Shankar Jaikishan and Shammi Kapoor

Shankar Jaikishan and Shammi Kapoor.

Shankar Jaikishan was probably the most versatile musical duo that India had ever produced in the history of bollywood films. They had given music to probably all the leading actors of bollywood films from 40s to 70s including Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajender Kumar, Raj Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Joy Mukherjee, Biswajeet, Shashi Kapoor, Dev Anand, etc., to name a few. They had a special contribution in the films of Shammi Kapoor. Whenever they gave music in Shammi Kapoor’s films, both the music rocked and the film stormed bollywood.

In fact they created the rock and roll andaz of bollywood films and gave Shammi Kapoor his identity in the same lines as Rock Hudson and Elvis Priestley in Hollywood Films. Their music in the film Junglee where Saira Banu acted opposite Shammi Kapoor, was super hit with successful songs of Rafi and Lata including “ehsan tera hoga mujhpar”, “meri yaar shabba khair”, “Kashmir ki kali hoon mai”, etc. The songs of the film Janwar where Rajashree acted opposite Shammi Kapoor, were equally hit with songs of Rafi and Lata like “tumse accha kaun hai”, “lal chari maidan khari”,etc.

All the songs of Professor, where Kalpana accompanied Shammi Kapoor, became super hit like “o gulbadan, o gulbadan”, “awaz deke hume tum bulayo”, etc., again sung by Rafi and Lata. All the songs of Raj Kumar where Sadhna was the heroine of Shammi Kapoor, became super duper hit, like “tumne pukara aur hum chale aye”, “aaja ai bahar”, etc., sung by Rafi and Lata.

SJ and Shammi Kapoor bollywood films with the film An Evening in Paris, where all the songs of Rafi like “aji aisa mauka phir kahan milega”, “akele akele kahan ja raheho”, “raat ke humsafar”, “mera dil hai tera”, “aasman se aya farishta”, became super duper hit. Sharmila Tagore acted opposite Shammi Kapoor, and the locations of France and Niagra Falls in US and Canada amazed the Indian audience.

SJ and Shammi Kapoor were sublime in the film Brahmchari. Shammi Kapoor acted with many small children who were cared by him. Rajashree acted opposite him in the film. The hit songs of Rafi and others included “mai gayun tum so jayo”, “dil ke jharoke me tujhko uthakar”, “chakke me chakka”, “aaj kal tere mere pyar ke charche har jawan par”, etc., to name a few. Shammi Kapoor received filmfare award for the best actor in the film Brahmchari. Shankar Jaikishan received filmfare award for the best composer 9 times, and also got it for composition of music for the film Brahmchari.

The SJ and Shammi Kapoor combination again rocked bollywood films with their performance in the film Prince with Vaijayantimala. SJ’s powerful orchestration had encouraged the director to keep a dance competition where Helen performed western dance where as Vaijayantimala performed eastern dance. Shammi Kapoor showed his own style of rock and roll. The successful songs included “muqabla hum se na karo”, “badan pe sitaren lapete hue”, “thandi thandi hawa me urta jaye”, etc.

The other successful films of SJ and Shammi Kapoor included Latt Sahab with Nutan. The successful songs included “sawerewali gari se”, “ai chand zara chup ja”, etc. The other hit film included Tum Se Accha Kaun Hai with Babita. The hit songs included “janam janam ka saath hai”, “kisko pyar karun”, etc.

The last film of SJ with Shammi Kapoor was Andaz in 1971. Jaikishan died in 1971, and Shammi Kapoor added weight and stopped acting as a hero after andaz. Even in that film the songs of Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur and others were super hit like “haina bolo bolo”, “re mamma re mamma re”, “dil use do jo jaan deden”, etc. Hema Malini acted opposite Shammi Kapoor and the film became hit.

With the death of Jaikishan in 1971, it marked the end of an era with exotic locations and rock and roll music. Shammi Kapoor and Shankar Jaikishan had a very unique relationship and the films and music should be restored to acknowledge that relationship.

Has Bipasha Basu lost her popularity over the years?

Has Bipasha Basu lost her popularity over the years?

Bipasha Basu created a huge impact on bollywood films with her challenging performances in the film Dhoom 2, Ajnabee, etc. Initially her similarity with Sofia Lorain was prioritized by bollywood producers and directors and after showing her consistency of performance she became one of the leading actresses till last two years. But somehow or the other her magic is not working to that extent in the recent year. So viewers do wonder has the popularity of Bipasha Basu decreased over the years?

If her successful films are analyzed it will be seen that she had created her stardom in unconventional roles. In the film Ajnabee, she was not a villain in technical terms. She had an affair with Akshay Kumar and pretended to be friends of Kareena Kapoor and Bobby Deol. In the second half of the film she was seen by the viewers being involved in a murder conspiracy with Akshay Kumar. Ultimately she was killed in a tassle between Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar. All the songs in the film were successful and Bipasha Basu even gave good lips in some of the songs. Neither she played the role of the main heroine like Kareena Kapoor nor she was a villain like Helen.


