Sanjeev Kumar - the dynamic actor bollywood

Sanjeev Kumar – the most versatile actor of bollywood.

Sanjeev Kumar can be considered as one of the most versatile actors who had glorified bollywood with his depth of understanding characters and dynamic performance in numerous films in Bollywood. Harihar Zariwala, better known as Sanjeev Kumar, was born on 9th July, 1938, and made his debut in the film Hum Hindustani in 1960, but got his role as a hero in the film Nishan in 1966.

As the directors and producers of the 60s and 70s, recognised the supreme calibre of Sanjeev Kumar in understanding the emotions of different characters from the depth of his heart, they started casting him in experimental roles. He acted in the role of an insane person in the film Khilona, 1970, opposite Mumtaz and got critics acclamation. His lips in Rafi’s song titled “khilona”, was well appreciated by music lovers. In Parichay, 1972, he acted in the role of classical singer who was rebuked by his father Pran (an industrialist) and to leave his house to create separate identity. Neither his wife was accepted his father, nor could he appreciate the musical skills of his sons, according to whom music was a substandard professions only practiced by tawaifs in kothas. Sanjeev Kumar contracted incurable disease and died leaving 5 children including Jaya Bacchan, the eldest of them and Master Raju, the youngest, who were brought back by Pran and reformed by Jeetender the compassionate teacher who felt the pains in the minds of these children who required love and not over strictness displayed by Pran. Sanjeev Kumar gave supreme lips in Bhupinder Singh’s songs “Mitwa” and “beeti na bitai raina”. The audience were in tears to see Sanjeev Kumar shedding blood while singing as he coughed out to death. Brilliant performances in each and every film of Gulzar made Sanjeev Kumar, the greatest actor of his generation.

He received the national award for the best actor in 1971, for his natural performance in the film Dastak, 1971, which was based on the pains of young couple who could not find a reasonable accommodation in the city of Mumbai, and went on searching them from one place to another which was a burning problem in those days and still remains a big concern today. He received his second national award in Gulzar’s film Koshish, in 1973, which was based on deaf and dumb subject. He himself was deaf and dumb and learnt to use sign language taught in deaf and dumb schools and taught Jaya Bacchan, who was also deaf and dumb to express herself with those signs. He did not have any dialogue in the film. There were so many soft emotions in the film, once Dina Pathak asked Sanjeev Kumar to tell his name which was haricharan, he just took a chilli and put it on her foot, as chilly is green meaning hari and feet resembles charan. At the same time he showed his sense of humour in Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta aur Geeta, 1972, opposite Hema Malini.

In 1975, Sanjeev Kumar, acted in the role of his lifetime in the film Sholay, where he played the role of a zamindar of a village in north India, who retired as a police officer and faced the challenge of dacoits in the Chambal region with a 2 man army of Amitabh Bacchan and Dharmender who were offenders themselves. The film was based on real life incidents and Ramesh Sippy’s blockbuster remains India’s most debated film of the millennium. He brought entire expression of horrified soul when Amzad Khan severed his two hands by giving a horrified look. The same expression was displayed at the end of the film when he deformed the hands of Amzad Khan, bringing all the feelings of revenge against a group of dacoits who killed everyone in his family and horrified the villagers with their tyranny. Sanjeev Kumar won the film fare award in the same year with his performance in the film Aandhi opposite Suchitra Sen. He was also nominated for the best actor award for his serene performance in the film Mausam opposite sharmila Tagore, in the same year, where his reflections in the song “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din” sung by Bhupinder Singh still haunts film lovers.

He also won best actor award for the film Arjun Pandit, in 1976, where he was the compounder of a village doctor and gave his entire savings for the education of the son of the doctor. The pains in the role of the rural character as displayed by Bengali actor Kali Banerjee in the film Arohi directed by Tapan Sinha was well matched by Sanjeev Kumar’s brilliant acting skills.

The list of outstanding performance of Sanjjev Kumar, include Shikar, 1968, Satyakam, Alaap, etc., and it can go on as he was seen in almost every alternate film made at that time. If Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah depict realistic acting after specialising in acting with experience of learning performing arts in acting schools and schools of drama, Sanjeev Kumar belong to a unique gharana where no training is given in respect of perceiving the feelings of human beings through the senses and displaying them with expressions. He films should be restored for immense filmic value.

Sharmila Tagore- Soft romantic actress of bollywood

Sharmila Tagore – the symbol of Bengali Beauty in Bollywood:

Sharmila Tagore is one of the remote actresses gracing bollywood during 60s and 70s, who had rabindrik image which depicted a unique appeal for the film lovers of the country.

She started her career with the Bengali film Apur Sangsar, in 1959, the third episode of the Apu Trilogy directed by one of the greatest directors of the world Satyajit Ray. Scenes depicted by Ray, where she was silent, her expressive eyes spoke for herself. She acted in other films of Ray including Seema Baddha, Aranyer Dinratri, Debi, etc., but viewers had acknowledged her sublime performance opposite Uttam Kumar, in Ray’s film Nayak, 1966, which was based on the biography of Bengal’s greatest superstar of all times. Sharmila played the role of a journalist and her submissiveness before a popular matinee idol shot in Rajdhani Express depicted the bashfulness of Bengali women of that age.



