Pannalal Bhattacharya and Dhananjay Bhattacharya were the greatest shyamasangeet singers ever

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 birthday to you Hema Maliniji the dream girl of India

Happy birthday to dream-girl Hema Malini. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to dream girl Hema Malini on 16th October, 2024. 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.

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoorji the thoughtful actor

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor on 6th December, 2024. He was one of the thoughtful directors of bollywood films and still his films are cherished by a big section of the viewers today. He directed a meaningful film Masoom in the early 80s. He used the most dynamic actors and actresses of the contemporary period that was Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddun Shah. Naseeruddin had a previous wife who died leaving his small child played by Jugal Hansraj. He married Shabana Azmi who already had her own daughters including Urmila Matondkar. It was difficult for Shabana Azmi to accept the step son when her own daughters’ interests were related. Naseeruddin Shah decided to send the young child to boarding, but Shabana Azmi’s conscious spoke and she brought him back at the end of the film. RD Burman’s composition titled “huzur is kadar bhi” sung by Bhupinder Singh and Suresh Watkar, and “tushse naraz nahi zindagi” sung by Lata appealed to the masses. Shekhar Kapoor astonished the viewers with a masala film Mr. India in the mid-80s. Anil Kapoor found a device which could make people invisible. He used the device to encounter a big smuggler played by Amrish Puri with the title Mogambo. Anil Kapoor ran an orphanage full of children and after becoming Mr. India used the children in his fight against Mogambo. Anil Kapoor’s compassionate performance, Amrish Puri’s fiery acting, Sri Devi’s dance numbers, everything appealed to the masses and the film ended up being the greatest hit of the year. Laxmikant Pyarellal’s music in the film became super hit including songs like “hawa hawai”, “karte hai hum pyar Mr. India se”, etc. Shekhar Kapoor was criticized the most for his film Bandit Queen based on the life of dacoit Phoolan Devi. Shekhar Kapoor tried to show the torture faced by Phoolan Debi who was a malwa, by the Thakurs of the area, which compelled her to become dacoit. But the film gathered controversy due to the details shown by Shekhar Kapoor in respect of humiliation faced by Phoolan Debi. The Censure Board came in the way. Shekhar Kapoor got criticized all the way. His other film Elizabeth was also a noble venture. Shekhar Kapoor is also known for his acting in TV serials like Khandan which became super hit in the mid-80s. His future projects include Paani, Long Walk To Freedom and The Last Full Measure. The viewers expect Shekhar Kapoor to continue his innovative film making in the years to come.