The Invisble Men of Bollywood

The idea of invisibility has always fascinated cine-goers. The idea of an invisible man originated from the novel by H. G Wells published in 1897. The first movie in this novel was made in 1933 in Hollywood by Universal Studio. Since then many films are made on this subject. 
The invisible man has been a runaway success in Bollywood too. This formula has wowed the masses through the generations in Hindi Film Industry. The first film on this subject was made in 1938 as "Mr. X", produced and directed by Vijay Bhatt. The second film was also Mr. X in 1957 played by Ashok Kumar. The third film was "Mr. X in Bombay" released in 1964. Another film on this subject was Mr. India in 1989.
It is definitely a very cool superpower to possess and the success of all these films only shows that this subject is a money-spinner.
Mr. X (1957)

Song of Mr X 1957

Sippy films made Mr.X in 1957, starring Ashok Kumar, Nalini Jaywant, Pran and Johny Walker, produced by G.P.Sippy, Directed by Nanabhai Bhatt, Music by N.Dutta and Lyrics by Majrooh, Hasrat, Tanvir Naqvi and Bharat Vyas.
The film was made in a small budget and was a hit. The song Laal Laal Gaal picturized on Johny  Walker was a super hit.

Mr. X in Bombay (1964)

Song of Mr. X in Bombay (1964) 

A comedy film directed by Shantilal Soni featuring Kishore Kumar, Kum Kum. The music for this film was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics were penned by Anand Bakshi and Asad Bhopali. The song "Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi" of this movie became an evergreen hit.

Elaan  (1971 )

Song of Elaan  (1971 )

Its F C Mehra's film, directed by K. Ramanlal. The film stars Vinod Mehra, Rekha, Vinod Khanna, and  Madan Puri. The character played by Vinod Mehra finds himself locked in a cellar alongside an old man who claimed to have invented an ''atomic ring'', which can make a person invisible. He gives it to Mehra by literally tearing off his leg and extracting the ring, which the latter has to supposedly put in his mouth and take off all his clothes to turn invisible. The film was an average hit.

Me. India (1987)

Song of Mr India 1987

 Mr. India remains a cult classic in India. It had all the ingredients of an entertainer and the formula was bang on. T.Produced by Boney Kapoor and directed by Shekhar Kapoor, based on a screenplay written by Salim-Javed. It stars Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles. Amrish Puri, as Mogambo. The film was the second highest-grossing Indian film of 1987 

Chamatkar (1992)

Song of Chamatkar (1992)

It's an F C Mehra's film directed by Rajiv Mehra. It cast Naseeruddin Shah, Shah Rukh Khan and Urmila Matondkar in pivotal roles. The film was quite popular among children.  The film had Shah Rukh Khan as a cricket coach and Naseeruddin Shah as the 'ghost' who was killed and buried in the same cemetery, where a homeless Shah Rukh seeks refuge


Gayab  ( 2004 )

Song of Gayab  ( 2004 )

 Produced by Ram Gopal Verma, It stars Tusshar Kapoor and Antara Mali as the lead protagonists. The film became a moderate box office success. There is nothing new to Gayab. The invisibility trick was slicker in Mr. India. The film contains the antics of Vishnu enjoying his invisibility and trying to win Mohini’s heart (with the insertion of a side-plot here and there).


Mr. X (2015)

This Emraan Hashmi-starrer wasn`t well-received by the audiences despite made in 3D. The actor played a dedicated government officer, who gets charred in a factory during an assignment and is given an untested potion by his friend's sister, which causes a complete cell regeneration from the scratch causing him to become invisible in all lights except neon light and direct sunlight. 

Feroz Khan - The Original Khan of Bollywood.

