Arati Mukherjee said in interview before ABP that Robin Chatterjee gave her first break.

Singer Arati Mukherjee was given the first break by eminent Bengali composer Robin Chatterjee. Arati Mukherjee gave an exclusive interview in Anandabazar Patrika before Pathik Pandit, and it was published on 9th October, 2011. Arati Mukherjee lost her father at an early age. She lived in a joint family. She learned classical singing from different gurus including Sushil Banerjee. He was the judge of a music competition, where Arati Mukherjee participated. Eminent singer Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya was the chief judge in that competition and he was impressed by Arati Mukherjee’s singing. He asked Sushil Banerjee, whether Arati Mukherjee is interested to sing a duet song with him in the film Mamlar Fol. The film was based on the story of kathasahityik Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. Robin Chatterjee was the leading composer of Bengali films of the 50s and composed excellent music in films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, etc. In the 60s Arati Mukherjee got scope of singing in hit films like Deya Neya, Shankha Bela. Her song “madhabi madhute holo mitali” in the film Deya Neya became very successful. Her pet name was Alo. Arati Mukherjee married famous solicitor Shreyas Manim. In the flat in Mumbai famous singer and composer Hemanta Mukherjee came. He asked her to make a cake. She started making the cake. Then she and husband played a song of Ustad Amir Khan. The cake became overcooked. Hemanta Mukherjee ate that cake and said that it added taste due to the music. Her journey in the hindi film world started with the film Geet Gata Chal. She received filmfare award for her song in the film Masoom, where RD Burman composed music. Arati Mukherjee talked about a number of composers including Nochiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. She talked about director Hrithik Ghatak who was looking for a new voice for his film Subarnarekha. Hrithik Ghatak met Arati Mukherjee’s guru Sagiruddin Khan and he introduced Arati Mukherjee to Hrithik Ghatak. Tapan Sinha composed the song “choti si panchi” sung by Arati Mukherjee. Arati Mukherjee’s humbleness had amazed the readers and listeners of music.

Happy birthday to Rajnikant.

Happy birthday to Rajnikant. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Rajnikant on 12th December, 2017. For the last 30 years he had remained as one of the most popular superstars of South Indian films and carried his stardom in bollywood films as well. He was very ill last year, struggling with kidney disorder. After treatment he had recovered. His film Robot was a sensation in South India and did well in North India as well. His admirers expect him to continue his stylish performances in new films in future, the same way as he did in the past. From the beginning of his career he had created an identity in action films. He had his own mannerisms which were liked by South Indian audience and was also new for bollywood viewers. In the film Andha Kanoon, he acted along with Big B. The film was released in 1983. His parents were tortured and killed in the film by Pran, Prem Chopra and Danny. The entire film was related to the revenge that he had taken against all those actors. His sister’s role was played by Hema Malini who was a police-officer in the film. There were romantic sequences in the film as well where Reena Roy contributed opposite Rajnikant, but as the action sequences became predominating there was not much scope for the romantic performance. The film became superhit in the early 80s. Rajnikant also showed his comfort in hindi films after playing a handsome innings in South Indian films. Rajnikant showed his skills in action films along with Kamal Hassan and Big B in the film Geraftar. There he played the role of a friend of Big B, who was killed during an encounter with the villains in the film. The action sequences in the film became famous during mid-80s. Also the music of Bappi Lahiri became popular. During the mid-80s Rajnikant acted in the superhit film Chaalbaaz which was made in the same line as Ram Aur Shyam and Seeta Aur Geeta. In the earlier films the double roles played by Dilip Kumar and Hema Malini amused the viewers. In Chaalbaaz the double role was played by Sri Devi. Rajnikant and Sunny Deol were the two heroes in the film. As the film was based on comedy of errors Rajnikant used his comedy skills to perfection opposite Sri Devi. Also Anupam kher did an experiment in the negative role in the film. Rajnikant had been one of the most popular icons of Tamil films for generations and had carried forward the legacy that was created by Shivaji Ganeshan, Jemini Ganeshan and others. The list of his hit films are too long and cannot be highlighted in a small article. Even his latest film that was released in 2008 titled Shivaji had become super hit. He also played a very active role in South Indian politics. He campaigned for the political party Dravida Munetra Khazagham (DMK) under the leadership of M. Karunanidhi. Filmstars in South India are hailed across all the four states Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh as the languages Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam are very close to each other. Rajnikant had remained popular for more than 25 years and the people at large could identify themselves in the diversified characters that Rajnikant had played during his long career. In 2014 he acted in the film Lingaa. Whenever the list of South Indian filmstars who had glorified bollywood films comes into question the name of Rajnikant comes at the top along with Kamal Hassan, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Arvind Swami and others. The All India audience expect Rajnikant to continue his excellent work both in South Indian films as well as bollywood films in the years to come.

