Rekha - A Rare Blend of Beauty and Talent

Almost completing 50 years in Bollywood, Rekha when came to Bollywood, was 16years old,  a dusky, obese with a 33-inch waist. No one that time could believe that one day she will become a glamour icon of Bollywood.
On the premiere of Sawan Bhadon in 1970,  Shashi Kapoor uttered in disbelief, "How is this dark, plump and gauche actress ever going to make it?" But as the film released to the public, she became a hit and called the Sex Bomb. Sawan Bhadon was released in 1970 and celebrated a jubilee run in 34 centers across the country including Chennai. And Rekha signed 18 films in a week.
She appeared in several commercially successful films at the time, including Rampur Ka Lakshman (1972) opposite Randhir  Kapoor, Kahani Kismat Ki (1973) opposite Dharmendra, Namak Haram opposite Rajesh Khanna and Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974) opposite Sunil Dutt, yet she was not regarded for her acting abilities. 
Rekha ( Born on10th Oct 1954) appeared as a child (credited as Baby Bhanurekha) in the Telugu film Rangula Ratnam (1966)..Her first signed Hindi film was Anjana Safar. but Sawan Bhadon released first. Despite the success of the film, she was often scorned for her looks. She subsequently got several offers but nothing of substance, as her roles were mostly just of a glamour girl.
Rekha recalls that the way she was perceived at that time motivated her to change her appearance and improve her choice of roles: "I was called the ‘Ugly Duckling’ of Hindi films because of my dark complexion and South Indian features. I used to feel deeply hurt when people compared me with the leading heroines of the time and said I was no match for them. I was determined to make it big on sheer merit.
It was in 1974 Rekha began her lifelong obsession with her mirror. Slowly picking up the tricks of make-up, she lost weight and became svelte Rekha got a meaty role for the first time in Dulal Guha's Do Anjaane (1976), her first film opposite Amitabh Bachchan. She made people sit up with her performance as an ambitious wife who sacrifices love at the altar of ambition. The audience was floored when there was a swift change in her screen personality, as well as her style of acting.
In 1978, with her portrayal of a rape victim in the movie Ghar. a turning point came in her career. The film was considered her first notable milestone, and her performance was applauded by both critics and cine-goers. She received her first nomination for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards.
In that same year, she attained fame with Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, in which she co-starred once again with Amitabh Bachchan. The movie was the biggest hit of that year, as well as one of the biggest hits of the decade, and Rekha was set as one of the most successful actresses of these times.
In 1980, Rekha appeared in the comedy Khubsoorat, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, with whom she had developed a strong father-daughter bond during their previous collaborations. In a role written especially for her, she won her first Best Actress award. for this film.
 In 1981, she starred in Umrao Jaan, Her portrayal is considered to be one of her career-best performances, and she was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actress for it. Now Rekha was no loger a glamourous item but was being approached for challenging roles.
Rekha starred in Ramesh Talwar's family drama Baseraa, which saw her playing a woman who marries her sister's husband after the latter loses her mental balance. She appeared as Sadhna in the commercially successful Ek Hi Bhool (1981), opposite Jeetendra, playing the role of a betrayed wife who leaves her husband. In 1982, she received another Filmfare nomination for Jeevan Dhaara, in which she played a young unmarried woman who is the sole breadwinner of her extended family. In 1983, she took the supporting role of a lawyer in Mujhe Insaaf Chahiye, garnering another Filmfare nomination in the Supporting Actress category.
Shyam Benegal took her in Kalyug (1981), Govind Nihalani's in Vijeta (1982), Girish Karnad's Utsav (1984) and Gulzar's Ijaazat (1987), were few of her films where her performance was appreciated. Apart from parallel cinema, Rekha took on other increasingly serious, even adventurous roles; she was among the early actresses to play lead roles in heroine-oriented films, one such film being Khoon Bhari Maang in 1988. She won her second Filmfare Award for her performance in the film. 
In the 90s most of the actresses of her generation, like Hema Malini and Raakhee, who succumbed to playing character parts, typically of mothers and aunts, Rekha was still playing leading roles at a time when younger female stars rose to fame. Rekha retained success with her starring role as Namrata Singh, a young woman who joins the police force to avenge her husband's death in K. C. Bokadia's Phool Bane Angaray (1991). The film was a box-office hit and Rekha received a Best Actress nomination at Filmfare for her work.
In 1996 she did,  her first negative role as Madam Maya, a vicious gangster woman running a secret business of illegal wrestling matches in the US, who, during the course of the film, romances the much younger Akshay Kumar. Her portrayal earned her several awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Star Screen Award for Best Villain in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi.
In the 2000s, Rekha appeared in relatively few movies. In Rakesh Roshan's science-fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya, Rekha played Sonia Mehra, a single mother to a developmentally disabled young man, played by Hrithik Roshan. The movie was a financial and critical success and became the most popular film of the year; Rekha received another Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Filmfare for her performance, 
From the giggling village belle in Saawan Bhadon to one of the country's reigning actresses, Rekha has come a long way. A  Well, known critic Omar Qureshi once said, "the term diva (in India) was coined for Rekha".

