing as the baddie, who is out to make Chulbul’s life miserable. The South actor has a great screen presence, which makes the face-offs between Chulbul and him impactful and entertaining. Sonakshi Sinha was seen as Rajjo in the first two movies of the franchise, too, but in a film that’s primarily about a tussle between the good and the bad men, she doesn’t have much to do other than play the loving and doting wife. Saiee, who makes her debut as young Chulbul’s lady love, has a pleasant screen presence and is effective, but she could do with expressing more in the emotional scenes. Arbaaz plays his part well. The film, with a runtime of 2 hours and 42 minutes, seems very long and could have done with a tighter edit. The narrative is also interrupted by a long line-up of songs, of which, the memorable ones are 'Munna Badnam Hua' and the title track. Overall, the film has all the ingredients required for a massy masala entertainer — good action, music, drama and, of course, Salman packing all of this in one story. The portions where the actor throws in comedy while doing hardcore action scenes are nicely done. 'Dabangg 3' shows Salman in his element – throwing deadly blows at the villains amidst all the smoke, dust and fire, while you can hear chants of Hudd Hudd Dabangg in the background. And those certainly will be paisa-vasool moments for Salman Khan's fans. For the first time Salman Ali was given chance to sing the song "awara". The other songs of Javed Ali in "naina lade"

and others were impressive. The film has potential to do business more than 200 crores.

Salman Khan's Dabaang 3 crossed 100 crores business in 4 days.

Salman Khan came back with Dabaang 3 after 7 years of the 1st 2 parts of Dabaang franchise. Dabaang was a blockbuster doing 140 crores business in 2010. Dabaang 2 was a superhit film doing 158 crores in 2012. This time in 2019, in Dabaang 3 Salman Khan appeared with a new team directed by Prabhudeva. This is the third instalment of the 'Dabangg' franchise, and the audience is well-acquainted with the larger-than-life, lovable cop and his world. Chulbul (Salman) spends his average day romancing his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi), troubling his brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) and fighting and reforming goons. All is well, until he busts a prostitution racket and saves a bunch of girls, which angers the ringleader, the rich and powerful Balli (Sudeep). Cut to, Chulbul Pandey’s beginnings, a huge chunk of the first part of the film is about his younger days, his love interest – the beautiful and naive Khushi (Saiee) – and the circumstances that urged him to turn over a new leaf and become Robinhood Panday. There are ample clap-worthy and seeti-maar moments in Prabhudeva’s 'Dabangg 3' for Salman Khan fans to lap up. Yes, he takes off his shirt, flaunts his well-toned, perfectly-greased body and beats up the goons to pulp. The action is raw and solid, however, some action scenes (like Chulbul's introductory sequence) are unreasonably stretched. While the story is clearly predictable, in this one again, Salman’s star power, swag and style remain intact. There is an attempt to infuse comedy in the story, but it seems rather forced. The storyline is not cohesive and the narrative is loosely strung together. Sudeep is menacing as the baddie, who is out to make Chulbul’s life miserable. The South actor has a great screen presence, which makes the face-offs between Chulbul and him impactful and entertaining. Sonakshi Sinha was seen as Rajjo in the first two movies of the franchise, too, but in a film that’s primarily about a tussle between the good and the bad men, she doesn’t have much to do other than play the loving and doting wife. Saiee, who makes her debut as young Chulbul’s lady love, has a pleasant screen presence and is effective, but she could do with expressing more in the emotional scenes. Arbaaz plays his part well. The film, with a runtime of 2 hours and 42 minutes, seems very long and could have done with a tighter edit. The narrative is also interrupted by a long line-up of songs, of which, the memorable ones are 'Munna Badnam Hua' and the title track. Overall, the film has all the ingredients required for a massy masala entertainer — good action, music, drama and, of course, Salman packing all of this in one story. The portions where the actor throws in comedy while doing hardcore action scenes are nicely done. 'Dabangg 3' shows Salman in his element – throwing deadly blows at the villains amidst all the smoke, dust and fire, while you can hear chants of Hudd Hudd Dabangg in the background. And those certainly will be paisa-vasool moments for Salman Khan's fans. For the first time Salman Ali was given chance to sing the song "awara". The other songs of Javed Ali in "naina lade"

and others were impressive. The film has potential to do business more than 200 crores.

Happy birthday to superstar Salman Khan.

Happy birthday to Salman Khan. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Salman Khan on 27th December, 2019. In 2019 his film Bharat did business of 211 crores and was a hit film. The other film Dabaang 3 crossed 100 crores and will also be a hit. In 2018 his film Race did business of 173 crores, so was above average. In 2019 Salman Khan is looking forward to film Bharat. He had been the other superstar other than Shahrukh Khan who had ruled bollywood films for the last 23 years. Although he had mixed results in respect of success of his films released in 2009 and 2008, his popularity and box-office had remained intact. In 2010, he had given the greatest hit Dabanng, which had done business of more than Rs 150 crores. From that time he had proved himself as the greatest cash generator of bollywood films. His film Ready released in summer 2011 did business worth 125 crores and his film Bodyguard had broken the record of Dabanng and did business worth 160 crores. In 2012 his film Ek Tha Tiger had been the greatest grosser with business of 200 crores. His other film Dabaang 2 had already done business of more than 158 crores. In 2013 he did not act in any film. In 2014 his film Jai Ho did medium business with 115 crores. But his other film Kick became a blockbuster with business of 235 crores. His film Bajrangi Bhaijaan in 2015 did business worth Rs 320 crores. His other film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo on the first day of release itself did business of 40 crores. He created an impression before the viewers with his romantic film Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989. After that he had acted in every type of film including comedy films, action films etc. His musical blockbusters include Khamoshi with Manisha Koirala, Andaz Apna Apna with Amir Khan, Karishma Kapoor and Ravina Tandon, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai opposite Twinkle Khanna, Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega opposite Preeti Zinta, to name a few. He build a manly body from the early part of his career and from that time became the role model of many youngstars of the country. His action films included Auzaar with Shilpa Shetty, Tumko Na Bhool Payenge with Diya Mirza, Tere Naam, Karan Arjun opposite Mamta Kulkarni, to name a few. His recent action film in 2009 titled Wanted opposite Ayesha Takia did brilliant business. Although he did not shape his career as an action hero like Sunny Deol or Sanjay Dutt, his performance in action films were very impressive. He acted in landmark comedy films during his career, which included Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya opposite Katrina Kaif and Sushmita Sen, Mujhse Shaadi Karoge opposite Priyanka Chopra, Partner opposite Lara Dutta, God Tussi Great Ho opposite Priyanka Chopra, to name a few. In 2009, he acted in romantic films Mai Aur Mrs Khanna, opposite Kareena Kapoor, and also London Dreams with Ajay Devgan and Asin. Although Mai Aur Mrs. Khanna did average business, London Dreams became hit. If his films in 2008 can be analyzed it can be said that his film Heroes with Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Preeti Zinta, had done best business so far. The films God Tussi Great Ho did average business and the film Yuvvraaj could not rise up to the hype that was created by strong promotion of Subhash Ghai. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s performance had been well appreciated by the film-lovers and the film had created aesthetic values with innovative music and good locations. In 2010 his film Veer has both romantic elements and action elements as well but the huge cost that was put up was not recovered at all. His television show Dus Ka Dum in Sony Channel got fantastic response in 2009. The leading actors of bollywood films including Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Jeetender, Tusshar Kapoor, Amir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, all appeared in that show and Salman Khan helped all of them for the promotion of their films that were released this year. In 2011 his show Big Boss got excellent viewership with Sanjay Dutt also sharing the role of anchoring. Salman Khan had been extremely popular for the viewers of TV Channels for his straight forward communications. He appeared in Saregamapa Music Competition in Zee TV with Katrina Kaif and asked Aditya Narayan, Himesh Reshammiya, Pritam, Shankar Mahadevan and others about the fate of Aneek, Raja and others who had won the competition before. He enquired whether they had got chance in bollywood films or whether they were still struggling. No other bollywood actor would have ever been concerned about the fate of upcoming talents including singers, dancers, actors, etc. In 2011 he came during Zee Saregamapa Little Champs program and encouraged child participants like Azmat Hussain, Niladri Chatterjee, Salman Ali, Nitin Kumar, and others. In 2012 and 2013 he did a great job in the TV Program Big Boss. The viewers expect him to break records after records as it is proved in the recent 3 years that he is the greatest crowdpuller in the country. Salman Khan had always been involved with controversies and his good deeds got neutralized due to the killing of deers in Jodhpur, offense relating to rash and negligent driving, etc. But those who had behaved well with Salman Khan know that he is a gem of a human being. 2010 had been a year with mixed fortunes for Salman Khan. While Veer did mediocre business, Dabanng ended up being blockbuster. He had also hosted the show Big Boss with huge success. 2011 had been excellent for Salman Khan with 2 of his films Ready and Bodyguard giving business of more than 125 crores each. The viewers expect Salman Khan to give an even better performance in the film Radhe, Kick 2 which are going to be made in future.

