Top 15 Doctor/Nurse based Bollywood Films

 Today is Florence Nightingale's birthday. Every year on May 12th we celebrate her legacy with Nurse Day,  The medical profession is by far among the noblest ones, so Bollywood made several fictional as well as non-fictional movies based on the medical profession. In this blog, I have selected 15 such films starting from Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani(1946) to Kabir Singh (2019)

As per my research, the first film on this profession was in the silent era  The film was Imperial Film Company's Nurse. also called "Daya ki Devi,” (1927), directed by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. Sulochna (Ruby Myers) played the role of a nurse.

Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani  It was a 1946  film in Hindi as well as English, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and directed by V. Shantaram, he played the title role in both versions. The film was based on the life of Dwarkanath Kotnis, an Indian doctor who worked in China during the Japanese invasion in World War II.

Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi  Writer-director Kishore Sahu’s 1960 superhit Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, is a doctor-nurse romance  Kauna (Meena Kumari) joins Malhotra Hospital that opens on a waterfront as a nurse, where Sushil (Raj Kumar) is the resident surgeon. Cupid strikes at the very first meeting in the operation theatre. After a song on the beach with other nurses, Karuna runs into an injured young girl and reaches her home, realizing she is the surgeon’s sister. On learning her story, the mother invites her to visit the household. Her proximity at home and at the hospital adds fuel to fire,  On the other front, her dedication to her duty and care towards patients in the ward, especially Girdhari (Om Prakash), and another wayward patient, Nathu, makes her win everyone’s heart. Meena Kumari was nominated for the Best Heroine Award for this role.

Anuradha (1960) , It is a Hrishikesh Mukharjee's film based on a short story written by Sachin Bhowmick. It’s a love triangle between a young woman, who marries an idealistic doctor but later develops feelings for a rich friend. Dr Nirmal Chowdhary (Balraj Sahni), who loses his mother to illness decides to dedicate his life to serving the poor and moves to remote Nandgaon. A rich heiress, Anuradha (Leela Naidu), is smitten by him and wants to marry him, despite him warning her of the hardships she’d face in a remote village.

Prem Patra  is a 1962 film directed by Bimal Roy. It stars Shashi Kapoor and Sadhana . Shashi Kapoor plays an MBBS student who had misunderstanding over a love letter with Kavita Kapoor (Sadhana), His marriage got fixed with another girl called Saroj. In an accident Shashi Kapoor loses his vision , Saroj is unable to go to take care of him, and Kavita takes her place. Unwilling to reveal her identity, Kavita let's him think it is Saroj, not her. She learns that he still hates and despises her. Soon it will be time to take bandages off his eyes, and he will be able to see again, much to the dread of Kavita.

Aarti is a 1962 Indian Bollywood film directed by Phani Majumdar and produced by Tarachand Barjatya. The film stars Meena Kumari in the title role of Aarti, with Ashok Kumar, Pradeep Kumar who plays Deepak saves Aarti Gupta (Meena Kumari), a hardworking and dedicated doctor, from drowning, and the two eventually fall in love with each other, although her parent have already engaged her to marry Dr. Prakash (Ashok Kumar). Although Aarti's father firmly disapproves of this relationship, Deepak and Aarti marry. Once  Deepak having a serious accident, when Prakash is the only surgeon who can operate on him. He agrees to operate on him only if Aarti promises to come back to him and forget her husband.

 Dil Ek Mandir is a 1963 film directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Rajendra Kumar, Meena Kumari, Raaj Kumar and Mehmood.Sita (Meena Kumari) is married to Ram (Raaj Kumar), who is diagnosed to have cancer. Ram is admitted to a hospital where he is to be treated by Dr. Dharmesh (Rajendra Kumar). Dr. Dharmesh is Sita's former love and both of them are very much uncomfortable interacting in front of Sita's husband. Sita suspects that Dr. Dharmesh will not be able to give her husband fair treatment because of his love interest in her. When she mentions this to him he promises her that he will try his best to save her husband. Ram overhears this conversation and later suggests to Sita that she should marry Dr. Dharmesh after his death. 

