Raj Kapoorsahab Dilip Kumarsahab Ashok Kumarji dominated biggest blockbusters of 1949.

The biggest Bollywood blockbusters of 1949. 1949 was a year in Bollywood films where a lot of transitions took place. Till that time majority of shooting of films used to take place in the studios. Directors started shooting the films outdoor. Barsaat was the biggest blockbuster in 1949. It was produced and directed by Raj Kapoor. This was the second film directed by Showman Raj Kapoor after Aag in 1947. Nargis, Raj Kapoor, Prem Nath and Nimmi played the lead roles. The pairs that were launched included Premnath and Nimmi together and Nargis and Raj Kapoor together. KN Singh played the role of a negative character in the film. It was the first time the composer duo Shankar Jaikishan was used by Raj Kapoor. Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri also contributed in the film. Raj Kapoor and Nargis fell in love with each other but due to resistance of Nargis’s father the marriage got obstructed. Nargis drowned in water and KN Singh, a fisherman found her. At the end of the film Nargis and Raj Kapoor were united. The music of the film rocked Bollywood. All the songs like “chod gaye balam” by Mukesh, “hawa mai udta jaye” and “jiya beqarar hai” by Lata stormed Bollywood. Andaz was the second biggest blockbuster of 1949. It was directed by Mehboob Khan. The music of the film was composed by Naushad Ali. Dilip Kumar loved Nargis in the film without knowing that he was already having affair with Raj Kapoor. Raj Kapoor came from abroad and married Nargis. When Dilip Kumar disclosed his love towards Nargis, she was shocked because she always considered Dilip Kumar as her friend and not a husband. Murad played the role of the father of Nargis. Cuckoo also played an important roles. The songs of the film were bumper hits like “tu kahe agar”, “toote na dil toote na” by Mukesh and “yun to aapas me bigadte hai” by Rafi and Lata. There were signs that Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor were going to rule Indian films for the next 30 years. Mahal was the third biggest blockbuster of 1949. Ashok Kumar played the lead role opposite Madhubala. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi. It was produced by Bombay Talkies. Khemchand Prakash composed the music of the film. The film was based on the story of reincarnation. Madhubala’s atma or soul was visualised by Ashok Kumar in the second birth. Lata’s song “ayega anewala” become a theme song for horror movies. The direction was excellent. Ashok Kumar came to a mahal or palace and the illusions made him horror –striken. It was one of the films which gave Lata her primary recognition with “ayega anewala”. Even Raj Kumari’s songs “ek teer chala dil ko laga” and “mai wo hansi hoon lab pe jo ane se reh gayi” became super hit. There were other successful films in 1949 like Dulari, Shabnam and other films. Naushad Ali, Shankar Jaikishan, Khemchand Prakash, Roshanlal Nagrath were the most dominating composers of that age. The world of singing was dominated by Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Lata, Raj Kumari, Zohrabai Ambewali, Shamshad Begum, Noorjahan, Geeta Dutt and others. The most prominent directors included Raj Kapoor, Kamal Amrohi, Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, V Shantaram and others. While stars like Ashok Kumar continued their dream run, new stars like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor showed promise. Actresses like Nargis, Madhubala, Suraiya became most prominent in the black and white age. The films require restoration.

Remembering golden singer Hemant Kumar on his birth anniversary

Remembering Hemant Kumar on his birth anniversary. The viewers of bollywood and Bengali films pay their homage to evergreen singer Hemant Kumar on his birth anniversary on 16th June, 2024

