Kumar Shanu said Sonu Nigam has ladies voice.

Kumar Shanu said Sonu Nigam has ladies voice.

In a recent interview given in Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika on 26th December, 2009, Kumar Shanu had said a lot of things. He said most of the deliberations will be found in a book which he recently wrote.

When he was asked that why he is hardly found in latest bollywood films, inspite of ruling bollywood films from 89 to 95, he said that a number of lobbies influence music, and he may not be part of them.

He mentioned that music was at its zenith in the 90s when Nadeem Shravan had composed tunes for him in films like Phool Aur Kante. Most of the films became super hit due to the music. He said that at the moment Indian films are filled with westernized compositions and hence the soft romantic numbers that existed during Shanu’s time is disappearing.

He did not agree about the fact that just because Kishore Kumar died in the late 80s, he got break and gave hits after hits. He said that Abhijeet, Amit Kumar, Vinod Rathore, Sudesh Bhosle everyone were in the race but he made it to the top by his sheer brilliance. He did not give any positive comment about Sonu Nigam saying that the tone quality of his voice is not good but praised Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal.

As far as his lessening of domination in bollywood films, he said nobody ruled bollywood music for indefinite period. He said that Mohammad Rafi did not get songs after the 70s and got a heart attack due to that. He said that Kishore Kumar featured in less number of songs before the 70s.

He talked about a present film that he was working on relating to the life of young boys of Goregaon who earned their living by boot polish. He also talked about his business that he is running in Dubai.

As far as his comments on Sonu Nigam are concerned, it is difficult to ignore his success in bollywood music inspite of Kumar Shanu’s comments. The audience is going to judge the relevance of Shanu’s comments.

Happy birthday to Rajesh Khanna

Happy birthday to Rajesh Khanna
The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Rajesh Khanna on 29th December, 2009. He had remained one of the most popular actors of 70s, before Amitabh Bacchan entered the film arena and gave birth to action films. The other reason why Rajesh Khanna is remembered even today was for the melodious music that he got from Kalyanji Anandji, RD Burman, Salil Choudhury, Laxmikant Pyarellal and other composers.

Although he started his career with films like Akhri Khat, Raaz, etc., in the late 60s, he got recognition with Shakti Shamanta’s super hit film Aradhana. In the 70s, Rajesh Khanna had a dream run with films of different directors including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Asit Sen, Shakti Samanta and others.

Most of his films from 1971 to 1973, were super hit. And the music of these films created history. The songs of the film Anand, composed by Salil Choudhury were super hit, including “kahin door jab din dhal jaye”, “maine tere liye hi saat rang” sung by Mukesh and “zindagi kaisi hai peheli” sung by Manna Dey. The songs of the film Aan Milo Sajna composed by LP became super hit including Rafi’s song “aan milo sajna” and Kishore’s song “accha to hum chalte hai”.

The songs of the film Amar Prem composed by RD Burman became super hit including KK’s song “chingari koi bharke”, “kuch to log kahenge”, etc. Amar Prem was the hindi version of Uttam Kumar’s famour Bengali film Nishipadda. Similarly the songs of the film Kati Patang composed by RD Burman became super hit including songs of KK like “ai shaam mastani”, Mukesh’s song “jis gali me”, etc.

Similarly songs of the film Safar composed by Kalyanji Anandji became super hit. Kishore’s song “zindagi ka safar” can be considered as one of the best songs that he sang during his long career. The songs of the film Namak Haram composed by RD Burman, Roti composed by LP, Raaz composed by Kalyanji Anandji, Bawarchi composed by Madanmohan, were all very successful.

Rajesh Khanna created a romantic image and his films opposite various actresses like Sharmila Tagore in films like Aradhana, Amar Prem, Mumtaz in Aap Ki Kasam, Asha Parekh in Kati Patang, Aan Milo Sajna, Tanuja in Mere Jeevan Saathi, Hema Malini in Mehbooba, and others created an era of romantic films. He became a role model for the younger generation.

But from the time Amitabh Bacchan entered the film arena he not only dethroned Rajesh Khanna but more than that changed the dimension of bollywood films. He played anti-establishment characters and persuaded other superstars like Vinod Khanna, Shatrughun Sinha, Dharmender, Firoz Khan, Sunil Dutt and others to play similar type of roles.

Action films dominated bollywood industry and films like Sholay, Deewar, Kalicharan, Burning Train, Jugnu, Zakhmee, Dharmatma faded away Rajesh Khanna’s romantic films like Soutan, Prem Nagar and other films.

Rajesh Khanna’s wife Dimple Kapadia established herself into one of the most powerful actresses of bollywood films with success in Saagar, Jaanbaaz, Rudaali, Lekin, Krantiveer, etc.

Even then Rajesh Khanna continued acting for another 20 years and is even seen in a recent film in a role of an old person. Even Rishi Kapoor did cast him in his directorial venture title A ab laut chale.

The viewers expect Rajesh Khanna to contribute in character roles the way Big B, Vinod Khanna and other veteran actors have done over the years.

Happy birthday to Dev Anand

Happy birthday to Dev Anand.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to evergreen star Dev Anand. Along with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar he was one of the most popular stars of bollywood films of the 50s and 60s.

He acted opposite most of the leading actresses of the 50s and 60s and most of his romantic of the golden age remained hits. Some of his successful films include Taxi-Driver with Nalini Jayant, CID with Wahida Rehman, Kalapani with Madhubala, Kalabazar with Wahida Rehman, etc. His production banner Navketan was the pivot around which his brothers Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand contributed a lot.

In the 60s, Dev Anand acted in successful films like Guide, Jewel Thief, etc. Guide was based on the epic literature of RK Narayan. Dev Anand received the filmfare award for the best actor for his performance in the film Guide. In Jewel Thief he successfully acted in the role of a detective to combat the group of burglers led by Ashok Kumar.

