Shashi Kapoor - The Man who made many Meaningful Films not Money

Shashi Kapoor spent all his earnings from commercial potboilers in producing memorable films like “Junoon”, “Kalyug”, “Vijeta”  " Utsav" and  “36 Chowringhee Lane”. under his banner Filmvalas. All of these films were critically acclaimed but were commercially unsuccessful. The last film under this Banner was Ajooba starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor was a disaster.
Shashi Kapoor and his wife, Jennifer Kendal, wanted to make accessible arthouse films. They decided to start their own banner, The name was inspired by “Shakespeare Wallah", the title given to Shashi Kapoor’s father-law Geoffrey Kendal. The first film under their banner Film Valas was "Junoon" released in 1978. The film was directed by Shyam Benegal. The film is based on Ruskin Bond's fictional novella, A Flight of Pigeons, set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vanraj Bhatia and cinematography by Govind Nihalani. The film was critically acclaimed and got many Awards. Won National Film Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography and Best Audiography. The film was an average in Box office. Junoon cost ₹34-odd lakh. It was a happy experience even though he didn’t make any money on it. Junoon eventually covered its investment. It would have even made a profit had he been a good businessman.
After Junoon came Kalyug and 36 Chowringhee Lane both released in 1981. Aparna (Sen) came to him with the story. He loved the script, and he wanted Shyam Benegal to direct it, but she said she was going to direct the film. That was a suicidal film—it was in English, made for between ₹ 18-24 lakh. (Its) cinematographer Ashok Mehta wasn’t cheap to work with. Vanraj Bhatia gave the music—whatever was state-of-the-art had to be used. He never compromised with the budget.
Kalyug was released on 24th July 1981. It was known as a modern-day version of the Indian epic Mahabharat, depicting an archetypal conflict between rival business houses. Kalyug went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Film in 1982. The film was not a flop but recovered its cost.
Vijeta was the next film of this banner but Utsav was also planned simultaneously. Girish Karnad had written a great script. Shashi wanted Amitabh (Bachchan) to play the part he eventually played. But Amitabh couldn’t do the role. The movie got postponed because of dates. In January 81, Shashi went to Delhi for a film festival, where he met Dilbagh Singh, chief of air staff of the Indian Air Force. The Air Force was celebrating its golden jubilee. Dilbagh Singh said I will give you whatever you want to make a film promoting the Air Force. Govind (Nihalani) too wanted to do something on the Air Force. Vijeta happened overnight. The shooting started in April. The Air Force provided the facilities, but Shashi paid for the film. The film was once again an average earner. It got Filmfare award for Best Cinematographer, Best Editing and best sound recording.
Utsav released in 1984 started on a disastrous note. A set near Udupi in Karnataka was blown off in a cyclone. The income-tax department raided Rekha on the first day of the shoot. It cost ₹2 crore, though it was originally supposed to be about ₹ 1.2 crores. Utsav also had an English version, so there were two takes of everything. Shashi dubbed the film in London. His wife was in a hospital at the time (Jennifer Kendal was suffering from cancer, and died in London in 1984).
Shashi Kapoor was financially wiped out by Utsav. Instead of filling his coffers, it worked him into a completely negative zone. He was in debt, he now wanted to make a commercial film to wipe out his debts. He started Ajooba with Amitabh and Rishi Kapoor this time he directed the film. The film was made in Russian also. This film was produced in association with Gorky Film Studio in Moscow. There are several Russian stars whose speech is not in sync with Hindi dialogues. Supposedly Amitabh Bachchan worked in this film gratis, as a favour to his longtime collaborator and friend Shashi Kapoor. The film had a budget of ₹80 million, which was amongst the highest at the time.
In India, the film flopped at the box office, despite managing to do a net business of ₹45 million. Later, by selling the satellite rights Shashi Kapoor able to recover all his investment and subsequently it became an earner as of today. In contrast, the film was a financial success in the Soviet Union, where it was released in two parts. It was the last successful collaboration between the Indian and Soviet film industries.
Shashi Kapoor's son Kunal Kapoor said in an interview "Ajooba wasn’t and isn’t a good film. We didn’t let him make another one after that. We were so much in debt. Sanjna (Kunal Kapoor’s sister) was still a child. Karan (his brother) and I were supporting the house. I started making commercials. We are all bad businessmen. We are brilliant at spending money".

Song of Junoon 1978

Song of Kalyug 1981

Song of Vijeta 1982

Song of Utsav 1984

Song of Ajooba 1991

How the film Hare Rama Hare Krishna was Concieved ?