. He had died more than 16 years back, but had left lot of memories which are cherished by the following generations. He composed music in many bollywood films in the 50s and 60s and carried forward the legacy of Rabindra Sangeet beyond the Bengal border and made it popular all across India. He composed music in the film Nagin and got the filmfare award for the best composer in 1955. His tune “man dole” sung by Lata for Vaijayantimala became extremely popular in the mid -50s. He sang a number of songs for Dev Anand including “yeh raat yeh chandni” in the film Jaal, “yeh apna dil” in Solwa Saal composed by SD Burman, songs in Patita composed by Shankar Jaikishan, etc. He also sang the legendary song “jane yeh kaise” for Guru Dutt in the film Pyaasa. His composition in Biswajeet’s films Bees Saal Baad and Kohra, became super hit. Successful songs included “yeh nayan dhali dhali”, “zara nazron se kahdo ji”, etc. In fact Hemant Kumar produced the film Bees Saal Baad, which was the sequel of Bengali crime thriller Jighansha, directed by Ajoy Kar. Hemant Kumar’s composition in the other films included Biswajeet’s Do Dil, Dilip Kumar’s Paigam, Dharmender’s Khamoshi, Guru Dutt’s Sahe Bibi Aur Ghulam, to name a few. Some of the hit songs sung by Hemant Kumar in those films included “tum pukarke”, and others. Besides he had given many hit songs to Lata, Asha and Geeta Dutt in those films. Hemant Kumar had sung majority of playback songs for Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar in the 50s. His songs included “surer akashe tumi je go shuktara” from the film Shapmochon in 1955, “tare bole diyo” from the film Dui Bhai in 1961, “nir choto khoti nei” from the film Indrani in 1958, “ei poth Jodi na shesh hoi” from the film Saptapadi in 1961, “jai chole jai” from the film Kal Tumi Aleya in 1965, “sapno jagano raat” from the film Shudhu Ekti Bachar in 1966, “mou bane aaj” from the film Bondhu in 1958, to name a few. Besides most of the Rabindra Sangeet sung by Hemant Kumar in Bengali films became hits, including “tumi robe nirobe” in Biswajeet’s Kuheli, “ami pothbhola ek pathik” in Uttam Kumar’s Mon Niye, “jokhon porbe na mor” in Uttam Kumar’s film Bibhas, “purano shei diner kotha” in Uttam Kumar’s Agnisshar, etc. Hemant Kumar had composed songs in more than 50 bengali films like Shap Mochon, Harano Sur, Saptapadi, Deep Jele Jai, Sathihara, Palatak, Phuleshwari, Dadar Kirti, Dui Bhai, Surjotoron, etc., most of which became dashing hits. Hemant Kumar had sung more than 1000 bengali modern songs under different composers. He had sung trend-setting songs composed by Salil Choudhury like “runner”, “kono ek gayer bodhu”, “patha harabo bole ebar”, “palki chole”. Nochiketa Ghosh composed landmark song for Hemant Kumar titled “amar ganer shorolipi lekha robe”. He had sung many ranbindra sangeet and showed his own skill aside other giants like Pankaj Mallick, Subinoy Ray, Dijen Mukherjee, Debrata Biswas and others. Hemant Kumar’s contribution in Bengali modern songs and film songs is so huge that articles after articles can be devoted for the melody king of Bengal. The viewers pay their respect for the departed soul of legendary singer Hemant Kumar on his birthday.

Manoj Kumar's Upkar Dilip Kumar's Ram Aur Shyam were the greatest blockbusters of 1967

