Happy birthday to Aishwarya Rai

Happy birthday to Aiswarya Rai.

All the viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Aishwarya Rai on the 1st November, 2008. She had been a sensation in Indian films for the last 15 years and had created a name in Hollywood films.

She is the only actress in Indian films whose wax statue has been built in Madam Tussadd’s museum in London. Even after her marriage with Abhishek Bacchan her popularity had increased and acting potential had got wider recognition.

The two important films that she had acted in 2008 including Jodha Akbar and Sarkar Raj had been appreciated by the audience. Her glamour had been beyond any shadow of doubt over the last 15 years which had just increased with time.

Her illustrious career had been associated with all the leading stars of bollywood films over the past 10 years. Her notable films include Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam with Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, Taal with Akshay Khanna and Anil Kapoor, Josh with Shahrukh Khan and Chandrachud Singh, Dhoom 2 with Hrithik Roshan, Guru with Abhishek Bacchan, to name a few.


At the same time she had worked with leading directors of bollywood including Ram Gopal Verma, Subhash Ghai, Mani Ratnam and others. The music in her films had always being successful.

The hit songs in which she had given lips include “ishq bina kya jeena” from the film Taal, “hum dil de chuke sanam” from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, “aisi nazar se na dekha” from the film Bunty Aur Babli, “ajooba hai” from the film Jeans, “dhoom machale” from the film Dhoom 2, etc.


She had also given lips in the songs sung by all the leading singers of bollywood films including Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shreya Ghoshal, Alisha Chinoy, Sunidhi Chauhan and others. Her adaptability with the new singers had resulted in maintaining her stardom with change in the music and arrival of new directors, composers, singers, producers, etc. Her performance in Hollywood films like Pride and Prejudice had shown her intonation, diction and acting capability to the international audience. She is a great Indian ambassador. The viewers and admirers expect her to continue her good work and even do well in mythological films like the role of Seeta in near future.

Hit songs of Salman Khan's films over the last few years.

Hit songs of Salman Khan’s films over the last few years.

Salman Khan had always got good music, all along his career. That was one of the reason why his films did well in the box –office during the last 20 years. In fact the music of his first successful film Maine Pyar Kiya had the greatest impact on the audience than other factors in the late 80s.

But with the change of period and change of composers music also took a turn during the last 10 years. Composers with whom Salman Khan was initially associated like Nadeem Shravan, Jatin Lalit are replaced by the successful composers of the present age including AR Rehman, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Vishal Shekhar, Anu Malik. Even the present groups of singers including Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chouhan, etc., had changed the singing trend in bollywood films.

Inspite of all these factors taken together Salman Khan is still blessed with hit songs. His songs in the film Janeman, composed by Anu Malik and sung mainly by Sonu Nigam became super hit. Similarly Sonu Nigam’s songs in the film Salaam-e-ishq, including “salaam-e-ishq”, “tenu le” stormed bollywood audience with the catchy orchestration and picturisation.

Even the songs in the film Partner, including “do you want a partner”, “maria maria”, “you are my love” all were hits and the songs in fact contributed for the success of the film, if all the factors were taken together. Also the songs in the film Mujhse Shaadi Karoge, also became big hits. The notable songs included “jeene ke hai char din”, “mujhse shaadi karoge”, etc. The lips of Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar balanced the screen presence of Priyanka Chopra in the film.

Also the music of the film Yuvraaj, has promise. It is the first time that Subhash Ghai, Gulzar and AR Rehman had worked together. The music that had been reflected in the promos had impressed the viewers even before the seeing the film as it is still awaiting release. Viewers are curious about the performance of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the film.

All the success of the music of Salman’s recent films follows the hit songs that he got in other films in the past. All the songs in the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya were hits including “just chill chill” and “laga laga laga re”.

The music of his film Khamoshi, in fact created history with songs like “jane kya”, “aaj mai upar”, etc. He had worked with various singers, producers, lyricists, composers, directors and the change in the banners or change of the composer did not affect the music in his films.

If even any three of his films of the 90s are taken up, it will be found that all of them had melodious music like Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, Hum Saath Saath Hai, Saajan, etc. The viewers and the audience expect Salman Khan to continue to give impressive lips in the songs of his films and fulfil the commitment of giving good music to his admirers in future.

Sunidhi Chauhan - the dashing singer of bollywood

Sunidhi Chauhan – the dashing singer of bollywood.

Born in 1983, Sunidhi Chauhan got a break in the film Shastra with the song “ladki diwani”. She amazed the viewers with her dashing style of singing in the film Mast, with the song “ruki ruki yeh zindagi”. It never matched with any of the traditional singers and composers found a female voice who could improvise for any type of song.

She sang the English song “reach out” in the Opening Ceremony of 2006 Asian Games at Doha, Qatar. She had always being given challenging songs which did not require sweetness to that extent but related to the folk effect or the intoxicating effect or had rural appeal. She was excellent in her performance in the film Chameli with the song “sajna ve sajna”.

With passage of time composers used her in westernized creations like the one in the film Dhoom 2. Her song “crazy kiya re” had both the strength of the voice and also the punch required in the intonation to bring out the appeal of the lyrics in the song. She sang for all the leading actresses of bollywood films in her short career including Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee and others.

All the songs she sang in the film Dhoom 2, including the song “dhoom machale” picturised on Aishwarya Rai became super hits. Her song in the film Parineeta was also challenging, the song “kaisi paheli zindagani”. She had displayed the type of songs being sung in Pubs in Park Street in Kolkata like Moulin Rouge, where bar singers used to entertain the local people in the late 18th century.

She started getting different types of awards from 2004, including Star Screen award for best female playback singer in 2004 for the song “sajna ve sajna” in the film Chameli. In 2005, she got the IIFA award for the best playback singer for the song “dhoom machale” in the film Dhoom 2. In 2006, she got the Star Screen award for the best female playback singer for the song “beedi jalaile” in the film Omkara. She also the filmfare award for the best female playback singer also for the same song.

She had become an automatic choice for challenging songs for all the leading composers of bollywood films. Shankar Ehsaan Loy had used her in the song “dharak dharak” in the film Bunty Aur Babli, picturised on Rani Mukherjee. Her hit songs include “deedar de” from the film Dus, “”ishq samundar” from Kaante, “”cash meri aankhon me” from the film Cash, “chaliya” in the film Tashan, “Race sansonki” in the film Race, “Lucky Boy” in the film Bacchna Ay Haseeno. The list can go on.

Sunidhi Chauhan had increased the variety of bollywood songs in the last few years and had created her identity in the list of successful female singers like Alka Yagnik, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shreya Ghoshal, Alisha Chinoy, and others. The listeners expect her to continue the good work and experiment with her voice even more in the future.

Shakti Samanta and bollywood films

Shakti Samanta and bollywood films.

Shakti Samanta had entertained the viewers of bollywood films with romantic films from the 50s to 80s. He created a suspense thriller in the late 50s titled Howrah Bridge where the main roles were played by Ashok Kumar and Madhubala. OP Nayyar contributed a lot for the music of the film with Asha Bhosle’s song “aiye meherba” and Geeta Dutt’s song “mera naam chin chin chu” becoming great hits.

In the early 60s, Shakti Samanta created coloured film Kashmir Ki Kali, where the entire film was shot in the exotic locations of Jammu and Kashmir. The songs composed by OP Nayyar in the film created milestone in Indian playback history. Rafi’s songs “diwana hua badal”, “yeh chand sa roshan chehra”, “kisi na kisi se”, “isharon isharon”, “yeh duniya usi ki” became super hit and the western and eastern blend of music enchanted the listeners for over 20 years. Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore were sublime in their respective roles.

Shakti Samanta experimented with same team in the film An Evening in Paris,where Sharmila acted in double role. This time the music composed by Shankar Jaikishan again amused the audience. The songs of Rafi including “raat ke humsafar”, “akele akele”, “aasman se aaya farishta”, had loud orchestration and French music embedded in them. Pran also did well in the negative role given to him.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Shakti Samanta gave musical blockbusters like Aradhana and Amar Prem, and SD Burman and RD Burman’s music in these films were great assets. Rajesh Khanna acted opposite Sharmila Tagore in these films and the romantic stories appealed to the cinematic audience. Sharmila even acted in a double role in the film Aradhana. Amar Prem was the hindi version of Uttam Kumar’s successful Bengali film Nishipadda.

