Showing posts with label sharmila tagore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharmila tagore. Show all posts

Tuesday 1 February 2022

50 Years of Amar Prem

 



There are a few Hindi films that touch one more than Amar Prem. The film has completed 50 years, released on 29th Jan 1972. The film belongs to Sharmila Tagore as far as performances go. She preserves fully the dignity of the character even as she skillfully walks the audience through all the traumatic moments of the character´s life

The film was directed by Shakti Samanta. It was a remake of the Bengali film Nishi Padma (1970), directed by Arabinda Mukherjee, who wrote the screenplay for both the films based on the Bengali short story Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The highlight of the film was its music, composed by R D Burman.

The movie is about a schoolboy, who is ill-treated by his stepmother, and becomes friends with a prostitute neighbor. The film stars Sharmila Tagore playing a prostitute with a heart of gold, with Rajesh Khanna in the role of a lonely businessman and Vinod Mehra as adult Nandu, the young child, who they both come to care for. The essence of the movie revolves around three characters –– Anand, Pushpa, and Nandu, a child who is tortured at home by a stepmother (Bindu). Nandu is showered with affection by Pushpa

The score and soundtrack for the film was composed by R.D.Burman, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. The soundtrack was melody-based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye. How can we forget the immortal songs  like "Chingaari Koi Bhadke", "Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge", "Yeh Kya Hua" sung by Kishore Kumar


Songs of Amar Prem 1972

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Wednesday 13 January 2021

Shakti Samanta- The Maker of a Classic 'Amar Prem'

 


Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) gave us the great films such as Howrah Bridge, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, Aradhana, Kati Patang, and Amar Prem. He directed 43 feature films, including 37 Hindi, and 6 Bengali films.

Amar Prem was his 3rd film with Rajesh Khanna. Initially, Rajkumar was the original choice to play the lead hero.  When  Rajesh Khanna heard it he went to Shakti Samantha's office and asked him how can he cast another actor in this film, this was because they had already given a classic hit like Aradhana 1969 and Kati Patang 1970 was almost ready for release and they both had bonded a good relationship between them.

Another interesting fact of this film is that the immortal song 'Chingari Koi Bhadke' was not shot on the Hooghly river with the Howrah Bridge on the background was shot in a studio in Mumbai. Shakti Samanta in an interview said that the entire film was shot in Bombay and its suburbs, in fact, he told that a great length of shooting happened in a village at Nala Supara, the suburb of BombayThe song was an additional song, it was added in the film when the film was complete.

The film's story is based on a Bengali short story Nishi Padma by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. , A Bengali film with the same name got released in 1970 starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee.  Bengali writer-director Arvinda Mukherjee wasn't familiar with Hindi so he wrote the script of Amar Prem 1972 in English, writer Ramesh Pant then translated the whole script in Hindi.

Rajesh Khanna reportedly saw Nishipadma 24 times. He suggested changing the character's name from Ananta to Anand to draw a connection to his character in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's critically acclaimed Anand (1971).

One of the highlights of this film was its music composed by R D Burman, the soundtrack was melody-based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye, set in an unusual blend of two Ragas, he had heard his father, music composer S. D. Burman sing, Bela Boye Jaye, which he said was on his mind while composing the song. Bakshi's lyrics, created a Meera bhajan-like idiom for the song, employing the Krishna-Radha motif.

Another memorable song 'Yeh Kya Hua Kaise Hua' by Kishore Kumar was a true copy of the Bengali version of Kishore from the film 'Rajkumari' This song was too composed by R D Burman earlier. Another song  "Bada Natkhat hai Re Krishna Kanhaiyya" sung by Lata Mangeshkar is another masterpiece from Burmans.It happened when Sachin Da heard the tune of this song, he asked Pancham  to redo the tune as per the situation of the song.Thus R.D. Burman made a tune in Raga Khamaj, which Lata Mangeshkar too sang with marked emotional clarity.