In 1964, Sharmila began her career in hindi films in Shakti Samanta’s musical blockbuster Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964, opposite Shammi Kapoor. She displayed the role of submissive Kasmiri woman and gave elegant lips in OP Nayyar’s songs sung by Asha along with Rafi including “isharo isharo”, “diwana hua badal”, etc. The same pair was launched again by Shakti Samanta, in An Evening in Paris, 1967, this time Shankar Jaikishan’s composition of music flabbergasted the audience, including duet songs sung by Asha and Rafi like “raat ke humsafar”, etc. The entire film was shot in France and Indian audience got an additional flavour of rich locations in addition to popular music.

Sharmila Tagore acted in successful films after that period including Yakeen, Satyakam opposite Dharmender, Talash opposite Rajender Kumar, Dastan opposite Dilip Kumar, Aradhana, Safar, Amar Prem opposite Rajesh Khanna, Mere Humsafar opposite Jeetender. Most of these films had excellent music and that contributed to the success of the films in addition to romantic performance of Sharmila Tagore opposite all these actors.

In the mid -70s Gulzar gave a new dimension to the performance of Sharmila Tagore by casting her in a double role in Mausam opposite Sanjeev Kumar. She was the daughter of a village doctor near Darjeeling, who treated Sanjeev Kumar while he came to that place while studying medical science. He went abroad for further education, within short time Sharmila gave birth to his daughter which was played by Sharmila again and due to victim of circumstances she became a tawaif. The entire film hovers around that relationship and Sanjeev Kumar, the father at the end of the film takes her back to the city. The film was based on reflections and Madan Mohan’s music, Gulzar’s lyrics and the songs sung by Lata, Bhupinder Singh and Rafi, including ‘dil dhoonta hai phir wohi” touched the soles of the viewers. She won the national award for the best actress in that year for sublime performance in Mausam.

Sharmila Tagore’s performance in Gulzar’s film Namkeen opposite Sanjeev Kumar is worth mentioning. She played the role of the eldest daughter of Wahida Rehman ( a widow of a poor rural family) and acted as a guardian for the other two sisters who received support from the truck-driver played by Sanjeev Kumar. Besides her performance opposite Uttam Kumar in films like Amanush, Anand Ashram, Dooriyan, is worth mentioning. In Anand Ashram, she married the doctor who opened a dispensary in the village for treatment of poor, helpless villagers and she ably supported her husband in the noble mission. Unfortunately she died while giving birth to her child. The rest of the film relates their relationship with the next generation but throughout the film Uttam Kumar mourned the untimely death of her wife and displayed her immense love for Sharmila.

Dooriyan relates to complex relationship between the husband and the wife which leads to separation and again unification at the end of the film as the children of the couple could not stay without their parents together. Very soft virtues of husband wife relationship was displayed in the film and the duet song “zindagi zindagi” sung by Anuradha Porwal and Bhupinder Singh and “zindagi me jab tumhare gham nahi the” talked about them. Jaidev’s everlasting tunes have not lost significance even today. In recent years Sharmila Tagore won national award for best supporting actress in Goutam Ghosh’s Abar Aranye. Although Sharmila Tagore did not belong to the category of powerful dancers like Vaijayantimala or aristocrat performers like Meena Kumari, her soft, docile, submissive, understanding characteristics have given a separate dimension to bollywood films for which her films should be preserved and restored.

Raj Kumar - The Stylish Actor of Bollywood

Raj Kumar – the stylish actor of Bollywood.

Raj Kumar can be considered as one of the most stylist actors of bollywood whose style of stretching the dialogues with a unique manner of expression entertained the film lovers for the last 50 years. Born on 8th October, 1926, his original name was Kulbhushan Pandit, but he gained popularity in Indian silver screen with the name of Raj Kumar. He started his career with the film Merry Women, in 1952, but got recognition after acting in an epic role opposite Nargis in Mehboob Khan’s cine-classic Mother India in 1957. Although it was a female oriented movie with Nargis showing the struggle of a widow in a peasant family in rural India who had faced the crude realities of life after Raj Kumar died in bringing up her two sons Sunil Dutt and Rajender Kumar, Raj Kumar kept his mark in the initial part of the film.

Raj Kumar started getting prominent roles in the 60s with the success of the film Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi in 1960 opposite Meena Kumari and Nadira. He was sublime in the performance relating to complexity of emotions in the films as he had to balance the duties towards his wife Nadira in spite of having weakness towards the nurse played by Meena Kumari. Raj Kumar also acted with his personality in the film Dil Ek Mandir, 1963, where he played the role of the sick husband of Meena Kumari and was treated successfully by the doctor played by Rajender Kumar who died at the end of the film. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in both these films became evergreen hits.