Hare Rama Hare Krishna is a 1971 Indian film directed by Dev Anand starring himself, Mumtaz and Zeenat Aman. The film was a hit and a star-making vehicle for Zeenat Aman, who played a westernized hippie and won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, The movie dealt with the decadence of the Hippie culture. 
The story for Hare Rama Hare Krishna actually came to Dev Anand's mind when he was in Kathmandu Nepal on a visit after protests against his previous film Prem Pujari in Calcutta. He was low in spirits because his film had been opposed and some communists had burnt Prem Pujari's posters.
Those days society was undergoing changes, the churning encompassing all, rich and poor, old and youth, boys and girls. The hippie culture had made inroads and the drug culture had grown into a huge menace. In Nepal, many such young people from all over the world used to come as drugs were easily available there.
The story idea was born out of a chance encounter Dev Anand had with an Indian girl puffing a Chilam. She was born in Canada whose name was Janice, the original name was Jasbeer Kaur. She was among a group of young foreigners.  She narrated her story, which laid the foundation for the making of HRHK, a subject that he described in his autobiography as a “movie that represents a new world phenomenon, the young, reckless people.” Young and reckless was how the jean-clad and pot-smoking youth had come to be signified in a still-growing but conservative Indian society.
The most compelling of all characters in the film was, obviously, Janice/Jasbir, certainly, because someone like her had not been too commonly seen on Indian screens. At a time when actresses were either gold-hearted or vamps, Janice was a refreshing change. It’s difficult to think of too many women characters before Janice that asked the audience to ‘Dum Maro Dum’ (Smoke up).
Dev Anand was keen that Mumtaz played his sister’s role in HRHK but she declined, preferring the romantic lady. Mumtaz did not want to play the role of Dev Anand's sister and insisted she play the role opposite Dev Anand. Everyone kept telling her that the film was about a brother and sister. Zeenat ended up with the better role causing Mumtaz to be bitter.
His first meeting with Zeenat, at a party hosted by filmmaker Amarjeet, was momentous. As Zeenat smoked and displayed a “devil-may-care attitude” in the presence of Dev Saab, he was convinced she would be his “sister”. Dev auditioned Zeenat Aman for the role and the rest is history. A star was born as Zeenat slipped into the role with the finesse of a seasoned actor.

 Dev Anand wrote in his biography, Zeenat was comfortable in the company of the “real” hippies, who played their role so well in different shots in HRHK, living their self when swinging and dancing, with Zeenat as the cheerleader.
Dev Anand wanted his children Suneil and Devina to play the younger roles of Prashant and Janice. They were too shy and told their father they were not going to do that.
One interesting thing is that the title Hare Rama Hare Krishna was patented by Manoj Kumar, Dev Saab wanted this title only, so Manoj Kumar gave him. Another interesting thing for the readers is that Usha Uthup was to sing the song Dum Maaro Dum but lost it due to political reasons. She ended up singing in the chorus.
This film was the second film Dev Anand had directed and it was a big hit and 48 years now since released and the film still is wanted forever. It's an evergreen movie.

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Manmohan Desai - The Film Maker that Ruled the Box Office

Manmohan Desai, the Ace Director could achieve the impossible with confidence. The man who firmly believed in the “Lost and Found” formula left behind an indelible mark in Bollywood film history, with films that spun magic with great music, top order performances and thoroughly enjoyable storylines that worked even with a touch of incredulity.
He started his career with a love story Chhalia but he is known for the action-packed multi-starrers such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb, Suhaag, Parvarish, Coolie, Mard, Desh Premee and Dharam Veer. 
His association with Amitabh Bachchan became legendary. the duo delivered a string of hits – Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Suhaag, Naseeb, Desh Premee, Coolie and Mard, with only their last film together Ganga Jamuna Saraswati failing at the box-office.
 Out of the 20 films that Desai directed in his career span of 29 years (1960–1989), as many as 13 films were stupendous hits, a remarkable success ratio for an industry where box-office disasters abound despite huge budgets and star casts.
Apart from Bachchan, Manmohan Desai worked with other leading male stars such as Raj Kapoor in the 1960 film Chhalia, Shammi Kapoor in "Bluffmaster" (1963), Rajesh Khanna in Sachaa Jhutha (1970) and Roti (1974), Randhir Kapoor in Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972), Shashi Kapoor in Aa Gale Lag Jaa, Dharmendra in Dharam Veer (1977). 1977 was an exceptional year for him. All four of his films released that year were huge hits: Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chacha Bhatija and Dharam Veer. 
As an acknowledgement of Desai's goodwill and his box-office supremacy, stars from Raj Kapoor to Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra made a special appearance in the Desai-directed Naseeb.
Manmohan Desai met his tragic end on March 1st 1994. The man behind megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s career in Bollywood fell to his death from the balcony of his flat when it collapsed. It remains unclear if this was an accident or suicide. Many say he took his life as he could not cope up with failing health and declining career( His last 2 films with Amitabh Bachchan flopped badly).
Beside Hit films he also gave great songs in his films.

