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
Showing posts with label dada saheb phalke award. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dada saheb phalke award. Show all posts
Sachin Dev Burman had a great affinity for Dev Anand; so much so that the former used to say that his middle name Dev was for his favourite star, Dev Anand. Similarly, Dada had a great liking for Rafi. They together gave incredible music to the industry.”As far as the trio together is concerned, some of their memorable songs are from Nau Do Gyarah(1957), Kala Pani(1958), Bambai Ka Babu, Kala Bazar (1960), Tere Ghar Ke Samne(1963), Guide, Teen Deviyan (1965) and Jewel Thief 1967 Many would recall that Rafi started singing for SD Burman much earlier (1947 movie Do Bhai, for example, with the song: Duniya Mein Mere Aaj Andhera hi Andhera), for Dev Anand Rafi sang in CID 1955 Aankho Hi Aankhon Mein Ishara ho Gaya. but when this combination came together it created history. The first time Burman Da gave Mohammad Rafi a chance to give a voice to Dev Anand was Nau Do Gyarah, 1957 (written by Majrooh Sultanpuri), Aaja Panchhi Akela Hai, Soja Nindiya ki Bela Hai. How effortlessly now Rafi becomes the romantic voice of Dev Anand, as if declaring to earlier voices of Talat and Hemant that he had arrived. Remember the songs from Kala Pani " Hum Bekhudi Mein " and "Achha ji main haari chalo maan jao na" , the great hits of this trio after that many hilt song were created. Here are a few of these great songs.
Shyama was born as Khursheed Akhtar in Lahore on June 7, 1935. She made her debut as a teenager in a qawwali in Shaukat Hussain Rizvi’s Zeenat (1945). She was renamed Shyama by the filmmaker Vijay Bhatt, and appeared in numerous films in the 1940s and mid-’50s.She was the impish girl in dungarees in Aar Paar (1954) and the qawwali singer in Barsaat ki Raat(1960). She has been filmed in some wonderful songs in the 50s. An early song where Shyama first made an impact is the second version of the main love duet, ‘Tu Mera Chand Main Teri Chandni’, from A.R. Kardar’s Dillagi (1949) starring Suraiya and Shyam. The original version was filmed on the stars, but this version on Shyama voiced by Geeta Dutt is less known. There was magic whenever Geeta Dutt lent her voice for Shyama. This vibrant singer and exuberant actress complemented each other perfectly through several films be it Shrimatiji, Aar Paar, Musafir Khana (1955) or Chhoo Mantar (1956). But if one song truly stood out in their collaboration, it has to be the beautiful ditty from Bhai Bhai composed by Madan Mohan, Ae Dil Mujhe Bata De. Shyama also made a popular team with filmmaker M. Sadiq, comedian Johnny Walker and composer O.P. Nayyar in several films – Musafir Khana, Chhoo Mantar, Mai Baap (1957), Duniya Rang Rangeeli (1957) and Johnny Walker (1957). In the last, Walker played an alcoholic who pretends to abstain from alcohol making Shyama fall in love with him. The film had two lovely duets by Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt, filmed on Sheila Vaz and Shyama including the fabulous Thandi Thandi Hawa. Asha Bhosle, by now becoming Nayyar’s main singer, lends her voice for heroine Shyama. Shyama started her careerfrom the bottom of the ladder but soon worked with the Top Heroes Of Golden Era with Dev Anand in Sazaa 1951 , Tarana with Dilip Kumar ,Raj Kapoor in Sharda and with Guru Dutt in Aar Paar. She acted a serious character in Bimal Roy’s Maa with equal ease. Came Shart, another acting triumph of hers. Since then she played all sorts of roles in all sorts of pictures. Her notable films include Chandan, Sharda, Mirza Sahiban, Aar Paar etc. She topped her acting triumphs by her memorable double role in Do Behnen. Her work in Sharda brought her the 1959 Filmfare award for best supporting role. In later years, her memorable roles came in films of Rajesh Khanna such as Masterji and 'Ajanabee (1974 film) and others such as Sawan Bhadon and Dil Diya Dard Liya.She was married to cinematographer Fali Mistry in 1953. The couple had three children, two sons, Faroukh and Rohinton, and a daughter Shirrin. Fali Mistry died in 1979, thereafter she continued to stay in Mumbai. Shyama died on 14 November 2017 due to a lung infection at the age of 82. She is buried at Badakabarastan, Marine Lines.She was given Dada Saheb Phalke Award.
