All the films of Saira Banuji and Rajender Kumarji in the 1960s ended up being blockbusters.

Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu. Rajender Kumar, better known as Jubilee Kumar, had acted in memorable films in the 60s, ranging from Mere Mehboob, to Sangam, Aarzoo to Suraj, etc. During that span he had acted with all the leading actresses of bollywood films including Vaijayantimala, Sadhna, Meena Kumari, Wahida Rehman, etc. His combination with Saira Banu was well accepted by the viewers. Most of their films became successful and did very good business during the 60s. Their film Ayee Milan Ki Bela was a romantic film with melodious songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The memorable songs sung by Rafi and Lata include “to bura man gaye”, “o sanam tere ho gaye hum”, “aha aye Milan ki bela dekho aye”, “tum khamseen ho”, “mai pyar ka diwana”, to name a few. Dharmender got a supporting role in the form of brother of Rajender Kumar. He also did well in the film. Their film Jhuk Gaya Aasman was based on reincarnation. Rajender Kumar met with an accident and took the place another person who had huge property. The other Rajender Kumar was subject to conspiracy Prem Chopra and others who were interested to take his property. Music again played a notable role with Shankar Jaikishan providing westernized tunes for Rafi and Lata. The hit songs sung by Rafi and Lata included “o priya, kaun hai jo sapno me aya”, “saccha hai ghar”, “kahan chal diye”, to mention a few. The popularity of Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu contributed a lot for the success of the film. Rajender Nath, the brother of Prem Nath did well as a relief character. The film which was less known involving Rajender Kumar and Saira Banu, included Aman. The film was based on the victims of Second World War. Rajender Kumar was a doctor and went to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to treat the victims who got infected due to hurling of Atom Bomb during the Second World War. Rajender Kumar went there against the wishes of his father played by Balraj Sahani. There he met Saira Banu and got involved with her. The film depicted the damage that caused in most parts of Japan including the population and their property. It was not a romantic film in that sense. But the music of Shankar Jaikishan again appreciated by the audience. The notable songs included “surahidar garden, koel si hi awaaz”, “aaj ki raat”, etc. Rajender Kumar died at the end of the film. The films of Jubilee Kumar and Saira Banu should be restored for the next generation as their romantic pair provided entertaining performances in the 60s.

Happy birthday to Gadar 2 superstar Sunny Deolji

Happy birthday to Sunny Deol. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to action star Sunny Deol on 19th October, 2023. He had been a sensation in bollywood films. Being the son of successful actor Dharmender, he had the pressure of proving his capability the early part of his career. Although he started with romantic films like Betaab in the early 80s, within short period of time he built a macho body and acted in action films one after the other. He became the lead actor in most of the films of Raj Kumar Santoshi. Most of those films were anti-establishment films where his anti-establishment- image amazed the viewers. After Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender, probably Sunny Deol was the only star whose action image was accepted by audience of different tastes. He received the filmfare best actor award for his brilliant performance in the film Ghayal. He took revenge against smuggling don Balwant Rai played by Amrish Puri. He got awarded for his brilliant performance in the film Damini opposite Meenakshi Sheshadri. He played the role of an upright lawyer who helped a lady like Meenakshi who was threatened by her inlaws against giving testimony in a rape case. The film became the greatest hit of the year. Sunny had to very high standard of acting from his rival Amrish Puri in both these films who maintained the standard of acting he displayed in art films directed by Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalini and others. Sunny’s film Gadar Ek Premkatha, based on hindu-muslim vengeance during partition broke the record of hit films in India. He went to Pakistan to bring his wife Amisha Patel and small son, and faced the resistance of orthodox muslims under the leadership of Amrish Puri. He fought his way out and brought his family to India. He displayed the passion of being a true Indian in style. His other hit films included Ghatak, Samandar, Darr, Joshilay, Tridev, Vishwaatma, to name a few. He was considered to be one of the best body-builders of the country in the 90s. He also produced few films and did well in them as well. Other than Sanjay Dutt, no other actor was as successful as Sunny Deol in action films. He is presently busy with his sequel film Ghayal returns. 2011 had been a successful year for him. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana did excellent business at the beginning of the year. For the first time, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and Dharmender were seen in the same film together. He was a great crowd puller in the 90s, viewers want the same magic back. His film Yaamla Pagla Dewaana 2 was released in 2012. It did not do that amount of business. The viewers expect him to continue the strong performance and contribute in bollywood films in future.