In mid-60s Raj Kumar displayed a new style of performance in the film Kajal, 1965, where the song sequences with his role of a drunkard appealed to the masses. The songs “chulene do nazuk hoton ko”, “yeh zulf agar khulke bikhar jaye to accha ho”, composed by Ravi and sung with a sombre expression of Mohammad Rafi had astonished the viewers. At that time Raj Kumar appeared in multi-starrer films of BR Chopra including Waqt, 1965, along with Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor and Humraaz, 1967, along with Sunil Dutt. He acted in a unique role in Neel Kamal opposite Wahida Rehman and Manoj Kumar, where he used to appear in the dreams of Wahida Rehman and reflected a past relationship. Ravi’s composition and Rafi’s song “tujhko pukare tera pyar” became super duper hit at that period. He was well appreciated in the film Heer Ranjha, opposite Priya Rajwangsh and the songs of Rafi and Lata including “yeh duniya yeh mehfil” composed by Madan Mohan became everlasting hit.

Raj Kumar also performed well in historical roles like Lal Patthar in 1971 which was the hindi adaptation of Bengali Superstar Uttam Kumar’s film Lal Pathor made in 1964. the royal nature of lifestyle of the badshahs residing near Agra was displayed with style by Raj Kumar. He also complimented Meena Kumari in Kamal Humrohi’s musical blockbuster Pakiza, 1971. His dialogue “yeh paer bari haseen hai, ise zameen par mat phekna, maile ho jaenge” was memorised by numerous film lovers in India and abroad. Ghulam Mohammad was excellent with his use of the dholak and the duet song Rafi and Lata titled “chalo dildar chalo” picturised on Raj Kumar and Meena Kumari symbolised majestic romance.

After performing in other significant roles in films like Maryada, 1971, Raj Kumar shifted to action films in the 80s and 90s. In the 80s his film Bulandi stormed the silver screen, where he played the role of a Professor and used the students of his institutions to raise their voice against corrupt businessmen operating in the society. The dialogues in the film including “humko mita sake zamane me dum nahi, humse khud hai zamana, zamane se hum nahi” almost reciprocated his personality.

He continued to perform in big productions including Subhas Ghai’s Saudagar, in early 90s opposite Dilip Kumar and Tiranga opposite Nana Patekar. In Saudagar, he did maintain his family heritage which confronted with Dilip Kumar’s set of values and the audience enjoyed their clash of personality and witty postures. With his death in the mid-90s, the generation of stylist actors faded away.

His son Puru Raj Kumar, is sometimes seen performing with stylish endeavour in films like Mission Kashmir, opposite Sanjay Dutt, but he gets mainly characters resembling anti-heroes. Raj kumar’s films should be restored to update the present generation with the blend of personality with style and depth of performance which Raj Kumar had displayed for the last 50 years.

Sadhna - The romantic actress of Bollywood

Sadhna’s contribution to Indian films:

Amongst the established actresses of the 50s and 60s, Sadhna graced the silver screen with her remote style of soft performance and made a significant impact in the golden era of Indian films. Sadhna made her debue in the film Love in Shimla, in 1959, opposite Joy Mukherjee. She made a haircut and created a distinct identity and the new generation started following her style with Sadhna cut. She amazed the film lovers with her serene performance in Raj Khosla’s Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, 1962, opposite Joy Mukherjee. It was a black and white classic but scenes were shot at picturesque locations in Jammu and Kashmir. OP Nayyar made as many musical experiments in the film as possible.

Sadhna made the musical sequences of the song “aap yu hi agar humse milte rahe” sung by Asha and Rafi immortal, by making postures in a manner by which a peacock welcomes the monsoon. The other songs in the film titled “bahut shukriya, bari meherbani” sung by Asha and Rafi, also impressed the filmlovers. After acting in Asli Nakli, opposite Dev Anand and Dulha Dulhan opposite Raj Kapoor, Sadhna addressed the purdanashin community of Aligarh, Lucknow and the middle-east countries with her dynamic performance in the film Mere Mehboob, opposite Rajender Kumar in 1963. Her combination with Rajender Kumar was well appreciated in the film Aarzoo in 1965. Sadhna gave tremendous lips for Lata’s extraordinary songs like “mere mehboob tujhe meri mohabbat ki kasam”, “aji ruth kar ab kaha jaiyega”, “bedardi balma”, etc.


While performing in romantic films Sadhna also excelled in ghostly characters in suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, 1964, opposite Manoj Kumar, Mera Saya, opposite Sunil Dutt, Anita, etc. Woh Kaun thi was probably the most successful horror film made in that age. Manoj Kumar played the role of a doctor who was horrified by presenting the sister of his wife who was a twin. Sadhna played in double role and till the end of the film every person started believing that Sadhna was a ghost. The villain in the film Prem Chopra was told by the lawyer in the family that the property of Manoj Kumar will revert back to him if it can be proved that he is insane.

So throughout the entire film Sadhna was presented at every place, sometimes near graveyard, sometimes in some other fields and Manoj Kumar started disbelieving his wife who knew nothing about her twin sister. After the doctor advised Manoj Kumar to go to Shimla for change of mind he found Sadhna there also and ultimately the death of twin sister led to disclosure of the truth. Madan Mohan’s outstanding compositions sung by Lata were picturised on Sadhna including “naina barse”, “lagja gale”, etc. In Mera Saya also Sadhna displayed the fearful entity and the superlative composition of Madan Mohan including “tu jaha jaha chalega” etc. added glamour in the coloured blockbuster.

