Ashok Kumar - The most bankable star of the 40s

 

The first film of Ashok Kumar was Jeevan Naiya (1936), a Bombay Talkies production.  It was a sheer fluke that he became an actor. He didn't want to become an actor.  Those days, actors were really looked down upon. They were believed to come from the lowest strata of society. He came to Bombay to become a director. So he joined Bombay Talkies as a technician. he worked in the camera department. Later, he was made a lab assistant. He worked as Lab Assistant for 8 months, suddenly Himanshu Rai, the owner of Bombay Talkies made him the hero of the film Jeevan Naiya replacing the existing hero Najam-ul- Hussain.

Initially, he was not comfortable in acting but later gathered confidence in his second film  Achhut Kanya (1936), where he again paired with Devika Rani became a smash hit established him a great actor. After that, he was a permanent hero of all Bombay Talkies movies In 1943 he played the first anti-hero role in Indian cinema. The film Kismet(1943) was the first super duper hit of Indian cinema, It was the first film that collected more than a crore rupees at Box office. Post Kismet, Ashok Kumar became the most bankable star of the era, delivering a succession of box office successes with movies like Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Shikari (1946), Sajan (1947), Mahal (1949), Sangram (1950) and Samadhi (1950).

, Ashok Kumar has ruled the silver screen and melted millions of hearts with his charismatic screen appearance and personality. He was the first superstar of Hindi cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor.

He produced several films for Bombay Talkies during the final years of the company including Ziddi (1948), which established the careers of Dev Anand and Pran, Later on, he quit the Bombay Talkies and started Filmistan Studio with Shashdhar Mukharjee, his desire to return to Bombay Talkies was always there." He re-bought Bombay Talkies in 1947. "Devika Rani had left by then. But the Talkies had fallen on bad days. The debts amounted to Rs 28 lakhs. We made movies like Majboor, Ziddi, Mahal, and Mashal to repay the debts."

With the advent of the 1950s, Ashok Kumar switched over to more mature roles, with the exception of the 1958 classic Howrah Bridge. Despite the arrival of a younger crop of stars like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, and Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar remained one of the stars of the era with hits like Afsana (1951), Nau Bahar (1952), Parineeta (1953), Bandish (1955) and EK Hi Raasta (1956). His most successful film of that era was Deedar (1951), in which he played second fiddle to Dilip Kumar.

Ashok Kumar played an important role in several landmark movies in the 1960s and 1970s, including Jewel Thief (1967), Aashirwad (1968) (for which he won a Filmfare Award as well as National Award in 1969), Purab aur Pashchim (1970), Pakeezah (1972), Mili (1975), Chhoti Si Baat (1975) and Khoobsurat (1980).

Ashok Kumar's last film role was in the 1997 movie Aankhon Mein Tum Ho.

. Altogether, he starred in over 275 films. He has done more than 30 Bengali dramas in Dhakuria.He was honored in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India and also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

He died at the age of 90 in Mumbai on 10 December 2001 of heart failure at his residence in Chembur. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee described him as "an inspiration... for many generations of aspiring actors.

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Songs from Ashok Kumar's Films

Koi Hamdam Na Raha from Jeewan Naiya 1936

Original Ek Chatur Naar from Jhula 1941

Song from Kismet 1943

A Look into the Special Appearances of Rajesh Khanna in Bollywood Films

 

Rajesh Khanna the Super Star who gave 15 consecutive hit films from 1969 to 1972 was the most sought-after hero. He appeared in 30 films as Special Appearance. In most of the films, he sang a song in the film. In 8 films he appeared as Rajesh Khanna, the hero. The first special appearance was in the 1968 film Shrimanji and he then appeared in the 1971 film 'Andaz' just after the success of Aradhana. and Do Raste  The song 'Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana' became a rage.

In this blog, I have selected only those films in which he gave a special appearance.

Song of Andaz 1971

Song of Anuraag 1972

A Scene of Badhti Ki Naam Dadhi 1974

Song of Aakraman 1975

A Scene from Aaina 1977

Song of Tinku 1977

Song of Muqablq 1979

Song of Naseeb1981

Song of Suraag 1982

Song of Disco Dancer 1982

Song of Mamta ki Chhaon Mein 1989

Qawwali of Sawa Lakh Se Ek Ladoun - 1976

The untold Story Behind Rajesh Khanna Film 'Anand'

 

The character Anand made Rajesh Khanna an immortal. He got his second Filmfare Best Actor Award for this character. This role was his favourite character from 180 films he did. He made full use of his strong director-backed role. For this role, he accepted a meagre sum of Rs 7 Lakh. 

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the director got the idea of making the film when his friend and Indian producer Raj Kapoor was suffering from an illness and everyone thought he would die. Mukherjee’s fear of losing his friend inspired him to pen Anand. 