Superstar Uttam Kumar had immortal combination with directors Ajoy Kar and Agradoot

Elegant combination of Uttam Kumar with Ajoy Kar and Agradoot. In the 1950s major films of Uttam Kumar created romantic appeal before the majority of audience of the country. His combination with Ajay Kar and Agradoot was very grand. Ajay Kar did cast Uttam Kumar for the first time in the film Griha Prabesh. It was a social film where Uttam Kumar and Suchitra sen were launched and they acted opposite other established artists like Manju Dey, Bikash Roy and others. In Shyamali in 1956, Ajay Kar utilized Uttam Kumar’s acting potential. It was a film relating to deaf and dumb character played by Kaberi Bose. Uttam Kumar played a very compassionate role and his experience of acting in stage opposite Sabitri Chatterjee in the play Shaymali helped him a lot. In 1957, Uttam Kumar’s film Harano Sir ended up being the biggest blockbuster of the decade. Suchitra Sen played the role of wife of Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar met with an accident and for his previous history. Suchitra Sen treated her and married her. But again Uttam Kumar met with an accident and forgot Suchitra Sen. The rest of the film was related to the struggle of Suchitra Sen in bringing back memories of Uttam Kumar of the past. Geeta Dutt’s song “tumi je amar” became bumper hit. Ajay Kar’s Saptapadi stands out as one of the greatest classics of the golden period. Critics argue that Saptapadi released in 1961 stands out as the best film of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen in their entire career. Ajoy Kar probably made the best use of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen in the film Saptapadi. It was a story of Tarashankar Banerjee on affair between hindu Brahmin played by Uttam Kumar with a Christian girl played by Suchitra Sen. Uttam Kumar’s father Chabi Biswas did not accept the marriage. Uttam Kumar became a Christian and a doctor but could not marry Suchitra Sen. The film was made at the backdrop of Second World War. Hemanta Mukherjee’s music in the film was very impressive. Ajay Kar reciprocated the magic in Uttam Kumar’s film Shono Boronari. The film was released in 1960. There Supriya Debi, the daughter of eminent barrister Udasin played by Chabi Biswas fell in love with a homeopathic doctor played by Uttam Kumar. As monetarily Uttam Kumar was no match to Chabi Biswas, a marriage was arranged with industrialist Dipak Mukherjee in the film. At the end of the film Supriya Debi left her house to accept Uttam Kumar. The music of Robin Chatterjee in the film was very impressive. Ajoy Kar made other successful films with Uttam Kumar including Khelaghar opposite Mala Sinha, Bardidi with Sandharani, to name a few. Agradoot included a group of directors were formed in 1946 by director Bibhuti Laha, sound recordist Jatin Dutta, Laboratory specialist Sailen Ghoshal, script writer Nitai Bhattacharya and producer Bimal Ghosh. With Uttam Kumar Agradoot made the film Sahajatri in 1951. Bharati Debi was the heroine of the film. After that Agradoot directed one after the other hit films with Uttam Kumar. Agniparikkha in 1954 directed by Agradoot became super hit. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen were established as leading stars of Bengal. Anupam Ghatak composed the music of the film. Sandhya Mukherjee sang landmark songs like “gaane more indradhanu”, “ke tumi amare dako”, to name a few. From that time Suchitra Sen, singer Sandhya Mukherjee, music director Robin Chatterjee, Anupam Ghatak stormed Bengali films. Sabar Opore followed. Uttam Kumar played the role of lawyer in the film who re-opened a murder case where his father Chabi Biswas was proved guilty of murder. Again the combination with Suchitra Sen, Sandhya Mukherjee, Robin Chatterjee struck gold. The songs of Sandhya Mukherjee like “ghum ghum chand jhikimiki tara”, and Dhananjoy Bhattacharya like “kantaro aghate chino paye rakta jhare” became super hit. The other super hit films of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen directed by Agradoot include Pathe Holo Deri, Bipasha, to name a few. Majority of Agradoot’s films were produced by MP Production and shot in MP Studio. One interesting statistics about Uttam Kumar Suchitra Sen pair is that from 1953 to 1959, both of them acted in 22 films. Majority of those films were directed by Agradoot and majority of them ended up being super hit films. Chabi Biswas was pivotal in playing the roles of fathers of Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar in majority of those films. Agradoot continued with his experiment in other Uttam Kumar films like Kuhak in 1961, Kokhono Megh in 1968, Choddobeshi in 1971. It was a great experiment of Agradoot in casting Uttam Kumar in negative role for the first time in Kuhak. Sabitri Chatterjee was the heroin. He wanted to take away the stolen money from Tarun Kumar’s son but was ultimately killed by Premangshu Basu. In Kokhono Megh Uttam Kumar played the role of detective with Kali Banerjee the villain. Anjana Bhowmick acted opposite Uttam Kumar. Agradoot also directed Uttam Kumar in serio-comic film Choddobeshi. Madhabi Mukherjee, Bikash Roy, Anubha Gupta were the other artists in the film. If the films of Ajoy Kumar and Agradoot were analyzed it will be seen while Uttam Kumar played the pivotal roles in all the films, the success of the films were dependent on outstanding music. The prominent music directors who contributed in the music of the films included Robin Chatterjee and Anupam Ghatak. The outstanding performances by character artists like Chabi Biswas took the films to a different horizon. Other male character artists performed beyond expectation including Kamal Mitra, Nitish Mukherjee, Bikash Roy, Pahari Sanyal, Kali Banerjee, Jahar Ganguly, to name a few. Also the female character artists like Malina Debi, Sunanda Debi, Chandrabati Debi, Chaya Debi, Padda Debi played landmark characters. The excellent literature of legendary writers like Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and contemporary writers like Samaresh Basu, Subodh Ghosh appealed to the masses. If Uttam Kumar became mahanayak, the legendary superstar of Bengal, there was huge contribution of Ajay Kar and Agradoot in making him a superstar. /s320/85a8e35fa5fd27565702cd986d9dbf62%2BUttam%2Bkumar%2Bsharmila.jpg" width="298" height="320" data-original-width="564" data-original-height="606" />

