Rajnikant- Amitabh Bachchan is his Inspiration

 

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience He made his debut in 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal,

He is god down south but for actor Rajinikanth, screen legend Amitabh Bachchan is a “role model”, “inspiration” and “guru“. You would be surprised to know that he worked in more than 10 Tamil films that are Amitabh Bachchan's remake. This began with Shankar Salim Simon (1978), a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), followed by Naan Vazhavaippen (1979), a remake of Majboor (1974). In this blog, I look into the films in which he played Amitabh Bachchan.

Shankar Salim Simon (Amar Akbar Anthony)

This film was released in 1978, Rajnikant played the role of Simon, similar to Anthony played by Amitabh in Amar Akbar Anthony. He remade the Manmohan Desai film again in Telugu, this time as with actors Krishna as Robert, Rajinikanth as Ram and Chandra Mohan as Rahim. Both films were hit.

 Naan Vazhavaippen

This film was released in 1979, it was based on the 1974 hit film Majboor,  it featured Rajinikanth playing Big B’s part. This film was also remade in Telugu

Billa

This film is a remake of Amitabh's Don(1978). This is one of the most memorable films of Rajnikant. It was a super-duper hit.  The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career. Billa established Rajinikanth as the top star of South Indian cinema, overtaking Kamal Haasan.

Thee

1981 saw the release of Thee, a remake of the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original.

Mr. Bharath 

lt is a remake of Trishul (1978), released in 1985. It was also a super hit film. Rajinikanth playing the son who takes revenge from his father for cheating on his mother.

Dharamathin Thalaivan

It is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action-drama film directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Rajinikanth in dual roles, along with Prabhu, Suhasini, Kushboo, Nassar and Captain Raju in other roles. The film is a remake of the 1978 Hindi film Kasme Vaade. Dharmathin Thalaivan became a super hit 

Panakkaran 

It's a remake of Laawaris (1981). The film was released in 1990.  This film ran for more than 200 days and was declared a blockbuster hit film. It was dubbed in Telugu as Kondaveedi Puli  Rajinikanth reprised Bachchan’s role

Maaveeran

Maaveeran is a 1986 tamil film.  A remake of the 1985 Hindi film Mard, it stars Rajinikanth, Ambika and Jaishankar. Maaveeran was the first in Tamil to be shot in 70 mm film format, and have a six-track stereophonic sound. It was released on 1 November 1986, Diwali day, and failed commercially.

Padikathavan

Padikkadavan is a 1985 Tamil  film, starring Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth. It is a remake of the Hindi film Khud-Daar starring Amitabh Bachchan  . The film was a huge blockbuster and had a run for more than 250 days. This film is considered as one of the biggest hits for Rajinikanth during the 1980s.

Siva

It was released in 1989, was the remake of Bachchan’s 1977 film Khool Pasina. The film also starred actor-dancer Shobana playing Rekha’s role from the original.The film was dubbed in Telugu as Tiger Shiva.

Velaikkaran

It is a 1987 Tamil-language action comedy film This film is a remake of the 1982 Hindi film Namak Halaal.  So faithful was Rajinikanth to the original that it even featured Bachchan’s iconic ‘I can talk English, walk English because English is a very funny language’, of course, with a few changes.

Dilip Kumar- Uden Jab Jab Zulfen Teri

 

Recall this song of Naya Daur(1957), became a rage those days. This song was specially written by Sahir Ludhianvi for Dilip Kumar. Sahir used the word 'Zulfay' with reference to Dilip Kumar's mop of hair which was attracting attention right from his earlier films.

In the early years, many critics used to make fun of his unruly hairstyle falling on his forehead. But the same hairstyle became a fashion later. His fans used to adore it, they love to blow the hair in the wind. There as an incident in 1954 when one day Dilip Kumar led a procession of many filmstars on the street of Mumbai to raise fund for the flood victims, he discovered by the end of the day, they received hundreds of combs along with money.

In the 70s Alim Hakim was a celebrity hairstylist. He used to cut Dilip Kumar's hair. He was at Hotel TAJ, Mumbai as a hairstylist and later started his salon by the name of HAKIM’S.  His clientele included who’s who of the film industry and icons from different walks of the world.  From Dilip Kumar to Sunil Dutt to Anil Kapoor to Bachchans all were his clients.

In the 50s and 60s, Dilip Kumar was a fashion role model of India and Pakistan. Many of the youth in Pakistan used to have a Dilip Kumar hairstyle. There was an exciting story of a young boy of Lahore who walked to a very famous studio and asked the famous photographer to click his photograph similar to the photograph of Dilip Kumar which he was carrying with him.

The famous photographer gently patted on his cheek and said ' I can click the similar photo only if you have the same features.

Song of Naya Daur 1957

ASHOK KUMAR- The First Superstar of Bollywood

 

He never ever wanted to become an actor. He came to Bombay to become a director. Those days, actors were looked down upon. They were believed to come from the lowest strata of society. So he joined Bombay Talkies as a technician. he worked in the camera department. Later, he was made a lab assistant." It was sheer fluke that he became an actor.  He got the lead role in Jeevan Naiya (1936), a Bombay Talkies production. His first big hit was Achhut Kanya (1936), where he again paired with Devika Rani. 

