Happy birthday to Manoj Kumar.

Happy birthday to Manoj Kumar.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Manoj Kumar on 24th July, 2009. He started his career as a romantic hero, then showed his skills in the field of direction and created a separate identity as a patriotic hero. He later on earned the name of Bharat Kumar.

Harikishan Giri Goswami, better known as Manoj Kumar, was a big admirer of Tragedy King Dilip Kumar. He was obsessed with Dilip Kumar’s performance in the film Shabnam, in 1949, and kept the name of the character of the film, which was Manoj Kumar.

Although he started his career in the film Fashion in 1957, he got recognition with a lead role in the film Kaanch Ki Gudiya in 1960. Vijay Bhatt directed Hariyali Aur Raasta in 1962 changed the destiny of Manoj Kumar as a romantic hero. The songs of the film were composed by genius of genius Shankar Jaikishan, and with Mala Sinha’s assistance Manoj Kumar reached the hearts of millions of music lovers in the country. The songs in the film including “ifteda-e-ishq”, “yeh hariyali aur yeh raasta”, sung by Mukesh and Lata astonished the viewers. The film became super hit.

In the mid-60s, Manoj Kumar landmark roles in suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, 1964, and Gumnaam, 1965, created a separate recognition for the actor. Woh Kaun Thi was a horror film of Raj Khosla where Manoj Kumar played the role of the doctor who got scared with the ghostly appearance of Sadhna, who played a double role in the film. He solved the mystery in the film and got Prem Chopra arrested at the end after realizing that his wife had a twin sister who was used as a ghost. The music of Madan Mohan was brilliant and Lata’s songs “naina barse rimjhim”, “lagja gale”, etc., created sensation.

Gumnaam was a murder thriller which stormed bollywood in the mid-60s. More than seven friends were given offer of going for holidays, but the flight was hijacked and the friends had to land at an island. Each of them were killed one after the other and no one knew who killed them. Manoj Kumar solved the mystery and unearthed the truth that Tarun Bose was the actual murderer. The music composed by SJ was extraordinary with songs like “jane chaman shola badan” sung by Rafi and Sharda, “gumnaam hai koi” sung by Lata, “is duniya me jeena ho to”, “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai”, etc.

Manoj Kumar's second innings with patriotic films like Shaheed, Upkaar, Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti, moved the viewers and earned him respect. He directed most of those films and got filmfare award for best director for excellent work in films like Upkaar and Roti Kapda and Makaan. His film Upkaar also received the national award for best film in 1967, and he gave life to the slogan of PM Lal Bahadur Shastri titled “jai jawan jai kisan” with Upkaar.

His other successful films as hero also include Patthar Ke Sanam, Anita, Aadmi, etc. He acted with childhood idol Dilip Kumar in Aadmi and Kranti. The songs of most of his films were of excellent class.

The viewers expect him to continue the excellent work as a director in the years to come.

Remembering Mahendra Kapoor

Remembering Mahendra Kapoor.

The audience of bollywood films remember Mahendra Kapoor, the dignified playback singer of the golden age on 9th January, 2009. He learned music from the giant singer Mohammad Rafi and had a very strong background to sing complex tunes made during the 50s and 60s.

He mainly contributed in BR Chopra’s films and attracted the attention of the audience who were used to hear the voices of legendary singers like Rafi, Manna Dey, Mukesh, Kishore, Talat Mehmood, etc. In Sunil Dutt’s film Gumrah, Mahendra Kapoor’s song “chalo ekbaar phir se” composed by Ravi became super hit. From that time the team of BR Chopra, Mahendra Kapoor and Ravi had provided many memorable hits.

In the film Waqt, Mahendra Kapoor’s duet song with Asha titled “dil je sahare aja pyar Karen” became super hit. His songs were picturised on both Sunil Dutt and Shashi Kapoor in the film. He even received the filmfare award for the best singer in the late 60s for his song “nile gagan ke tale” composed by Ravi and picturised on Raj Kumar in the film Humraaz.

