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)

Bharat Bhushan - The Actor Who Gave Many Musical Hits

Bharat Bhushan,he  may have never been a swashbuckling hero, but he was just right as the sensitive, suffering poet-musician in several hit musicals in the fifties and sixties.He came well before Dilp Kumar,Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor ,was not as popular as the trio but, was a hit hero.Remember the films Baiju Bawra, Mirza Ghalib, Basant Bahar, Kavi Kalidas, Barsaat Ki Raat and Sangeet Samraat Tansen where he portrayed an artist who was at odds with a cruel world but still retained a song on his lips.
Bharat Bhushan was born on 14 June 1920 Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.He began his career in his early forties with a supporting role in the controversial Chitralekha (1941). He had to struggle for over a decade to make a mark in Hindi movies till Baiju Bawra (1952), which gave him instant stardom and legendary status along with Mohammad Rafi, Meena Kumari and Naushad Ali.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1953), for which Bhushan bagged the Filmfare Best Actor Award,Sohrab Modi's Mirza Ghalib (1954) saw Bhushan playing a poet (the eponymous Ghalib) whose wife and lover were played by Nigar Sultana and Suraiya respectively; in Basant Bahar (1956), he played a singer once again.
His list of leading ladies included Meena Kumari, Nargis and Nutan. His well-liked pairing with Madhubala began with his cameo in the Madhubala-centric Gateway Of India, escalated with the success of the musical, Phagun, and reached its peak with Barsaat Ki Raat. 
The 1960s began well for Bhushan with Barsaat Ki Raat and the ensemble hit, Ghunghat (opposite Bina Rai), but there were several younger heroes on the scene now. In 1964, his ambitious colour starrers like Jahan Ara (opposite Mala Sinha) and Dooj Ka Chand (opposite B Saroja Devi) failed.He incurred heavy losses, he had to sell his properties and even cars to clear his debts.

He swiched to character roles,his stint as the older man began on a hopeful note with Rajshri's Taqdeer (1967), but the film failed.He played father role of Shashi Kapoor in Pyar Ka Mausam (1969) In the 70s and 80s hewas reduced to accepting minor roles till he died ln 1992

Song of Baiju Bawra 1952

Song of Baiju Bawra 1952

Song

Song of Mirz Ghalib 1954

Song of Basant Bahar

Song of Barsaat Ki Raat 1960

Song of  Sangeet Samraat Tansen 1962

Once Indian Cinema was ruled by the Jews

These days for the past 2 months I am in Australia and watching a lot of T V programmes. A few days ago I heard about Danny Ben Moshe,  a documentary filmmaker and an Associate Professor at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. He has an interest in studying the Jew community in various trades and settling in various part of Globe. He also came to India to make a documentary on Jews contribution to Indian Cinema. 
On this subject, I wrote a blog in July 2017 on the occasion of Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to Israel. In continuation of this subject, I am writing another blog on this subject.
We all know that Jewish people are a very innovative and enterprising community. They were the first to make a studio and made cinema in Hollywood. In India also they entered into the Cinema industry. Initially, they financed Silent Cinema but later they entered into the other fields of cinema.
The ‘30s were a key decade for Indian cinema. Sound — and the dancing format that has characterized Bollywood ever since — was introduced in 1931 with “Alam Ara,” written by Indian Jewish playwright David Joseph Penkar. In 1932, another Indian Jew, Ezra Mir (born Edwin Myers), created a sensation with “Zarina,” which included a record 86 kiss scenes.
 The Jewish were active in Bollywood during the period – the ’30s and the ’40s – when anti-Semitism was at its peak in other parts of the world.

