Shabana Azmi - An Actress Par Excellence

Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) made her big-screen debut with Shyam Benegal’s first film Ankur in 1974. With this film started a trend of Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema in Bollywood. The film went on to become a major critical success, and Shabana Azmi won her first National Film Award for Best Actress for this film. The very next film of her was Dev Anand's Ishk Ishk Ishk in which she had a small role but in the next year in 1975 she appeared in Nishant which was again an Art film, her acting was appreciated in this film.

Since then she appeared in both commercial cinema as well as Art cinema. She has acted in more than one hundred Hindi films. Real-life portrayals continued in almost all of her movies. Shyam Benegal's Nishant (1975), Junoon (1978), Susman (1986), and Antarnaad (1992); Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari (The Chess Players); Mrinal Sen's Khandhar, Genesis, Ek Din Achanak; Saeed Mirza's Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai; Sai Paranjpye's Sparsh and Disha; Gautam Ghose's Paar; Aparna Sen's Picnic and Sati; Mahesh Bhatt's Arth; and Vinay Shukla's Godmother are some of her notable films. 

Shabana Azmi ruled Indian 'Parallel Cinema' for 30-years. She hit her peak during the ’80s, wowing the audience with memorable performances in Sparsh (1980), Arth (1982), Masoom (1983) and Mandi (1983), playing difficult characters with consummate ease.

She has been a committed social activist, active in supporting child survival and fighting AIDS and injustice in real life Azmi has voiced her opinion on a variety of issues. Initially, her activism drew skepticism and was dubbed by some as a publicity gimmick. However, she proved her critics wrong and used her celebrity status to emerge as a high-profile social activist.

 Since 1989, she has been a member of the National Integration Council headed by the Prime Minister of India; a member of National AIDS Commission (of India); and was nominated (in 1997) as a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. In 1998, the United Nations Population Fund appointed her as its Goodwill Ambassador for India.

 In appreciation of Shabana Azmi's life and works, the President of India gave her a nominated (unelected) membership of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.

She is the daughter of great poet Kaifi Azmi and married to Javed Akhtar who is also a great name in Bollywood.

Some of the songs from Shabana's Films

Song of Fakira 1976

Song of Amar Akbar Anthony 1977

Song of Parvarish 1977

Song of Swami 1977

Song of Thodi Si Bewafai 1980

Song of Arth 1982

Song of Masoom 1983

Leena Chandavarkar- Yeh Jo Chilman Hai

Today we know her the 4th wife of Kishore Kumar, once a successful actress of the 70s. She made her debut in Man Ka Meet for Sunil Dutt, and it was his wife Nargis who groomed her to be an actress. Between 1969 and 1979, Leena acted in many films. She was cast opposite many of popular heroes of that era. She gave one of her best performances in Mehboob Ki Mehndi with Rajesh Khanna in 1971.
She was one of the two heroines of Dilip Kumar in Bairag,she  was a heroine for Raj Kumar in Dil Ka Raja,she was heroine of Shammi Kapoor in Jaan Pehchaan,  she was heroine of Dharmendra and Jetendra.
In an interview she said Kishoreji wanted to do a film with me. He had written three scripts for me and he kept meeting me on the pretext of narrating the script and chat with me for hours. One fine day, he proposed to me.

I refused immediately but he didn’t say a word and said he wanted to narrate a script. I refused to meet him. But finally, I signed his film Pyaar Ajnabee and my friendship with Kishoreji deepened.

When I told my parents about my decision to marry him, they were very angry. They had heard stories about him and were concerned. When I called up Kishoreji, the first thing he asked me was whether my parents had consented. I said they hadn’t and had instead left for Dharwad. He was delighted and said, “Well, now I am free to marry you.” Then he said, “Let’s go to Dharwad and take your parents’ permission.”

I was sure my parents would never agree. But when we reached Dharwad, my mother and brother greeted him with so much warmth. He later asked for a mat and a harmonium. He sat down to sing songs to please my father but my father did not relent. His last song was Nafrat karne walon ke seene mein pyaar bhar do. My father came around and hugged him and said, “Your voice has touched my heart and I am sure you will keep my daughter happy.”

After Kishore's death in 1987, she continues to live with her singer-actor step-son, Amit Kumar, and has even written lyrics for his music album.