Shammi Kapoorji Shankar Jaikishanji and Rafisahab gave gems after gems for decades

Viewers remembered Shammi Kapoor on his birth anniversary on 21st October, 2023. Rebel Star Shammi Kapoor is remembered on 14th August, 2023, his death anniversary, for his immense contribution to Bollywood films. On 14th August, 2011, veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, passed away. He was 79 years old. The country had become sad due to his demise. He brought a new wave in Indian films with powerful performances in films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Janwar and other films. He used to be called Rebel Star and the Indian Elvis Priestley. One thing for which viewers used to be mad to see his films during 60s used to be the everlasting music in the films and brilliance of Mohammad Rafi in those songs. Rafi had sung 341 songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan during his illustrious career with 216 solos. Very significantly 3 of the filmfare awards that Rafi received during 60s had been composed by Shankar Jaikishan. They included “teri pyari pyari surat ko kiski nazar na lage” from the film Sasural, “baharon phool barsao” from the film Suraj and “dilke jharoke me mujhko bithaker” from the film Brahmchari. But in the list of songs sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, at least half of the total sungs were composed for Shammi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan worked together for around 22 films, most of which did great business in the 60s. If Rafi’s songs sung for Shammi Kapoor are remembered for the loud music and melo-dramatic dance numbers, there were lot of songs which were ever romantic and touched the hearts of the viewers. In the film Junglee, Rafi’s songs “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” and “meri yaar shabba khair” had very melodious appeal and the sweetness of Rafi haunted the listeners for years. In Shammi Kapoor’s Professor, the songs “awaz deke hume tum bulayo”, “mai chali mai chali”, probably had set the mood of the film. From that time Rafi, Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan created magic in one film after the other. In Raj Kumar, Rafi’s soft numbers for Shammi Kapoor like “yeh rang badalti duniya me”, “tumne kisiki jaan ko jate hue dekha hai” made the viewers speechless. Even the western numbers of Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi stole the hearts in the 60s. In the film Janwar, Rafi’s number “meri muhabbat jawan rahegi” and “humko hai tumse pyar” had been the most romantic songs in the film, where the landscape of Kashmir and Rafi’s melodious voice complimented each other. In the film An Evening in Paris, Rafi’s songs “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” and “raat ke humsafar” were the most romantic numbers which were more melodious than the loud numbers which equally became hits. In Shammi Kapoor’s Brahmachari, probably the best songs included “mai gayun tum so jayo” and “dil ke jharoke mai”. “mai gayun tum so jayo” was sung twice by Rafi in the film, one with a even slower rhythm. Shankar Jaikishan’s background music was as brilliant as Rafi’s singing style for Shammi Kapoor. In the film Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Rafi’s soft number “janam janam ka saath hai” had remained evergreen and melodious for years. In Latt Sahab, Rafi’s romantic number with Asha Bhosle titled “aye chaand zara ruk ja” haunted the listeners for years after years. Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan combined together in other films of Shammi Kapoor like Prince, Buttameez, Laat Sahab, Ujala, Chote Sarkar, Hong Kong, etc. There were many more romantic numbers of Rafi sung for Shammi Kapoor, which cannot be covered in a small article. In Shammi Kapoor’s Jawan Muhabbat, the song “jawan muhabbat jahan jahan hai” was very romantic. The last film where Shankar and Jaikishan worked together for Shammi Kapoor included Andaz. The songs “dil use do jo jaan de de” and “re mamma re mamma re” were brilliant both in form and orchestration. It was very unfortunate that Jaikishan died in 1971,and after that Shammi Kapoor also added weight and switched to character roles in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc. The magical combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi ended and the era of romantic songs also suffered a set back. Some section of listeners argue that Rajender Kumar probably received the more romantic numbers sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, but Shammi Kapoor’s combination with Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan was phenomenal which swept the youth and took them to a different inspite of Shammi Kapoor being called a rebel star and Shankar Jaikishan providing the most loud bomblastic numbers for Rafi. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shammi Kapoor, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan should be preserved.