Happy birth anniversary to royal star Pradip Kumar.

Viewers of Bollywood films wish Happy birth anniversary to brilliant actor Pradeep Kumar on 4th January, 2019. Whenever any reference relating to everlasting singer Mohammad Rafi comes, the attention goes to the big budget films and songs for big banners. Rafi is known the most for singing catchy numbers for Shammi Kapoor under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan and classical songs for Dilip Kumar under the composition of Naushad Ali. Although Rafi had sung brilliant songs for all the leading actors of 40s, 50, and 60s, much had been written about the successful films where both the songs and the films did excellent business. But Rafi had sung excellent songs for Pradeep Kumar under the composition of Roshanlal Nagrath, where even if the mass was not touched, the class was addressed and the royal andaz of singing showed the range of Rafi to suit his voice for any form of playback singing. The magic of Roshanlal Nagrath, Pradeep Kumar and Mohammad Rafi started in Aarti released in 1962. Phani Majumdar directed the film. Four of the songs of Rafi stand out, “aapne yaad dilaya”, “ab kya misaal doon”, “baar baar tohe kya” and “tere bin lage na jiya”. Some of them were solo songs, while others were duet songs sung with Lata Mangeshkar. There were other duet songs of Rafi with Asha Bhosle, but the ones in pathos andaz like “aapne yaad dilaya” mesmerized the audience. The lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, the composition of Roshanlal Nagrath, the voice of Mohammad Rafi and lips of Pradeep Kumar made the viewers spellbound. None of the songs had lost their charm even today. The magic continued in the film Tajmahal in 1963. M. Sadiq directed the film. Pradeep Kumar played the role of Shahjahan while Beena Roy played the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Here the combination was different with Sahir Ludhiyanvi writing the songs for Roshan which were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Four of Rafi’s songs were masterpieces including “jo wada kiya wo nibhana parega”, “paon chulene do phulonko inayat hogi”, “chandi ka badan”, and “jo baat tujhme hai”. Roshanlal Nagrath won the filmfare award for the best composer only once in his life, that was for the composition of the music of the film Tajmahal. He deserved it many more number of times. Sahir Ludhiyanvi won the best lyricist award for the lyrics of the film. Rafi was as outstanding as Pradeep Kumar in the role of Shahjahan. The magic continued in the film Chitralekha in 1964. Kidar Sharma directed the film. Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari and Ashok kumar played the main roles. Rafi’s song “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” is still considered one of the 10 best bhajans Rafi had sung. Sahir Ludhiyanvi wrote the songs of the film. Rafi’s other song “cha gaye badal” was equally impressive. The Roshan, Rafi, Pradeep Kumar combination continued in the film Bheegi Raat in 1965. It was directed by Kalidas. Rafi’s songs in the film “dil jo na keh saka”, “aise to na dekho”, “jane wo kaun hai kya naam hai”, “mohabbat se dekha” all were masterpieces. Some were duets with Suman Kalyanpur, while the others were solo songs sung by Mohammad Rafi. Lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The words were excellent. Rafi was unparallel in all the songs. The combination continued in the film Bahu Begum in 1967. It was directed by M. Sadiq. Rafi’s songs “hum intezar karenge tera qawamat tak”, “dhoond ke layun kahan se”, “vakiv hoon ishqgade” were all masterpieces. While some had ghazal andaz, the others were stand out qawallies with Manna Dey. Roshan was as brilliant as Mohammad Rafi as Sahir Ludhyianvi. In the same year, the combination was sublime in the film Noorjahan. Rafi sang the songs “aap jab se kareeb aye hain” and “wo mohabbat wo wafayen” in style. For a change the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayani. The unfortunate death of Roshanlal Nagrath in 1967, ended the journey of Rafi with Roshan and Pradeep Kumar. Otherwise masterpieces after masterpieces could be created. Rafi’s archive should preserve the songs of Pradeep Kumar and Roshan, which showed the royal andaz of music existing in the courts of Mughals, Pathans and Sultans in India.

Salman Khan's Dabaang 3 has all the potential of doing business of more than 200 crores.

Salman Khan came back with Dabaang 3 after 7 years of the 1st 2 parts of Dabaang franchise. Dabaang was a blockbuster doing 140 crores business in 2010. Dabaang 2 was a superhit film doing 158 crores in 2012. This time in 2019, in Dabaang 3 Salman Khan appeared with a new team directed by Prabhudeva. This is the third instalment of the 'Dabangg' franchise, and the audience is well-acquainted with the larger-than-life, lovable cop and his world. Chulbul (Salman) spends his average day romancing his wife Rajjo (Sonakshi), troubling his brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) and fighting and reforming goons. All is well, until he busts a prostitution racket and saves a bunch of girls, which angers the ringleader, the rich and powerful Balli (Sudeep). Cut to, Chulbul Pandey’s beginnings, a huge chunk of the first part of the film is about his younger days, his love interest – the beautiful and naive Khushi (Saiee) – and the circumstances that urged him to turn over a new leaf and become Robinhood Panday. There are ample clap-worthy and seeti-maar moments in Prabhudeva’s 'Dabangg 3' for Salman Khan fans to lap up. Yes, he takes off his shirt, flaunts his well-toned, perfectly-greased body and beats up the goons to pulp. The action is raw and solid, however, some action scenes (like Chulbul's introductory sequence) are unreasonably stretched. While the story is clearly predictable, in this one again, Salman’s star power, swag and style remain intact. There is an attempt to infuse comedy in the story, but it seems rather forced. The storyline is not cohesive and the narrative is loosely strung together. Sudeep is menacing as the baddie, who is out to make Chulbul’s life miserable. The South actor has a great screen presence, which makes the face-offs between Chulbul and him impactful and entertaining. Sonakshi Sinha was seen as Rajjo in the first two movies of the franchise, too, but in a film that’s primarily about a tussle between the good and the bad men, she doesn’t have much to do other than play the loving and doting wife. Saiee, who makes her debut as young Chulbul’s lady love, has a pleasant screen presence and is effective, but she could do with expressing more in the emotional scenes. Arbaaz plays his part well. The film, with a runtime of 2 hours and 42 minutes, seems very long and could have done with a tighter edit. The narrative is also interrupted by a long line-up of songs, of which, the memorable ones are 'Munna Badnam Hua' and the title track. Overall, the film has all the ingredients required for a massy masala entertainer — good action, music, drama and, of course, Salman packing all of this in one story. The portions where the actor throws in comedy while doing hardcore action scenes are nicely done. 'Dabangg 3' shows Salman in his element – throwing deadly blows at the villains amidst all the smoke, dust and fire, while you can hear chants of Hudd Hudd Dabangg in the background. And those certainly will be paisa-vasool moments for Salman Khan's fans. For the first time Salman Ali was given chance to sing the song "awara". The other songs of Javed Ali in "naina lade"

and others were impressive. The film has potential to do business more than 200 crores.

Happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna.

Happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Twinkle Khanna on 29th December, 2019. She has left films after marrying Akshay Kumar, but her performances in the recent past still haunts the viewers of bollywood films. She was very successful in the film Barsaat opposite Bobby Deol. Bobby Deol started his career with that film and it was produced by Dharmender. The music was impressive. Twinkle Khanna expressed her romantic feelings very well in the film. The viewers accepted the pair of Bobby Deol and Twinkle Khanna. With the success of the film in the early 90s, Twinkle Khanna became a readymade choice for any type of film. She acted with Shahrukh Khan in the film Badshah. Just like other films of Shahrukh Khan the film was based on fantasy and funny acts. Twinkle Khanna played her part very well in the film. The song “humto diwane hue yaar” became superhit. Twinkle Khanna also acted in the comedy film Joru Ka Ghulam with Govinda. As the name suggested, the film was related to the story of how a groom became obsessed with the bride and almost became her servant. Although the term was used in the literal sense, Govinda’s character proved the title of the film. Johnny Lever did well in the film. Twinkle Khanna gave able lips in the song “mai joru ka ghulam banke rahunga” with Govinda. Twinkle Khanna got a challenging role in Amir Khan’s film Mela. The story was related a girl being chased by dacoits and how she was saved. Amir Khan’s own brother acted in the film. The film had action sequences as well. Sonu Nigam’s song in the film “mela dilon ka aya hai” became super hit. The other challenge was matching Amir Khan’s acting performance in the film as in most of his films he had strived to reach perfection in the respective roles. The viewers accepted Twinkle Khanna’s performance opposite Amir Khan in the film. Probably Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai with Salman Khan was the most successful film of her career. The film was shot in UK, Switzerland and other European Countries. All the songs of the film were super hit including “o jana”, “is dil me kya hai”, “pehli pehli baar”, etc. In the film the love of Salman Khan for her reformed Salman Khan’s character, who was a playboy before that. Twinkle Khan looked gorgeous in the film. Twinkle Khan in a number of films opposite Ajay Devgan also in the late 90s. She had acting in her blood, as her mother Dimple Kapadia is considered one of the greatest actresses of bollywood films with landmark performances in films like Lekin, Prahar, Krantiveer, Sagar, Rudali, to name a few. Besides her father Rajesh Khanna was a superstar of the 70s. When Twinkle Khanna looked like dethroning Juhi Chawla, Preeti Zinta or Kajol in bollywood films, she married Akshay Kumar and ended her career. She must have been a proud wife as Akshay Kumar had proved himself to be the greatest entertainer of 2007 and 2008, with majority of his films becoming blockbusters. But a lot of acting was still left in Twinkle Khanna. The viewers of bollywood films expect Twinkle Khanna to make a comeback and contribute in character roles where there are not many matured actresses at the moment.

Happy birth anniversary to superstar Rajesh Khannaji.

Happy birth anniversary to Rajesh Khanna The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birth anniversary to Rajesh Khanna on 29th December, 2019

. He died in 2012 and the death was mourned by numerous numbers of Indians. He had remained one of the most popular actors of 70s, before Amitabh Bacchan entered the film arena and gave birth to action films. The other reason why Rajesh Khanna is remembered even today was for the melodious music that he got from Kalyanji Anandji, RD Burman, Salil Choudhury, Laxmikant Pyarellal and other composers. Although he started his career with films like Akhri Khat, Raaz, etc., in the late 60s, he got recognition with Shakti Shamanta’s super hit film Aradhana which was released in 1969. In the 70s, Rajesh Khanna had a dream run with films of different directors including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Asit Sen, Shakti Samanta and others. Most of his films from 1971 to 1973, were super hit. And the music of these films created history. The songs of the film Anand, composed by Salil Choudhury were super hit, including “kahin door jab din dhal jaye”, “maine tere liye hi saat rang” sung by Mukesh and “zindagi kaisi hai peheli” sung by Manna Dey. The songs of the film Aan Milo Sajna composed by LP became super hit including Rafi’s song “aan milo sajna” and Kishore’s song “accha to hum chalte hai”. The songs of the film Amar Prem composed by RD Burman became super hit including KK’s song “chingari koi bharke”, “kuch to log kahenge”, etc. Amar Prem was the hindi version of Uttam Kumar’s famour Bengali film Nishipadda. Similarly the songs of the film Kati Patang composed by RD Burman became super hit including songs of KK like “ai shaam mastani”, Mukesh’s song “jis gali me”, etc. Similarly songs of the film Safar composed by Kalyanji Anandji became super hit. Kishore’s song “zindagi ka safar” can be considered as one of the best songs that he sang during his long career. The songs of the film Namak Haram composed by RD Burman, Roti composed by LP, Raaz composed by Kalyanji Anandji, Bawarchi composed by Madanmohan, were all very successful. Rajesh Khanna created a romantic image and his films opposite various actresses like Sharmila Tagore in films like Aradhana, Amar Prem, Mumtaz in Aap Ki Kasam, Asha Parekh in Kati Patang, Aan Milo Sajna, Tanuja in Mere Jeevan Saathi, Hema Malini in Mehbooba, and others created an era of romantic films. He became a role model for the younger generation. Rajesh Khanna was remembered as the next door neighbour’s character. Other than the commercial films he acted in Asit Sen’s Safar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand, Shakti Shamanta’s Amar Prem, where the central character was a human being having human feelings. But from the time Amitabh Bacchan entered the film arena he not only dethroned Rajesh Khanna but more than that changed the dimension of bollywood films. He played anti-establishment characters and persuaded other superstars like Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha, Dharmender, Firoz Khan, Sunil Dutt and others to play similar type of roles. Action films dominated bollywood industry and films like Sholay, Deewar, Kalicharan, Burning Train, Jugnu, Zakhmee, Dharmatma faded away Rajesh Khanna’s romantic films like Soutan, Prem Nagar and other films. Rajesh Khanna’s wife Dimple Kapadia established herself into one of the most powerful actresses of bollywood films with success in Saagar, Jaanbaaz, Rudaali, Lekin, Krantiveer, etc. Even then Rajesh Khanna continued acting for another 20 years and was even seen in recent films in roles of old person. Even Rishi Kapoor did cast him in his directorial venture title A ab laut chale. He had received filmfare best actor award a number of times and also received lifetime achievement award. His films should be restored.

Grand combination of Rafisahab, Roshanlal Nagrathsahab and Pradeep Kumarji.