Manoj Kumar gave a different dimension to the singing career of Mahendra Kapoor by asking him to sing patriotic songs in his films. His song “rang de basanti chola” in the film Shahid became extremely popular along with Rafi’s song “aye watan aye watan”. The most popular song in the career of Mahendra Kapoor was “mere desh ki dharti” from the film Upkar.

Manoj Kumar made the film with Lal Bahadur Shastri’s vision for the country with the slogan “jai jawan jai kisan”. Mahendra Kapoor addressed the farmers of the country, the military personnel and the freedom fighters with the song “mere desh ki dharti” composed by Kalyanji Anandji. The film became super hit and Mahendra Kapoor became a legendary singer of the contemporary generation.

The partnership of Manoj Kumar with Mahendra Kapoor continued in following films like Purab Aur Paschim, Roti Kapra Aur Makaan, Kranti, etc. With increase of age more maturity was witnessed in the voice of Mahendra Kapoor.

Mahendra Kapoor sang many romantic songs in his illustrious career including “har dil jo pyar karega” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Sangam. His song was picturized on Rajender Kumar when Lata Mangeshkar sang the same song for Vaijayantimala and Mukesh sang it for Raj Kapoor. Mahendra Kapoor kept his mark amongst the other established singers.

His contribution cannot be expressed in a small article taking account of his presence over 40 years in bollywood industry. The viewers want to pay respect to the noble soul on his birthday on 9th January, 2009.

Prem Chopra - the Gentleman Villain of Bollywood

Prem Chopra – The gentleman villain of bollywood.

Prem Chopra had remained an indispensable figure in bollywood films for more than 40 years. He started his career with positive roles, like the one he played in the film Shahid where Manoj Kumar played the lead role. Prem Chopra did well in the film. But within short period of time his skills as villain was discovered by the directors and he got a landmark role in Raj Khosla’s Woh Kaun Thi and Mera Saya. In both the films, Sadhna had a double role and one of the sisters were used by Prem Chopra for creating ghostly atmosphere against Manoj Kumar and Sunil Dutt respectively in both the films.

In the 60s, as Pran, Ajit, Jeevan, and other villains were playing dominating roles, Prem Chopra had played supporting roles in most of the films. In the 70s, he got the lead roles as villains and developed a style of acting whereby he was categorized as gentleman villain. His successful films included Jugnu opposite Dharmender, Jheel Ke Us Par opposite Dharmender, Gora Aur Kala opposite Rajender Kumar, Kala Sona opposite Firoz Khan, Do Anjane opposite Big B, to name a few.

Raj Kapoor used the famous dialogue for Prem Chopra in the film Bobby, where he said “prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra”. His performance was well appreciated opposite Pran and Prem Nath. In the 80s, a tradition was evolved in bollywood films, that is casting many villains in the same film. In the film Duniya, Prem Chopra, Pran and Amrish Puri conspired against Dilip Kumar and killed his wife. Dilip Kumar took revenge against all the villains one after the other.

Prem Chopra again significant role in Rajanikant’s film Andha Kanoon. There also he acted with Pran and Danny and were killed by Rajanikant at the end of the film. He appeared in every alternative film during that time. His successful films included Khuddar opposite Big B, Andha Kanoon opposite Big B, to name a few.

Prem Chopra lost his hair. But that did not matter as he took different make ups all along his career. He acted as villain against actors of 4 decades. That requires special mention because a lot of fitness is required to match the heroes of bollywood films.

He even acted opposite Big B’s son Abhishek Bacchan, as a Punjabi truck driver in the film Bunty Aur Bably. It was a positive role and he impressed the viewers with his performance in the film.

Whenever viewers reflect back they find the same Prem Chopra in landmark films in the 60s and 70s like Teesri Manzil, Upkaar, Apradh, and many other films. The viewers expect him to continue his good work in the future too, as his performance in more than 300 films shows his indispensability in the film industry for many generations.