Chitragupt's memorable combination with Rafi.

Chitragupt’s memorable combination with Rafi.

Chitragupt gave very melodious tunes in the 50s and 60s and as most of his songs were sung by legend of legends Mohd Rafi, the songs became immortal after creation. Rafi’s song “chal ur ja re panchi” composed by Chitragupt in the film Bhabi brought tears in the years of numerous viewers. Rafi used his emotions towards fulfillment of the literary value of the song and Balraj Sahani’s lips in the song also require special mention.

Chitragupt Srivastav, better known as Chitragupt, was born in Karmaini, Bihar in 1917, and due to his experience in the hindu heartland most of his tunes had the fragrance of folk songs. Besides as he was a lecturer in Patna, his academic brilliance did blend with his musical excellence which was given expression by Rafi. Rafi’s song “chaand jane kahan kho gaya” in the film Mai chup Rahungi, composed by Chitragupt, written by Rajinder Kishan, and picturised on Sunil Dutt and Meena Kumari showed the use of light music as well from Chitragupt. Lata Mangeshkar sang the duet song with Rafi. The other hit duet in the film included “koi bata de dil hai kahan” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film.

Rafi’s song “itni nazuk na bano” in the film Vaasna composed by Chitragupt created a very romantic appeal. Also Rafi’s song “yeh parbaton ke dayre” became a big hit in the late 50s. Besides the songs of Rafi “chupakar meri aankhon ko” and “chali chali re patang” in the film Bhabhi were very impressive. Chitragupt’s compositions in somber mood for Rafi had a great impact. One example is “mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha” from the film Akash Deep. The song “raste me hai tere kab se khare” sung by Rafi and Lata in the film Opera House require special mention.

Although Chitragupt gave landmark music in films like Oonche Log, Ganga Ki Lehre, Zabak, Bada Aadmi, etc., he did not get recognition during the golden age due to dominance of Shankar Jaikishan, Naushad, Roshan and others, and may be due to his composition of music in less significant films. He hardly got an opportunity to compose music in big banners like RK or Navketan, otherwise his contribution was very grand during the golden age.
Rafi’s songs composed by Chitragupt should be restored and revisited.

Manna Dey and Sudhin Dasgupta.

Manna Dey and Sudhin Dasgupta.

Manna Dey had a very sweet relationship with Sudhin Dasgupta. He was used by almost all the leading composers of Bengal namely Anil Bagchi, Nochiketa Ghosh, Salil Choudhury and others. But probably his westernized andaz was used to the limit by Sudhin Dasgupta.

Sudhin Dasgupta used Manna Dey in Uttam Kumar’s film Goli Theke Rajpoth with the song “lag lag lag lag bhelkir khela”. Manna Dey’s songs “ami agantuk” and “ke prothom kache esechi” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta in Uttam Kumar’s film Shankhabela created sensation in Bengali celluloid in 1966. Manna Dey’s songs “ami kon pothe je choli” and “bachao ke acho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Choddobeshi became super hit as well.

In the 70s, Manna Dey’s songs “esechi ami esechi”, “lekha porata shikhe phele” and “paye paye joriye rakho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Har Mana Har created sensation as well. Uttam Kumar gave the lips of his lifetime in the film Har Mana Har. While major success of Sudhin Dasgupta came in Uttam Kumar’s films, he made major contribution in Soumitra Chatterji’s films as well. The songs “ei shohor theke aro anek dure”, “hoyto tomari jonyo”, “jibone ki pabona” in the film Teen Bhubaner Pare, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta and sung by Manna Dey showed the westernized orchestration of the giant composer.

Sudhin Dasupta’s songs in Soumitra’s films Prothom Kodom Phul and Bosonto Bilaap were equally successful. Manna Dey’s all round musical skills were used to perfection in these films. Even the song “ogo tomar sesh bichare asay” sung by Manna Dey in bayul andaz in Kali Banerjee’s legendary film Dak Horkora, and composed by Sudhin Dasgupta made the viewers speechless.