Similarly in No Entry she got the most challenging role. She tried to get clients like Anil Kapoor and wanted to spend a night with them after getting payment for her work. She created a misunderstanding between Anil Kapoor and his wife Lara Dutta and Fardeen Khan and his wife Celina Jaitley. It led to filing of divorce by Lara Dutta and Celina Jaitley. At the end of the film one of the bartenders told Salman Khan that Bipasha’s husband was hospitalized and she required crores of rupees for his treatment, That was the reason why she was involved in those types of unlawful activities. She got appreciation for her challenging performance. Her lips in the song “no no no no no no no no no entry” set the momentum for the film.

Even in the film Race, she got a challenging role of hatching up a plan with Saif Ali Khan, to trap his brother Akshay Khanna. Saif Ali Khan pretended to be dead and the truth relating to his survival was only known by Bipasha Basu. Akshay Khanna had an affair with Katrina Kaif and in the real race of life Saif Ali Khan superseded Akshay Khanna with th help of Bipasha Basu. The song in the film “pehli nazar me aisa jadu kar diya” became landmark hit in the early part of 2008.


But after that Bipasha Basu could not make any significant impact on bollywood viewers. She got mixed responses for her performance in the film Bacchna Aye Haseeno, where she acted opposite Ranbir Kapoor. With the appearance of new actresses like Minisha Lamba, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif and other successful actresses of bollywood, Bipasha Basu is facing very serious competition.

She has an uphill task of maintaining her stardom and also matching her own performance in films like Corporate. The viewers wish her good luck at the end of 2008.

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor

Happy birthday to Shekhar Kapoor.

The viewers of bollywood films wish Shekhar Kapoor happy birthday on 6th December, 2008. The films he had directed over 20 years had not been forgotten by most of Indian and International audience and that is the reason they still have expectation from Shekhar Kapoor to make better films in future.

In the early part of his career he directed the film Masoom which was critically acclaimed and also got commercial success. The viewers appreciated the expression of helplessness of Jugal Hansraj, whose father played by Nasiruddin Shah married Shabana Azmi and in the early part of the film Shabana Azmi did not accept Jugal Hansraj as her daughter. She already had her own daughters which included Urmila Matondkar who acted as a child artist.

The film was related to the struggle of Nasirrudin Shah to convince Shabana Azmi about the acceptance of Jugal Hansraj. When he decided to admit Jugal Hansraj in a boarding at the end of the film Shabana Azmi got attached with the son and stopped him from going to boarding. The songs in the film were very catchy, including “huzur is kadar bhi na itrake chaliye” sung by Bhupinder Singh and Suresh Watkar and “tujhse naraz nahi zindagi hairan hun mai” sung by Anup Ghoshal.

The film of Shekhar Kapoor which had biggest commercial success included Mr. India. He dealt with fantasy where with a use of a formula human beings became invisible and Anil Kapoor used it to become invisible and came to be known as Mr. India in the film. Amrish Puri played the role of international don named Mogambo which created his brand image.

Amrish Puri tried to access the formula. Initially he sent his men all across the world for searching that formula and made a number of plans and ultimately lost his life in the process. Sri Devi was very impressive in her role as a journalist and showed her comedy conception in te film. The music of Laxmikant Pyarellal was super hit. The hit songs included “hawa hawai”, “karte hai hum pyar Mr. India se”, etc. Besides LP used a number of his own songs in parody style for the numerous number of children who were brought up by Anil Kapoor and the song was titled “bacche tere bacche”.

In the later part of his career Shekhar Kapoor experimented with challenging subjects like Bandit Queen. Already Phoolan Devi won the elections and became Member of the Parliament and she died later, so there was big controversy in respect of the actual story and the subject that was depicted by Shekhar Kapoor.

Secondly the film had the challenge of getting certification from the Censor Board. Cruelty at its highest level was shown in the film. Besides caste rivalry between thakurs and malwas in the states of UP and Bihar were shown. Even critics argued the fact that if cruelty is shown in details in films the aesthetic value of films can be prevented from getting turnished and that is the challenge of quality film directors like Shyam Benegal who had been masters of story telling, had shown challenging subject-matters in films yet edited the unnecessary details. In that respect Shekhar Kapoor’s Bandit Queen, just revealed cruelty and did not try to maintain the filmic value on the subject matter.

Besides direction, Shekhar Kapoor was also a promising actor and he acted in some successful TV Serials of DD India like Khandan in the late 80s. He is considered to be a thoughtful director and the viewers expect him to come up with better films in future again.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy in the recent years.

Shankar Ehsan Loy in the recent years.

Shankar Ehsan Loy had made their presence felt in bollywood films over the last 10 years. They had provided successful tunes in the many films and every year at least two films where they have composed music had become hits.

Shankar Mahadevan had the reputation of creating breathless music even at a time when he did ot shine in bollywood films. That unstoppable breathless element was exhibited in most of the creations.