Song of Chhalia 1960

Song of Bluff Master 1963

Song of Kismat 1968

Song of Sachaa Jhutha 1970

Song of Raampur Ka Lakshman 1972

Song of Roti 1974

Song of Parvarish 1977

Song of Dharam Veer 1977

Song of  Amar Akbar Anthony 1977

Song of  Naseeb 1981

I S Johar - A Versatile Bollywood Personality

I S Johar(16Feb 1920- 10 March 1984) was an enigmatic, unique and idiosyncratic individual. He was a well-known Indian actor, writer, producer and director of his time. He was famous for putting his name in the title of his movies; like in movies Mera Naam Johar, Johar in Kashmir, Johar in Bombay,Johar Mehmood in Goa and Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong. He also worked in a few top Hollywood films like Laurance Of Arabia, HARRY BLACK AND THE TIGER, Death on Nile (1978),
The noted Indian film director Yash Chopra started his film career as an assistant director under I. S. Johar. He will also be remembered for his triple role in Johny Mera Naam.

He was born on 16 February 1920, in Talagang (Now in Pakistan), British India. He completed MA degree in Economics and Politics before completing his LLB. In 1947, during the Partition crisis, Johar was visiting Patiala with his family for a wedding, when riots broke out back home in Lahore. He could never go back, and thereafter he worked in Jalandhar for a while, and his family remained in Delhi before he eventually moved to Bombay, where he made his acting debut with Roop K Shorey's, Ek Thi Ladki (1949).
He also wrote and directed films, including the partition-based Hindi movie Nastik (1954), Johar Mehmood in Goa and Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong, in which he co-starred with comedian Mehmood.
In 1963 he starred as "Gopal" in two Italian films directed by Mario Camerini: Kali Yug, la dea della vendetta (Kali Yug, Goddess of vengeance) and Il Mistero del tempio indiano (The secret of the Hindu temple).His film Nasbandi (Vasectomy) was a spoof on Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's failed policy of population control by coerced vasectomies during the period of Emergency and was "banned" when it was first released. 
He also made a film Joi Bangla Desh immediately after the formation of Bangla Desh. After that, he made 5 Rifles in 1974 in which he took 5 duplicate actors of popular actors such as Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna and Shashi Kapoor.

Gasim in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 

He was a comedian of a different style, some of his significant films are Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956), Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959),  Bewaqoof (1960), April Fool (1964), Shagird (1967), Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar (1973)and Banarsi Babu 1973.
He got Filmfare Best Comedian Award for his Triple roles in Johny Mera Naam.
He died in Bombay, on 10 March 1984

Song of Johar Mehmood in Goa

Song of Johar Mehmood in Goa

Song of Shagird

Song of Johar Mehmood in Kashmir

Song of Nasbandi

Pakeezah was the Taj Mahal for Kamal Amrohi

Throughout his career, Kamal Amrohi directed only 4 films. Mahal in 1949, Dayera 1953, Pakeezah 1972 and Razia Sultan in 1983. Pakeeza was the dream project of his life. He was in deep love with his third wife Meena Kumari. He met Meena Kumari during the filming of Tamasha. Veteran actor Ashok Kumar introduced them. They fell in love and married on 14 February 1952, on Valentine's Day in a much private ceremony. He wanted to present Meena Kumari on the screen as no one had done before: beautiful, sad, sanguine, dejected, calculating, sexy, he ambitioned to capture as many dimensions of her as he knew of. ‘Shah Jahan made Taj Mahal for his wife, on that grand scale he wanted to present Meena Kumari on celluloid. 
The immortal singer K. L. Saigal discovered Kamal Amrohi and took him to Bombay to work for Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone film company, where he started his career working on films like Jailor (1938), Pukar (1939), Bharosa (1940), A. R. Kardar's film (Shahjehan 1946). He made his debut as a director in 1949, with Mahal, starring Madhubala and Ashok Kumar, which was a musical hit, with songs by Lata Mangeshkar and Rajkumari Dubey.
He wrote scripts for the movies made by Sohrab Modi, Abdul Rashid Kardar and K. Asif. He was one of the four dialogue writers for the latter's famous 1960 movie, Mughal-e-Azam, for which he won the Filmfare Award.
"Dayera" was produced and directed by Kamal Amrohi released in 1953 starring Ashok Kumar and Meena Kumari. The film was a musical hit but not a commercial hit. After the failure of Daera, Pakeezah as an idea was roaming in Amrohi’s mind. The concept, he says, was irretrievably fixed with his love for his wife. He hoped to create a film which would be worthy of her as an actress, and worthy of the love he felt for her as a woman. Thus the creation had only one central character and around the fortunes of this character, the fate of the film revolved.

