The use of folk songs in bollywood films

The use of folk songs in bollywood films.

Folk songs which had originated from the rural areas and villages of different parts of India had been one of the indispensable source of music for more than 500 years. The leading composers of bollywood films had used the folks songs in successful films and popularized them.

Shankar Jaikishan’s composition “ramaiya vasta maiyya” in Raj Kapoor’s successful film Shree 420, was based on marathi folk song. Naushad had experimented with bhojpuri folk song in the film Ganga Jumna. Rafi’s hit song “nain lad jaihe woh manwama kasak oi bekari”, and Lata’s hit song “dhundo dhundo re sajna” was based on the folk songs of Bihar and Hindi high belt. Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala had given quality lips in the film.

SD Burman had a very colourful background in respect of his own basic discs which were based on folk songs of Tripura and East Bengal (modern Bangladesh), including “paddar dheu re”, “jhilmil jhilmil jhiler jole”, “bangladesher dhol”, “mono dilo na bodhu”, etc., and he used to be addressed as Sachin Karta ( the head of Hindu Undivided Family). The major folk songs used by SD Burman in bollywood films include “jane kya tune kaha” sung by Geeta Dutt in Pyasa, “dil ka bhanwar kare pukar” sung by Rafi in the film Tere Ghar Ke Samne, “o janewale ho sake to”, sung by Mukesh in the film Bandini, “mitwa” sung by Talat Mehmood, in the film Devdas. The list is very long and articles after articles can be devoted on his work.

Salil Choudhury had merged Assamese Bihu folk music with westernized folks. His notable songs include Lata’s “daiya re daiya re jangal papi bichua” in Madhumati, “zindagi kaisi hai peheli” sung by Manna Dey in the film Anand, “ai mere pyare watan” sung by Manna Dey in the film Kabuliwala, “janeman janeman” sung by Yeshu Das in the film Choti Si Baat, “tasveer teri dil me” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film Maya, “ganga aye kahan se” sung by Hemant Kumar, to mention a few. Salil Choudhury’s westernized creations stormed bollywood films to such an extent that his folk songs got unnoticed.

Shankar Jaikishan had used folk songs and blended western music in many films. His notable creations include “aa aab laut chale” sung by Mukesh and Lata in the film Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai, “chalet musafir” sung by Manna Dey in the film Teesri Kasam, “dil ka haal sunewala” sung by Manna Dey in the film Shree 420, to name a few.

Roshan, Madanmohan, Laxmikant Pyarellal, Khayyam, Jaidev, etc., also used folk songs to a big extent in bollywood films. Some of the other landmark folk songs include “ohre taal mile nadi ke jal me” sung by Mukesh,

Review of the film Maharathi.

Review of the film Maharathi.

Maharathi has been directed by Shivam Nair. Paresh Rawal had spend a long time in finding acting parts in films in the film. On one day, he saved and injured man and accompanied him back. Nasirruddin Shah got impressed with the work of Paresh Rawal and appointed him as a driver.

Nasirruddin Shah had been shown as a very influential person in the film. His wife Neha Dhupia was unsatisfied with Nasir and hatched up a plan with Paresh Rawal to teach her husbands a lesson. The plan was set to acquire all the property of Nasir.

Boman Irani, the lawyer in the film and Om Puri also played their part in the drama and suspense. The tragedy of these films lies in the fact that neither there are relief scenes, nor catchy music which can accelerate the film.

As far as acting is concerned Paresh Rawal, Nasir, Om Puri, Boman Irani are well very experienced actors. No one can question their conception as they have performed in every type of role that can be played in bollywood films. Neha Dhupia also did well in the film, but the script was not long enough to use her acting capability.

The story had twists and turns but the treatment of the film by the director was slow enough. The alibis taken, the telephonic conversation in the film, the use of the caretaker and the lawyer in the plan did not create an interesting setting whereby the viewers could feel the suspense.

Although the story had novelty, the execution of the story was not proper. These days even directors like Govind Nihalini try to cast heroes like Ajay Devgan, Fardeen Khan amidst the quality character artists to address the box-office, maintain the business and also maintain the quality of the film.

Without any young hero in the film there is possibility at every point of the film of the viewers getting bored. The performance of Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Nasir, Boman Irani is the ray of hope in terms of success of the film. Lets hope for the best.

Happy birthday to Dharmender

Happy birthday to Dharmender.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Dharmender on 8th December, 2008. He had indispensable hero of bollywood films during the 60s, 70s and 80s and contributed in more than 300 films. When he appeared in films there was strong domination of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajender Kumar and other bollywood stars and it took time for Dharmender to create his identity.

He even acted as anti-hero in films like Ayee Milan Ki Bela, where Rajender Kumar was the main hero, side-role in the film Ganga Ki Lehere where Kishore Kumar was the main Hero. But he became prominent with his performance in the film Phool Aur Patthar opposite Meena Kumari in the mid-60s.

His film Mere Humdum Mere Dost, opposite Sharmila Tagore became super hit with Rafi’s songs like “na ja kabhi ab na ja”, “hui shaam unka khayal aa gaya”, etc. His film Aankhe opposite Mala Sinha also became super hit. From that time Dharmender creating his identity as an action hero.

Although his romantic films like Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi opposite Tanuja, Aya Sawan Jhumke opposite Asha Parekh, Isq Par Zor Nahi opposite Sadhna created tremendous box-office impact, his action films created greater business. The hit songs of Baharen Phir Bhi Ayegi include “aap ke haseen rukh” composed by OP Nayyar and sung by Rafi, Aya Sawan Jhumke include “aya sawan jhumke”, “o majhi chaal”, etc, “yeh dil diwana hai” sung by Rafi and composed by SD Burman in the film Ishq Par Zor Nahin.

