The Meteoric Rise of Rajesh Khanna

There has been no other star in the film industry who saw such a meteoric rise within such a short span of time.  He starred in 15 consecutive solos hit films from 1969 to 1971, still an unbroken record. He was the first Hindi actor whose films ran to full houses for months on end in non-Hindi speaking areas.
He had substance as well as charisma. The innocence and freshness we can see in his performances, that vulnerable, lost look-all created a persona that gave joy to hearts and romance that made hearts skip a beat. 

Rajesh Khanna (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat. During his career, he appeared in more than 168 feature films. It was the 1969 film Aradhana,  he rose to "instant national fame" and film critics referred to him as the first superstar of India. In 1971, he acted in Haathi Mere Saathi, which became that year's highest-grossing film and the biggest grosser ever till then. He had all the films hits except Badnam Farishte in 1971 that was the first film flopped at the box office since his consecutive 17 hits from 1969.
.During the peak of his career he would be mobbed during public appearances. Fans kissed his car, which would be covered with lipstick marks, and lined the road, cheering and chanting his name. Female fans sent him letters written in their blood.
Music remained one of the biggest attractions of all Rajesh Khanna films throughout his career. His films were always known for the music with chartbuster soundtracks. The reason for this was that Khanna used to personally sit in music sessions with music directors such as Kalyanji Anandji, R. D. Burman, Shankar Jaikishen, Lakshmikant Pyarelal, S.D. Burman, Bappi Lahiri and select tunes for duets and solo songs in his films. He used to be personally present for the recording of the solo songs to be picturised on him.
Rajesh Khanna was indeed a Superstar, but we’re sure he wouldn’t have been the same without Kishore Kumar. Kishore Kumar who usually sang for Dev Anand and for himself in the films took the permission from Dev Anand to sing for Rajesh Khanna in Aradhana songs. It was the music of Aradhana that created two sensations in Bollywood one was Rajesh Khanna and the other was Kishore Kumar.

'Rajesh Khanna once in an interview said  "Kishore Kumar was my soul and I was his body,"  Along with RD Burman, Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna churned out one hit after the other. ‘Kati Patang’ released in 1970 was this trio’s first film together. Songs like ‘Yeh Shaam Mastani’ and ‘Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai’ hit the bull’s eye. Kishore Kumar's songs can be called a key reason of many Rajesh Khanna’s films. 'Aap Ki Kasam', 'Amar Prem', 'Mere Jeevan Saathi', the list of their successful films together is endless. Listen to the best songs of the duo here

Song of Aradhana 1969

Song of Aradhana 1969

Song of Aradhana 1969

Song of Sachaa Jhutha 1970

Song of Kati Patang 1970

Song of Kati Patang 1970

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Mere Jeevan Saathi 1972

Song of Aap Ki Kasam 1974

Song of Mehbooba  1976

Song of Agar Tum Na Hote  1983

Mohammad Rafi - A God-gifted voice.

Mohammad Rafi was born on 24th Dec 1924 in Kotla Sultansingh village in Punjab,  near Amritsar. Although music was not a part of his family background, there is no doubt that he was born with a gift for music in his heart.
 Rafi Sahab had picked up the rudiments of music from a fakir while already possessing a God-gifted voice. At a tender age of about fifteen decided to become a singer, his elder brother encouraged him to become a singer. When he was barely seventeen years old and sang his first playback song for a Punjabi film,  'Gul Baloch' under the music direction of the late Shyam Sunder in 1941. The song became popular, he was invited by the same composer to sing in a Hindi film he was composing.
Rafi Sahab took the final big step in his life and ventured off to Bombay to realise his dreams of making singing his career. In 1942 he arrived in Bombay to sing,  again under the music direction of Shyam Sunder for the movie 'Gaon ki Gauri'.  
Following the success of his song, Rafi Sahab approached the renowned music director Naushad, confiding in him his admiration for the great Kundan Lal. Saigal,  and how his ambition was to sing with Saigal Sahab.  Naushad did not disappoint him,  giving him two lines (Ruhi Ruhi Mere Sapnon ki Rani) with K.L Saigal for a song in the movie 'Shahjehan'. 
Rafi saheb had a tough competition with singers like  Manna Dey,  Talat Mahmood,  Hemant Kumar and Mukesh. He moved ahead of all of them after the success of Baiju Bawra under the music direction of Naushad Sahab.  "O Duniya Ke Rakhwale" together with 'Man Tarpat Hari Darshan' left Rafi Sahab in a league all of his own. 

With Naushad, he gave many immortal songs. Their collaboration produced some of the best and most memorable music of the Golden Era. His talent could not remain confined to just the classicism of Naushad. Many talented composers such as OP Nayyar, SD Burman, Shankar Jaikishan, Roshan, Ravi and numerous others gave their the best with Rafi and presented him in myriad colours. 