Songs of Leena Chandavarkar 

Song of Man Ka Meet 1969

Song of HumJolie 1970

Song of Mehboob Ki Mehndi  1971

Song of Jaane Anjane 1971

Song of Dil Ka Raja 1972

Song of Manchali 1973

Song of Bidaii 1974

Song of Bairag 1976

Suraiya- The Top Singing Actress after Independence

She had great looks, natural expressions and a sweet soothing voice. She was the heart-throb of the nation in the 40s and early 50s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Suraiya acted in about 65 films and sang close to 350 songs. She lived like a star all her life.
She had a natural talent for singing, acting and dancing from childhood. She received basic training in music, when her mother used to take her to Hindustani music teacher or 'masterji' for training.Her first song as a child-singer was "Boot karun main polish babu" (as a playback singer) in the film Nai Duniya (1942), composed by Naushad. Suraiya sang as a child playback singer for actress Mehtab in Sharda (1942), Kanoon (1943) and Sanjog (1943).She made her debut as a child artist in Madam Fashion in 1936 as Miss Suraiya, along with Nargis as Baby Rani. The film was directed by Jaddan Bai, mother of Nargis, with Jaddan Bai herself as heroine,
As a child artist, she acted and also sang in Tamanna (1942), Station Master (1942), and Hamari Baat (1943). As an adult, Suraiya initially played as a heroine in K. Asif's Phool as Shama, with Prithviraj Kapoor as hero,and as a co-star in Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946), (which was written by Aghajani Kashmeri, also known as Kashmiri) and Dard (1947).

She played the leading role with almost every famous star of her time and also sang with the leading playback singers like Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mehmood and Mukesh.

The most striking and much-publicised episode of Suraiya’s life was her romance with the upcoming young actor Dev Anand in the early 1950s. It was then the ‘talk of the town’, the very stuff legends are made of. She was Dev Anand’s heroine in seven films which had moderate success . 

The two did seven films together — Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar(1950), Nili (1950), Do Sitare (1951) and Sanam (1951). They never met after the last meeting and did not work together any more in spite of all of their films were hit.

She chose to remain unmarried throughout her life and died a lonely woman on 31st January 2004. Here are few songs from their films starring together

Song of Vidya 1948

Song of Shair (1949)

Song of Jeet (1949)

Song of Nili (1950)

Song of Sanam (1951)

Nutan - The Heroine, not allowed to see her own film in a theatre

You will be surprised to know that Nutan who was the heroine of the film Nagina released in 1951 was not allowed to see her own film in Cinema Hall.  The hero of the film was Nasir Khan, the younger brother of Dilip Kumar.
 Interestingly, her first hit film Nagina (1951) was given an “A” certificate; she couldn’t see her own film as she wasn’t an adult!. She was only 15 at the time of release. Nutan started her career at the age of 14 in the 1950 film Hamari Beti, directed by her mother. 

Nutan-with-her-mother-and-younger-sisters-Tanuja-and-Chatura.

She worked in a few films until got adult. In fact, her mother sent her to Switzerland for further studies in 1953. She lived there for one year and came back. She was offered to play a challenging role of heroine opposite Balraj Sahni in Seema released in 1955. This role won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award.
She followed her success with a romantic comedy, Paying Guest,(1957) in which she co-starred with Dev Anand. After that in 1959, she acted opposite Raj Kapoor in Anari. This film was also a hit and brought her among top heroines of that time. In 1960, she starred opposite Raj Kapoor once again in Manmohan Desai's Chhalia. She received another Filmfare nomination for the role.
She formed a popular screen couple with co-star Dev Anand and the two acted in four films together – Paying Guest (1957), Baarish(1957), Manzil (1960) and Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963).

In 1963, Nutan starred in Bimal Roy's socio-realist Bandini as Kalyani, a young prisoner who was convicted after poisoning the wife of her lover (Ashok Kumar). Bandini was a major critical success, which was attributed by critics mostly to Nutan's portrayal, which is regarded as one of the finest performances in the history of Indian cinema. The film won the Filmfare Award for Best Movie and she received her third Best Actress Award. 
Her fourth Filmfare Award came for Milan (1967) starring with Sunil Dutt with whom she worked earlier in Sujata. She got her fifth Filmfare best actress award, at the age of 42 for the film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). 
In the  1980s, she played roles in blockbuster films such as Meri Jung (1985), Naam (1986) and Karma (1986). Karma was notable for being the first time she was paired with actor Dilip Kumar. For Mere Jung, she won a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her last film released while she was alive was Kanoon Apna Apna in 1989. She died in 1991 of cancer.

Song of Hamari Beti 1950

Song of Nagina 1951

Song of Seema 1955

Song of Paying Guest 1957

Song of Anari 1958

Song of Sujata, 1959

Song of Chhalia 1960

Song of Chhabili 1960 Nutan sings in her own voice

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne, 1963

Song of Bandini 1963

Song of Milan1967

Song of Saudagar(1973).

Ameeta - A Forgotten Actress

She was the heroine of 1957 hit film Tumsa Nahin Dekha which made Shammi Kapoor a Star but the luck did not favour Ameeta.In 1959 Goonj Uthi Shahnai, her another big hit film as heroine released. Rajendra Kumar was the hero.  Here despite a mature and sensitive performance, Ameeta was overlooked and Kumar was given credit for the film's emphatic success.
Although she fired up the careers of Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar with these hits, Ameeta could never capitalise on them and stardom never materialised. She later switched to character roles.