In the 70s, Dharmender stormed bollywood films with the success in Jheel Ke Us Par, Jugnu, Raja Jani, Sholay, Charas, etc. He married Hema Malini and the pair had contributed in many hit films in that era which included every type of subject matter. Their film Seeta Aur Geeta was super hit, with double role of Hema Malini and quality performance of both Dharmender and Sanjeev Kumar.

From Dharmender emerged as one of the greatest Indian action heroes at par with Big B and Vinod Khanna. If the career Dharmender is analyzed it will be found that he had acted under different banners, different producers, which include Bimal Roy’s films like Bandinj, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films like Satyakam, Guddi, Chupke Chupke, to Ramesh Sippy’s films like Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay, etc., BR Chopra’s films like Burning Train, Gulzar’s films like Kinara, etc.

He had acted with actresses of different generations which include Wahida Rehman, Saira Banu on one hand, and Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi on the other hand. He had given lips in the songs of Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore, Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapoor and many other singers of 60s and 70s.

Even after limiting his performance in major roles in the 80s, when his two sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol grew up, Dharmender produced landmark films for them. Sunny Deol’s successful films Betaab and Ghayal were produced by Dharmender. Bobby Deol’s successful film Barsaat was produced by Dharmender.

Even last year he acted in the film Mere Apne with Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol in the role of a boxer, and showed that he can still contribute in character roles when he gets scope and opportunity. The viewers expect Dharmender to continue his good work that he had done for the last 50 years.

Salman Khan and Amir Khan

Salman Khan and Amir Khan.

Salman Khan and Amir Khan had almost started their career at the same period of time. Amir Khan impressed the viewers with his first film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak in 1988 and maintained his stardom for the last 20 years. Salman Khan had established himself with the film Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989 and still remains as one of the macho heroes of bollywood.

But their approach to films are absolutely different. While Salman Khan had signed films under different producers, directors and believed in performing in 4 to 5 films per year, Amir Khan had restricted himself to less films and meaningful films.

Both of them acted together in the film Andaz Apna Apna, where Amir Khan played an intelligent character while Salman Khan played the role of a fool. In the long run Salman Khan built up a manly body and producers directors started casting him larger than life images.

His roles in the film Biwi No. 1, No Entry, Auzaar, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun, all were related to heroic roles where there was hardly similarity with realistic characters. But the films were successful and their music everlasting. The hit songs of Salman Khan include “no no no no no no no no no entry”, “chunari chunari”, “tarap tarap ke is dil”, “salaam-e-ishq”, etc.

Amir Khan established himself as a perfectionist over the years. He has been known for entering into the skin of the character that he had played. He acted very well in the film Raja Hindustani, Sarfarosh, Rang De Basanti, etc.

He initially had the romantic image and was accepted with Juhi Chawla as a romantic pair. His films with Juhi Chawla like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Ishq, Hum Hai Rahi Pyar Ke, all had box-office success. The songs of his films were also very successful.

These days Amir Khan even established himself as a thoughtful director and his film Taren Zameen Par had received critical acclamation.

His new film Ghajini, which is a remake of South Film with the same title is awaiting release. Where Salman Khan had already acted in a number of films like God Tussi Great Ho, Yuvvraaj, Hello, Heroes, this year, Amir Khan had acted only in one film, that is Ghajini. The viewers expect the film to be superhit with the new look of Amir Khan and strong subject matter.

Both the superstars had their own style of performances and are expected to continue to contribute well in more bollywood films in future.

Review of the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Review of the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.


Shahrukh Khan had appeared in bollywood films after a long time this year with the film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. He had dominated bollywood films for a long period of time and viewers find it strange when no hit film of the superstar is released in a calendar year. He had acted in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi to make his presence felt once again.

The story included Shahrukh Khan being married to a girl who was much younger than him. He was a middle-class person and involved with his fulltime job. All of a sudden there was a dance competition being announced in the city in the form of Nacch Baliye. The dance competition was titled “rab ne bana di jodi”.

Sharukh Khan’s wife wanted to compete in the dance competition. Shahrukh Khan initially overlooked the competition but later agreed to take part in it.

He had a total make over from the looks of a middle-class person to a rock star. He took part in the competition and also won it. Big B had made a guest appearance in the film as a judge.

It is another film under the Yash Raj Banner and as such had good music and good locations. The song “hole hole ho jayega pyar” picturised on Shahrukh Khan had already become hit even before the release of the film. Shahrukh Khan again did very well in the dual roles.

As some of the big budget films in the last year did not do that well, a number of actors had switched on to realistic films of lesser budgets. Shahrukh Khan also followed the trend by not performing in larger than life role but the role of a next door neighbour in the film.

The problem lies with the fact that Shahrukh Khan had always been associated with the greatest hit films of the calendar years and in that perspective his viewers will not be happy to a big extent.

The film has all the elements of entertainment that is expected by the viewers and will also be a hit film, but the image of Shahrukh Khan cannot help him to maintain his no. 1 position in bollywood films, nor counter the other successful heroes of this year.

Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng, Akshay Khanna’s Race, Imran Khan’s Jane Tu Yaa Jane Na, Salman Khan’s Heroes had already impressed the viewers this year and Shahrukh Khan has to act in much more hyped role in near future to do something extraordinary in comparison to the performance of his competitors.

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.