Feroz Khan (25 September 1939 – 27 April 2009), his father belonged to Tanoli tribe from Ghazni of Afghanistan, He was born and brought up in Bangalore. He moved to Bombay to work in films.
He is one of the few actors, who flaunted his surname, those days changing names or no surname was very common and mandatory to stardom.
Right from the first film, he kept his real name, he is the original Khan. Though Dilip Kumar is also a Khan he too changed his name to get stardom in the Bollywood.
 He made his debut as a second lead in Didi in 1960. Through the 1960s, he appeared in mediocre films opposite starlets in fantastical dramas, including Reporter Raju (Chitra), Samson (Ameeta), Ek Sapera Ek Lutera (Kum Kum) and Char Darvesh (Saeeda Khan). In the Guru Dutt-Mala Sinha starrer Bahurani, he played the baddie. 
In his role as the wayward younger brother of Raj Kumar, he was noticed in the black and white  film Oonche Log (1965), He then played the second lead to Rajendra Kumar in Ramanand Sagar’s Arzoo, to Sunil Dutt in the thriller Pyasi Shaam, It was BR Chopra’s Aadmi Aur Insaan towards the end of the decade, in 1969, where he came into his own. It won him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.
In 1970 released Safar, in this film the Hero was Rajesh Khanna but Feroz Khan played an important role in this film. In 1971 he appeared in 2 films as the 2nd lead to his younger brother Sanjay Khan( Mela and Upasana).
To improve his career opportunities as a leading man he started his own Production Company. He became a successful producer and director with the 1972 film Apradh, Mumtaaz was his co-star in this film. Apradh was the first Indian movie showing auto racing in Germany, it was a moderate success at the box office. After that, he produced, directed, and starred in the 1975 film Dharmatma, which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as a producer, director, and star and marked the appearance of actress Hema Malini in a glamorous avatar. This movie was inspired by the Hollywood film The Godfather. 
Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, he was a leading Bollywood star, directing and starring in many of his films. The 1980 film Qurbani, with Zeenat Aman, was the biggest hit of his career and launched the singing career of iconic Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, with her memorable track "Aap Jaisa Koi". In 1986, he directed and starred in Janbaaz, a box office hit, In 1988, he directed and starred in Dayavan, which was a remake of an Indian Tamil film titled Nayakan. After directing and starring in Yalgaar (1992),He launched his son Fardeen Khan's career with the 1998 film Prem Aggan, which, however, was a box office bomb.  he took a long break from acting for 11 years.
He appeared in over 51 films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and became one of Bollywood's popular style icons His last film as an actor was "Welcome" was a roaring hit in 2007. He died from lung cancer on 27 April 2009 at the age of 69. 
In this blog, I am posting some of his forgotten & rare songs

Song of Mein Shaadi Karne Chala 1962

Song of Reporter Raju  1962

Song of Reporter Raju  1962

Song of Char Dervesh 1964

Song of Teesra Kaun  1965

Song of Oonche Log 1965

Song of Ek Sapera Ek Lootera 1965

Song of Tasveer 1966

Song of Woh Koi Aur Hoga 1966

Song of CID 909 1966

Song of Raat Andheri Thi 1967

 Song of Aurat 1967 

 Song of Aaja Sanam 1968

Song of Anjaan Hai Koi 1969

Five Significant Roles of Moushumi Chatterjee

Moushumi Chatterjee (born 26 April 1948) is an actress who is recognized for her work in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She made her film debut in the Bengali hit Balika Badhu (1967), and debut as heroine in the Hindi film Anuraag in 1972. Since then she has acted in more than 100 films as the main lead or a character role.
In this blog, we look into some of her memorable roles from Bollywood to Bengali films. She became a household name with the Bengali film Balika Badhu, directed by Tarun Majumdar. She played a child bride in the period drama, which became a platinum jubilee hit with a run of 75 weeks at the box office. In her next film a Bollywood film" Anurag", she played a blind young woman, Shivani, who wants to learn sculpting.
 Balika Badhu (1967) - The film was based on a novel of the same name by Bimal Kar. The film was remade in Hindi as the same name in 1976 also directed by Majumdar. The movie is about child marriage, a custom that still prevails (illegally) among various Indian societies. Set during British Raj in India, the movie tells the story of a village schoolboy Amal, who is married to a younger girl named Rajni. Left together for a few days, as a part of the ritual, the two develop friendship and love. Shortly, Rajni must return to her parents’ house, while Amal continues with his studies at home with Masterji, an elderly teacher. His life is enlivened occasionally when Rajni is permitted to visit.For this role she was given Best Actress for her debut by BFJA

Anuraag (1972) -  is a 1972 Hindi film, directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Moushumi Chatterjee and Vinod Mehra in lead roles. Moushumi plays a blind sculptor in this film. She stays in an ashram and makes friends with a small boy (Satyajit), who is suffering from cancer. She falls in love with Rajesh (Vinod Mehra). Rajesh asks his parents to permit him to marry her, to which his mother agrees, but his father refuses under her present condition. Then, an eye specialist reveals that an eye replacement would cure her. Later, as a dying wish, the young boy donates his eyes to her, thus granting her eyesight for the first time in her life.
The film became a semi-hit while doing extremely well in big cities and won the Filmfare Best Movie Award for the year. Moushumi was nominated for the best actress award.