Manna Dey sang many numbers of solo numbers as basic discs under the compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta. One of the notable songs included “ami taar thikana rakhini”. The songs of Sudhin Dasgupta and Manna Dey combination should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Asha Parekh on 2nd October, 2009. She had been a dancing legend of the 60s. Bollywood industry is indebted to her for her brilliant performance in various films.

She started her career opposite Shammi Kapoor in the film Dil Deke Dekho in 1959. After that she acted in musical blockbusters most of which were directed by Nasir Hussain. She was sublime in the film Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai opposite Dev Anand. The songs in the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan like “sau saal pehle”, “yeh ankhe uff yumma”, “teri zulfon ki”, “jiya ho” became rich assets of history.

Asha Parekh had a fantastic combination with Joy Mukherjee. Her films Ziddi, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon and Love in Tokyo became superhit. The songs in most of these films composed by OP Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishan stormed box-office. The most famous songs included “banda parwar”, “raton ka sila”, “nazneen bara rangin hai wada tera”, “japan, love in Tokyo”, “hume tum mil gaye humdum”, etc. Similarly Asha Parekh’s combination with Biswajeet and Shammi Kapoor was very grand. Her film Mere Sanam with Biswajeet was another musical blockbuster. All the songs of the film like “pukarta chala hoon mai”, “humdum mere maan bhi jayo”, “hue hai tumpe aashiq hum bhala mano bura mano” sung by Rafi stormed box-office in the mid-60s.

Asha Parekh played many serious roles in films like Chirag opposite Sunil Dutt, Kati Patang opposite Rajesh Khanna, Upkaar opposite Manoj Kumar, etc. Asha Parekh dancing skills gave her a separate recognition during an age when actresses like Vaijayantimala, Rajashree, Mumtaz, Padmini were already created sensation in bollywood.

Asha Parekh’s performance in the film Carwan opposite Jeetender requires special mention. The viewers expect her to continue the great work in character roles in the years to come.

Katrina Kaif shall continue to have her dream run.

Katrina Kaif shall continue to have her dream run.

When Katrina Kaif initially had successful films opposite leading stars of bollywood, many section of the viewers anticipated that she would not be the horse which will run a long distance. Her dialogues had to be dubbed and as she had nothing other beauty.

But Katrina Kaif in the last two years had proved herself and established her indispensability in bollywood films. She was brilliant in Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya opposite Salman Khan, in a film where the other beauties like Sushmita Sen and Isha Kopikaar were tested opposite her. Yet she came out successful. Her songs “just chill chill” created the maximum attention.

She was successful in the film Race opposite Akshay Khanna and Saif Ali Khan. The beauty of Katrina Kaif overpowered the performances of other style icons like Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy. Katrina Kaif was sublime in films like Welcome and Namaste London where she was the most appropriate character opposite Akshay Kumar.

Katrina Kaif was absolutely successful in the film Singh is Kingg. The song that was picturised on Katrina Kaif namely “teri ore teri ore” sung by Shreya Ghoshal received most of the awards of last year. Katrina Kaif complimented Akshay Kumar in the film.

Even in 2009, Katrina Kaif has big releases like Blue and Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. In both these films other stars are acting along with Katrina Kaif, but the beauty of Katrina Kaif will be a big asset of the film.

These days Katrina Kaif had learned hindi and got Rajib Gandhi award for excellence in bollywood films. That had made her presence in bollywood films more material. She is expected to storm bollywood with her upcoming films and continue her dream run.

Expectation from the film Pyar Impossible.

Expectation from the film Pyar Impossible.

The viewers of bollywood films have a lot of expectation from the film Pyar Impossible. The film had been written and produced by Uday Chopra.

It has been an adaptation of the British film Notting Hill, in which Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant gave brilliant performances. The main reason for the attraction to the crowds is obviously the presence of Priyanka Chopra.

In this film Priyanka Chopra had acted opposite Uday Chopra and Dino Morea. Priyanka Chopra had given hits after hits in the last 2 years and had been used by different directors including Rakesh Roshan, Madhur Bhandarkar, etc. So her presence had added colour in the film.

The story of the film was related to the love story of Priyanka Chopra with her lover boy. The other factor which had raised a lot of curiousity in the minds of the viewers which include the presence of the director Jugal Hansraj, who tried to direct the film in his own style.

It had been produced by Uday Chopra and the music had been composed by Salim Sulaiman. The only worry is in terms of viewers indifference towards love stories. If we look back at the hit films in the last 3 years, we will find that most of them having stories involving laughter had done better business than the other ones.

Munnabhai MBBS, No Entry, did great business while Love Story 2050, Chandni Chowk To China did very average business. It is difficult to predict the success of the film. If it does moderate business it is more than enough.

Will Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani storm bollywood?

Will Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani storm bollywood?

The viewers of bollywood films wonder whether Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani will storm bollywood films or not. On one hand this is one of the big releases of Ranbir Kapoor who has a challenge of carrying the great legacy of Raj Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor forward. It is also a big challenge of Katrina Kaif who had just given hits after hits in the last year.

Raj Kumar Santoshi had come up with a comedy story. Whenever the viewers had thought about Raj Kumar Santoshi they had always thought about action films like Gadar or Damini or Pukar. They also had thought about romantic stories.

But in this film Raj Kumar Santoshi had made Ranbir Kapoor play the role of a depressed lover boy who had crossed all the roads possible to reach his mission which was the affair with Katrina Kaif. The love story was full of crazyness of Ranbir Kapoor towards Katrina Kaif.

The other actors and actresses who had contributed in the film included Darshan Jariwala, Asrani, Salman Khan in a special appearance, Govind Namdeo, Smita Jaykar, Navneet Nishan and others. Most of the performers had given their natural performance.

The music of the film was composed by Pritam. The songs will be impressive. Ranbir Kapoor’s image of lover boy that he carried forward from Sawaariya to Bacchna Aye Haseeno will continue in Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani.

The viewers expect the film to rock the theatres in Diwali. The other reason the teenagers are interested is because newcomers like Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan can create competition for seasoned stars like Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar and others who had been ruling the industry for the last 15 years. The film has all the ingredients of becoming hit.

Review of What's your Rashi.

Review of What’s your Rashi.

Priyanka Chopra had appeared again in the new film What’s Your Rashi opposite Harman Baweja this year. The film was based on the Gujrati Novel “Kimbal Ravenswood” written by Madhu Rye.

Harman Baweja had played the role of a Gujrati person who had to find a dream girl within 10 days to save his family from an unforeseen harm which had been predicted. The task was difficult as such. She met twelve different girls who had twelve different sun signs or rashis.

Priyanka Chopra played the role of all the twelve girls having the different sun signs. The girls that Harman Baweja met included Anjali, who had Aries sun shine, Vishakha, who had Tauras sun shine, Kajal, who had Gemini sun shine, Hansa who had Cancer sun shine, Mallika who had Leo sun shine, Pooja, who had Virgo sun shine, Rajni, who had Libra sunshine, Nandini, who had scorpio sun shine, Bhavna, who had Saggitarius sun shine, Jhankhana, who had Capricorn sun shine, Sanjana, who had Aquarius sun shine and Chandrika who had Pieces sun shine.

Priyanka Chopra was brilliant in all those roles. Although the story appeared to be very serious in nature it ended up being absolutely hilarious. Harman Baweja also did well, but his resemblance with Hrithik Roshan was still reflected in this films. Unless he could create his own identity his effort would never get right acknowledgement.

The film had been directed Ashutosh Gowarikar. He used Anjan Srivastava, Rajesh Vivek and the other actors to perfection. The song “bhikri bhikri” had already become popular. But the film does not have the expectation of becoming a grand it like that of Lagaan or Jodha Akbar.

As long as the cost of production of the film is recovered Ashutosh Gowarikar’s effort will be justified.