Happy birthday to Shatrughun Sinha.

Happy birthday to Shatrughun Sinha.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to successful actor Shatrughun Sinha on 9th December, 2009. He was considered to be one of the leading angry young man of the 70s after Big B.

Although he started his career as anti-hero in films like Khilouna, where the central characters were played by Jeetender and Sanjeev Kumar, within short time, he showed his metal as an action star and ruled bollywood films for another 20 years. He was successful in films like Gaye Aur Gauri opposite Jaya Bacchan, Bombay To Goa, etc., in the early 70s.

Shatrughun Sinha learned acting Pune Film and Television Institute and his lessons went a long way in his illustrious career. Viewers remember his combination with Reena Roy as both played romantic pair in numerous films. Kalicharan was one of the most popular films amongst them.

Whenever Shatrughun Sinha faced Amitabh Bacchan both the actors tried to supersede the other. The viewers enjoyed the rift between the two actors in contemporary films. Both did a fantastic job in Ramesh Sippy’s film Shaan. Shatrughun Sinha’s charishma in the role of a shooter was as elegant as Big B’s angry young image in killing Goga Kapoor’s men in the film.

The other films where Big and Shotgun (Shatrughun Sinha was called by this name) met included Kala Patthar, Dostana, Naseeb, to mention a few. In all those films both the actors complimented each other. Even in comedy films like Naram Garam, Shotgun showed his comedy elements and was appreciated.

Shatrughun Sinha was given an off-beat role by Goutam Ghosh in Bengali film Antarjali Jatra where he played the role of a cremator. He played a marathon innings in films which include commercial success like Goutam Govinda, Dillagi, etc. Even in political career he achieved a lot by working for the people under the BJP banner. He was member of Rajya Sabha and won elections also under BJP ticket. He is called the stylish Bihari Babu by his admirers.

Both Shatrughun Sinha and Vinod Khanna are considered the greatest competitors with Big B and had succeeded in portraying the role of action heroes in India. Their height, voice and stature helped a lot in portraying those characters. The viewers expect Shotgun to continue the great work in films in future.

Happy birthday to Dharmender.

Happy birthday to Dharmender.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Dharmender on 8th December, 2009. He is one of the living legends of bollywood.

He had acted in more than 300 films and bollywood industry was heavily dependent on the star in the 60s and 70s. He started his journey with romantic films. His successful romantic films included Phool Aur Pathar with Meena Kumari, Mamta with Suchitra Sen, Mere Humdum Mere Dost with Sharmila Tagore, Aye Din Bahar Ke with Asha Parekh, Pyar Hi Pyar with Vaijayantimala, to name a few. Rafi’s songs picturized on Dharmender like “gar tum bhula na doge,” “ na ja kahin ab na ja”, “o majhi chal”, “dil kahen ruk ja”, “aaj mausam bara beimaan hai”, etc., had remained evergreen gems.

He played a different innings in the 70s. His image of action hero created revolution in bollywood films. He had a very muscular physic and created a trend of actors who involved themselves in exercises. His discipline had been followed by the actors of the next generation like Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and others. His successful films in the 70s included Jheel Ke Us Paar, Jugnu, Sholay, Dream Girl, etc.

His combination with Hema Malini is considered as one of the most colourful onscreen combination after Raj Kapoor Nargis and Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala. Dharmender had acted in more than 20 films with Hema Malini, most of which were super hit. The most renowned films included Raja Jani, Naya Zamana, Sholay, Charas, Seeta Aur Geeta, Burning Train, Dream Girl, etc.

Dharmender acted in off-beat films as well. The best example was Gulzar’s Kinara. He was the husband of Hema Malini in the film who was a noted classical dancer. He was killed due to an accident with the car of Jeetender in the film. Bhupinder Singh’s song picturised on Dharmender titled “ek hi khwab kai baar dekha hai maine” remains as one of the greatest off-beat creations of RD Burman. His performance in the film Maa, based on the life of elephant requires special mention. He took a young elephant away from his mother to use him in Circus. The mother elephant revolted and killed Dharmender’s mother Nirupa Roy in the film. Dharmender’s patent dialogue “maa kasam”, “kamine”, etc., were memorized by youths of the 70s.
Both his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol are successful actors of bollywood films. Dharmender still has acting left in him and the viewers expect him to carry on the marathon innings that he had started 50 years back.

Leslie Ackerman and Hollywood films.

Leslie Ackerman and Hollywood films.

Leslie Ackerman had remained an unsung actress of Hollywood films. Born in 1956 in New Jersey, USA, she initially created attention by playing significant roles in Television serials related to Star Trek series. Star Trek was very popular all across the world.

She is still remembered in the role of a glamourous and attractive waitress in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1996 episode “Trials and Tribble-ations”. Going back her career in films and Television serials, she created attention with her performance in the serial series titled Stag in the early 80s. Her co-star Craig Wassman also featured opposite her both in Stag and also in the Star Trek series.

Her other notable Television serials included Barnaby Jones, The Streets of San Francisco, All in the Family, Quincy, Chips, Cagney and Lacey, Moonlighting, etc. She even featured in the popular serial Baywatch in a Guest role where Pamela Anderson mesmerized the viewers.

As far as her career in Hollywood films is concerned, she started her journey with the film Law and Disorder in 1974. She was very successful in the film The First Nudie Musical released in 1976. They she followed it up with the film Joyride to Nowhere in 1977.

By the late 70s, she became a sought after actress in Hollywood films. She played cameos in the films Cracking up in 1977 and Hardcore in 1979. In the 80s she acted in less number of films. Even then her performance in the film Blame it on the night, released in 1984 require special mention.

In 2000, she played a significant role as a writer. She wrote, produced and starred in the movie What’s Eating You. This was a different experience for her. She is not compared with Hollywood legends like Audrey Hepburn or Ava Gardner, but her contribution in Hollywood films is worth remembering and for those reasons the films and serials should be preserved.