Saturday 24 September 2016

15 Memorable Roles Played by Dev Anand


One of the most influential actors in the history of Indian Cinema,Dev Anand  had graced silver screen for over six decades. He had acted in 114 Hindi films, out of which 104 had him as the solo lead hero. An actor, writer, director and producer; he had proved his versatility in every field. In his acting career of 65 years he played many characters,here i am presenting some of his most memorable roles in hindi films.

 Raju in GUIDE (1965)-This role took Anand to the Zenith of his eventful career. He played a role of a Tourist Guide,never before in hindi films this character was played.Dev Anand in his style of acting and manerism made this role an immortal. His portrayal of a silver-tongued tourist guide who defied all traditions for his relationship with Rosie (Waheeda Rehman), and groomed her for a successful career as a dancer, takes the most unpredictable U-turn in the mid course of the movie.He was awarded the Best Hero Award by Filmfare.








Karan in KALA PANI (1958)-This role of a man on a mission to prove his incarcerated father’s innocence was a perfect show down answer. From a drunkard to a mischievous & playful boy,  As a son who discovers by sheer chance that his father is not dead but imprisoned, he turns in a restrained performance without much of the mannerisms that became a part of his repertoire later.this challenging role got him his first Best Actor award..






Hum Bekhudi Mei Tumko 

C.I.D. (1956)-Dev Anand plays Inspector Shekhar in this film.Dev's performance in this film is one of his most restrained. Dev Anand. What can one say? Gorgeous to look at, dashing, debonair... one can keep adding adjectives. As a man on the trail of an enemy who is lurking in the shadows, Dev keeps his Shekhar keen and focused, to the extent that he antagonises his girl friend; when asked to choose between his duty and her, he unapologetically chooses the former. 





Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar from CID

Mangal in TAXI DRIVER (1954)- Mangal, who is called "Hero" by his friends. A driver who drives a cab by day, then drinks at night, listens to the seductive club dancer Sylvie, and then goes into a drunken stupor - and wakes up with a hangover. One day, while assisting another taxi driver, Mangal comes to the assistance of a damsel in distress Mala, who is being molested by two thugs. Mangal gallantly rescues her, and attempts to take her to her destination, The film got Filmfare Award for Best Music.Dev Anand's taxi in the movie was the British made Hillman Minx black car with number 1111. Such became the popularity following the film that the British made Hillman Minx became a vehicle of choice as a taxi in Bombay until the 1970s.




Jaye to Jaye Kahan

Madan in BAAZI (1951)-The role of Madan, a minor gambler who unintentionally gets involved in a murder mystery, made Dev Anand one of the most popular stars of his generation.After Ziddi in 1948 this was a super hit of Dev Anand which established him Super Star.He ruled bollywood for the next 3 decades.

Scene from Baazi




 Major Verma & Capt. Anand in HUM DONO (1961)-Double Role played by Dev Anand made this movie a classic.The song "Abhi Na Jao Chodh Kar Ki Dil Abhi Bhara Nahi"is an immortal song.Dev Anand played the roles of Major Verma and Captain Anand.Capt. Anand goes to deliver the sad news of Major Verma’s demise to his family, but is mistaken as his lookalike and is forced to take his place. 

Scene from Hum Dono

 Architect Rakesh Anand Kumar in TERE GHAR KE SAMNE (1963)- Dev Anand Plays an Architect Design Houses for his father and the Heroine's father simultaneously.But their fathers are rivals, and the two of them must convince their parents to live in harmony. Dev Anand’s nonchalantly clumsy mannerisms and a suave urbane personality is to die for.

Scene from Tere Ghar Ke Samne


Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar

 Johny in JOHNY MERA NAAM (1970)-A story of two brothers (Mohan & Sohan) who excel in boxing. Their father, a police inspector gets killed by a goon. While Mohan (Pran) avenges his father, Sohan (Dev Anand) goes on to becoming a CID officer, who solves his cases taking up different guises. He takes the identity of Johny, a petty thief and gets himself in jail to solve another case. It is considered a Dev Anand classic.This Golden Jubilee thriller was the first Indian film to cross a commercial milestone—it did Rs. 50 lakh business per territory when tickets were priced at a maximum Rs 2.50Paisa.




Pal Bhar ke Liye

Prince Amar in JEWEL THIEF (1967)-Vinay (Dev Anand), is an ordinary young man who finds himself constantly mistaken for a look-alike jewel thief named Amar. Vinay works with the police to impersonate Amar and crack his crime ring, but it seems that Amar has decided to impersonate Vinay, as well, and soon their true identities are thoroughly muddled.The film became a box office hit.The song "Hothon Mein Aisi Baat"became immortal.