Song of Anurag 1972

Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974) - was written, directed, and produced by Manoj Kumar. The film is about a family for which Bharat (Manoj Kumar) attempts to provide for after falling into a financial struggle. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay, the brother of Bharat, and stars Zeenat Aman as Sheetal, Bharat's love interest, Moushumi Chatterjee as Tulsi, a friend of Bharat in poverty, and Shashi Kapoor as Mohan Babu, a wealthy businessman. Moushumi was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for this film.

Song of  Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974)

Angoor (1982) - Moushumi Chatterjee got the chance to hone her comedic skills and timing opposite Sanjeev Kumar. She played Sudha, wife to Sanjeev Kumar’s Ashok. She meets his well-behaved twin, also named Ashok, and mistakes him for her husband. Sudha tries her best to win him over and gives into her husband’s demands, much to the merriment of the audience. As the clueless wife, she hit every note right.

Song of Angoor 1982

Goynar Baksho (2013) -  horror-comedy, directed by Aparna Sen, involved three generations of women with a priceless box of jewels that links them together. The film starred Moushumi Chatterjee, Sen’s daughter Konkona Sensharma and Srabanti Chatterjee.
Moushumi played a ghost in this comedy film. She won a Filmfare East award for Best Supporting Actress for the part, while Konkona Sen Sharma won Best Actress.

Song of Goynar Baksho (2013)

The Story Behind the Song" Lag Ja Gale"

This iconic song from the 1964 film "Woh Kaun Thi" was almost not recorded. Madan Mohan had composed the song with great care for a haunting romantic situation in the film but the  Director of the film Raj Khosla didn't like the tune, so he rejected it.
Madan Mohan, who was very sure that this song could be one of his immortal songs approached Manoj Kumar, the hero of the film to request Raj Khosla to listen to the tune once again. Manoj Kumar Kumar, who appreciated the tune too felt that this could be a memorable song.
When the second time this tune was played, Raj Khosla got bowled over by the composition. He immediately approved it. He wondered, how could he reject this song. 
This song was written by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan sung by Lata Mangeshkar was recorded in 1963. When the film released, this song was not as popular as today. You would be surprised to note that this song was not among the top 32 songs of the 1964 Binaca Geet Mala final. Two other songs(Naina Barse and. Jo Hamne Daastan )of this film were on that list, not this one.
There are many songs who are liked and become popular with the passing of time. This song is one such exceptional and inimitable. This song remains one of the favorite songs of Lata Mangeshkar.
The song has not only stood the test of time but has time and again been used by Bollywood and other to accentuate an emotional note in several films, in 1966 the tune of this song was kept in a Tamil film Yaar Nee, a remake of Woh Kaun This, this song was picturized on Jatyalalitha sung by Sushila.In the same year the Telugu movie Aame Evaru, it is rendered as "Andala ee reyi". Even contemporary ones like Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to the new Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3.this song is used, sung by different singers, the tune remains the same.
There are many versions of this song now available on Youtube. Very recently a video of this song sung by e years old toddler went Viral over social media,I present all the versions here including the original.

Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1964

                             Lag Ja Gale | Tamil Version 

Lag Ja Gale by 2 years child

Lag Ja Gale  (Acoustic) Sanam

                          

Lag Jaa Gale from Sahib Bibi Aur Gangster 3

                                        

Lag Jaa Gale from Ai Dil Hai Mushkil

Lag Jaa Gale  by Various Artists (Who Sang It Better?)

                                           

Lag Ja Gale by Anuradha Paudwal

Lag Ja Gale by Shreya Ghoshal

Bollywood Films on Epidemics

Amid fears stoked by the coronavirus, I recall "Contagion" -- a 2011 movie about a pandemic with similarities to recent events. This compelled me to look back into the Bollywood films on this subject. Not many films were made in this subject but a few movies had epidemic references.
To consider just a handful, let us first take V. Shantaram’s Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) about an Indian doctor who went to China to help the Communists against the Japanese army, to help the wounded when there was a scarcity of doctors. While in China Dr. Kotnis met and courted a Chinese girl, Ching Lan. In the film, Dr. Kotnis fights plague and, when he is unable to find a cure, he injects himself with the contents of a patient’s pustules in an effort to find antibodies, and eventually dies of plague after doing yeoman service to the Chinese.

The 1966 film Phool Aur Pathar is one such film where the epidemic was the central theme. In this film, it was shown how a criminal goes to a village to burgle a house when plague empties a town of its inhabitants, He finds nothing except Shanti, a widowed daughter-in-law who has been left to die by her cruel relatives.

In 2011 a film Azaan had a story of a deadly virus. The film tells the story of a RAW agent who is sent on a secret mission. He has to find a cure for a deadly virus. 

