Guru Dutt-The Maker of Commercial Films with Artistic Flvour

Guru Dutt was a part of the exclusive school of Indian cinema -- the likes of Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan and Bimal Roy, which were always a healthy blend of artistic and commercial elements between mid '50s and '60s.
He is most famous for making brilliant lyrical and artistic films within the context of popular Indian cinema of the 1950s, and expanding its commercial conventions, starting with his 1957 masterpiece, Pyaasa. Several of his later works have a cult following. He was one of the pillars of the a Golden Era of Bollywood. 
Guru Dutt (9th July 1925) was born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone in Bangalore to Shivashankar Rao Padukone and Vasanthi Padukone
Guru Dutt had a tough childhood with financial difficulties, and a strained relationship between his parents.He was a good student, but never went to college, partly because of financial troubles at home. Instead, he joined the performing arts troupe of Uday Shankar.
He joined his parents in Mumbai in 1944. Dutt's uncle found him a job under a three-year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Pune the same year. It is here that Guru Dutt met two people who would remain his good friends -- actors Rehman and Dev Anand.y
Guru Dutt acted in a small role as Sri Krishna in Chand in 1944. In 1945, he acted as well as assisted director Vishram Bedekar in Lakhrani, and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for P.L. Santoshi's film, Hum Ek Hain.

Guru Dutt developed a flair for writing in English, and wrote short stories for The Illustrated Weekly of India, a local weekly English magazine.
It is during this time that he is supposed to have written the script for the almost autobiographical Pyaasa.
After Prabhat failed in 1947, Dutt moved to Bombay, where he worked with two leading directors of the time, with Amiya Chakravarty in Girl's School, and with Gyan Mukherjee in the Bombay Talkies film Sangram. Then, Dev Anand offered him a job as a director in his new company, Navketan, after the first movie had flopped.
Thus, Guru Dutt's first film, Navketan's Baazi, was released in 1951.

He made the quintessential 1950-'60s classics such as Kaagaz Ke Phool, Pyaasa, Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam and Chaudhvi Ka Chaand.

His movies go full house when re-released; especially in Germany, France and Japan. Today, no world cinema class is complete without inclusion of Guru Dutt. Pyaasa was rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine.

Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) was an intense disappointment. He had invested a great deal of love, money, and energy in this film, which was a self-absorbed tale of a famous director (played by Guru Dutt) who falls in love with an actress (played by Waheeda Rehman, Dutt's real-life love interest). Kaagaz Ke Phool failed at the box office and Dutt was devastated. Though he produced 2 films after that Chaudhvi Ka Chand and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, both the films recovered his loses but he never recovered from his mental state.he was not on good terms with his wife, Geeta Dutt; Waheeda Rehman had distanced with him. There was sleeping trouble that had him taking sleeping aid, and he was drinking since 5 pm that evening. Suicide or a lethal dose -- it was a loss to Indian cinema industry? 

On October 10, 1964, Guru Dutt was found dead in his bed in his rented apartment at Pedder Road in Bombay. He is said to have been mixing alcohol and sleeping pills. His death may have been suicide, or just an accidental overdose.

Song of Jaal 1952

Song of Baazi 1951

Song of Aar Paar1954

Song of C I D 1956

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Song of Kagaz ke Phool 1958

Song of Chaudhvi Ka Chand 1960

Song of Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam  1963

Chetan Anand -An Unlucky Film Maker

The eldest of three brothers in the Hindi film industry (the younger ones being Dev and Vijay), Chetan Anand graduated in English from Lahore’s Government Law College. He worked with the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, and also taught at Doon School in Dehradun before moving to Mumbai in the 1940s with a script for a biographical movie on emperor Ashoka. While the film didn’t take off,but he was given the lead role in a film by Phani Mazumdar Rajkumar in 1944.
Unfortunately this film never released. Both of his attempt did not see the light of the day.
Anand then got involved with the Indian People’s Theatre Association writing plays for them,here too he did not get success. He was later offered to direct a film written by K A Abbas and produced by Rashid Anwar.
One of the most underrated films of its time, Neecha Nagar never saw the light of the day in our own country. Ironically, this film was never released in the country but it went on to win the top honor at Cannes.
After this film he was not offered any film,he wasj jobless for few years.In the mean time his younger brother Dev Anand established himself as an actor with the hit film Ziddi in 1948.
Seeing his elder brother depressed Dev Anand decided to start their own film company.Afsar, starring Dev Anand and Suraiya, was the first film made by Navketan, which turned out to be a moderate success. It was followed by Taxi Driver and Andhiyan, both of which he directed for the Navketan banner.
After this film he directed Andhiyan  with Dev Anand which was again a flop.it was in 1954 when he got success as a director with the release of Taxi Driver.
While he made his reputation as a director, Chetan Anand kept on acting too occasionally. He appeared in Humsafar made in 1957. In 1957 he directed two movies Arpan and Anjali, in which he played lead roles too. He went on to act in Kala Bazar, Kinare-Kinare, Aman, Kanch Aur Heera and Hindustan Ki Kasam, which he directed too.
In 1957 he directed two movies Arpan and Anjali outside of Navketan but both the films flopped.once again he could not get any film till he got Kinare-Kinare Kinare-Kinare in 1963.
Later on Chetan Anand started his own production banner called Himalaya films and teamed up with photographer Jal Mistry, music director Madan Mohan, lyrics writer Kaifi Azmi and actress Priya Rajvansh. Together they gave some of most memorable and unique films in Hindi cinema like Haqeeqat, Heer Raanjha, Hanste Zakhm, and Hindustan Ki Kasam.
Chetan Anand remained an underrated director though he gave some of the great films .He died on 6 July 1997, at the age of 76 in Mumbai.