Sadhna also performed in other films like Raj Kumar opposite Shammi Kapoor in 1965, Hum Dono, etc. In the late 60s Sadhna suffered from infirmity which changed her face and lost her romantic look, although her strong performance compelled producers to launch her in films like Isq Par Zor Nahi opposite Dharmender, Aap Aye Bahar Aye opposite Rajender Kumar, Inteqam, etc.

Sadhna’s films should be restored and preserved to bring back the memories of horror films which entertained and horrified film lovers during the golden age.

Rebel Star - Shammi Kapoor

Shammi Kapoor – The rebel star of Bollywood

Shammi Kapoor can be considered as the rebel hero of the 60s who broke the convention of other actors dominating the film arena. Shammi Kapoor, born on 21st October, 1931, better known as Shamsher Raj, was the second brother of Raj Kapoor and had a unconventional career graph if compared with other heroes of that age. In the early 50s his films like Rail Ka Dibba, 1953, Laila Majnu, Sipah Salar, did not make any significant impact on the film lovers, because his brother Raj Kapoor, was dominating the film arena with his realistic films. He transformed himself and followed the rock and roll dance postures of Elvis Priestley and started a new innings with film Tumsa Nahi Dekha, 1957.

The Indian audience was not habituated to seeing male dancers at that point of time except classical performances of Gopi Krishan. His dancing capabilities with rock and roll music composed by different composers and epic combination with Mohammad Rafi gave a different dimension to his career. The songs in Tumsa Nahi Dekha, including “yu to humne lakh hasin dekhe hai” sung by Rafi and composed by OP Nayyar became a super duper hit and the combination stormed the film world with the next film Dil Deke Dekho where music was composed by Usha Khanna with songs like “dil deke dekho del deke dekho” etc.

Black and white classics were transformed into coloured films and Shammi Kapoor was benefited the most with films like Junglee opposite Saira Banu, Janwar opposite Rajashri, Kashmir Ki Kali opposite Sharmila Tagore, etc., which were shot at picturesque locations in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and had melodious music. Shankar Jaikishan composed the maximum number of songs for Shammi Kapoor and nearly all of them were super hits. Prominent among them include “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “ meri yaar shabba khair”, “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, etc.

In the mid-60s Shammi Kapoor created a dance-based trend of films which were followed by other actors of that age including Joy Mukherjee and Biswajeet who had similar story lines as that of Shammi Kapoor. Films like Rajkumar opposite Sadhna, Teesri Manzil opposite Asha Parekh, Latt Saheb opposite Nutan, An Evening In Paris, Prince opposite Vaijayantimala, were very successful. The subject matter in those films involved soft romantic stories with element of comedy embedded in them. Rajender Nath as comedian accompanied Shammi Kapoor in a number of films. Some of the songs in Rock and Roll andaz include “aajkal tere mere pyar ke charche”, “aja aja”, “tumse accha kaun hai”, etc.

Teesri Manzil included a suspense thriller where Prem Nath acted as a villain for the first time. Shammi Kapoor received the best actor award for performing in the film Brahmachari, 1968, where he run an orphanage and looked after small children who were left there by their parents who never wanted to bear the liability of maintaining their children. The songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film like “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “dil ke jharoke me”, “chakke pe chakka” were very big hits with Rafi excelling in one song or the other.

In the early 70s, after acting in Andaz, opposite Hema Malini in 1971, Shammi Kapoor, put on weight, started keeping beard and switched of to character acting in films like Zameer, Parvarish, etc., where he acted as the father of Amitabh Bacchan or Vinod Khanna, etc. Notable films include Betaab in 1983. He received the best supporting actor award for performing in Vidhata, 1982, along with Dilip Kumar. As acting talents were inherent in the Kapoors, Shammi Kapoor did not find it difficult to perform in character roles and he is still acting in these types of roles these days.

Even then Shammi Kapoor is remembered for introducing the trend of dancing in Indian films with westernised mannerisms in the 60s which were carried forward by heroes of the later age. Rafi’s songs picturised on him including “akele akele kahan ja rahe ho”, “raat ke humsafar”, “ai chand zara ruk ja”, “dil use do jo jaan dede”, etc., have an everlasting effect even today. His films should be restored to honour the exotic locations, brilliant music and overall entertainment in the 60s.

The megastar of the Millenium - Amitabh Bacchan

Amitabh Bacchan – The megastar of the millennium

If any personality in Indian silver screen had single-handedly determined the fate of the big productions in the 70s and 80s it is Amitabh Bacchan. He created a larger than man image in the 70s which addressed the grievances of numerous Indians against the corruption existing in the Indian society. He gave a new meaning to action films where the message against the evils existing in the society reached each and every film lover in India and abroad.

Born in 1942, he made his debue in the film Satwa Hindustani in 1969. His initial films included Anand and Namak Haram directed by Rishikesh Mukherjee, and small roles in films like Reshma Aur Shera. But he showed his angry young man image in the film Zanjeer, 1973, where acting as a police officer he addressed the corruption existing at that time.

