Legendary actress Suchitra Sen as remembered on birth anniversary.

Suchitra Sen was remembered on her death anniversary. Bengal’s Mahanayika Suchitra Sen had become immortal in her works. She had been remembered on 6th April, 2019

. Suchitra Sen died on 17th January, 2014, at an age of 83 years. The entire film fraternity and her numerous lovers had become speechless to hear her death news. She was admitted in Belview Nursing Home more than 2 weeks. Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee mourned her death. Legendary actress Suchitra Sen had been remembered on her 84th birth anniversary on 6th April, 2014. In Star Ananda Channel veteran actress Sabitri Chatterjee had been invited to speak about Suchitra Sen. She acted with the legend in many films like Annapurnar Mondir, Grihadaha, etc. Suchitra Sen started her career with the film Saat Number Qaidi in 1953 and ended up with the film Pranay Pasha in 1978. After that she retired from film acting. Within the span of 25 years she acted in 3 films opposite Uttam Kumar making the romantic pair immortal over the last 60 years. She also acted in bollywood films including Devdas opposite Dilip Kumar, Bombai Ka Babu opposite Dev Anand, Mamta opposite Dharmender and Ashok Kumar, Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar, to name a few. Suchitra Sen had a tremendous combination with singer Geeta Dutt and their understanding both in Bengali films and bollywood films had created history during the golden age, that is the 50s and 60s. In the film Indrani, all the songs sung by Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen including “jhanak jhanak madhur badan”, “nir choto khoti nei”, “ogo sundoro”, etc., all became super hit. Suchitra Sen provided hit films one after the other with Uttam Kumar, during that age and Indrani also falls in that category. Even in films where Geeta Dutt had sung only one song for Suchitra Sen, even in those films, the songs had a great impact in the success of the films. The song in the Ajoy Kar’s epic film Harano Sur, in 1957, titled “tumi je amar” had a unique appeal for the audience. Uttam Kumar lost his memory due to meeting with an accident and Suchitra Sen sang the song a number of times in the film. It haunted the viewers and touched the souls of numerous admirers of Bengali films. Geeta Dutt’s song for Suchitra Sen also in the film Hospital also became extremely successful. Ashok Kumar acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and the song was “ei shundar sharnali sondhae”. In bollywood films, SD Burman used Geeta Dutt for Suchitra Sen in the film Bombai Ka Babu. Dev Anand acted opposite Suchitra Sen in the film and all the songs were super hits. The main songs included “dekhne me bhola hai”, “pa ma ga”, etc., out of which some of them were duet songs with Mohammad Rafi and their romantic by every musical standard. As Suchitra Sen made memorable contribution in bollywood films for more than 30 years, a lot of legendary singers contributed for her during that period. There were hit songs sung by Sandhya Mukherjee in landmark films like Sagarika, Pathe Holo Deri, Sriti Tuku Thak, Uttar Falguni, Bipasha, etc. At the same time in bollywood films Lata had sung landmark songs for Suchitra Sen including “rahe na rahe hum” composed by Roshan in the film Mamta, “is mor se jate hai”, “tere bina zindagi me shikwa” composed by RD Burman in the film Aandhi. Even then Geeta Dutt was probably the only singer who sang songs for Suchitra Sen both in the Bengali films as well as the bollywood films. As Suchitra Sen’s hindi films were restricted to only Devdas, Champakali, Musafir, Bombai Ka Babu, Mamta, Aandhi, etc, Geeta Dutt got a limited scope of contributing in Suchitra Sen’s hindi films. Even then, the songs are still remembered by many generations and for those reasons the films should also be preserved. It is a pity that Suchitra Sen had gone behind the purdah. The media people cannot approach her to get interview. The films of Suchitra Sen should be preserved and restored.

Tanuja was successful both in hindi and bengali films.