Prithviraj Kapoor( 3 November 1906;– 29 May 1972) started his career as an actor in the Silent era of Hindi cinema and starred in the first Talkie film Alam Ara.He acted as an extra in his first film, Do Dhari Talwar, though he went on to earn a lead role for his third film, titled Cinema Girl, in 1929.His performance in Vidyapati (1937) was much appreciated.His best-known performance is perhaps as Alexander the Great in Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Our generation know him for his performance in Mughal E Azam. He began his acting career in the theatres of Lyallpur and Peshawar. Later he shifted to Bombay.There he joined the Imperial Films Company. He also joined the Grant Anderson Theater Company, an English theatrical company that remained in Bombay for a year.Through all these years, Kapoor remained devoted to the theatre and performed on stage regularly. He developed a reputation as a very fine and versatile actor on both stage and screen. He established Prithvi Theatre in 1944 which staged memorable productions across India. The plays were highly influential and inspired young people to participate in the Indian independence movement and the Quit India Movement. In over 16 years of existence, the theatre staged some 2,662 performances. Prithviraj starred as the lead actor in every single show. One of his popular plays was called Pathan (1947), which was performed on stage nearly 600 times in Mumbai. It opened on 13 April 1947, and is a story of a Muslim and his Hindu friend. As he progressed into his 50s, he gradually ceased theatre activities and accepted occasional offers from film-makers, including his own sons. He appeared with his son Raj in the 1951 film Awara as a stern judge who had thrown his own wife out of his house. .His major films include V.Shantaram`s Dahej (1950), Raj Kapoor`s Awaara (1951), Aasmaan Mahal (1965), Teen Bahuraniyaan (1968), Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) and the Punjabi film Nanak Naam Jahaaz Hai (1969). He lost his voice while directing a film entitled Paisa, as a result Prithvi Theatre was closed and he even gave up films. He was also the patriarch of the Kapoor family, five generations of which have played active roles in Bollywood.Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor are his great grandchildren. He passed away on 29th May 1972. The government of India honored Prithviraj Kapoor with the Padma Bhushan in 1969. For his unparalleled contribution to Indian Cinema, he was posthumously awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971. Prithvi Theatre was later revived in his honor by his son, Shashi Kapoor.
Majrooh Sultanpuri was the most versatile lyricist in Hindi cinema.In a career spanning half a century, he is the only lyricist who wrote songs for heroes ranging from Saigal to Aamir Khan and leading ladies from Nargis to Madhuri Dixit. He could write any kind of lyrics tailor-made for the situation in the film. Be it the peppy “Hum hain rahi pyar ke” (Nau Doh Gyarah) or the nonsense lyrics of “C-A-T cat, cat maane billi” (Dilli Ka Thug) to “Aaj main upar aasman neeche” (Khamoshi – The Musical), Majrooh became the undisputed king of the “situational song.He got his first break as a lyricist in A R Kardar’s Shah Jahan in 1945, penning the last classic by K L Saigal “Jab dil hi toot gaya”. Majrooh Sultanpuri was born Asrar Hussain Khan in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the son of a police constable on October 1,1919. After studying Persian in Aligarh, He then joined Lucknow’s Takmeel-ut-Tib College of the Unani (Greek) System of Medicine. He was an established ‘Hakim’ when he happened to recite one of his ghazals at a mushaira in Sultanpur. The ghazal was extremely well received with the audience and Majrooh decided to drop his prosperous medical practice and begin writing poetry seriously. When he came to Bombay he got the break in 1946 film Shahajehan starring K L Saigal and the immortal song he wrote in that film was Jab Dil hi Toot Gaya..He subsequently did films like Natak (1947), Doli (1947) and Anjuman (1948) but his major breakthrough was Mehboob Khan’s immortal love triangle, Andaz (1949), with hit songs like Tu Kahe Agar, Jhoom Jhoom ke Naacho Aaj, Hum Aaj Kahin Dil Kho Baithe, Toote na Dil Toote na and Uthaye Ja Unke Situm. Majrooh Sultanpuri worked with all the top music directors of the day – Anil Biswas, Naushad, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Roshan and Laxmikant Pyarelal, his associations with SD Burman and later were with RD Burman stand out.In fact he introduced R D Burman to Nasir Hussain for Teesri Manzil. He was part of the formidable quartet of lyricists that ruled Hindi Cinema in the 1950s and early 60s, the others being Sahir Ludhianvi, Shakeel Badayuni and Shailendra. Majrooh Saab’s career, spanning over five decades, saw him writing wonderful lyrics for well over 300 films, many of them extremely successful at the box office.
Majrooh Saab was the first film lyricist to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his invaluable contribution to Indian Cinema. He has also been a recipient of the Iqbal Samman from the Madhya Pradhesh Government, the Sant Gyaneshwar Puraskar of the Maharashtra Government and an award from the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy for Ghazal, his collection of Urdu Ghazals. But perhaps the biggest injustice to his writing came from Filmfare which awarded him the Best Lyricist Award just once – for Dosti (1964)!He passed away in Mumbai on May 24, 2000. Among the last films he wrote for was the Shah Rukh Khan starrer One Two ka Four released after his death in 2001.