From Deewar, 1975, Amitabh Bacchan became the uncrowned monarch of Indian silver screen. He portrayed the character of Haji Mastan and showed the country that evils of the underworld can be prevented only by taking revenge by another person who comes from a respectable family and becomes a victim of oppression of the members of the underworld. The film directed by Yash Chopra also exploited very catchy script written by Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. Big B died at the end of the film after Shashi Kapoor, the police officer (his brother) had shot him when he refused to surrender. The action scene in the godown in the film had been watched by film lovers numerous times and even respectable people started admiring action films.

In Sholay, 1975, the greatest hit of the last millennium, Big B along with Dharmender helped the Thakur of the village played by Sanjeev Kumar to face the dacoit operating with the Chambal region. Although it was based in real life incidents taking place at that time when the dacoits grew in strength and the police and administration failed to arrest them in the mid-70s. not only had Big B showed his action skills, but his baritone voice was exploited for serio-comic performance in the film as well. He balanced the villainous performance of Amzad Khan and strong performance of Sanjeev Kumar with his personality. During that age he also acted in the role of poet in the film Kabhi Kabhi, 1975 and comic role in Chupke Chupke, 1975 along with Dharmender.

His acting capabilities encouraged producers and directors in the late 70s to make films based on all the elements of entertainment that can be expected by film lovers including dance sequences, comedy, action, etc. On one side he acted in realistic films like Abhimaan, Milli, Alaap, etc. opposite Jaya Bacchan, Rekha and other actresses. In the action films Parveen Bhabhi accompanied him the most. In Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977, he showed his impulse on comedy roles alongside the serious performance of Vinod Khanna and musical performance of Rishi Kapoor. Producers and directors were encouraged to make multi-starrer films where Big B was accompanied by Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, etc.

Shaan, released in 1980, is a an example of multi-starrer film, where Ramesh Sippy had showed exotic locations, good action sequences and provided entertainment to the film lovers. Big B was well supported by fine acting of Shatrughun Sinha. Besides there are films which were dependant on Big B along and became super hits by his own calibre like Don, 1978, Kalia, etc. In the early 80s, he faced the strong personality of Dilip Kumar in the film Shakti, 1982, his father who was a committed police officer and he acted in the role of a smuggler and confronted at every part of the film with this father’s notion of law-bearer. People enjoyed his loud style of dialogue delivery with Dilip Kumar’s soft style of dialogue delivery. Rakhee’s performance in the role of his mother was well appreciated by film lovers across the world.

In the mid-80s, Big B became an institution of acting by himself and films where he played double roles were admired by the viewers as well. In Akhree Rasta, 1986, his performance in the role of father who got out of prison and took revenge against the perpetrators of crime who wrongly convicted him for a crime which he did not commit had shown the audience that he had matured to act in character roles as well. No actor in Indian celluloid could show anger for the rightful cause with the sharpness that Big B had shown. He had also sung with his own voice in few films including Silsila, 1983.

These days with his son acting in numerous films, and he is seen in many character roles the new generation looks at Big B with the impression of a character artist. But the new generation should watch his films of 70s, 80s to understand the growth of action films and departure of the film making from the way it was done at that time. For reference Big B had lend his beautiful voice in Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ki Khiladi, 1977. It is difficult to highlight his performance in more than 150 films in a career spreading over 35 years, but his films should be restored to show the beginning of transformation of Indian cinema with the advent of modern techniques and birth of action films.

Singers who had contributed for the RK Banners

Contribution of singers for the RK Banner:

RK Production contributed in the making of successful bollywood films for the last 60 years. Music had played a very significant part in the success of those films. Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Asha Bhosle, etc., played a major role, although a lot of songs in these films were sung by other singers as well. Lata Mangeshkar in fact created her identity with the songs “jiya beqarar hai”, “hawa me urta jaye” in the film Barsaat, 1949, and continued her brilliance with songs like “dum bhar jo udhar mu phere” in Awara, 1951, “rajaki ayegi baraat” in Aag, 1953, “Jago Mohan Pyare”, in Jagte Raho, 1956, “ban ke panchi gaye pyar ka tarana”, in Anari, 1959, “woh basanti” in Jis desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, 1961, to name a few.

Mohammad Rafi, had sung very significant songs under RK Banner, which became hits and sometimes brought the climax of the films. In Shri 420, 1955, Rafi started the song “ramaiya vasta maiya” which was continued by Lata and was finished of by Mukesh. In the award winning film Boot Polish, Rafi’s song “nanne munne bacche tere muthi me kya hai” was very big hit. Rafi made the tragic end for the film Sangam, 1964, with the song “ki tum naraaz nahi hona”. Mukesh and Manna Dey matched Raj Kapoor’s voice and both had sung huge number of songs under RK Banner, including “awara hoon”, “sab kuch sikha humne”, “har dil jo pyar karega”, “jane kaha gaye woh din”, “dost dost na raha” etc. ( by Mukesh), “ pyar hua ikraar hua”, “mur murke na dekh”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “dil ka hal sune dilwala”, “chalat musafir”, etc., (by Manna Dey). Geeta Dutt sung “bolo sha wai wai” in Jagte Raho, Asha Bhoshle had sung “mur mur ke na dekh”, in Shree 420, etc.