.He was the first superstar of Hindi cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He was the hero of the first blockbuster film(Kismet 1943) of Indian cinema. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was also the first Bollywood star to enter the small screen (TV)

Post Kismet, Ashok Kumar became the most bankable star of the era, delivering a succession of box office successes with movies like Chal Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Shikari (1946), Sajan (1947), Mahal (1949), Sangram (1950) and Samadhi (1950).
He produced several films for Bombay Talkies during the final years of the company including Ziddi (1948), which established the careers of Dev Anand and Pran, Later on, he quit the Bombay Talkies and started Filmistan Studio with Shashdhar Mukharjee, his desire to return to Bombay Talkies was always there." He re-bought Bombay Talkies in 1947. "Devika Rani had left by then. But the Talkies had fallen on bad days. The debts amounted to Rs 28 lakhs. We made movies like Majboor, Ziddi, Mahal and Mashal to repay the debts."

With the advent of the 1950s, Ashok Kumar switched over to more mature roles, with the exception of the 1958 classic Howrah Bridge. Despite the arrival of a younger crop of stars like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar remained one of the stars of the era with hits like Afsana (1951), Nau Bahar (1952), Parineeta (1953), Bandish (1955) and EK Hi Raasta (1956). His most successful film of that era was Deedar (1951), in which he played second fiddle to Dilip Kumar.

Ashok Kumar played an important role in several landmark movies in the 1960s and 1970s, including Bandini(1963), Mamta (1966), Jewel Thief (1967), Aashirwad (1968) (for which he won a Filmfare Award as well as National Award in 1969), Purab aur Pashchim (1970), Pakeezah (1972), Mili (1975), Chhoti Si Baat (1975) and Khoobsurat (1980).

Ashok Kumar's last film role was in the 1997 movie Aankhon Mein Tum Ho.

 He passed away on 10th Dec 2001 at the age of 90 following a heart failure.

Songs of Ashok Kumar in his own voice

Songs of Jeewan Naiya 1936

Songs of Achhut Kanya 1936

Song of Jhoola

Song of Aashirvad

Dharmendra- The Original 'He-Man' of Bollywood

 

Dharmendra (8th Dec 1935 ) is the first 'He-Man' of  Hindi cinema. He was labelled He-Man after the release of 'Phool Aur Pathar' in 1966. This film was a huge hit and established him a star in Bollywood. It took him 6 years and 20 films to be recognised in the Industry. His first film 'Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere' was released in 1960.

In this film Dharmendra removes his shirt, not to show his packs but to cover an old poor woman lying on a street. There was another scene in the film in which Dharmendra in shirtless gently covers the sleeping Meena Kumari with a blanket. With just this scene Dharmendra became the symbol of masculinity and virility in Hindi Cinema.

Interestingly, Dharmendra removed his shirt first time in the film Shola Aur Shabnam but that time no one noticed his masculinity. The film was a hit but nobody knew that time he would be the future He-Man.

Before him, Dara Singh had the distinction of going shirtless for nearly all his films. It was mandatory for Dara Singh to expose in every film poster as he was the undisputed wrestling champ of India. Those days Bollywood actors were not always known for their bodies, the primary focus was on their acting skills which dominated the screen.

When we look back to see the old heroes shown shirtless the first film comes in my mind is Mr & Mrs 55 in which Guru Dutt actually makes his first cameo–as a shirtless fisherman.The most famous Shirtless was Dharmendra in Phool Aur Pathar.

Dharmendra wrote in his biography that Phool Aur Pathar was the Sholay of that time. After this film, he was offered action-packed roles. Aankhen(1968) in which he played a James Bond type role was a super hit. Another worth mentioning film was Mera Gaon Mera Desh.

Manmohan Desai was so impressed by his personality, he made a film Dharam Veer with him in which not only his chest but also his thighs were shown. After this film, he was renamed as Garam Dharm.

The smitten audience dotingly showered him with nicknames like “Action King” , " Garam Dharam", and “He-Man” majorly for his super hit roles in action movies. People were hooked to his fighting scenes. Dharmendra has bagged multiple hits on the box office, but one of the most loved movies of his is “Sholay” which was released in 1975.

Dharmendra went on to star in a number of action films between 1976–84, including Dharam Veer, Charas, Azaad, Katilon Ke Kaatil, Ghazab, Rajput, Bhagawat, Jaani Dost, Dharm Aur Qanoon, Main Intequam Loonga, Jeene Nahi Doonga, Hukumat and Raaj Tilak. He worked with Jeetendra in Dharmveer, Samraat, Burning Train, Jaan Hatheli Pe, Kinara, Dharam Karma, Nafrat Ki Aandhi. He also played con man or as gangster in Shalimar, Qayamat, Jaan Hatheli Pe, Jhuta Sach, Sitamgar, Professor Pyarelal and Phandebaaz.

Song of Phool Aur Patthar 1966

Song of Mera Gaon Mera Desh 1971

Song of Sholay 1975

Song of Dharam Veer 1977