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 Asha Bhosle.

Happy birthday to Asha Bhosle.

The viewers of bollywood films and listeners of music all across the country wish happy birthday to Asha Bhosle on 8th September, 2009. She had remained a legend of legends in the field of music. She came to limelight in the 70s and 80s and ended up being the most successful female playback singer after Lata Mangeshkar.

In the 50s, Asha Bhosle had to face the competition from other singers dominating the bollywood playback industry like Lata, Shamshad Begum, Noorjahan, Suraiya, Geeta Dutt, Suman Kalyanpur, Sudha Malhotra and many other singers. Asha’s successful songs in the 50s include “mur murke na dekh” composed by Shankar Jaikishan in the film Shree 420, “aiye meherban” composed by OP Nayyar in the film Howrah Bridge, “accha ji mai hari” composed by SD Burman in the film Kala Pani, to name a few.

In the 60s, OP Nayyar backed Asha Bhosle, and her duets with Rafi in films like Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Mere Sanam, Kashmir Ki Kali, are considered milestones in Indian film music. Her famous duets with Rafi include “naznee bara rangeen hai wada”, “mai pyar ka rahi hoon”, “isharon isharon”, “diwana hua badal”, etc. Few other composers only reposed their confidence on Asha like Khayyam who made her sing memorable songs in Raj Kapoor’s film Phir Subah Hogi, Ravi, who had given songs to Asha Bhosle in films like Waqt, Humraaz, Gumraah, etc.

In the 70s Asha Bhosle married RD Burman and it changed the career of the premier singer. Her westernized style of singing was used by RD to give her super hit songs like “piya tu ab tu aja” in the film Karwan, “dum maro dum” in the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna, etc. She sang in almost all the films where RD Burman composed music.

In the 80s, Asha Bhosle crossed new milestones by showing her skills in singing mujras in the film Umrao Jaan, composed by Khayyam. All the songs in the film including “dil cheez kya hai”, “justju”, etc., were appreciated by the critics. She received filmfare awards a number of times and she balanced the innovative style of singing of Kishore Kumar with her own innovation. It is not possible to cover the accomplishments of legendary singer Asha Bhosle in a single article as she had sung more than 25000 songs in hindi and other languages. Even her songs in Uttam Kumar’s film Choddobeshi composed by Sudhin Dasgupta was worth mentioning.The listeners expect Asha Bhosle to continue the great work she had started more than 50 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.

Laxmikant Pyarellal v. RD Burman in the 70s.

Laxmikant Pyarellal v. RD Burman in the 70s.

There is a big debate about who dominated bollywood music in the 70s, was it Laxmikant Pyarellal or was it RD Burman? Before dealing with the debate a brief introduction is necessary about the status of composers in the early 70s. Composers like Jaikishan, Roshan, Madanmohan, SD Burman, died in the late 60s or early 70s. Composers like OP Nayyar, Salil Choudhury, Naushad, Vasant Desai, Ghulam Mohammad, C. Ramchandran either left films or faded away from the industry.

So there was three-fold competition between RD Burman, LP and Kalyanji Anandji. Some of the films of KA were hits, others received critical acclaimation. There major films included Dev Anand’s Johnny Mera Naam, Dilip Kumar’s Gopi, Big B’s Zanjeer, Don, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Firoz Khan’s Dharmatma, to name a few. But the young actors were inclined to both LP and RD Burman.

The other factor that counted in the industry was that Kishore Kumar created a big competition for Mohammad Rafi who dominated bollywood films in the 60s and 70s. Firstly Rajesh Khanna’s films had the music of both RD Burman and LP. On one hand RD Burman’s music in films like Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Aap Ki Kasam, stormed bollywood, on the other hand LP contributed with his music in Rajesh Khanna’s films like Aan Milo Sajna, Roti, Hathi Mere Saathi, etc.

With the appearance of Rishi Kapoor in bollywood films again musical films got predominance in the mid-70s. On one hand LP introduced new singers in the industry like Shailendra Singh and created a partnership with Rishi Kapoor which started with Bobby and went on in films like Badalte Rishte, Sargam, Karz, Amar Akbar Anthony, etc. RD Burman also contributed heavily in Rishi Kapoor’s films like Khel Khel Me, Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai, Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi, to name a few. Very significantly both Rafi and Kishore were used by RD and LP successfully.

Both RD Burman and LP contributed equally in Big B’s films. While LP contributed in films like Ek Nazar, Amar Akbar Anthony, Suhaag, Naseeb, etc., RD Burman contributed in films like Dewaar, Sholay, Shaan, etc.

Even in the films of Dharmender both LP and RD Burman contributed a lot. LP gave music in films like Jeevan Mrityu, Aya Sawaan Jhumke, Izzat, Loafer, etc., while RD Burman contributed in films like Yaadon Ki Baraat, Jheel Ke Us Paar, Burning Train, etc.

LP contributed more than RD Burman in films of Jeetender. The list starts with Farz and includes Banphool, Badalte Rishte, Jeegri Dost, Humjoli, Aasha, etc. RD Burman also made notable contribution in Jeetender’s films like Karwa, Burning Train, Parichay, Khusbu, Kinaara.

LP had composed music in other significant films like Manoj Kumar’s Shor, Sanjeev Kumar’s Khilouna, Rajender Kumar’s Gora Aur Kala, Aap Aye Bahar Aye, while RD Burman was sublime in Dev Anand’s Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Sanjeev Kumar’s Aandhi, Uttam Kumar’s Kitaab.

It is difficult to infer who actually had an edge in music composition in bollywood films in the 70s, whether RD Burman or LP, it can be said that RD Burman had gained popularity many years after his death as many of his songs are still sung by modern bollywood singers like Kumar Shanu, Abhijeet, Vinod Rathod, Babul Supriyo, who had imitated Kishore Kumar to create their fanbase in bollywood. LP was only used by the industry for more than 35 years, and just like Shankar Jaikishan, always had remained unwept, unsung, unlamented, unrecognized.