Wednesday, 1 November 2017

S D Burman's Love and Hate for Lata


Lataji and Burman Da have done some splendid works and have created marvelous songs.Despite their brief tiff, that had stirred up a huge controversy at the time, both legends got back to working together again after 5 years from 1958 to 1962.These five years SD Burman was none the worse as he continued to give some of the greatest music of his career, now with Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle, but he realized he had something beyond, where only Lata Mangeshkar could reach. She also felt that there was something unique in Dada’s music, without which she would remain incomplete. 

Lata Mangeshkar was his ultimate choice. He often said, “Give me a harmonium, give me Lata and I will make music”.
 Lata’s first song for S D Burman was probably in Mashal (1950)

Aankhon se door door hain par dil ke paas jo 

Song from Mashaal 1950

 .The very next year came Naujawan starring Nalini Jaywant and Premnath,the song Thandi hawayein lahraa ke aayein became Super Hit,it remains one of the Lata's immortal song.Same year came Sazaa starring Dev Anand Nimmi and the song "Tum Na Jaane Kis Jahan Mei Kho Gaye" became immortal.
Song from Naujawan 1951


Tum na jane kis jahan me kho gaye..
Song from Sazaa 1951

In 1952 released Dev Anand's Jaal .The music of this film became very popular,Lata's Chandni Raten, Chori Chori Meri Gali Aana Hai Bura and Duet with Hemant Kumar"Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan" are immortal songs.

Song from Jaal 1952

Song from Jaal 1952

Jayen To Jayen Kahan

Song from Taxi Driver 1954


Song from Devdas 1955


Song from House No.44 1955


Song from Paying Guest 1957

 Their second innings led to another set of great melodies in Bandini, Guide, Tere Mere Sapne, Prem Pujari, Talash, Anurag, Abhiman etc which continued till the very end of his career.
It is said that S D Burman called Lata on phone and requested her to sing a song for his son's first film Chhote Nawab in 1961 which she agreed,later R D Burman mediated between both and removed the misunderstanding between them then S D Burman gave her a song in Dr Vidya  1962,their first song after patch up was ‘Pawan diwani’ 
Song from Dr Vidya 1962


Song from Bandini 1963


Song from Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963


Song from Guide 1965


Song from Jewel Thief 1967


Song from Talash 1969


Song from Prem Pujari 1970


Song from Sharmilee 1971


Song from Abhiman 1973


Song from Chupke Chupke 1975


Song from Milli 1975








Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Tale of Two Melody Queens




With the many ups and downs, the Mangeshkar sisters have been together in their professional and personal lives. There have been many stories about their rivalries. Lata is the eldest of the three sisters who entered the film industry first. She began singing at mere 14 years of age to support her family after her father died. Being the eldest one, she expected the same seriousness from her younger sister Asha.

Asha as she is, the rule breaker, had craved a different path for herself. 16-year-old Asha eloped with a man named Mr. Ganpatrao Bhosle, who was 31 years old then. In one of her interviews Asha accepted that Lata did not approve of her marriage, “At one time, the relationship was very adversarial and there have been periods of non-communication.”
The professional differences started trickling in when Asha started pursuing a career in playback.Asha Bhosle  made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song "Saawan Aaya" for Hansraj Behl's Chunariya (1948).Her first solo Hindi film song was for the movie Raat Ki Raani (1949).That time Lata esteblished herself with the other great female playback singers like  Geeta Dutt, and Shamshad Begum. Asha used to get the assignments these three singers  refused to sing. Her earliest songs were composed by A R QureshiSajjad Hussain, and Ghulam Mohammed, and most of these songs failed to do well.In 1952 Singing in Sangdil (1952), composed by Sajjad Hussain, she got reasonable recognition. Raj Kapoor signed her to sing "Nanhe Munne Bachche" with Mohammed Rafi  in Boot Polish (1954), which gained popularity. O. P. Nayyar gave Asha a break in CID (1956).but she first achieved success in B. R. Chopra's Naya Daur (1957), composed by him. Her duets with Rafi like "Maang Ke Saath Tumhara", "Saathi Haath Badhana" and "Uden Jab Jab Zulfein Teri", penned by Sahir Ludhianvi, earned her recognition. It was the first time she sang all the songs for a film's leading actress.

From 1957 to 1962  Sachin Dev Burman and his favorite singer, Lata Mangeshkar, were not on good terms. During this period, S D Burman used Asha as his lead female voice. She and Burman gave many hit songs in movies such as Kaala PaniKaala BazaarInsaan Jaag UthaLajwantiSujata and Teen Deviyaan (1965). They recorded many songs together after 1962 as well. Most famous of these songs were Asha's duets with Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. The song "Ab Ke Baras" in Bimal Roy's Bandini (1963) consolidated her position as a lead singer. The seductive song "Raat Akeli Hai" from Jewel Thief (1967), picturised on Tanuja, became very popular.