But as the span of production under RK Banner continued for more than 50 years, a number of singers died, composers died, resulting in fresh use of new talents under the RK Banner. Shailendra Singh made his debue in Bobby, 1973, with the song “mai shayar to nahi” and suited Rishi Kapoor along with Chanchal who made his debue in the same film. Other hit songs of Shailendra Singh include “hum tum ek kamre me bandh ho”, “ge ge ge ge, mere saiba”, etc. Suresh Watkar, Ravindra Jain sung songs in films like Prem Rog, 1982, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 1985, etc., and these voices evenly matched with Rishi Kapoor or Rajeev Kapoor, etc. As playback singing contributed a lot in the creation and nurturing of images of actors and actresses for the last 50 years, the suitability of singers with heroes and heroines had made notable impact on the liking of the films by viewers.

It is a tragedy that Raj Kapoor died in 1988, otherwise the 4th generation of his family, Ranbir Kapoor may have made a debue under RK Production. Although Ranbir Kapoor, has made his debue in the film Sawaariya, he has not brought forward the legacy of his family under a film produced under RK Banner. For the last 5 years competition in the world of playback singing is very stiff and the heroes and heroines are expected to have suitable combination with all singers. Only time can tell whether Ranbir Kapoor’s voice matches with Sonu Nigam, or Udit Narayan, or Himesh Reshamiya, etc. If Rishi Kapoor, produces any film in future under the RK Banner, he has to weigh the choice of singers who can suit his son’s voice and the acceptability of the songs will depend on that criteria.

In a nutshell it can be said that RK Banner, had shaped, carried forward the musical significance of bollywood films in the last century and the present generation of the Kapoor family has to rise up to the expectations of the filmlovers in India and abroad to maintain the rich standard of music that had been the hallmark of successful films made in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Raj Kapoor - The greatest showman of Bollywood

Raj Kapoor – The Stylish Showman of Bollywood.

Raj Kapoor can be considered as the most colourful personality that had glorified the Indian silver screen for the last 60 years. Not only was he a stylish showman, and more than that he was a grand creator with majestic vision. Born in 1924, Raj Kapoor, learnt all the skills relating to direction in films within short period of time. Having the rich legacy of acting in Prithvi Theatres created by his father, he acted in some of the drama launched by his father and stormed into the film arena with the film Aag in 1947, which was directed by himself.



In Barsaat, 1949, Raj Kapoor formed a majestic romantic pair with Nargis and music directors Shankar Jaikishan, lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, cameraman Radhu Karmakar and other dignitaries who contributed to RK films. The romantic story was a super duper hit with Lata’s songs like “jiya beqararhai”, “hawa me urta jaye”, etc, becoming trend setters. Within a shot time Raj Kapoor started making films which conveyed a very strong social message. His film Awara, 1951, was based on the theme that human being is a victim of circumstances and even if the son of a barrister is uprooted from his royal family which happened to Raj Kapoor in the film and brought amongst thieves and lawbreakers (played by KN Singh) he ends up being an awara, who cannot give his father’s recognition. It has happened with a lot of people in India, who got involved in unlawful activities due to circumstances. His film was well appreciated in Russia, and Raj Kapoor became an international figure. The same film had shown other directors how to picturise dream sequence songs like “ghar aya mera pardesi”. Besides Shankar Jaikishan’s prelude in the song “awara hoon” sung my Mukesh depicted Raj Kapoor as the pied piper of Hamlin, and after that film in every film of Raj Kapoor, the prelude used to make people understand that he is appearing.

After having success in films like Andaz, 1949, directed by Mehboob Khan opposite dilip Kumar, Aah, 1953, Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in the next blockbuster Shri 420, in 1955. All the songs in the film including “mur murk ke na dekh”, “pyar hua ikrar hua”, “dil ka haal sune dilwala”, “ramaiya vasta maiya” were super hits and the film used the available singing giants in India including Rafi, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Lata, Asha, etc. Raj Kapoor’s display about the corruption in society with the adaptation of mannerism of Charlie Chaplin amused the viewers. The image of Nadira depicted in the film gave her the identity of villanious performer for the rest of her career. In Jaagte Raho, 1956, Raj Kapoor acted in a film with hardly any dialogues and showed the social crimes taking place in different floors of the same building where a poor villager can feel ashamed of. The film won international award in Berlin film festival.

Raj Kapoor’s other films like Anari, 1959, opposite Nutandirected by Rishikesh Mukherjee, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, 1960, opposite Padmini, also had strong social message and depicted Nehru’s dream of socialism embedded in them. The songs in all these films were superhits and Raj Kapoor convinced the group of dacoits operating in the Chambal region to surrender before the police in Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai. He received filmfare award for the best actor for both these films. With the advent of colour Raj Kapoor’s Sangam, 1964, showing tripartite affair with Rajender Kumar and Vijayantimala became the biggest hit of that age. Raj Kapoor’s other films like Phir Subah Hogi, 1958, opposite Mala Sinha, Chalia, 1960, opposite Nutan, Dil Hi To Hai, 1961, opposite Nutan, Teesri Kasam, 1966, opposite Wahida Rehman, Diwana, 1967, opposite Saira Banu, Around the world, 1967, opposite Rajashri, Sapno Ka Saudagar,1968, opposite Hema Malini, etc., all had classic picturisation, strong performance and outstanding music. From the 70s Raj Kapoor mainly concentrated on production and direction of films including Mera Naam Joker, 1971, Bobby, 1973, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, 1977, Prem Rog, 1982, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, 1985, etc.