In 2013 Krrish 3 had a story in which the hero's father Rohit discovers that a virus, which is fast spreading through Mumbai   He knew about this virus which came from Namibia. He, thus, makes an antidote by using the blood from Krishna's bloodstream which he spreads with the help of explosions.

Bollywood celebs in Advertisements

Endorsing a brand by a Bollywood celebrity is not a current trend but being done before the independence of the country. The biggest advertiser in India was Lux Soap. The launch of the first Lux soap in India dates back to the year 1929, a black and white Ad that featured a popular actress of the time, Leela Chitnis in 1941. Since then all the popular heroines of their time appeared in Lux advertisements. 
On researching on this subject I noticed that most of the Top heroes did appear on one Ad or another except Dev Anand. I came across an Ad of a Pickle company being endorsed by Dilip Kumar, similarly in one Ad of an airline company Raj Kapoor, Balraj Sahni, and Nirupa Roy appeared together.

 Lux entered India in 1929 and while its early advertisements would feature Hollywood actresses, Some of these were printed in English newspapers and magazines. Of course, the westernized and elite movie-going Indian audience reading these newspapers would have been able to identify known faces.³ These two images, for instance, featured in the Times of India Annual of 1937. While their faces may appear vaguely familiar, they do not seem to belong to any recognizable star. Perhaps some of them were just generic images of "glamorous women," the presumed visual iconography of stars.

Appearing in a Lux advertisement was indeed a “must do” thing for a female movie star in India, a way of announcing her arrival in the industry. I am not certain about the first heroine of Bollywood was Leela Chitnis or Devika Rani but either of two may be the first Bollywood celebrities to appear in an Ad. The first Lux Ad with Bollywood Heroine came in the year 1941. I came across of Devika Rani's Ad for Afghan Snow Cream, once very popular in India.

In the 30s and 40s Calendar, Ads were very popular as every household used to keep one calendar.  Before the celebrity Ads, the trend of the pictures of God & Goddess was there. Below I am posting two images of calendar Ads, one of the images of Lord Krishna in the 1932 Calender and other of Meena Kumari in the 1954 Calender.

Besides Meena Kumari, the calendar features Suraiya, Kamini Kaushal, Krishna Kumari, Shashikala and Rehana (She had appeared as a Lux girl as early as 1947 after the success of two Filmistan films, Shehnai and Sajan).By this time colored printing in India had started. Suraiya who was well established as a singing actress also featured in the 1954 calendar.

In the 50s and 60s, Madhubala was also in great demand by the advertising companies, she appeared in lux soap as well as in Godrej soap and also in a Beedi Ad

Enjoy the best collection of Ads from good old days featuring famous celebrities of Bollywood endorsing different products

 Do you remember this print ad of Kishore Kumar?

Many of you will be surprised to see Prem Chopra, a villain of yesteryears in an Ad

Nirupa Roy chooses the pure, white luxury of the Lux beauty soap and suggests you get the big bath size, just like she did. 

Ashok Kumar in Ambika Mills

Helen in Lux

Shammi Kapoor in Paan Parag Ad, infract Ashok Kumar was also in this Ad

  

Nanda in the 1960s was among popular heroines, she too appeared in Lux Ad.

Mala Sinha, Sadhana, Asha Parekh, and Sharmila Tagore were the top heroines of the 60s also endorsed Lux soap

Zeenat Aman In Air India

In the 70s Rekha, Hema Malini were the hot girls for the Ad industry, they endorsed many products. Hema Malini with Dharmendra was also a popular modeling product.

With the opening of the economy in India, the advertising industry had a boom. A lot of products were endorsed by celebrities. In fact, many film stars started endorsing many products. Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan became the leading actors in the field of advertising.

One point of time Amitabh Bachchan was the top earner from endorsing various products. Even now at the age of 77, he remains to be most sought after celebrity for endorsements.

Here are a few of his iconic ads.

Shahrukh Khan in various Ads.

A few old iconic Ads by various Stars

It's not that the Advertisement Industry used only Bollywood Hero Heroines for the Ads but also gave the film industry many celebrities who started their career as a model then entered Bollywood 

We all know that Shahid Kapoor was a Complan boy, but did you know that he starred in a Pepsi commercial with SRK, Kajol, and Rani way back in the '90s

Before making her big debut in Om Shanti Om, Deepika Padukone can be seen dancing to the tunes of "Kya Aap Close Up Karte Hain?", and flashing her million dollar smile.

While Akshay Kumar may be a health freak now, way back he did a print ad for Red and White cigarettes.

The bubbly girl Pretty Zinta did a small appearance in a Cadbury ad, she was noticed there and then came into films.