Lata and Asha Duets-Their first duet was for the film Daaman 1951.
Song from Daaman 1951


Song from Chori Chori 1956


Song from Miss Merry 1957


Song from Jis Desh Mei Ganga Behti Hai (1960)



Song from Professor (1962)


Song from Mere Mehboob (1963)


Song from Jahan Ara 1964


Song from Padosan (1968)


Song from Aaye Din Bahar ke' 1966




Friday, 27 October 2017

50 Years Of Jewel Thief


Some films are defined by their repeat value. Thrillers generally don't fall in this category. But “Jewel Thief” is an exception.Jewel Thief is a 1967 spy thriller Released on 27th October exactly 50 years ago. It was produced by Dev Anand's home production, Navketan Films,directed by Vijay Anand.The film stars Dev AnandVyjayantimala and Ashok Kumar in the lead roles. It also features four bond girl-like actresses portrayed by TanujaHelenFaryal and Anju Mahendru.


 The film's basic ethics are drawn from a Hitchcockian model, but Vijay wanted to play by his brother's image as well. So he carved his character in a James Bond mould, somebody who doesn't mind flirting with more than one woman to reach his goal.
The film hangs on the  shoulders of Dev Anand, who played Vinay, mistaken for his supposed lookalike Amar/Prince, the jewel thief.The biggest surprise of the film was the casting of Ashok Kumar against his popular image. 

The film’s complex tale is meticulously plotted, as are the various twists and turns that appear credible despite obvious contrivances. Jewel Thief is also extremely well crafted and nicely paced, and keeps the suspense going for a good part of its running length of around three hours.

 Vyjayanthimala is fine enough as the damsel-in-distress who has her own baggage to deal with. Helen, Faryal and Anju Mahendru effectively do their bits as molls, adding significantly to the eye candy value.

Another highlight of the film was its music SD Burman’s score is hip, lively and contemporary for its time. The songs are extremely well composed, be it the haunting Rula Ke Gaya Sapna Mera, the two romantic duets Aasman Ke Neeche and Dil Pukare or the deftly choreographed club song Baithe Hain Kya Uske Paas.How can we forget the classic song and dance Hothon Pe Aisi Baat Daba ke Chali Ayi and Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara.

The film was a super hit and among the Top 5 films of that year other being Upkar, Ram Aur Shyam and Farz

Songs From JEWEL THIEF 1967














Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Bollywood Actors who were arrested or sent to Jail


Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan may have become the poster boys for Bollywood celebs who have broken the law, but they aren't the only celebs who have had to spend time behind bars. Some of those who have got on the wrong side of the law have served jail time for serious allegations. Unlike today’s film stars Balraj Sahni went to jail for his activism and some times he was released from jail to enable him to attend his film shootings. Madhubala was also a star who was arrested in a case filed by B R chopra.
Sanjay Dut

The actor was arrested and jailed for 16 months between 1994-96 under the TADA (Prevention Act) for illegal possession of firearms. He was sentenced for 5 years for this crime.He was sent to Pune's Yerwada Jail.

Salman Khan


He had many criminal cases linked with his name. From the killing of two black bucks to the hit and run case, Salman Khan visited the police station and courts many times. Recently he got a big relief from the court, but his experiences with criminal cases are not that good.

Shiney Ahuja


He was arrested in 2009, He was accused of raping his 20-year-old maid. He was also accused of molesting his maid a day before this incident. Shiney Ahuja initially denied every accusation, but after the strict actions by police, he confessed his brutal crime. This case put a full stop on his acting career.

John Abraham


He was once booked and imprisoned in a case of rash driving. This incident took place in 2006, where session court sentenced him for 15 days and he was taken into police custody, but later he was granted bail from Bombay high court.

Saif Ali Khan



He was one of the co-accused in black bucks killing case near Jodhpur. He was working with Salman Khan in hum sath sath hein and was booked for killing protected animal.

INDER KUMAR

 IN May 2014, actor Inder Kumar, 41, was arrested for allegedly raping his girlfriend in his Andheri apartment.  The 24-year-old girlfriend, who is a model, told police that Inder Kumar called her to his apartment on the pretext of getting her roles in films, and then raped her for the next two nights.

