Happy birthday to Dharmender.

Happy birthday to Dharmender.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Dharmender on 8th December, 2009. He is one of the living legends of bollywood.

He had acted in more than 300 films and bollywood industry was heavily dependent on the star in the 60s and 70s. He started his journey with romantic films. His successful romantic films included Phool Aur Pathar with Meena Kumari, Mamta with Suchitra Sen, Mere Humdum Mere Dost with Sharmila Tagore, Aye Din Bahar Ke with Asha Parekh, Pyar Hi Pyar with Vaijayantimala, to name a few. Rafi’s songs picturized on Dharmender like “gar tum bhula na doge,” “ na ja kahin ab na ja”, “o majhi chal”, “dil kahen ruk ja”, “aaj mausam bara beimaan hai”, etc., had remained evergreen gems.

He played a different innings in the 70s. His image of action hero created revolution in bollywood films. He had a very muscular physic and created a trend of actors who involved themselves in exercises. His discipline had been followed by the actors of the next generation like Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and others. His successful films in the 70s included Jheel Ke Us Paar, Jugnu, Sholay, Dream Girl, etc.

His combination with Hema Malini is considered as one of the most colourful onscreen combination after Raj Kapoor Nargis and Dilip Kumar Vaijayantimala. Dharmender had acted in more than 20 films with Hema Malini, most of which were super hit. The most renowned films included Raja Jani, Naya Zamana, Sholay, Charas, Seeta Aur Geeta, Burning Train, Dream Girl, etc.

Dharmender acted in off-beat films as well. The best example was Gulzar’s Kinara. He was the husband of Hema Malini in the film who was a noted classical dancer. He was killed due to an accident with the car of Jeetender in the film. Bhupinder Singh’s song picturised on Dharmender titled “ek hi khwab kai baar dekha hai maine” remains as one of the greatest off-beat creations of RD Burman. His performance in the film Maa, based on the life of elephant requires special mention. He took a young elephant away from his mother to use him in Circus. The mother elephant revolted and killed Dharmender’s mother Nirupa Roy in the film. Dharmender’s patent dialogue “maa kasam”, “kamine”, etc., were memorized by youths of the 70s.
Both his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol are successful actors of bollywood films. Dharmender still has acting left in him and the viewers expect him to carry on the marathon innings that he had started 50 years back.

Happy birthday to Gulzar.

Happy birthday to Gulzar.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to legendary director and lyricist Gulzar on 18th August, 2009. He had been one of the greatest living legends at this moment. Bollywood is indebted to thoughtful director who had converted filmmaking into work of art.

His film Mausam was based on reflections of mind. Sanjeev Kumar was attached with Sharmila Tagore living in Darjeeling when he came over there as a student. After he went abroad to pursue his post-graduate studies, Sharmila was exploited and her daughter how looked identical like her mother was compelled to join prostitution.

Sanjeev Kumar returned as a foreign-return doctor and took his daughter away from the surroundings and gave her a new life. Bhupinder Singh’s ghazal “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi” composed by Madan Mohan and written by Gulzar remains as the greatest ghazal created in the 70s. The story-telling in the film was appreciated by critics.

Gulzar created a different dimension by experimented with classic literature during the 70s and 80s. His films Aandhi with Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar and Kinara with Jeetender and Hema Malini can very well be classified as master pieces. He gave very meaningful sequences where songs were recorded. He created a separate fanclub for himself who could understand human relations at the same period when larger than life images were created in main stream cinema of Big B, Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha and other angry young men in films like Sholay, Kalicharan, Burning Train, etc.

Gulzar’s films created for children like Parichay and Kitaab are still considered masterpieces. He was impressed by the thoughts of Hollywood film Sound of Music and Uttam Kumar’s Joyjoyanti to make a film related to five children who required a good teacher. Jeetender treated them with compassion and brought change in the children. In Kitaab, Uttam Kumar cared for his brother-in-law Master Raju who was a small child and had been send by her mother to get educated in urbanized background.
Gulzar experimented with so many diverse subjects that articles after articles can be devoted to his different themes, including the film Koshish, based on life of deaf and dumb, Lekin, based on folklore of Rajasthan. All his artists like Suchitra Sen, Jaya Bacchan, Sharmila Tagore, Uttam Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetender portrayed the life of middle-class men who were found in everyday life.

His composers, Jaidev, Madan Mohan, Khayyam, RD Burman all had given their best music for the thoughtful director. These days Gulzar concentrates more on writing lyrics. In that field too he had been master of masters.

His admirers expect him to continue to make rich films which makes the audience think, feel and reflect on the happiness and sniffles of life.

Remembering Sanjeev Kumar on 9th July, 2009.

Remembering Sanjeev Kumar on 9th July, 2009.

The viewers of bollywood films would remember Sanjeev Kumar on his birthday on 9th July, 2009. He was one of most gifted actors that bollywood films had produced and still remains immortal in his memorable works. He was sublime in the role of a deaf and dumb character in Gulzar’s film Koshish. He received national award for his brilliant performance and also inspired Jaya Bacchan to reach the same level of excellence in the film.