Her  roles in multi-star films like Raakhi (1962) and the blockbuster Mere Mehboob (1963) did not help her career graph, even though she was nominated for a Filmfare award for the latter as Best Supporting Actress, and she now dropped to playing lead grade-B movies which though successful at the box office did not do much for her star status. However, her romance opposite Kishore Kumar in Hum Sab Ustad Hai in 1965 was appreciated by the audience. By 1965 she was playing negative and villainous characters in films like Rishte Naate (1965), and Aasra (1966). Worse still, she was seen in supporting roles to starlets Rajshree and Babita, in films like Around the World (1967) and Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968). After filming Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968), a disillusioned Ameeta left the film industry as she was not getting leading roles and settled into matrimony.

A fan of Madhubala, Ameeta was enacting her idol's sword fight from the movie Baadal when she caught the eye of Lekhraj Bhakhri, who signed her for his movie Thokar. This was her debut film in a side role where she was credited as Jayjaywanti. Qamar's debut movie as the heroine was a 1953 release, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1954), directed by Vijay Bhatt. The screen name Ameeta made its appearance in this movie. The film failed, but Ameeta kept on working in films like Amar Kirtan, Badal Aur Bijli, Baaghi Sardar and Indrasabha. But her career took a positive turn when she worked with her idol Madhubala in Shirin Farhad (1956). She was then chosen for lead roles in Abhimaan and Zamana.
She was born on  11 April 1940. Her real name was Qamar Sultana, She started her career with producer-director Lekhraj Bhakhri,s Thokar in 1953. The main lead hero was Shammi Kapoor, that time he was a flop actor. Her next film was Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu starring with Bharat Bhushan. Her screen name was given by Vijay Bhatt the director of this film. This film flopped and her career was in jeopardy She had to accept heroines roles in B grade films until she got Tumsa Nahi Dekha.
Ameeta was nominated for a Filmfare Award as Best Supporting Actress for Mere Mehboob (1962) but lost out to Shashikala for Gumrah(1963)

Song of Tumsa Nahin Dekha 1957

Song of Tumsa Nahin Dekha 1957

Song of Goonj Uthi Shehnai 1959

Song of Goonj Uthi Shehnai 1959

Song of Chhote Nawab 1961

Song of Mere Mehboob 1963

Song of Hum Sab Ustad Hain 1965

Nutan.- An Actress Who Could Change Gear to Play any Character.

After Meena Kumari, it is Nutan who could be called Emotional Queen. She was the five-time winner of Filmfare Award of Best Actress. She played the Gauri of Seema, Sujata of Sujata, Kalyani of Bandhini or Romantic role in Tere Ghar Ke Samne, she performed all at ease and perfectly.
She was an actress who could change gears with well-oiled efficiency: She was the very essence of featherweight froth in films like Paying Guest and Anadi and made a splash by posing in a swimsuit for Delhi Ka Thug. Nutan also gave cry-from-the-soul performances in Sone Ki Chidiya (as an exploited actress) She acted in Shammi Kapoor extavaganzas like Laat Sahab clad in skirts and pants, sari-clad, self-sacrificing Saraswatichandra mould, secretly wiping away a tear and singing Main toh bhool chali babul ka desh. This hit garba song was one of Nutan's few, full-fledged dance numbers.
 Nutan continued to get interesting roles even after she crossed 40. She could portray strength of character --- as seen in her award-winning role in Raj Khosla's Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki and others like Saajan Bina Suhagan, Saajan Ki Saheli, Teri Maang Sitaron Se Bhar Doon, Rishta Kagaz Ka.

Filmmaker Subhash Ghai cast her in a pivotal role in his Meri Jung and then fulfilled the wishes of several filmgoers (even if it was a little late in the day) by finally casting Dilip Kumar and Nutan together in his Karma (1986).

Nutan was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer in 1990.^] In February 1991, she was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai after she fell ill. At the time, she was filming Garajna and Insaniyat. She died at 12:07 p.m. (IST) on 21 February.

Nutan's Landmark Films
Year	Film	Hero	Director
1950	Hamari Beti	Shekhar	Shobhana Samarth
1951	Nagina	Nasir Khan	Ravindra Dave
1951	Hum Log	Sajjan	Zia Sarhady
1955	Seema	Balraj Sahni	Amiya Chakravorthy
1957	Paying Guest	Dev Anand	Subodh Mukherji
1958	Delhi Ka Thug	Kishore Kumar	S D Narang
1959	Anadi	Raj Kapoor	Hrishikesh Mukherji
1959	Sujata	Sunil Dutt	Bimal Roy
1960	Chhaliya	Raj Kapoor	Manmohan Desai
1963	Bandini	Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra	Bimal Roy
1963	Tere Ghar Ke Saamne	Dev Anand	Vijay Anand
1965	Khandaan	Sunil Dutt	A Bhim Singh
1967	Milan	Sunil Dutt	Subba Rao
1968	Saraswatichandra	Manish	Govind Saraiya
1972	Anuraag	--	Shakti Samanta
1973	Saudagar	Amitabh Bachchan	Sudhendu Roy
1978	Main Tulsi Tere Angan Ki	Vijay Anand	Raj Khosla
1978	Saajan Bina Suhagan	--	Sawan Kumar Tak
1985	Meri Jung	--	Subhash Ghai
1986	Karma	Dilip Kumar	Subhash Ghai