From the 70s Dev Anand started directing his films including Prem Pujari, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, etc. Even as a director he showed his class. As an actor he was known for his stylish andaz as he emulated the mannerisms of Hollywood actor Gregory Pegg. Another factor for which Dev Anand is still remembered is the quality music given in his films.

Composers like SD Burman, Shankar Jaikishan, Jaidev, OP Nayyar, gave everlasting music with Rafi’s songs like “tujhe jeevan ki dorme”, “khoya khoya chand”, “tere mere sapne”, “hum bekhudi me tumko bulaye” still remaining immortal. Even Kishore’s songs “jeevan ki safar me rahi”, “gata rahe mera dil”, “phulon ke rang se” had not lost their colour even today.

Dev Anand received Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his excellence in Indian cinema. The viewers expect him to continue the great work that he started 60 years ago.

The nation remembers Pancham on his birthday.

The nation remembers Pancham on his birthday.

The nation remembers Pancham, better known as Rahul Dev Burman, on his birthday on 27th June, 2009. Almost 15 years passed after his death, yet his tunes had kept him alive among the young generations.

Being the son of legendary singer and composer SD Burman, he had a monumental task of proving his identity in the 60s. He came out with innovative tunes sung by Rafi in Mehmood’s film Chote Nawab. From that time onwards critics understood that RD Burman had come to create his unique identity. His biggest in the 60s came in Shammi Kapoor’s film Teesri Manzil in 1966. All the songs sung by Rafi and Asha became landmark hits including “o haseena zulfonwali”, “aaja aaja mai hoon pyar tera”, “janeman janejaa”, etc. Along with western composers like Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Salil Choudhury, who were ruling the industry, RD Burman kept his feet on strong platform.

RD Burman and Rafi combination continued in films like Abhilasha with songs like “wadiyan tera daaman”, Jeetender’s Karwan with songs like “kitna pyara wada”, “are chadti jawani”, “are ho goriyan kahan tera des re”, Shashi Kapoor’s Pyar Ka Mausam, with songs like “tum bin jayun kahan”, “ni sultana re”, Rajesh Khanna’s The Train, with songs like “gulaabi aankhe”, “tujshe bhala yeh”, etc. In the 70s, RD took the bollywood industry by storm. With death of Jaikishan, Roshan, Ghulam Mohammad, Vasant Desai, etc., the industry depended on Pancham, Laxmikant Pyarellal and Kalyanji Anandji for best music. They provided stability to the industry for the next 15 years.

RD Burman had monumental contribution in Rajesh Khanna and Big B’s films and gave a new life to Kishore Kumar. All the songs of films like Amar Prem, Kati Patang, Aap Ki Kasam, Namak Haram, Mehbooba, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat, Shaan, Shakti, etc. Memorable songs included “tere naina”, “kuch to log kahenge”, “ai sham mastani”, “janu meri jaan”, etc.

RD Burman contributed a lot in Uttam Kumar’s Bengali film Raj Kumari in 1970. The song “ki holo kabe holo” , created history which was remade in hindi in the film Amar Prem. Critics argue that RD Burman reserved his best music in Gulzar’s films. His songs for Lata in Suchitra Sen’s Aandhi titled “is mor se jaate hai”, Uttam Kumar’s Kitaab, “aa ii masterjiki ho gayi chutti”, Jeetender’s Kinara where Bhupinder Singh and Lata did their best in “naam gum jayega”, “meethe bol bole”, “ek hi khwab”, etc., Sanjeev Kumar’s Parichay, with Bhupinder’s “biti na bitai rehna”, etc.

He won the filmfare award for the best composer three times. The young generations associate themselves with RD’s tunes even today, in that count he was one of the versatile composers after Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Madanmohan, Roshan, etc.

Happy birthday to Mithun Chakravarty.

Happy birthday to Mithun Chakravarty.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Mithun Chakravarty on 16th June, 2009. He had contributed in bollywood films for more than 30 years and had also contributed in Bengali films as well.

He brought revolution in the world of dancing in bollywood films. His film Disco Dancer, was related to the struggle of a young man in establishing him in the world of dancing. The music of the film composed by Bappi Lahiri played a big role in the success of the film. All the songs in the film became super hit including “I am a disco dancer”. Kishore Kumar, (Bappi Lahiri’s own relative), and Bappi Lahiri contributed a lot in the success of Mithun Chakravarty.

Mithun Chakravarty acted in successful films in the 80s, including Dance Dance, Pyar Jhukta Nahi, etc. Some of films were dance oriented films, while the other ones were action oriented. Although Mithun’s husky voice was criticized at times, his action sequences had always been appreciated.

Mithun Chakravarty won a number of national awards for his excellence in Bengali films, mainly related to films of intellectual directors like Mrinal Sen and Buddhadeb Dasgupta. His performances in films like Mrigaya and Tahader Katha require special mention. At the same time he acted in many commercially hit films like Anyay Abhichar and Kalankini Kankabati.

In the last 5 years, Mithun had kept his mark in character roles. Last year his performance in the role of a solicitor in the film Yuvvraaj was appreciated. He did a fantastic job in Akshay Kumar’s Chandni Chowk to China released this year. His emotional performance had made a lot of viewers cry. Mithun had matured over the years. These days whenever he is given any character role, he uses his long experience for the last 30 years in giving expression to the respective character.

Mithun had also acted in negative characters and did a great job in those roles as well. His comedy performances in films like Agnipath can inspire many new actors of modern days. Besides Mithun had also been a great human being as he contributed in relief operations during natural calamities and human causes like raising funds for Thalasemia patients or people suffering from cancer, etc.

The viewers expect him to continue the brilliant work that he started years back.