Sunil Dutt-Much More Than an Actor

Life for him was one crisis after the other — his early struggles as an actor, bankruptcy as a producer, the death of Nargis, his wife, battle against son Sanjay’s drug addiction and, later, TADA arrest.He bounced back time and again from personal tragedies which would have pulled down a lesser man. In public life, Dutt  symbolises the never-say-die spirit.
 With an ear to the ground and a hand on the pulse of the people, Sunil Dutt lived by his convictions and led from the front.He  arrived in Bombay at the age of 18 with two pairs of clothes and Rs 25 in his pocket, determined to bring back the good times for his family which had lost everything during Partition. Holding a clerical job with the Bombay Bus Service and sharing a room with six others, which often necessitated sleeping out, Dutt studied in Jai Hind College and made some extra money by anchoring cultural shows. He interviewed film stars over Radio Ceylon. His good looks and deep voice prompted producer Ramesh Saigal to offer him the hero’s role in the film Railway Platform.
 The turning point came in 1956 when producer Mehboob Khan signed him to play the son of leading lady Nargis in Mother India. For Nargis, it was the role of a lifetime.As we all know that he rescued his leading lady from a fire in the sets, they discovered they were in love and got married. Three children followed.

He was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful films which included Sadhna (1958), Sujata (1959), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Khandan (1965) and Padosan (1967). His collaboration with B.R. Chopra proved to be successful in films such as Gumraah (1963), Waqt (1965) and Hamraaz (1967). 
He admired Jawaharlal Nehru, who had suggested that the film industry should do something for the jawans. Dutt and Nargis formed the Ajanta Arts Cultural Troupe and, roping in leading actors and singers from the film industry, held stage shows at border areas.The Dutts donated Rs 1 lakh to the National Defence Fund and grew closer to the Nehru family. Nehru enjoyed watching Sujata, which dealt with untouchability. The Dutts bonded well with Indira Gandhi too. Nargis was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1980, and was urged by Indira to take up the cause of spastic children. The former actress became the chairperson of the Spastics Society of India.

He was appointed the Sheriff of Bombay in 1981, Dutt was persuaded by the Gandhi family to enter politics and contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bombay Northwest. His reputation and clean image helped him win successive Lok Sabha elections, defeating formidable opponents like famous criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani and Shiv Sena stalwarts such as Madhukar Sarpotdar.
In 1982, he set up the Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Foundation in New York which began to collect funds for cancer equipment in Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital. In 1984 he was elected on a Congress ticket from Mumbai North-west to the 8th Lok Sabha.

Thereafter, barring one election, he contested from the same constituency and won convincingly, Shocked by the violence in Punjab, Dutt turned into a padyatri with no political agenda. During his 76-day, 2500-km walk from Bombay to the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1987, Dutt overcame terrible heat, a bout of jaundice and blistered feet to address more than 500 roadside meetings. He stressed that violence would not help any cause. The police warned him that he was a target for terrorists but he shunned security and marched to the Golden Temple, where he was accorded a rousing reception.

The padyatra was repeated some time later, when protesting against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Dutt Saab marched from Hiroshima to Nagasaki, demanding a ban on nukes. "Did God create the world for it to be destroyed by his own children?" he asked. "Each one of us should do our bit to fight nuclear proliferation.

Sunil Dutt was a recipient of numerous awards, including the Padmashree in 1968, the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Award for National Integration and Communal Harmony in 1997, the Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Award for International Peace, Communal Harmony, Unity and National Integration in 1997 and the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award in 1998.

 In Congress politics, even while keeping away from different groups, he remained a trusted aide of Sonia Gandhi and was among the first ones to receive a ticket for the Lok Sabha poll.

Dutt’s popularity cuts across party lines. He is equally at home with people from all sections of society, be they slum dwellers, glamorous film stars, professionals, Rotarians or the Page-three crowd. His appointment as Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports has been well received.He was a minister when he died on 25th May 2005 at his residence in Bandra, Mumbai.