Arati-Devi-AKA-Rachel-Sofare-in-Life-Devine

 In the early days of Bollywood,  it was a taboo for Hindu and Muslim women to act in movies. so initially female roles were played by men, the Jewish community in India was more liberal and progressive and they were prepared to take these role[s]. The fact that they had lighter skin made them all the more suited for celluloid. Initially, the cinema was silent so it was easy for the Jewish ladies to play the female lead as the language was not a barrier to them. They couldn't speak Hindi or Urdu.
During the silent era, most of India’s film stars were Jewish. But barring a few, they could not continue with their successful careers once the talkies were introduced as they were incapable of delivering dialogues in Hindi because of their Anglicised upbringing.
While in the early days of Hollywood the Jewish influence was behind the camera, in India it was front-and-centre onscreen.

The first female superstar was the Jewish actress Sulochana (aka Ruby Myers), and she and other Jewish stars had a formative impact on the development of Indian cinema. In her heyday, she was the highest paid actresses of her times, when she was pairing with, 'DinshawBillimoria' in 'Imperial Studios' films. In 1930, Sulochana made headlines when filmgoers saw her do a protracted kissing scene in the film “Hamara Hindustan." In mid-1930 she opened 'RubiPics', a film production House.

Among her popular films were Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927) and Wildcat of Bombay (1927) where she essayed eight roles including a gardener, a policeman, a Hyderabadi gentleman, a street urchin, a banana seller and a European blonde! In 1953, she acted in her third Anarkali, but this time in a supporting role as Salim's mother. She received the Dada Sahab Phalke Award in 1973 for her lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. She died in 1983.
Sulochana was joined by other Indian Jewish actresses. Miss Rose, nee Rose Ezra, had endured a divorce and financial difficulties before finding silent-screen success in the 1920s. Rose’s cousin Pramila, who was born Esther Victoria Abraham, began her long career in the 1930s. Sulochana and Pramila would go on to become producers as well.

In the 40s another heroine made the name, Ramala Devi was born as Rachel Cohen. She is known for her work on Hit film Khazanchi (1941) where she appeared in the famous cycling song Saawan Ke Nazaare Hain. , one of her famous movies was Hum Bhi Insaan Hain (1948) with Dev Anand and. Jhooti Kasmen (1948). And as was the fashion with famous film stars of the time, she endorsed Lux soap in the 1940s. 

Post-independence Jewish Indian star Nadira was born Florence (or Farhat) Ezekiel Nadira, and debuted as Princess Rajshree in the 1952 film “Aan.”
In 1955, she played a rich socialite named Maya in Shree 420. She played pivotal roles in a number of films such as "Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai", Hanste Zakhm, Amar Akbar Anthony and Pakeezah. She was often cast as a temptress or vamp and played opposite the chaste heroines then favoured by the Bollywood film industry. She was well paid for her efforts and was one of the first Indian actresses to own a Rolls-Royce. She won a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress, her role as Julie's mother Margaret, 'Maggie', in the 1975 film Julie. During the 1980s and 1990s, she entered a new phase of her career, playing elderly women as a supporting actress. Her last role was in the film Josh (2000). She died at the age of 73 at the Bhatia Hospital at Tardeo, Mumbai,

David Abraham Cheulkar (1908 - 1981), popularly known as David was a Jewish-Indian Hindi-language film actor, who started his film career with 1941 film Naya Sansar and went on to act in over 110 films. He was a member of Mumbai's Bene Israel community. With the help of his close friend Mr Nayampalli, a veteran character actor, he managed to land himself his first role in a movie. The movie was Zambo (1937) it was being produced and directed by Mohan Bhavnani. Beside Character actor   David is best known for his portrayal of "John Chacha" in the 1954 hit and Filmfare Award for Best Film winner and Palme d'Or nominee, Boot Polish, directed by Prakash Arora, for which he won the 1955 Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award. The song "Nanhe Munne Bachche" from the film, picturized with him became a memorable song of that era. David was one of the best and the well-known anchor, compare and the host of the prominent award shows and other functions, He hosted many Filmfare Awards in the early years of Filmfare Awards. Some of his memorable films were  Anupama (1966),Ek Phool Do Maali (1969), Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke (1975), Gol Maal (1979) and Khubsoorat (1980).He was awarded the Padma Shri award in 1969 by Government of India, He died on 28 December 1981 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada of a heart attack at the age of 73.