In the mid-70s, Shakti Samanta experimented with Uttam Kumar in the films Amanush and Anand Ashram. Amanush dealt with the life of the fishing community in the sunderbans. The exploitation of the people by the middlemen and the role played by the local police officer was also shown in the film. Anil Chatterji as police officer and Utpal Dutt as the middleman played their roles to perfection. The music composed by Shyamal Mitra was appreciated with Kishore Kumar’s song “dil aisa kisi ne” becoming big hit.

Anand Ashram was equally successful. It related to the story of Uttam Kumar losing his wife Sharmila Tagore when she gave birth to her child. He was a successful doctor and sacrificed his life for the benefit of poor villagers. He ultimately met his father Ashok Kumar at the end of the film when his son Rakesh Roshan bridged the gap between father and grandfather. The music of Shyamal Mitra was successful once again with KK’s song and Asha’s song “sara pyar tumhara” becoming record hit.

Shakti Samanta also used Big B and Rakhee in the film Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, where the same team of Utpal Dutta and other actors were used. The action film had good music composed by RD Burman and powerful performance of Amzad Khan in a negative role.

Shakti Samanta’s films should be remembered for romantic stories, colourful locations and melodious music which had drawn the viewers to cinema halls in the 60s and 70s.

Hit films of 2008

Hit films of 2008.

Directors of bollywood films had experimented with different types of subjects in 2008. The films which had done great business include Race, Jodha – Akbar, Sarkar Raj, Jane Tu Yaa Jane Na, Singh is King, etc. There are a number of films released or are scheduled to be reduced in October, November, including Dostana, Yuvraaj, Heroes, Golmaal Returns which have strong potential of doing good business.

But the acceptance of the relevant films and rejection of the rest has not created a clear indication in respect of the likings of the viewers in 2008. Race was a suspense-thriller where the unfolding of truth relating to the killing of Saif Ali Khan was dramatic. The music was also innovative with the song “pehli nazar me” becoming a big hit. The stars in the film including Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Khanna, Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu, Sameera Reddy had contributed well in their respective roles.

Jodha-Akbar was a period film, and the impressive constumes of Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai had added flavour in the musical blockbuster. The criticism relating to the historical background of Jodha had helped the film more than affecting its business. The performance of Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai were well appreciated. At the same time the subject of Sarkar Raj was accepted by the viewers. The performance of Big B, Abhishek Bacchan was also accepted.

The same group of viewers had appreciated the performance of Imran Khan in Jane Tu Ya Jane Na, knowing him to be beginner. The music of AR Rehman was very entertaining and the performances of the new performers were also excellent. Singh is King had exotic locations, melodious music, specially the song “dil kho gaya” being liked by everyone.

If all the successful films are analysed it is difficult to infer whether the viewers liked the comedy films or the action thrillers or the period films or the romantic ones. But few inferences can be drawn. Firstly Katrina Kaif had been the greatest crowd-puller in the year. Two of her films Race and Singh is Kingh, did great business. If Yuvraaj also becomes hit, there will be no doubt that the glamour and screen presence of Katrina Kaif had charmed the viewers more than any other star in bollywood films. Further the presence of Saif Ali Khan in a number of films and one becoming hit and the other doing mediocre business like Tashan, shows the fact that he is not having the same popularity which he enjoyed few years back when he did Salaam Namaste.

Thirdly good music is still liked by major percentage of viewers and all the films which had good music did good business also. AR Rehman’s music in Jodha Akbar and Jane Tu Ya Jane Na had pulled those films up. Vishal Sekhar’s music in Bacchna Ai Haseeno was the main attraction of the film. Similarly Race and Yuvraaj also have good music.

The other significant inference is that all the stars including Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan don’t have the capability of single-handedly making a film hit, the charishma which was there in Big B in late 70s, where viewers went to the cinema halls only to see him. The viewers appreciate the story, the direction, the music, the individual performance of the stars and decide about the acceptance and rejection of the film. If the viewers make their judgements on sound reasoning then their reaction can lead to creation of better standard of films in future.

Contribution of Basu Chatterji in Indian films

Contribution of Basu Chatterji in Indian films.

Basu Chatterji, along with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Basu Bhattacharya and many other thoughtful directors of the 70s, had created a middle path in the depiction of life of Indians in bollywood films. Their films were related to the stories of the common man, especially the middle-class who never had larger than life image or were associated with miracles.

His film Rajnigandha, having Amol Palekar and Vidya Sinha in the lead roles were related to the life of a middle class person who was committed towards his job and his affair with next door girl. The submissiveness of Amol Palekar depicted the general feelings of middle-class Indians all across the country. Salil Choudhury’s music in the film was extra-ordinary including Lata’s song “rajnigandha”.

In the mid-70s, Basu Chatterji came up with fresh subject in the film Chitchor. Amol Palekar and Zareena Wahb were used in the feeling and the story was based on the life of a new entrant in the picturesque village. The person got attached with the lives of the people in the village and also the landscape. The relationship of the person with Zarina Wahab developed instantly without any separate cause. The music composed by Ravindra Jain created a landmark in Indian music. Also fresh singers like Yesudas and Hemlata astonished the listeners with the innovative singing styles in the mid-70s with songs like “kahin deep jale”, “gori tera gaon bara pyara”, “tu jo mere sur me”, etc.

In the early 80s, Basu Chatterji came up with serio-comic subjects like the one depicted in the film Lakhon Ki Baat. Farooq Sheikh got struck by ball played in a hockey match and his relative played by Sanjeev Kumar made a claim for damages against the company that was involved with the organization of the match and with Farooq Sheikh. Although he did not receive any injury he was deliberately asked to lie in the hospital and also at home to convince the company. The company appointed Utpal Dutta as a photographer to keep watch on Farooq Sheikh and if proved to be alright would waive the damages.

Farooq Sheikh got fed up with play acting and through away the wheel chair and the hopes of getting damages by Sanjeev Kumar and Anita Raj (the previous wife of Farooq Sheikh) got dashed.

His other successful films include Piya Ka Ghar, Hamari Bahu Alka (with Rakesh Roshan and Utpal Dutta), Apne Paraye, Chameli Ki Shaadi. He also the comedy element in his films with simplicity. Probably Basu Chatterji and Hrishikesh Mukherjee had used the comedy impulse of Utpal Dutta in a most professional manner than other directors. Utpal Dutta had Indianised Shakespearean style of presentation of errors.

Modern directors can learn a lot from the realistic presentations of Basu Chatterji and his films should be preserved.

Happy birthday to Mallika Sherawat.

Happy birthday to Mallika Sherawat

Today, 24th of October is the birthday of Mallika Sherawat. All her admirers and viewers of bollywood films wish her happy birthday and expect her to continue to explore herself in new roles in bollywood films.

She was previously called Reema Lamba and had changed her name to Mallika after joining films. After making a decent debut in the film Khwahish, she impressed the viewers with her performance in the film Murder. The film was based on the story of Unfaithful. She acquired international recognition within a short period of time and got a role in Jackie Chan’s film The Myth.


She got a scope of showing her acting skills in the film Pyar Ke Side Effects where the lead role was played by Rahul Bose. She also acted in a horror movie directed by Ram Gopal Verma titled Darna Zaroori Hai. The film was based on the existence of evil spirits and the fear relating to them in the minds of ordinary human beings. Although these films are discarded by some section of the society who never believe in ghosts, the films had created public interest over the years and have a lot of suspense and melodrama which are enjoyed by some section of the viewers.


She got a different type of role in the comedy film Welcome. The film had a number of stars including Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar, Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and others. She matched the comedy performance of all the leading stars and did well in the film. The songs in the film were successful including the ones like “welcome, welcome”, “inshah allah”, etc.


In 2008 also Mallika played important role in comedy films like Ugly Aur Paagli and Maan Gaye Mughal-i-azam. In Ugly Aur Paagli, the film depicted her aggressive attitude towards the hero and the hatred ended up in an affair and Mallika was identified with giving slaps one after the other.


Man Gaye Mughal-i-azam had nothing to do with any historical depiction of a period film but it was related to serio-comic events and the unfolding of those events. The problem of Mallika Sherawat lies in the recognition that is required to categorize her in the list of leading actresses of contemporary films. Her item numbers had become more popular in the recent years than her major roles. For example the dance in the song “maiya maiya” in the film Guru had claimed public recognition. Unless she gets memorable roles like the one played by Rani Mukherjee in Black, her glamour can be reduced to only catchy sequences, not remarkable performances. The viewers expect her to reorganize herself for challenging roles in new bollywood films.

Happy birthday to Deven Verma

Happy birthday to Deven Verma.

