Sunday, July 10, 2022

Happy birthday to Manoj Kumar sahab the patriotic star called Bharat Kumar.

Happy birthday to Manoj Kumar. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Manoj Kumar on 24th July, 2022
. He is almost 80
years old now. He started his career as a romantic hero, then showed his skills in the field of direction and created a separate identity as a patriotic hero. He later on earned the name of Bharat Kumar. Harikishan Giri Goswami, better known as Manoj Kumar, was a big admirer of Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. He was obsessed with Dilip Kumar’s performance in the film Shabnam, in 1949, and kept the name of the character of the film, which was Manoj Kumar. Although he started his career in the film Fashion in 1957, he got recognition with a lead role in the film Kaanch Ki Gudiya in 1960. Vijay Bhatt directed Hariyali Aur Raasta in 1962 changed the destiny of Manoj Kumar as a romantic hero. The songs of the film were composed by genius of genius Shankar Jaikishan, and with Mala Sinha’s assistance Manoj Kumar reached the hearts of millions of music lovers in the country. The songs in the film including “ifteda-e-ishq”, “yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta”, sung by Mukesh and Lata astonished the viewers. The film became super hit. In the mid-60s, Manoj Kumar landmark roles in suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, 1964, and Gumnaam, 1965. Woh Kaun Thi was a horror film of Raj Khosla where Manoj Kumar played the role of the doctor who got scared with the ghostly appearance of Sadhna, who played a double role in the film. He solved the mystery in the film got Prem Chopra arrested at the end after realizing that his wife had a twin sister who was used as a ghost. The music of Madan Mohan was brilliant and Lata’s songs “naina barse rimjhim”, “lagja gale”, etc., created sensation. Gumnaam was a murder thriller which stormed bollywood in the mid-60s. More than seven friends were given offer of going for holidays, but the flight was hijacked and the friends had to land at an island. Each of them was killed one after the other and no one knew who killed them. Manoj Kumar solved the mystery and unearthed the truth that Tarun Bose was the actual murderer. The music composed by Shankar Jaikishan was extraordinary with songs like “jane chaman shola badan” sung by Rafi and Sharda, “gumnaam hai koi” sung by Lata, “is duniya me jeena ho to”, “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” sung by Mohammad Rafi, etc. Manoj Kumar started his second innings with patriotic films like Shaheed, Upkaar, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti, moved the viewers and earned him respect. He directed of those films and got filmfare award for best director for excellent work in films like Upkaar and Roti Kapda and Makaan. His film Upkaar also received the national award for best film in 1967, and he gave life to the slogan of PM Lal Bahadur Shastri titled “jai jawan jai kisan” with Upkaar. In fact Upkaar, was the highest grosser film in 1967, surpassing all the other super hit films like Ram Aur Shyam, Jewel Thief, etc. The songs in Upkaar composed by Kalyanji Anandji were also brilliant including “mere desh ki dharti” sung by Mahendra Kapoor and “kasme wade pyar wafa sab” sung by Manna Dey. After Upkaar a big section of the crowd used to call Manoj Kumar as Bharat Kumar, as his patriotic feelings used to reflect in his creations. His other successful films as hero also include Patthar Ke Sanam, Anita, Aadmi, etc. He acted with childhood idol Dilip Kumar in Aadmi and Kranti. The songs of most of his films were of excellent class. Naushad’s creation in Aadmi, and Rafi’s songs like “na aadmi ka khoi bharosa”, “aaj purani rahon se”, etc., had remained invalueable assets over the period of time. The viewers expect him to continue the excellent work as a director in the years to come.

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Superstar Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar were the best in the films of director Ajoy Kar.

