It’s now very much well known that the recently released Hindi cinema Piku directed by Shoojit Sircar has touched every soul. I am also one of those touched souls. Though it’s the entire movie which did touch my soul, I firstly got hooked by its trailer. It instantly connected me with the movie and I felt somewhat nostalgic about the golden years spent with my ever loving father.
I literally craved to watch the movie and constantly nagged my hubby to book the tickets. Just a thought of going to the theatre was in itself an enthralling experience and finally when I finished watching it then I was speechless because of my heart’s boundless happiness. I had read rave reviews and even my loved ones conveyed me their appreciation for Piku after they watched it but my excitement of going to watch this movie was beyond my understanding. I was unable to assemble all the appropriate words to express my excitement. Maybe it was because I felt connected with the trailer of the movie so much that I was expecting my reel experience to mesmerise me by bringing back all the fond memories of my father.
I must say it did not disappoint me rather it would be perfect to say that I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the film although my father was not very similar to Bhaskor Banerjee, the reel father, played by the stalwart Amitabh Bachchan. Interestingly, my father was very different from Piku’s father in many ways but there is one great similarity that’s regarding their bowel movement though my father had his very unique approach towards it. Sometimes his approach to the bowel difficulties made for a great hilarious time for the whole family. At times he was shouted at by my mother, siblings, other family members and obviously I am included too.
My father was an extraordinarily good human being, he performed his role as the chief of a joint family with ease and to had him as father was the most amazing experience in the lives of my sibling’s and mine. He was not a spoil sport and never ever demeaned any of his children neither in front of the family members nor before the outsiders. So, I can vouch that every child would love to have a father of his kind and would feel proud to address that person as ‘baba’ with respect. Oh! I forgot to mention about the relatives, neighbours, acquaintances, domestic help and even the cook who had admired his personality and paid respect at every point of time wholeheartedly.
Actually every child loves to grab an opportunity to express his/her gratitude for the parents and in doing so one forgets to talk about their not so gracious things. As of now I am doing the same thing by highlighting my father’s great qualities and not coming up with the unique stories behind his bowel movement.
Hereby, I reveal that I still very clearly remember that my baba, as I addressed my father, used to visit toilet at least three to four times a day. The number of times had never decreased rather it increased when he went out for a few hours. In the meantime, I must say that I am sharing the story of those days of my father’s life when he was retired and I a grown up daughter. One particular attitude of his was that at 10:30 in the night he used to go to toilet. Sitting idle for some time was preferable than completing his mission toilet earlier than 10:30 PM and then catch a good night sleep. We poked him to go to toilet early and he used to see the watch and decide in favour (occasionally) or against our wish. In fact, we always laughed at him and commented sarcastically that what bowel pressure and 10:30 at night have in common. He never got angry but hardly listened to our persistent request. I must say he was adamant in this regard and never tried to understand why we pestered. He used to take his own sweet time so for the other members it was very difficult to remain awake until he came out of the toilet. Imagine if any untoward incident had taken place at any of the dark nights while the rest of the family slept unaware. The whole family felt very worried because he was on pacemaker.
As we all know that sometimes during a year the mosquitoes have a great feast on human blood. Our home was also not spared by the mosquitoes but my father never felt bogged down by it too. He had his own indigenous method to defend himself and enjoy his mission toilet. My father always lighted a mosquito coil and took it with him to the toilet. Now, I wonder that what would have happened if during those days the coil makers had come up with low smoke coil or no smoke one! Even he had a special chair for his toilet just like the reel father had and in the movie it was described as ‘singhashan’ that means royal chair. Indeed, we treated it to be a royal too. What a coincidence!
I always felt that my father was literally fascinated by worrying about bowel movement and loved his trips to toilet. He was an extraordinarily co-operative person but his mission toilet was an example of his adamant nature though without going into any argument with anyone in the family. After watching Piku I constantly thought that suppose my father had been like the reel father Bhaskor Banerjee then what would have happened to the lives of my siblings and mine.