Song of Neecha Nagar 1946

Song of Afsar 1950

Song of Aandhiyan 1953

Song of Taxi Driver 1954

Song of Funtoosh 1956

Song of Kinare-Kinare Kinare 1960

Song of Haqeekat 1964

Song of Heer Ranjha 1970

Song of Hanste Zakhm1973

The Story Behind the Song "Rim Jhim Ke Tarane Lekar Aayi Barsat"

This song of Kala Bazar (1960) was picturised on Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman sung by Mohammad Rafi and Geeta Dutt.The song was written by Shailendra and the music was given by S D Brman.
The song became the most iconic rain song and is spontaneously remembered with the pitter-patter of rain. It catches the mood perfectly, the rhythm of falling rain drops and the romance.
It is the first time ever any duet was picturised in background. Thanks to the genius of Barman Dada who insisted that this should be played in background.
The Director of the film was Vijay Anand who was a master of picturising songs.He was picturising this song on the hero and heroine but Sachin Da told him that instead of singing this song should be played in the background. 
Vijay Anand in an interview said that SD Burman was very perceptive about the power and impact of the medium of films and took a keen interest in understanding the situation of a song and its context in the landscape of the entire movie.
The situation was that Waheeda Rehman is standing at the bus stand. Most people here are holding an umbrella each because it is raining. Only Dev Anand is holding a newspaper over his head. He calls a cab. Both he and Waheeda Rehman approach the stopped cab. When they reach it, they see and recognize each other. Within that moment an old woman enters the cab and leaves with it.
Waheeda Rehman wears a dark sari with a light colored blouse, while Dev Anand is wearing a dark kurta pyjama. She had closed the umbrella while approaching the cab. Now both are getting wet. So Dev Anand tells her to open the umbrella and she tells him to come under it too. They try to catch another taxi when it is taken by somebody else.
Suddenly, the camera shoots the sea with the playful waves hitting the large rocks on the shore. The playful nature of the waves represents the mood of the song that is to follow. The song begins. They feel the song in their hearts. They remember all the things that had happened to them together in the past. During the entire song, they are walking on the street. The song abruptly ends, when they reach Dev Anand’s home.

Sachin Da used to experiment a lot, not only during composition of his songs but during background music as well, at times putting his reputation at stake. Sometimes, he faced opposition but stood firm, the skeptical falling in line when the experiment succeeded.The picturised version of the song is less than two minutes long. but it gave an excellent impact in the film.This picturisation happened, and what an eye candy this picturisation was Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman,

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Amit Kumar,- The Tree that grew under a huge Banyan Tree

Amit Kumar ( 3rd July 1953),son of the great Kishore Kumar like his father a versatile man.He is a living document of Hindi film music of nearly four decades. He has his own style of singing,he never tried to imitate his father.
With a breezy and refreshing style of his own, Amit could never escape being compared with his father: that's not unusual for any celebrity child. But Amit handled it with élan. He was never intimidated by him. He was an extremely talented musician, but he groomed him. He was the one who taught him how to hold the microphone. He showed him the way;He learnt how to walk much later,Amit remembers warmly. “He was the greatest part of my life. I, as a son who loved him very dearly, studied him closely for 35 years,” he adds. “Under a huge banyan tree, it's a struggle for anything else to grow. I never sounded like my father and I couldn't have. We are two different musical minds.”
Like his father, Amit started singing from an early age and he used to sing at Durga Pooja festivals in Calcutta. At one such function arranged by a Bengali actor named Uttam Kumar, the audience continued requesting encores. While his mother complained that he was singing "filmy" songs, his father decided to bring him to Bombay.
Music Director R D Burman took him the 1976 film Balika Badha, the song"Bade Achchhe Lagte Hain", by which he attained national fame.
His duets with his father, such as "Haseeno Ke Chakkar Mein" from Deewangee in 1976, "Nazar Lage Na Saathiyo" from Des Pardes in 1978 and "Sun Chache Bol" from Badthi Ka Naam Dadhi in 1974 became popular.
He sang in various films, including Aandhi, Aap Ke Deewane, Khatta Meetha, Gol Maal, Des Pardes, Ganga Ki Saugandh, Deewanagi (1976), Duniya Meri Jeb Mein, Parvarish, Humare Tumhare (1979) and Baton Baton Mein. The duets he sang with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle became famous in this period.
He was at his peak in the 1980s when he gave many hits. In 1980, Amit Kumar sang "Laila o Laila" for Qurbani. This song was named the sixth most-popular film song of 1980 by Binaca Geetmala.Then Amit sang all the songs for the 1981 film Love Story and won a Filmfare Award for the duet "Yaad Aa Rahi Hai" with Mangeshkar.
He became the voice of Kumar Gaurav in the 1980s and their combination gave many hit songs from films such as Romance (1983), Teri Kasam, Lovers (1983), All-rounder and a telefilm -Janam.
Amit Kumar sang for almost all music directors and actors in the 1980s, and was the second-most preferred male playback singer in Hindi films, after his father Kishore Kumar. Among music directors, Amit Kumar was used maximum by R D Burman from 1975 to 1994 and by Bappi Lahirifrom 1983 to 1995.In fact after the death of R D he lost interest in singing in Bollywood. He withdrew himself from the film industry. Kumar started undertaking more live stage performances in various parts of the world since 1996.
Amit Kumar acted in several films directed by and starring his father, which were Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964), Door Ka Raahi (1971), Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi (1974), Shabhash Daddy (1979) and Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi (1982). In 1989, he made his last film appearance in his father's incomplete film Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein, which starred himself, his stepmother Leena Chandavarkar and Rajesh Khanna. After his father's death in 1987, he took over as director and completed the film for release in 1989. In his long career in film he acted in a Bengali film namely "Gayak". In this film the name of his character was Amit and it was of a struggling singer. He sang a number of songs for this film under the direction of Rabin Banerjee. 