Combination of Mohammad Rafi, Roshanlal Nagrath and Pradeep Kumar. Viewers of Bollywood films wish Happy birth anniversary to brilliant actor Pradeep Kumar on 4th January, 2019. Whenever any reference relating to everlasting singer Mohammad Rafi comes, the attention goes to the big budget films and songs for big banners. Rafi is known the most for singing catchy numbers for Shammi Kapoor under the composition of Shankar Jaikishan and classical songs for Dilip Kumar under the composition of Naushad Ali. Although Rafi had sung brilliant songs for all the leading actors of 40s, 50, and 60s, much had been written about the successful films where both the songs and the films did excellent business. But Rafi had sung excellent songs for Pradeep Kumar under the composition of Roshanlal Nagrath, where even if the mass was not touched, the class was addressed and the royal andaz of singing showed the range of Rafi to suit his voice for any form of playback singing. The magic of Roshanlal Nagrath, Pradeep Kumar and Mohammad Rafi started in Aarti released in 1962. Phani Majumdar directed the film. Four of the songs of Rafi stand out, “aapne yaad dilaya”, “ab kya misaal doon”, “baar baar tohe kya” and “tere bin lage na jiya”. Some of them were solo songs, while others were duet songs sung with Lata Mangeshkar. There were other duet songs of Rafi with Asha Bhosle, but the ones in pathos andaz like “aapne yaad dilaya” mesmerized the audience. The lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri, the composition of Roshanlal Nagrath, the voice of Mohammad Rafi and lips of Pradeep Kumar made the viewers spellbound. None of the songs had lost their charm even today. The magic continued in the film Tajmahal in 1963. M. Sadiq directed the film. Pradeep Kumar played the role of Shahjahan while Beena Roy played the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Here the combination was different with Sahir Ludhiyanvi writing the songs for Roshan which were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Four of Rafi’s songs were masterpieces including “jo wada kiya wo nibhana parega”, “paon chulene do phulonko inayat hogi”, “chandi ka badan”, and “jo baat tujhme hai”. Roshanlal Nagrath won the filmfare award for the best composer only once in his life, that was for the composition of the music of the film Tajmahal. He deserved it many more number of times. Sahir Ludhiyanvi won the best lyricist award for the lyrics of the film. Rafi was as outstanding as Pradeep Kumar in the role of Shahjahan. The magic continued in the film Chitralekha in 1964. Kidar Sharma directed the film. Pradeep Kumar, Meena Kumari and Ashok kumar played the main roles. Rafi’s song “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” is still considered one of the 10 best bhajans Rafi had sung. Sahir Ludhiyanvi wrote the songs of the film. Rafi’s other song “cha gaye badal” was equally impressive. The Roshan, Rafi, Pradeep Kumar combination continued in the film Bheegi Raat in 1965. It was directed by Kalidas. Rafi’s songs in the film “dil jo na keh saka”, “aise to na dekho”, “jane wo kaun hai kya naam hai”, “mohabbat se dekha” all were masterpieces. Some were duets with Suman Kalyanpur, while the others were solo songs sung by Mohammad Rafi. Lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The words were excellent. Rafi was unparallel in all the songs. The combination continued in the film Bahu Begum in 1967. It was directed by M. Sadiq. Rafi’s songs “hum intezar karenge tera qawamat tak”, “dhoond ke layun kahan se”, “vakiv hoon ishqgade” were all masterpieces. While some had ghazal andaz, the others were stand out qawallies with Manna Dey. Roshan was as brilliant as Mohammad Rafi as Sahir Ludhyianvi. In the same year, the combination was sublime in the film Noorjahan. Rafi sang the songs “aap jab se kareeb aye hain” and “wo mohabbat wo wafayen” in style. For a change the lyrics were written by Shakeel Badayani. The unfortunate death of Roshanlal Nagrath in 1967, ended the journey of Rafi with Roshan and Pradeep Kumar. Otherwise masterpieces after masterpieces could be created. Rafi’s archive should preserve the songs of Pradeep Kumar and Roshan, which showed the royal andaz of music existing in the courts of Mughals, Pathans and Sultans in India.

Rafisahab sang more than 150 songs for Jubilee Kumar Rajender Kumarji.

There can be a big debate which actor did benefit the most out of Mohammad Rafi’s singing Dilip Kumar or Rajender Kumar. Mohammad Rafi, the eternal singer had sung more than 150 songs for Jubilee Kumar Rajender Kumar. Superstar Rajender Kumar had a deadly combination with Mohammad Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan. Whenever the three combined together they created history. In Dil Ek Mandir, Rafi’s song “jahan koi nahi” and “yaad na jaye” were created in two different moods. Both the compositions of Shankar Jaikishan were marvelous. Rafi was as outstanding as Rajender Kumar. The film was released in 1963. Rajender Kumar became Jubilee Kumar for having all his films doing business of more than 25 weeks between 1963 and 1966. Shankar Jaikishan was the leading composer composing majority of his songs. In the film Ayee Milan Ki Bela, released in 1964, all the songs sung by Rafi and picturized on Rajender Kumar became smash hits like “mai pyar ka diwana”, “aha aye Milan ki bela”, “to bura maan gaye”, “tum khamseen ho nadaan ho”, to name a few. In the same year, Rajender Kumar’s Sangam had a masterpiece of Shankar Jaikishan namely “yeh mera prempatra parkar”. The song became the greatest hit of 1964. The film Zindagi was also released in 1964. Shankar Jaikishan’s brilliant composition for Rafi namely “pehele mile the sapno me” mesmerized the viewers. In 1965, Shankar Jaikishan created magic in Rajender Kumar’s film Aarzoo. All the songs of Rafi touched the souls of the audience including “chalke teri ankhon se”, “aji humse bachkar kahan jayiyega”, “ai phoolon ki raani”, “aye nargise mastana”, to name a few. The exotic locations of Kashmir, the brilliant costumes of Rajender Kumar and Sadhna, elegant singing of Rafi and brilliance of Shankar Jaikishan created magic. The deadly combination continued in the film Suraj in 1966. All the songs of Rafi became smash hits like “baharon phool barsao”, “gustaqi maaf”, “kaise samjhaun”, “itna hai tujhse pyar mujhe”, to name a few. Rafi was brilliant in the duet songs as well where Suman Kalyanpur complimented Rafi. In 1967 and 1968, Rajender Kumar’s films Aman and Jhuk Gaya Aasman became hit due to the brilliant music of Shankar Jaikishan. Rafi’s songs in these films like “surahidar garden”, “aaj ki raat”, “o priya”, “saccha hai agar pyar mera sanam”, “kahan chal diye” stormed bollywood. Shankar Jaikishan composed music in the other films of Rajender Kumar as well including Aas Ka Panchi, where the title song was sung by Subir Sen, Dharti; where Rafi’s song “khuda bhi aaman se” became smash hit, etc. Rafi contributed in other films Rajender Kumar also where Shankar Jaikishan composed music including Shatranj. The songs and the films should be regularly telecast in the private channels to reach the excellent music to the younger generations. A big section of music lovers agree that had Jaikishan not died in 1971, Rafi’s dominance in bollywood music not suffered at all. In fact SJ’s tunes were brilliant and were specifically catered towards the likings of common mass. They were not that technical which could not reach the audience. Besides SJ gave tunes in around 10 films per years all along the 50s and 60s, the era when Rafi was unbeatable. RD Burman’s domination in the 70s would have got very strong resistence had Jaikishan survived few years more. The immortal lyrics of Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri also ended with the sad expiry of Jaikishan in 1971. In the case of Naushad, his gharana was so classically oriented, that his composition for an actor had changed the destiny of the actor. Although Naushad and Rafi’s combination was associated mainly with respect to Tragedy King Dilip Kumar, he preserved a huge treasure of music for Rajender Kumar as well. Mere Mehboob, stands out as probably one of the greatest creations of Naushad ever in the history of bollywood music. All the songs of Rafi for Rajender Kumar, including “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhobbat ki kasam“, “tumse izhaar-e-haal kar baithe“, “ai husn zara jag tujhe ishq jagaye” had revealed the royal elite culture of Aligarh and Lucknow in the form of shayri and ghazals. Rajender Kumar and Sadhna were at their best in the film.Naushad and Rafi were sublime in Rajender Kumar’s film Palki. The song “dil-e-betaab ko sine se lagana hoga” shows the class of Naushad. Although Naushad utilized Rafi to perfection in Rajender Kumar’s Ganwar, he used Mukesh in major songs of the film Saathi due to pressure of the producer and director. Rafi and Rajender Kumar were blessed with the immortal creations of Shankar Jaikishan and Naushad in the 60s and the films and the songs should be preserved as rich assets of the nation which can be cherished for generations after generations.