It is always a pleasure to have one’s father around, no matter what and in my case my father had only one weakness but even for that he never put anyone in trouble. While he was on bed we scolded him a lot when he used to ask for bed pan for quite a number of times each and every day because of his bowel mania but he never rebuked back. I still remember that one morning we found his bed completely soiled and had even pulled the rubber cloth and the bed sheet from under his waist and threw them on the floor. We all thought it was done out of rage maybe because we failed to respond his call during the night. I went a step further, stopped talking to him and for the whole day I did not visit his room. Next day he confided his point of view to me and made me cry. He told me that his act was not out of anger upon anyone rather it seemed he underwent some hallucination. He saw a water body around him and so he threw away his soiled sheets into it. Till date I feel ashamed whenever I recall that moment.
The movie Piku dramatically connected me with it though my experience with my father was diametrically opposite to Piku's. For me the Bong connection was an added pleasure because of my Bengali lineage. The most affectionate portion of the movie was that having so much of difference in opinion the love between a father and a daughter never ceased to exist, daughter’s concern for her father, father’s dependence upon the daughter, even annoyance for each other and irritation at one another’s attitude simply grabbed all my attention. Though the movie ended at a stipulated time but made me not only recall every detail of my life with my adorable father rather I am still enjoying the spirit of it. I even visualized myself as Piku, the protagonist played by Deepika Padukone, and all thanks to Shoojit Sircar for directing such an emotional movie which is lead by motion as the caption of the movie says, motion se hi emotion, which in some or the other way made my dead father alive for me.
The only reason I remember the iconic movie Sholay is because it was only in my fifth attempt that I could manage a ticket to see it. Even offering relatively higher prices in black did not succeed, such was the pull of the movie. It was released in August, 1975 and is these days celebrating forty years of its release.
What explains the phenomenal success of Sholay? It has till date earned around Rs 720 crores, highest by a Hindi movie and that too beginning with comparatively very low ticket rates in 1975. Its story is based on the recurring theme of revenge a very common plot in countless Hindi movies. Many critics have said it was at best a B grade Hindi movie. In fact the film reviews at its release gave it average ratings which could not have predicted that it would go to become an all time favourite.
What sets it apart from other Hindi movies/ In fact a critic has gone to the extent of saying that it was not an Hindi movie and that is what made it a phenomenal Hindi movie. Unlike typical Hindi films it was low on emotion content, though the characters were involved in a emotional revenge saga. It was the first film to present characters devoid of the overburden of emotionalism that made audiences weep in the theaters and clutch to their handkerchiefs.
For the first time characters had a distinct personality of their own without overriding inter plays. This gave the characters scope to make their presence felt on the screen. Even incidental characters with two minute roles left an inedible impression on the viewers. The masterstroke was the creation of the character Gabbar, a rustic dacoit who did not live in luxurious surroundings full of buxom companions and torture chambers. Gabbar was as crude as they really are, full of venom and gutka chewing and cruel because of the omnipresent insecurity in a dacoit's life.
According to me Sholay became a super duper hit because of the character Gabbar, the simple but crisp dialogs by Salim-Javed and the appropriate location in Karnataka. Rest all fell in place automatically. This is not to say that the director, Ramesh Sippy, did not have significant role. He had. It was he who saw potential in the story and selected the appropriate actors for the various roles. For Gabbar's role he had selected Danny Denzongpa but he could not give the dates. Then Javed remembered that Salim had told him once about a powerful performance by Amjad Khan in a stage play he had seen. Amjad was called and his screen test was a hit and Sippy signed him up for Gabbar's role, which even Amitabh Bachchan wanted to do. Wonder how he would have done the role. Sippy also spent time to locate a proper location and finally settled on a rocky location near Bangalore. As a director with a tight script, well defined characters and excellent actors his job was simplified considerably.
Sholay also became a hit because of the many first technological incorporations both in audio and visual aspects which made the film comparable with Hollywood films and audiences loved these. The galloping horses falling with their front feet collapsing gave it an effect of reality. The sublme shots of Jaya in white saree lighting the evening lamp with an adoring Amitabh watching remains with you for a long time. The blabbering with a chatter box Basanti played by Hema and Dharmender adds spice to the film. The 'soocide' shot featuring Dharmender has now become a classic.