Song Sawan Bhadon 1970

Song of Rampur Ka Laxman 1972

Song of Kahani Kismat Ki (1973)

Song of Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye 1974

Song of Do Anjaane (1976)

Song of Ghar 1978

Song of Mukkadar Ka Sikandar 1978

Song of  Khoobsurat 1980

Song of Umrao Jaan 1981

Song of Ijajat 1987

Beghum Akhtar - Deewana Banana Hai to Deewana Bana De

Her first public performance was at the age of fifteen.  Her first recording was done by the Megaphone Record Company at the age of Fifteen. The famous poet Sarojini Naidu appreciated her singing during a concert that was organized in the aid of victims of the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake.
Her most intoxicating composition was  Deewana Banana Hai to Deewana Bana De. It contained a captivating effervescence maddening her listeners.
She had an endless reservoir of Ghazals as she developed a deep understanding of literary nuances of Ghazals by great Urdu poets like Ghalib, Jigar, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Kaifi Azmi, Shakeel Badauni and Hasrat Jaipuri that were introduced to her by her husband Abbasi Sahib, who was a Barrister by profession.
She also acted in a few Hindi films She was signed by East India Film Company as a singing actor. Her first film was East India Film Company’s ‘Ek Din Ka Baadshah’ (1933). This was followed by ‘Nal Damyanti’ (1933), ‘Mumtaz Begum’ (1934), ‘Roop Kumari’ (1934), ‘Ameena’ (1934), ‘Jawani Ka Nasha’ (1935), ‘Naseeb Ka Chakkar’ (1936) etc.. In all these films, she sang all her songs herself. 
After staying at Bombay for a few years she came back to Lucknow, where she was approached by the famous producer-director Mehboob Khan, to act in Roti which was released in 1942 and whose music was composed by the maestro Anil Biswas.
Begum Akhtar was India’s most refined Ghazal performer, who was honored by the titles like; Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals). She bestowed an inimitable style of singing and performed mostly self-composed masterpieces like “Woh Jo Humme Tumme Quarar Tha” and the Dadras like “Hamri Atarya Pe Aao Sanwarya Deikha Deikhi Balam Hui Jaey” and “Cha Rahi Kari Ghata, Jiya Mora Laharaye Hai” and many more.
Begum Akhtar was persuaded by Madan Mohan, a famous music director to sing in two movies "Daana Paani" (1953) and "Ehsaan" (1954). The songs "Aye Ishq Mujhe Aur to Kuch Yaad" and "Hamein Dil Mein Basa Bhi Lo" were absolutely melodious and were liked by one and all. Her last movie stint was that of a classical singer in Satyajit Ray's film "Jalsa Ghar".
Begum Akhtar performed last in a concert in Ahmedabad. That day she felt that her voice was not up to the mark and raised her pitch. This put much stress on her and her health deteriorated. The situation became critical and she had to be rushed to the hospital. She breathed her last on 30th October 1974,

