Ajoy Kar took risk of making Shyamali with Uttam Kumar.

Ajoy Kar took risk of making Shyamali with Uttam Kumar.

Ajoy Kar, the classic director of 50s and 60s experimented with classic literature of Ashapurna Debi in the film Shyamali. The literature was read by entire Bengali community of the country.

The same story of Shyamali was played in Star Theatre in Kolkata for 4 years in the mid-50s. In the play Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterji played the lead roles while Sarajubala Debi played the role of the mother of Uttam Kumar. Ajoy Kar picturised Shyamali with the team of Uttam Kumar and Kaberi Bose. And Malina Debi played the role of the mother of Uttam Kumar. Previously it had been seen that any play which was successful with the audience did not do well when picturised in film. Shyamali was an exception.

In the film Ahindra Choudhury had two daughters, Kaberi Bose being the elder one. Kaberi Bose was deaf and dumb. Her younger sister was proposed to be married to Uttam Kumar, but due to fulfillment of wishes of Kaberi Bose, the priest chanted mantras related to marriage with Uttam Kumar. Uttam Kumar accepted Kaberi Bose as wife while his friend married the younger sister Bijoli. But Uttam Kumar’s mother Malina Debi did not accept Kaberi Bose as her daughter-in-law. Uttam Kumar did not have any other option but to leave Kaberi Bose in her mother’s house.

Uttam Kumar and Malina Debi went for pilgrimage to Hrishikesh, Badrinath, Kedarnath and brought Anubha Gupta who lost her parents and served Uttam Kumar when he became extremely sick whiling to travelling to those places. Malina Debi wanted to marry Uttam Kumar with Anubha Gupta.

But Uttam Kumar tried to convince her that his wife Kaberi Bose was still alive. When Uttam Kumar heard that Kaberi Bose’s mother Aparna Debi died and she slept with the photo of Uttam Kumar, he went to her house and brought her back. Uttam Kumar finally convinced Malina Debi that although Kaberi Bose could not speak, she could react to human actions, had a human mind full of feelings. She required her blessings to start a journey in the new family.

The film became super hit due to sheer brilliance of Ajoy Kar. Uttam Kumar, Kaberi Bose, Malina Debi, Anubha Gupta were all sublime in their respective roles. Kalipada Sen composed music for the film. The film should be restored to remind the viewers about a successful play being remade into film which featured the same level of excellence as depicted in the play.

Bosonto Choudhury superseded Uttam Kumar in Shankhabela.

Bosonto Choudhury superseded Uttam Kumar in Shankhabela.

Bosonto Choudhury superseded Uttam Kumar in Agragami’s epic film Shankhobela. The film was released in the year 1966 and ended up being a blockbuster.

There was lot of history behind the film. Sudhin Dasgupta, the composer of music in the film for the first time used Manna Dey to sing for Bengali superstar Uttam Kumar. All the songs in the film sung by Manna Dey and Lata Mangeshkar became super hit. Some of them included “ke pratham kache esechi”, picturised in the romantic scenario of Maithon amidst river Damodar, “ami agantuk ami barta dilaam”, “aaj mon cheyeche ami hariye jabo”, to name a few.

As far as Bosonto Choudhury was concerned, he was one of the competitors of Uttam Kumar other than Bikash Roy and Astiboron, who had started their careers with Uttam Kumar. Bosonto Choudhury acted in lesser number of films, as he only signed those films which suited his culture, aristocracy and education. Therefore from his first film Mahaprashthaner Pothe, his performance in noted films used to depict aristocracy legacy of Bengal that was left behind by Chabi Biswas.

In Shonkhobela, he played the role of the doctor, who treated Uttam Kumar’s son, after Uttam Kumar left his Madhabi. Madhabi could not compromise with Uttam Kumar’s fast life, full of parties and hard drinks, which was necessary for the success of his marketing career. She left the house of Uttam Kumar and worked in a school to upbring her child.

Bosonto Choudhury showed compassion to Madhabi, and understood her social standing while treating the child. The story of her life was told to him by his assistant played by Mrinal. The child had to be treated and operation had to be carried out which the signing of bond by the guardian. Bosonto Choudhury compelled the father of the child Uttam Kumar to come and sign the bond.

He scolded Uttam Kumar for remaining carefree about his son who was terribly sick. Bosonto Choudhury’s astounding personality in the film brought back the marital peace of Uttam Kumar and Madhabi Muherjee who stayed separately after the differences were made.

The viewers appreciated Uttam Kumar’s brilliant performance in the role of a romantic husband which he depicted with highest amount of maturity. Uttam Kumar’s romantic style of performance had always created a benchmark in the world of romantic acting and that was the reason why Oscar Winning director Satyajit Ray had considered Uttam Kumar as the greatest matinee idol, fulfilling the aspirations of numerous middle-class Indians. But some way down the line, Bosonto Chouhdury superseded Uttam Kumar with his aristocrat performance and at the end of the film received higher accolades from the critics and educated section of the society. Both Uttam Kumar and Bosonto Choudhury had immense contribution in Bengali classic films, and their space had remained empty after 50 years of the completion of the films. For those reasons Shonkhobela should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Tragedy King Dilip Kumar, the legend of legends.