Khamoshi is a 1970 film starring Rajesh Khanna and Waheeda Rehman.The film is considered to be Waheeda Rehman's finest acting feat, as she carries the entire film through her powerful-yet-understated acting; her performance earned her a Best Actress nomination She played a nurse in this film.

Anand is a 1971 film co-written and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, with dialogues written by Gulzar. It stars Rajesh Khanna in the lead role, with a supporting cast including Amitabh Bachchan who plays a doctor, and Rajesh Khanna his patient.

The film won several awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Film in 1972. Rajesh Khanna got Best Actor Award and Amitabh Bachchan received Best Supporting Actor award

Tere Mere Sapne is a 1971 film produced by Dev Anand, and written and directed by his brother Vijay Anand for Navketan Films. Dev Anand and Vijay Anand both played the role of a doctor. Dr. Anand Kumar attains his degree in medicine and re-locates to a small village to assist the local doctors there. Upon arrival, he is met by the ailing Dr. Prasad and his wife, and hired on a salary of Rs.250/- per month. He meets with the other doctors namely Dr. Kothari, an alcoholic, and Dr. Bhutani, a dentist.

Dard Ka Rishta is a 1982 Bollywood film produced and directed by Sunil Dutt, who also stars Smita Patil, Reena Roy and Ashok Kumar play pivotal roles.Ravi Kant (Sunil Dutt) is a doctor who lives in New York with his wife Anuradha (Smita Patil), also a doctor. Anuradha is doing research into leukemia. Ravi is nostalgic about India and decides to return there when he receives an offer for a position as the head of surgery from Tata Memorial Hospital in Bombay. Anuradha wants to continue her research and does not want to go to India. Ravi returns to India after a divorce with Anuradha. 

Bemisal  is a 1982 drama film produced by Debesh Gosh and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Mehra, Raakhee, Amitabh (Sudhir) and Vinod Mehra(Prashant) both played a doctor in this film and are brothers.  Vinod Mehra ( Prashant) leaves for America for higher studies, while Sudhir stays in Bombay to take care of the magistrate and Kavita. After coming back, Prashant starts a medical practice and charges more money from patients, especially to do illegal abortions. Sudhir tries to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen. One day, Prashant's patient dies during an abortion and he gets arrested. Sudhir tells police that he was the actual culprit and changes all hospital records to prove that. In return, he takes the word of Prashant and Kavita to use the medical profession to serve people, not to earn money. They give him their word and do exactly the same. Sudhir gets a nine-year sentence and loses his medical registration.

Armaan is a 2003 film that was co-written and directed by Honey Irani. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta, and Gracy Singh. Siddharth(Amitabh) and his son, Akash,(Anil Kapoor) work as doctors in the same hospital founded by the former. Siddharth wishes to run a state of the art hospital but his work and profession means he dedicates his time to his patients. Soon, a new doctor, named Neha, join the hospital and subsequently falls for Akash. However, the arrival of Sonia later changes the two's relationship. Sonia is a jealous, spoilt woman who is used to having things her own way and it is not long before she wants Akash for herself. She decides that since Akash is the man for her, she can latch on to him by literally getting his love through financial agreement. The agreement states that on marrying Sonia, her father Gulshan will help finance the hospital project.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a 2003 film directed by Rajkumar Hirani in his directorial debut and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra., The film stars Sanjay Dutt as the titular character and Gracy Singh in the primary lead roles.  Murli Prasad Sharma (Sanjay Dutt), a goon nicknamed Munna Bhai, who stays with his friend and sidekick Sarkeshwar a.k.a. Circuit (Warsi), and pretends to be a doctor upon the arrival of his parents whose wish of seeing their son as a doctor is shattered after one of the father, Hari Prasad Sharma's (Sunil Dutt) old family friends, Jagdish Chandra Asthana (Irani), busts the truth regarding Munna's profession and practice, causing them to leave in shame and disgust. Vowing revenge against Asthana and his daughter "Chinki" who was his childhood friend, Munna unwittingly secures admission in a medical college whose dean, surprisingly, turns out to be Asthana himself. However, he ends up falling in love with a house doctor, Suman (Singh), unaware that she is "Chinki" herself, and brings about a climate of empathy amongst students and patients, which Asthana perceives as chaotic, thus creating a lot of hilarious situations and frictions between them.