Deewana Banana Hai to Deewana Bana De

Ae Mohabbat Tere Naam Ko

Mere Humnafas

Woh Jo Humne Tumhe

Dil Se Teri Nigah

Hamri Ataria Pe Aao

The Fans and Admirers of DevAnand

Dev Anand was among the few Bollywood Stars who was admired and inspiration to generations. His fan following is still intact. There are millions of his fans all across the globe. There are many fan clubs all over the world organize musical programmes and photo exhibitions on his Birth Anniversary or Death Anniversary. He is among the top Bollywood heroes having the maximum number of Groups or Pages in Social media.
Writing in the Preface of his Autobiography Dev Anand says that he used to receive a lot of fan mail every day. One of his fans wrote him 3720 letters in a hope of one-day receiving a reply from me. 

Dev Anand also had admirers in various fields of life, lawyers, doctors, judges, and politicians. Pt Jawaharlal Nehru was his admirer, V.K Krishna Menon, the first defense minister of India, was also his admirer, Atal Bihar Van payee ji L.K Advani and leaders cutting across all political parties Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray was also his admirer. Dev Anand knew the Shiv Sena Supremo, Balasaheb Thackeray when he was a junior cartoonist working with the Free Press Journal drawing a salary of hundred and fifty rupees and called him “Bal”. When Thackeray was at his peak,he invited him to his house  “Matoshri”. Dev was given a red carpet welcome with the entire Thackeray family present to welcome him. Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Prime Minister is also his admirer.

Some of the biggest stars of that era  were his unabashed fans. Stars like Sunil Dutt,Dharmendra Shammi Kapoor,Shashi Kapoor were his admirers. Jackie Shroff,Ranjeet,Amitabh Bachchan and Film maker Subhash Ghai are his admirer. 

Among the actresses who not only respected him but showed their reverence for him was Hema Malini who did six films with him, Waheeda Rehman who did seven films with him and Raakhee who did three. In fact, Hema and Raakhee used to visit temples and pray for Dev on his birthdays and especially on the days his new films were released. Tabu was the one female star of the new generation who looked up to Dev like her “godfather”.

Dev Anand was always down to earth. Style and simplicity ran parallel for him.Making the other person comfortable was his magic mantra. He always treated his fans with love and respect.His fans were his second love after movies.
One of his fan Yuvraj Shah of Pune dedicated a garden in his name which is situated on the campus of Mahavir Jain Vidyalaya Pune. The name of the garden is Sadabhaar Dev Anand Udyan.

Another great fan of Dev Anand is Anand Thirani of Kolkata.He met Dev Saab when he was studying in college many years ago, later he became a successful businessman and used to travel all over the world. He used to bring the signature scarves the star wore in many of his films.

Another fan the ex DGP of Maharashtra whom Dev treated as his son feels himself lucky to “did his duty” by performing last rites of the actor along with Dev Anand 's son by immersing his ashes in Godavari, Nashik.

Among all his fans Mr. Mohan Churiwala was his closest associate. Iin the last 15 years of the actor's life, streamlining his work, meetings with people, media management. All this for free. He accompanied him on his foreign trips. His exclusive pictures with Dev Saab were published in Filmfare September 2017 issue.