Happy birthday to Tragedy King Dilip Kumar, the legend of legends.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Dilip Kumar, better known as Tragedy King on 11th December, 2009. An institution by himself, Dilip Kumar had been a torch bearer in the world of romantic acting for the last 70 years. Born in 1922, Yusuf Khan, one of the greatest actors of bollywood films of all times had created new dimensions at every decade with his unique style of acting.

Although his performance in tragic roles like Bimal Roy’s Devdas and Madhumati, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Musafir, and other landmark films had made him an icon of tragedy, he had proved his variation in comedy films, social films, action-oriented blockbusters. Directors like Bimal Roy, K. Asif, Tapan Sinha, Subhash Ghai, consider Dilip Kumar as the greatest actor of all times. He had made the characters immortal which he had played in his illustrious career.

He had given extraordinary lips in landmark songs of the 50s and 60s sung by Mohammad Rafi like “madhuban me radhika nachere” and “do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan aaj ki raat” in the film Kohinoor, “ek shahenshah ne banwake haseen tajmahal”, “tere husn ka kya tareef karun”, “apni azadi ko hum hargese mita sakte nahi”, in the film Leader, “dilruba maine tere pyar me kya kya na kiya”, “koi sagar dilko behlata nahi” in the film Dil Diya Dard Liya, “aaj ki raat mere”, “aye hai bahare dekho” in the film Ram Aur Shyam, to name a few. Giant composer Naushad made the greatest contribution in the films of Dilip Kumar, although Shankar Jaikishan gave quality music in the films Yahudi and Daag, Salil Choudhury contributed in the film Madhumati and Musafir.

Dilip Kumar had acted opposite all the leading actresses of 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, including Madhubala in Tarana, Mughal-i-Azam, Nargis in Babul, Andaz, Meena Kumari in Kohinoor, Azad, Footpath, Vaijayantimala in Madhumati, Ganga Jumna, Leader, Wahida Rehman in Dil Diya Dard Liya, Aadmi, Ram Aur Shyam, Saira Banu in Sagina, Gopi, to name a few.

Even during the 80s, his character roles created new dimension in bollywood films. His performance in the film Mashal, Masdoor, Shakti, Karma, Vidhata had inspired the new generation of actors like Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and others. He has the record of getting the filmfare award for the best actor for the maximum number of times ( 8 times ) which had not been broken by even Shahrukh Khan till now.

Dilip Kumar had not learned acting from any acting school yet the way he had made Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s character Devdas immortal, the actors of the next generation consider him an institution by himself. He had played roles of even trade union leaders in the film Sagina, he was the first actor in bollywood films to perform in a double role in the film Ram Aur Shyam. He created a trend and films with double roles were created in the same lines as that of Ram Aur Shyam in Seeta Aur Geeta, Chaalbaaz, Kishen Kanhaiya.

He received the highest civilian award given by Pakistan, Nishan –e- imtiaz which was previously received by only one Indian, that is the former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He had also received Dadasaheb Phalke award for his contribution in bollywood films. It is not possible to highlight the contribution of the legend of legends in a small article, as he had created an image which made him indispensable over 70 years in bollywood films.

Yet his journey is not over. Even in the present age directors like Subhash Ghai engage him with his new projects these days. The viewers want Dilip Kumar to continue acting in bollywood films if his health permits. Viewers had got addicted to his soft tune of dialogue throwing and want him to reproduce the magic again.

Happy birthday to Rajnikant.

Happy birthday to Rajnikant.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Rajnikant on 12th December, 2009. For the last 25 years he had remained as one of the most popular superstars of South Indian films and carried his stardom in bollywood films as well.

From the beginning of his career he had created an identity in action films. He had his own mannerisms which were liked by South Indian audience and was also new for bollywood viewers. In the film Andha Kanoon, he acted along with Big B. The film was released in 1983. His parents were tortured and killed in the film by Pran, Prem Chopra and Danny. The entire film was related to the revenge that he had taken against all those actors. His sister’s role was played by Hema Malini who was a police-officer in the film. There were romantic sequences in the film as well where Reena Roy contributed opposite Rajnikant, but as the action sequences became predominating there was not much scope for the romantic performance. The film became superhit in the early 80s.

Rajnikant showed his skills in action films along with Kamal Hassan and Big B in the film Geraftar. There he played the role of a friend of Big B, who was killed during an encounter with the villains in the film. The action sequences in the film became famous during mid-80s. Also the music of Bappi Lahiri became popular.

During the mid-80s Rajnikant acted in the superhit film Chaalbaaz which was made in the same line as Ram Aur Shyam and Seeta Aur Geeta. In the earlier films the double roles played by Dilip Kumar and Hema Malini amused the viewers. In Chaalbaaz the double role was played by Sri Devi. Rajnikant and Sunny Deol were the two heroes in the film. As the film was based on comedy of errors Rajnikant used his comedy skills to perfection opposite Sri Devi. Also Anupam kher did an experiment in the negative role in the film.