He was notable for his voice, versatility and range; his songs were varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of an actor, lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie.
He has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in various regional Indian languages as well as foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi over which he had a strong command. He has recorded as many as 7405 songs in many languages.
He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India.
Mohammed Rafi died at 10:25 pm on 31 July 1980, following a massive heart attack, aged 55. The last song sung by Rafi was for the movie Aas Paas. One source says it was "Shaam Phir Kyun Udaas Hai Dost / Tu Kahin Aas Paas Hai Dost", recorded just hours before his death.
Some of my Fav Songs of Rafi

                                                          Song of Dulari (1949)

Song of Deedar (1951)

Song of Pyasa (1957)

Song of Kohinoor (1960)

Song of Kala Bazar (1960)

Song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960

Song of Sasural 1961

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song of Taj Mahal 1963

Song of Dosti 1964

Song of Guide 1965

Om Prakash- Widely Remembered for his Versatile Roles

He acted in more than 350 films in a career spanning four decades. His style of delivering satirical dialogues was inimitable. His roles as Sharmila Tagore's 'brother' in the memorable Chupke Chupke and Amitabh Bachchan's 'Daddu' in Namak Halal.his God-fearing drink enjoying Catholic rail engine driver in Julie (1975)
His comic performances in Howrah Bridge, Dus Lakh (he won his first major award for this performance), Pyar Kiye Jaa, Gol Maal and Chameli Ki Shaadi.  His roles in Sharabi, Bharosa, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Mere Humdum Mere Dost, Loafer and Dil Tera Diwana were also appreciated. His performance as Dilip Kumar’s elder brother in Gopi gave his career new impetus.

Om Prakash (19 December 1919 – 21 February 1998) was born in Jammu, as Om Prakash Chibber.  Since his career began in 1942, he was a popular supporting actor from the 1950s until the 1980s. He also produced Jahanaara starring Bharat Bhushan, Shashikala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Mala Sinha in the title role of Jahanaara.

He got his first break as a villain in a film called Lakhpati. It won him acclaim and got him roles in films like Lahore, Char Din and Raat Ki Rani. It was during this phase in his career that he did Azaad with Dilip Kumar, Sargam with Raj Kapoor and Miss Mary, Bahar, Pehli Jhalak, Asha and Manmauji with Kishore Kumar followed by Howrah Bridge with Ashok Kumar and then Tere Ghar Ke Samne with Dev Anand.
In the movie Dus Lakh(1966) he played the role of a misery father of a large family who loses his bearings after he comes into a lottery of 10 lakhs. Om Prakash won the Filmfare Best Comedian Award
Another memorable role played by him was in Buddha Mil Gaya (1971). he played a character of a mysterious millionaire with a vendetta. 
Chupke Chupke came in 1975 and is one of the most iconic and incredible performances. He performed as Raghavendra Sharma in a suspicious way. He managed to outshine a peak Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan combination.

In Namak Halal (1982) he played as the grandfather who goes undercover to check up on his grandson. His role was small but still, his camaraderie with Bachchan remains incredible.
Om Prakash had a special rapport with Amitabh Bachchan and both worked in many successful films from Zanjeer to Sharaabi
Om Prakash suffered a massive heart attack in his home and was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai where he suffered another heart attack and went into a coma from which he never recovered. He died on 21 February 1998
Some of the great songs of Om Prakash

Song from Miss Mary 1957

Song from Howrah Bridge 1958

Song from Budha Mil Gaya 1971

Song from Budha Mil Gaya 1971

Song from Annadata 1972

It was Devika Rani who gave Kohinoor to Bollywood

Devika Rani who is also known as The First Lady of Bollywood gave us a Kohinoor in the form of Dalip Kumar. It happened when Dilip Kumar aka Yusuf Khan first arrived from Poona in Bombay looking for a job, he met Dr Masani at Churchgate station. The psychologist knew Khan from a lecture he had delivered at Wilson College where the young man had been a student.
Dr Masani introduced Yusuf Khan to Devika Rani who was the owner of Bombay Talkies. Devika Rani asked him if he knew Urdu; Khan did, as he was born and brought up in Peshawar in the North West Frontier Province. Devika Rani then offered him an opportunity to become an actor with the studio for a princely monthly salary of Rs1,250. It was Devika Rani who christened Dilip Kumar. The first film of Dilip Saheb was Jwar Bhata released in 1944 was directed by Amiya Chakrabarti.

Still from Jwar Bhata 1944

Besides grooming him for a career in front of the camera, Devika Rani also helped shape Dilip Kumar's acting and performances, encouraging him to watch Hollywood and foreign films and look for inspiration within himself to improve with each film that he did.
Unfortunately, Jwar Bhata did not fare well at the box office. Yet his talent did not go unnoticed and following India’s independence and partition, Dilip Kumar would go onto make his mark in Hindi cinema. 

Still from Jugnu 1947

However, it was the actor’s fourth film, Jugnu (1947), starring Noor Jehan and Shashikala in important roles, that became his first major hit, and got him noticed. The actor received many movies after this film.  