Raj Kapoor’s films dealt with diversified subjects, sometimes involving teenage romance, sometimes oppression of women, sometimes, corruption in the society. He showed the other directors that film is a medium from where lot of messages can be given to the society. As he could play more than 10 instruments while giving lips in songs picturised in his films it always appeared that he was singing, the skill which Rishi Kapoor, his son developed in later age. He changed his team of music composers from Shankar Jaikishan, to Laxmikant Pyarellal and Ravindra Jain and in all his films there was meaningful music which did reach out to the masses. If the films where Raj Kapoor acted as hero can be scanned it will be found that he has almost worked with every giant music composer of that age, Naushad composed music for Andaz, Dastan, etc., Roshan for Dil Hi To Hai, Salil Choudhury for Jagte Raho, Kalyanji Anandji for Chalia, Dulha Dulhan, OP Nayyar for Do Ustad, Khayyam for Phir Subah Hogi, Dattaram for Parvarish, RD Burman for Dharam Karam, etc., to name a few. There was a time when Raj Kapoor lost count about the number of awards he had received, sometimes as best actor, or best director, or best producer, etc. He died in 1988 after receiving Dada Saheb Falke award, the greatest award for any film personality in India. His films should be restored for social awakening, musical value and lessons relating to strong picturisation of sequences.

Rishi Kapoor- The romantic personality of Bollywood

Rishi Kapoor – one of the most romantic personalities of Bollywood.

Rishi Kapoor, born on September 4th, 1952 can be considered as one of most romantic heroes who glorified bollywood during the 70s, 80s, and 90s. As he inherited the grand legacy left behind by Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor, he had a great challenge of matching the performance of his father, uncles and grandfather who had entertained the Indian filmlovers for the last 60 years. He showed his acting potential while playing the younger stage of Raj Kapoor in the film Mera Naam Joker, 1971.


But his romantic image was created in the film Bobby, 1973, where Raj kapoor introduced stories relating to teenage romance and both Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia established themselves as romantic actors of that age. Rishi Kapoor also received film fare award for best performance in the film. Typically in the mid seventies, a lot of producers and directors got inclined to make anti-establishment films where Amitabh Bacchan, (in Deewar, Sholay, 1975), Shatrugun Sinha (in Kalicharan), Vinod Khanna (in Khoon Pasina), raised voice against the evil practices of society. All these actors had strong personalities and their performances were well appreciated by film lovers across India. In the same period, whenever producers and directors thought about launching romantic characters name of Rishi Kapoor automatically came in their mind.



In Amar Akbar Anthony, 1977, Rishi Kapoor balanced the personality of Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bacchan’s sense of humour, with his image of singer. His lips in the songs “parda hai parda”, “shirdiwali saibaba” sung by Mohammad Rafi and composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal stands out as some of the best lips ever given in bollywood films. Rishi Kapoor developed the capability of giving brilliant lips in qawallies, which are not easy to sing. No other hero before Rishi Kapoor, had popularised qawallies the way he had done. Rafi’s qawalli in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi, 1977, titled “hai agar dushman zamana gham nahi gham nahi”, and Shailendra Singh’s qawalli “zamane ko dikhana hai” in the film Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, composed by RD Burman gave the impression before the film lovers that it was Rishi Kapoor who was singing. He also contributed in the musical competition in the film Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi, where Rafi, Kishore and RD Burman sang a number of songs.
In the film Sargam, 1979, Rishi Kapoor played the dafli opposite Jaya Prada, to perfection and the songs of the film including “koel bole”, “dafliwale daflibaja”, “ramjiki nikli sawari” entertained the film lovers with the romantic story. In Karz, 1980, Rishi Kapoor’s performance transformed the murder mystery created by Subhas Ghai, into a musical blockbuster, as his lips in the songs “darde dil, darde jigar” sung by Rafi and “Om Shanti Om” sung by Kishore Kumar, entertained the filmlovers.

It was due to Rishi Kapoor, the producers showed the courage of picturising a romantic story like Laila Majnu, 1977, in the background of middle east countries, where Rafi’s songs like “tere dar pe aya hoon”, “barbad muhobbat ki dua saath liye ja”, etc., were all superhits. In the 80s, Rishi Kapoor provided decent performance opposite Dilip Kumar in the film Duniya, where Dilip Kumar took revenge against the perpetrators of crime who ruined his life. In films like Saagar, 1985, Rishi Kapoor balanced the strong performance of Dimple Kapadia and Kamal Hassan in a film related to tripartite affair. The exotic location of seashores, colourful costumes and decent acting was the hallmark for success of the film Saagar. Films like Sitamgar, Chandni, Bol Radha Bol, etc.,were also successful. His performance in Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog and Henna produced under RK Banner is worth mentioning.



In the 90s also he made his presence felt in films like Damini, where the story was based on the bravery showed by a middle class housewife in unfolding the truth relating to evil practices taking place in a rich family. Rishi Kapoor had to balance the strong performance of Meenakshi and Sunny Deol in a film which had depicted crude realities of life. With the arrival of new stars in bollywood, Rishi Kapoor switched over to character roles. The biggest victory of Rishi Kapoor lies in the fact that he created his own style of acting without imitating Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor or Shashi Kapoor. Further the strong dominance of Amitabh Bacchan as angry young man did not affect Rishi Kapoor’s romantic image and filmlovers loved to see both of them in films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Kabhi Kabhi, Naseeb, Coolie, Ajooba, etc. With the debue of his son Ranbir Raj Kapoor (this was the actual name of Raj Kapoor) in the film Sawaaria, there is lot of expectation of the film lovers of strong performance from his next generation as the Kapoors are probably the only family in Indian filmworld where the 4 generations have contributed to the development of bollywood films and kept their mark in all aspects of film including acting, direction, production, etc. Rishi Kapoor’s films should be restored to show the film lovers the art of doing justice to good songs created in good locations and proper display of characters of romantic stories.

Wahida Rehman - powerful actress of bollywood

Wahida Rehman – the versatile actress of Bollywood.

Indian bollywood is generally dominated by actors and heroes for the last 50 years. But due to the sheer brilliance of some powerful actresses female dominated films also gained prominence. Wahida Rehman, the powerful actress of 50s, 60s and 70s belong to that category, where depth of acting had outplayed her glamour and choreographic skills. Born on 14th May, 1936, she made her debue in film CID, 1956, where Guru Dutt was the producer. It was the role of a vamp girl, but ultimately Wahida Rehman helped the hero to unearth the truth relating to a murder mystery.

After performing in films like Solwa Saal with Dev Anand, Wahida Rehman got the scope of acting in the role of a tawaif in Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, 1957. The story depicted the evil effects of materialism, where the brothers were not prepared to recognise their relatives unless there was any monetary consideration. Wahida Rehman even being a tawaif, had shown the spark of humanity in a society where the fellow students (Mala Sinha) failed to show the same spirit.

She also dramatised the character of a heroin in Guru Dutt’s Kagaz Ka Phool, 1959, which depicted the darker side of filmworld. When one or two films become successful, the celebrities became exceedingly popular and the moment one film fails, the same persons loose recognition. It has been an eternal truth. Geeta Dutt’a song “wakt ne kiya kya haseen sitam” in the same film picturised on Wahida Rehman became a big hit. Her combination with Guru Dutt was well appreciated in the film Chaudavi Ka Chand, 1960, where she depicted the purdanashin character of muslim educated society.


Wahida Rehman’s ability to go deep into the characters she had played compelled Satyajit Ray to cast her in the film Abhijan, 1961, where she played the role of the wife of a car driver, and showed the fate of rural women in the state of Bihar and its outskirts. She used broken Bengali, and critics across the world acknowledge the fact that she had hardly acted in the film, everything was natural.

In the 60s, with the advent of coloured films, Wahida Rehman, transformed her image into glamourous heroin and contributed in musical blockbusters. She had shown her dancing capabilities in Dev Anand’s Guide, 1965, where songs like “piya tose naina lage re”, “aaj phir jine ki tamanna hai” were super hits. In Raj Kapoor’s Teesri Kasam, 1966, she blended her classical dance skills into the rural dance theme used in fairs (nautankis) held in rural India. Shankar Jaikishan’s composition and Lata and Asha’s songs including “a a bhi ja”, “mare gaye gulpham”, “pan khai saiwa”, etc., were super duper hits. Wahida Rehman balanced Dilip Kumar’s outstanding performance in the films Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram aur Shyam, Aadmi, 1967, etc., with her romantic performance. In all these films she also displayed her choreographic skills. She played significant roles opposite Rajender Kumar in the film Palki, Dharti, etc. Besides she had also displayed a weird character in the film Neel Kamal opposite Raj Kumar and Manoj kumar.

Besides Wahida Rehman had the record of choosing challenging roles throughout her career. In 1961, she performed in a ghostly character opposite Biswajeet, in the film Bees Saal Baad, where the Bengali role was played by Manju Dey, in Jighansa, an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of Baskervilles”. Again she performed the role of nurse who treated insane patients by showing them that she was their better half and became insane at the end of the film Khamoshi, 1969. She had also showed the character of rural women in the background of Rajasthan in the film Reshma Aur Shera, 1971, and received national award for best performance.

In the 70s and 80s, she had acted in character roles, and her performance in Kabhi Kabhi, 1975, opposite Amitabh Bacchan, was well appreciated. In the 80s, she played a significant role in Gulzar’s film Namkeen, where she portrayed the character of a mother of three children who interacted with a truck driver who showed sympathy for the family. She showed the anxiety of a widow in a needy family and kept her mark opposite Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Sharmila Tagore, who were the co-performers in the film. Besides her performance opposite Dilip Kumar, in Mashal, 1984, where she supported her husband as a middle class journalist, and died in the film for lack of treatment out of poverty, is worth mentioning.

If Madhubala is remembered for her glamour, Vaijayantimala is appreciated for her dancing capabilities, then Wahida Rehman is sublime in her experimental roles where characters became lively due to her strong performance. Wahida Rehman’s films should be restored in an archive to show that popularity can be achieved by sheer brilliance of performance.