The mahurat of Pakeezah was done on 18 January 1958. Initially, it was launched as a Black & White venture. Later, with colour technology coming in, Kamal Amrohi started it all again in the new colour format. But soon after that, when Cinemascope also got introduced, Amrohi now wanted to shoot it in Cinemascope. So he brought the required lens from MGM on a royalty basis and started shooting. However, after a while, an error was detected in the shoot being done with the new lens. The matter was reported to MGM, who after studying the problem, didn’t collect their due royalties and also gifted that lens to Amrohi as an appreciation gesture. The film was still being made, when in 1964, Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari got separated due to their mutual differences. The project came to a halt for some time when it was more than halfway complete.
Even after separation, Kamal Amrohi persuaded Meena Kumari to complete the film but Meena Kumari told him that she will work only he give her the legal divorce.It took five years for the shooting to resume in 1969 after Sunil Dutt and Nargis persuaded Meena Kumari to complete the film. By this time Meena Kumari has diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and was in serious critical condition under observation.  

 Kamal Amrohi organized a great reception on 16 March 1969, he gave his wife a peda (sweet) as a peace offering and made a documentary film on her arrival at the studio. Meena Kumari was determined to complete the film and, was well aware of the limited time left for her to live, went out of her way to complete it at the earliest.Her condition became so bad that during the filming of the last song “Teer-e Nazar,” she collapsed. A body double, Padma Khanna, was used who was personally trained by her for the scene. Throughout the song, Padma Khanna's face remained veiled and the veil was lifted at instances to show Meena Kumari's face.

When the project got resumed in 1969, Amrohi was confronted with another difficulty; Ashok Kumar, who was the original hero getting no younger. He had to find a younger leading man for his film. Many names were thought at that time, it was Raj Kumar who fina;;y did the role.
After finalizing Raaj Kumar, the role was modified from being a businessman’s character to a forest officer according to the strong built & impressive persona of Raaj Kumar. During the making of the film, composer Ghulam Mohammed and cinematographer Josef Wirsching died, leaving director Kamal Amrohi at a loss. Eventually, though, composer Naushad was brought in to compose the background score; and after Wirsching's death, over a dozen of Bombay's top cinematographers stepped in as/when they had a break from their other assignments, and they maintained an even look.
When Pakeezah was resumed in 1969, many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi to change the music according to the then famous trend and style. To this, Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still breathing alive. But, now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his unexpected and untimely death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing times.
Kamal Amrohi saw in Pakeezah an epic, a larger-than-life film with hundreds of extras, with expensive and exotic sets, with the superhuman effort made to preserve period flavour; and all this he wished to do with the collected professional proficiency he had acquired in nearly two decades.

On 3 February 1972 the film released with a grand premiere at Maratha Mandir theatre in central Mumbai and the prints being carried on a decked-up palanquin.  Meena Kumari arrived to attend the last premiere of her life. Kumari let Raaj Kumar, for the benefit of the press, kiss her hand and went in to see the film.^[Meena Kumari was seated next to Kamal Amrohi during the premiere. When Mohammed Zahur Khayyam complimented Meena Kumari with "shahkar ban gaya" (it's priceless), she was in tears. After watching the film, Meena Kumari told a friend that she was convinced that her husband Kamal Amrohi was the finest film-maker in India. Kumari regarded the film as Kamal Amrohi's tribute to her.
The film finally released for the general masses the following day on 4th Feb 1972. The film received a warm reception from the audience, it was Meena Kumari's untimely death on 31 March 1972 which acted as an ultimate push and made it one of the top grossers of that year. Pakeezah was house-full for 33 weeks and even celebrated its silver jubilee. Meena Kumari's performance as a golden-hearted Lucknow nautch girl drew major praise and the film is since then considered a classic cult film and has a status much similar to K. Asif's 1960 magnum opus, Mughal-E-Azam.

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Song of Pakeezah 1972

Ramesh Sippy - Always wanted to do Big

Ramesh Sippy, the director of Sholay is the son of the great producer and filmmaker G P Sippy. His head was full of ideas. He desperately wanted to do something different.He was 6 years old when he visited the sets of the film Sazaa, his father's first film, Since then his fascination for cinema begun.
He worked in both the production and direction departments in films like Johar-Mehmood in Goa and Mere Sanam, which his father was producing. He worked for 7 years as an assistant before becoming the director of Andaz, in 1971 which starred Shammi Kapoor, Hema Malini and Rajesh Khanna in lead roles and was a box office success.