Songs from Sunil Dutt's Films

Song from Mother India (1957)

Song from Sujata (1959)

Song from Hum Hindustani (1960)

Song from Chhaya (1961)

Song from Milan (1967)

Majrooh Sultanpuri-Who wrote songs for heroes from Saigal to Aamir Khan

Majrooh Sultanpuri was the most versatile lyricist in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning half a century, he is the only lyricist who wrote songs for heroes ranging from Saigal to Aamir Khan and leading ladies from Nargis to Madhuri Dixit.
He could write any kind of lyrics tailor-made for the situation in the film. Be it the peppy “Hum hain rahi pyar ke” (Nau Doh Gyarah) or the nonsense lyrics of “C-A-T cat, cat maane billi” (Dilli Ka Thug) to “Aaj main upar aasman neeche” (Khamoshi – The Musical), Majrooh became the undisputed king of the “situational song.He  got his first break as a lyricist in A R Kardar’s Shah Jahan in 1945, penning the last classic by K L Saigal “Jab dil hi toot gaya”.
Majrooh Sultanpuri was born Asrar Hussain Khan in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, the son of a police constable on October 1,1919. After studying Persian in Aligarh, He then joined Lucknow’s Takmeel-ut-Tib College of the Unani (Greek) System of Medicine. He was an established ‘Hakim’ when he happened to recite one of his ghazals at a mushaira in Sultanpur. The ghazal was extremely well received with the audience and Majrooh decided to drop his prosperous medical practice and begin writing poetry seriously.
When he came to Bombay he got the break in 1946 film Shahajehan starring K L Saigal and the immortal song he wrote in that film was Jab Dil hi Toot Gaya..He subsequently did films like Natak (1947), Doli (1947) and Anjuman (1948) but his major breakthrough was Mehboob Khan’s immortal love triangle, Andaz (1949), with hit songs like Tu Kahe Agar, Jhoom Jhoom ke Naacho Aaj, Hum Aaj Kahin Dil Kho Baithe, Toote na Dil Toote na and Uthaye Ja Unke Situm.
Majrooh Sultanpuri worked with all the top music directors of the day – Anil Biswas, Naushad, Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Roshan and Laxmikant Pyarelal, his associations with SD Burman and later were with RD Burman stand out.In fact he introduced R D Burman to Nasir Hussain for Teesri Manzil.
He  was part of the formidable quartet of lyricists that ruled Hindi Cinema in the 1950s and early 60s, the others being Sahir Ludhianvi, Shakeel Badayuni and Shailendra. Majrooh Saab’s career, spanning over five decades, saw him writing wonderful lyrics for well over 300 films, many of them extremely successful at the box office.

Majrooh Saab was the first film lyricist to be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his invaluable contribution to Indian Cinema. He has also been a recipient of the Iqbal Samman from the Madhya Pradhesh Government, the Sant Gyaneshwar Puraskar of the Maharashtra Government and an award from the Maharashtra State Urdu Academy for Ghazal, his collection of Urdu Ghazals. But perhaps the biggest injustice to his writing came from Filmfare which awarded him the Best Lyricist Award just once – for Dosti (1964)!He passed away in Mumbai on May 24, 2000. Among the last films he wrote for was the Shah Rukh Khan starrer One Two ka Four released after his death in 2001.

My Fav Songs of Majrooh Sultanpuri

Song from Shahjehan 1946

Song from Andaz, 1949

Song from Arzoo (1950)

Song from Footpath (1953)

Song from Aar Paar (1954)

Song from C. I. D. (1956)

Song from Solva Saal (1958)

Song from Kala Pani (1958)

Song from Sujata (1959)

Song from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1959)

Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Song from Aarti (1962)

Song from Dosti (1964)

Song from Teen Devian (1965)

Song from Teesri Manzil (1966)

Song from Mamta (1966)

Song from Pakeezah (1972)

Song from Yaadon Ki Baarat (1973)

Song from Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)

The Iconic One Liners of Bollywood

Bollywood films are known for their Songs and Dance but  Bollywood films are also exceedingly popular with audiences for their Dialogues. While dialogues in movies have been popular since the black and white era, tongue-in-cheek one liner’s are a rather recent phenomenon.A one liner can be funny, serious, or thought provoking depending on the situation in the film. Over the years dialogue writers in Hindi films have written some memorable one liner’s that have become hugely popular with movie lovers.
In old films some of the common one liners were “Kya issi din ke liye tujhe pal pos ke paida kiya tha”,Mein tumhare bache ki maa baaney wali hoon,and Dharmendra's famous one liner "Kuttey, kameeney main tera khoon pee jaoonga or main tujhe jaan se maar doonga"
In this blog I am taking 30 such one Liners or Dialogues Of Bollywood

1. “Kitne aadmi the” (Sholay- Amjad Khan- 1975)