Happy birthday to superstar Anil Kapoor.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to superstar Anil Kapoor on 24th December, 2019. Critics argue that other than Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bacchan, no other actor in India had the same amount of individual talent as that of Anil Kapoor. He had sustained the heat and storm of bollywood films for more than 26 years and even at an age of 53, still remains an indispensable figure in bollywood industry. Although Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan took the industry by storm from the mid-90s, but Anil Kapoor had given one hit or the other in all those years. Furthermore those actors who had come with Anil Kapoor like Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol and others shifted to character acting, but Anil Kapoor still remained hero in the recent period. That describes his talent in totality. In 2008, he had played different types of roles. In Race, the first super hit film of 2008, Anil Kapoor played the role of detective who had solved the mystery relating to the death of Saif Ali Khan. He disclosed the fact that Saif Ali Khan had not died but his death was planted. He also witnessed the death of Akshay Khanna when he competed with Saif Ali Khan in a car race. The film was related to the devolvement of family property between the two brothers. Anil Kapoor balanced the suspense –drama with action stunts of Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Khanna and dance sequences of Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy. The songs composed by Pritam like “pehli nazar”, “allah duhayi hai” became landmark hits in the early part of the year. He acted in a negative role in the big banner film Tashan with Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar. He sent Akshay Kumar to collect the debts of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Akshay Kumar discovered his childhood relationship with Kareena Kapoor and took revenge against Anil Kapoor at the end of the film in a power-pact action sequence. Although the film could not do justice to the star-cast and high expectations of the audience of the country, the funny performance of Anil Kapoor could not be ignored. Anil Kapoor was sublime in Subhash Ghai’s musical venture Yuvvraaj that was released in the last part of the year 2008. It was the first time that Subhash Ghai, AR Rehman and Gulzar had united together to compose the music of the film, and the music had already become hit. The hit songs of the film included “tu muskura”, “shanno shanno”, “to mera dost hai”, etc. Although Subhash Ghai concentrated more on the romantic presentation of the relationship between Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the film, the performance of Anil Kapoor as the elder brother and an innocent character appealed to the viewers the most. The audience has so much weakness for Anil Kapoor that the scene where Zaid Khan had slapped Anil Kapoor had created negative impact on the crowds and there were requests of editing of the scene. Although the film did not get box-office Anil Kapoor’s splendid performance was appreciated. In 2009, the film directed by Anil Kapoor titled Short Cut, got critical acclamation. He had cast Akshay Khanna in the lead role who played the role of a devoted director. He was cheated by the actor Arshad Warsi who got success in films by short cut. Akshay Khanna used him in his own film and took revenge against the cheating committed by Arshad Warsi. Sonu Nigam’s song “kal nau baje” appealed to the viewers. The film he had produced in 2009, titled Slumdog Millionaire, won numerous number of Oscar awards, including the best composer award won by AR Rehman. Anil Kapoor is continuing with his directoral projects ahead. In his long career, Anil Kapoor had acted with giants like Dilip Kumar and Big B in Sholay; Dilip Kumar, Nasiruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff in Karma, Nutan in Meri Jung, etc. He had performed in every type of film including romantic films, comedy films, action dramas, serious films, etc. He had acted different actresses ranging from Padmini Kolhapuri, Sri Devi, Madhuri Dixit to Tabu, Aishwarya Rai, Lara Dutta, to name a few. Articles after articles can be devoted to the versatile actor. His notable films include Mr. India, Meri Jung, Tezaab, Pukar, Nayak, Virasat, No Entry, to name a few. He received filmfare awards, national awards for best actor and other awards dedicated for the excellence in bollywood cinema. Critics say that he never received the recognition that he deserved in life. In 2010, the film No Problem, produced by him, did mediocre business. He had acted well in the film along with Sushmita Sen, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Khanna. A section of the crowd thinks that Anil Kapoor can contribute in mainly character roles, as his age is in the 50s. In 2015 also he did well in the film Welcome Back opposite John Abraham and Nana Patekar. Even then the viewers expect him to continue the good work and entertain the viewers in the same way both as actor and also producer, director, as he did in the last 25 years.

Happy birthday to John Abraham. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to John Abraham on 17th December, 2019. Born in 1972, John Abraham attracted most of the producers and directors after building a manly body and appearing in many fashion contests. His dialogue throwing also had a Hollywood style more than Indian mannerisms. John Abraham impressed the viewers with his powerful performance in the film Kaal, opposite Lara Dutta, Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi, Esha Deol and others. A number of persons were killed near Corbett National Park in UP and there was a mystery relating to those deaths. People thought that man-eating tigers in the region were responsible for the deaths of those persons. But later on the truth was unfolded and it was known that Ajay Devgan was a supernatural being and he killed everyone else in the forest. John Abraham’s stylish performance and macho image worked a lot in the success of the film where the rest of the actors also did very well. In the film Salaam-e-Ishq, he did very well opposite Vidya Balan, where the romantic pairs consisting of Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla, Govinda and a European actress, Sohail Khan and Isha Koppikar, Akshay Khanna and Ayesha Takia, did very well in their respective roles. John Abraham’s wife Vidya Balan lost her memory after she met with a railway accident. Throughout the film John Abraham tried to recreate the memory the Vidya Balan and recollected the past experiences. The music in the film composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy became superhit. The landmark songs in the film included “tenule”, “salaam-e-ishq”, etc., to name a few. In 2008, John Abraham acted in one of the biggest blockbusers of the year titled Dostana, where he acted in a gay role opposite Abhishek Bacchan. Priyanka Chopra played the role of the friend of the two actors John Abraham and Abhishek Bacchan. Karan Johar’s films are known for their exotic locations and melodious music. Karan Johar did not disappoint his viewers in the film Dostana also. The beaches of Miami had attracted viewers of different ages. The songs “desi girl” and other songs became hits even before the release of the film. John Abraham’s body as exhibited in the film could have made any other actor of bollywood envious. John Abraham within his short career had acted with all the leading actors of bollywood which even include Nana Patekar. His pair with Bipasha Basu remained a big topic of discussion few years back. In recent years he had given big hits like Force, Housefull 2, etc. In 2015 his film Welcome back with Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar did business more than 95 crores. In 2018 both his film Parmanu and Satyamev Jayate became super hit. The viewers expect on the birthday of John Abraham that the macho man will even give better performance in the years to come and will be a serious threat for established actors like Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Remembering Salil Choudhury the musical genius.

Remembering Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudhury, noted scholar, poet, composer and literary giant was remembered on his death anniversary on 5th September, 2019. He was also remembered on his birthday on 19th November, 2019. As he was a versatile scholar, his scholarly attributes were reflected in his creations. He was both the lyricist and the composer and numerous songs sung by legendary singers over 50 years. His creation “ami parini bujhite parini” and “tumi jaante” for Manobendra Mukherjee were created with two different andaz, one having classical orientation while the other having westernized treatment. His creation “jhanana jhanana baje” and “antabihin oi andharater shesh” for Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya showed his class in handling classical singers. On the other hand his strength in folk songs were evident in his song “sunayoni sunayoni” sung by Nirmalendu Choudhury and Sabita Choudhury. Nirmalendu became famous all across the world with his folk numbers. Salil Choudhury hugely experimented with Shymal Mitra in songs like “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, “aha oi ankabanka poth jai shudure”, “dur nai beshi dur oi”, “ja jare ja ja pakhi”, to name a few. In “jadi kichu amare shudhao”, Salil Choudhury’s orchestration was unique, half of the song was blank verse while the other half had musical treatment. Salil Choudhury used the different playback singers in Bengal and explored their talents to the brim. Some of the great compositions include “eso kache boso” sung by Tarun Banerjee, “pallabini go sancharini” sung by Dwijen Mukherjee, “Jodi jante go tumi jante” sung by Manobendra Mukherjee, “jai jai din” sung by Biswajeet Chatterjee, to name a few. The list can go on. Salil Choudhury created a gem with the song “nil nil pakhi” for Sandhya Mukherjee. Besides, bengal’s literary community were astonished with Salil Choudhury conversion of famous poetry “ujjal ek jhak paira” sung by Sandhya Mukherjee into song. The poet’s feelings were translated into musical tune by sheer brilliance of Salil Choudhury. Other examples of converting legendary poems into songs include “runner” written by Shukanto Bhattacharya and “palki chole” written by Satyendranath Dutta which were sung by Hemanta Mukherjee which both became history. In “runner” the march of the postman on foot from remote corners of village was given adequate expression by Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudhury’s national fame allowed him to do numerous experiments with bollywood singers like Mukesh and Lata. Articles after articles can be devoted to Lata Salil Choudhury creations in Bengali. Mukesh also sung hit song “jhum jhum pakshi nachona” composed by Salil Choudhury. Salil Choudury created his masterpieces in Bengali films as well like Shyamal Mitra’s song “onek ghuriya sheshe” in Hrithik Ghatak’s film Bari Theke Paliye, Nirmalendu Choudhury’s song “sojoni o sojoni” and Manna Dey’s “uthali pathali amar buuk” in Rajen Tarafdar’s film Ganga. Besides his song “he bhai re bhai” and “baje go beena” sung by Manna Dey in the film Marjina Abdulla made the listeners speechless. Even Lata’s song “bujhbe na keu bujhbena” was equally popular. Bimal Roy’s film Do Bigha Zameen was based on Salil Choudhury’s literature. His music in the films Do Bigha Zameen, Madhumati, Musafir, Parakh, Jagte Raho, Anand, Maya, Rajnigandha, etc., stand out as landmarks in Indian film history. He received filmfare award for brilliant performance in the film Madhumati. All the songs in the film including Lata’s “aja re”, “ghari ghari”, Rafi’s “tute hue khwabonme”, “jangal me mor nacha”, Mukesh’s “dil tarap tarap ke”, “suhana safar aur mausam hasin” touched the souls of numerous Indians in the late 50s. Other notable songs of Salil Choudhury in bollywood films include “tasveer teri dil me” from Maya, “zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai”, “kahin dur jab din dhal jaye” from Anand, “rajnigandha” from Rajnigandha, “jago mohan pyare” from Jagte Raho, “dil tadpe tadpaye” from Poonam Ki Raat, to name a few. Bengal and India was as a whole was indebted to a maestro like Salil Choudhury and several researches can be undertaken for finding out the history behind his creations. One article is not enough to reiterate the immortal works of the giant creator. The creations should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Shilpa Shirodkar.