Rajnikant had been one of the most popular icons of Tamil films for generations and had carried forward the legacy that was created by Shivaji Ganeshan, Jemini Ganeshan and others. The list of his hit films are too long and cannot be highlighted in a small article. Even his latest film that was released in 2008 titled Shivaji had become super hit. He also played a very active role in South Indian politics. He campaigned for the political party Dravida Munetra Khazagham (DMK) under the leadership of M. Karunanidhi.

Filmstars in South India are hailed across all the four states Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh as the languages Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam are very close to each other. Rajnikant had remained popular for more than 25 years and the people at large could identify themselves in the diversified characters that Rajnikant had played during his long career.

Whenever the list of South Indian filmstars who had glorified bollywood films comes into question the name of Rajnikant comes at the top along with Kamal Hassan, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Arvind Swami and others. The All India audience expect Rajnikant to continue his excellent work both in South Indian films as well as bollywood films in the years to come.

Happy birthday to Shatrughun Sinha.

Happy birthday to Shatrughun Sinha.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to successful actor Shatrughun Sinha on 9th December, 2009. He was considered to be one of the leading angry young man of the 70s after Big B.

Although he started his career as anti-hero in films like Khilouna, where the central characters were played by Jeetender and Sanjeev Kumar, within short time, he showed his metal as an action star and ruled bollywood films for another 20 years. He was successful in films like Gaye Aur Gauri opposite Jaya Bacchan, Bombay To Goa, etc., in the early 70s.

Shatrughun Sinha learned acting Pune Film and Television Institute and his lessons went a long way in his illustrious career. Viewers remember his combination with Reena Roy as both played romantic pair in numerous films. Kalicharan was one of the most popular films amongst them.

Whenever Shatrughun Sinha faced Amitabh Bacchan both the actors tried to supersede the other. The viewers enjoyed the rift between the two actors in contemporary films. Both did a fantastic job in Ramesh Sippy’s film Shaan. Shatrughun Sinha’s charishma in the role of a shooter was as elegant as Big B’s angry young image in killing Goga Kapoor’s men in the film.

The other films where Big and Shotgun (Shatrughun Sinha was called by this name) met included Kala Patthar, Dostana, Naseeb, to mention a few. In all those films both the actors complimented each other. Even in comedy films like Naram Garam, Shotgun showed his comedy elements and was appreciated.

Shatrughun Sinha was given an off-beat role by Goutam Ghosh in Bengali film Antarjali Jatra where he played the role of a cremator. He played a marathon innings in films which include commercial success like Goutam Govinda, Dillagi, etc. Even in political career he achieved a lot by working for the people under the BJP banner. He was member of Rajya Sabha and won elections also under BJP ticket. He is called the stylish Bihari Babu by his admirers.

Both Shatrughun Sinha and Vinod Khanna are considered the greatest competitors with Big B and had succeeded in portraying the role of action heroes in India. Their height, voice and stature helped a lot in portraying those characters. The viewers expect Shotgun to continue the great work in films in future.

Entrepreneurship

Hilary Duff She launched her clothing line, "Stuff by Hilary Duff", in March 2004, with clothes distributed through Target in the US, Kmart in Australia, Zellers in Canada, and Edgars Stores in South Africa. The company, initially started as a clothing line, has expanded its business into furniture, fragrances, and jewelry, targeted at the teen and preteen crowd.

In 2007, the Internet website Stardoll.com previewed Hilary Duff's clothing line to customers by allowing them to dress up a paper doll on the website (which include Hilary Duff's own doll) with the clothes.

In February 2009, Hilary Duff and DKNY Jeans announced their new design partnership and the launch of their collaborative apparel line. She co-designed a collection of special pieces with DKNY Jeans brand called Femme for DKNY Jeans. The clothing line will debut in fine department and specialty stores nationwide in August 2009.

Playmates Toys released a celebrity doll of her in 2004. In late 2006, Mattel released a Hilary Duff Barbie doll. As a fashion designer, Hilary Duff had designed clothes for Barbie dolls in the past & w/ the release of her doll, Hilary Duff joined Reese Witherspoon, Beyoncé Knowles, and Lucille Ball who have their own celebrity dolls.

In September 2006, She released Hilary Duff 's perfume, "With Love... Hilary Duff", which was distributed by the Elizabeth Arden company. The perfume was initially sold only in Macy's in the U.S. and soon it was being sold in other regions like Japan and Canada. "With Love...Hilary Duff" was one of the three best-selling fragrances launched at U.S. department stores in late 2006. In 2007, she announced that she will be releasing a summer version of the perfume titled, "Wrapped With Love". It was released in January 2008, and a Spring Gift Set version was released in time for Valentine's Day.

She and her pet dog Lola made an appearance in the Electronic Arts game The Sims 2: Pets, which was released on October 2006. In console versions of the game, Hilary Duff's character visits public areas and allows the players to let their Sims socialize with her and Lola. Animal rights' organization, "Animal welfare league" have criticized Hilary Duff and celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson for displaying their dogs as fashion accessories rather than pets.

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.