However it was the dialogs of the film which caught the fancy of the viewers and they have now almost immortal Simple but effective. "Kite aadmi the" by Gabbar became famous the way Amjad said it. Otherwise by itself it was a very mundane dialog. So has the "chal Basanthi -- " by Hema. Who can forget the impact of the dialog "itna sanaata kyon hai bhai' by blind Maulvi played by the veteren Hangal. Another one "Basanti in kutton ke samne mat nachana' by Dharmender or "Yeh haath mujhe dede thakur" by Sanjeev Kumar or "Basanti tumhara naam kya hai" by Amitabh or " Ham angrezoon ke zamane ke jailor hai" by Asrani or " Hota Bhopal -- " by Jagdeep have all become legendary. One can go on. The dialogs of Sholay were released in form of a record by a recording company and it did a roaring business.
Sholay came just when the Emergency was declared in the country and its vice like grip was beginning to stifle the masses. Did it have any effect on viewers thronging to the cinema halls is difficult to say.
All in all Sholay was a trend setter and today many times film history is written as pre and post-Sholay. It has indeed become a milestone in Hindi films. It gave a boost to writers to develop strong characters and liberated them from cliches in which they had got trapped. The maturing audiences liked this welcome change and the canvas of stories became wider.
However all films become hit only in their times. As times go by, tastes of audiences change . It is doubtful if Sholay were to be released first time today it would become such mega hit.
In conclusion I narrate what a grandparent known to me told me. A couple of years back Sholay was re-released with some publicity. He took his 11 year old grandson to show him Sholay after praising it very much to him. Midway in the show the grandson became restless and forced his grandparent to walkout of the hall. The young lad told him how can we withstand such bore movie. How times change.
However in the history of Indian cinema and especially Hindi films Sholay has a very high place for its many contributions and the extraordinary reception it received from the film goers.
PK is a beautifully crafted story which i felt was an extension of OMG, where Paresh Rawal played the central role and Akshay kumar played the role of God. The highpoints of this movie are- it touched upon every religion to make it look neutral, although it was emphasizing on Hinduism as a religion and about religious babas or dharma gurus who make this religion a business. Although the central character PK played by Aamir Khan was an alien nothing was discussed to which galaxy or planet he belonged to. We just got a hint of his planet that in his planet people have sensory powers to know what is going on in other person’s mind and that they do not cover themselves with clothes. This movie did not highlight the alien aspect of the story much and chose not to dwell upon it much. The Bhojpuri language added humor to the entire movie and the well-thought out and novel dialogues of the movie made it stand apart from other movies.
The movie highlighted the religious discrimination beautifully, explaining that God does not need protection, but some self-appointed religious gurus have assumed the responsibility of protecting God by building religious temples. How can the creator of all human beings needed protection- was a well justified rationale that the movie had highlighted in the end?
I felt this movie ran on the lines of OMG questioning the importance of idol worship but with a difference of an alien asking such questions instead of human being who is one among us just like in OMG. This movie was also different because it had two love stories in it one of Anuska Sharma or Jagat or Jaggu and Shushant Rajput and that of Aamir Khan or PK and Anuska Sharma, so there was a slight hint of a love angle too in this movie to keep audiences in good humor. All-in-all a masala movie with a social message, a light-hearted movie that was clean and is good for family viewing and caters to all age groups. But religious fanatics can take it to their heart and blow the religious issue out if proportion and try to put a ban on this movie. A fun filled, light-hearted movie yet depicting an important issue of how people are being fooled and duped in the name of religion has made PK the movie of the year.
Why movies like God Tussi Great Ho and OMG is slightly different, because it emphasizes the importance of God and re-establishes the faith on God saying God cannot take care of all your problems at one go...We humans need to solve our problems on our own. This movie PK also establishes and restores our faith in the existence of one God, and also re-emphasizes the fact that we cannot go close to God by simply doing idol worship or offering milk or money to God, we just need to help fellow humans to come out of our problems. We are not born with any religious birth marks, but it is we humans have demarcated and divided the society in the name of religion and language and make Gods out of stone. A very well crafted movie and a must watch with the entire family. Yet another time Aamir Khan has proved that why most of us viewers eagerly wait for his movie and why watching his movie is so much fun.