 FARDEEN KHAN:

He went to jail because he was caught while buying drugs illegally. After spending 5 days in jail, he was bailed

 Monica Bedi


She had a direct connect with underworld don Abu Salem and went to jail for forgery. Both of them were arrested in Portugal ans sent back to India.

Madhubala


The gorgeous actress from 90s was taken into custody when BR Chopra filed a case against her which stated that Madhubala had taken fore signing amount for a movie but she later refused to do the film without returning the money.

Sonali Bendre


She was a victim of religious issues. She got arrested by police as some of the religious people filed a case against her because of posing inappropriately in a magazine cover. Though she had got bail.

AKSHAY KUMAR:

He was booked for Unbuttoning of his trousers by his wife Twinkle publicly at the Lakme Fashion Week landed Akshay in jail for a brief while.

SUNIEL SHETTY

Suniel Shetty too was hauled up in a cheque dishonour case when he was a director of Hyundai Telecom Limited.

Rajpal Yadav


Rajpal Yadav was convicted for concealing facts about a 5 crore in a recovery suit against him and his wife by a businessman. The actor was in custody for 10 days. We never expected this comic legend to indulge in criminal act.

Madhur Bhandarkar


In a rather scandalous case,  Director Madhur Bhandarkar was arrested after a struggling actress Preeti Jain accused the director of rape in 2006. Madhur was later granted bail and was relieved by the court on the grounds of unavailable evidence.

Sooraj Pancholi


Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi was arrested in the Jiah Khan suicide case. He was dating model-turned-actress Jiah Khan and was charged with abettment to suicide in her suicide case. Later granted bail,

Vindhu Dara Singh


Vindhu Dara Singh, son of the famous Bollywood actor Dara Singh was caught in a IPL-spot fixing scandal. Vindhu was booked for cheating and forgery. The actor had shot to fame after his stint in Bigg Boss 3. The actor was found to have been betting himself and also aiding the bookies.

Mamta Kulkarni


Mamta along with Vicky Goswami, her husband, was allegedly involved in an international drug racket.

Ankit Tiwari

Ankit Tiwari and his brother Ankur Tiwari were arrested  in a rape case registered against them by a 28-year-old woman in 2014.According to the police, the victim had invited the singer to a party where he allegedly coerced her into consuming alcohol, and sexually assaulted her.

Puru Raaj kumar 


Puru Raajkumar ,son of the late movie icon, Raajkumar. Jaani! was arrested in running  his car over 8 people in Bandra west in 1993, killing 3 of them.  Puru made his debut opposite Karishma Kapoor in the forgettable Bal Brahmachari . He then went on to act in movies like Mission Kashmir, Veer and more recently Action Jackson.

Thursday, 12 October 2017

50 years of FARZ


This film FARZ released on 6th Oct 1967 gave bolllywood the new star Jeetendra,This movie also gave him that Jumping Jack image, something that he put to good use in loads of movies at least till Gulzar gave him an image makeover with Parichay (1972). The birthday song in Farz has become one of the most popular birthday songs (from Hindi films) ever.The film along with its music became super hit.
This was the first hindi film that introduced James Bond type genre in the years to come. Jeetendra plays Agent 116—Gopal—with enthusiastic aplomb and an Elvis-style pompadour.
Gopal is assigned to the case by the head of CID (David) after his previous Agent (303) is killed on the job, On the way to his new assignment he is seated next to the lovely Sunita (Babita), and he wastes no time in showering her with insincere compliments too. 

Sunita's father Damodar (Sajjan) killed Agent 303.Gopal discovers when he tracks down 303’s pictures, which include a shot of Damodar’s license plate. Gopal follows the car one evening and is shocked when Sunita gets out of it. Gopal continues to romance Sunita and attends her birthday party where he sings the aforementioned Birthday Song “Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye” 
Gopal tells Sunita the truth about her beloved father. Gopal’s job of course is to find out who the big guys behind Damodar actually are.On following Agent 303 sister Kamla who was looking for her brother's murderer who thinks that Gopal was the murderer.

 Kamla seductively dances and mix some intoxicant pill in his drink which overlooked by 116, and acted as drank and eventually senseless. Goons take him to their secret den in city outskirts,In the den, 116 captures one of the goon leaders and forced him to reveal some information.Here he comes to know the Chinese conspiracy to destabilize the nation and accommodated by traitors inside, led by a person wearing Mao uniform named Supremo who only speaks a few broken English sentences. Rest of the movie follows the 116's efforts to thwart a foreign conspiracy against India.

Farz was a Super Hit film of 1967,its music was also super hit,the film gave two stars to Bollywood Jeetendra and Babita
Song from Farz 1967