This BLOG is about the Past of Hindi Films Specially Black and White Cinema We will refresh your memories by bringing out forgotten or unseen songs and clippings of film scenes We will try to give you as much information as we gather from our research.
This Blog was started as a one-man’s passion for film history but has now become an addiction for many music lovers who are equally passionate about Hindi films
Released on 30 June 1971, Mela was a hit film of that year. This was the first time the two Khan brothers, Feroz Khan and Sanjay Khan appeared together in a film. Mumtaz was the heroine of the film. This film was the seconddirectorial venture of Prakash Mehra after Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968).
The film is a lost and found story, a very popular subject of the 70s. It was based on a rural background where a Shahri Babu(Sanjay Khan) comes and falls in love with a village girl(Mumtaz). There is a dacoit Shakti Singh(Feroz Khan who does not permit anyone to plow his land as he believes that his evil paternal uncle(Randhir) forged documents to make him the owner, and he blames himself for losing his brother, Kishan, during a Mela 20 years ago. Kanhaiya buys the land from his uncle in the city who dies soon after out of shock upon receiving such a large sum of money.,Now Kanhaiya comes with his foster mom to reside at the Uncle s home in the village.
The music of the film was given by R D Burman and the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Few of the songs were popular but none of the songs is great.
A super hit movie of 1971 starting Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, and Vinod Khanna shot in Rajasthan is sheer eye candy. It has its romance, its moments of comedy, and its melodrama, but ( Vinod Khanna) Jabbar Singh vs. Ajit(Dharmendra) is, eventually, the focus of the film. it has a lot of the tropes and motifs of the Clint Eastwood films. The film was a huge blockbuster at the box office cementing Vinod Khanna's place as a top actor.
Dharmendra plays Ajit, an orphan, who is reformed by an ex-soldier Jayant. The village is repeatedly looted and savaged by Jabbar’s gang and Ajit stands up to wage a lone fight.
Asha Parekh is the heroine of the film but has nothing to do except singing one or two songs.
Music is the strong point of the film. All the songs were popular but the background score by Laxmikant Pyarelal adds to the ferocity that Jabbar comes to signify.
Vinod Khanna as Jabbar Singh shall live for all times to come. I recommend every one who has seen this movie or not ; please watch it again and get mesmerized.
Recall the song “Hey, Maine Kasam Li” where the hero Dev Anand on a Bicycle and the heroine Mumtaz sitting on the crossbarriding across green fields singing the song with very little action and lots of cuddling. What a picturization.
Tere Mere Sapne is one of my favorite movies. It has substance. Commercially, it did not do very well at the box office but I believe it is one of the most sensitive Bollywood movies by Goldie Vijay Anand. He also acted in this film, he plays a doctor and gave a memorable performance.
The film is based on the novel “The Citadel” by A.J.Cronin, published in 1937 in UK. based on his own experiences as a doctor. Dedicated to the medical community, the film starts off with a young, idealistic MBBS doctor Anand Kumar (Dev Anand) moving to a village near a coal mine. He attains his degree in medicine and re-locates to a small village to assist the local doctors there. Upon arrival, he is met by the ailing Dr. Prasad and his wife, and hired on a salary of Rs.250/- per month. He meets with the other doctors namely Dr. Kothari (Vijay Anand), an alcoholic, and Dr. Bhutani, a dentist. Anand finds that he is saddled with all of Kothari's work as well his own due to the reason that Kothari is drunk every night. He nevertheless carries on, aided by the local school-teacher, Nisha Patel(Mumtaz), who he eventually marries. Then one day a proud father, Phoolchand, gives a baksheesh to Anand for the safe delivery of his first-born. This does not auger well with Mrs. Prasad and she fires Anand. Anand and Nisha re-locate to Bombay, and after sometime Anand establishes himself as a leading doctor, is honored for his thesis, and gets to be the personal doctor of a leading Bollywood actress Maltimala. When Dr. Kothari and Dr. Bhutani go to visit them, they find while Nisha is still the same good-natured woman, who is expecting a child, Dr. Anand is a changed individual, who has no time for friends, personal life, or even his wife, and is not even aware that she is pregnant. The two return home disappointed, followed by Nisha, who has decided to separate from Anand.
There are many beautiful songs and several great dances featuring Hema Malini. Vijay Anand’s direction keeps things moving along at a good pace. There are so many wonderful characters in this film too. Mumtaz gave a stunning performance. Music by S D Burman and lyrics by Neeraj is superb.
Haathi Mere Saathi was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1971. It was released on 1st May 1971 and became an instant hit all over India. It was not a children's film but became a craze among children. Children's cinema was a rarity in the 70's decade which was dominated by action dramas. But one big exception was "Haathi Mere Saathi"(1971), directed by M.A.Thirumugham which was inspired by his own Tamil hit, "Vettaikkaaran"(1964).
This was the first film of Salim Javed as an independent script & screenplay writer. it was the biggest hit in the career of Rajesh Khanna as a hero. This movie is about the relationship/bondage between man and animal. Elephants play an equally important role with Rajesh Khanna in the movie and the movie revolves around them. Tanuja playing the heroine also contributes.
In an interview, Tanuja said, "I showed them the film when Kajol was six and Tanishaa around three years old, and for two weeks Kajol did not speak to me!! "Mummy, you killed the elephant! Because of you, he had to die!" screamed Kajol! "And Tanishaa was annoyed too!"
