The Voice that was rejected by All India Radio became the USP of Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan, who had wished to become a radio presenter before he tried his luck in Bollywood, his was rejected by  All India Radio Delhi. He tried in Bombay too by visiting the studios multiple times but failed to make the cut as Ameen Sayaani didn’t clear him. Later in an interview, he regretted denying him an audition.
Amitabh Bachchan was first heard rather than seen. His richly textured voice provides the sardonic voiceover in Mrinal Sen’s satire 1969 Bhuvan Shome.
Bollywood had many Actors with a powerful voice and great dialogue delivery. As per my knowledge these people may or may not be equally big stars but their voice had an impact.In the present scenario, Amitabh Bachchan remains the No one, no other actor near him with such a powerful voice and powerful dialogue delivery. He has been a narrator, a playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes.He is the only actor who gave his voice as Sutradhar in more than 20 films. Renowned film director Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice that he decided to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khilari.In this blog I discuss some of the films in which he gave his voice 

Bhuvan Shome - Cult Classic Groundbreaking Indian Film - Narrated By Amitabh Bachchan(watch from 7:25 to 8:25 minute)

After Bhuwan Shome it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee who took his voice in 1972 film Bawarchi as narrator. Later Satyajit Ray took him as narrator for 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khiladi. The film was set in the backdrop of the British annexation of Avadh and starred Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan and Saeed Jaffrey in key roles. Also, this may be the only Satyajit Ray film that Amitabh Bachchan has worked for.

J P Dutta also used his services as the narrator in his 1985 film Ghulami. Again in 1989 film Batwara he worked as a narrator. In 1996 in his own production Tere Mere Sapne he was the narrator. In 1999 film Hello Brother his voice was used as the God's voice.

Aamir Khan starrer required a strong and credible voice for Lagaan and there was no one else who could fit the bill other than Amitabh Bachchan. Ashutosh Gowariker who was the director of Lagaan approached Big B yet again for a voiceover in his period drama, Jodhaa Akbar. And this time around, the film starred none other than Aishwarya Rai, who is Amitabh Bachchan’s daughter-in-law in real life.

He also gave his voice for 2005 film Parineeta. He mentioned in an interview how lending his voice for Parineeta made him nostalgic because of his strong connection with Bengali culture and literature.  

In recent years he gave his voice for Ra one and Krishh 3, he will be lending his voice to the Hindi version of 'The Big Friendly Giant', a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the 1982 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.

A unique film was released in 2015 named Shamitabh written and directed by R. Balki. The film features Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Akshara Haasan, in her debut, .Dhanush who plays a deaf and mute junior artiste.He meets assistant director Akshara Pandey (Akshara Haasan) who is impressed by his talent. She shows his video, shot on her phone, to her director, Anay Verma (Ivan Rodrigues), but he rejects casting a mute hero. Akshara's father, a doctor, treats Danish after he gets into a fight with security guards. On his recommendation, Danish and Akshara arrive at Finland to meet his friend who shows Danish their new "Live Voice Transfer Technology", that uses embedded micro-recorders and ear-pieces and enables mute people to communicate via a "borrowed" voice.
On returning to Mumbai meet Amitabh Sinha played by Amitabh Bachchan and ask him to lend his voice to Danish; he accepts, and signs an agreement not to disclose himself as Danish's voice. So in this film, Amitabh voice was used for the hero as well as himself. 

            Amitabh Bachchan lends his voice - Shamitabh

Besides giving his voice for films he sang for himself in many films. Here are some of the songs sung by him.