In Sholay he played the epic role of Thakur of north Indian village. His personality in the film amazed the Indian viewers and many aspects he superseded Dharmender and Big in the same film where they were sublime. His personality matched the cruel instincts of Amzad Khan in the role of Gabbar Singh in the same film. Again his role in the film Aandhi opposite Suchitra Sen in 1975, showed his softer side. He could feel the emotions of his wife who was a popular political leader but was corned by many members of the opposition. He received filmfare award for best actor in 1975 for his epic performance in Aandhi.

Gulzar probably had made the best use of the versatile actor. His role in the film Mausam was full of reflections. He recollected his past experience with Sharmila Tagore when his car ascended the roads to his destination in Darjeeling. Bhupinder Singh’s song “dil dhoonta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din” written by Gulzar and composed by Madan Mohan matched him ideally. Probably Bhupinder Singh’s deep voice suited Sanjeev Kumar better than no other actor in bollywood . He gave elegant lips in the film Parichay in the song “bite na bitai rehna”.

Besides, Sanjeev Kumar kept his mark in comedy films like Seeta Aur Geeta opposite Hema Malini, also Angoor opposite Moushumi Chatterji. He was sublime also in films like Satyakam and Shikar. Critics argue that he was the most versatile actor after Dilip Kumar and Balraj Sahani and he showed his variation in films like Naya Din Nayi Raat. All the nine roles were different and Sanjeev Kumar treated each of the them with separate andaz. His role in Khilouna showed the characteristics of a mad person and was worth mentioning. He gave elegant lips in Rafi’s song “khilouna jaan kar mujhko”.

The works of Sanjeev Kumar should be preserved and actors of the new generation learn from his versatile performances.

Review of the film Kaminey.

Review of the film Kaminey.

Vishal Bharadwaj had addressed the viewers of bollywood films with his new film Kaminey after some time. It is based on the story of two twin brothers who hate each other.

Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra had been cast in the lead roles in the film. Shahid Kapoor played the double roles of Guddu and Charlie. Guddu started his life from the famous slum in Mumbai called Dharavi, but joined a NGO firm. He was honest, generous and hardworking. He had the ambition of crossing the different levels and reaching higher summits in the corporate world.

On the other hand Charlie was involved in betting in the race course. He wanted to climb the ladder of success with a short-cut route. His ambition was to be a legitimate bookie and get recognition. He had the skills for the job and did well.

Both the brothers had defects in their speech. Guddu stammered whenever he was nervous. Charlie also had other kinds of communication problems. Both the brothers hated each other. On one day, Charlie faced a problem with his rival bookies and also was chased by cops.

While Guddu was involved in street play his girlfriend Sweety Bhope came and said that she became pregnant. When he wanted to marry her, he found there was new problem. Her brothers were dons, and chased him for the unfortunate happenings.

It was at that part of the film where the two brothers who hated each other came closer. The performance of Shahid Kapoor in double role was very impressive. Priyanka Chopra was full of energy as usual.

Vishal Bharadwaj’s story and direction has the elements of success. The music also has been given by Vishal Bharadwaj, which was equally impressive. The lyrics are written by Gulzar.

In a nutshell it can be said that the film will be a hit film and viewers should go to the halls and watch the film.

Sanjeev Kumar and Gulzar.

Sanjeev Kumar and Gulzar.

Sanjeev Kumar was one of the gifted actors of 70s who was indispensable in bollywood industry. He had performed in every type of films including classic pictures like Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ki Khiladi to commercially successful blockbusters like Sholay.

But the director who had used his talents to their limits was Gulzar. Gulzar dealt with classic literature and life of the middle-class man with their crude reality. Sanjeev Kumar fulfilled most of his requirements in diversified roles.

He was sublime in the film Koshish, which was based on the life of a deaf and dumb couple. Although he himself could not speak, he learnt the art of reading faces by which the communication could be understood by attending classes in deaf and dumb school. He taught the skill to his wife Jaya Bacchan also in the film. He only had eyes and face to express the feelings of the character and he did it in style. The scene where his child did not respond to a musical toy was very touchy. He thought his child was also deaf and actually the toy was defective and did not make any sound.

In Mausam, he recollected his romantic memories with Sharmila Tagore during the time when he entered into an affair with her during his student life. He came to Darjeeling as a medical student and was treated by Om Shivpuri, the father of Sharmila Tagore in the film. But after promising to marry Sharmila Tagore he went for Higher Education and returned after a long period of time. By that time Sharmila gave birth to a daughter, died herself and the daughter entered unlawful business to earn her livelihood. The reflections in the film could only be expressed by a stalwart of the callibre of Sanjeev Kumar.

Again Gulzar used him in style in the film Aandhi. He was compassionate to his wife played by Suchitra Senn who was a political in the film. She was cornered from every angle by her opposition and could only communicate about her feelings to her husband Sanjeev Kumar who stayed separately as his profession was different from his wife. Sanjeev Kumar even received filmfare award for best actor in the film.

The other landmark films of Gulzar, where Sanjeev Kumar was sublime include Parichay, Angoor, Namkeen, etc. All the roles played by Sanjeev Kumar in Gulzar’s films were different from one another and had sensitive human values attached to them.

Sanjeev Kumar entered the skin of the characters and made the viewers believe in them through his sheer brilliance. It is a pity that Sanjeev Kumar did not get the recognition he deserved and never became a phenomenon like Dilip Kumar or Balraj Sahani, but whenever viewers revisit his films they agree on the point that he was the fit performance for bringing life in classic roles in Gulzar’s films. The films should be restored for those reasons.