Rajesh Khanna's dialogue "Pushpa, I hate tears", which appeared five times in the film has become the most popular dialogue of Rajesh Khanna. He was nominated as the Best Actor for this film but couldn't get.Anand Bakshi, the lyricist and Kishore Kumar were also nominated for their respective fields.

Songs of Amar Prem

#TitleSinger(s)Duration
1"Doli Mein Bithai Ke"S. D. Burman5:43
2"Raina Beeti Jaye"Lata Mangeshkar5:20
3"Chingari Koi Bhadke"Kishore Kumar5:38
4"Kuchh Toh Log Kahenge"Kishore Kumar4:56
5"Yeh Kya Hua"Kishore Kumar4:33
6"Bada Natkhat Hai Yeh"Lata Mangeshkar4:53

 Though 1972 was a year of the big films PakeezahDushman and Beimaan, Amar Prem was eighth amongst Khanna's top releases in the year.The film became a classic and became the most memorable film of Shakti Samanta, R D Burman,Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna.

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Amar Prem 1972


Friday 31 July 2020

50 Years of SAFAR


This film was released on 31st July 1970. It was the tenth highest-grossing film of that year. Rajesh Khanna was the hero, who was at the peak of his career. This being one of the seventeen consecutive hit films between 1969 and 1971It won one Filmfare Awards and four BFJA AwardsThe film stars Ashok KumarRajesh KhannaSharmila Tagore, and Feroz Khan in lead roles. 
This was the second film of Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore Jodi, they appeared together in many films after this film. Sharmila was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for this film. This is also one of the movies for which Rajesh Khanna shall be remembered forever. 
Safar  is a story of common people grappling with staggering challenges and compromises. Sharmila Tagore plays a doctor she works under the guidance of Dr. Chandra (Ashok Kumar), who tells her that however hard doctors might try, sometimes a patient wouldn't survive. Rajesh Khanna is a cancer patient. Both of them studied together in college.  Though he admires Neela(Sharmila Tagore) very much, he never talks about love or marriage. Everyone thinks that it's because of his financial status, but it is later revealed that he has terminal cancer.
Feroz Han plays Shekhar,, he falls in love with Neela. He goes to propose marriage with her and meets her brother, Kalidas, but is told that he should instead meet with Avinash. So Shekhar introduces himself to Avinash, tells him of his intentions, and Avinash instantly approves of him, and subsequently, Shekhar and Neela are married. 
Neela regularly visits her brother's house where Avinash was a frequent visitor. Shekhar slowly grows suspicious of Neela and Avinash and asks his younger brother to spy on her. Shekhar comes to the conclusion that Neela is in love with Avinash and confronts her, they quarrel, he drinks his medicine and passes out. The next day the police arrest Neela on the charge of murder. With Avinash nowhere to be found, Neela has now to face life behind bars - or even the death sentence.
The soundtrack of the film contains 5 songs. The music is composed by Kalyanji Anandji, with lyrics authored by Indeevar.

#SongSinger(s)
1."Hum The Jinke Sahare"Lata Mangeshkar
2."Jeevan Se Bhari"Kishore Kumar
3."Jo Tumko Ho Pasand"Mukesh
4."Nadiya Chale Chale Re"Manna Dey
5."Zindagi Ka Safar"Kishore Kumar