All the viewers of bollywood films and admirers of Deven Verma wish him happy birthday on the 23rd of October. Comedians in Indian films had never been honoured inspite of their huge contribution in the field of comedy. Excepting Johnny Walker, Mehmood and Asrani, hardly any comedian in Indian films had received any respectable stardom.

Deven Verma had created his identity in realistic films of Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar and other directors where the masala required to storm the box-office were not used. He played a very decent role in Farooq Sheikh’s film Kisi Se Na Kehna. He played the role of the brother of Dipti Naval who changed girlfriends the way a person changes clothes. He created a relationship with a singer but left her after she lost her melodious voice. In Rang Birangi, he told a golden lie to Dipti Naval that her husband Farooq Sheikh had a relationship with Parveen Babi and that led to destruction of family peace. He had confess about the lie at the end of the film bring him peace and harmony in the family.

In Gulzar’s Angoor, he accompanied Sanjeev Kumar in a double role. The film was based on Shakespearean play Comedy of Errors and Uttam Kumar’s Bengali film Bhranti Bilas. He played the role of the servant of Sanjeev Kumar which was played by Bhanu Banerjee in the Bengali film.

As the two servants were twins, Sanjeev Kumar and all his family members including Moushumi Chatterji (his wife) and Deepti Naval (his sister-in-law) had problems recognizing him. The entire story was based errors which led to utter confusion which was resolved at the end of the film when the identity of the twin masters and the twin servants were disclosed. The song in the film “pritam aan milo” was also funny.

Deven Verma also acted in serious films like Devar, where he acted with Dharmender. After the 80s, comedy got a new definition with the arrival of new comedians like Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav and others who had showed sometimes idiocy, at other times aggressive expressions related to comedy. Even in that age Deven Verma got character roles like the one played in Rishi Kapoor’s film Bol Radha Bol and Amir Khan’s film Ishq. Deven Verma made very notable contribution mainly in those films where scripts were very strong. He had depicted the innocence that was necessary in the respective roles which had compelled the viewers to both appreciate him and also have sympathy towards him.

He was brilliant in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Golmaal where Utpal Dutt and Amol Palekar gave a new definition to comedy films. The strong personality of Utpal Dutt and the timid expression of Amol Palekar balanced the theme of the film. Deven Verma advised Amol Palekar to play a double role of two brothers with one having a moustache and the other being clean shaven. Amol Palekar acted on his advise and went on telling one lie after the other. When the actual identity was disclosed Deven Verma convinced Utpal Dutt about the genuine character of Amol Palekar and agreed to get him married to his daughter played by Vindiya Goswami.

His viewers and admirers expect him to continue his performances in bollywood films and enrich them with his timing sense and effortless expressions.

Happy birthday to Kader Khan

Happy Birthday to Kader Khan.

All the viewers and admirers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to the legendary character actor Kader Khan today, on 22nd October. Also famous as script writer, Kader Khan became a leading villain in the late 70s and early 80s after action films dominated bollywood.

Kader Khan was sublime in his villainous performance in the film Coolie. He tortured Wahida Rehman and made her insane. She was affected to such an extent that she could not even recognize her own son played by Amitabh Bacchan. He had face Big B at the end and paid for his sins. He also played a villainous character in the film Inquilab. He trained Big B, brought him into politics and got into power. As a politician he behaved with Big B in a most diplomatic manner. Big B brought in all the corrupted leaders and killed one after the other inside the Assembly House.

He was sublime in his role in the film Indrajeet. His own son was involved in the murder of Big B’s daughter Neelam in the film. He tried his best to give protection to his son and his friends who were involved in the crime, but Big B entered the Central Jail and took revenge by killing him.

During the mid-80s Kader Khan switched to comedy roles. There too, he showed his skills. His performance in the film Bol Radha Bol, with Rishi Kapoor, Dulhe Raja with Govinda, Aankhe with Govinda and Chunky Pandey, showed his comedy conception where he gave effortless performances.

He also played positive characters in Sunil Shetty’s film Bhai, Jackie Shroff’s film Aaj Ka Daur, Govinda’s film Hero No. 1. He had been one of the indispensable actors in bollywood films. Directors had cast him in different types of roles ranging from Sufi saints to police officers, big industrialists to corrupt politicians and all the different types of roles he showed his acting skills.

Even a number of contemporary villains in bollywood films had benefited by working with him including Shakti Kapoor. There were resemblance of style of tragedy king Dilip Kumar in the acting of Kader Khan in the early part of his career but he created his own identity and skill in the long run.

His dialogues were equally famous a his acting and he made contribution in the field of dialogue writing in more than 200 films. Besides he gave quality lips in some of the songs like “yeh paisa bolta hai” in the film Kala Bazar. It is not possible to include all the films of an actor who had contributed in more than 400 films, but it can be said that all his admirers want him to continue his good work and explore himself in the new films to come.

Happy birthday to Shammi Kapoor

Happy birthday to Shammi Kapoor.

Shammi Kapoor has got his birthday today, 21st of October. Born in 1931, the rebel star had crossed 77 years of age and entertained the viewers with his remote style of acting over many decades. He was probably the first star of bollywood films who had revolutionized dancing.

After showing his skills in films like Tumsa Nahi Dekha and Dil Deke Dekho, he stormed bollywood films with aggressive performance in the film Junglee in 1961. All the songs composed by Shankar Jaikishan and sung by Rafi including “meri yaar shabba khair”, “ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar”, “yahoo”, became super hits. The photography of snow-filled Kashmir stunned the audience in the early 60s. It was followed by stylish performance in the film Janwar, where SJ’s composition for Rafi like “lal chari”, “tume accha kaun hai” again stormed bollywood. Rajashree ably supported Shammi Kapoor in the film.

Shakti Samanta gave two big breaks to Shammi Kapoor in Kashmir Ki Kali and An Evening in Paris, both opposite Sharmila Tagore. Both were superhits. The composition of OP Nayyar for Rafi like “yeh chand sa roshan chehra”, “diwana hu badal”, “kisi na kisi se”, and the composition of SJ for Rafi “aasman se aya farishta”, “akele akele”, “raat ke humsafar” blasted the viewers. The coloured films had added attraction with exotic locations of Paris and scenes from Niagra Falls in US and Canada.

Shammi Kapoor continue his dream run with films like Raj Kumar and Prince opposite Sadhna and Vaijayantimala. The songs of Rafi composed by SJ again created magic including songs like “mai hoon rajkumar”, “tumne pukara aur”, “badan pe sitare lapete hue” etc. Shammi Kapoor was sublime in his performance in the role of Brahmchari and received filmfare award for the best actor for the performance in 1967. All the songs composed by SJ and sung by Rafi again mesmerized the viewers including songs like “dil ke jharoke me”, “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “chakke pe chakka”, etc.

Shammi Kapoor even performed in crime thrillers like Teesri Manzil opposite Asha Parekh and there too showed his class of performance. After putting on weight in the film Andaz opposite Hema Malini, he switched to character acting in the film Zameer. His performance in Rishi Kapoor’s film Prem Rog, Dilip Kumar’s Bidhaata, Sunny Deol’s Betaab showed the fact he belonged to royal family of acting and he was an equally qualified character artist.

Although he did not rule the bollywood industry like Amitabh Bacchan he became a trend setter in the 60s which was followed by other actors like Joy Mukherjee and Biswajeet. Viewers expect him to have a long life and contribute in more bollywood films in future.

Review of the film Heroes

Review of the film Heroes.

Salman Khan along with Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Mithun Chakravarty and Sohail Khan had acted in the multi-starrer film Heroes directed by Samir Karnik. These days multi-starrer films are released very frequently and in that respect the viewers are not amazed to see them at random. The film was supposed to be named Mera Bharat Mahaan but later on the director decided to change the name for different reasons including the reason of not categorizing it in the list of patriotic films.

The story relates to two young men (Vatsal Seth and his friend) who took a road trip with the desire of making a documentary film until they met real-life heroes. They met Salman Khan, Preeti Zinta, Mithun Chakravarty, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol and others on their way. It changed the dimension of life of the two persons. They tried to gather the actual meaning of the logo mera bharat mahaan crafted at the back of every vehicle that passed their way.

Salman Khan had appeared opposite Preeti Zinta after a long period of time. They acted in a number of hit films previously. Salman Khan even wore a turban for the first time in this film. Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol did well in their respective roles in the film. Even Sohail Khan had done a different kind of role after contributing in many comedy films this year including God Tussi Great Ho.