The Mahatma Gandhi’s connection with the Seven Notes of the Music

Very few people know that Gandhi was extremely fond of music and arts. Most of us have been all along under the impression that he was against all arts such as music. In fact, he was a great lover of music, though his philosophy of music was different. In his own words -
“Music does not proceed from the throat alone. There is the music of the mind, of the senses and of the heart.
Mahatma  Gandhi believed in the power of Music. He used music to bring people together. According to Mahatma "In true music, there is no place for communal differences and hostility. Music was a great example of national integration because only there we see Hindu and Muslim musicians sitting together and partaking in musical concerts. We all think that Tulsidas’s Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram was his favorite Bhajan but "Vaishnava Jana Toh, Taine Kahiye/ Peed Parayi Jaane Re" was his most favorite hymn.
This Bhajan was written by Narsi Mehta, a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat. Veteran Film Maker Vijay Bhatt first met Gandhiji in the late 1930s on a trip to Valsad with his friends. When Gandhiji learned that he was a filmmaker, he asked, “Why don’t you make a film on Narsi Mehta?”. He made the film in Hindi and Gujarati and released in 1940. The film was well-received and celebrated silver jubilee across India. Bhatt felt bad that he couldn’t show it to Gandhiji.   
Another favourite hymn of the Mahatma was Meerabai’s Hari tum haro, an ode to Lord Krishna. He found universal connotations in Meera’s pain. He was keen that the song be recorded by the Carnatic legend MS Subbulakshmi. After he had moved to Delhi, a 31-year-old MS had come to visit Gandhi. When the Ramdhun began, he told her “Subbulakshmi tum gao, tum shuru karo…’
The song was recorded at All India Radio (AIR) studios in Chennai, on the night of October 1, 1947, and completed at 2 am on October 2. The recording was airlifted to Delhi, where it was played to Gandhi on his 78th birthday, October 2, 1947.
There was an article written by Dr. Namrata Mishra who is Sr. Asst. Prof of Vocal Music, R.C.A. Girls P. G. College, Mathura, U.P.. She wrote that Someone once asked the Mahatma“Mahatmaji don’t you have any liking for music?”. Gandhi replied, “If there was no music and no laughter in me, I would have died of this crushing burden of my work.”
In her article, she says that when Gandhi Ji was in South Africa he had started evening prayers in the Ashram. That collection of bhajans was published under the name - 'Nitivam Kavyo'. In Satyagraha Ashram, Sabarmati, he had added “Raamdhun” as the daily prayer. The musicians of the Ashram were Pt. N. M. Khare, Mama Fadke, Sri Vinoba, and Balkoba Bhave, etc., who were great Indian classical musicians. In his ashram Bhajnawali, there were no discriminations of religion, caste, creed, region, languages etc. It was like a beautiful bouquet of flowers of variegated colours, having various fragrances, and separate features - all in the same bouquet of love, humanity, and faith.

Gandhi Ji not only liked Indian Classical but also western music, in fact, once he wrote a letter to Ravindranath Tagore, written on December 22, 1945, he had suggested in that latter to give both Hindustani music as well as Western music their due place at Shantiniketan along with Bengali music ..
How many of us know that Gandhi ji knew to play the Violin. In his autobiography, he says, "I started to learn to play the violin so that I could get a sense of the notes and beats. Three pounds went into the purchase of a violin and some more to its learning."  when I was returning back I took my violin to my violin teacher. She was most understanding. She said she would try to sell the violin for whatever value it fetched."
In the winter of 1931, on his way back from the Second Round Table Conference in London, Gandhi stopped in Villeneuve de Chillon to call on the philosopher and musical savant, Romain Rolland. The aesthete has written, "...after the prayers, Gandhi asked me to play him a little of Beethoven. I played him the Andante of the Fifth Symphony.
. 
Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye by various Artists