Manju Warrier’s ‘How Old are You?’ hits theaters on May 17, 2014
It was nothing short of a historic moment for Malayalam cinema when ‘How old are you?’ directed by Rosshan Andrrews hit theatres on 17 May 2014 Friday across Kerala. All Keralites celebrated this event with great enthusiasm as it marked celebrated comeback of the iconic actress Manju Warrier after 15 long years! The movie is a simple story with some excellent performances and a powerful script. The movie is running in fully packed houses, making it one of the biggest hits in the recent times. Why audience loved her comeback so much? Those three magical years – 1996 to 1999, its answer lies in those 19 movies!
A small journey to late 1990’s
Manju Warrier debuted silver screen in 1996 at the age of 16 and in 1999 she surprised everyone when she got married to co-actor the then struggling Dileep and decided to say good bye to silver screen forever. She was only 19 then! They together have paired in lead roles in a few movies like Sallam and Ee puzhayum kadannu and when the news came in the newspaper first page with caption, “It’s not a film shooting, it’s reality”, I too was one among those surprised viewers who had never read about the rumours of Manju-Dileep affair. The decision of their sudden marriage at Aluva temple shocked the whole film world as not many people knew about the matter earlier.
She acted only 19 movies in 4 years with one state award and one National award (Special Jury mention). A couple of movies got released in 2000. She was at her career peaks with a promising and surprising career ahead. Many film critics had predicted her bright future and many National awards, as she was easy in handling a college girl or a matured wife onscreen, at a younger age. Sallapam, Kanmatham, Pranayavarnangal, Summer in Bethlehem, Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu, Ee Puzhayum kadannu, Kaliveedu, Pathram, Krishnagudiyil oru pranayakaalathu; her movies can be counted in finger tips. But in most of these movies, she overshadowed the lead male actor! Most surprisingly, in those four years (from 1996 to 1999), all the 4 Filmfare awards for best Malayalam film actress were won by Manju, showing that she completely dominated Malayalam silver screen in those 4 years. In the past 15 years, no other actress has been able to replicate the same roles with such a powerful performance onscreen. After her, many actresses have come and gone in the past 15 years. But none of them have been able to give the same screen presence as Manju has done one and a half decade back.
Yes I have to admit the fact, though Malayalam screen has given so many wonderful actors to Indian Cinema, it has failed to give wonderful ladies to Indian screen. Sharda, Shobana, Urvasi and Manju are the only exceptions. Apart from the three superstars of Malayalam, and a few veteran actors, two well-established comedians have also won National award for best actor – Salim Kumar and the latest Suraj Venjaramoodu known for mocking ‘Thiruvananthapuram accent’ is his own, ‘Thirvanthoram’ style. Really a unique credit to Malayalam cinema!
I watched the movie on its third day of release
I too was among those who waited for the much anticipated movie, to get released on theatres. We were already prepared to watch the movie on Sunday Night show and reached the theatre before one hour. But seeing the huge crowd camped there, I was so surprised. Mohanlal’s Mr. Fraud also got released on Friday. Yet audience preferred to watch the old Manju once again back onscreen. Balcony was fully reserved and we had to satisfy sitting in the first row of the theater. Yet I should say I enjoyed the movie every bit.
The movie gives a clear message that age is just a number and anyone can pursue his/her dreams even if he/she has passed her half-life journey. Truly the movie inspires middle-aged people a lot, particularly if they want to cherish their hidden dreams. I liked the movie very much and the brilliant performance given by Manju. The lead actor Kunchakko had only little roles to play, as Manju is the real player of the show. But the fact that surprised me most is my husband too was very much impressed by the movie and performance of Manju and the supporting character of her colleague played by Vinay Forrt. He praised the movie’s script despite being a female-oriented story.
The movie in a snapshot and the message it gives
Manju plays the role of a 36 year old LD clerk Nirupama Rajeev and her husband Rajiv, played by Kunchako Boban is a newscaster of a radio station. Though she was very smart and extra talented during her college days in the late 1990’s, her responsibilities as a wife and mother kept her away from her pursuing dreams. As time passed by, she looked aged similar to other government employees, yet so busy with her daily activities. She is a true representation of a middle-aged Indian government servant. For one reason or other, she is being ridiculed by her husband, daughter, officials and even the society, following her meeting with President of India and the funny incidents took place after that. The incident that she falls unconscious before Indian president goes viral over net and cameo appearance of Quiz Wizard Siddhartha Basu as Indian president are also the highlights of the movie. The question, “What is that question asked by her 13-year old daughter to President of India”, which remains a suspense till movie’s climax is really one of the highlights of the family entertainer. This single question keeps our brain engaged always too.
