Posts

Showing posts from July, 2021

AVM- The Oldest and Longest Film Production Company.

Image
  Today's generation may not be familiar with this name but one or two generations before it was a big name in the Hindi film audience. It was founded by    AV. Meiyappan (28 July 1907 -  12 August 1979),  set up the first studio in 1946, with a vision of transforming the world of cinema with top-class storytelling styles. Over the decades, each member of the AVM family has kept up with that legacy, adapting it to changing times.  It has produced over 300 films in  Tamil ,  Telugu ,  Kannada ,  Malayalam ,  and  Hindi  cinema. The first film   ' Alli Arjuna' a Hindu mythology was released in 1935, produced under  'Saraswathi Sound Productions' and then under  'Pragathi Studios'. The first Hindi film was 'Bahar' released in 1951. AVM has introduced numerous actors in Southern industries, some of the prominent actors are  Sivaji Ganesan ,  Rajkumar ,  S. S. Rajendran ,  Vyjayanthimala ...

Missing the Villain's Den and a Song there in the Climax

Image
  Among the many things that have vanished from Hindi films are the villain's Den, heroines, and sacrificing mothers tied to pillars waiting to be rescued by the hero. Filmmakers never missed an opportunity to keep a dance song in that situation. This trend started in the 50s and continued till the early 90s. Among the early villain’s den songs is  from  Baazi  (1951).  Tadbeer Se Bigadi Hui Taqdeer Bana   Le,   The desperate, out-of-luck hero Dev Anand is about to leave the gambler’s den in Star Hotel until the seductive Geeta Bali appears with her guitar and sings, “Apne pe bharosa hai to dav laga le” Another popular song of this situation was  Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana  from the 1956 film C I D In this blog I have selected a few such songs performed in a super villain's hideout when the leading hero or heroine is under captivity. Sometimes lead leading actors are also disguised while performing choreographed dances in the villain's...

How Harikishan Giri Goswami became Manoj Kumar?

Image
  He was eleven years old when he saw his first film 'Shabnam'(1949) starring Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal. This film and its hero Dilip Kumar created magic on the  young Harikishan Giri Goswami that he decided to adopt the name of Dilip Kumar's character from the 1949 film as his screen name. The story of the film was of the  refugees of the 1942 Rangoon war,  Shanti (Kamini Kaushal) and Dilip Kumar( Manoj) who fall in love while on the way to Bengal. He too was a refugee from Pakistan, the film made a long-lasting impact on the young Harikishan. In an interview, Manoj Kumar said " It is because of him that I became a fan of cinema. I fell in love with his character in the film whose name was Manoj. I must be 11-year-old then but I instantly decided that if and whenever I become an actor I will keep my name as Manoj Kumar,"   Manoj Kumar  (born  on 24 July 1937)  his family had to migrate from  Jandiala Sher Khan  Pakistan  to De...

MUKESH - The Best Articulator of Melancholy.

Image
    ‘Dil jalta hai to jalne de’. was t he first major song from Mukesh from ” Pehli Nazar”(1945). It was Anil Biswas who composed this song and wanted him to sing   in Saigal style  The song became so popular that he was branded for the sad songs.  He was next to Saigal for such types of songs. Initially, all the composers used Mukesh mainly for such songs. After this film, however, Anil Biswas helped Mukesh to develop his own distinct style, away from the Saigal effect. Mukesh songs of Anokha Pyaar-48, Lajawab-50 and Aaram-51 are a testimony to this effort becoming a success. Just listen to ‘ Aye Jaan e Jigar’ song and you will agree.    The anguish of a failed lover, despondency of a purposeless life, the Heartache-all this is expressed by Mukesh like no other singer. Naushad also recognized Mukesh's voice, he took him for the first time in the 1948 film 'Anokhi Ada'. Mukesh coming out a winner with his ‘ kabhi dil dil se takrata to hoga’. Mela-...

The Songs of Anand Bakshi since the Begining of his Career( 1956 -1965)

Image
  Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930-30 March 2002)  was fond of writing poetry since his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. He worked in Army but left it to join Hindi Film Industry as a writer or a singer but not a lyricist.  He got his break writing songs in a film titled  Bhalaa Aadmi  (1958), acted by  Bhagwan Dada . He wrote four songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956. (In his own voice on All India Radio interview) . Anand Bakshi thought at that time that now his career has started but i t was not like that, he had to struggle further. He was given one or two songs in the films like Miss Toofan Mail, Sun To Le Haseena(1958),  CID Girl,  Laal Nishaan(1959) but he got noticed from the 1962 film 'Kala Samundar' Qawwali   “ Meri Taveer Le Ke Kya Karoge ”. Plus the films ‘Mehndi Lagi Mere Haath’ His first super hit song was 'Mere Mehboob Kayamat H...

Unheard Story of Geeta Dutt- The words sang ten years ago became true.

Image
  We all remember the song "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" with this song Geeta Dutt became famous That was in 1947 with the release of 'Do Bhai' music was given by S D Burman.  1947-1949 saw Geeta Roy rule as the number one female playback singer in the Hindi film industry as she moved from strength to strength. She married Guru Dutt in 1953 whom she fell in love with during the recording of the songs of' Baazi'(1951). In 1957 Guru Dutt started a film 'Gauri' in Hindi and Bengali with her as the heroine.  This film was supposed to be shot in the new cinemascope technology. It is said that a lot of expensive types of equipment were ordered from abroad and the shooting began with a lot of expectations from Geeta Dutt The shooting of the film began and a few reels were shot. Based on the available information, at least one song sung and acted by Geeta was recorded. To much dismay of Geeta, Guru Dutt decided to scrap the film. It was a case of shattered dre...