Atif Aslam and bollywood films.

Atif Aslam and bollywood films.

Atif Aslam, better known as Mohammad Atif Aslam, was born on 11th March, 1983. He had emerged as a very powerful pop singer of Pakistan who had shown his requirement in bollywood music in the last 5 years.

He was born in Wazirabad and studied in Lahore and Rawalpindi. During his early days he had passion towards cricket and played well too. It was very natural as Lahore was the city from where the captain of Pakistan Imran Khan belonged. But his love over music turned his career.

He recorded the song “aadat” in Mekal Hassan’s Studio in the late 90s. He released his first album titled ‘jalpari’ in 2004. His second album “doori” was released in 2006. He stormed bollywood with his stylish performance in the film Race.

Composer Pritam used his pop style of singing in the song “pehli nazar me aisa jadoo kar diya” in the film Race. Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Khanna played the lead roles in the film. The song became a craze for the youngstars. Atif Aslam continued his stylish performance with the song “bakhuda tumhi ho” in the film Kismat Connection picturised on Shahid Kapoor. Although the film did mediocre business the song became super hit.

In 2009, Atif Aslam, stormed bollywood with the songs “tu jane na”, and “tera hone laga hoon” composed by Pritam. Both the songs were from the film Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani which was one of the greatest hits of 2009, after The Three Idiots and Wanted. The songs were picturised on Ranbir Kapoor who had been described as the new superstar by a number of film critics.

He is presently busy with the songs of the film Prince – It’s Showtime. His song “who lamhe” from the film Zeher was also successful. He received “tamgha –e-imtiaz”, a medal of distinction for outstanding singing.

He will be a big competitor of Indian established singers like Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Udit Narayan, and others. The viewers and listeners expect him to continue the great work.

Sujit Kumar died at the age of 75.

Sujit Kumar died at the age of 75.

Veteran actor Sujit Kumar died on 6th February, 2010. He was a successful actor both in hindi films and Bhojpuri films.

In the late 60s, he started playing positive roles. He played the role of the friend of Rajesh Khanna in Shakti Shamanta’s film Aradhana in 1969. He played the mouth organ in style in the song ‘mere sapno ki rani” in Aradhana. But in the early 70s he started playing negative roles.

He played the lead villain in Dharmender’s film Resham Ki Dori. In the mid-70s, there was a tradition of using more than one villain in the same film. He played his role as a villain in the action film Jugnu. He was the other villain other than Ajit and Prem Chopra in the same film. The other films where he played negative roles included Ankhen and Charas.

He played significant roles in the late 70s and early 80s as well. In Big B’s the great gambler, Sujit Kumar played the negative character under Prem Chopra who implicated Big B. In Shaan he worked under Kulbhushan Kharbanda. He had a strong action scene with Shashi Kapoor in the film Shaan.

In the late 80s and early 90s, he played character roles. He played the role of the father of Anil Kapoor in the film Kala Bazar. He was a clerk who led his life with honesty. When he faced charges of corruption, he could not bear it and committed suicide. Anil Kapoor took revenge against the perpetrators of crime in the film.

Sujit Kumar also produced notable films. One of them included Champion, where Sunny Deol and Manisha Koirala played the lead characters. The film was related to the fear created by a villain in the eyes of a small boy who was protected by Sunny Deol. Sunny had to kill the person to drive out the fear from the minds of the little boy.

Sujit Kumar played a very long innings in Bhojpuri films right from the 60s to the 90s. He did not get very prominent roles in his illustrious career. But an actor who had acted in more than 150 hindi films and Bhojpuri films deserve respect from the film fraternity and the viewers. His films should be restored.

Happy birthday to Pran.

Happy birthday to Pran.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Pran Sikand, the legendary actor on 12th February, 2010. He was one of indispensable personality in bollywood films without whom most of the films of the 50s and 60s could not be thought about. He also was a big star who was as popular as an antihero as the leading stars of 50s and 60s including Showman Raj Kapoor and Tragedy King Dilip Kumar.

Pran had acted in more than 300 films in his career which spanned over 60s years. He was a notorious dacoit in Raj Kapoor’s Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, who was reformed and persuaded to surrender before the police at the end of the film. He hammered Dilip Kumar all along the film Dil Diya Dard Liya, not knowing his identity. It was later known that Dilip Kumar was the king of the princely estate after the locket in his body was discovered. Dilip Kumar forgave him even after knowing that his affair with Wahida Rehman never blossomed into marriage due to Pran only. Among romantic songs of Rafi and Lata like “sawan aye ya na aye”, “dilruba main ne tere”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, Pran kept a balance with his villanish pursuits.

In Ram Aur Shyam, Pran tortured one of the Dilip Kumars who played the role of his brother-in-law. When Dilip Kumar’s twin brother came to his wife he took revenge against the evil deeds of Pran. The film was serio-comic in nature with Dilip Kumar playing a double role for the first time in Ram Aur Shyam.

In the mid-60s, Pran changed his image by playing positive roles like the one he played in the film Upkar. In that film he played the role of a handicapped person but he was an observer who witnessed the good deeds of Manoj Kumar who was a farmer and the bad deeds of his own brother played by Prem Chopra. Pran’s lips in Manna Dey’s songs “kasme wade” is still remembered by cinematic audience today.

Pran was sublime in most of the hit films of the 60s like Shammi Kapoor’s Raj Kumar, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, etc., Joy Mukherjee’s Love in Tokyo, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Biswajeet’s Mere Sanam, Rajender Kumar’s Ganwar, to name a few. In the 70s he even matched himself with the action heroes of the other generation like Dharmender and Big B.

His performance in Big B’s film Zanjeer in the role of a Pathan requires special mention. In Amar Akbar Anthony, he was the father of Big B, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor and he faced the evil operations of Jeevan and his men all along the film. He kept his fit to such an extent that in action sequences, he never looked out of place in a film where Big B, Vinod Khanna who were much younger than him showed their own skills.

Pran continued his villainish performances in films of 80s including Dilip Kumar’s Duniya and Big B and Rajnikant’s Andha Kanoon. With notable actors coming in bollywood industry in the 80s like Amrish Puri, Danny, Paresh Rawal, Kader Khan, Anupam Kher, etc., Pran slowly faded away from the industry. By that time he had performed in more than 300 films.

Viewers remember him for his unique style of dialogue delivery, unique mannerisms and fantastic body. His viewers pay respect to the old actor on his birthday who had already received lifetime achievement award from Filmfare for his unique contribution to bollywood cinema.