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).

The Magic of Nargis-Raj Kapoor,

When you think of Raj Kapoor-Nargis, the first thought that comes to your mind is their evergreen songs that spoke of love in the rain (Pyar hua ikraar hua hai), of romance in the moonlit nights (Aaja sanam madhur chandni mein hum), of dreams and aspirations (Ghar aaya mera pardesi), of ecstasy (Dum bhar jo udhar moonh phere), of agony (Raja ki aayegi baraat)  
Nargis and Raj Kapoor together gave a new dimension to mainstream cinema, capturing the imagination of audiences not just in India but across the globe.  Nargis was the star, a bigger star than RK in terms of box-office popularity. 
Raj Kapoor wanted to sign Nargis for Aag. He knew Nargis was the bigger star attraction. She would pull in the crowds but Jaddan Bai( Nargis's mother) was not keen for her daughter to work in a three-heroine subject with Kamini Kaushal and Nigar Sultana sharing screen space with her. Raj Kapoor told Jaddan Bai that he would give the top billing to Nargis. Her brothers convinced their mother to let ‘Baby’ do the film (Nargis was fondly called ‘Baby’ by her friends and family). Ultimately she did get top billing in Aag, Raj Kapoor worked a lot on Nargis’ appearance in Aag. She got her hair shortened and got special makeup done on her face,
Aag signalled the beginning of what would become one of the most impactful screen pairings of all time for Hindi cinema. Barsaat followed a year later, rewriting the way romance would be portrayed on screen from now on.
The runaway success of Barsaat at the box-office, their on-screen chemistry had such an impact that Raj Kapoor used the famous still to modernize the R K Films logo.

From this film, both came closer, the romance of reel life had shifted to real life. Raj Kapoor was married and was already a father made things more complicated. The Kapoor family, including the patriarch Prithviraj Kapoor, did not take kindly to his relationship with Nargis.
By this time they became the heartthrob of the nation. Coincidentally, 1949 also saw Mehboob Khan’s Andaaz, mounted on a grand scale stage a casting coup with the Dilip Kumar-Nargis-Raj Kapoor combine. Mehboob Khan had handled the triangle very deftly. Raj Kapoor played the role of a lover had a far-reaching impact on the audience.
Their romance was at its peak during the making of Awara. The film was released in 1951 which was a super hit. Raj Kapoor and Nargis had caught the fascination of the youth in a way no other screen couple had done before. Young men and women imitated their style, attitude and dress sense and hummed their songs. 
Raj Kapoor and Nargis did 16 films together, etching out an indelible saga of love and romance on screen. Jagte Raho (1956) remains their last film together. The spectacular impact that Nargis makes with her appearance in the final part with ‘Jaago, Mohan Pyare Jaago’, is unparalleled. 

Song of Aag 1948

Song of Barsaat 1949

Song of Andaz 1949

Song of Awara 1951

Song of Aah 1953

Song of Shree 420 1955

Song of Chori Chori (1956)

Raj Khosla- A director with a fantastic ear for music

Raj Khosla ( 31 May 1925 – 9 June 1991) who came to Bombay to become a singer but he became an ace Director of the Golden Era. In his autobiography, Romancing With Life, Dev Anand mentions meeting a wannabe singer, Raj Khosla at a coffee joint around Mumbai's Flora Fountain. Dev Anand helped him and gave him a job of an assistant to Guru Dutt for the Navketan film Baazi 1951. It was to be the beginning of a very productive film career. He assisted Guru Dutt in his subsequent films. 
Khosla would soon make his debut with Milap (1955). Contrary to his training, his first film was a story about a country bumpkin (Dev Anand, naturally) who comes into a fortune and does not know what to do with it. While the film was a flop, it had glimpses of Khosla's craftsmanship and a fine ear for music. One he would put to great use over his next films.