Lata

M S Subbulaxmi

Pt Jasraj and M S Subbulaxmi

The Mesmarizing Music of the two Great Stalwarts of Golden Era of Bollywood

13 years apart were born the two great stalwarts of Hindi Film Music, S D Burman(1st Oct 1906) and Majrooh Sultanpuri(1919). to create magic in Hindi Films. They partnered in 20 films from 1957 to 1976, leaving behind many unforgettable gems. The first song written by Majrooh and composed by Sd Burman was " Woh Sapne wali Raa"t sung by Geeta Roy in the film Pyar (1950). After a gap of 7 years, they worked together in Paying Guest (1957)., they created the song Chhod Do Aanchal Zamaana Kya Kahega after this the next song was "Mana Janaab Ne Pukara Nahin" There were 6 songs in the film, all the songs were hit.
The same year Navketan's Nau Do Gyarah released, once again the magic of both was visible. Aankhon mein kya ji, rupehla baadal became an instant hit its picturization mesmerized the audience. Other songs like Hum Hain Raahi Pyar ke, Humse Kuchh Na Boliye by Kishore,   Aaja Panchhi Akela Hai/So Jaa Nindiya Ki Bela Hai,, by Asha-Rafi are still liked.
Over the years, of course, a large chunk of their films featured Dev Anand, examples being ‘Paying Guest’, ‘Nau Do Gyarah’, ‘Kala Pani’, Manzil’, ‘Solva Saal’, ‘Bombai Ka Baboo’, ‘Baat Ek Raat Ki’, ‘Jewel Thief’ and ‘Teen Deviyan’. 
Besides the Dev Anand films, SD and Majrooh combined on such classics as ‘Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi’ (which had Kishore’s ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi’, the Kishore-Manna Dey song ‘Babu samjho ishaare’ and the Kishore-Asha superhit ‘Haal Kaisa Hai Janaab Ka’) and ‘Sujata’ (which had Talat Mahmood’s unforgettable ‘Jalte Hain Jiske Liye’,
The two of them also worked in films like ‘Lajwanti’, ‘Sitaron Se Aage’, ‘Talaash’, ‘Phagun’ and ‘Sagina’ (remember ‘Saala mein to saahab ban gaya’?) But their biggest hit arguably was in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1973 film ‘Abhimaan’, which had ‘Tere mere milan ki yeh raina’ (Lata-Kishore), ‘Teri bindiya’ (Lata-Rafi), ‘Lutey koi man’ (Lata-Manhar Udhas), Kishore’s ‘Meet Na Mila’ and three Lata solos ‘Nadiya Kinarey’, ‘Ab Toh Hai Tumse’ and ‘Piya bina’.

Song of Paying Guest 1957

Song of Nau Do Gyarah 1957

Song of Solva Saal  1958

Song of Kala Paani  1958

Song of  Lajwanti (1958) 

Song of  Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

Song of  Sujata (1960)

Song of  Bombai Ka Babu  (1960)

Song of   Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Song of  Teen Deviyan (1965) 

Song of  Jewel Thief (1967)

Song of  Abhimaan (1973) 

Fifteen Immortal Songs of Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar is a ‘voice of the nation’, an avatar of Goddess Saraswati who has sung over 25,000 songs. Many of these songs are immortal and it is very difficult to select fifteen songs out of countless immortal songs. Here I would like to point out some of her best songs, which are extremely melodious and immortal, sung with various music directors.
The first song in my list is Aayega Aane Wala from Mahal 
The year was 1949. The film was Mahal; the composer Khemchand Prakash and the singer ­Lata Mangeshkar. It was an unforget­table, haunting audiovisual odyssey. An odyssey that marked the birth of a new era. The earlier era belonged to robust, rustic Punjabi voices like Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai Ambale­wali, Amirbai Karnataki, and Noor Je­han. Yet somehow composers like Shyamsunder, Husnlal-Bhagatram, Anil Biswas and Naushad started discovering something new, something different in Lata’s voice. With this song began an Era of Lata Mangeshkar which ended only when she left singing for films.

Song of Mahal 1949

The same year in 1949 another solo song of Lata Mangeshkar became popular. The music of this hit song was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan and the lyrics were penned by Ramesh Shastry. The song is Hawa Mein Udta Jaye Mora Lal Dupatta Malmal Ka from R K Films Barsaat.

Song of Barsaat(1949}

The next song in my list from the 1951 film Sazaa starring Dev Anand and Nimmi.the song is Tum Na Jaane Kis Jahan Mein Kho Gaye written by Rajendra Krishan and composed by S D Burman.

Song of  Sazaa 1951

The same year(1951) another song of Lata became very popular. from the film, Naujawan. The music was composed by S.D. Burman and Sahir Ludhianvi wrote the lyrics. The movie is remembered for the hauntingly melodious song "Thandi Hawayein" by Lata Mangeshkar

Song of  Naujawan 1951

This song “Ye zindagi usi ki hai jo kisi ka ho gaya” must be one of the most popular lines among all the Bollywood songs ever written. And kudos to Rajinder Krishan who penned these immortal lines. It was composed by C Ramchandra for 1954 film Anarkali. This song has two versions that play on different occasions in the movie. They can also be called happy and sad versions of the song

Song of  Anarkali(1954)

Man Dole Mera Tan Dole is from the film  Nagin(1955). The song was composed by Hemant Kumar and written by Rajendra Krishan.