Songs of Nutan

Song of Sujata

Song of Paying Guest

Song of Anari

Song of Tere Ghar Ke Samne

Song of Bandhini

Song of Saraswatichandra

Song of Milan

Song of Saudagar

Madhubala- A Journey from Baby Mumtaz to Madhubala

Madhubala (February 14, 1933 - February 23, 1969) the woman who was born on Valentine's Day as Mumtaz Jehan Begum in Delhi. She was one of the five children in the family. At the age of 9, she became the bread earner of the family. She was signed in for the film Basant in 1942 as a child artist as Baby Mumtaz.In this film, she sang two songs and one of them " Mere Chhote Se Mun Mein Chhoti Si Duniya Re "became immensely popular and got many films as a child artist.
 Actress Devika Rani was impressed by her performances and potential and advised her to assume the name Madhubala. At the age of 14 she got her first film as a heroine opposite Raj Kapoor who was debuting as a hero in the 1947 film" Neel Kamal"In this film her screen name was Madhubala. The film was not a commercial success, but her performance was received well. It was only a matter of time that Madhubala shot to fame and her work in the 1949 film Mahal got her the success she rightfully deserved. She was just 16.

Baby Mumtaz(Madhubala) in Basant 1942

As Baby Mumtaz, she worked in 5 films, Basant(1942) was her first film but her second film " Dhanna Bhagat" came after 3 years in 1945.. In 1946, her 3 films got released. Pujari released first in this film also she sang a song, the next release was "Phoolwari". It was the third highest grossing Indian film of 1946. The film was directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi for Ranjit Studios and is cited as one of the important films of actor Motilal. The third film of that year was Rajputani.

Madhubala in Neel Kamal 1947

Her first film as Madhubala was Neel Kamal which was released in 1947. The next year, she starred in a number of films, namely ‘Parai Aag’, ‘Lal Dupatta’, ‘Desh Sewa’ and ‘Amar Prem’. However, none of them did much to promote her career as an actress, in fact, she appeared in 12 films after Neel Kamal none of the films clicked in Box Office.
It was in the year 1949 that success finally came Madhubala’s way. She starred in Bombay Talkies production, ‘Mahal’, opposite seasoned actor Ashok Kumar. The film went on to become a major success and established her as a star. She was applauded not only for her talent, but also for her enigmatic screen presence and beauty. Following ‘Mahal’, Madhubala was seen in a number of successful films.

Madhubala in Mahal 1949

After Mahal, Madhubala's film Dulari was released the same year that stars Madhubala, Geeta Bali, Shyam, Jayant and Suresh. The song has the hit song "Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki" sung by Mohammed Rafi and featuring Suresh. Dulari was the year's eighth-highest-grossing.

Madhubala in Mughal-e-Azam 1960

During the career span of 22 years, Madhubala was known for her roles in more than 70 films of variety of genres such as Mahal (1949), Dulari (1949), Beqasoor (1950), Tarana (1951), Amar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Howrah Bridge (1958) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960) with actors such as Dilip Kumar, Guru Dutt, Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Kishore Kumar and many more as her co-stars. Out of 73 Hindi films, only fifteen of them were successful at box office. She received her only nomination for a Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in Mughal-e-Azam (1960).
Madhubala had a long relationship with actor Dilip Kumar, but instead, she married her Chalti Ka Naam Gaadico-star Kishore Kumar in 1960. Together they had worked in films such as Dhake Ki Malmal (1956), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Jhumroo (1961), Half Ticket(1962). Madhubala's life and career were cut short when she died on 23 February 1969 from a prolonged illness at the age of 36 thus ends the journey of Madhubala.
Madhubala is, by far, the most iconic silver screen goddess India has produced.

Watch Madhubala as Baby Mumtaz singing in her own voice 

Song of Basant 1942

Song of Neel Kamal 1947

Song of Mahal 1949

Song of Dulari 1949

Song from Tarana 1951

Song from Mr &Mrs 55 1955

Song from Phagun 1958

Song from Kala Paani 1958

Song from Howrah Bridge 1958

Song from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi  1958

Song from Barsaat Ki Raat  1960

Song from Mughal-e-Azam  1960