Song of Safar 1970

Song of Safar 1970


Song of Safar 1970

Song of Safar 1970


Song of Safar 1970

Sunday 8 December 2019

Happy Birthday to the two of the most charismatic actors of Bollywood


Apart from sharing great chemistry in the films Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore also share their birthday 0n the 8th of Dec. The first film they worked together was Anupama in 1966 directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
The same director-actor trio joined together for a second time to give us Satyakam in 1969. The third time the same trio gave us the Hindi cinema's one of its all-time great comedy films Chupke Chupke in 1975.
They worked together as Hero and Heroine in films like Devar, Mere Humdam Mere Dost, Ek Mahal Ho Sapnon Ka, and Yakeen.  Their last film together was Sunny in 1984 Directed by Raj Khosla, the film had Dharmendra playing father to his real-life son Sunny Deol while Sharmila played the prostitute giving birth to Sunny Deol 
Dharmendra, who was born on 8th Dec 1935, debuted with Arjun Hingorani's Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere in 1960. He became a star with Phool Aur Patthar (1966), He formed a successful pairing with Meena Kumari and shared the screen in 7 films namely Main Bhi Ladki Hoon (1964), Kaajal (1965), Purnima (1965), Phool Aur Patthar (1966), Majhli Didi (1967), Chandan Ka Palna (1967) and Baharon Ki Manzil (1968). 
His most successful pairing was with Hema Malini, who went on to become his wife.[The couple played together in many films including Raja JaniSeeta Aur GeetaSharafatNaya ZamanaPatthar Aur PayalTum Haseen Main JawaanJugnuDostCharasMaaChacha BhatijaAzaadand Sholay
Sharmila Tagore is 9 years younger to Dharmendra She is born on  8 th December 1944. She debuted in Bollywood with Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964. Later she did many films with Shakti  Samanta. Samanta cast her in many more films, including An Evening in Paris (1967), in which she became the first Indian actress to appear in a bikiniSamanta later teamed up Sharmila with Rajesh Khanna for movies such as Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972). The pair of Khanna-Sharmila gave 7 box office hits like  – AradhanaSafarAmar PremChhoti BahuDaag, "Raja Rani" and Avishkaar
Song of Anupama 1966



Song of Anupama 1966



Song of Devar 1966


Song of Mere Humdam Mere Dost, 1968


Song of Satyakam 1969


Song of Yakeen 1969









Tuesday 15 January 2019

50 Years of Satyakam


Corruption and Honesty was the relevant subject 50 years ago. Unemployment, continual poverty and rampant corruption are severely undermining institutions all around. This subject is more relevant today but no film on this subject is being made today. Satyakam is a classic movie on this subject released in 1969. This film was produced by Dharmendra and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, based on a Bengali novel of the same name by Narayan Sanyal. The film stars DharmendraSharmila TagoreSanjeev Kumar, and Ashok Kumar. The film was scored by Laxmikant Pyarelal.
This is considered to be Dharmendra's finest acting performance of his career. This film also won the National Film Award For Best Feature Film in Hindi. Today we may laugh at the sarcasm contained in Rajinder Singh Bedi's acrid dialogue in the film: "Yeh aadmi (about dharmendra) bahut hi badmaash aur paaji hai. Rishvat vagerah nahin khaata 

The film opens with Sanjeev Kumar's voiceover describing the plight of the mythical Satyakamjabala who takes on his mother's name because of his questionable fatherhood. While the drama begins in 1946, the narrative actually takes place in post-Independence India.
Satyapriya (Dharmendra)  is raised in an ashram by his grandfather, Satyadarshan Acharya (Ashok Kumar), a staunch nationalist and a Sanskrit scholar. He studies engineering gets a job in United Paper Mill in a princely state soon after Independence but is disillusioned when repeatedly asked to compromise his ideals.

While struggling between his principles and conscience he meets Ranjana (Sharmila Tagore), daughter of a prostitute, who is pregnant after a criminal assault. Satyapriya marries the hapless girl, and soon a son is born. This relationship was not acceptable to his graHe moved He  moved from one town to another, from one job to another because of his unwillingness to compromise his honesty. Destiny lands him a job where he has to work under Narendra's supervision. Narendra(Sanjeev Kumar) was his class fellow in engineering. Narendra's philosophy of life was that to succeed and survive one has to make adjustments.
Satyapriya and Ranjana also have their share of marital conflicts. She tries to lead a normal life and longs to forget her past. Satyapriya is constantly reminded of his failure and appears to make up for it by increasing rigidity about applying his principles in real life. 