The music was composed by Monty Sharma, Sajid and Wajjid. Sonu Nigam’s song “mannata” and Sukhwinder Singh’s song “makhna” have already created interest in the minds of cinematic audience. The other songs include Kunal Ganjawala’s song “what’s up my brother.”

On the whole the film has every element of entertainment which the viewers require. There is every possibility of the film doing great business and identifying itself as one of the biggest hits of the year.

Alka Yagnik - the most consistent female singer after Lata Mangeshkar.

Alka Yagnik – the most consistent female singer after Lata Mangeshkar.

Alka Yagnik had been the most consistent female playback singer of bollywood films after Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar. Born in a Gujarati family who settled in Kolkata, Alka got decent background of music in her family as her mother Shubha Yagnik was a classical singer. At ten years of age her mother took her to Bombay to establish her as a child singer and thereafter a playback singer.

Her Calcutta distributor even got her a letter which she produced before Raj Kapoor who send her to Laxmikant Pyarellal. She got a scope of singing in the film Payal Ki Jhankar, but impressed the viewers with the song “mere anganeme” in the film Lawaarish. LP gave her the biggest break with the song “ek do teen” in the film Tezaab, picturised on Madhuri Dixit.

From that time she never had to look back. She got the filmfare award for the best female playback singer for Tezaab, an became the leading singer in the 90s. She sang hit songs for Juhi Chawla in the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, including “akele hai”, “aye mere humsafar”, composed by Anand Milind.

She also sang hit songs one after the other for Nadeem Shravan including “tumse milne ko dil karta hai”, “dheere dheere pyar ko”, etc., and her songs in the film Phool Aur Kaante became record hit. She continued her successful journey with the song “dekha hai pehli baar” for Madhuri Dixit in the film Saajan. After singing hit songs one after the other she got filmfare award for the best singer again for the song “choli ke peeche” in the film Khalnayak, picturised on Madhuri Dixit and directed by Subhash Ghai.

Her other hit songs included “raja ko raani se” in the film Akele Hum Akele Tum, “yeh bandhan to pyar ka bandhan hai” in the film Karan Arjun, “kuch kuch hota hai” in the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, etc. She dominated the world of female playback singing just like Lataji’s domination for the 30 years of golden age of Indian cinema.

She even got national award for the best singer for her performance in the songs “ghoonghat ke aar me” in Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke and “kuch Kuch hota hai” in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Her other filmfare awards included the one for “zara tasveer se tu” for the film Pardes in 1997, “taal se taal” for the film Taal in 1999, “dil ne yeh kaha hai dil se” for the film Dhadkan in 2000, “o re chori” for the film Lagaan in 2001 and “hum tum” for the film Hum Tum in 2004.

Although the world of female playback singing in bollywood films had got serious competition during the last 5 years with Shreya Ghoshal, Alisha Chinoy, Sunidhi Chauhan, Kavita Krishnamurthy making serious contribution Alka Yagnik is still continuing her good work with hit songs like “kabhi alvida na kehna” for the film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. He viewers expect her to do even well in the films to come in future.

Will the new version of Karz be as successful as original film Karz?

Will the new version of Karz be as successful as original film Karz?

Subhash Ghai’s film Karz in 1979 had created sensation after dealing with a subject relating to reincarnation. Rishi Kapoor was born as the next generation of Raj Kiran who was killed by his wife Simi Garewal. Rishi Kapoor had to recreate the atmosphere to compel Simi Garewal to confess before the people that she had killed her husband. Everyone new that Raj Kiran died in an accident.

While the treatment in the film by Subhash Ghai had given him the title of showman after Raj Kapoor, the superlative music composed by Laxmikant Pyarellal and successful songs of Rafi, Lata and Kishore had stormed bollywood films in the late 70s. Besides, Rishi Kapoor was sublime in his lips in the songs “darde dil” sung by Rafi and “om shanty om” sung by Kishore. He became the model for youngstars across India and became a strong competitor in the list of stars along with Amitabh Bacchan and Vinod Khanna who were dominating action films in that age. LP even got the filmfare award for the best composer for composition of Karz.

Himesh Reshamiya had taken a great challenge of playing the same role of Monty in the new version of Karzzz which was originally played by Rishi Kapoor. He had shown his skills in the field of singing and composing music as well. Simi Garewal’s role has been played by Urmila Matondkar in the new version of Karzzz. The name of the film had been enhanced with three z according to belief in numerology.

The music of the film had been impressive and had been appreciated by the listeners. But the biggest challenge in the film lies in Himesh Reshamiya replacing Rishi Kapoor in the same role. Firstly he is quite new in the field of acting inspite of being a successful singer and composer. Secondly the burden of pulling on the film lies on him as the story is hero-centric where other performers can only do justice to their own roles but cannot substantiate the hero’s performance.

The bigger problem is addressing the same audience who had seen the original film Karz who will definitely compare the new version with the old one. The viewers had not forgotten Subhash Ghai’s Karz and it has not lost its relevance even today. Shahrukh Khan had taken the risk of playing Big B’s role in the remake of the film Don and due to strong picturisation and use of Malaysian location with twist in the story had managed to make it successful. But all the other remakes of the successful films had been failures including Ram Gopal Verma Ki Aag where the viewers compared it with Sholay and rejected it.

Urmila Matondkar is a senior actress and exhibited the cruelty in the film very well. But Himesh Reshamiya’s performance could not match Rishi Kapoor’s performance in any way. From no angle of the camera Himesh Reshamiya looks like a hero. If that would have been the case the producers would have replaced him with the roles give to Sharukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, which they have not done. Secondly the role is such where the actor has to have glamour so that the fans get addicted towards him the way it happened with Rishi Kapoor in Subhash Ghai’s Karz. Even the greatest admirer of Himesh Reshamiya is not going to call him as a very handsome hero.

Lastly the music of the film had been appreciated, but it does not have the flavour which can create sensation across bollywood, so if the film becomes hit it will be one of the wonder of wonders.

Vishal Sekhar - the promising musical duo of the present decade.

Vishal Sekhar – the promising musical duo of the present decade.

Vishal Sekhar, the renowned musical duo consisting to Vishal Dadlani and Sekhar Ravjiani, had created a lasting impression on the listeners of bollywood music for the last decade. They had catered to the taste of the cinematic audience and updated themselves with the requirement of the present times.

In the early part of their career they gained recognition with their performance in the films Jhankar Beats and Musafir. But the cinematic audience got flabbergasted with their brilliant composition in the film in Salaam Namaste. The songs “salaam namaste”, “my heart goes” were some of the songs which became extremely popular with the youth of India. The smart performance of Preeti Zinta and Saif Ali Khan was ably supported by the westernized compositions of Vishal Sekhar and the film became very very successful.

They again impressed the viewers with their composition in Abhishek Bacchan’s film Bluff Master. The songs in the film were impressive followed by the reasonable performance of Priyanka Chopra. In the film Zinda, Vishal Sekhar’s composition “zinda hoon mai” became a big hit. The film was based on suspense and violence but the music was also impressive.

Vishal Sekhar again impressed the audience with their compositions for the film Golmaal. The song “golmaal golmaal everything is going to be golmaal” maintained the message relating to chaos and confusion which was the theme of the film. Their music in the film Case was also impressive.

They got the biggest break from Farah Khan and Shahrukh Khan in the film Om Shanti Om. All the songs of the film became super hit. The major songs included “om shanti om”, “tumko dekha haito”, etc. The title song “om shanty om” almost had the entire film industry together including legends like Dharmender, Jeetender, Shabana Azmi, Rekha, etc., who danced with Shahrukh Khan. Sonu Nigam’s song “tumko dekha haito” became super hit.

While contribution in notable films made Vishal Sekhar famous, their style of composition was eve reached to viewers different TV Channels when they conducted Music competitions like Sa re ga ma pa Challenge 2007 and Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, where they adjudicated the musical performance of youth stars like Rahul Vaidya, Abhijeet Sawant, Prajakta Shukre and others.

The young generation feels that their wavelength are matched by the musical scores of Vishal Sekhar. In 2008 they already created waves with their composition in Tashan and Bacchna Aye Haseeno. The songs in Tashan like “falak tak” and “dil dance mare re” sung by Udit Narayan, Sukhwinder Singh and Sunidhi Chauhan and “dil hara” sung by Sukhwinder Singh became hits.

They almost blasted the audience with the composition in Bachna Aye Haseeno, picturised on Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukune and others with songs like “khuda jane” sung by KK Kunnath and Shilpa Rao, “ahista ahista” sung by Lucky Ali and Shreya Ghoshal, “small town girl” sung by Shankar Mahadevan. Their music in the film Dostana picturised on Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bacchan, John Abraham with songs like “jaane kyun”, “desi girl”, “kuch kum” will again amaze the viewers. The audience expect them to continue to give their innovative music in the years to come.

