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Such comedies can only be pulled off by Kishore Kumar, the genius. What strikes you about him in the early movies, and particularly in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, is his busy energy. Not only do his songs which he sang for other actors haunt us to this day but the movies he directed, produced, wrote and acted in were not all comedies but some socials too with a message. When we mention Kishore Kumar what comes to mind is the maverick comedian, doing as he pleases but still able to raise the laughs, it wasn’t only what he did but his persona was such that even a silly thing would evoke laughter. Same is the case with this movie which seems to have been made with a mind that it may flop but the reverse happened and it went on to be a hit and he nominated the rights of the movie to his secretary to avoid Income Tax issues. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi is one of the few movies to star all the thre ....
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Pyaasa 1957
The genius called Guru Dutt who created Pyaasa, was lost to the Indian film Industry at a young age when he committed suicide but not before he had a fabulous body of work to boast about, whatever may have been his reasons but there is no doubt about his craftsmanship not only in direction but also acting, which he took up upon himself when directing one of the movie his hero did not turn up. The ‘50s and the early ‘60s was his time and Guru Dutt gave many hits not only as a director but also as an actor. Due to the tragedy of his death he is seen more related to his depressing tales of unfulfilled desires in both Pyaasa and Kagaz ke Phool. Pyaasa was close to Dutt’s heart and one of the few movies which he directed, produced and acted in. It is considered a classic and was well received by the audience too. There is a bit of a background to the movie Pyaasa, as his team want ....
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Mughal e Azam 1960
When cinema falls in love with history a Magnum Opus like Mughal-e-Azam is produced. Though a tale from an unverified chapter of history, it is known for its opulence and huge sets and big budget. It was truly K. Asif’s work of passion that bought it from the brink of shelving as it took a long time to make. It was started in late ‘40s with a totally different star cast and did not work out as partition took place at the time and many people linked with the film either migrated to Pakistan or died in the process. Mughale-e-Azam was finally green lighted by the famous businessman Shaporji Pallonji, with no cost was spared to bring the story to life on the celluloid. Made with an unheard of budget of Rupees 1.5 Crore at that time, it went on to become a superhit garnering more than seven times over. Though most of the film was shot in Black and white at the time of its release on 5t ....
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Manthan 1976
A masterpiece from a master craftsman, Shyam Benegal's Manthan is based on the life and times of the Milkman of India Verghese Kurien who brought about the White Revolution, the man responsible for the Amul story and co-operative milk farming in India on mass scale. After the Green Revolution in the sector of farm produce which made India self-sufficient in food grains, this was the next important revolution towards self-sufficiency in milk production a day-to-day need, we can thank his efforts for our daily milk which is the first thing that we require and we get it like clockwork, round the year. It shows the coming together of people in a co-operative way. Manthan is not the story of one person but the millions of heroes who joined this revolution, painted beautifully on the celluloid by Benegal. The white revolution’s concept goes way back to pre-partition India when small milk ....
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Garm Hava 1974
One of the most authentic movie on partition and immediate fallout in post partition India, Garm Hava delves into the lives of the minorities who chose to stay back or one’s who migrated overnight without even informing their nearest ones. The struggle and the atmosphere of suspicion and communal strife prevalent at the time is beautifully captured in the film through the eyes and story of a patriarch of a minority family doing business in the North Indian city of Agra. North India and Uttar Pradesh and surrounding areas in particular were the hub of this dilemma the families faced, to migrate or not. Though depressing in parts the movie ends with a hope for all as the focus changes from the problems of the partition to the problems of survival and earning in the young nation, which has just woken up to the realities of what freedom brings with it, it is time to think ahead and buil ....
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Seeta aur Geeta 1972
Before she did Sholay and put life into Basanti's character in that film, Hema Malini did title role of Seeta aur Geeta, which is also a G.P. Sippy Production's film which was like a precursor to her Basanti. This was a female version of Dilip Kumar’s Ram aur Shyam but had better entertainment value. Seeta Aur Geeta was tale of identical twin sisters separated at birth bought up in different ways which has a bearing on their personality and traits. It also has a later day version with Sridevi named ‘Chaalbaaz’. This was probably one of the movies’ where Hema Malini really let down her hair and played both demure and inconfident Sita and an abuse spitting boisterous Geeta with aplomb so much so that the heroes in the movie are relegated to being the necessary evil for the sake of casting. This movie laid the basis of casting for Sholay as G.P. Sippy wanted to do an action movie ....
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Aashiqui 1990
This memorable movie made the Bhatt camp a formidable force in Bollywood. Aashiqui gave us two new faces and new hope Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal. Mahesh Bhatt had spotted Anu at a party. Settled in Paris she was already an International model (first Indian Super model) and had no interest to come to Bollywood but one thing in the script clinched her okay and that was when the heroine says “I want to do something of my own’ which was also her life philosophy. Anu Aggarwal was dark complexioned; which was a rarity in Bollywood during the 90s where people usually liked to see fair toned heroines, that notwithstanding she was accepted whole-hardheartedly. Rahul Roy was also spotted by Bhatt when he went to his mother Indira Roy's house to wish her. Though Aashiqui was a super-duper hit, it did not help in the careers of the lead actors as it should have due to various reasons, mayb ....
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Jai Santoshi Maa 1975 film
The most successful film on mythology in India is Jai Santoshi Maa. This movie about an unknown Goddess till then brought about a revolution to the nation thirsting for and searching for hope in Emergency times. The mythological film Jai Santoshi Maa started a trend which was followed for years to come. During 1975 the film grossed over 5 Crore Rupees and in today's value this amounts to Rs 200 Crores. Jai Santoshi Maa is to be credited with the Friday fasts became a rage with almost every woman in India observing the fast. The offering of Jaggery and gram to the Goddess for 16 consecutive Fridays and break the fast was rampant all over the country. Rarely has any other movie caught the fancy of the populace like this movie. Not only did people follow the regimen but there were also myths that if the sequence is broken it will be a bad omen for the person observing the fast and so on. ....
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Waqt 1965
Waqt, a powerful tale of lost and found was one of the earliest multi-starrers on India screens which started the later day trend for the same. Produced by B.R. Chopra and directed by his brother Yash Chopra, Waqt is remembered for the classic song ‘O meri Johrajabin’ picturized on Balraj Sahani serenading his lady love and wife in the movie. B.R. Chopra is a film maker known for his movies with a social message like Naya Daur, Hamraaz etc. This movie also had the message that Waqt or time is most powerful, it makes or breaks fortunes and that one should not be proud of one’s own achievements as they can easily be destroyed by time as it can change anytime. One gets the glimpse of the Yash Chopra style opulent lifestyle of the characters like clubs, high society bungalows etc. as early as in this film which he followed up in movies made by his own YRF studio in the later years. ....
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Qurbani 1980
Feroz Khan (FK) was a stylish personality and his movies also had his touch of style. Qurbani was one of his best with a good storyline, execution and fantastic songs and music. This definitely was one of the best movie roles after Hare Rama Hare Krishna for Zeenat Aman, role that was tailor made for her. Qurbani also kick started the career of Shakti Kapoor as a villain and also gave us the exotic Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan with some chartbuster numbers in the movie. Produced and directed by FK it released on 20th June 1980, FK spared no cost in the production department, there is a scene right at the beginning where FK ruins the Mercedes of the villain (Mercedes was an expensive car and in those days it was not so common to see it around). In fact some scenes were even lavishly mounted and that showed in the final product, it was one of the best movies with rich production values ....
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