Struggling professionally, he is struck by an incurable and fatal illness. In the end, hospitalised and unable to even speak, Satyapriya is pursued by an unscrupulous contractor seeking approval for a badly executed civil project, in lieu of which the contractor would give him a substantial sum that would take care of Satyapriya's wife Ranjana and their child after his death. One moment he thought of accepting the offer but Ranjana, his wife does not want to see him falter at the end stage of his life. She tears apart the documents and finds him smiling at her. Although unable to speak, Satyapriya is clearly happy that he was able to convert at least one person to his idealist worldview.
On learning of Satyapriya's condition, his grandfather "Daddaji" comes visiting him.After his passing, the grandfather makes some excuses about not feeling responsible for Satyapriya's widow and child, and is about to leave for his Gurukula. At that moment, Satyapriya and Ranjana's child (Sarika) publicly speaks out saying the real reason is that the grandfather is unsure of his, i.e. Satyapriya and Ranjana's child's paternity.
Sanjeev Kumar shows all signs of an actor on the rise. He plays the sutradhaar, whose voiceover carries the entire movie till the end. Ashok Kumar in a strong cameo heightens the drama and brings justice to the irony of the climax.

The film was one of the best films of Hrishikesh Mukharjee, the only drawback of the film was it's music. The film didn't do well on the Box Office.Like a torch bearer of truth in the darkness of the present age, Satyakam will live on as long as the validity of truth will exist.
Song of Satyakam 1969


Song of Satyakam 1969


Song of Satyakam 1969



Saturday 8 December 2018

Sharmila Tagore-The 60s stunner turns 74 today


.Every Indian who's sighed over Sharmila Tagore's dimples, drowned in that Kashmir ki Kali smile, seduced by her bikini babe image of An Evening In Paris, and then cried with her in Amar Prem and Mausam.
She's still as charming as ever, the mother of current heartthrob Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. The mother of two actors and a designer is also a grandmother of Saif and Kareena's son Taimur.

She was born on 8th December 1944 in Kanpur. She is distantly related to the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.She began her career as an actress in Satyajit Ray's 1959 Bengali film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), as the ill-fated bride of the title character. She made her debut in Hindi films with Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964. Samanta later cast her in many more films, including An Evening in Paris (1967), in which she became the first Indian actress to appear in a bikini and with Rajesh Khanna for movies such as Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972). Other directors paired them together in Safar (1970), Daag (1973), and Maalik (1972). The pair of Khanna-Sharmila gave 7 box office hits – AradhanaSafarAmar PremChhoti BahuDaag, "Raja Rani" and Avishkaar.

She starred in Gulzar's 1975 film, Mausam and won the National Film Award for Best Actress. She also played a supporting role in Mira Nair's 1991 film Mississippi Masala. She was the highest paid Bollywood actress from 1970 to 1976 along with Mumtaz. She had a very successful pairing opposite Dharmendra, along with whom she starred in seven movies - Devar (1966), Anupama (1966), Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968), Satyakam (1969), Yakeen (1969), Chupke Chupke (1975), Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975) and Sunny(1984). Her filmography also includes Faraar (1975) opposite Amitabh BachchanMausam (1975) and Besharam (1978) opposite Sanjeev Kumar; and Bengalifilm Mangaldeep (1991) opposite Naseeruddin Shah. In 2017.

Sharmila Tagore married Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi and former captain of the Indian cricket team, in a Nikah ceremony held on 27 December 1969. She converted to Islam upon marriage and changed her name to Begum Ayesha Sultana Khan. They had three children: Saif Ali Khan (b. 1970), a Bollywood actor, Saba Ali Khan (b. 1976), a jewellery designer, and Soha Ali Khan 


She has received two National Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards for her performances. She led the Indian Film Censor Board from October 2004 till March 2011. She was awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.
Song of Kashmir Ki Kali 1964


Song of Anupama 1966


Song of An Evening in Paris 1967


Song of Talash 1969


Song of Aradhana 1969


Song of Safar 1970


Song of  Mausam 1975


Song of  Chupke Chupke 1975