2 “Hum jaha pe khade ho jaate hein, line wahi se shuru hoti hai” (Kaalia- Amitabh Bachchan- 1981)

3 "Mere paas… mere paas maa hai” (Deewar- Shashi Kapoor- 1975)

4 "Mogambo khush hua" (Mr. India- Amrish Puri- 1987)

5“Ye dhai kilo ka hath jab kisi pe padta hai na, to aadmi uthta nahi uth jata hai” (Damini- Sunny Deol- 1993)

6 “Don ka intezaar toh baarah mulko ki Police kar rahi hai, magar Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin Namumkin hai” (Don- Amitabh Bachchan- 1978)

7 "Rishte mein to hum tumhare baap lagte hain, naam hai Shahenshah” (Shahenshah- Amitabh Bachchan- 1988)

8 “Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, To Apne aap ki bhi nahi sunta” (Wanted- Salman Khan- 2009)

9  “Saara sheher mujhe Loin ke naamse jaanta hai" (Kalicharan- Ajit- 1976)

10  "Kaun kambakht bardaasht karne ko peeta hai? Main toh peeta hoon ke bas saans le saku" (Devdas- Dilip Kumar- 1955)

11 “Jinke ghar shishe ke ho, woh dusro pe patthar nahin pheka kar te” (Waqt- Raj Kumar- 1965)

12  “Jao pehle uska sign ley kar aao jisne mere haatho mey ye likh diya” (Deewar- Amitabh Bachchan- 1979)

13  Taareekh pe taareekh milti rahi hai lekin insaaf nahin milta. Milte hai to sirf taareekh” (Damini- Sunny Deol- 1993)

14  "Aapke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hai. Inhe zameen par mat utariyega, maile ho jayenge” (Pakeezah- Raj Kumar- 1972)

15 "Bade bade shehron mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain” (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge- Shah Rukh Khan- 1995)

16  “Aaj khush to bahut hoge tum” (Deewar- Amitabh Bachchan- 1975)

17  “Life Mein Teen Cheezen kabhi underestimate mat karna, I, me and myself”- Salman Khan-2011)

18  "Jali ko aag kehte hain, bhuji ko raakh kehte hain, jis raakh se barood bane usey Vishwanath kehte hain” (Vishwanath- Shatrughan Sinha- 1978))

19  “Chedi Singh… hum tumme itne ched karenge ke confuse ho jaoge saans kaha se le aur paade kaha se” (Dabangg- Salman Khan- 2010)

20  Yeh Musalman ka khoon yeh Hindu ka khoon … bata is mein Musalman ka kaunsa Hindu ka kaunsa, bata! (Krintiveer- Nana Patekar- 1994)

21 “Anarkali, Salim ki mohabbat tumhe marne nahin degi aur hum tumhe jeene nahin denge” (Mughal-e-Azam- Prithviraj Kapoor- 1960)

22 "Pushpa, I hate tears... inhe ponch dalo” (Amar Prem- Rajesh Khanna- 1971)

23 “Prem naam hai mera, Prem Chopra” (Bobby- Prem Chopra- 1973)

24 "Hum sab rangmanch ki kathputliyan hain jinki dor uparwale ki ungliyon se bandhi hui hai. Kab kaun uthega koi nahin bata sakta” (Anand- Rajesh Khanna- 1970) 

25 “Jo main bolta hu wo main karta hoon, jo mani nahi bolta wo main definitely karta hu” (Rowdy Rathore- Akshay Kumar- 2012) 

26 “Basanti! In Kutto ke samne mat nachna” (Sholay- Dharmendra- 1975)  

27 “Humara Hindustan Zindabad Tha, Zindabad Hai Aur Zindabad Rahega (Gadar- Sunny Doel- 2001)  

28 “Tension lene ka nahin, sirf dene ka" (Munnabhai MBBS- Sanjay Dutt- 2003) 

29 “Tum jis school mein padhte ho hum uske headmaster rah chuke hain” (Haath Ki Safai- Vinod Khanna- 1974)  

30  “Mooche ho to Nathulal jaise ho….warna na ho” (Sharaabi- Amitabh Bachchan- 1984)

Funny Songs on Biwi/Shaadi in Hindi Films

Like majority of the population, I have always believed that music and lyrics complete each other. No matter how soulful music is if lyrics are not good,  a song can never make a lasting impression and vice versa. Shaadi and Biwi are such words on which lot of funny songs were written and still being written.In this Blog I have selected  few of these songs showing how life changes after marriage, or how they are fed up with their wife, etc -
The first song comes in my mind is from Ladki (1953) acted and sung by Kishore Kumar