Happy birthday to Neha Dhupiaji

Happy birthday to Neha Dhupia. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Neha Dhupia on 27th August, 2022. Neha Dhupia, the daughter of Commander Pradip Dhupia of Indian Navy, had attracted public attention after winning the Miss India Universe 2002 crown in that year. After beginning her career in the film Qayamat: City Under Threat, she impressed the viewers with challenging role in the film Julie where her glamour was used to perfection. But she got a notable role in the film Kya Cool Hai Hum in 2005. She acted opposite Ritesh Deshmukh where Tusshar Kapoor and Isha Koppikar were the other pair. Isha Koppikar, the police officer in the film was sent by Anupam Kher to investigate a case relating to a habitual offender. Tusshar Kapoor was suspected to be a murderer and Isha Koppikar was sent to his house to monitor his activities. Ritesh Deshmukh had an affair with Neha Dhupia and married her at the end of the film. The film was serio-comic in nature and Neha Dhupia performed very well in her respective role. She also got a purposeful role in the film Shootout At Lokhandwala. The film was related to a real-life story where the Bombay police had trapped the underworld group in a house in Bombay and fired at them. Sanjay Dutt gave a memorable performance in the role of Encounter specialist in the film opposite Vivek Oberoi who played the role of a mafia don. Neha Dhupia did her part very well. She did even better in the film Chup Chup Ke, in the role of the sister of Kareena Kapoor. Shahid Kapoor pretended to be dumb in the film and stayed in their house. Neha Dhupia acted as a mediator between Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor and helped in the marriage between the two. Neha Dhupia knew that Shahid Kapoor could speak but never informed Sunil Shetty or Om Puri or any other member of the house about it. Although the film was related to the serio-comic relationship between Om Puri, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav, Neha Dhupia kept her mark in a reserve role and in some of the sequences even acted better than Kareena Kapoor. She was even impressive in her supporting role in the film Singh is Kinng, where Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar had the lead roles. Singh is Kinng also did good business in India and abroad. But if her performance in the earlier films like Sheesha and new films like Mithya are compared it will be found that initially the stylish screen presence and bold performance of Neha Dhupia was publicized by the producers. These days the acting skills of Neha Dhupia are used. She had been bold enough to act in the role of a prostitude in the film De Dana Dan in 2008. The role required comedy timing and she did extremely well. In 2009, her performance in the film Raat Gayi Baat Gayi bagged her the nomination for Star Screen Award for the best actress in a supporting role. She had two releases in 2010 where her two films, Action Replay and With Love to Obama had different roles. Although her performances in the films were appreciated the films did not do good business. In 2012 she had acted in the film Rush where Imraan Hashmi, Sagarika Ghadke and Aditya Pancholi had played important characters. In 2013, she acted in the film Ungly with Sanjay Dutt, Imran Hashmi and others. Unless she grabs any glamourous role in near future she will not remain in the rat race where the competition between Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha is very keen.

The country remembers the musical duo of the millenium Shankar Jaikishanji on birth anniversary of Shankar sahab.

Immortal combination of Shankar Jaikishan with Mohammad Rafi sahab. Great composer Shankar Singh Raghubvanshi is remembered on his birth anniversary on 15th October, 2023. He was also remembered on death anniversary on 26th April, 2023

. He was one of the genius composers of the famous duo Shankar Jaikishan. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s a number of composers dominated Bollywood films. Naushad Ali, Roshanlal Nagrath, Madanmohan Kohli, OP Nayyar, all had the class of their own. Shankar Jaikishan composed music in almost 195 films in that golden age. One of the great reasons of Shankar Jaikishan’s huge success was due to the great combination with immortal singer Mohammad Rafi Sahab. If Rafi’s stylish andaz relating to westernized compositions are adequately it is Shankar Jaikishan who had used it to perfection. They had used Rafi for singing romantic songs with Japanese orchestration in Love in Tokyo, released in 1966 including songs like “aja re aa zara aa”, “Japan, Love in Tokyo”, “ o mere shahekhuba”, etc. In Biswajeet’s April Fool, released in 1964 SJ’s composition for Rafi including “aa gale lag ja” had westernized background. At the same time Rafi’s song “tumhe chaha” with Suman Kalyanpur was a great rendition in pensive mood. SJ’s composition for Rafi in Shammi Kapoor’s An Evening in Paris, in 1967, like “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “raat ke humsafar”, had loud French music with echo effect and Rafi’s intonation was also westernized. Shankar Jaikishan gave a completely different style of music to Rafi in Rajender Kumar’s Aarzoo, released in 1965 with songs like “aji ruth kar ab”, “chalke teri aankho se”, “ai nargisi mastana”, etc. SJ had given songs addressing children to Rafi including “nanne munne bache teri mutthi me kya hai” in Boot Polish which was produced by Raj Kapoor and released in 1954, “hai na bolo bolo”, “re mamma re mamma re” in Shammi Kapoor’s Andaz, released in 1971 and “chakke p chakka” in Brahmchari, in 1969. Rafi pronounced the words with childish accent and SJ used the orchestration to attract children. There were ghazals also given by SJ for Rafi including “rukh se zara nakab”, “kya kya na kahe” in Jeetender’s Mere Huzoor, “unke khayal aye to” in Raj Kumar’s Lal Patthar, “aye bahaar banke” in Pradeep Kumar’s Rajhaath, etc. Besides SJ’s creation involving Rafi in somber mood had created great impact including songs like “teri zulfon ki judai to nahi maangi thi” in Dev Anand’s Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” in Shammi Kapoor’s Junglee, “yaad na aye” in Rajender Kumar’s Dil Ek Mandir. Shankar Jaikishan had used Rafi’s classical andaz in the songs “radheke tune bansoori churai”, “ajahu na aye”, etc., and combined the ragas with devotional andaz. SJ has given music in almost 200 films within the span from 1949 to 1971, and at least each year they composed music for approximately 10 films. As Rafi was given predominance over other male singers SJ had use him in regular intervals even without doing injustice to Mukesh, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Talat Mehmood and others. Songs like “kaun hai jo sapno me aya” from Jhuk Gaya Aasman, “to bura maan gaye” from Ayee Milan Ki Bela, “yeh ankhen” from Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, “tujhe jeevan ki dor se” from Aasli Nakli, “dheere dheere chal” from Love Marriage, “badan pe sitaren lapete hue” from Prince, “mai kahin kavi na banjayun” from Pyar Hi Pyar, “mai gayun tum so jao” from Brahmchari, had not lost their flavour even 40 years after their creation due to sheer brilliance of Shankar Jaikishan. It is really tragic neither Shankar Jaikishan had received the accolades that they deserved nor Rafi’s association with them had been glorified but history says that the combination of Rafi with Shankar Jaikishan had produced invaluable creations which had become immortal over the period of time.