Another highlight of the film was its music by Laxmikant Pyarelal who have composed some great hits for this movie sung by Kishore Kumar. One song by Mohammad Rafi is a class.
The film ranks as a classic because it is still unequaled as the complete family fare in its genre for kids of all ages!. If you have not seen this film, you must see this film with your children.
This Superhit film was released on 30th April 1971. It was the last movie of Shammi Kapoor as a romantic hero. It was the last movie of the great Shankar-Jaikishan duo. Soon after Jaikishan died of liver cirrhosis, he was only 42.It was the first movie of Ramesh Sippy as Director and also the first script of Salim Javed,
The film is about a widower(Shammi Kapoor) who has a kid from his now-dead wife(Simi Grewal) and a young widow(Hema Malini) who has a young son from her now-dead lover(Rajesh Khanna) and how their lives meet and end up in romance.
This was the golden age of Rajesh Khanna, whatever the superstar touched it turned into gold. Here also in 15 minutes guest appearances stole the show. He appears on screen for only a few minutes with the famous Kishore Kumar yodel “Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana” and a couple of other scenes.
The story is a formula-based one but the skilfully written screenplay is able to entertain the viewers throughout. This was the first signal of a great script and screenplay writer of Bollywood in making. Their first film as an independent screenplay writer was to release soon and to be the top-grossing film of 1971.
It was the last movie of Shammi Kapoor as a romantic hero and his role demanded maturity not only on the face but also in performance. And Shammi Kapoor has done it perfectly. Nowhere is he over the top and portrayed the widower and an affectionate father on the screen with finesse, bringing all his experience as a hero over the previous 18 years into his performance.
The film features "Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana", one of the best known Bollywood yodels This song was nominated in the best singer category for Kishore Kumar. Hasrat Jaipuri was awarded the best lyricist for this song.
This is an entertaining family drama If you have not seen it earlier, you must see it now.
The most underrated film of 1971 was among the Top 15 Hit films of that year. It was released on 23rd April 1971 starring Mehmood as the lead actor along with Leena Chandavarkar and Biswajeet. It is a remake of the 1964 Tamil movie Server Sundaram. The role played by Nagesh in Tamil version was reprised by Mehmood in the Hindi version.
The movie is not only a good comedy but also is very emotional. The central character Sundar played by Mehmood is one of the highlights of the film. Mehmood played it very well. I think this is one of his best performances. Music was of Shankar Jaikishan, some of the songs are catchy, "Mujhko Thand Lag Rahi Hai" sung by Kishore Kumar & Asha Bhonsle and the other song "Naach Meri Jaan"with the same singers were very popular that time.
There are 7 songs in the film, one of these is a parody song. If you have not seen this movie earlier then you must see this film now, it is entertaining.
Sharmilee was released on 23rd March 1971. The film was a hit with hit music given by S D Burman and lyrics by Neeraj. Shashi Kapoor was the hero and Rakhi was in a double role, one a shy mellow young woman, and the other a spontaneous extrovert.
The film was based on a novel of Gulshan Nanda, who was a very popular Hindi novelist of that time, almost all the films based on his novels were successful. The film was produced by Subodh Mukherjee and directed by Sameer Ganguly
It's the story of twin sisters - Kanchan and Kaamini, Kaamini is an extrovert, and the ultramodern girl whom any boy may fall for whereas, on the contrary, Kanchan is a shy girl who speaks very less and is hesitant to interact with strangers.
Shashi Kapoor, the prospective groom and his family members come to see Kanchan decide on a matrimonial alliance, Shashi Kapoor who met Kamini once misunderstood Kanchan as Kamini , he agreed to the proposal.
When he came to know of the fact it's Kaamini whom he had met and got smitten by, he refuses to marry Kanchan. Kaamini who was earlier ready to marry Shashi Kapoor who was an army officer flees away from her house on the D-Day and it is known after some time that her car met with an accident. Though her dead body is not found, there's enough evidence that she is no more. Now to save the prestige of the family, the parents of the sisters marry Kanchan to Ajit. Though Kanchan tells this fact to Ajit in a letter prior to the marriage, Ajit remains unaware of it because that letter is not allowed to reach him. He marries Kanchan mistaking her for Kaamini and comes to know the truth on their first conjugal night. Feeling betrayed and heartbroken, he returns to the army base, leaving a weeping Kanchan behind.
One fine day Ajit ( Shashi Kapoor) was assigned the responsibility by his superior to catch some traitors spying for the enemy country. These traitors include a young female also and Ajit is shocked like anything to find that her face is the same as that of his sweetheart. Who is she - Kanchan or Kaamini ?
Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee have done brilliantly in lead roles. Raakhee deserves special mention for her superb performance in the twin roles which are polar apart from each other.
The highlight of the film is its music The film has 7 songs, Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan is the most popular song sung separately by both Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar for Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee respectively. Megha Chhaye Aadhi Raat (Lata singing beautifully in the classical Raag - Madhuranjani), Aaj Madhosh Hua Jaaye Re Mera Mann (Lata-Kishore), Reshmi Ujaala Hai Makhmali Andhera Hai (Asha Bhosle), Kaise Kahen Hum Pyar Ne Humko Kya Kya Khel Dikhaaye (Kishore) and the title track (O Meri Sharmilee) sung again by Kishore Da; all are quality songs