Kishore Kumar was the original choice for the role of Anand, he was ready to do this role too but when on the day he went to sign him, Kishore Kumar’s watchman didn’t allow Hrishikesh Mukharjee in.  Kishore Kumar had apparently asked his watchman to not allow a Bengali man inside and he mistook Mukherjee to be that man. This made Hrishikesh Da angry and decided to drop the idea of taking Kishore for this role.

 Then he thought of taking Uttam Kumar for this role but he refused the film because the shooting dates clashed with his commitments to Bengali cinema., then he approached Shashi Kapoor for this role, he too was reluctant to accept this role because during those he wanted to consolidate himself as a romantic hero after the success of Jab Jab Phool Khile. 

The film and its script was ready but its cast could not be finalized, in the meantime, Hrishikesh Mukharjee was busy with the films like Aashirwad and Satyakam. In 1969 Rajesh Khanna's Aradhana got released, with this film he became a superstar and was the most sought after hero. Every film of his was making Jubilee, producers were after him to sign their film but it was Rajesh Khanna, who wanted to do the role of Anand. He came to know about this role from Gulzar who was the co-writer of this film.

Rajesh Khanna one day went to Hrishikesh Da, asked him to give this role and complete the film but Hrishi Da was hesitant to work with him because the film was a low budget film, Rajesh Khanna was a Super Star, the film can not afford his price for which Rajesh Khanna said that he is ready to accept whatever they pay. Hrishi Da was aware that Rajesh Khanna had a habit of coming late on sets, so he asked him to report on time and give him his dates as per his requirement. Rajesh Khanna accepted all the terms and conditions to do this film. 

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Rajnikant- Amitabh Bachchan is his Inspiration

 

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience He made his debut in 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal,

He is god down south but for actor Rajinikanth, screen legend Amitabh Bachchan is a “role model”, “inspiration” and “guru“. You would be surprised to know that he worked in more than 10 Tamil films that are Amitabh Bachchan's remake. This began with Shankar Salim Simon (1978), a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), followed by Naan Vazhavaippen (1979), a remake of Majboor (1974). In this blog, I look into the films in which he played Amitabh Bachchan.

Shankar Salim Simon (Amar Akbar Anthony)

This film was released in 1978, Rajnikant played the role of Simon, similar to Anthony played by Amitabh in Amar Akbar Anthony. He remade the Manmohan Desai film again in Telugu, this time as with actors Krishna as Robert, Rajinikanth as Ram and Chandra Mohan as Rahim. Both films were hit.

 Naan Vazhavaippen

This film was released in 1979, it was based on the 1974 hit film Majboor,  it featured Rajinikanth playing Big B’s part. This film was also remade in Telugu

Billa

This film is a remake of Amitabh's Don(1978). This is one of the most memorable films of Rajnikant. It was a super-duper hit.  The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career. Billa established Rajinikanth as the top star of South Indian cinema, overtaking Kamal Haasan.

Thee

1981 saw the release of Thee, a remake of the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original.

Mr. Bharath 

lt is a remake of Trishul (1978), released in 1985. It was also a super hit film. Rajinikanth playing the son who takes revenge from his father for cheating on his mother.

Dharamathin Thalaivan

It is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action-drama film directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Rajinikanth in dual roles, along with Prabhu, Suhasini, Kushboo, Nassar and Captain Raju in other roles. The film is a remake of the 1978 Hindi film Kasme Vaade. Dharmathin Thalaivan became a super hit 

Panakkaran 

It's a remake of Laawaris (1981). The film was released in 1990.  This film ran for more than 200 days and was declared a blockbuster hit film. It was dubbed in Telugu as Kondaveedi Puli  Rajinikanth reprised Bachchan’s role

Maaveeran

Maaveeran is a 1986 tamil film.  A remake of the 1985 Hindi film Mard, it stars Rajinikanth, Ambika and Jaishankar. Maaveeran was the first in Tamil to be shot in 70 mm film format, and have a six-track stereophonic sound. It was released on 1 November 1986, Diwali day, and failed commercially.

Padikathavan

Padikkadavan is a 1985 Tamil  film, starring Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth. It is a remake of the Hindi film Khud-Daar starring Amitabh Bachchan  . The film was a huge blockbuster and had a run for more than 250 days. This film is considered as one of the biggest hits for Rajinikanth during the 1980s.

Siva

It was released in 1989, was the remake of Bachchan’s 1977 film Khool Pasina. The film also starred actor-dancer Shobana playing Rekha’s role from the original.The film was dubbed in Telugu as Tiger Shiva.

Velaikkaran

It is a 1987 Tamil-language action comedy film This film is a remake of the 1982 Hindi film Namak Halaal.  So faithful was Rajinikanth to the original that it even featured Bachchan’s iconic ‘I can talk English, walk English because English is a very funny language’, of course, with a few changes.