Happy birthday to Shilpa Shirodkar. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Shilpa Shirodkar on 20th November, 2019. She was a prominent actress of bollywood films during the 90s. She had been remembered the most for her performance in the film Gopi Kishen. The film was released in mid -1990s. Sunil Shetty played a double role in the film. Shilpa Shetty played the role of a simple city girl who was married to a funny constable. She delivered her dialogues with broken English and reality created sensation. Karishma Kapoor played the role of the smart girl who was cast opposite the smart Sunil Shetty. Shilpa Shetty in fact balanced the callousness of the character Gopi in the film. The film did excellent business in late 90s. Shilpa Shetty did extremely well in the film Hum opposite Govinda. In that film she played the role of daughter of military major played by Kader Khan. Although she loved Govinda, her father never allowed her to get married to Big B’s family as they were involved with India’s military, air force or naval service. Shilpa Shetty married Govinda against the wishes of her father Kader Khan. As the film had strong star cast with Big B, Rajnikant, Govinda, Kader Khan, Danny, Anupam Kher and others, her performance did not get limelight, but she was very effortless in that role. She did a great job in the film Kishen Kanhaiya. Anil Kapoor played a double role in that film. The film was based on the same story line as that of Dilip Kumar’s film Ram Aur Shyam. The twin brothers played by Anil Kapoor had contrasting characters like Dilip Kumar’s characters in Ram Aur Shyam. Shilpa Shetty acted opposite the docile Anil Kapoor who was beaten up by Amrish Puri. Shilpa Shetty had suffered due to the oppression of Amrish Puri in the film. Her role was very submissive and polite in the film. Shilpa Shirodkar also acted in serious fllms like Prakash Jha’s Mrityudand. She kept her mark opposite Shabana Azmi, Madhuri Dixit and other actresses in the film. Shilpa Shirodkar added weight and stopped acting after 10 years. The viewers expect her to make a comeback in character roles in future considering her acting capability and previous performances.

Happy birthday to Konkona Sen Sharma.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Konkona Sen Sharma on 3rd December, 2019. Konkona Sen Sharma, one of the successful actresses of bollywood had remained down to earth. Recently she had given interview in Zee Bangla in a program held on 26th June, 2010, which was anchored by director Anurag Basu. She was born on 3rd December, 1979, in Kolkata. In the entire program which determined the greatest fan of Konkona Sen Sharma, the honesty and humbleness of the talented actress was reflected. References came about the performances of the co-stars of Konkona Sen Sharma, where she admitted that she admired Irfan Khan. She started her career with the film Ek Je Ache Kanya in 2000. Then she got National Award for the performance in the film Mr. and Mrs. Iyer in 2002. It was directed by her mother Aparna Sen. She acted well in the parallel cinema Page 3 in 2005. Then she received filmfare awards for best supporting actresses in the films Omkara in 2006 and Life in a Metro in 2007. Her performance in the film Omkara also earned her second national award in the category of best supporting actress. She spoke about her experience of acting opposite popular actress Rani Mukherjee in the film Laga Chunari Me Daag. She said that her dancing skills were quite weak. Her tool flew off and hurt Rani Mukherjee on the first day of shooting. She also did a great job opposite Farhan Akhtar in Zoya Akhtar’s film Luck By Chance which was given positive reviews by critics. Recently she carried her success in art films to commercial films as well. Her film Wake Up Sid opposite Ranbir Kapoor became a smash hit in 2009. She confessed that she was very comfortable working with the director Vishal Bharatswaj as he was organized and actor Ranbir Shorey who was very intimate to her. The Bengali audience expressed their sadness for not seeing her in many Bengali films. Her Bengali films were limited to only art films like Rituparna Ghosh’s Titli where she acted opposite Mithun Chakravarty and Aparna Sen and the film Doshor where she acted opposite Prasenjit Chatterji. She confessed that she did not get good scripts. But both Anurag Basu and Konkona Sen Sharma said that they will look forward to working in more Bengali films in future. The viewers expressed their regards to the talented actress and wished her best of luck for upcoming films.

Rafisahab should have received many more filmfare awards.