B R Chopra was one of the legendary figures of Bollywood, Bombay's film industry. Whether making musicals or dramatic, socially conscious films he combined quality film-making with an ability to cater to popular taste.The first film he produced flopped, he turned to direction. He persuaded one of the most natural actors of the day, Ashok Kumar, to star in his film Afsana (1951), which was a hit. In 1955 he founded his own production house, BR Films. His first film under his own banner, Ek hi Raasta, took on the issue of widow remarriage.His later films dealt with subjects such as the after-effects of partition and the rights of Muslim women.He became a champion of making Social Movies. B R Chopra was later became a master of the art of storytelling.Some of his best known films are Naya Daur (1957), Sadhna (1958), Kanoon (1961), Gumrah (1963), Humraaz (1967), Awam (1987) Baldev Raj Chopra (22 April 1914 – 5 November 2008) made the great TV Serial Mahabharat which was one of the most successful TV serials in Indian television history. He directed successful film across genres after 1972, with films like suspense thriller Dhund, comedy film Pati Patni Aur Woh, crime film in Insaaf Ka Tarazu, Muslim social in Nikaah and the political thriller Awam,he also made Dastan in 1972 with Dilip Kumar which was not successful. He died in Mumbai at the age of 94 on 5 November 2008.He was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1998. His younger brother Yash Chopra, son Ravi Chopra and nephew Aditya Chopra are also directors in the Bollywood industry.
Banga Bibhushan is a highest award instituted by the West Bengal Government to honour the services of personalities in various fields.Suchitra Sen is the first actress who received this in 2012.In 2005, she refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest cinematic award in India, to stay out of the public eye.She retired from the screen in 1978 after a career of over 25 years to a life of quiet seclusion.She assiduously avoided the public gaze after her retirement and devoted her time to the Ramakrishna Mission.She died at 8.25 am on 17 January 2014, due to a heart attack. In this Blog I have selected some of her songs from very limited Hindi Films she acted. Devdas-Her First Hindi language film Based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's famous novel "Devdas"
Shashi Kapoor’s real romance with wife Kendal, an English actor, remains one of Bollywood’d most enduring love stories.He was considered a great romantic hero next to Dev Anand. Though his brother Shammi Kapoor too considered as a great romantic hero of the 60s but he was one of the first leading men in Bollywood to romance his leading ladies in spectacular backdrops like Shimla and Kashmir. Some of his most popular romantic songs were shot at marvelous locations which sprung to life with his stellar performances and unmatched charm.The first film which made him the successful romantic hero image was Jab Jab Phool Khile starring Nanda. Following that they worked together in many films.
Though he did the grinning, romantic-hero parts very well, he showed an unexpected flair for comedy, and had a reassuring integrity in serious, dramatic scenes, he could seem a bit one-dimensional in commercial films. He was also the first actor to work in Western films, starring in several Merchant Ivory productions, a company run by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory; the outings included The Householder (1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1982) in which he co-starred with his wife Jennifer Kendal, The Deceivers (1988) and Side Streets (1998).
He set up Prithvi Theatre, he also set up his own production house, Film Valas, which produced critically acclaimed films such as Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1981), 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982) and Utsav (1984), much later, in 1991 he directed his first Hindi film, a fantasy titled Ajooba which had his co-star Bachchan and nephew Rishi Kapoor in the lead. Kapoor was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2011 and the Dadasaheb Phalke award in 2015. He died on December 4, 2017 at the age of 79 .He is survived by two sons, Kunal and Karan, and a daughter, Sanjana, who takes care of the Prithvi Theatre.
It is said that when Tagore heard Mullick sing one of his verses `Diner Sheshey Ghumer Deshey`, the `bard` hugged him and told him that he was free to set tune to those writings of his which he would not be able to accomplish during his lifetime. The credit of taking Tagore’s songs and music, which have come to be known as 'Rabindra Sangeet', to the masses goes to 'Mukti'. The unprecedented popularity of Kanan Devi & Pankaj Mullick songs in 'Mukti' played a major role in creating a mass appeal for this kind of songs which were hitherto unknown. Pankaj Mallik was born on 10th May 1905 in Calcutta. He started his early training in Indian classical music under the tutelage of Durgadas Bandopadhaya. An important turning point in his life came when, after finishing his studies, he came in contact with Dinendranath Tagore, who was Rabindranath Tagore's great-nephew. This led to Pankaj Mullick's lasting interest in Rabindra Sangeet. Rabindranath Tagore, in turn, grew fond of him, and soon Mullick became known as one of the leading exponents of Tagore's songs. He started his career with the Indian Broadcasting Corporation in Calcutta in 1927, the forerunner of All India Radio (AIR), along with composer R. C. Boral, where he contributed as a music director and artist for nearly fifty years. Along with RC Boral, Pankaj Mullick helped New Theatres dominate the film industry in the 1930s. They worked together on a few films and one of the best examples of their combined brilliance was President. He was a man of many talents. Other than composing music, he played the lead role in afew films and was an excellent singer. Undeniably, though, the highlights of his career werethe songs he composed for KL Saigal.The two legendary songs in Zindagi were the musical opposites of each other. In ‘Main Kya Janoon Kya Jadoo Hai’and ‘So Ja Rajkumari’, on the other hand, was slow and sonorous. Pankaj Mullick innovated not only the Tonga rhythm, but was also the first to breathe the locomotive breath into a Hindi film song. Amazingly, he did both in the same film, Doctor. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1970, followed by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (India's highest award in cinema, given by the Government of India) in 1972 for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.He died on 19th Feb 1978.
Here is my pick of Ten Pankaj Mullick songs that bring out the essence of his talent.