The first song is sung in a film Mr Natwar Lal

Song of Mr Natwar Lal 1979

Song of Silsila 1981

Song of Laawaris 1981

Song of Silsila 1981

Song of Baghban 2003

Song of Baghban 2003

Song of Nishabd 2007

Song of Shamitabh 2015

                                          Ekla Cholo Re Full Song from Kahaani

                                                            Tu Chal | PINK | 2017

Song of 102 Not Out 2018

70s - The Decade Of Masala Movies

Bollywood has long been synonymous with all-singing, all-dancing, melodrama and masala. Masala means a spice mix of everything from action to romance, drama, comedy, and pathos thrown in one film.In Bollywood every decade has some thing special so the 70's was a decade of Action packed films.This was the decade when Amitabh Bachchan emerged as the King of Bollywood.This was the decade of blockbusters like Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Deewaar,Zanzeer,Don and Yaadon ki Baaraat.
It was a time of some of the most fantastic Stories and Screen plays,over the top costumes (not to mention set design, makeup, art direction, and more), and a cinema that was, in every way, much larger than life. There was loads of action, lots of dhishoom-dhishoom. 
The first half of this decade(upto 1974) was about love and Romance but after Zanzeer the action took over the romance.In 1969 after the release of Aradhana Rajesh Khanna emerged as Super star and became the new heart-throb. From1970 to 1972 was his Peak time,he gave one hit after another. In 1973 emerged Amitabh Bachchan with the release of Zanzeer. This year Bobby also released.The film began the phase of Teenage romance which was over shadowed by the action after the release of Deewar and Sholay in 1975.
In this period Indian film industry was introduced by the angry young man The Great Amitabh Bachchan who became a Living Legend. • While Dev Anand , Rajesh khanna,Jitendra and Dharmendra continued to bask in the glory of back to back hits , the actresses were not far behind.Right from the time of,Vyajanti Mala,Nargis,Sharmila Tagore to Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman,Sridevi, Rekha, Smita Patil became the main attraction of Indian film industry.
Dharmendra was another actor who gave many action films in this decade.Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971),Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973),Jugnu (1973),Sholay (1975),Charas (1976) and Dharamveer 1978 were few of the hit action films in this decade.
This decade saw the rise of Manmohan Desai who was known for his family-centered, action-song-and-dance films which catered to the tastes of the Indian masses and through which he achieved great success. His movies defined a new genre called masala films. A common theme in his films were the lost and found plot where family members would be separated and reunited. He was one of the directors who had a special working relationship with Amitabh Bachchan, He had a string of hits with Amitabh Bachchan in the 70s and early 80s which helped cement Bachchan's status as a superstar of Indian cinema. He worked with Amitabh on Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Suhaag, Naseeb, Desh Premee, Coolie, Mard and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati; all but the last were box office successes.
The decade had such stalwarts like Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Manoj Kumar and Shashi Kapoor operating at their peak while Rishi Kapoor and Amol Palekar but this decade was of Amitabh Bachchan who single-handedly bulldozed his way to the top. So final and enduring was his domination that he was dubbed “one man industry.”
Since the masala genre burst onto the scene in the 70s, it has evolved a great deal. The various elements portrayed in a masala film have enthralled audiences from various movie genres. Every age group in India has taken a liking to Masala films, and that’s the reason filmmakers love to get creative with this genre.
 The success rate of masala movies has been exceptional. Many movies that belong to this genre have become blockbusters and superhits. This trend continued in 80s and even in 21st century Masala Movies like Dabang, Dhoom and many more like these films rule the Box Office.
While there has been criticism of masala movies being a mishmash of too many genres, the masses in India have enjoyed watching the variety of masala flicks over the years.

Song from Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971),

Song from Yaadon Ki Baraat 1973

Song from Bobby 1973

Song from Jugnu (1973)

Song from Sholay (1975)

Song from Amar Akbar Anthony 1977

Song from Parvarish 1977

Song from Suhaag 1979

Prakash Mehra- The Man who Created the Recipe of Masala Films

In the 70s Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai gave birth to the 'formula' film. His films  revolving around a predictable plot, but touching on the social and political situation of the time. Being a smart Bollywood director, Mehra knew that a successful mainstream movie should be like a tasty Thaali, blending a host of ingredients.
Between 1973 and 1990, Prakash Mehra worked with Amitabh Bachchan on 8 films. These movies were not just blockbusters. They remain bookmarks of our cinematic memory. Anyone who grew up watching Hindi movies in the 1970s and 80s, movies like Zanjeer, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri (1976 film),Laawaris, Namak Halaal and Sharabi would surely agree to that.
Prakash Mehra (13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) started in the late 1950s as a production controller. In 1968, he directed Shashi Kapoor who played a double role in Haseena Maan Jayegi. . In 1973, he produced and directed Zanjeer,from here began the journey of the  super Hit Producer and Director Prakash Mehra..

Mehra made his finest movies with Bachchan. But he also made some interesting films with other actors too. Such as dacoit dramas: Mela (Sanjay, Feroz Khan and Mumtaz) and Samadhi (Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri and Asha Parekh). The latter had the track, Bangle ke peeche teri beri ke neeche, which GenNow can identify with for its remixed version.