Happy birthday to dream girl Hema Maliniji

Happy birthday to dream-girl Hema Malini. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dream girl Hema Malini on 16th October, 2023. She was the uncrowned queen of bollywood films of the 70s. Her strong dancing skills gave her a separate place in bollywood films. Her performance in the film Sapno Ka Saudagar opposite Raj Kapoor was extremely successful in the late 60s. From there she never looked back. Her film Abhinetri opposite Shashi Kapoor became super hit. Her successful films opposite other stars included Gora Aur Kala opposite Rajender Kumar, Burning Train opposite Dharmender, Johnny Mera Naam opposite Dev Anand, to name a few. Gora Aur Kala became super hit with the successful songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal like “tu meri sapno ka rani banegi”, “dheere dheere bol”, etc. Within short time she formed a brilliant combination with Dharmender and their films started rocking bollywood in the 70s. The pair started off with films like Naya Zamana, Raja Jani and went on to give all time hits like Seeta Aur Geeta, Jugnu, Charas, Sholay, etc. If Sholay is remembered for superlative camerawork of Ramesh Sippy, villainish andaz of Amzad Khan, angry image of Big B, then it is also remembered for tremendous dance performance of Hema Malini. She danced on top of glasses in the song “jab tak hai jaan”. Besides she showed her bravery also in the film by riding on the horse-cart against the gang of dacoits of Gabbar Singh. Hema Malini did extremely well in off-beat films as well. One of her landmark films included Kinara opposite Jeetender and Dharmender. Gulzar’s films was based on dancing and Hema Malini’s classical dance balanced the story line where Jeetender’s car struck Dharmender and killed him on the spot. Dharmender was the husband of Hema Malini in the film and she lived with his memory in the film. Hema Malini’s films opposite Big B also did great business. Some of their hit films included Desh Premi, Satte Pe Satta, etc. In the last few years Hema Malini had been seen contributing in character roles in bollywood films like Baghban. She must be proud about the success of her daughter Esha Deol, but is respect of glamour and beauty and dancing skills still Hema Malini is remembered for her dominance during the 70s. In the recent years Hema Malini acted in many matured roles. She had acted very well in the film Aarakshan in 2011, opposite Amitabh Bacchan. She was the trustee of an organization catered to give higher education in India and reinstated Amitabh Bacchan as the Principal of that institution. Hema Malini also came in the Indian Idol 6 Show with Dharmender as guest judge in 2012. She shared her experiences of acting dancing and the history relating to playback singing involving her. The viewers still believe that a lot of dancing skills are still left in Hema Malini and she should still act in bollywood films in future.

Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best shyamasangeet.

Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best Shyamasangeet. Shyamasangeet is one form of devotional song devoted to Goddess Kali, the Goddess of empowerment. It is called Bhaktigeeti in Bengali. Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya were probably the best singers of Shyamasangeet. Dhananjay Bhattacharya was the medjda, the middle brother of Bhattacharya family. He used to be called Samrat, meaning the king of music. He was very handsome and got chance in Bengali films like Pasher Bari, Ladies Seat, Nababidhan to name a few. His basic discs created havoc in 1950s like “shilpi moner”, “jhanana jhanana baje”, “kobir kheyale premomoy tumi samrat shajahan”, etc. Even his songs “e maya proponchomoy” made the viewers spellbound. In recent interview given by his son Dipankar Bhattacharya in Anandabazar Patrika it was said that Lataji requested Dhananjay Bhattacharya to come to Mumbai for hindi songs, which he refused. Composer Salil Choudhury told Dhananjoy that his voice was at par with Rafisahab and Talat Sahab. But beyond modern songs his inclination was towards devotional songs, especially that of Goddess Kali. Pannalal Bhattacharya learned music from Dhananjay Bhattacharya. He also had classical control and sang very well. When he came to that his friends Manabendra Mukherjee, Shyamal Mitra and Sanat Singha acted in the film Sare Chuattor, he wanted to act in the film also. But Dhananjay Bhattacharya stopped him. Sare Chuattor was the first superhit film of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen released in 1953. But Dhananajay Bhattacharya understood that Pannalal had excellent control in Shyamsangeet. So he allowed his brother to concentrate in those songs. Some of her brilliant songs included “amar sadhna mitilo ashana phurilo”, “chai na mago raja hote”, “opar sangsar nahi parabar, ma o ma, ma”. His other hit songs included “de ma pagol kore bhramamaye”, “amar mayer payer jobe hoye”, to name a few. All were devoted to Goddess Kali. Both Dhananjoy Bhattacharya and Pannalal Bhattacharya had the hobby of catching fishes. Whoever had ponds in West Bengal, used to call both the brothers, first for fishing and then in the evening ask them to sing songs. Dhananjoy Bhattacharya’s son Dipankar Bhattacharya had said in Anandabazar Patrika that once Pannalal was travelling in train with friends Manabendra Mukherjee, Nirmala Mishra, Tarun Banerjee. He visualized that in Dakshineshwar Kalibari, the idol of Kali was dressed in Tunte sari. All his friends were shocked. He took them to Dhakineshwar. Everyone saw the truth that yes, Idol of Kali was dressed in tunte saree. Once Pannalal was recording in HMV the song “chai na ami raja hote”. Manobendra Mukherjee waited outside the room. He allowed Pannalal to finish his song and then said he was going to sing the song “ami eto je tomae bhalobesechi” in 1958. Pannalal gave Manabendra Jaba flower which he brought from Kali Temple in Dhakineshwar. He gave the flower to Manabendra saying it was going to give him good luck. Manobendra sang the song and it became a bumper hit. In the later years, Pannalal lost interest in life and only sang devotional songs for Goddess Kali. He committed suicide at the age of 36 years. Music experts feel that Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya sang the best shyamasangeet ever in Bengal’s history.

Happy birth anniversary to Reber Star Shammi Kapoorji

Viewers remembered Shammi Kapoorsahab on his birth anniversary on 21st October, 2023. Rebel Star Shammi Kapoor is remembered on 14th August, 2023, his death anniversary, for his immense contribution to Bollywood films. On 14th August, 2011, veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, passed away. He was 79 years old. The country had become sad due to his demise. He brought a new wave in Indian films with powerful performances in films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Junglee, Janwar and other films. He used to be called Rebel Star and the Indian Elvis Priestley. One thing for which viewers used to be mad to see his films during 60s used to be the everlasting music in the films and brilliance of Mohammad Rafi in those songs. Rafi had sung 341 songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan during his illustrious career with 216 solos. Very significantly 3 of the filmfare awards that Rafi received during 60s had been composed by Shankar Jaikishan. They included “teri pyari pyari surat ko kiski nazar na lage” from the film Sasural, “baharon phool barsao” from the film Suraj and “dilke jharoke me mujhko bithaker” from the film Brahmchari. But in the list of songs sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, at least half of the total sungs were composed for Shammi Kapoor. Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan worked together for around 22 films, most of which did great business in the 60s. If Rafi’s songs sung for Shammi Kapoor are remembered for the loud music and melo-dramatic dance numbers, there were lot of songs which were ever romantic and touched the hearts of the viewers. In the film Junglee, Rafi’s songs “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar” and “meri yaar shabba khair” had very melodious appeal and the sweetness of Rafi haunted the listeners for years. In Shammi Kapoor’s Professor, the songs “awaz deke hume tum bulayo”, “mai chali mai chali”, probably had set the mood of the film. From that time Rafi, Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan created magic in one film after the other. In Raj Kumar, Rafi’s soft numbers for Shammi Kapoor like “yeh rang badalti duniya me”, “tumne kisiki jaan ko jate hue dekha hai” made the viewers speechless. Even the western numbers of Shankar Jaikishan for Rafi stole the hearts in the 60s. In the film Janwar, Rafi’s number “meri muhabbat jawan rahegi” and “humko hai tumse pyar” had been the most romantic songs in the film, where the landscape of Kashmir and Rafi’s melodious voice complimented each other. In the film An Evening in Paris, Rafi’s songs “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho” and “raat ke humsafar” were the most romantic numbers which were more melodious than the loud numbers which equally became hits. In Shammi Kapoor’s Brahmachari, probably the best songs included “mai gayun tum so jayo” and “dil ke jharoke mai”. “mai gayun tum so jayo” was sung twice by Rafi in the film, one with a even slower rhythm. Shankar Jaikishan’s background music was as brilliant as Rafi’s singing style for Shammi Kapoor. In the film Tumse Accha Kaun Hai, Rafi’s soft number “janam janam ka saath hai” had remained evergreen and melodious for years. In Latt Sahab, Rafi’s romantic number with Asha Bhosle titled “aye chaand zara ruk ja” haunted the listeners for years after years. Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan combined together in other films of Shammi Kapoor like Prince, Buttameez, Laat Sahab, Ujala, Chote Sarkar, Hong Kong, etc. There were many more romantic numbers of Rafi sung for Shammi Kapoor, which cannot be covered in a small article. In Shammi Kapoor’s Jawan Muhabbat, the song “jawan muhabbat jahan jahan hai” was very romantic. The last film where Shankar and Jaikishan worked together for Shammi Kapoor included Andaz. The songs “dil use do jo jaan de de” and “re mamma re mamma re” were brilliant both in form and orchestration. It was very unfortunate that Jaikishan died in 1971,and after that Shammi Kapoor also added weight and switched to character roles in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc. The magical combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Shammi Kapoor and Rafi ended and the era of romantic songs also suffered a set back. Some section of listeners argue that Rajender Kumar probably received the more romantic numbers sung by Rafi and composed by Shankar Jaikishan, but Shammi Kapoor’s combination with Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan was phenomenal which swept the youth and took them to a different inspite of Shammi Kapoor being called a rebel star and Shankar Jaikishan providing the most loud bomblastic numbers for Rafi. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shammi Kapoor, Rafi and Shankar Jaikishan should be preserved.