Udta Punjab is a 2016 film starring  Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor and Diljit Dosanjh. The film is not outright a medical-based film but  loosely based on and revolves around the drug abuse by the youth population in the Indian state of Punjab Kareena Kapoor plays Preet Sahni (Kareena Kapoor), a doctor and activist who runs a rehabilitation center. Sartaj Singh (Diljit Dosanjh) is a junior policeman who knows about the drug smuggling his seniors are allowing. But when it affects his family, as his brother, Balli, overdoses and is brought to Preet's clinic, he realizes the grave situation. Preet and Sartaj decide to find the root cause of the problem together. Balli is admitted into her drug rehabilitation centre against his will.

Kabir Singh is a 2019 . it stars Shahid Kapoor in the titular role as a surgeon who spirals into self-destruction when his girlfriend, Preeti, played by Kiara Advani, marries someone else. 

Kabir Rajdheer Singh is a house surgeon at the Delhi Institute of Medical Sciences. Despite being a brilliant student and surgeon, he has severe anger management problems that earn the wrath of the college dean.. Kabir graduates with an MBBS degree and leaves for Mussoorie to pursue a postgraduate degree in orthopaedic surgery. Kabir and Preeti's relationship strengthens over the next few years, despite the long distance. After Preeti graduates, Kabir visits her home to meet her conservative Sikh parents, but her father Harpal catches them kissing and throws Kabir out.

The Evolution of Mothers in Bollywood

 

'Mere Paas Maa Hai'- Recall this very popular dialogue of Shashi Kapoor from the 70s film 'Deewar' embodies the significant meaning of a mother’s existence in one’s life. If we look into the Bollywood films the portrayal of a mother has always been changing in every decade.

The God-fearing, homely moms of the 40s,  an idealistic mother, who tolerated misery. in the 50s and 60s, mothers laboring over a sewing machine in the 70s and 80s, friendly, witty, and modern in thinking of the 90s to the mother of films like English Vinglish, Mom, Secret Superstar, Vicky Donor.

In this blog, I look into the mothers of the 21st-century being portrayed in Bollywood films. The first significant role of a mother in my list is the role that shattered the stereotyped Maa role was in 'Kya Kehna' (2000). In this film, Preity Zinta plays a young unwed mother who takes on society to protect her unborn child.

Another unconventional mother role was that of Kirron Kher in 2008’s Dostana, who although with a heavy heart, was ready to accept her son’s boyfriend. Ratna Pathak Shah plays the new-age mother  is the best friend in films like Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na 

How can we forget Sridevi who played a role of a mother, who enrolls in an English-speaking course to stop her husband and daughter from mocking her lack of English skills^[ and gains self-respect in the process in the 2012 film English Vinglish and also a mother who takes revenge of the rapists of her daughter in the 2017 film 'Mom' 

We will see more unconventional mothers in Bollywood films in the future. The challenge, however, is to present the new-age mom without eliminating the core attributes that define motherhood. 

Song of Kya Kehna 2000

Song of Dostana 2008

Song of English Vinglish 2012

Song of Mom 2017

'Tere Mere Milan Ki Ye Raina'- The Song based on Rabindra Sangeet

 

This Classic song from the 1973 film Abhiman was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by S D Burman was influenced by the song 'Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki 'of Rabindra Tagore. Over the years, the original Song Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki has been performed by various artists – Kishore Kumar, Shaan, Anwesha, Shrabani Sen, Shreya Ghoshal, Hemant Kumar, and many more. While I was researching for this song, I found a very rare version sung by the great K L (Kundan Lal) Saigal.