Hema Malini in her 60s.

Hema Malini in her 60s.

Today is Hema Malini’s 60th birthday. Her admirers all over the country expect her to continue the good work which she had done for the last 40 years. When she initially joined bollywood films in the late 60s, her glamour stormed bollywood and she kept her mark opposite all the leading actors of that age.

She was sublime in her performance opposite Raj Kapoor in the film Sapno Ka Saudagar, in the late 60s, Shashi Kapoor in the film Abhinetri, Shammi Kapoor in the film Andaz, in the early 70s. At that time her acting potentiality was used to the limit by Director Ramesh Sippy. Hema Malini became indispensable in his films.

Her performance in the film Seeta Aur Geeta opposite Dharmender and Sanjeev Kumar and Sholay opposite Dharmender showed the viewers that her capability of adapting herself to different characters including soft, timid characters and aggressive urbanized roles had gave her a number one spot in the mid -70s. Her combination with Dharmender she married later on, is considered one of the legendary pairs of bollywood after Raj Kapoor Nargis, Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala. All of their films became legendary hits including Burning Train, Dream Girl, Jugnu, Sholay, Raja Jani, etc.

Besides she was a brilliant dancer, and songs of notable films in the 70s, are remembered only for her extraordinary dance performances, including the song “jab tak hai jaan” in the film Sholay in 1975, “meethe bol bole” in Kinara, in 1978, “zindagi hai khel” in Seeta Aur Geeta, in 1972, to name a few. She was blessed with some outstanding songs of Lata, Suman Kalyanpur and other singers during her career including songs like “dil use do jo jaan dede”, “naam gum jayega”, “ek ladka mujhe kal raat”, etc.

The big achievement of Hema Malini lies in maintaining her glamour all through her career. She even impressed the viewers with her character performances in films like Baghban, opposite Big B. These days her daughter Esha Deol is performing in most of the recent films, even this time, Hema Malini has not retired or left the film arena. Article after article can be devoted on the Dream Girl.

Her admirers wish her a long life and capability of continuing her master performances in the years to come.

Sofia, her dreams and victory over crude reality

Sofia, her dreams and victory over crude reality.

Early childhood of Sofia spent in fight against poverty:

Born on 24th September, 1934, in Rome, Sofia Lorraine brought new aspirations for her mother Romilda Wilany, although her father Ricardo Siklon was not happy with her birth. From birth itself she had fought against poverty. Due to consumption of certain medicines her mother could not even produce milk for her daughter and her childhood was spent in misery without adequate nutrition. Her mother went to the city of Pozuoli where her grandmother lived who had been of some financial help during the infancy of Sofia.

At ten years of age Sofia performed in public function and earned handsome money but gave it to her father who denied parentage to Sofia’s younger sister Maria. He contracted with Sofia that if she paid the consideration he would accept the parentage of Maria. Sofia sacrificed her first earning for Maria as she was struggling to get admission any school in Italy. In those days it was difficult to get admission in any school without the recognition of a child through the name of the father.

Struggle during the teenage.

During the second world war, Sofia and her family had to leave Pozuoli as it became a destination for high-power bomb attacks and due to compulsion went to Naples. After the second world war, Italy just like Germany became extremely poor and the burden of the war fell back on the ordinary citizens. Sofia and her family returned back to Pozuali and converted their residence into a pub. As they had no other source of income, the mother played the Piano, Maria used to sing and Sofia washed dishes to earn their living. At that time some of the American soldiers became sympathetic towards them and Charles Doyle provided even medicine to Sofia when she suffered injury from bomb attacks.

Sofia’s passion for cinema.

Sofia started going to cinema halls in her city to watch Hollywood films and became a big admirer of Cary Grunt, Rita Hewarth, Frank Sinatra, Betty Grable, etc. She became glamourous during her teenage and even her Gym-teacher proposed to marry her at that age. She participated in One Girl-queen of the sea and other twelve other princesses competition where the beautiful ladies of Naples were invited. Her dress for the beauty contest was made from cloth used to make curtains and after some preparations she participated in the contest with a pink gown. She competed against 200 contestants and qualified as one of the twelve princesses. The victory gave her a scope of going to Rome and she won a table-cloth and one thousand lira.

Sofia’s dreams got fulfilled.

Her mother admitted her in an acting school after the victory in beauty contest. Sofia got a scope of performing in Mervin Leroy’s film Quo Vadis. She got a small role of a servant but got a beginning. At that time only her sister Maria became extremely sick and her mother went back to Pozuoli leaving Sofia alone in Rome at 16 years of age. Sofia continued her acting and got small roles in films like Hearts Upon The Sea. She also got involved in photo-shoots which were used in comic-strips. She participated in Miss Rome Competition and the judge of the contest Carlo Ponty got impressed with her and invited her for screen test, but the cameramen found a lot of defects in her face and asked her to go for cosmetic surgery but she denied it. At 18 years of age she got a notable role in the film In Africa Under The Seas. In Ida Opera Sofia got another scope of performing where her voice was dubbed by Renata Tebuldi, but her performance impressed the crowd.

Then she got one of her lifetime roles from renowned director Vettori Desica. The film was titled The Gold of Naples. Desica had unearthed the hidden talent of Sofia which was shaped due to strong struggle for existence during her life. In 1954, director Alescendro Blasetti took her in the film To Bad Sea is Bad, where her pair with Marsello Mastroini became famous. The same pair stormed the silver screen with the film The Miller’s beautiful wife and after the following film Lucky to be a woman became a greater hit.

Sofia’s success in hollywood films.

Although Sofia became the leading actress in Italian cinema her domination in Hollywood films was yet to begin. She learned English from Sarah Spain and she got a break from Director Stanley Crammer who made a period film with her titled The pride and the passion. Sofia got two million dollar for her performance and performed opposite the established actor Cary Grunt and Frank Sinatra. On one hand she got marriage proposal from Cary Grunt while performing in the film and at the same time she could not forget her relationship with Carlo Ponty who was previously married but whose wife was inclined to give him divorce.

In 1957, she performed in the successful film Legend of the lost and again performed with Cary Grunt in the film House Boat. She got married to Carlo Ponty after he got divorce from her first wife. As Roman catholics discarded the marriage that had to leave Italy. Although Cary Grunt got upset about it he still greeted Sofia and acknowledged her capability.

Sofia became a legendary actress of Hollywood films of all times.

Her successful Hollywood films followed one after the other. Her film The Key opposite William Holden became hit, the film The Millionaire opposite Peter Sailor became a bigger hit. She even got best actress award in Venis Film Festival for her remarkable performance in the film Black Orchid. She also played a notable role in the film Two Women which was partly related to story of her own life. She also gave birth to two children named Carlo Junior and Edwardo. Her performance was appreciated by people across the world including her famous film Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. She also wrote books titled Living and Loving; Women; Eat with me; etc. In 1990 she received Honorary Oscar Lifetime Achievement Award for her notable contribution in Hollywood films. Her life is a true example that even if human beings are born in unfavorable environment they can shape their destiny and through hard work and honesty very difficult tasks can be fulfilled. She had achieved extraordinary feat and has been an institution by herself.

Classical singers had been neglected in Bengali films.

Classical singers had been neglected in Bengali films.

Classical singers were always neglected in Bengali films, especially during the 50s, 60s and 70s. In the 50s Dhanonjoy Bhattacharya, who dominated the world of modern songs with landmark classical songs like “ruma jhuma jhum”, “matite jonmo nilam”, “shilpi moner bedona”, “kobir kheyale” etc., got rare opportunities to sing in Bengali films excepting films related to mythology. His notable songs in Bengali films include “jhir jhir jhir jhir jhir jhorona” composed by Salil Choudhury in the film Paser Bari, “gaya ganga probasadi” composed by Anil Bagchi in Rani Rashmoni, “bondhu re” composed by Robin Chatterji in Shilpi, “hori haraye nomo krishno” composed by Raichand Boral in Nilachole Mahaprobhu.

Eminent singer and composer Satinath Mukherjee, a legend of numerous songs like “bonopatho majhe”, “pasaner buke”, “jibone jodi deep”, etc., did not have any scope of composing music in films inspite of being a successful student of Bare Ghulam Ali Khan. Akhilbondhu Ghosh, a notable singer having classical records like “aji chandini rati go”, “keno prohoro na jete”, “o doyal bichar koro”, “bashoriya”, “emni dine maje amar” had been hardly used in Bengali films both as a singer or as a composer.