Uttam Kumar’s excellent combination with director Ajoy Kar. Uttam Kumar being the greatest superstar of Bengali cinema during the golden age, that is the 50s, 60s and 70s, had acted in the films of all the legendary filmmakers of Bengal and the country as a whole. He had worked with Satyajit Ray in films like Nayak, Chiriakhana, Tapan Sinha in films like Jotugriha, Jhinder Bandi, Agragami in films like Sankhabela, Shilpi, Agradoot in films like Sabar Opore, Surjo Toron, Gulzar in films like Kitaab, Mrinal Sen in films like Raat Bhor. But the commercial films in which Uttam Kumar had gained stardom were mostly related to the works of Ajoy Kar, the innovative filmmaker of the country. He utilized the middle-class image of Uttam Kumar in the film Griha Prabesh. He made Uttam Kumar play a sacrificing role in the society in the film Shyamali. Shaymali was staged in Star Theatre in Kolkata as play and ran successfully for more than 4 years. Ajoy Kar came out victorious in the film Shyamali after Uttam Kumar played a cameo in the film. Uttam Kumar played the role of an honest academician in the film Bardidi based on the epic literature of Sarat Chandra Chatterji. Ajoy Kar provided spectacles in the make up of Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar was as brilliant in the role of a down to earth zamindar as Sandharani who played the lead role in the film. Ajoy Kar’s Harano Sur was the biggest hit film of Bengali cinema of the 50s. Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen became the most enterprising romantic pair of the millennium with the landmark performance in the film Harano Sur. Uttam Kumar lost his memory in the early part of the film after meeting with an accident and married Suchitra Sen. He forgot her after his earlier memory was regained. Suchitra Sen worked in the house of Uttam Kumar as governess of Uttam Kumar’s brother’s child to return his memory. Uttam Kumar produced the film and it created history. The Ajoy Kar Uttam Kumar magic continued in the film Saptapadi based on the classic literature of Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. Uttam Kumar being a hindu Brahmin married Suchitra Sen, a Christian. Chabi Biswas the father of Uttam Kumar begged before Suchitra Sen to forget Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar changed his religion, became a doctor and served the people during the 2nd world war. He even cured Suchitra Sen who suffered a bomb blast during the war. The film was considered to be the greatest hit of the 60s. Uttam Kumar acted in other landmark films of Ajoy Kar like Suno Boronari and Khelaghar. It was pity that in the late 60s, Ajoy Kar went to Pune Film and Television Institute and taught new directors the art of film making. Otherwise he could have experimented more with Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. The legendary films of the great director and the landmark matinee idol should be restored for the future generations.

The film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya created trend for comedy films

The film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya was a trend setter. The film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya was another brilliant venture of David Dhawan. It was a multi-starrer film produced by Sohail Khan. Three sets of pairs were experimented with in the year 2005, and from that time onwards it has become a trend setter. The actors and actresses who performed in the film included Salman Khan, Katrina kaif , Sushmita Sen ,Sohail Khan, Arshad Warsi , Isha Koppikar, Rajpal Yadav and others. Salman Khan was an orthopedic surgeon in the film. He had an affair with Katrina Kaif, who was a model. To stop the female patients from flirting with him, Salman told everyone that he was married. Katrina also believed in the fact. She asked Salman Khan to introduce her with his wife. He convinced Sushmita Sen, his nurse, to pretend as his wife. Sushmita met Katrina with two children of her relative and spoke about her relationship with Salman. Katrina thought the children were Salman’s children and wanted to meet them. When the children were introduced Katrina came to know that her previous wife had a boy friend. Then she wanted to meet him and for that matter Salman Khan had to ask Arshad Warsi to act with Sushmita Sen. Then came the artificial divorce scene, where Salman Khan’s mother stepped in from Punjab and accepted Sushmita Sen as the wife of Salman Khan. At the end of the film Sushmita Sen went to Karina Kaif and told the truth. Katrina asked Salman Khan to marry Sushmita Sen who agreed to pretend as his wife. Katrina Kaif married Sohail Khan who was struggling actor in the film. The entire story was depicted with comedy sequences. Himmesh Reshamiya’s music composition was very impressive. All the songs in the film became super hits including “just chill chill”, “saajan, tumse pyar ki larayi me”, “teri meri love story ka angle”, etc. Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan and other singers contributed well in the film. The performance of Rajpal Yadav in the role of soldier who lost his legs in Cargill War requires special mention. Rajpal Yadav’s legs were normal, yet he used to come to Salman Khan’s clinic only to meet Sushmita Sen. He helped Salman Khan to reach the airport to stop Sushmita Sen to leave the country at the end of the film. Arshad Warsi’s acting as lawyer in the divorce scene was phenomenal. Isha Koppikar did not get proper scope of dialogue throwing in the film but her dance performance in the song “saajan, tujhse pyar ki ladayi me” was very impressive. The performance of Salman Khan’s mother by the actress who was also an Officer in the Ministry of Tourism, Rajasthan was extraordinary. Katrina Kaif and Sushmita Sen looked the beautiful in the film if compared with any other film in their career. Sohail Khan spend most of his career in production and direction of films, but in respect of his performance probably he did his best in the comedy role which was as important as Salman’s role. Day by day Salman Khan also has matured as a good comedian, because these days producers and directors rank him after Anil Kapoor and Govinda, whenever they think about comedy films. David Dhawan should continue with brilliant ventures like Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya in future also.