This song appears when the movie reaches its climax when the couple Subir (Amitabh) and Uma (Jaya -Bhaduri) get separated, Uma has a miscarriage, and finally they, fortunately, reunite – what an emotional reunion celebrated with this beauty of a song “Tere Mere Milan Ki Yeh Raina” rendered in public by both.

Though this song was influenced by Rabindra Tagore, S D Burman gave his magical touch to the original tune made this song immortal. We must also appreciate Mazrooh Sultanpuri to give lyrics for the wonderful tune. He was awarded the Filmfare Award as Best Lyricist. S D Burman was awarded the Best Music Director.

If you listen to all the versions of 'Jodi Tare Nai' you will find how beautifully the Abhiman song was composed. The song starts with a hmmm. by Kishore Kumar, a divine hmmm unmatchable. The song is a duet of Kishore and Lata Mangeshkar, one of the immortal duets of both.

This tune was again used in the 1985 film Jhoothi's song set in Rupak Taal (that's the name for the beats on the Tabla). Bappi Lahiri has set his Chanda Dekhe Chanda from Jhoothi.

Song of Abhiman 1973

Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki by Kishore Kumar

Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki by Hemant Kumar

Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki by K L Saigal

Jodi Tare Nai Chini Go Sheki by Shaan

Song of Jhoothi 1985

Naushad- The Man Who Introduced Raaga Based Songs in Hindi Movies.

 

Naushad started as an independent music director from the 1940 film Prem Nagar. He made Hindi songs popular by mixing UP and Bihar folk music with Indian classical music.He first got noticed with A.R. Kardar's film Sharda (1942) wherein 13-year-old Suraiya debuted with the song "Panchhi Ja" for the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan (1944) that took Naushad right to the top 

 It was in 1946 he got superstar status with the two immortal songs from the film Anmol Ghadi.. In the same year, K L Saigal gave one of his immortal songs "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya" under his composition in Shahjehan (1946) in Raag Bhairavi. His favorite ragas were raga Pahadi, Aiman, Darbari, Kafi or Des along with Raga Bhairavi. He also composed songs in unconventional and difficult ragas such as Jaijaiwanti, Kedara, Brindabani Sarang, Bihag, Durga, Kirwani and Kalavati.  

In this blog, we take a journey of his raga-based songs in Bollywood.

In the 1944 film Rattan, he composed 10 songs and the music by Naushad was such a phenomenal hit that the company earned Rs 3 lakhs in royalties from Gramophone sales in the first year. You would be surprised to note that the producer Kardar spent 75,000 rupees on the production of this film. 

The Song based on Raga Pahadi

Song of Rattan 1944

Raga Bharavi

Song of Shahjahan 1946

Raga Kafi

Song of Shahjahan 1946

Raga Pahadi

Song of Anmol Ghadi 1946

His most durable composition Suhani raat dhal chuki was shaped in Pahadi and was from film Dulari made in 1949 that became legendary and is still considered an integral part of any singer’s repertoire in any musical gathering. 

Raga Pahadi

Song of Dulari 1949

Raga Pahadi

Song of Andaz 1949

Raga Jaijalvanti

Song of Andaz 1949

Raga Bhimpalasi

Song of  Babul 1950

His classical genius was the 1952 film Baiju Bawra in which he used the voices if the great Ustad Amir Khan and D V Palusjar. The climactic contest between Tansen and Baiju Bawra in the royal court of Mughal emperor Akbar demanded music of the highest finesse to exemplify the capabilities of these historical legends. Naushad introduced classical music with deft handling, making it melodious for mass appeal and yet retaining enough artistry as the situation demanded. 
There could not have been a better composer than Naushad Ali to make this film an unforgettable feature of Indian cinema. The music in “Baiju Bawra” is divine! It is, in fact, the soul of the film.
There are many moments in “Baiju Bawra” when the contribution of Naushad emerges the strongest point of the movie. Mohammad Rafi, lyricist Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad leave you in a trance with the all-time great number “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj”. Rafi had reportedly confessed to this being one of the toughest songs of his career as a demanding Naushad sought perfection from the legendary singer.