Guru Dutt who was producing CID (1956), had the confidence of Raj Khosla's capabilities gave Raj Khosla another chance of directing the film. The film starring Dev Anand was a hit After this came  Kala Pani (1958), Solva Saal (1958), Bombai Ka Babu (1960). Of these, C.I.D. is the perfect example of the template that would become Khosla's signature style.
His early background in classical music ensured that most of his films excelled in music. Art of picturising a song he learned from Guru Dutt. In most of his films, he would have at least a song based on folk tune e.g. C.I.D., Bambai Ka Babu, Solva Saal, Mera Saaya, Do Raaste, Mera Gaon Mera Desh to name a few. 
Despite his traditionality in sticking to the formulaic tropes of the noir genre, Khosla added a uniquely Indian touch to it through music. A director with a fantastic ear for music, his films are remembered for their memorable musical scores. SD Burman, OP Nayyar, even RD Burman (who played the harmonica in 'Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara' in Solva Saal) benefitted with the nuanced picturisation of their songs by Khosla.

After Bombai Ka Babu(1960) he directed Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962).It was a musical film which was again a hit. After that, he directed suspense thrillers (Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), Mera Saaya (1966), Anita (1967) – his mystery trilogy with actress Sadhana), melodramas (Do Badan (1966), Do Raaste(1969)) or dacoit dramas (Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) .He also had hits like Prem Kahani (1975) starring the then hottest pair of the day Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz, Nehle Pe Dehla (1976) andMain Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). One common factor of all these films was its hit music 
After enjoying big hits like Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978) and Dostana (1980) with Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman and Shatrughan Sinha, Khosla ran into some rough weather as his other films started flopping. A dispirited Khosla took refuge in alcohol and died in Mumbai on 9 June 1991, totally disillusioned with the film industry.

Song of Milap 1955

Song of CID (1956)

Song of Kala Pani (1958)

Song of Solva Saal (1958)

Song of Bombai Ka Babu (1960)

Song of Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962)

Song of Woh Kaun Thi? (1964)

Song of Mera Saaya (1966)

Song of Do Badan (1966)

Song of Do Raaste(1969)

Song of Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971)

When Dilip Kumar Sang his own Song

Not many of us know that Dilip Kumar was a very good singer. Many die-hard fans of the maestro still might not have the information about the one instance wherein he actually rendered a classical song in an unbelievable manner in the late 50s. It was a duet with Lata Mangeshkar that too in semi-classical.
It was Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s first film( Musafir 1957) as a director after working with Bimal Roy as an editor and also the first Hindi film for the comedian Keshto Mukherjee. Besides it had a fabulously talented team working together, with Salil Choudhary as the music director, Ritwik Ghatak as a scriptwriter (along with Hrishi Da), dialogues by Rajendra Singh Bedi and lyrics by Shailendra. Written (story), produced and directed by Hrishi Da the film had Suchitra Sen, Durga Khote, Nirupa Roy, Kishore Kumar, Nazir Hussain, David and more playing the key roles.

Since 50s Mohammad Rafi had become the screen voice of Dilip Kumar but Salil Chaudhary wanted someone else to sing this particular song  “Laagi Naahin Chhootey, Chahey Jiya Jaaye” .One day Salil Chaudhary heard Dilip Kumar humming something in his own mood, Salil Da liked it and decided that this song be recorded in Dilip's own voice. It was a Raga based song and a duet with none other than Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar was reluctant to give his voice but agreed because of the respect felt for the maestro Salil Da.

It is said that Lata Mangeshkar was initially not agreeable, she wanted some professional singer to sing with her but Salil Da insisted that Dilip Kumar would sing this song.

Dilip Kumar performed the song confidently and the rendition really came out to be a truly touching one with great depth and feel, as if it had been sung by a trained classical exponent with perfection.

It is quite astonishing that Dilip Kumar never sang for himself for subsequent films. His singing voice is so soft and mellifluous – somewhere between Talat Mehmood & K.L. Saigal Saab, In fact, you would feel that Mohammad Rafi is singing. Later in 80s, he sang a few lines in Sagina with Kishore Kumar and In Karma.

Song of Musafir 1957