On Mahalaya the Bengalies listen to Mohishashur Mordini in All India Radio which is the best creation ever.

For Bengalies the greatest festival of the year include Durga Puja. The flavor of the festival is set up by Mahalaya which occurs seven days before the occasion. Mohishahshur Mordini had not lost its appeal even after 60 years of its creation. It is played in All India Radio on the morning of every Mahalaya each year. In 2013 it was also played and it enchanted numerous bengalies all across the world. The mantra in the entire play was uttered by Birendra Krishna Bhadra who became a living legend in the early 50s. He conducted all the important programs in All India Radio from Kolkata at a time when Television did not appear in India and Radio was the only medium of entertainment. From Mahalaya the Petripaksha ends and Devipaksha begins. Hindus all over the world worship Goddess Durga and the occasion lies for four days including Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami Goddess Durga is immersed in holy Ganges. Mahalay is the day when Hindus do tarpan in the Ganges to remember the ancestors who had died but were still attached with the next generation. When Birendra Bhadra directed Mohishashur Mordini, the tale relating to Goddess Durga defeating the devil powers under the name of Mohishahur, Singer Pankaj Mallick and Bani Kumar also made notable contribution to bring in all the legendary singers of Bengal and made them sing significant songs. For example Manobendra Mukherjee sang “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee sang “jago tumi jago”. The other singers included Supriti Ghosh, Sumitra Sen, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shaymal Mitra, Utpala Sen and others. Supriti Ghosh sang the song “bajlo tomar alor benu”, Shipra Bose sang the song “ogo amar agomoni alo”, Tarun Banerjee sang the song “he chinmoyi”, Sandhya Mukherjee sang the song “bimane bimane”, Krishna Dasgupta sang the song “akhilo bimane taba jayogatha”, Pratima Banerjee sang the song “amala kirane tribhubane”, Shyamal Mitra, Arati Mukherjee and Ashima Bhattacharya sang the chorus song “shubhra shankha rabe”, Utpala Sen sang the song “shanti dile bhari”, Pankaj Mullick sang the song “rupang dehi jayang dehi”. Birendra Bhadra was unparallel in the manner in which he pronounced the Sanskrit sloks, which could not be replicated and when Uttam Kumar that greatest superstar of Bengal tried to do it, he was criticized and All India Radio again displayed the Mohishashur Mordini directed by Birendra Bhadra. Even Hindus across India celebrate Navratri and Dussehra based on the success of God in defeating evil powers. Even today Bengalies feel that it creates a Godly atmosphere and gives the feeling that Goddess Durga had really arrived on earth. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree played the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. In 2013 Zee Bangla came up with another musical program on Maa Durga where Arindam Mukherjee did the narration. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored.

Mahalaya and Mohishashur Mordini marks the beginning of Durga Puja all over the world.

