Saturday 29 February 2020

Hindi Films With Cities/Places In The Title



The trend of keeping the Title of a film in the name of cities or places is not a new trend but it is very old. Since the 40s such titles were in use. In 1941 two films with such titles were released. Bambai Ki Sair also known as Holiday in Bombay was a Bollywood social comedy film. It was released in 1941 The film starred Shobhna Samarth (mother of Nutan and Tanuja). The other was Bambaiwali (The Girl from Bombay). This film was directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Wadia Movietone. It starred Fearless Nadia,
There are many hit movies with such titles in the following years. Few of them are Bombai Ka Babu, Love in Shimla, Love in Tokyo, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, etc. In this blog, I am discussing a few such films.

In 1945 released the film  Kurukshetra. The film was cited as an offbeat film of K. L. Saigal, directed by a relatively unknown director; it's stated to be a "forerunner" to later Art Cinema
Song of Kurukshetra (1945 film) Audio only

Baghdad Ka Chor was another Bollywood film. It was released in 1946 directed by Nanubhai Vakil. starring K L Saigal
Baghdad Ka Chor 1946

Dilli Express was a film released in 1949 starring Fearless Nadia and Prakash It was a musical thriller with the music by Chitragupta

Hyderabad Ki Nazneen was a film released in 1952, The star cast includes  Manhar DesaiNigar Sultana, Wasti, MuradDurga Khote,


Chandni Chowk was a 1954 classic Muslim social drama film directed by B. R. ChopraThe film starred Meena KumariShekhar, Kumar, JeevanSmriti Biswas and Achala Sachdev


Song of Chandni Chowk 1954


Marine Drive (1955) It was the first film that G. P. Sippy released under his production house Sippy Films. The film starring Ajeet and Bina Rai



Song of Marine Drive (1955)

Ab Dilli Dur Nahin  is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Amar Kumar and written by Rajinder Singh Bedi The film was produced by Raj Kapoor and starred YakubAnwar HussainMotilal, Nand Kishore, and Jagdeep


Song of Ab Dilli Dur Nahin  1957


 Miss Bombay was a 1957 movie directed by Kedar Kapoor featuring Nalini Jaywant, Ajit.


Song of Miss Bombay  1957


Howrah Bridge is a 1958 film directed by Shakti SamantaIt features the well known Hindi song "Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu" Starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala


Song of Howrah Bridge  1958

Dilli Ka Thug is a 1958 Hindi comedy film. It stars Kishore KumarNutanMadan Puri, and Iftekhar


Song of Dilli Ka Thug  1958

Bombai Ka Babu is a 1960 Hindi film directed by Raj Khosla and written by Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Dev Anand and Suchitra Sen in a rare appearance in the Hindi cinema.


Song of Bombai Ka Babu  1960

Love In Simla is a 1960 romantic Indian Hindi film, produced by Sashadhar MukherjeeThe actress Sadhana made her Hindi movie lead debut in the film and became a star


Song of  Love In Simla 1960

Mr. X in Bombay,, was a 1964 Indian science fiction thriller film starring Kishore KumarKumkum and Madan Puri.


Song of Mr. X in Bombay  1964

Love In Tokyo is a 1966 Hindi film The film stars Joy Mukherjee, Asha ParekhPranMehmood


Song of Love in Tokyo  1966

Kashmir Ki Kali (lit. The Bud of Kashmir) is a 1964 Indian romance film directed by Shakti SamantaThe film stars Shammi KapoorSharmila Tagore in her debut role, PranDhumalNazir Hussain, and Anoop Kumar. The music was composed by O.P. Nayyar 

Song of  Kashmir Ki Kali 1964

Johar Mehmood in Goa is a 1965 Bollywood comedy film directed by I. S. Johar with he himself, along with Mehmood and Simi Garewal playing the lead roles


Song of Johar Mehmood in Goa  (1965)

Bombay to Goa is a 1972 adventure-comedy film directed by S. Ramanathan, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Aruna Irani in lead roles,


Song of  Bombay to Goa 1972

Here are a few more films

Jhansi Ki Rani (1956)

New Delhi (1956)
Kya Yeh Bombay Hai (1959)
China Town (1962)

Bombay Race Course (1965)

Himalay Ki Godmein (1965)

Johar in Bombay (1967)

Road To Sikkim (1969)

Bombay by Nite (1979)

36 Chowringhee Lane 1981

Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Bombay (1995)

Bhopal Express (1999)

Mission Kashmir (2000)

Calcutta Mail (2003)

Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (2003)

Bombay to Bangkok (2008)

Chandni Chowk to China (2009)

Delhi-6 (2009)

Delhi Belly (2011)

Chennai Express (2013)

Madras Cafe (2013)

Bombay Velvet  (2015)















.

Wednesday 19 February 2020

Amirbai Karnatki - A Singer whose Fan was Mahatma Gandhi


Amirbai Karnatki (19 Feb 1906 – 3 March 1965), was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema She was a singing star of the late 30s and 40s.In 1943, with the release of Bombay TalkiesKismet (1943 film), she achieved popularity: the songs of Kismet became a rage and Amirbai became famous.
 Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song Vaishnav Jan To. She was fluent in Kannada (mother tongue) and Gujarati languages. "Mahre te gamray ek baar aawjo" is one of her famous Gujarati songs from the film Ranrakdevi.
  She was not a trained singer but during the 1940s, Amirbai became one of the most sought after singers. She reached her career peak by 1947. There was a time. when other singers used to get Rs. 500 for singing a song, Amirbai used to get Rs. 1000 per recording. Those days she avoided taking acting roles and concentrated more on her singing.
After 1947, Lata Mangeshkar became a rising star, so once again Amirbai switched over to acting. In her later years, she mostly played character roles. Amirbai also composed music for Wahab Pictures' film Shehnaaz (1948). In the same year, she almost left Hindi Cinema for Gujarati and Marwari films. 

She had a paralytic attack in 1965, died just four days later and was buried in her hometown. A cinema hall is still run in the name of "Amir Talkies" in the city of Bijapur, by her family. 

Songs of Amirbai Karnataki


Song of Zamana 1938

Song of Kismet 1943


Song of  Prithvi Vallabh 1943



Song of Rattan 1944


Song of Nargis 1946


Song of Shikari


Song of Sindoor 1947


Song of Elan 1948


Song of Shehnaz 1948


Song of Naghma 1953




Monday 17 February 2020

Agneepath Turns 30


Recall the iconic dialogue of Amitabh Bachchan : ‘Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, pura naam. Baap ka naam Dinanath Chauhan, maa ka naam Suhasini Chauhan. Gaon Mandwa. Umar chattis saal, nau mahina, ath din.. ey, ey solwa ghanta chaloo ey re’.
Yes, I am talking about none other than the 1990’s film ‘Agneepath. This film was released on 16th Feb 1990. It is Amitabh Bachchan's one of the most highly respected dramatic roles. 
The title of this film was suggested by Amitabh taken from his father Harivansh Bachchan's one of the poems. Amitabh Bachchan received his first National Film Award for Best Actor at the 38th National Film Awards for his performance. It is considered a milestone in Bachchan's career, and in the league of his all-time great movies.
When released, Agneepath was a failure, both at the box office as well as among the critics. Amitabh Bachchan's experimentation with his voice did not go well with the masses and the critics. He had spoken the dialogue in a different voice inspired by Marlon Brando in The Godfather but the audience loved his baritone voice.
Amitabh Bachchan looked tired at places but does an excellent job as the underworld don. His mannerisms are superb. The opening scene and few thereafter have some emotional as well as a class appeal but not of the type which can move the viewers. The long climax is thrilling. But Amitabh’s death was a jolt. A characteristic feature of the movie was the dark undertones and the grim atmosphere of the film, which was unusual for any of Amitabh Bachchan's films.
The film was remade in 2012 with the same title, by Johar's son Karan Johar, as a tribute to his father.
Dialogue of Agneepath 1990


Dialogue of Agneepath 1990



Song of Agneepath 1990



Song of Agneepath 1990



Song of Agneepath 1990

Saturday 15 February 2020

Randhir Kapoor - Made his Debute asDirector and Hero


Randhir Kapoor(15th Feb 1947) the eldest son of Raj Kapoor made his acting and direction debut in a leading role in the family drama Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971). He appeared as a child artist in Shree 420 (1955) and Do Ustad (1959). After his debut, he acted in three consecutive hit films, all released in 1972: JeetRampur Ka Lakshman, and Jawani Diwani.
In 1975, he directed and starred alongside his father again in the critically acclaimed Dharam Karam, which was a box office disappointment.  From 1976 to 1981, his multi-star films such as Chacha Bhatija (1977), Kasme Vaade (1978) were successful
.Randhir married actress Babita, the daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani, on 6 November 1971 when he was just 24 after co-starring with her in Kal Aaj Aur Kal, as the couple fell in love during the shooting of this film. Their two daughters, Karisma Kapoor, born in June 1974, and Kareena Kapoor, born in September 1980, are Indian film actresses. 
 In 1991, he directed and produced the blockbuster Henna (1991), that starred his younger brother, Rishi Kapoor and Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar. The film had started production in 1988 with his father Raj Kapoor directing, but after his death, Randhir took over as director of the film. Henna resulted in a trip to Pakistan, where he was treated royally by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a fan of his father Raj and his uncle Shammi Kapoor.
In 1999, he made his comeback in the film Mother, alongside RekhaJeetendra and Rakesh Roshan. After another break, he appeared in the film Armaan (2003), in a supporting role as Preity Zinta's father. 
Song of Shree 420


Song of Kal Aaj aur Kal 1971


Song of Rampur Ka Lakshman 1972


Song of Jawani Diwani 1972


Song of Haath Ki Safai. 1974


Song of Dharam Karam 1975