Manobendra Mukherjee due to his sheer brilliance could not be ignored in Bengali films and his composition in Bengali films like Mayamrigo, Bodhu, Joyjoyanti, Godhuli Belai had been considered landmarks in film music. He had the rare record of both dominating the world of modern songs with super hit discs like “ami eto je tomay bhalo besechi”, “emni kore porbe mone”, “seto naam dhore”, “rimjhim baje”, “bare bare ke jeno dake”, “nai chondon lekha”, “tomar pother prante moner”, etc., and Bengali film songs like “metidi americar kabyo”, “dole dodul dole jhulona”, “godhuli belay”, “rojoni pohale”, “jogonnath jogot bondhu”, etc.mostly in films of Uttam Kumar and Biswajeet.

Manna Dey was initially ignored in the 50s but stormed into the arena replacing Hemant Kumar as the dominating singer in the mid-60s with his stylish performance in the film Shonkhobela with songs like “ami agantuk” and “ke prothom kache esechi”, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta. He created history with legendary songs in the film Antony Firingi with songs like “ami je jolsaghare”, “ami jamini”, “chompa chameli”, etc. His songs in the film Stri like “jemon sapinike”, “hajar takar jhar batita”, “ose jotai kalo hok”, and Sonyasi Raja with songs like “shashikanto tumi dekhchi”, “bhalobasar agun jalao”, etc. brought the royal culture of Kolkata in the 18^th century back in films. Besides he sang huge number of hit songs for Uttam Kumar including “ami kon pathe je choli”, “bachao ke acho” from the film Choddobeshi, “phool pakhi bondhu amar chilo”, “manush khun hole pore”, “lal nil sobujeri” from Chirodiner, to name a few.

The male playback arena in Bengali films were dominated by Hemant Kumar and Shyamal Mitra in the 50s and 60s and due to individual skills Manna Dey and Manobendra Mukherjee kept their mark in Bengali film music. Otherwise the trend was the voice which suited Uttam Kumar the most use to be considered the ideal voice to be used in all bollywood films. In fact in the 70s, Kishore Kumar got break in Bengali films like Amanush and Ananda Ashram only because he could adapt his style for the superstar Uttam Kumar. Bengal had a huge range of classical singers who could have made the world of film music more colourful had they got the scope of contributing in Bengali cinema in the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Review of Golmaal Returns.

Review of Golmaal Returns.

Golmaal Returns was the following part of the film Golmaal, where Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and others played notable part. The previous film was extremely successful and the viewers enjoyed the chaos and confusion in that film.

The story of Golmaal Returns was also based on chaos, misinformation, lies and consequences relating to them. Ajay Devgan had married Kareena Kapoor and on one day got stuck in a yacht with Tushar Kapoor who was dumb. They tried to save Celina Jaitley who faced the problem with few goons in the yacht.

Both of the spent the night in the yacht and when the information was conveyed to Kareena Kapoor her suspicious mind got disturbed. She previously had created problems with her husband in respect of these small issues and this time she was furious about the entire incident.

Ajay Devgan made up a story and said that he had stayed with Anthony Gonsalves and gave his imaginery address. Kareena Kapoor in order to verify the truth relating to his description wrote a letter to Anthony Gonsalves and asked him to visit her.

Ajay Devgan convinced his junior at work Shreyas Talpade to pretend to be Anthony. But the address that he had given was found to be real. To make matters worst a dead body was discovered near the spot where Ajay Devgan and Tushar Kapoor saved Celina Jaitley.

Arshad Warsi, the investigating officer who previously had hostile relationship with Ajay Devgan came to the spot and enquired that Ajay Devgan was not at home on the date when the incident took place. His investigation led to many incidents which entertained the viewers.

The music of the film had been impressive and before the film had been released the songs have become hits. Specially the song “tu sala kaam se gaya” have every element of impressing the crowd. The film is expected to be a big hit, even doing better business than Golmaal.

Review of the film A Wednesday

Review of the film A Wednesday.

Nasiruddin Shah had been an institution by himself for the last 30 years and bollywood films had been enriched with his versatile performances both in commercial ventures and parallel cinema. The film A Wednesday is another film where he had showed his immense maturity in performing in character roles which created the suspense in the film.

The film was related to the events that took place between a period of time on a Wednesday. The Commissioner of Police played by Anupam Kher had been informed by a stranger played by Nasiruddin Shah about the existence of bombs which could create havoc in Bombay. He asked him to release four terrorists whose release can save the life of numerous innocent persons and damage to property.

When Anupam Kher found one of the bombs in front of the police station his doubts got transformed into convincing evidence and he acted upon it. He took the help of a young hacker to trace the telephone caller.

Ultimately he decided to hand over the militants to the Caller. They were handed over by Jimmy Shergill and Amir Bashir. There was strong performance from Anupam Kher and Jimmy Shergill also. Director Neeraj Pandey had maintained the suspense at every part of the film.

Nasirrudin Shah, the common man, then killed the terrorists. He was sick of living with terror. Anupam Kher understood his feelings and destroyed all the evidence of the events as he thought it was done with bonafide motive.

Although serious subject matters hardly get appreciated these days because people require readymade entertainment like take-home food, the film will be successful. It has provided innovative subject matter and the powerful direction and strong performances of Nasir and Anupam Kher should be acknowledged.

Kishore Kumar had gained popularity even after 21 years of his demise

Kishore Kumar had gained popularity even after 21 years of his demise.

Kishore Kumar, the master entertainer had been one of the most colourful personalities of bollywood who just became more and more and more popular over the years, now it is almost 21 years after his demise. In respect of his acting performances hardly any actor even dared to imitate him as his improvisations were spontaneous. The part that is followed by numerous singers all over the country is his singing style.

When KK acted as hero in bollywood films he showed his acting capability even in playback singing like the song “c a t cat, cat mane billi” in the film Dilli Ka Thag. He brought out all the sounds of the animals that were named in the song. In the film Chalti Ka Naam Gari, in the song “paanch rupaiya bara ana” he imitated SD Burman and in every paragraph he had created a new style which justified the lyrics. In Half Ticket he showed the childishness in the song “chil chil chillake” composed by Salil Choudhury, which became very popular among children.

All his innovations created history when he concentrated in playback singing only in the 70s. He made the audience realize that he was singing for Dev Anand, or Rajesh Khanna or Big B, to name a few. His songs “gata rahe mera dil” from Guide, “roop tera mastana” from Aradhana, “kuch to log kahenge” from Amar Prem, “tere mere Milan ki” from Abhimaan have created history over the years.

In the 80s, it was KK all the way, when he had no competitors. All his songs in Big B’s film Namakhalal, Sharaabi, became record hits. Even in Rishi Kapoor’s Sagar, his song “sagar kinare” had romantic appeal. Composers like RD Burman, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan could not think about any composition without KK. He became the legend of legends and all the actors of the 70s and 80s are indebted for his colourful playback.

After his death Kumar Shanu, Abhijeet, Vinod Rathod, Babul Supriyo and other singers had established themselves by following his style of singing. It has not happened with any other playback singer of bollywood. His styles were very entertaining, romantic and filmic.

Articles after articles can be devoted to the master entertainer and it can be said that he had remained alive all over the years in his numerous films and thousands of songs. His films and songs should be preserved.

Bhanu Banerjee - the versatile comedian of Bengali films

Bhanu Banerjee – the versatile comedian of Bengali films.

Bhanu Banerjee had entertained the Bengali audience for over 30 years with his immense stock of comedy films. In the film Sare Chuattor, although Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen had been launched as the romantic pair in the film, Bhanu’s capability of speaking the Bangladeshi intonation from Dhaka, had moved the cinematic audience with dialogues like “mashima malpo khamu”.

Bhanu was sublime in the film Jomaloye Jibonto Manush, where he dreamt of being summoned to Hell, where Jomraaj had by mistake brought when he was still alive. He went to different part of heaven with the help of Vishnu and saw Indrolok, Vishnulok, Shivlok, etc. and took his wife with him who died before him. He later realized that he was dreaming and visit to hell and heaven was in his illusion. The entire film was based on comedy and the strong script was given able direction by Bhanu.

He played a notable role in the film Nirdharito Shilpir Anupasthite. In that film he lost all his relatives in a natural calamity and took the help of Chabi Biswas to reorganize himself after the immense loss. At the end of the film he found his daughter singing in a concert due to the absence of the scheduled artist. He found her at the end. It was a change of image from comedy to a serious role.