She couldn’t clear an interview to get settled with her family in Ireland. Her husband takes their 13-year old daughter along with him when he leaves India, the incident which breaks her heart. The way she behaves to the incident – we can relate it to any Indian lady who is so much dedicated to her family. In fact, many scenes of the movie looked to be taken from our own real lives or persons around. At this point she meets her old friend who inspires Nirupama to fight back and pursue her dreams. After the interval it is how Nirupama brings back her lost smartness and her dreams alive and makes her family feel proud of her. She becomes popular across the state and the favourite icon through social network sites. Though her family invites her to Ireland, she decides to stay back in Kerala with her new responsibilities and visits her family in Ireland once in a while.
The movie is nothing short of an inspiration book and it inspires both men and women to pursue their dreams, though they have passed their young ages. The movie also gives a clean message that women are no way inferior to men and that any person can bounce back from bottom if he truly believes in himself.
A short note on Manju’s performance
No doubt, Manju has surprised everyone with her acting skills and no other movie can celebrate her comeback a better way than ‘How old are you?’. In some scenes, I could see those old shades of Manju in her 18, her naughty mannerisms and witty dialogues with her unique dialogue delivery skill. She has not have faced the camera in the past 15 years. Yet it never appears onscreen that she is doing a movie after a long time.
It’s for the first time in the history of Malayalam cinema a heroine given more importance than the movie and her comeback celebrated in such a grand way. It usually happens only in the case of superheroes of all Indian languages, Manju being the only exception. Yes, it’s an excellent comeback of Manju on a brilliant script and supported artists. All the characters of the movie have done their better part.
But the movie has a striking similarity with her real life
- No doubt, the movie has a powerful script lovely crafted. But I felt that the movie is strongly inspired from her real life too, for many reasons.
- In this movie, it’s shown that she was a student leader in the late 1990’s, an extraordinary smart student and an excellent orator. It’s her real life too! She was the top heroine of Malayalam, after Shobana took a break with mid-1990’s. When she got married in 1999, she was rated as the top heroine, both critically and commercially.
- She ruined her career and dreams for the sake of her family. It’s true in her real life too!
- Nirupama is always demotivated by her husband throughout the movie. In real case too, Manju has never been promoted by her husband in any event and she was not allowed to act in movies, though Dileep faced severe criticisms from media persons, film celebrities as well as common people.
- She plans a comeback to movies in her mid-30’s. It’s same in the case of movie too, where she pursues her dreams at the age of 36. In the movie Nirapama Rajiv’s age is wrongly shown as 36, and for the same reason she couldn’t pass an interview. In real life too, she is only 33 or 34.
- She is being repeatedly mocked by her husband and teenage daughter who couldn’t identify her real potential or establish her identity. In real life too, Dileep-Manju Warrier couple has only one daughter. Surprisingly both the teenagers have same age – 13!
- In the movie, Kunchakko Boban leaves to Ireland with teenager daughter, though Nirupama requests him not to take away the teenage daughter from her. It was Lekshmi’s insistence that her father takes her away. In the real life too, when Dileep - Manju Warrier couple filed for a mutual divorce, their daughter decided to be with her father. At present Manju is alone and Meenakshi stays with her father Dileep. The incident of Kunchakko and daughter leaving to Ireland has a striking similarity of their divorce in real life.
- In the movie, she succeeds to show the society that she has enough calibers to take a responsibility and give it a good finish. With the release of ‘How old are you?’ and a series of television ads, Manju has showed that she has enough potential to turn everything upside down. Now her brand value has reached crores and many film projects, including one Bollywood movies give us a lot of new promises. She is not less than the megastars of Malayalam right now, who rule the box office for more than 2 decades.