Mahalaya marks the beginning of Durga Puja all over the world. Mahalaya held every year, marks the beginning of Durga Puja all over the world. For bengalies in Mahalaya pritripakha ends, debipakha begins. On the same day, people go to the holy ganges to do tarpan, that is pay respect to the departed souls of father and ancestors. Different types of tarpans are done on the day including pitri tarpan, matri tarpan, deb tarpan, etc. Durga Puja is the puja of Asurdalani Maa Durga, who had defeated the evil forces (mahashahura) and brought peace and solidarity in the earth. All India Radio had a played a very important role in depicting the story of Mahalaya every year in the early morning. Mahishashur Mordini had been eternal creation of Birendra Krishna Bhadra, Bani Kumar and Pankaj Mullick. The way Birendra Krishna Bhadra had uttered the slokas “ya devi sarbabhuteshu shaktirupenu samhastita, namasthaswai namasthaswai namasthaswai namoh namohah”, he created an enchanting atmosphere, and devotees started feeling that they were in heaven. The other great part of Mahishashur Mordini was the great songs sung by legendary Bengali singers of the golden age, namely “taba achinto “ sung by Manobendra Mukherjee, “jago tumi jago” sung by Dwijen Mukherjee, and many songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee, Suprava Sarkar, Supriti Ghosh, Shyamal Mitra and other legends. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree are going to play the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored. In the new durga puja in 2023, it is expected that everyone in every part of the world should enjoy Durgapuja in their own way. Mahishashur Mordini is the best creation of All India Radio. For Bengalies the greatest festival of the year include Durga Puja. The flavor of the festival is set up by Mahalaya which occurs seven days before the occasion. Mohishahshur Mordini had not lost its appeal even after 60 years of its creation. It is played in All India Radio on the morning of every Mahalaya each year. In 2012 it was also played and it enchanted numerous bengalies all across the world. The mantra in the entire play was uttered by Birendra Krishna Bhadra who became a living legend in the early 50s. He conducted all the important programs in All India Radio from Kolkata at a time when Television did not appear in India and Radio was the only medium of entertainment. From Mahalaya the Petripaksha ends and Devipaksha begins. Hindus all over the world worship Goddess Durga and the occasion lies for four days including Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami Goddess Durga is immersed in holy Ganges. Mahalay is the day when Hindus do tarpan in the Ganges to remember the ancestors who had died but were still attached with the next generation. When Birendra Bhadra directed Mohishashur Mordini, the tale relating to Goddess Durga defeating the devil powers under the name of Mohishahur, Singer Pankaj Mallick and Bani Kumar also made notable contribution to bring in all the legendary singers of Bengal and made them sing significant songs. For example Manobendra Mukherjee sang “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee sang “jago tumi jago”, Supriti Ghosh’s “bajlo tomar alor benu”. The other singers included Sipra Bose, Suprava Sarkar, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shaymal Mitra, Utpala Sen, Pratima Banerjee, Pannalal Bhattacharya and others. Birendra Bhadra was unparallel in the manner in which he pronounced the Sanskrit sloks, which could not be replicated and when Uttam Kumar that greatest superstar of Bengal tried to do it, he was criticized and All India Radio again displayed the Mohishashur Mordini directed by Birendra Bhadra. Even Hindus across India celebrate Navratri and Dussehra based on the success of God in defeating evil powers. Even today Bengalies feel that it creates a Godly atmosphere and gives the feeling that Goddess Durga had really arrived on earth. These days a lot of programs are held in television to depict mohishashur mordini in television. For example in Zee Bangla channel on 15th October, 2012, Srabanti Chatterjee and Shubhashree are going to play the role of Sati in Satir Ekanno Peeth in the play related to Mahishashur Mordini. But the importance of mohishashur mordini in All India Radio cannot be replaced. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored.

Manobendra Mukherjee contributed with romantic songs in bengali for more than 30 years

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

Happy birthday to Megastar of the millenium Amitabh Bacchanji

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to the megastar of bollywood films Amitabh Bacchan on 11th October, 2023. 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. In 2018 he is acting in the film Thugs of Hindustan. In 2022 his film Brahmastra with Ranbir Kapoor became blockbuster of doing business above 430 crores. The viewers expect him to continue the great work that he started 40 years back.

Happy birthday to legendary star Rekhaji.

Happy birthday to dashing star Rekhaji. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dashing star Rekhaji on 10th October, 2023

. She had dominated bollywood films of the 80s. Being the daughter of Legendary South Indian actor Gemini Ganeshan on 10th October, 1954, Rekha created a separate place for herself in bollywood film industry. She was better known as Bhanurekha Ganeshan. In 1969 she acted opposite Biswajeet Chatterjee in the film Do Shikari. She got the her lead role as heroine opposite Navin Nischal in the film Sawan Bhado. In the early 70s, Rekha had to fight for her place in the bollywood industry, at a time when Hema Malini, Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore were dominating the industry. But she acted in many landmark films during that period including Gora Aur Kala opposite Rajender Kumar, Rampur Ka Laxman opposite Randhir Kapoor, etc. From the late 70s her films opposite megastar Big B changed her career. Most of the films ended up being super hit including Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Mr. Natwarlal, Suhaag, Silsila, etc. Rekha gradually developed her acting and became one of the most versatile actresses of the 80s. Rekha had acted opposite all the leading actors of the 80s namely Jeetender, Dharmender, Big B, Vinod Mehra, etc. She received national award for her memorable performance in the role of a mujrewali in the film Umrao Jaan. She received filmfare award for best actress in her dashing role in the film Khoon Bhari Maang in 1988. She acted in more than 180 films. Along with the commercial films like Silsila, Mr. Natwarlal, Suhaag, she had been remembered for the performances in off-beat films. She played landmark roles in off-beat films like Gulzar’s Ghar and Ijaazat, Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug, Govind Nihalini’s Vijeta, etc. Even her films in the 90s like Kamasutra and in 2000 onwards in films like Lajja and Koi Mil Gaya, she showed her metal as a very talented actress. She received lifetime achievement award for the immense contribution to bollywood films. The viewers expect her to do well in character roles in future.