Raja As Gambler in GAMBLER 1971-Raja (Dev Anand) has been abandoned by his biological mother at a very young age, and grows up with Master (Jeevan), a criminal don and card-sharp, who would like Raja to continue working with him on a commission basis.Raja meets Chanda Gangaram (Zaheeda) daughter of a wealthy industrialist and her uncle (Ifthekar)is also the city's police commissioner.Raja takes a liking to her at the very instant though she does not reciprocate, her uncle notices Raja's face to be familiar but ignores the suspicion.



Mera man Tera Pyasa

Prashant Jaiswal in HARE RAM HARE KRISHNA (1971)  This is a Montreal-based family of the Jaiswals, consisting of mom, dad, son, Prashant, and daughter, Jasbir. Due to differences, Mr and Mrs Jaiswal separate, leaving Jasbir with dad, and Prashant with his mom. Eventually Prashant and his mom travel to India, leaving father and daughter behind in Montreal. Years later, Prashant has grown up to be a pilot. He has received a letter from his dad that Jasbir, who had rebelled and left home, is now located in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a group of hippies. Prashant decides to find his sister and hopefully get her back to the family. When Prashant lands in Kathmandu he does not find Jasbir, but instead finds Janice, who is indeed his sister with a new name. Janice lives with the hippies in the property rented out by local landlord Drona.Prashant  tryed to convince her that he is her brother, who she had been told dead long back.The music of the film was composed by Rahul Dev Burman and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The songs, "Dum Maro Dum" and “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” were instant hits with the youth 

Scene from Hare Rama Hare Krishna





Ramesh as paying guest in PAYING GUEST 1957


Ramesh who has been thrown out of his room by his exasperated landlord. (He hasn't paid the rent for six months; one can't really blame the poor guy.) He meets his friend and ask him to help.Ramesh goes off to see if he can get other accommodation. He is in luck; there's a room available, but the landlord wants a character certificate from Ramesh's previous landlord. When he takes up residence, he is disturbed by noises from the room above. When he tries to stop it by tapping on his ceiling from below (ending by poking a hole in it), he is faced with a beautiful virago (Nutan) who warns him that this is a 'shareefon ka mohalla' (respectable locality).Here also he had to vacate the room.Now once again he was lookout for accomodation. He takes another accomodation in disguise of an old man because the owner that house was not willing to give rooms to young people.Dev Anand plays Ramesh with an innocent goodness – with his gap-toothed grin and laid back charm, he was the perfect lover. 



Chodd do yeh Aanchal

 Tony in JAAL (1952)- The story moves around Carlos & Maria’s family, and the two strangers who enter their lives, Lisa and Tony. Maria falls in love with Tony, and is warned constantly about his wrongdoings and the disaster she is embracing. But, that doesn’t effect her love for Tony.This movie was another Successful movie of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt. After Baazi, this was the second film in which Dev Anand also came through as an actor with a unique style of his own.
Scene from Jaal





 Gora  a Revolutionist in Faraar (1955)-For some obscure reason it was subtitled “Dev Anand in Goa” for the reissue, ostensibly because in the interregnum three more films with the same title had hit the market at regular intervals. Another plausible reason could be this was the evergreen star's second and last visit to Goa for shooting. Gora (Dev Anand) is part of a group of revolutionaries who set the bomb the previous night. The police are searching for him, but Gora manages to reach the headquarters. 




Har Ek Nazar

Prannath Kashyap (Dev Anand), a press reporter in Solva Saal 1958
Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman bring a lot to this film, not least their very comfortable equation with each other. Waheeda makes her Laaj believable, being neither too 'innocent' nor too much of a smart-mouth. Dev is Dev, young and handsome, and very comfortable in his own skin. Together, they provide us with two characters whom we are willing to invest in, and whose romance is something we root for. 





Friday 23 September 2016

Happy Birthday Tanuja



Born on  23 September 1943 Tanuja, is an Indian film actressof yesteryears. She is the daughter of Shobana Samarth and was married to Shomu Mukherjee, with whom she has two daughters, actresses, Kajol and Tanisha.

Tanuja was born in a Marathi family to filmmaker Kumarsen Samarth and actress Shobhna Samarth. She has three sisters, including actress Nutan and one brother. Her grandmother, Rattan Bai, and aunt Nalini Jaywant were also actresses.

She started her film career with her older sister Nutan in Hamari Beti (1950) as Baby Tanuja. As an adult, she debuted in the film Chhabili (1960) which was directed by her mother and had her sister, Nutan, in the lead. 