The biggest blockbusters of 1967. In 1967, different types of films were released in India with different storylines. While there were social films like Milan, but also there were other films like An Evening in Paris, where the entire film was shot in foreign location. The biggest blockbuster of the year was Upkar. Manoj Kumar played a village man 'Bharat', who sacrificesd everything to get his brother educated. His brother Puran (Prem Chopra) went abroad and came back a selfish man wanting his share of the property. But when India started a war with Pakistan, Bharat decided to enlist and head to the border; while his selfish brother, with the help of his greedy uncle, Charandas(Madan Puri) and some partners, tried to gain profit by selling drugs and black marketing in the market. In the end, Bharat returned as a demoralized soldier having lost the war and his brother repented as he was caught by the police (by the brother-in-law of Bharat). Hence, he vowed to be a good & hardworking brother just like his Indo-Pak war veteran brother Bharat. The movie also starred Asha Parekh as a doctor promoting family planning, Kamini Kaushal and Pran in his first positive character role. Madan Puri played the main villain with ease, full ability, and command. The film won several major awards. Manoj Kumar won the film award for the best director of the film. Mahendra Kapoor won the national award for best singer for the song “mere desh ki dharti”. The 2nd biggest blockbuster of the year was Ram Aur Shyam. This was the first double role of tragedy king Dilip Kumar. Ram (Dilip Kumar) lived with his sister Sulakshna (Nirupa Roy) and niece Kuku in his family estate. His brother-in-law Gajendra (Pran) looked after his factories and controlled his property with an iron hand. Ram was shy and coward in nature. He was always abused and brutally beaten by Gajendra. Sulakshna and Kuku tried to protect Ram from Gajendra whenever he whipped Ram. Everybody decided to get Ram married for his well being. Gajendra found a rich girl Anjana (Waheeda Rehman) with the aim of getting a huge dowry. Anjana disliked Ram after he spilled tea over her due to nervousness. Gajendra angry at Ram's behaviour, conspired with the support of his mother and cunning Munimji to kill Ram and take over his property. Ram overheard this and escapes to the city to save his life. Meanwhile, Ram's long lost twin brother Shyam (Dilip Kumar) lived in a village with his adopted mother Ganga whom he believed to be his birth mother. No one other than Ganga knew the truth about the twin brothers. Shyam was strong, brave and mischievous, unlike his brother. He had a love hate relationship with Shanta (Mumtaz). Shyam escaped to the city, after a mischievous conflict with Ganga, and met Anjana, who was impressed by his personality. Anjana and her father confused Shyam with Ram. Ram met Shanta who thought he was Shyam and took him forcefully to his mother. Ram and Shanta developed feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Shyam decided to take the place of Ram to face Gajendra. Shyam refused to sign his property after which angry Gajendra attacked him. Shyam retaliated and whipped Gajendra hard, shocking everybody. Sulakshna stopped her brother to protect her husband. Gajendra was startled after being beaten up by Shyam, whom everybody believed as Ram. Shanta and Anjana met and both claimed the picture of Ram as their fiancé. Gajendra learned that Shyam has taken the place of Ram. He abducted Ram and Shanta, and planned to kill Ram. He framed Shyam for the murder of Ram though Ram was alive. Shyam was arrested by police. Anjana and her father learned from Ganga that Ram and Shyam were twin brothers lost in a village fair. Shyam escaped from police custody and battled Gajendra and his henchmen. Gajendra tried to shoot them but both the brothers and Shanta manage to defeat him. At the end twin brothers were happily married and the family reunited. As usual the Naushad Ali, Rafisahab, Shakeel Badayani magic worked for Dilip Kumar and all the songs like “aaj ki raat mere”, “ayi hai bahar mite zulmo sitam”, “mai hoon saqi tu hai sharabi sharabi”, became super hit. Many films were later made with same storyline like Sita Aur Geeta, Chaalbaaz, etc. The 3rd biggest hit film was Farz. It was 1967 Hindi spy thriller film produced by Sunderlal Nahata Dundi on Vijaya Lakhshmi Pictures banner and directed by Ravikant Nagaich. The film starred Jeetendra and Babita in lead roles and music composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Jeetender’s career took a big turn with the success of the film. LP’s music for Rafisahab became bumper hit like “tujhse o haseena”, “baar baar din yeh aye”, “mast bahaaro ka mai aashiq” to name a few. The 4th biggest hit film was Humraaz. It was a 1967 Hindi film of the suspense thriller genre, produced and directed by B. R. Chopra, and written by Akhtar ul Iman. The film starred Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Mumtaz, Vimi, Sarika, Madan Puri, Iftekhar, Balraj Sahni, Jeevan and Helen. The film's music was composed by Ravi, while the lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. Mahendra Kapoor received filmfare award for best singer for his song “neele gagan ke tale”. The 5th biggest hit film was Shagird. is a 1967 Indian Bollywood comedy film directed by Samir Gunguly. The film starred Joy Mukherjee and Saira Banu in lead roles. The LP Rafisahab magic worked in this film also with the songs “duniya pagal hai”, “bare miya deewane”, “wo hai zara khafa khafa” becoming big hits.