Happy birth anniversary to Showman of the Millenium Raj Kapoor.

Happy birth anniversary to Raj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor is remembered by the nation on his birth anniversary on 14th December, 2017. He was probably the most popular actor of bollywood films of the 40s, 50s and 60s other than Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor still remain the most popular actors of bollywood cinema in the last 70 years. One of the reasons of their immense success includes the superlative class of music being given to the giant actors by Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan. Naushad gave classic tunes to Dilip Kumar in the films Uran Khatola, Kohinoor, Mughal-I-Azam, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Ram Aur Shyam, Aadmi, to name a few. Rafi and Shakeel Badayani were the other players in the deadly combination. Rafi’s songs for Dilip Kumar like “madhuban me radhika nachere”, “woh dur ke musafir”, “tere husn ki kya taarif karun”, “koi sagar dil ko behlata nahi”, “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “aaj purani rahon se koi mujhe awaaz na den”, “na aadmi ka koi bharosa”, “do sitaron ka zameen par hai Milan aaj ki raat”, etc., remain one of the greatest creations of all times. If Naushad was unparallel as a composer, Shakeel Badayani was unparallel as a lyricist, Rafi was matchless as singer and Dilip Kumar matchless as an actor. Producer director Raj Kapoor was the closest competitor of Dilip Kumar during the 40s, 50s and 60s. In fact both the giants had acted together in the film Andaz in 1949. Raj Kapoor’s deadly combination with Shankar Jaikishan had produced super hit films like Barsaat, Aah, Awara, Shree 40, Chori Chori, Anari, Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, to name a few. The music of those films were equally popular and successful. Songs of Mukesh and Manna Dey like “ramaiya vasta maiya”, “mur murk e na dekh”, “sab kuch seekha humne”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, “o mehbooba”, “dost dost na raha” “aa aab laut chalen”, had not lost their flavor even after 50 years of their creation. As Raj Kapoor had other qualities besides acting including production, direction, editing, etc., he is considered the greatest showman of all times even today. As far as the compositions of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan are considered, both the composers had very strong classical orientation. Naushad gave folk tunes to Dilip Kumar in Ganga Jumna sung by Rafi including “nain lad jaiy he” and Lata in “dhoondo dhoondo resaajna”, etc. Shankar Jaikishan gave folk tunes to Raj Kapoor in Teesri Kasam in songs like “chalet musafir” sung by Manna Dey, to name a few. If Naushad displayed the muslim culture of Lucknow, Aligarh with his classical tunes in films like Leader, Kohinoor, Mughal-i-azam, Shankar Jaikishan displayed the European tunes in Raj Kapoor’s films Sangam, Around the World, etc., where the westernized orchestrations complimented the colourful scenary of the foreign countries. In fact, SJ’s tunes “chale jana zara theheron” showed the brilliance of Lake Erie and Niagra Falls stretching from Canada to USA, and mesmerizing the audience. Even in Sangam, the creation of SJ picturised in the snow-clad Switzerland titled “ishq the ishq, I love you” showed SJ’s capability of adapting to European tunes. The musical fountain in Around the World, showed the brilliance of SJ in the film Around the World. The lyrics written by Shakeel Badayani in Dilip Kumar’s films where music was composed by Naushad were as innovative as the lyrics written by Hasrat Jaipuri and Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’ films composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The lyrics contained urdu shairy, bhopuri language, ultramodern lyrics, rural language, etc. and appealed to the masses. Naushad had composed music in more than 15 films of Dilip Kumar and the same is the case of Shankar Jaikishan in Raj Kapoor’s films. The music of each of those films can be analysed and revisited. It is impossible to say whether Dilip Kumar’s combination with Naushad was greater than Raj Kapoor’s combination with Shankar Jaikishan, but it is true that the two giants had left assets for generations to cherish which had ended up being masterpieces. New actors, composers, singers, directors learn from the success of the Showman and Tragedy King and the works should be revisited. Raj Kapoor’s legacy is carried forward by his son Rishi Kapoor, grandson Ranbir Kapoor and granddaughter Kareena Kapoor. Both Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor had established themselves in bollywood films and will go a long way. Different private channels showed films of Raj Kapoor on his birthday in 2013. Raj Kapoor’s creations should be preserved and restored.