She faced camera after years with Big B
Manju regards it to be the happiest moment of her life, when she faced camera after 15 years aside legendary actor, Amitabh Bachchan. It was for a television ad of Kalyan Jewellers, a popular brand she endorses right now. She also appeared in television ads aside Aishwarya Rai, who too is the brand ambassador of the same brand and together they have inaugurated many showrooms.
Is it the beginning of a star war between the spouses?
Dileep’s latest release is ‘Ring Master’, released on Vishu celebrations in April, in which he plays the role of a dog trainer in a circus company. In this movie, it’s shown that his love interest leaves him and that she is a ‘Kalathilakam’ title holder. In real life too, Manju is a Kalathilakam title holder (Title given to a single artist for excellence in state wise/university wise arts competition conducted by schools/colleges), the title which gave her direct entry to movies at a younger age. So, did Dileep pick the theme from his real life? He gives his lover’s name to his pet dog? Is it purposefully to insult his ex-wife? I have not seen the movie yet. Otherwise I would have given a few more instances.
Manju too, through her comeback movie ‘How old are you?’ showed that age can never conquer her talents and in all terms, she is far better than her husband. She has celebrated her comeback with a grand opening at box office. Now let us wait for some interesting and spicy news that may fill gossip columns in the distant future!
Now let me conclude with the question which impressed President of India
“Among Indian Presidents only one woman; among Lok Sabha speakers there is only one woman; why is it so? What’s the hindrance to Indian women that they are not able to pursue their dreams?” That’s the question asked by Nirupama’s daughter to Indian President which prompted him to ask her who has tagged the question for her. He plans a breakfast with Nirupama and to his big surprise she faints before the Indian President as soon as she meets him, the news which becomes viral over net.
True or not, I personally believe that, though the movie will be widely promoted by feminists, it gives a strong message to all people, regardless of gender we can start a new beginning at any stage of our life, if we truly believe so and believe in ourselves. Age is just a number. It’s our mind which makes us believe if we are young or old. And through this article, let me wish Manju Warrier to conquer all peaks of her acting skills and bring a much awaited National award for Malayalis. All the very best Manju.
Image source: Wikimedia commons - Page Manju warrier
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manju_Warrier_-_%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%9E%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9C%E0%B5%81_%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D_by_Jayan_Kanjunny.jpg
In the 100 year old Hindi film industry, there have been a large number of leading male actors, who in their time entertained the audiences and in turn were adored by the film goers. However today they are a forgotten and hardly ever mentioned. In the world of Hindi cinema and its history , they have a place of respect and in their own way they were also important milestones. Every generation has its heroes and it is natural that the older ones will be remembered less and less with passage of time. But it is worth while to remember a few forgotten heroes from time to time. Five such heroes are remembered below:
1. Bharat Bhushan :
He was the star of the 1940's, making his highly successful debut in director Kidar Sharma's 1941 hit movie, Chitralekha. He was to star in many hugely successful mythological movies, that celebrated golden jubilee runs at the box-office. He is best remembered for his title role in the musical film Baiju Bawra, released in 1952 and whose songs are a listened with great relish today also.
He born in June,1920 in Meerut, UP and lost his mother at the age of two. His elder brother was a film producer and also owned a film studio in Lucknow. After completing his studies, against the wishes of his father, he went to Kolkatta and Mumbai to seek a career in films. After the success of his first movie Chitralekha, he had to struggle for a decade before he could make it big. It was the highly acclaimed musical 1952 film, Baiju Bawra which established him. He was to play the role of a tragic musician in many films thereafter. He was equally a good script and story writer and wrote for many successful films.
He had the distinction of getting the second Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role in Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in 1955. The inaugural first Award had gone to the legendary actor Dilip Kumar. He was the first of the good looking stars of the Hindi films and enjoyed playing historical and mythological characters the best. Most of his movies met with success at the box-office and were almost always backed with melodious music and songs,which are enjoyed today also.
Like a few other actors of that time, he also did not properly plan his financial savings and when roles stopped , he fell into dire straits. His last years were spent in great financial difficulties and it is reported that he even worked as a watchman in a film studio and did small roles in some TV serials. He had married twice and his second wife was the leading lady of his film Barsaat ki Raat. He died in a rented flat in 1992.