She  is most remembered for her roles in Hindi films like Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi, Jewel Thief, Haathi Mere Saathi, and Anubhav. Simultaneously she appeared in Marathi, Bengali and Gujarati films.
Scene from Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi



The film that truly marked her transition into adult heroine came with Hamari Yaad Aayegi (1961), directed by Kidar Sharma, She was a natural, spontaneous performer. Tanuja won the Best Supporting Actress at Filmfare for Paisa Ya Pyar.1969.The same year her film Jeene Ki Rah with Jeetendra as Heroine was a big hit.Tanuja married filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee in 1973.Afterward, Tanuja retired from films for a number of years but came back when her marriage ended. She was now offered supporting roles often starring former heroes. HerPyar Ki Kahani hero Amitabh Bachchan had to call her "bhabhi" (sister-in-law) in Khuddar (1982). She also played a supporting role in Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog (1982).She was recently seen in Son Of Sardar 2012 

Some Memorable Songs of Tanuja


Song from MemDidi


Kehde Kehde from Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi



Song from Jeene Ki Rah


song from Anubhav



Song from Izzat



Song from Do Chor



Song from Imtihan



Song from Haathi Mera Saathi


SONG FROM DO CHOR


Song from Jewl Thief



Tuesday 20 September 2016

PRABHAT STUDIO


From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, Indian movie studios proved the impossible: that social commitment, artistic creativity and commercial viability could coexist.Those days
every aspect of fim making was controled by the studios included the cinema halls.The Indian studios functioned in a manner similar to Hollywood: the bosses ran the show, while actors were retained on a payroll. Besides honing the talents of early stars (KL Saigal, Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar,Dev Anand,Guru Dutt) and filmmakers (Debaki Bose, V Shantaram, Bimal Roy),
One such Studio was Prabhat Studio which was one of the Three Big Names,The Bombay Talkies of Bombay,New Theatre of Calcutta and Prabhat Studio of Pune.

 The noted film director V. Shantaram, along with V.G. Damle, K.R. Dhaiber, S. Fatelal and S.B. Kulkarni.formed Prabhat Film Company on 1st June 1929 at Kolhapur Maharashtra with an initial investment amount of Rs 15,000.


In fact V Shantaram who was the the right hand man of Baburao Pendharkar who was already running a film company since 1920,The Maharashtra Film Company where Damle and Fatehlal were partners.

The company popularly known as PRABHAT STUDIO moved to Pune in 1933, where it established its own studio and produced a total of 45 films in both Marathi and Hindi over 27 years, including are Kunku (Duniya Na Mane in Hindi),Swarajyacha Toran also called Udaykal, based on Shivaji’s life, Dharmatma on life of saint EknathSant Tukaram, based on the saint-poet and social reformer, Shejari also called Padosi, on communal harmony, Manoos (aka Aadmi) about alcoholism and Amar Jyoti about woman’s emancipation. 

Initially during the Silent Era Prabhat Films soon made a name for itself with silent films and produced six films, most of them directed by the tireless V. Shantaram.He was of the opinion that only Silent Films are creative ,the Talkie Movie was a transient phase, and the silent films were the real artistic area. But soon the company realized its mistake, and joined the talkie era with Ayodhyecha Raja (The King of Ayodhya) in Marathi(1932), also starring Durga Khote, which was the first film of Marathi Cinema, and later made under the name Ayodhya Ka Raja in Hindi. The film is based on Raja Harishchandra's story. 
In 1933 the company shifted their Head Quarter to Poona being nearer to Bombay,they built a well equiped Studio which was most modern and the largest in Asia.
Their art department, which had a reputation for set construction and the use of plaster and draperies, was regarded as the finest in the country. Films like Ayodhyache Raja/Ayodhya ka Raja(Marathi/Hindi 1932) on the truth-loving King Harishchandra, 

Amrit Manthan (1934) once again a bilingual,made in Marathi and Hindi.The Hindi version ,the first Hindi film to celebrate 'Silver Jubilee'.  The story was based on abolishing the practice of human as well as animal sacrifice to any Goddess. Huge sets and costumes were notable in this film.Chandramohan got a break in the Hindi version of this film and became a famous actor.

In 1935 Dharmatma  was released both in Marathi & Hindi. Master Krishnarao, music director from Gandharva's drama company made his entry in the film industry as music director.Melodious tunes and enchanting voice of Balgandharva are the highlights of the film.

Amar Jyoti 1936,was made in Hindi, the proto-feminist tale of a woman turning into a pirate and declaring war on the state when she is denied legal custody of her son, made Prabhat one of the finest producers in the country.The first Prabhat film to have play-back system.T he song 'Suno Suno Banke Prani' became hit and thousands of its records were sold.


The biopic, title Sant Tukaram, in 1936, made by V. Damle and S. Fattelal of Prabhat Film Company and starring Vishnupant Pagnis as the lead, and released on 12 December 1936 at Central Cinema in Mumbai. The film was not only a big hit but also had won an award at the 5th Venice International Film Festival in 1937


In 1937 Kunku (Marathi) / Duniya Na Mane (Hindi) released following the huge success of Sant Tukaram.