And who can forget Haath Ki Safai (Randhir Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and Hema Malini, 1974) with the superhit song, Peene walon ko peene ka bahana chahiye.  All these films fared reasonably well at the cash counters.

By the late 1980s, just like his main actor, Mehra seemed to have lost his touch. But while Bachchan reinvented himself and emerged in a new avatar, the producer-director never bounced back.

Mehra will be remembered. Not merely as the man who gave Big B his first big box-office hit. His better films always had something extra, something special. 

Songs from Prakash Mehra films

Song from Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968)

Song from Zanjeer (1973)

Song from Haath Ki Safai (1974)

Song from Hera Pheri (1976)

Song from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Song from Laawaris (1981)

Song from Namak Halaal (1982)

Song from Sharaabi (1984)

Bollywood Actors with Forceful Voice and Dialogue Delivery

Bollywood had many Actors with a powerful voice and great dialogue delivery.As per my knowledge these people may or may not be equally big stars but their voice had an impact.In the present scenario Amitabh Bachchan remains the No one actor with a powerful voice and powerful dialogue delivery.A strange thing is that his voice was rejected by All India Radio for the Job of Announcer before joining Bollywood.In fact he made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's National Award winning film Bhuvan Shome.
Among the earlier actors Sohrab Modi, Prithviraj Kapoor,Murad,Jayant, Ajit and Raj Kumar were the actors with a powerful voice. Raj Kumar became popular for his dialogue delivery.
Sohrab Modi
He launched Minerva Movietone in 1936.He  became famous for its trilogy of historical spectaculars that were to follow - Pukar (1939), Sikandar (1941) and Prithvi Vallabh (1943), wherein Modi made the most of his gift for grandiloquence to evoke historical grandeur.In Prithvi Vallabh he was paired with Durga Khote Both of them many confrontation scenes with very powerful dialogues.

Scene from Prithvi Vallabh 1943

Prithviraj Kapoor

Most of us remember him with his powerful performance in Mughal e Azam but his most powerful performance was in 1941 film Sikandar. It was a Sohrab Modi film. Undoubtedly Modi's dream of making Sikandar would have remained unfulfilled had he not roped in another actor with equally powerful voice,Prithviraj Kapoor,to play the role of Alexander .His body language,modulation of voice and dialogue delivery made his role immortal.Prithviraj Kapoor used his booming voice to great effect that is extremely impressive,and continues to haunt film lovers.

Scene from Sikandar 1941

Murad

He  was an Indian character actor who appeared in more than 100 Bollywood films from the early 1940s through to the end of the 1980s playing character roles of a father, police officer, judge and an emperor. His son Raza Murad is also an actor in the Bollywood industry who is known for playing mostly villain roles and also have a powerful voice.His career began in the early 1940s when he made his acting debut in the 1943 film Najma which was directed by Mehboob Khan. The film featured him playing the father of Ashok Kumar despite being only a year older than him. He became a regular with director Mehboob Khan's films such as Anmol Ghadi (1946), Andaz (1949), Aan (1952) and Amar (1954). His other notable film roles included Do Bigha Zamin (1953) as a cruel landowner, Devdas (1955) as Devdas's father

 

Murad as King in'Yahudi'1958 with great Sohrab Modi,Dilip Kumar and Meena kumari

Jayant

His real name was Zakaria Khan.He was tall and had a deep voice.  He played lead role in many movies like Bombay Mail (1935), Challenge (1936), His Highness (1937) and State Express (1938)Tody's generation will better know him the father of Amjad Khan(Gabbar Singh of Sholay).Some of his well known films were Amar(1954),Insaniyat (1955) as Zangoora, Madhumati (1958) as Pawan Raja (Madhumati's Father) and Haqeeqat (1964) as Indian Army Commanding Officer

                               Angry Madhubala has an argument with Jayant in  Amar(1954)

Jayant (Zakaria Khan) the father & Amjad Khan the son sing Pashto songs in Hindi movie

Ajit

 He acted in over two hundred movies in almost four decades.Initially he played the lead roles in  movies such as Nastik, Bada Bhai, Milan, Bara Dari, and later as a second lead in Mughal-e-Azam and Naya Daur. In the middle of 1960s he switched over to play the villain. His first movie as a villain was Suraj, followed by films such as Zanjeer and Yaadon Ki Baaraat.His famous dialogues included the "Mona darling" bit in Yaadon Ki Baraat, "Lily don't be silly" in Zanjeer and the one about a "Lion" in Kallicharan.