His few films were based on fantasy like Ashite Ashipona, where he realized that he had jumped in a pond where the water had transformed his age from 80 to young age. When the news circulated in the village all the people started crowing near the pond as everyone wanted to get back their youth. Due to brilliance Bhanu, Johor Roy and other actors the film did good business.

He even acted in other films like Personal Assistant where he played the role of the PA of a rich lady who gave her the job. He impressed her boss to such an extent that at the end of the film she married him. The songs in the film sung by Hemant Kumar like “k choleche”, “tomader notun kuri” became very successful.

There were many films were which titled with Bhanu’s name like Bhanu Pelo Lottery, Bhanu Goenda Johor Assistant, etc., which were also successful. And he became an indispensable figure in Uttam Kumar’s films like Bhranti Bilas, Sakher Chor, Surjo Toron, Pushpo Dhonu, Ora Thake Odhare, to name a few. If Uttam Kumar was unparallel in romantic roles during the golden age, Bhanu was unparallel in comedy roles during the 50s and 60s. His films should be restored and preserved.

Review of the film Hello

Review of the film Hello.

Whenever Salman Khan acts in any new film his huge fan club all across the world have special interest in respect of the film. His new film Hello has created lot of commotion even before being released due to those reasons.

In this film Shyam was a worker in Call Centre whose girl friend Priyanka started losing interest in him because his career was not having any direction. She was also working in the call centre.

Esha was a model and she was looking for a break. She got involved with a person named Vroom in the town. Radhika was housewife who also was included in the list of call agents. She was frustrated with her life as her in-laws and the family environment was problematic.

One day a call comes from a person who creates the condition that the story that was narrated had to be given final shape by the recipient of the call. The story was based on Tales from a Thousand and One globalizing, urban, Indian nights. The major part was played by Sharman Joshi in the role of Shyam. Gul Kirat Panag played the role of Priyanka. Isha Koppikar was impressive in the role of Esha.

Sohail Khan gave a decent performance in his role of Vroom. Amrita Arora played the role of Radhika very well in the film. Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif had guest appearance to the astonishment of their fans. Sajid Wajid’s music and Atul Agnihotri’s direction had created a special interest in the minds of the viewers.

The only problem is that these types of films had not done well in the Indian box-office previously. Nor is there any charishma on the part of any superstar which can surprise the viewers. There wont be any surprise if the film does satisfactory business as it does not have the elements which can bring it in the lists of superhits of 2008.

Review of kidnap

Review of Kidnap.


Kidnap is the new bollywood film of October which created a lot of interest in the minds of viewers. The main reason of the interest lied on the fact that Imran Khan, the relative of Amir Khan had shown his acting skills in an action film after being appreciated in a romantic film.

The story of Kidnap included the girl Sonia in her 18th birthday asking her mother Dr. Mallika to meet her daddy who was divorced by her mother and had not been seen by Sonia for 8 years. At the time when the divorce was given the custody of the daughter was given to the murder. She went out of the house and did not return. Dr. Mallika received the information from a kidnapper that Sonia had been kidnapped. The kidnapper did not want to even negotiate with Dr. Mallika and said the deal will be made with her father.

Due to compulsion Dr. Mallika had no other option but to bring back Mr. Vikrant (her husband) back to her life. He became a crorepati by that period of time and entering into a financial deal for his daughter was not a big deal for him.

Yet he was reluctant to pay the kidnapper and fulfil his terms and conditions. The film was related to the confrontation of the kidnapper with Mr. Vikrant. Sanjay Dutt was elegant in his role of Mr. Vikrant and he expressed the concern for the daughter very well. Minisha Lamba was impressive in the role of Sonia, the daughter although he did not have that much scope of acting in the film.

Imran Khan was brilliant in his role of the kidnapper and in his second film itself he had shown that he has acting potentiality and if required can perform in any type of role. Director Sanjay Gadhvi had maintained the suspense in the film and it was kept intact at every part of the film.

The film has all the elements of entertainment and will be successful. The viewers can enjoy a thriller in the festival period.

Kalyanji Anandji's consistence in bollywood films.

Kalyanji Anandji’s consistence in bollywood films.

Kalyanji Anandji were one of the leading pair of music composers who had composed successful music in bollywood films over 35 years after Shankar Jaikishan. They created their identity by giving hit songs like “chalia mera naam”, “dum dum diga diga” sung by Mukesh in the early 60s in Raj Kapoor’s film Chalia. They stormed bollywood films with melodious music in Shashi Kapoor’s film Jab Jab Phool Khilen. Rafi’s songs “pardesiyon se na ankhiyan milana”, “yahan mai ajnabi hoon”, became super hit.

In the mid-60s their association with Manoj Kumar created history the successful music in the film Upkaar. Mahendra Kapoor’s song “mere desh ki dharti”, Manna Dey’s song “kasme wade” became super hit at that time. At the same time their music in the film Geet was very impressive with hit songs of Rafi like “mere mitwa” which were picturised on Rajender Kumar.

They composed very sensitive music in the film Safar, where Kishore Kumar’s song “zindagi ka safar” became extremely successful. Their songs in the film Gopi were also successful with Rafi’s song “such ke sab saathi” picturised on Dilip Kumar. Kishore Kumar’s songs “o meri raani”, “pal bhar ke liye”, etc., in the film Johny Mera Naam, picturised on Dev Anand became evergreen hits.

KA composed hit songs in the film Maryada, where Rafi’s song “dhol sajna, dhol jaani” picturised on Raj Kumar became big hit. In the mid-70s, Big B became the greatest megastar of bollywood and KA provided memorable songs in his films including “yaari hai iman mera”, sung by Manna Dey in Zanjeer, “mai hoon Don” sung by Kishore Kumar in Don, “o saathi re, tere bina bhi kya jeena” in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, to name a few.

In the 80s also KA contributed a lot in mainly films of Firoz Khan like Qurbaani, Jaanbaaz, etc. Rafi’s song “kya dekhte ho” in Qurbaani and the songs picturised on Zeenat Aman like “aap jaisa koi”, became super hit.

In the 80s, the trend of music changed and it was sheer brilliance of KA which enabled him to compete with LP, RD Burman and other leading composers of that time. Their songs and the films should be restored for their rich music.

Ajay Devgan in the recent years.

Ajay Devgan in the recent years.

Ajay Devgan had created a reserve image over the last 15 years in bollywood films. He initially created his identity in action films starting from Phool Aur Kaante in the early 1990s. He also acted well in critically acclaimed films like Zakhm.

In the last 10 years he had kept his mark in every type of film. He showed his comedy skills in the film Ishq, where Amir Khan, Juhi Chawla and Kajol played important roles and the two pairs of performers convinced their relatives to accept the partners who had come from different strata of the society. The music in the film was impressive including songs like “dekho dekho jaanam”, “ishq hua”, etc.

He played the role of a supernatural being in the film Kaal, where visitors like Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol came to Corbett National Park and he being a guide instead of helping him killed each and every one of them. Previously people were thinking that the man-eating tigers in the region were responsible for the death of the people but at the end it was found that the supernatural being was responsible for the killings.

He acted in the comedy film Golmaal with Arshad Warshi, Paresh Rawal, Tushar Kapoor and other eminent actors. He took advantage of the blindness of Paresh Rawal and his wife to give shelter to his three friends and pretended to be their relative. All the actors did well in their respective roles in the film. On the other hand he was sublime in his serious role in the film Omkara opposite Kareena Kapoor. Saif Ali Khan was very impressive in his negative role while Vivek Oberoi also did well.

Ajay Devgan impressed the viewers with his disciplined performance in the film Gangajaal where he showed the struggle of an honest police officer in the corrupted jurisdictions in Bihar. He had to work with corrupt officers and yet succeed in his investigation and law enforcement which he did in style.

Even in romantic films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, his performance opposite Aishwarya Rai was well appreciated by the viewers inspite of the fact that Salman Khan had a major role and gave lips in the successful songs in the film. The viewers expect Ajay Devgan to continue his good work and explore in the bollywood films in future.

Shyamal Mitra - the legendary singer of bengali modern songs

Shyamal Mitra-the legendary singer of bengali modern songs.

Shyamal Mitra was the one of the leading singers of Bengal during the golden age and for 40 years dominated the world of modern songs and film music along with Manobendra Mukherjee, Manna Dey and Hemant Kumar. His first song “sriti tumi bedona” was composed by his guru Sudhirlal Chakravarty. From that time his nasal tune suited songs related to pathos and song like “emono din aaste pare”, “jodi dako opar theke”, “ei sundar prithibi chere mono jete nahi chay” flabbergasted the Bengali audience. Satinath Mukherjee, a leading classical singer of the 60s loved Shyamal Mitra and his composition for him titled “eto alo aar eto hasi gaan” became super hit.