Song of Balika Badhu 1976

Song of Deewangee 1976,

Song of Des Pardes1978,

Song of Qurbani 1980

Song of Love Story 1981

Abrar Alvi- The man who wrote many classics of Bollywood

In Ten years with Guru Dutt, Abrar Alvi takes us on his nostalgic journey from how he, a simple driver/chaperone became one of the most famous writers in Hindi cinema. The decade of 1953 to 1964 shaped Abrar's life with the exposure to the finest nuances of cinema making he learned from Guru Dutt and how he amazingly belted out dialogues/scripts for the classics like Aar Paar, Mr & Mrs 55, Pyaasa, Kagaz ke Phool to name a few.
He has also directed a single movie in his career for filmmaker Guru Dutt — it’s the classic ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’ released in 1962, which won President’s Silver Medal for best feature film in Hindi and Filmfare best director award. He lived most of his life as Guru Dutt’s resident writer.

He first met Guru Dutt during the shooting of Baaz in 1953 when Guru Dutt was having problems with a scene in the movie .Abrar Alvi suggested his opinion for that scene. Guru Dutt was so impressed that he invited Abrar to write Aar-Paar, after which Abrar became an integral part of the Guru Dutt team. 
There was a controversy emerged after the successful release of Sahib Biwi Aur Gulam in 1963 that who was the real director of the movie, However, Guru Dutt never denied Abrar Alvi's role in the film, nor did he make any counter-claims when Alvi won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film. Abrar Alvi has stated that Guru Dutt did direct the songs in the film, but not the film in its entirety. The editor of the film Y.G. Chawan says that for the film, it was Abrar who sat with him. 
After this controversy ,Abrar, however, continued to pen screenplay and dialogue for several movies, some of these were hits, such as Baharen Phir Bhi Ayengi,Professor, Suraj, Sungharsh, Saathi,Prince etc.

He also acted in Laila Majnu (1976) and 12 O’Clock (1958).

Abrar Alvi died due to a stomach complication on 18th November 2009 in Mumbai at the age of 82. He is still remembered for his simple and clear dialogues in Indian Cinema.

Song of Aar Paar 1954

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Song of Kagaz Ke Phool 1959

Song of Chaudvin Ka Chand 1959

Song of Sahib Biwi Aur  Gulam 1962

R D Burman and Asha Bhonsle - A Jodi that Gave Us Memorable and Melodious songs

Though they both were completely different from each other, came from different backgrounds, and had a considerable age gap, these two legends of the Bollywood music industry, fell in love, in the course of creating memorable and melodious songs for us.
Music brought them closer,her voice and his music were just made for each other. They created foot tapping, heart pounding, and even endearing melodies together, which stay in our hearts even now, so many years after their releases.
Asha Bhosle first met RD Burman in 1956, she was an experienced playback singer, and R D Burman the teenage son of a legendary composer. Ten years later, they would collaborate on their first film, Teesri Manzil. From this film started a creative and romantic partnership that revolutionised Hindi Film Music. 
After Teesri Manzil both sang together a song in 1970 film The Train,Meri Jaan Maine Kaha which became hit.Asha Bhosle and R D Burman created nostalgia from Dum Maro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna.The same year released Caravan,it's song Piya Tu Ab To Aaja became a cult song of this Jodi.

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Asha and R.D. tied the knot in the year 1980, and it was much evident, that these two lost souls had finally found the notes to complete their unfinished song of love. Their varying tastes, the criticism of people due to Asha being 6 years elder, nothing mattered to them. The only thing that mattered was their unending love for each other that lasted till the last breath of Pancham Da. 

Song of Teesri Manzil 1966

Song of Teesri Manzil 

Song of The Train 1970

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Apna Desh 1971

Song of Caravan 1971

Song of Jawani Diwani 1973

Song of Sholay 1975