Rafisahab should have received filmfare awards for many other songs. By: Dr Souvik Chatterji (Associate Professor in Law and Head of Department, JIS University, Kolkata) Rafisahab is remembered all over the world on his birth anniversary on 24th December, 2019. He had remained an inspiration for numerous singers all over the world. While he received filmfare for best male playback singer 6 times, there were many more songs in which he deserved the filmfare award. Here is a list of songs where Rafisahab deserved filmfare awards. Year Song Music Director Reason 1953 “O Duniya ke rakhwale” Naushad Ali The filmfare awards started in 1953 but at that time only one singer award was given. Rafisahab deserved the award for brilliant bhajan andaz and spiritual rendition of the song in film Baiju Bawra. 1954 “nanne munne bacche tere muthi me kya hai” Shankar Jaikishan The song had great philosophy related to children. It was from film Boot Polish which reserved Indian and international awards. 1955 “o door ke musafir hum ko bhi saath le le” Naushad Ali The song had great chorus andaz and tragic andaz. Dilip Kumar’s “tragedy king” image was bolstered by the lyrics and rendition of the song in film Uran Khatola. 1956 “duniya nab bhay” Shankar Jaikishan The song had both classical andaz and devotional andaz. It was a musical film with Shankar Jaikishan portraying different ragas. Rafisahab balanced the mood of film Basant Bahar. 1957 “chal ur jaa re panchi ki ab yeh des hua begana” Chitragupt The song was philosophical in nature. It had great message for society. Rafisahab expressed the message of director in the film Bhabhi. 1958 “mai soya aankhiya meeche” OP Nayyar The song was a duet song with Asha Bhosle. But it had great romantic andaz of OP Nayyar in the film Phagun. 1960 “madhuban me radhika nachere” and “zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi barsaat ki raat” Naushad Ali and Roshanlal Nagrath Rafisahab won the filmfare award for the song “chaudavi ka chand ho” but he deserved the award in “madhuban me radhika” for brilliant rendition of raag hamir and “zindagi bhar nahi bhulegi” for excellent ghazal andaz. 1962 “ab kya misaal doon” Roshanlal Nagrath Rafisahab should have won the award for excellent rendition of ghazal andaz and soft romantic andaz 1963 “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhobbat ki kasam” Naushad Ali Rafisahab should have won the award for the best ghazal and mushaira. Rafisahab by Naushad Ali’s tunes and Shakeel’s shayari displayed the urdu ghazal culture of Lucknow, Aligarh. 1964 “kisiki yaad me apnako hai bhalaye hue”, “man re tu kahe na dheer dhare” and “apni azaadi ko hum hargeze mita sakte nahi” Madanmohan Kohli, Roshanlal Nagrath and Naushad Ali. Rafisahab brought about the great ghazal culture of Lucknow, Aligarh and replicated the history during Mughal period. Madanmohan Kohli’s music in film Jahanaara had great ghazal andaz. “man re” is considered as one of the best bhajans Rafisahab sang in Pradip Kumar’s Chitralekha having philosophical andaz. “apni azaadi” had fantastic patriotic andaz and Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for rendering patriotic andaz in Dilip Kumar’s film Leader. 1965 “aye watan aye watan humko teri kasam” Prem Dhawan Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for outstanding patriotic in the film Shaheed based on Shahid Bhagat Singh’s life portrayed by Manoj Kumar 1966 “aaja re aa zara aa” and “aapse maine meri jaan muhobbat ki hai” Shankar Jaikishan and OP Nayyar Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for western andaz of singing in Joy Mukherjee’s Love in Tokyo in intoxicating mood and waltz andaz song in Biswajeet’s Yeh Raat Phir Na Ayegi 1967 “hum intezer karenge tera qayamat tak” Roshanlal Nagrath Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for rendition of royal style of singing during the period of Nawabs of northern India in Pradeep Kumar’s film Bahu Begum. 1968 “babul ki duwayen leti ja” Ravi Shankar Sharma Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for singing the best song based on getting daughters married. The feeling of the parents of the daughters is brought by Rafisahab in Balraj Sahani’s Neel Kamal. 1969 “teri aankhon ke siva duniya me rakkha kya hai” Madanmohan Kohli Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for rendition of excellent quality ghazal with romantic andaz in Sunil Dutt’s film Chirag. 1971 “unke khayal aye to ate chale gaye” Shankar Jaikishan Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for singing songs having mujra andaz the way it was sung in royal courts of nawabs in Raj Kumar’s film Lal Patthar. 1973 “tum jo mil gaye ho” Madanmohan Kohli Rafisahab deserved filmfare award because the orchestration was related to movement of star in car in the film and Rafisahab brought the romantic mood in rainy ambience in Navin Nischal’s Hanste Zakhm. 1976 “barbad muhabbat ki dua saath liye ja” Jaidev and Madanmohan Kohli Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for presenting style of singing in middle east based on life of Laila Majnu in Rishi Kapoor’s film Laila Majnu. 1977 “parda hai parda” and “shirdiwali saibaba” Laxmikant Pyarellal Rafisahab deserved filmfare award for presenting style of qawalli in “parda hai” and rendering brilliant spiritual song with bhajan andaz in “shirdiwali saibaba” in Rishi Kapoor’s film Amar Akbar Anthony.

The lyrics of majority of these songs were written by eminent poets, shayars like Shakeel Badayani, Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Rajender Krishan, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, SH Bihari and others. The standard of singing was very high. The range of Rafisahab was unlimited. So the fact that the greatest singer of the century Rafisahab receiving only 6 filmfare awards never show the great contribution for those 35 years where he sang immortal songs and gave expression to the thoughts of directors, producers, writers, poets, musicians.

Remembering Naushad Ali on his birth anniversary.

Remembering Naushad on his birth anniversary. 5th May, 2017. is the death anniversary of eminent composer Naushad Ali. The lovers of music in India remember his everlasting tunes on the death anniversary. The audience of film music in India remembered dignified composer Naushad Ali on his birth anniversary on 23rd December, 2018. He was a genius composer and shaped Indian film music with his classical gharana in the 40s from where it just grew with variety and innovation. Naushad Ali is remembered for his brilliant tunes over a period of 50 years down the memory lane. In the 40s, he composed music in many films including Anmol Ghari, but he stormed bollywood with romantic songs in Dulari, including “suhani raat dhal chuki” sung by Rafi, all the songs of Andaz, where he composed Rafi’s songs for Raj Kapoor and Mukesh’s songs for Dilip Kumar. In the 50s, Naushad’s composition in Baiju Bawra made the listeners speechless. He won filmfare award for the best composer for his brilliant classical presentation in songs like “o duniya ke rakhwale”, “man tarapata”, “tu gangi ki mauj”, etc., sung by Rafi and Lata. Rafi’s range was used to perfection and from that time the Rafi Naushad combination provided gems after gems. The different ragas and their timings were explained by Naushad in the film. Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari gave able lips in the songs composed by Naushad. Songs of Uran Khatula, like “wo dur ke musafir” sung by Rafi for Dilip Kumar also shook bollywood in the mid-50s. In the 60s Naushad was unstoppable. His composition in Kohinoor for Rafisahab titled “madhuban me radhika nachere” and “do sitaron ka zameen” picturised on Dilip Kumar displayed the brilliance of Hindustani ragas. Naushad’s composition in Rajender Kumar’s Mere Mehboob, Naushad displayed the ghazal culture of Lucknow and Aligarh. The songs “mere mehboob tujhe meri muhobbat ki kasam”, “ai husn zara jag”, etc. sung by Rafi and picturised on Rajender Kumar was per se excellent. Naushad composed light songs in Mughal-i-azam for Lata including “pyar kiya to darna kya”, “mohe panghat ke nandlal”, and again composed thumri sung by Bare Ghulam Ali Khan in the same film. Naushad also composed Bhojpuri music for Dilip Kumar in the film Ganga Jumna. The songs “nain lar jaihe” sung by Rafi was one of the examples of Naushad’s control of Bihari folk tune. Naushad was at his best in Dilip Kumar’s Leader. All the songs in the film sung by Rafi and Lata flabbergasted the listeners, including “ek shahenshah ne banwake haseen tajmahal”, “teri husn ki kya tareef karun”, “mujhe duniya walon”, etc. Naushad was excellent in Dilip Kumar’s Ram Aur Shyam. All the songs sung by Rafi and Lata in the film including “aye hai baharen dekho”, “yeh raat dulhan bangayi”, “mai hoon saki”, etc. Critics consider Dil Diya Dard Liya as one of the best creations of Naushad. All the songs in the film became superhit including Rafi’s “dilruba maine tere”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”. Naushad Rafi and Dilip Kumar continued with their level of excellence in the film Aadmi, with Rafi’s songs like “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, “aaj purani rahon se”, etc. Besides, Naushad composed excellent music in Rajender Kumar’s Palki, Saathi, Ganwar, etc. Rafi’s hit songs in those films included “dil-e-betaab ko seene se lagana hoga” sung with Suman Kalyanpur. Naushad faded away from film music in the 70s, causing huge loss to the film industry. The classical gharana related to thumris, kajris, ghazals, etc., faded away with Naushad. Music became popular, but lost its class. Naushad received Dadasahab Phalke for his excellent contribution to bollywood music. His songs and the films should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Govinda.