In the 1950's and 60's he starred in hit films like Suhaag Raat (1948), Baiju Bawra (1952), Anand Math (1952), Mirza Ghalib (1954), Basant Bahar (1956), Pardesi (1957), Rani Roopmati (1957), Phagun (1958), Soni Mahiwal(1958), Angulimal (1960), Barsaat ki Raat (1960), Jahan Ara (1964), Pyar ka Mausam (19690, Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), Hero (1983). His last appearance was in Maachis in 1996.
Bharat Bhushan had the distinction of acting in some of the most famous Hindi movies of the golden era of Indian films.
2. Pradeep Kumar :
He was another fine actor of the 50's and 60's and hailed from Bengal. He was born in 1925 and decided to become an actor at the age of seventeen, notwithstanding his father's objection. He stared acting on stage till he was spotted by the renowned director Debaki Bose who introduced him in his Bengali film Alaknanda in 1947. Soon he moved to Mimbai and got an opportunity to work in the 1952 Anand Math along with Bharat Bhushan. The Vande Matram song if this movie has attained a cult status. However it was the 1953 Anarkali opposite Bina Rai and the 1954 Nagin opposite Vyjantimala that shot him to fame. Both films were highly successful and there music is evergreen and songs are popular today also.
He had a series of films in the fifties and formed a good pair with the legendary actress Meena Kumari in seven movies following the success of Aarti in 1962. He had ten releases in 1956. His regal looks made him very suitable to play historical characters. He played the character of Shah Jahan in the highly successful movie Taj Mahal in 1963.
Some of his other famous films are Swami (1949), '42 (1951), Anarkali (1953), Subah Ka Tara (1954), Nagin (1954), Badshah (1954), Sitara (1955), Adil-e-Jahangir (1955), Durgesh Nandini (1956), Heer (1956), Yahudi Ki Ladki (1957), Naya zamana (1957), Miss India (1957), Duniya na Mane (1959), Tu Nahin Aur Sahi (1960), Ghunghat (1960), Apsara (1961), Rakhi (1962), Meri Surat Teri Ankhen (1963), etc. His last appearancewas in Badmaash in 1998.
He passed away in 2001 in Kolkatta leaving behind a rich portrayal in many films.
3 Mahipal Singh:
Perhaps very few readers may know that an actor by the name Mahipal ruled the roost once in Hindi films. Born as Mahipal Chand Bhandari in Jodhpur in 1919, he came to Mumbai to seek an acting career. He made his debut in Nazrana in 1942. It launched him into a successful career in Hindi films. He specialized in playing mythological and religious characters. He gained fame in Gulf countries also when he acted in a few fantasy films based on stories from Arabian Nights.
He was an excellent dancer who could outperform his female counterparts. He became a household name for his dance in the V Shantaram directed Navrang on the songs Tu Chhupi Hai Kahan Me Tadapta Yahan and Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi. He was a popular actor in the 1950's and 60's in the golden black and white era of Hindi films. His movies had strong musical back up and popular songs which delighted the audiences. He had seven releases in 1957 and nine releases in 1963.
He loved travelling. In fact he went on a world tour after he stopped working in films.
Some of his famous films are Nazrana (1942), Shankar Parvati (1943), Mali (1944), Lakshmi Narayan (1951), Jai Mahalaxmi (1951), Devyani (1952), Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (1952), Khoj (1953), Tusidas (1954), Lal Pari (1954), Aladin and 40 Thieves (1954), Roop Kumari (1956), Hatimtai Ka Beta (1955), Mast Qalandhar (1955), Roop Kumari (1956), Sher-e Bhagdad (1957), Chamak Chandni (1957), Navrang (1959), Zabak (1961), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961), Pyar ki Jeet (1962), Naag Devata (1962), Been ka jadoo (1963), Parasmani (1963), Cobra Girl (1963), Vishnu Puran (1973), Amar Jyoti (1984) etc.
The fine actor passed away in 2005 in Mumbai. After retiring from films he had kept away from them totally, even though he had acted in nearly 90 films.
4. Sheikh Mukhtar:
The tall six feet two inches Mukhtar was the Hindi films first anti hero , long before Amitabh Bachchan started doing soon the screen. He had a rugged body of hefty proportions with roughness on his face, all of which made him a hunk. He excelled in playing toughie especially the 'dada' type roles.