Raga Bharavi

Song of  “Baiju Bawra”  1952

Raga Darbari

Song of  “Baiju Bawra”  1952

Raga Malkauns

Song of  “Baiju Bawra”  1952

Raga Gara

Song of Mughal-e-Azam in 1960 

Raga Darbari Kanada

Song of Mere Mehboob 1963

Raga Kalavati

Song of Dil Diya Dard Liya in 1966 

The Story Behind the Song 'Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli'

 

This beautiful song from Anand was sung by Manna De, composed by Salil Da, and written by Yogesh is now 50 years old. This song was included in the film to compensate Yogesh, the lyricist for a song he wrote earlier for this film but not recorded. The Director Hrishikesh Mukharjee thought of obliging Yogesh to write a Title song. 

It being the title song so Salil Da recorded this song in the voice of Manna Dey. When Rajesh Khanna, the hero of the film heard the recorded version of this song, he said that such a lovely composition should not be wasted on the title. He insisted the song be shot on him. It became the first solo song of Manna Dey for Rajesh Khanna. Interestingly all the other songs in this film were sung by Mukesh for Rajesh Khanna.

The song was shot in three hours and only two antaras were kept in the film. As per Yogesh, he wrote 5 antaras, and three antara were recorded but only two were shot. Manna De used to sing the third antara on many stage shows in those days.

According to Bimal Roy's daughter Rinki Bhattacharya, this melody was originally written for a film Anand Mahal which was delayed so Sali Da used this melody here in this movie. Salil Da in an interview once said that arrangement is not a part of Indian music. It is a western concept but he felt it is also essential for a film song else there would be nothing to hold the edifice. For my compositions, I normally use an Indian melody and flavor it with something western.

In this song too Salil created a unique concoction of eastern and East Europian melody.

Song of Anand 1971

50 Years of 'Haathi Mere Saathi'

 Haathi Mere Saathi was the highest-grossing Indian film of 1971. It was released on 1st May 1971 and became an instant hit all over India. It was not a children's film but became a craze among children. Children's cinema was a rarity in the 70's decade which was dominated by action dramas. But one big exception was "Haathi Mere Saathi"(1971), directed by M.A.Thirumugham which was inspired by his own Tamil hit, "Vettaikkaaran"(1964).

This was the first film of Salim Javed as an independent script & screenplay writer. it was the biggest hit in the career of Rajesh Khanna as a hero. This movie is about the relationship/bondage between man and animal. Elephants play an equally important role with Rajesh Khanna in the movie and the movie revolves around them. Tanuja playing the heroine also contributes.

In an interview, Tanuja said, "I showed them the film when Kajol was six and Tanishaa around three years old, and for two weeks Kajol did not speak to me!! "Mummy, you killed the elephant! Because of you, he had to die!" screamed Kajol! "And Tanishaa was annoyed too!" 

Another highlight of the film was its music by Laxmikant Pyarelal who have composed some great hits for this movie sung by Kishore Kumar. One song by Mohammad Rafi is a class.

 The film ranks as a classic because it is still unequaled as the complete family fare in its genre for kids of all ages!. If you have not seen this film, you must see this film with your children.

Songs

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi"	Kishore Kumar
2	"Dhak Dhak Kaise Chalti Hai Gaadi"	Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
3	"Duniya me rehna hai to kaam kar pyare"	Kishore Kumar
4	"Sunja Aa Thandi Hawa"	Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
5	"Dilbar Jani Chali Hawa Mastani"	Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
6	"Nafrat Ki Duniya Ko Chhod Ke"	Mohammed Rafi

Songs of Haathi Mere Saathi' 1971