                            Kalicharan - Sara Shehar Mujhe Lion Ke Naam Se Janta Hai

Raj Kumar

Raaj Kumar made his acting debut in the 1952 film Rangili and appeared in films like Aabshar, Ghamand and Lakhon Mein Ek, but it was as Prince Naushazad in Sohrab Modi’s Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) that he became famous. In 1957, he achieved prominence with his brief role as the husband of Nargis in Mother India. He followed this with the unglamorous role of a mill worker in Paigham (1959) alongside Dilip Kumar. In Sridhar’s Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Raaj Kumar played the role of a cancer patient for which he won the Filmfare Award in the Best supporting actor category.He was cast with Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor and Balraj Sahni in Yash Chopra’s family drama Waqt in 1965.  He became known for his distinct style of dialogue delivery.

                      Humko Mita Sake - Raaj Kumar Most Famous & Cult Dialogue

Amitabh Bachchan

Referred to as the Shahenshah of Bollywood, Star of the Millennium, or Big B, he has since appeared in over 190 Indian films in a career spanning almost five decades.^[Bachchan is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema as well as world cinema.He is known for his deep, baritone voice. He has been a narrator, a playback singer, and presenter for numerous programmes.He is the only actor who gave his voice as Sutradhar in more than 15 films.Renowned film director Satyajit Ray was so impressed with Bachchan's voice that he decided to use Bachchan as the narrator in his 1977 film Shatranj Ke Khilari 

                            Best of Amitabh Bachchan dialogues

Shatrughan Sinha

He started as Villain in Bollywood,he was most popular as villain in the initial career in films.He was one of the most unconventional actors in Hindi cinema (the others being Ajay Devgan, Amitabh Bachchan, Irfan Khan, Rajinikanth, Shahrukh Khan, and Sunil Shetty.  He is known for his superb performances and punch dialogues in Mere Apne,Loha, Dost, Dostana, Naseeb, Khilona, Kalicharan, Rakhta Charitra 2, Vishwanath, Shaan, Bombay to Goa,

                                                  Shatrughan Sinha's Best Dialogues

Danny Denzogpa

 His film career spans more than 4 decades.His best known villainous roles are in Dhund, 36 Ghante, Bandish (film)(1980), Jeeo Aur Jeene Do, Dharm Aur Qanoon and Agneepath and is remembered for his performances in positive roles such as in Fakira, Chor Machaye Shor, Devata (1978 film), Kalicharan, Bulundi and Adhikar (1986 film). He got his major break in Gulzar's Mere Apne (1971), where he had a positive role. His most applauded negative characters are in Bandish (film) (1980) as Kapil Kumar, Phir Wahi Raat as "Ashok", Dharm Aur Qanoon (1984), as SP "Karan", Kanoon Kya Karega (1984), as "Raghuvir Singh", Andar Baahar (1984), as "Shera", Oonche Log (1985), as "Thakur Maan Singh", Aandhi Toofan (1986), as "Balbir" Bhagwaan Dada (1986), as "Gangwaa", Agneepath (1990), as "Kancha Cheena", Hum (1991), as "Bakhtawar", Ghatak: Lethal, as "Kaatya", Krantiveer (1994), as "Chatur Singh", Pukar, (2000) as "Abhrush" and Indian, as "Shankar Singhania". He was pitted against Pran in the film Sanam Bewafa and 1942:A Love Story. 

Raaj Kumar & Danny Denzongpa Face Off - Hit Bollywood Movie Scene - Bulandia

Amrish Puri
 He is the most remembered for his role as Mogambo in Shekhar Kapur's Hindi film Mr. India (1987),. He was noticed in the 1980 super-hit movie Hum Paanch in which he played the main villain. After that, he started getting cast as the main villain in other movies. In 1982, Puri played the main villain, Jagavar Choudhary in the Subhash Ghai super-hit film Vidhaata. That same year, he again played the main villain, JK in the movie Shakti starring two legends- Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Next, in 1983, Subhash Ghai again cast him as the main villain, Pasha in the superhit movie Hero. Puri regularly featured in subsequent Subhash Ghai films.Before coming to films he was a voice over artist.He had a magnificent voice, as you or anybody who has heard him would know. His articulation was excellent.