Happy birthday to Govinda. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Govinda on 21st December, 2019. For the last 20 years he had entertained bollywood viewers with his remote style of comedy performance and dancing. Govinda came to limelight with his impressive performance in the film Ankhen along with Chunkey Pandey. Both Govinda and Chunkey were thrown out of their homes by their father Kader Khan, due to their mischievous acts. They witnessed the kidnapping of the CM played by Raj Babbar. In his place another person was brought who had similarity in looks. Govinda and Chunkey saved the CM and killed the imposter. Govinda had a brilliant relationship with director David Dhawan. David Dhawan had used Govinda in most of his comedy films, and the dance performance and comedy performance of Govinda charmed the audience. His film Hero No. 1 with Karishma Kapoor became super hit. All the songs of the film including “sona kitna sona hai”, “mai to raste se jaa raha tha”, became very popular. The other films of Govinda like Aunty No.1, Cooli No. 1, also showed his charishma in comedy acting. Govinda also acted in serious films like Andolan with Sanjay Dutt. He played the role of an engineer who had to compromise with the corrupt builders while building bridges. His revolt against the system was the subject matter of the film. He acted in a number of films with Sanjay Dutt and most of the films did good business. Some of those films included Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Haseena Maan Jayegi, etc. Govinda’s film Bare Miya Chote Miya with Big B and Raveena Tandon, and Deewane Mastane with Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla, did fantastic business as well. In the recent past Govinda’s performance in David Dhawan’s film Partner with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif stormed bollywood. He required the guidance of a love guru played by Salman Khan to impress Katrina Kaif. The songs of the film like “do you want a partner”, “you are my love” became super hit, and Govinda’s dance performances in those songs were excellent. Salman Khan asked the director David Dhawan to increase the role of Govinda in the film, and he justified it by playing his character in style. Govinda played his role in the film Salaam-e-Ishq in style. The film had all the leading actors of bollywood industry including Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sohail Khan, John Abraham and Akshay Khanna. In that league of actors Govinda proved his worth by romancing with a foreigner girl who was given shelter by a taxi-driver. In 2009, Govinda’s films Life Partner, and Do Not Disturb with Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta, did mediocre business. He acted well in his small role in the film Raavan in 2010, and the viewers expect another cameo in the sequel of Partner. In 2014 he acted in the films Kill Dil and Happy Ending. Viewers he can still devote time for films and continue the work of entertainment in the years to come.

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor.

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor on 6th December, 2019. He was one of the thoughtful directors of bollywood films and still his films are cherished by a big section of the viewers today. He directed a meaningful film Masoom in the early 80s. He used the most dynamic actors and actresses of the contemporary period that was Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddun Shah. Naseeruddin had a previous wife who died leaving his small child played by Jugal Hansraj. He married Shabana Azmi who already had her own daughters including Urmila Matondkar. It was difficult for Shabana Azmi to accept the step son when her own daughters’ interests were related. Naseeruddin Shah decided to send the young child to boarding, but Shabana Azmi’s conscious spoke and she brought him back at the end of the film. RD Burman’s composition titled “huzur is kadar bhi” sung by Bhupinder Singh and Suresh Watkar, and “tushse naraz nahi zindagi” sung by Lata appealed to the masses. Shekhar Kapoor astonished the viewers with a masala film Mr. India in the mid-80s. Anil Kapoor found a device which could make people invisible. He used the device to encounter a big smuggler played by Amrish Puri with the title Mogambo. Anil Kapoor ran an orphanage full of children and after becoming Mr. India used the children in his fight against Mogambo. Anil Kapoor’s compassionate performance, Amrish Puri’s fiery acting, Sri Devi’s dance numbers, everything appealed to the masses and the film ended up being the greatest hit of the year. Laxmikant Pyarellal’s music in the film became super hit including songs like “hawa hawai”, “karte hai hum pyar Mr. India se”, etc. Shekhar Kapoor was criticized the most for his film Bandit Queen based on the life of dacoit Phoolan Devi. Shekhar Kapoor tried to show the torture faced by Phoolan Debi who was a malwa, by the Thakurs of the area, which compelled her to become dacoit. But the film gathered controversy due to the details shown by Shekhar Kapoor in respect of humiliation faced by Phoolan Debi. The Censure Board came in the way. Shekhar Kapoor got criticized all the way. His other film Elizabeth was also a noble venture. Shekhar Kapoor is also known for his acting in TV serials like Khandan which became super hit in the mid-80s. His future projects include Paani, Long Walk To Freedom and The Last Full Measure. The viewers expect Shekhar Kapoor to continue his innovative film making in the years to come.

Happy birth anniversary to Showman of the Millenium Raj Kapoor.

Happy birth anniversary to Raj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor is remembered by the nation on his birth anniversary on 14th December, 2019. He was probably the most popular actor of bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s other than Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor still remain the most popular actors of bollywood cinema in the last 70 years. One of the reasons of their immense success includes the superlative class of music being given to the giant actors by Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan. Naushad gave classic tunes to Dilip Kumar in the films Uran Khatola, Kohinoor, Mughal-I-Azam, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi, to name a few. Rafi and Shakeel Badayani were the other players in the deadly combination. Rafi’s songs for Dilip Kumar like “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “woh dur ke musafir”, “tere husn ki kya taarif karun”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “aaj purani rahon se koi mujhe awaaz na den”, “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”, etc., remain one of the greatest creations of all times. If Naushad was unparallel as a composer, Shakeel Badayani was unparallel as a lyricist, Rafi was matchless as singer and Dilip Kumar matchless as an actor. Producer director Raj Kapoor was the closest competitor of Dilip Kumar during the 40s, 50s and 60s. In fact both the giants had acted together in the film Andaz in 1949. Raj Kapoor’s deadly combination with Shankar Jaikishan had produced super hit films like Barsaat, Aah, Awara, Shree 40, Chori Chori, Anari, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, to name a few. The music of those films were equally popular and successful. Songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey like “ramaiya vasta maiya”, “mur murk e na dekh”, “sab kuch seekha humne”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “o mehbooba”, “dost dost na raha” “aa aab laut chalen”, had not lost their flavor even after 50 years of their creation. As Raj Kapoor had other qualities besides acting including production, direction, editing, etc., he is considered the greatest showman of all times even today. As far as the compositions of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan are considered, both the composers had very strong classical orientation. Naushad gave folk tunes to Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jumna sung by Rafi including “nain lad jaiy he” and Lata in “dhoondo dhoondo resaajna”, etc. Shankar Jaikishan gave folk tunes to Raj Kapoor in Teesri Kasam in songs like “chalet musafir” sung by Manna Dey, to name a few. If Naushad displayed the muslim culture of Lucknow, Aligarh with his classical tunes in films like Leader, Kohinoor, Mughal-i-azam, Shankar Jaikishan displayed the European tunes in Raj Kapoor’s films Sangam, Around the World, etc., where the westernized orchestrations complimented the colourful scenary of the foreign countries. In fact, SJ’s tunes “chale jana zara theheron” showed the brilliance of Lake Erie and Niagra Falls stretching from Canada to USA, and mesmerizing the audience. Even in Sangam, the creation of SJ picturised in the snow-clad Switzerland titled “ishq the ishq, I love you” showed SJ’s capability of adapting to European tunes. The musical fountain in Around the World, showed the brilliance of SJ in the film Around the World. The lyrics written by Shakeel Badayani in Dilip Kumar’s films where music was composed by Naushad were as innovative as the lyrics written by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’ films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The lyrics contained urdu shairy, bhopuri language, ultramodern lyrics, rural language, etc. and appealed to the masses. Naushad had composed music in more than 15 films of Dilip Kumar and the same is the case of Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’s films. The music of each of those films can be analysed and revisited. It is impossible to say whether Dilip Kumar’s combination with Naushad was greater than Raj Kapoor’s combination with Shankar Jaikishan, but it is true that the two giants had left assets for generations to cherish which had ended up being masterpieces. New actors, composers, singers, directors learn from the success of the Showman and Tragedy King and the works should be revisited. Raj Kapoor’s legacy is carried forward by his son Rishi Kapoor, grandson Ranbir Kapoor and granddaughter Kareena Kapoor. Both Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor had established themselves in bollywood films and will go a long way. Different private channels showed films of Raj Kapoor on his birthday in 2013. Raj Kapoor’s creations should be preserved and restored.