At that time Robin Chatterji, the leading composer of Bengali film music used Shyamal Mitra to sing film songs for Uttam Kumar, the greatest superstar of Bengal, and his songs “amar sapne dekha rajkonya” in the film Sagarika, “o mon kokhon shuru kokhon je shesh” in the film Kamal Lata touched the souls of numerous listeners. Robin Chatterji experimented in the film Deeper Naam Tiya Rong with Portuguese folk music and the songs sung by Shaymal Mitra titled “o amar saat rajari dhaan” and “phiriti basakar kuye giya dishe” made the listeners speechless.

Salil Choudhury was moved by the romantic appeal of Shyamal Mitra and used him in Dilip Kumar’s film Musafir with the song “ek aye ek jaye”. His basic discs sung by Shyamal Mitra include “aha oi ankabanka poth” which was remade in hindi titled “aha rimjhim ke” sung by Talat Mehmood, “jodi kichu amare shudhao”, etc. By mid-60s Shyamal Mitra became a leading music composer and his composition for Manobendra Mukherjee and himself tilted “dole dodul dole jhulona” in Uttam Kumar’s film Deya Neya became super hit.

The notable films where his music was impressive include Bon Palashir Padabali, Raj Konya, Bhranti Bilas, Amanush, Ananda Ashram, etc. His song “dil aisa kisi ne mera tora” sung by Kishore Kumar in the hindi film Amanush gave him filmfare award for the best singer. His composition for Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle in the film Anand Ashram titled “sara pyar tumhara” became super hit with the excellent lips of Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore. He also sang notable songs in the program Romyogeeti played in All India Radio. His voice suited Uttam Kumar a lot and his songs in the film Sokher Chor, Bhranti Bilas, Andha Atit had been landmarks in Bengali film history. He died in the mid-80s after becoming a legend along with Hemanta Kumar, Manobendra Mukherjee and Manna Dey and it is not possible to highlight his achievements in a small article. His songs and films should be restored.

Subhash Ghai and bollywood films

Subhash Ghai and bollywood films.

Subhash Ghai was considered to be the second showman of bollywood films after Producer Director Raj Kapoor. Subhash Ghai had made different types of films over the last 30 years and in most of the cases the films had appealed to the masses.

His film Karz was based on story of reincarnation of Rishi Kapoor who had been killed by Simi Garewal in his previous life. He identified his mother and sister and unfolded the truth relating to the murder by Simi Garewal. Subhas Ghai was successful to motivate LP to create landmark tunes in the film with Rafi’s song “darde dil” and Kishore’s song “om shanti om” becoming landmark hits in the early 80s.

His film Karma had a subject related to terrorism. Dilip Kumar was the jailor whose family was killed by the terrorist gang led by Anupam Kher. He was imprisoned in the respective jail of Dilip Kumar and took revenge by escaping from the prison and killing his family members. Dilip Kumar created a force with criminals like Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff and Nasiruddin Shah who were facing imprisonment. They helped him in his fight against terrorism and the mission was successful.

Subhash Ghai’s film Khalnayak was based on the creation of an offender by the evil forces. Sanjay Dutt was compelled to become a criminal and joined the criminal gang. He was arrested by Jackie Shroff and he fled from the prison. Madhuri Dixit the wife of Jackie Shroff helped him to catch Sanjay Dutt at the end of the film.

Subhash Ghai also experimented with legendary actors like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kumar in the film Saudagar. He had the guts to experiment with new actor and actresses and many of them rose to stardom with the start given by Subhash Ghai. Manisha Koirala started her career with Khalnayak and later on became a successful actress of the 90s.

His other successful films include Kalicharan with Shatrughun Sinha, Yadein with Hrithik Roshan, Hero with Jackie Shroff, Taal with Anil Kapoor. Very significantly the music in the films of Subhash Ghai had been extremely successful and LP had played an important role in composing music for his films. The viewers expect him to continue the good work and create better films in future.

Madan Mohan had not lost his appeal even today

Madan Mohan had not lost his appeal even today.

Although music had undergone a lot of reforms in the last 10 years, many composers of the golden age of bollywood music like Madan Mohan had not lost his appeal and the music had not become obsolete even with passage of time.
His song “do ghari woh jo pass aa baithe” became popular in the late 50s, as it was sung by Rafi and Lata and picturised on Bharat Bhushan and Madhubala. Al the songs of the film Adalat became hit with the brilliant lips of Pradeep Kumar and Nargis.

In the 60s Madan Mohan became a leading composer with excellent music given in the films Jahan- Ara, Ghazal, Woh Kaun Thi, Haqeekat, Mera Saya, etc. In Jahan – Ara, songs like “phir wohi shaam”, sung by Talat Mehmood, “baad muddat ke yeh ghari ayi”, sung by Rafi, “kisiki yaad me apnako hai bhulaye huye”, became super hits.

In Ghazal, Rafi’s song “rang aur noor ki baraat” became landmark hit. Lata’s songs in Woh Kaun Thi created history including songs like “naina bares”, “lagja gale”, etc. All the songs in the film Haqeekat became hit including “kar chale hum phida” sung by Rafi, “hoke majboor usne bulaya hoga” sung by Rafi, Bhupinder Singh, Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood and “zarasi aahat” sung by Lata. The songs had extraordinary lyrics written by Kaifi Azmi.

Madan Mohan is known for composing some of the most notable ghazals composed in the history of bollywood music including “tumhare zulfoki sayeme shaam kar lunga” sung by Rafi in the film Naunihal, “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi phursat ke raat din” sung by Bhupinder Singh in the film Mausam.

Songs like “tu jahan jahan chalega” in Mera Saya had made Lata a phenomenon in bollywood music. Madan Mohan even made his instruments replicate thunder and lightning the way he had done in Rafi’s song “tum jo mil gaye ho” in the film Hanste Zakhm. Also the songs in the film Neela Akash, like “akhri geet muhobat ka sunayun” sung by Rafi are memorable.

Madan Mohan’s composition in Laila Majnu, along with Jaidev requires special mention as the songs had flavour of music of Middle East countries. The notable songs include “barbaad muhobbat ki duwa saath liye ja”, “tere dar pe ayah un”, “is reshmi pazeeb”, etc. Even after 35 years of his death his immortal compositions are used in modern films like Veer Zara which shows that he had not lost appeal even today. His creations should be preserved and restored.

Mohishashur Mordini in All India Radio

Mohishashur Mordini in All India Radio.

Mohishahshur Mordini had not lost its appeal even after 60 years of its creation. It is played in All India Radio on the morning of every Mahalaya each year. This year it was also played and it enchanted numerous bengalies all across the world.

The mantra in the entire play was uttered by Birendra Krishna Bhadra who became a living legend in the early 50s. He conducted all the important programs in All India Radio from Kolkata at a time when Television did not appear in India and Radio was the only medium of entertainment.

From Mahalaya the Petripaksha ends and Devipaksha begins. Hindus all over the world worship Goddess Durga and the occasion lies for four days including Shashti, Saptami, Ashtami and Navami. On Dashami Goddess Durga is immersed in holy Ganges. Mahalay is the day when Hindus do tarpan in the Ganges to remember the ancestors who had died but were still attached with the next generation.

When Birendra Bhadra directed Mohishashur Mordini, the tale relating to Goddess Durga defeating the devil powers under the name of Mohishahur, Singer Pankaj Mallick and Bani Kumar also made notable contribution to bring in all the legendary singers of Bengal and made them sing significant songs.

For example Manobendra Mukherjee sang “tabo achinto”, Dijen Mukherjee sang “jago tumi jago”. The other singers included Supriti Ghosh, Suptrava Sarkar, Sandhya Mukherjee, Shaymal Mitra, Utpala Sen and others.

Birendra Bhadra was unparallel in the manner in which he pronounced the Sanskrit sloks, which could not be replicated and when Uttam Kumar that greatest superstar of Bengal tried to do it, he was criticized and All India Radio again displayed the Mohishashur Mordini directed by Birendra Bhadra. Even Hindus across India celebrate Navratri and Dussehra based on the success of God in defeating evil powers.

Even today Bengalies feel that it creates a Godly atmosphere and gives the feeling that Goddess Durga had really arrived on earth. It is a historical piece of creation and should be restored.