Song from Ladki (1953)

3 Years later In this song Kishore Kumar tells not to marry

Song from Parivaar 1956

Song from Adhikar 1954

Song from PatiPatni 1966

Song from Do Raaste 1969

Song from Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar 1973

Song from Lawaaris 1981

Song from Naukar Biwi Ka 1983

Song from Pukar 1983

Song from  Hiraasat 1987

Song from Thanedar 1990

Song from Santaan 1993

Song from Judaai 1997

Song from Joru Ka Gulam 2000

Copy Cat Songs during Golden Era Of Bollywood (Part 2)

Albert Einstein once said "Creativity is all about hiding your Sources".How true he was. Today with the availability of internet it has become difficult to hide your source. I being an internet surfer found many hit songs from the Golden Era of Bollywood which were copied from international songs.We all appreciated the composers of that era but this habit of copying was existed that time also. In this Blog I have taken few of such copied Hindi song along with the original International song.
The first Copied Song of Bollywood was Chod Gaye Balam from 1949 film Barsat was inspired by Bing Corsby's song "The Anniversary Waltz"

Song from Barsat 1949

Copied from

The Anniversary Waltz

Song from Awara 1951

Copied from

Ala Baladi 1936

Song from Taxi Driver 1954

Copied from

Tarantella  Napolitana

Song from Aar Paar 1954

Copied from

Perhaps Doris Day

Song from Munimji 1955

Copied from

The Mexican Hat Dance

Song from Memsahib 1956

Copied from

Isle Of Capri Rosemary Clooney

Song from Police 1957

Copied from

                                                 BERNARDINE - PAT BOONE

Song from Dilli Ka Thug 1958

Copied from

Rum & Coca cola 1944

Song from Chalti Ka Naam Gadi 1958

Copied from

                                              Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Ernie Ford

Song from Dil Deke Dekho 1959

Copied from 

Sugartime - The McGuire Sisters 1958

Song from Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai 1961

Copied from

                                    Sarah Vaughan -- Broken Hearted Melody 1958

Song from Akeli Mat Jaiyo 1963

Copied from

hernando's hideaway 1955

Prakash Mehra- The Man who Created the Recipe of Masala Films

In the 70s Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai gave birth to the 'formula' film. His films  revolving around a predictable plot, but touching on the social and political situation of the time. Being a smart Bollywood director, Mehra knew that a successful mainstream movie should be like a tasty Thaali, blending a host of ingredients.
Between 1973 and 1990, Prakash Mehra worked with Amitabh Bachchan on 8 films. These movies were not just blockbusters. They remain bookmarks of our cinematic memory. Anyone who grew up watching Hindi movies in the 1970s and 80s, movies like Zanjeer, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri (1976 film),Laawaris, Namak Halaal and Sharabi would surely agree to that.
Prakash Mehra (13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) started in the late 1950s as a production controller. In 1968, he directed Shashi Kapoor who played a double role in Haseena Maan Jayegi. . In 1973, he produced and directed Zanjeer,from here began the journey of the  super Hit Producer and Director Prakash Mehra..

Mehra made his finest movies with Bachchan. But he also made some interesting films with other actors too. Such as dacoit dramas: Mela (Sanjay, Feroz Khan and Mumtaz) and Samadhi (Dharmendra, Jaya Bhaduri and Asha Parekh). The latter had the track, Bangle ke peeche teri beri ke neeche, which GenNow can identify with for its remixed version.

And who can forget Haath Ki Safai (Randhir Kapoor, Vinod Khanna and Hema Malini, 1974) with the superhit song, Peene walon ko peene ka bahana chahiye.  All these films fared reasonably well at the cash counters.

By the late 1980s, just like his main actor, Mehra seemed to have lost his touch. But while Bachchan reinvented himself and emerged in a new avatar, the producer-director never bounced back.

Mehra will be remembered. Not merely as the man who gave Big B his first big box-office hit. His better films always had something extra, something special. 

Songs from Prakash Mehra films

Song from Haseena Maan Jayegi (1968)

Song from Zanjeer (1973)

Song from Haath Ki Safai (1974)

Song from Hera Pheri (1976)

Song from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Song from Laawaris (1981)

Song from Namak Halaal (1982)

Song from Sharaabi (1984)