 His second film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), featuring Hema Malini playing dual roles was highly successful and propelled Malini to superstardom. However, it was his 1975 blockbuster film, Sholay's blockbuster success which catapulted him to one of the most successful directors in Indian cinema.

After the Sholay, Ramesh went on to Direct "Shaan" in 1980 and this time also Film was with stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Sunil Datt, Shatrughan Sinha, Bindya Goswami and Parveen Bobi but like the Sholay's Gabbar Singh highlight of the Film was the "Shakal" a villain role played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda. "Shaan" proved a milestone film for Mazhar Khan for his role of "Abdul" in the film but this film has also established Ramesh Sippy as the Director of Star.

His next film was Shakti in 1982, he brought two most popular stars and actors in his Film, the veteran actor Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. The film was moderately successful at the box office. After that, he went on to bring back the teenage silver screen romance of Rishi Kapoor & Dimple Kapadia [Debut Film Bobby] in the Film "Sagar" released in 1985 and looked at the comeback Film of Dimple.
The filmmaker is also responsible for giving Indian television one of its all-time classics in the form of Buniyaad (1986). Made roughly a decade after Sholay, it was a TV series that revolved around the Partition of India in 1947 and its consequences. 

Vijay Anand - Master of Picturising Songs

Like Dev Anand, Vijay Anand also believed that songs are the soul of Indian films.  He knew songs are the glue that binds audiences to Hindi films. Close your eyes and you can see Shammi Kapoor with a scarf around his neck, singing “Deewana Mujhsa Nahin” on a colourful hilltop, or instantly recall the smiling faces of Dev Anand and Nutan as they sing “Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukaar” on the inner stairway of the Qutab Minar.
 Few could rival his abilities when it came to writing natural and easy-flowing dialogue or picturising songs. Most directors depended on choreographers to picturise the songs and dances. He believed that if the song is picturised well it will bring back the audience back to the theatre. In this blog, we will look into some of his fantastically picturised songs.
 “Hum hain raahi pyaar ke hum se kuchh na boliye.”  from Nau Do Gyarha was the first song he picturised. He didn't take any choreographer in that film. At that time he used to think a choreographer ruins songs. They interfere with the characterisation. He felt they impose their own personalities through their dance steps and don’t allow the artists to express themselves in the way they should.
He used to say that if the director understands his subject, story and characters well, he will not compromise in any aspect. If he is working on a film like Devdas then he has to have songs for Devdas, not for Shammi Kapoor.
As a director, he was very particular about its music. When he was working on Jewel Thief, he discussed with the composer. he told SD Burman: “Dada, this song is for Vyjayanthimala. I am going to use her talents as a dancer.”
In Teesri Manzil P L Raj was the choreographer. He used to sit with the choreographer when they were composing the songs. That time all their assistants, including Saroj Khan, who was Sohanlal’s assistant. She would always ask him: “Goldie Saab, what do you want?”
Sometimes he would tell them they were going off track. This is not the character. I did not want any artificiality. My characters should not become artificial when they sing. The characters are not supposed to be dancers in the film. They are merely expressing emotion through a song. 
He told in an interview that during the picturisation of Teesri Manzil's songs he told Shammi to Go wild!” He would because he had such a tremendous sense of rhythm. He just got into the music and every fibre of his body would dance. The only thing you had to make sure was that he did not overdo it. OK, the character is fooling about—this much is allowed, but not beyond that. All the expressions are in the song words: “Dekhiye… naazneen…” It’s all there, so you don’t have to do much more.
In the Kala Bazar song “Khoya Khoya Chand”, Dev sings as he runs down the hill. He is madly in love and believes his dream is coming true. So let him move his hands— white hands against dark clothes—[as] he makes his way down the hill. It suited the scene, so once in a while, you let him go.
In the same movie, there was a scene in a train compartment. Dev Anand is sitting on the lower berth and Waheeda Rehman is lying on the upper berth. The girl’s parents are also in the compartment. Dev saab sings the song: “Apni to har aah ek toofaan hai/ Kya karen woh jaan kar anjaan hai/ Uparwala jaan kar anjaan hai.” Waheeda Rehman is listening to him but she cannot move much because she’s lying on the upper berth. There is a double meaning behind the whole situation, which is beyond choreography.

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Johny Mera Naam 1970

Song of Black Mail 1973