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Showing posts from May, 2021

Vinod (Eric Roberts) - The Forgotten Music Director

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  Vinod( May 28, 1922)  born as Eric Robert was a music director of the golden era but   fell short of reaching the pinnacle of commercial success in an era dominated by prominent composers like Shankar Jaikishan, S D Burman, O P Nayyar and C Ramchandra    He became a  household name.with the song Lara Lappa  Lara lappa Layee Rakhda from the 1949 film 'Ek Thi Ladki'. It  was a big musical hit of 1949 like Mahboob's Andaz and Raj Kapoor's Barsat.  The next two films in which Vinod composed were Kamini and Nagin. In 1950, Vinod came back with superb music in Anmol Ratan directed by M Sadiq, starring Meena and Karan Deewan. One could see the versatility in his compositions. Talat Mehmood and Lata sang their all-time great duets, Shikwa tera main gaun and Yaad aane wale phir yaad aa rahein hain, set in Kehrawa Tall with soft notes of flute. Another rare gem was Talat's Jab kisi ke rukh pe zulfein aake lehrane lagi set in Raag Bhairv. Nirmala...

Laxmikant Pyarelal - Their Music was a Key to Success of a Film or a Career of an Actor

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  Music directors Laxmikant-Pyarelal have composed many of such popular songs which have benefited the films to become hits as well as the film actors/actresses' popularity hiked. Dosti (1964) film was a hit because of its songs. ‘ Bindiya Chamke Gi ’  from “ Do Raaste ” in 1969 gave name and fame as well as  ‘star’  status to Mumtaz. Similarly,  Sridevi became a star after  ‘Hawa Hawai’  from “ Mr India ” in 1987. In this blog, I am discussing a few of such songs that have boosted the career of many actors. Song of Do Raste 1969 Song of Mr India 1987 Their first film Parasmani (1963) was successful because of its music.   Classic songs like "Woh Jab Yaad Aaye", "Mere Dil mein halki si", "Hansta hua", "Roshan Tumhi se" attracted the people to cinema halls to a B grade movie with no star cast.  Song of Parasmani 1963 Dosti  was amongst the top ten highest-grossing films of 1964, declared a "Super Hit" at the box office, with no star ...

Majrooh Sultanpuri- A Long Lyrical Journey from 1946 t0 2001

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  His first film as a lyricist was Shahjehab(1946) writing the immortal song 'Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya' sung by K L Saigal and the last film One 2 Ka 4  (2001).  H e was the only lyricist who wrote songs for heroes ranging from Saigal to Shahrukh Khan and leading ladies from Nargis to Madhuri Dixit.   He  worked with all the top music directors of his time –  Naushad,  Anil Biswas,  Madan Mohan, OP Nayyar, Roshan, 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. In his last film, he wrote for A R Rehman. 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. He ...

Subodh Mukharjee- Freedom Fighter to the Leading Filmmaker of the Golden Era

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  Subodh Mukharjee (   April 14 , 1921- 21 May 2005) was a freedom fighter, he was in jail for 3 months. His elder brother Shashdhar Mukharjee pulled him  away from the nationalist movement and engaged him film making. He started as a continuity assistant and writer He was given the first film as an independent director Munimji (1955).   The film was a hit.  The song "Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi," sung by Kishore Kumar, became a super hit. The next film he directed was Paying Guest(1957), which was again a hit. He started his own banner  SMP Subodh Mukharjee Productions.  The first film of this house was Love Marriage starring Dev Anand and Mala Sinha. This was the third film in a row under his direction All three films were hit.  The next film under his direction and production house was Junglee with Shammi Kapoor. The film was a super hit.  He was then a leading Filmmaker of Bollywood.  After Junglee he made April Fool in 1964 ...

Nainital and ils Bollywood Connection

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Nainital, the most favorite hill station of the North Indians has been a favorite location for Bollywood Filmmakers. The first Bollywood film shot in Nainital and nearby places was Madhumati released in 1958. But before that Guru Dutt and Zohra Sehgal, who were disciples of Uday Shankar,  established the 'Uday Shankar India Cultural Centre', at Simtola, near Nainital.   In the 1950s, three future Bollywood stars were studying in Nainital:   Amitabh Bachchan at Sherwood College.   Danny Denzongpa at Birla Vidyamandir, Naseeruddin Shah at St Joseph’s College, and Film director Karan Johar’s mother was a hosteller at St Mary’s Convent. B R Chopra's Gumrah (1963) starring Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt, and Mala Sinha was a super hit movie, Its  song “In Hawao Mein, Inhi Fijazo Mein” was shot in Nainital. Song of Gumrah 1963 The next song is from the 1964 film Shagun starring Waheeda Rehman and Kamaljeet.  The film was shot at  Mehboob Studios  in Bombay and...

263. Mexican film director Carlos Reygadas’ debut film “Japón” (Japan) (2002), based on his original screenplay: Fascinating debut of the talented duo of film director Reygadas and his Argentine cinematographer Diego Martinez Vignatti

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    My goal is to observe life and not to mystify it. What I film is simply matter that exists in the world. A person or object may have a particular meaning within the context of the film but I don’t see them as having an inherent conceptual identity. If I say the word ‘tree’, you don’t necessarily need to see the tree because you have learned since you were a child how to conceptualize the tree. In most narrative films, things—whether it’s a bird, a human body, a cloud, a car or a sound—exist as devices that only serve to tell a story. This is true for the actors as well. These types of films do not allow the viewer to see the actors as people existing in the world. Instead, the viewer sees a mask moving around in a costume and wearing lots of make-up. My goal is to bring out the individuality of each person or object and to capture something of their essence. I’m not interested in filming the mask. This is why you see the particular bodies in the films. If they are not...