50 Years of Mela

 

Released on 30 June 1971, Mela was a hit film of that year. This was the first time the two Khan brothers, Feroz Khan and Sanjay Khan appeared together in a film. Mumtaz was the heroine of the film. This film was the second directorial venture of Prakash Mehra after Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968).

The film is a lost and found story, a very popular subject of the 70s. It was based on a rural background where a Shahri Babu(Sanjay Khan) comes and falls in love with a village girl(Mumtaz). There is a dacoit Shakti Singh(Feroz Khan who does not permit anyone to plow his land as he believes that his evil paternal uncle(Randhir) forged documents to make him the owner, and he blames himself for losing his brother, Kishan, during a Mela 20 years ago. Kanhaiya buys the land from his uncle in the city who dies soon after out of shock upon receiving such a large sum of money.,Now Kanhaiya comes with his foster mom to reside at the Uncle s home in the village.

The music of the film was given by R D Burman and the lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Few of the songs were popular but none of the songs is great.

  

Soundtrack

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Dekho Re Hua Lahoo Se Lahoo Kaise Judaa"	Manna Dey
2	"Ek Baar Rakh De Kadam Zara Jhoom Ke"	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
3	"Gori Ke Haath Mein Jaise Ye Challa"	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi
4	"Kya Soch Raha Re"	Lata Mangeshkar
5	"Meri Sakhiyo Bolo"	Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle
6	"Rut Hai Milan Ki Sathi Mera Aa Re"	Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi

Songs of Mela 1971

Prakash Mehra- Who Gave Hindi Cinema a New Definition .

Prakash Mehra(13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009)  was a true entertainer. He changed mainstream Hindi cinema with his sense of drama, Indian emotion, and above all his ear for great music. His songs are still thriving, despite being decades-old. He started off his career with Haseena Maan Jayegi starring Shashi Kapoor and Babita, followed by Mela, and Samadhi which were the perfect formula for a commercial hit. 
With Zanjeer, he started his own banner.  His combination with Amitabh Bachchan proved lethal at the box office. After Zanzeer seven films of this combination ruled the Box office.
He seemed to know the magic of Amitabh the actor which he successfully used in films like 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Laawaaris', 'Namak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi', all of them major hits, one bigger than the other. 
Amitabh Bachchan once told that he was a dreamer and was never afraid of taking risks. He wanted to make big things in life. He had a film in his mind to cast the boxing legend, Mohammad Ali, with him. He even scheduled a meeting with him and Ali, at the sports icon's US home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
He was the first filmmaker to name Amitabh as Vijay in 'Zanjeer'. Amitabh was Vijay in more than twenty films, some of them made by Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra.
Music was the strong point of all his films. He always had the veteran music directors Kalyanji- Anandji to score the music for his films but had Bappi Lahiri in two of his most successful films 'Namaak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi' He himself used to write poems, In fact in many of the songs of his films, he wrote the first few lines which formed the themes of the songs and left the rest of the lines to be written by Anjaan, In his first film Haseena Maan Jayegi, he wrote the hit song "O Dilbar Janiye" sung by Mohammad Rafi.
Prakash Mehra also directed & produced Zindagi Ek Jua with actor Anil Kapoor in 1991, which was not a commercial success. In 1996, he introduced veteran actor Raaj Kumar's son Puru Raajkumar in Bal Bramhachari which was also unsuccessful. This was the last film he directed.
 He died on 17 May 2009 in Mumbai of pneumonia and multiple organ failure. 

Song of Haseena Maan Jayegi 1968

Song of Zanzeer 1973

Song of Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara (1973)

Song of Haath Ki Safai (1974)

Song of Hera Pheri (1976)

Song of Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Song of Laawaris (1981)

Song of Namak Halaal (1982)

Song of Sharaabi (1984)

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)