anuja’s success in bollywood films and Bengali films. Tanuja, the sister of dignified actress Nutan and the daughter of Sobhna Samarth created a unique place in bollywood films and Bengali films. Being the member of a family having legacy of contributing a lot in bollywood films, she had to face acid test. In the 60s, when bollywood industry was flooded with talented actresses, Tanuja stepped in bollywood films. She had faced Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Wahida Rehman, Sadhna, Vaijayantimala and other classic actresses and yet created her identity in that age. Tanuja’s prominent films in the 60s include Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi, with Dharmender, Memdidi, Sapno Ka Saudagar, opposite Raj Kapoor, etc. Within 3 to 4 years, she was cast opposite leading actors of bollywood films. Her performance opposite Dev Anand, in the film Jewel Thief was appreciated by film-lovers. Jewel Thief was crime-thriller director by Vijay Anand. Tanuja’s innocence in the film and spontaneous presence impressed the viewers. Besides Tanuja’s lips in Ahsa Bhosle’s song “raat nashili hai” was very impressive. In the early 70s, Tanuja switched on to serious films like Basu Bhattacharya’s Anubhav opposite Sanjeev Kumar. Her lips in Geeta Dutt’s song “mera dil jo mera hota” and other songs showed the acting class of Tanuja. She did even better in Dharmender’s film Izzat. Dharmender had double role with one son being the illegitimate child of Balraj Sahani. Her performance in the song “loote dil pe diya jalta nahi hum kya Karen” sung by Lata and Rafi made viewers spellbound. She was equally impressive in the film Pabitra Papi. Tanuja was involved in super hit films like Haathi Mera Saathi opposite Rajesh Khanna, Mere Jeevan Saathi opposite Rajesh Khanna, Ek Paheli, opposite Feroz Khan, to name a few. In respect of Bengali films, Tanuja showed a great spirit in adapting Bengali language and adjusting herself opposite Uttam Kumar in the 60s and 70s. Deya Neya, Anthony Firingi and Raj Kumari stands out as the biggest hits of Tanuja opposite Uttam Kumar. All these films were musical blockbusters and the lips of Tanuja in leading songs in these films require special mention. Shyamal Mitra composed music for the super hit film Deya Neya. Tanuja was sublime in her lips in the song “madhabi madhute holo mitali”. She was brilliant in the two songs of Sandhya Mukherjee in the film Anthony Firingi, titled “ami je jalsaghare”, and “champa chameli golapero bage”, composed by Anil Bagchi. Raj Kumari marked the beginning of musical career of Bengali musical sensation RD Burman. Songs like “ki holo, kabe holo” creates shivers in the spines of many listeners even today. Tajuna was sublime in other successful films like Prothom Kodom Phool, Teen Bhubaner Pare, Madhuban, etc. She is considered more versatile than her daughter Kajol who got success by performing opposite Shahrukh Khan in hit films in the 90s. The viewers expect her to continue the great work in character roles in bollywood films in future.

Happy birthday to sweet singer Shreya Ghoshal.

Happy birthday to Shreya Ghoshal. The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to sweet singer Shreya Ghoshal on 12th March, 2021. From national awards, Zee Cine Awards, Starscreen awards and filmfare awards, she had remained a frequent recipient of the awards due to her sheer brilliance. Bollywood films in the 50s, 60s and 70s were dominated by Lata, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, Sudha Malhotra, Suman Kalyanpur, etc. In the 80s and 90s Alka Yagnik and Kavita Krishnamurty made a very notable contribution in bollywood films. Shreya Ghoshal had established herself the future singer of bollywood cinema for the last few years. Born in a Bengali family in Rawatbhata, in Kota district of Rajasthan, Shreya Ghoshal learnt classical music from Mahesh Chandra Sharma. She participated in the musical competition in the TV Channel titled Saregamapa, and when she reached the finals after defeating renowned female singers, the producers, directors and composers were moved by her performance. She made her presence felt with her song in the film Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Banshali, with the song “bairi piya” and after that she never had to look back. Just like Sonu Nigam had created a gharana by himself and composers agree about his versatility, similarly Shreya Ghoshal is undoubtedly the future of Indian playback singing. She received the filmfare award for the best female singer along with Kavita Krishnamurty for the song “dola re” from the film Devdas, picturised on Madhuri Dixit and Aiswariya Rai. Her other hits songs include “jadu hai nasha hai” from the film Jism. She also amazed the listeners with the song “piyu bole, piya bole” picturised on Vidya Balan, from the film Parineeta, where Sonu Nigam sang it for Saif Ali Khan. The sweetness of her voice matched the period (late 19th century) when singers of the Bengali traditional families used to present their talent in soft style She also the song “apne aansoo peene ke liye” from the film Paheli, very well, along with powerful performance from Rani Mukherjee and Shahrukh Khan in the film. She also received filmfare award for the best singer for her song in the film Guru, titled “barsdo re” composed by AR Rehman. She had song notable Bengali songs like “pagla hawa” in The Bong Connection, “mon diye mon niye” in Agnipath, etc. In 2010, her song “bahara bahara” in the film I Hate Luv Stories was striking. She was extremely sweet in the duet song “tu ne to palbhar me chori kiya re jiya” with Sonu Nigam, in the film Dabanng, which went to do a business worth 150 crores. She sang brilliant songs in 2012 in different films like Agneepath, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. In 2013 she received a number of awards for her song in the film Ashiqi 2. With a number of songs which are going to be released in different films in 2015, she is expected to continue her good work and the viewers and listeners expect her best in the years to come.