The songs in the film Bunty Aur Babli, had that unstoppable element. The successful song included “dharak dharak, dhua uraye re”, “bunty aur babli”, “aisi nazar se na dekha”, etc. The performance of Udit Narayan, Alisha Shinoy and others had set the pace of the film. Abhishek Bacchan and Rani Mukherjee gave elegant lips in the film. Shankar Ehsaan Loy received the filmfare award for the best composer for their composition in the film Bunty Aur Babli.

Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsan Noorani and Loy Mendosa again rocked bollywood films with their music in the film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. It was Karan Johar’s venture with Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bacchan, Big B, Preeti Zinta, Rani Mukherjee making notable contributions. The multistarrer film had many hit songs, some of which were sung by Sonu Nigam, others by Alka Yagnik, Shreya Ghoshal and others. The prominent songs included “kabhi alvida na kehna”, “mitwa”, etc. Shankar Ehsaan Loy again received filmfare award for composition of best music again for the film Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

If the composition of Shankar Ehsaan Loy are analyzed from the starting of their career it will be found that they gave different type of music even at the time when they composed music for the film Dil Chahta Hai. The songs “koi kahe”, “jane kyun log pyar karte hai” became super hits.

In Mission Kashmir, their songs “bhumro, bhumro” amazed the audience with excellent lips of Hrithik Roshan and Preeti Zinta. The title songs of the films Kuch Na Kaho and Kal Ho Naho became everlasting hits.

In Shahrukh Khan’s Don, their music had folk flavour, westernized flavour and melody embedded in them. The prominent songs included “sham hai”, “khaike paan banaraswala”, “mai hoon don”, etc. They have used Suniti Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Shaan and other singers with success. Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar proved their strong dancing capabilities in the film.

Shankar Ehsaan Loy were even sublime in their composition of music for the film Taren Zameen Par. The song “tujhe sab hai pata haina ma” almost every viewer weep in the cinema halls.

Even all their songs in the film Salaam-e-Ishq became super hit, including songs like “tenule”, “salaam-e-ishq”, etc., sung by Sonu Nigam and others. The lips of Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and others were really extraordinary.

Their composition of music in the forthcoming films like Chandni Chowk to China, Kismat Talkies, etc., had created lot of interest in the minds of the viewers. Shankar Mahadevan is like by even viewers of TV Channels when they see him as Judge of Saregamapa Music Competition held in Zee TV. All his energy and enthusiasm is even displayed in that program. His is a strong competitor of AR Rehman, Vishal Shekhar, Pritam and Anu Malik and the team is supposed to provide even better tunes in future.

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.

Isha Koppikar in positive roles.

Isha Kopikaar in positive roles.

Isha Kopikaar, one of the highly talented actress and dancer of bollywood films was previously known for negative characters. Sometimes her powerful performances got overshadowed due to the prominent roles of the central characters.

For example, she got a negative character in the film Don. Her character was very prominent in the film, and she loved Shahrukh Khan equally like Priyanka Chopra, but just because the focus and attention was directed at Priyanka Chopra, the viewers did not do justice to the effort of Isha Kopikaar. In fact she even danced with elegance in the song “shaam hai” along with Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra. The film became extremely successful just like its songs.

In the film Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, she got a short role of the girlfriend of Arshad Warsi, where Katrina Kaif and Sushmita Sen got prominent roles opposite Salman Khan. As the film was serio-comic in nature her performance was restricted to presentation of comedy skills only. This film was also successful along with the songs like “laga laga laga re”, “just chill chill”, etc.

She got a better role in the film Hello, at least she had more dialogues and prominent part opposite Sohail Khan, as opposed t her other characters. Salman Khan made a guest appearance for the dance sequence of the song “hello, hello, hello, hello, hello”.

From her past experiences, Isha Kopikaar had realized that even if she is successful in character roles, dance numbers, as long as she does not get a make over in positive romantic roles, her skills will remain unnoticed.

She appeared in the film Ek Vivaah Aisi Bhi, with Sonu Sood, with that intention. It was a film of Surat Barjatya, and just like other films they had been successful to address the concerns of all the family members. Every family can come to the Cinema Hall together and watch the film. The songs had been successful, and Isha Kopikaar looked beautiful in the conventional costumes. Her performance was equally appreciated.

She also acted in positive roles opposite Tushar Kapoor and Ritesh Deshmukh last year in one of the comedy films where she played the role of a Police Officer who was guided by Anupam Kher to monitor the activities of Tushar Kapoor. Her acting was appreciated by the viewers.

Isha Kopikaar is not only actress in bollywood who had acted in negative roles. Even Sushmita Sen’s character in Biwi No.1 was somewhat negative. Kajol got the filmfare award for the best villain for her performance in the film Gupt. But the difference lies in the fact that they had got many romantic roles to balance the negative character. That had not happened with Isha Kopikaar.

With the success in the film Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, the viewers expect Isha Kopikaar to get more positive roles in bollywood films in future and will be able to erase her image of khalas girl. She had acted in a number of South Indian films and the viewers of such films also expect better performances from Isha Kopikaar in future.

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.