He made his debut in Ek Hi Rasta in 1939 and went on to carve out a niche by playing roles of the tough characters. His career lasted for nearly four decades and he acted in more than 70 movies and also produced eight movies. He fitted well into historical characters like Babar and Changez Khan, and at the same time acted as the uncouth lover.
His pairing with the beautiful Begum Para was especially a hit with the audiences. It was the classic pairing of the beauty and the beast. He also formed a hit partnership on the screen with Mukri the comedienne less than half his height.
His undoing was the film he produced with all his savings, Noor Jahan, which miserably bombed at the box-office. Life became difficult for him as debtors mounted pressure. One fine day, along with a few of his film prints he escaped to Pakistan. However he found it difficult there also but manged to get Noor Jahan released.
It was tragic that he suffered a heart attack on the day Noor Jahan was released in Pakistan in May, 1980 and passed away. The film became a box-office hit in Pakistan. However it was too late for Mukhtar.
Some of his films are Ek Hi Rasta(1939), Bahen (1941), Roti (1942), Bhookh (1946), Anokha Pyar (1948), Ghayal (1951), Annadata (1952), Mangu (1954), Mr Lambu (1956), Changez Khan (1957), Qaidi No 911 ( 1959), Do Ustaad (1959), Tel Malish Boot Polish (1961), Bada Aadmi (1961), Gangu (1962), Dilli Ka dada (1962), Birju Ustaad (1964), Lal Bangla (1966), Nadir Shah (1968), Noor Jahan (1968), Mangu Dada (1970), Ustad Pedro (1971), Hum Sab Chor Hain (1973).
Mukhtar was an actor of a different type who succeeded in making a place for himself with the audiences.
5. Motilal:
He came to Mumbai to join the Navy but ended up becoming a part of Hindi films. Born as Motilal Rajvansh in an affluent family in Simla in 1910, he got a break in 1934 as a hero in Shaher ka Jadoo.
He is considered to be the pioneer of natural acting and is also remembered as a powerful character actor. He had as his competitiors the powerful actors like Prithviraj Kapoor and Sohrab Modi who gave theatrical performances. He was a flamboyant personality who believed in living and spending lavishly. By the 1950'she had lost most of his money and from hero he now became a character actor and did some memorable rloes.
He is best remembered for his role of Chunilal in the Bimal Roy directed classic Devdas in 1955 for which he won his first Filmare Best Supporting Actor Award. He was also at his best as the gentleman crook in S S Vasan's adaptation of R K Laxman's Mr Sampat in 1952. He earned accolades for his comic timing and stylish mannerisms in his portrays of various characters. His role in Parakh (1961) got him him second Filmare Award.
He was full of life and humour. He was also good at cricket and used to joke that if not for his films he would have become captain of Indian team. He learnt to fly and owned a plane and had been upto Andamans.
Some of his famous movies are Silver King (1935), Dr Madhurika (1935), Lagna Bhandhan (1936), Do Diwane (1936), Jagirdar(1937), Hum TUm Aur Woh (1938), Sach Hai (1939), Sasural (1941), Pardesi (1941), Umang (1944), dost (1944), hamari beti (1950), Mr sampat (1952), ek Do Teen (1953), Devdas (1955), Jagte Raho (1956), Bhandan (1956), Ab Dili Door Nahin (1957), Paigham (1959), Leader (1964), Waqt (1965), etc
He acted in more than 60 movies.
He was married but still got entangled with Shobna Samarth a famous actress and mother of Nutan and Tanuja. He died almost penniless because of his lavish life style and love of horse racing and betting. He was famous for his felt hat and was always immaculately dresses. He was known for his effortless acting.
He became director of Chhoti Chhoti Baatein in 1965 but passed away before its completion. In his death Hindi film industry lost its smartest hero.
The above actors in their hey days were the toast of the audiences and their fans. Today they are hardly remembered except by some old timers and film buffs with a sense of history. Every generation has its own heroes and all pass on into history with passage of time. But what remains behind is their work.
Hindi films have just entered into its 101st year and the yester year heroes are a legacy to be nourished and remembered with love and gratitude.
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