Dilip Kumar in Andaz.1949

One of the films which elevated him to superstardom was Mehboob Khan’s Andaz (1949) with Raj Kapoor.A story revolving around a love triangle, interspersed with drama and tragedy The film saw him paired opposite Nargis. The film became an instant hit at the box office and enabled Dilip Kumar to establish himself as one of the reigning figures of the Indian film industry.
He had a number of big films in the 1950s. Among his most notable films were Hulchul (1951), Deedar (1951), Daag (1952) and Devdas (1955). Dilip Kumar became the first actor to win the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Daag. He went on to win the award seven times.  His performance as the heartbroken Devdas in Devdas, among other roles, sealed his image as the Tragedy King of Indian cinema. However, he tried to shed this image by taking up lighter roles in films such as Aan (1952), Azaad (1955), Naya Daur (1957), Madhumati (1958), Mughal e Azam (1960) and Kohinoor (1960).
In 1961, Kumar produced and starred in Ganga Jamuna opposite his frequent leading lady Vyjayanthimala and his brother Nasir Khan, this was the only film he produced.His next film Leader (1964) was a below average grosser at the box office.He was the co-director alongside Abdul Rashid Kardar of his next release Dil Diya Dard Liya in 1966 but was uncredited as director. In 1967, Kumar played a dual role of twins separated at birth in the hit film Ram Aur Shyam. In 1968, he starred alongside Manoj Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in Aadmi. That same year he starred in Sangharsh with Sanjeev Kumar.
His career slumped in the 1970s with films like Dastaan (1972) failing at the box office. He starred alongside his real-life wife Saira Banu in Gopi (1970) which was a success. But again in 1974 his film Sagina and Bairag in 1976 failed as a hero.
In 1976, Dilip Kumar took a five-year break from film performances and returned with a character role in the film Kranti (1981) and continued his career playing leading roles in films such as Shakti (1982), Karma (1986) and Saudagar (1991). His last film was Qila (1998).He has won ten Filmfare Awards and is the first recipient of the Filmfare Best Actor Award (1954). He was given Dada Saheb falke award in 1994. The Government of India honoured Kumar with the Padma Bhushan in 1991, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015. The Government of Pakistan conferred Kumar with Nishan-e-Imtiaz, the highest civilian award in Pakistan, in 1998.
My Fav Dilip Kumar's Songs

Song of Mela 1948

Song of Andaz, 1949

Song of Arzoo 1950

Song of Deedar 1951

Song of Sangdil 1952

Song of Footpath 1953

Song of Azaad 1955

Song of Naya Daur, 1957

Song of Madhumati, 1958

Song of Kohinoor, 1960

Song of Ganga Jamuna, 1961

Song of Leader, 1964

Sharmila Tagore-The 60s stunner turns 74 today

.Every Indian who's sighed over Sharmila Tagore's dimples, drowned in that Kashmir ki Kali smile, seduced by her bikini babe image of An Evening In Paris, and then cried with her in Amar Prem and Mausam.
She's still as charming as ever, the mother of current heartthrob Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. The mother of two actors and a designer is also a grandmother of Saif and Kareena's son Taimur.

She was born on 8th December 1944 in Kanpur. She is distantly related to the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.She began her career as an actress in Satyajit Ray's 1959 Bengali film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), as the ill-fated bride of the title character. She made her debut in Hindi films with Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964. Samanta later cast her in many more films, including An Evening in Paris (1967), in which she became the first Indian actress to appear in a bikini and with Rajesh Khanna for movies such as Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972). Other directors paired them together in Safar (1970), Daag (1973), and Maalik (1972). The pair of Khanna-Sharmila gave 7 box office hits – Aradhana, Safar, Amar Prem, Chhoti Bahu, Daag, "Raja Rani" and Avishkaar.

She starred in Gulzar's 1975 film, Mausam and won the National Film Award for Best Actress. She also played a supporting role in Mira Nair's 1991 film Mississippi Masala. She was the highest paid Bollywood actress from 1970 to 1976 along with Mumtaz. She had a very successful pairing opposite Dharmendra, along with whom she starred in seven movies - Devar (1966), Anupama (1966), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Satyakam (1969), Yakeen (1969), Chupke Chupke (1975), Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975) and Sunny(1984). Her filmography also includes Faraar (1975) opposite Amitabh Bachchan; Mausam (1975) and Besharam (1978) opposite Sanjeev Kumar; and Bengalifilm Mangaldeep (1991) opposite Naseeruddin Shah. In 2017.

Sharmila Tagore married Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi and former captain of the Indian cricket team, in a Nikah ceremony held on 27 December 1969. She converted to Islam upon marriage and changed her name to Begum Ayesha Sultana Khan. They had three children: Saif Ali Khan (b. 1970), a Bollywood actor, Saba Ali Khan (b. 1976), a jewellery designer, and Soha Ali Khan 

She has received two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards for her performances. She led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011. She was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

Song of Kashmir Ki Kali 1964

Song of Anupama 1966

Song of An Evening in Paris 1967

Song of Talash 1969

Song of Aradhana 1969

Song of Safar 1970

Song of  Mausam 1975

Song of  Chupke Chupke 1975