Song of  Nagin(1955)

Another immortal song from Lata is Aaja Re Pardesi from Madhumati. The soundtrack of Madhumati became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of 1958. Salil Chowdhury won his first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director

Song of  Madhumati(1958)

 This song was composed by Naushad, written by Shakeel Badayuni, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar with a chorus. The song, when the film was first released, was in black and white. It is shot in a set inspired by the Sheesh Mahal of the AmberFort.of Jaipur. It was the most expensive Indian song up until then and remained the most expensive for decades

Song of  Mughal-E-Azam(1960)

This immortal song "O Sajana Barkha Bahaar Aai".is from the 1960 film Parakh.Composed by Salil Chaudhary and written by Shailendra

Song of  Parakh(1960)

Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil is another immortal song of Lata. The film Bees Saal Baad became very popular for the song "Kahin Deep Jale", sung by Lata Mangeshkar and written by Shakeel Badayuni for which they won Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer and Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist respectively. Hemant Kumar composed the music

Song of  Bees Sal Baad(1962)

Song of  Aarti 1962

Song of  Wo Kaun Thi 1964

Song of  Guide 1965

Song of  Bahu Begam 1967

Song of Pakeeza 1972

Yash Chopra - He Made Films with his Heart

Yash Chopra who made many love stories, also known as the King of Romance, once said that he doesn't make films with a calculator on his hand or eyes on the Box Office collection but put all his heart into telling love stories and was never constrained by budgets. 
His wife Palmela Chopra in an interview said that there was a child inside him, he was always restless. He made great Romantic films but he was not romantic in real life. He was a very practical man. He always thought of films. There was always a story revolving on his mind. He was a master storyteller, No one told a love story quite as bravely and boldly as Yash Chopra did.
Yash Chopra is undoubtedly India's most successful film-maker. With a career spanning over five decades, he has been associated with almost 35 films, most of which have created box-office history. Born on 27th September 1932, in Jalandhar (Punjab), is the younger brother of B R Chopra another Legend of Bollywood.
He started out as an assistant to his brother and went on to direct 5 very successful films for his brother’s banner - B.R.Films. These were Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Dharmputra (1961), Waqt (1965), Ittefaq (1969) & Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969}..Yash  Chopra founded his own production company, Yash Raj Films, in 1971launched with Daag: A Poem of Love (1973), Starring Rajesh Khanna and Rakhi. In 1976 Yashraj Films Kabhie Kabhie was released. It was an instant hit.
After Kabhie Kabhie he made another love story Noorie in 1979 then Silsila in 1981 with Amitabh Bachhan, Rekha and Jaya Bhaduri. The movie is said to be loosely inspired by the famous triangle between the three stars Amitabh-Jaya-Rekha, which was the most popular affair back then. 
Chandni another Love Story released in 1989, starring Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna in the lead roles, the film is considered one of the biggest successes of all time. The story revolves around Rohit (Kapoor) and Chandni (Sridevi) who are in love and are about to be married.
Lamhe was the next film which was released in 1991, starring Sridevi and Anil Kapoor in the lead roles, the film is hailed as a classic and one of his finest films of all time. This has also been cited as Chopra's personal favorite, as well. Though the film was not a hit.
Yash Chopra directed three more romantic films, all starring Khan; Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Veer-Zaara(2004), and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), before he announced his retirement from directing in 2012.

Romantic Songs from Yash Chopra's Films

Songs of Daag 1973

Songs of Kabhie Kabhie 1976

Songs of Noorie 1979

Songs of Silsila 1981

Songs of Chandni 1989

Songs of Lamhe 1991

Songs of Dil To Pagal Hai 1997

Songs of Veer Zara 2004

Songs of Jab Tak hai Jaan 2012