1938 another film Gopalkrishna (Marathi &  Hind)  was released It was not directed by V Shantaram, V.Damle & S.Fatelal were the joint director of this movie.Technically Gopalkrishna is distinguished by the use of stylish sets, costumes and classically-oriented but lively music.




Manoos (Marathi) / Aadmi (Hindi) 1939 Yet another brilliant "problem" film. This brings together a simple-minded policeman and an innocent prostitute. The former tries to restore to the later , a life of decency by marrying her but the woman is still haunted by moral legacy of her past. The film was famous for a multi-lingual song "Kashala Udyachi Baat"


Sant Gyaneshwar (Marathi & Hindi) 1940 once again directed by V.Damle & S.Fatelal . It was the first Indian film screened in USA. "American Cinematograph" carried a review in its October,1941 issue and praised trick photography of the film.

Shejari (Marathi) / Padosi (Hindi) 1941,The film narrates the unfortunate scism that separates a Hindu from Muslim neighbour and a lifelong friend.Much of the film's background related to dam and the photographic exploitation of the subject ending in the tragic dam-burst is marked by unique technical skill.The romantic interludes in the film are made all the more colourful by a climatic torch dance.


In 1942 V Shantaram left Prabhat Films  to form his own "Rajkamal Kalamandir" studios, Damle Mama fell ill, the company encountered hard times. Its last major film was Ram Shastri in 1944. Noted director, Guru Dutt started his career as a choreographer, under a three-year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Pune in 1944.

The company was closed in the early 50's and property auctioned away in 1952.Film & Te The company formally closed on 13 October 1953.
Today, the Film and Television Institute of India occupies the land that once belonged to the studio in Pune. It’s fitting that a filmmaking school has come up on the spot where one of the best nurseries of talent  once stood.
!933 to 1942 was the golden Phase for Prabhat Films during that period they created lots of Hit Films.
RARE SONGS and CLIPPINGS of Prabhat Films


Aadmi 1938 : Kis Liye Kal Ki Baat : Singer & Actress , Shanta Hublikar : Md Master Krishna Rao


Kashala Udyachi Baat - Master Krishnarao - MANOOS - Shahu Modak, Shanta Hublikar

Song from Aadmi 1938


Song from Amar jyoti 1936



                               Sant Tukaram (1936) Music clip


Ek Tatva Naam - Sant Dnyaneshwar 

Ek Tha Raja | Duniya Na Mane 1937 | Shanta Apte .





Monday 19 September 2016

THEME SONGS- Train Songs-PART 2


Railways remains the important part of an average indian.We all have been fascinated with trains and its journies.Bollywood has given us some iconic scenes shots or songs inside a train or on a railway platform.I am presenting here some selected songs of Golden Era as well as Modern Era.
Here I am including the songs from 1969 onwards
The first song comes in my mind is from Aradhna where Rajesh Khanna is singing this popular song .Rajesh Khanna ,on a jeep ,serenaded Sharmila Tagore in a train, a superstar was born. But due to a non –availability of her dates Sharmila’s portions were shot in a studio.So that ‘train’ is actually a cardboard compartment.
mere sapno ki rani

 Phoolon ki rang se from Prem Pujari

This song was sung by Kishore kumar and acted by Dev Anand





Hum Dono Do Premi from Ajanabee
Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar sang the song without instrumental support.




Bombay Se Baroda Tak from Rafoochakkar


Only Audio is available

Gadi Bula Rahi Hai from Dost
The signature from Dulal Guha’s Dost nailed it . This is the one train song that most significantly defines the romance of locomotive.


Gadi Bula Rahi Hai

Pal Do Pal Ka Saath Hamara from The Burnning Train

Pal Do Pal Ka Saath

Chaiyyan chaiyyan in Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se 
Shah Rukh Khan and Malaika Arora jiving on top of a roofless train. A R Rahman’s composition incorporated the rhythms of a moving train with neat dexterous beats that made the heart pound. Khan and Arora did quite a balancing act on that speeding train. 



Haathon ki chand lakeero ka( Vidhaata)

This is not a romantic song  this time, the locomotive drivers, who have seen it all in their lives, sing a more philosophical song aboard the steam locomotiv

Haathon ki chand lakeero ka

 Kasto Mazaa from Parineeta


Chup Chup Chup Kyon Baithi Ho from  Hamraahi 1974 



 Dhadak Dhadak from Bunty Aur Babli



Jai Ho from  Slumdog Millionaire


Hoga Tumse Pyaara Kaun: Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai