Raj Kapoorsahab Dilip Kumarsahab and Ashok Kumarsahab dominated bollywood films of 1950.

The biggest Bollywood hit films of 1950. The 1950s began with new types of films in Bollywood. While stars like Ashok Kumar already himself in Bollywood arena, new stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor rose to stardom. Actresses like Nargis, Madhubala, Geetawali, Nalini Jayant, Suraiya dominated Bollywood films. In the previous decade in the 1940s, Dilip Kumar’s Andaz and Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat were the biggest blockbusters. Samadhi was the years’s biggest blockbuster of 1950. It was directed by Ramesh Saigal, who was one of the top directors of Filmistan with films like Shaheed (1948), Samadhi (1950) and Shikast (1953). The music was composed by C. Ramchandran, with "Gore Gore Banke Chhore" (Oh Fair Lad) sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Amirbai Karnataki, and picturised on Kuldip Kaur and Nalini Jaywant, becoming a popular song. Ashok Kumar played the lead role in the "patriotic spy-thriller", "the film turned out to be the year's biggest hit with a gross profit of ₹ 75 lakhs". The 2nd super hit film was Babul. By 1940s Dilip Kumar already established himself as tragedy king with the success of the film Andaz. Babul had Dilip Kumar in another tragic role, where he was teamed with Nargis and Munawwar Sultana. It was directed by S. U. Sunny. The music composer was Naushad Ali, and he had Shamshad Begum give playback for seven out of the twelve songs in the film. A famous song by Talat Mehmood and Shamshad was "Milte Hi Anken Dil Hua Diwana Kisika". Shamshad Begum along with Suraiya, Lata and Geeta Dutt were dominating Bollywood music at that time. Naushad Ali had Talat Mehmood singing for the first and last time under his baton. The famous Talat solo was "Husnwalon Ko Na Dil Do Yeh Mita Dete Hain" (Don't Give Your Heart To The Pretty Ones, They Destroy It). The songs of this film made Talat the "most sought-after ghazal singer". Over a period of time Mohammad Rafi started singing almost all the songs for Dilip Kumar. The film was a big success and grossed an estimated ₹ 70 lakhs. The third biggest hit film was Dastan. Dastan was directed by A. R. Kardar, with Raj Kapoor, Suraiya, and Veena in the main roles. The film was a tragic melodrama narrated in a flashback by Suraiya's character. This was the only film in which Raj Kapoor and Suraiya starred together. The "waltz-type rhythm" song "Tara Ri Tara ri" sung by Suraiya and Mohammed Rafi, became a popular number. Inspired from the film Enchantment (1948), it's referred to as "one of the biggest commercial hits,” with a business of 65 lakhs. Very significantly Naushad Ali used Rafisahab to sing songs for Raj Kapoor and not Mukesh. Suryaiya sang for herself. The 4th biggest hit film was Jogan. Jogan directed by Kidar Sharma, featured Dilip Kumar and Nargis. It was described as Dilip Kumar's "most powerful portrayal as a one-way love seeker". It had Nargis playing a Meera-like Sadhvi and has been referred to as a "most famous classic". The film grossed ₹ 62 lakhs. Incidentally Rajender Kumar made his debut in Bollywood films in a small role in the film Jogan. The music was composed by Bulo C Rani and all the songs were sung by Geeta Dutt, including the hit song “ghunghat ke pat khol” The fifth biggest hit film was Sangram. Sangram starred Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant again. Written and directed by Gyan Mukherjee for Bombay Talkies, it had music by C. Ramchandran. A popular song from the film was "Yaara Wai Wai, Yaara Wai Wai". The film as a box-office success commercially, earning a gross profit of ₹ 50 lakhs. In conclusion it can be said that 1950s began with black and white films. But performances of Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor were per excellence. The directors like Kidar Sharma, AR Kardar, Mehboob Khan and others really made a fantastic impact. Naushad Ali, Hunslal Bhagatram, Shankar Jaikishan and C Ramchandran dominated music. Talat, Rafi, Mukesh dominated male singing while Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and Lata dominated female playback songs. With passing of time new actors like Bharat Bhushan, Pradeep Kumar competed with Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor.

Superstar Uttam Kumarsahab and Arundhati Debi represented majestic romantic combination.

Uttam Kumar in the 50s and 60s acted opposite different actresses, some who were beautiful, like Sumitra Debi, Suchitra Sen, Sharmila Tagore, etc., while others who had wide ranging acting conceptions like Manju Dey, Sabitri Chatterji and others. Arundhuti Debi was one of the highly educated characters whose qualifications were expressed in the characters she had played in a long career spanning over 25 years. With Uttam Kumar Arundhuti Debi acted in approximately 8 films including Bokul, Shiulibari, Jhinder Bandi, Jotugriha, Nabajanma, Manmayi Girls School, Pushpodhonu and Bicharak. While in Bicharak, she expressed the feelings of a confused sister whose elder sister was married to Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar was attracted to Arundhuti Debi and when fire broke out in the house and his first wife Deepti Ray required his help, he declined to help her and allowed her to die. A similar type of case was adjudicated by Uttam Kumar when he was a judge, when Chabi Biswas, the Public Prosecutor talked about the liability of the accused who could have saved the life of his brother, but he did not do so. Uttam Kumar was asked by Arundhuti Debi to examine his own conscience about his liability towards Deepti Roy in Prabhat Mukherjee’s classic film. Arundhuti Debi and Uttam Kumar showed their comedy conception in the film Manmayi Girl’s School, where they had to pretend to be spouses, because their landlord rented his house to them only on the condition of marriage. But their playacting resulted in an affair with one another. In Pushpadhanu, Arundhuti Debi brought up her husband’s child after he deserted her and got attached with Uttam Kumar who understood the feelings of an established dancer who got recognition but was a loner. Jhinder Bandi was made with the historical touch of Prisoner of Zenda and Tapan Sinha astonished the viewers with his treatment in the Indian context. The royal style of living of Rajputs was well demonstrated by both Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi. Shiulibari was directed by Pijus Bose, who utilized the talent of Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti in a story based on the life of villagers of West Bengal. Jotugriha, directed by Tapan Sinha, was probably the most successful film of Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi. In that film lack of begetting a child led to disharmony of the married couple. Both Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi got separated and even after separation never lost the respect of each other. The story ends with both the spouses travelling in to trains which crossed each other. The level of performance of both Uttam Kumar and Arundhuti Debi, was such that there were no Indian actor or actress who could match the standard of performance. Uttam Kumar was the greatest superstar of Bengali cinema and became one-man industry in the 70s. Critics argue that no Indian star other than Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor had the individual charishma which Uttam Kumar had and if his Hindi films clicked he could have created serious competition for the stars of 60s. But Arundhuti Debi’s films with Uttam Kumar were so rich in literature, script and performance that critics argue that the combination addressed the concerns of intellectual audience of the country more than any other combination. The films should be restored for their aesthetic value.

Happy birthday to Tina Munimji.

Happy birthday to Tina Munim. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Tina Munim on 11th February, 2023. She is better known as Tina Ambani after marrying Anil Ambani who is one of Indian’s leading business magnets. She was discovered by Dev Anand and cast in the film Desh Pardesh in 1978. She also acted in the films Lootmaar and Manpasand. She was most successful opposite Rishi Kapoor, who was the greatest romantic actor in the late 70s and early 80s. Subhash Ghai’s Karz stormed bollywood in the late 70s, where Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim combination was well accepted by the audience. All the songs composed by LP and picturised on Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim became super hit including “mai sola baraski”, “ek haseena thi”, “darde dil”, “om shanty om”, etc. Karz was remade few years back with Himesh Reshammiya playing the role of Rishi Kapoor in the new version. She also acted in the super hit film Aap Ke Diwane opposite Rishi Kapoor. Rakesh Roshan did cast her in the film Akhir Kyon opposite Rishi Kapoor. She was sublime in Basu Chatterjee’s film Baaton Baaton Me opposite Amol Palekar, and Man Pasand. She acted in a number of films opposite Rajesh Khanna including Souten, Bewafai, Insaaf Mai Karunga, most of which did excellent business. Souten did good business in the early 1980s. Padmini Kolhapuri played an important role in that film. She had acted opposite other actors also but viewers remember her combination the most with Rishi Kapoor. Her performances opposite Rishi Kapoor in the films Bade Dilwale, Deedar-E-Yaar and Aap Ke Deewane are remembered by the viewers. Aap Ke Deewane did great business in 1980. Rakesh Roshan also acted opposite Tina Munim where Rishi Kapoor played the main role. The music of Rajesh Roshan became super hit including Rafi’s songs “aap ke dewaane hai”, “tum ko khush dekhkar mai bahut khush hua”, etc. Sunil Dutt launched his son Sanjay Dutt in the film Rocky opposite Tina Munim. The film did good business in the early 80s. In 1987 she left bollywood films. Later she settled down after marrying Anil Ambani. She had been involved in many charitable works. The viewers wish Tina Munim to appear in bollywood films in future, as she still has a lot of acting left in her.