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Awara - 1951
This was the first attempt by Raj Kapoor to model himself on the Charlie Chaplin act in the film Awara, which got more prominent in his later films like ‘Shree 420’. It was a trendsetter of sorts, an iconic movie at the time. Awara is produced and directed by Raj Kapoor himself and it was written by the R.K. loyalist K.A. Abbas who went on to write and also direct many socials. It was a landmark movie which juxtaposed good with the bad. Many of the Kapoor family graced the movie apart from the Protagonists- R.K. (Raj) himself and his father Prithviraj Kapoor, his Grandfather Diwan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and his younger brother Shashi played R.K’s younger self. Awara was released on 14th December 1951, it is considered a path-breaking film for Hindi cinema as it was a huge success not only in India but also abroad in South Asian countries and an overwhelming success in the Sovi ....
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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge - 1995
First look at the movie - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge did not evoke the response that it actually got at the hustings. It was a simple tale of young love with the underrated actors namely Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, under-rated because untill then though Shah Rukh had done some hits but was far from the romantic image that he has carved for himself today and was developing more in the villainous mold and Kajol though around for some time had no breakthrough movie to her credit. That the film will create history with its unprecedented run at the Box-Office was unthinkable at the time, it is all in hindsight now. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge has created history and how… it has had a twenty year run at a single theatre-Maratha Mandir a whopping 1000+ weeks, a record, and we thought that Sholay could never be repeated. The audience fell to the trap of now famous open arms of Shah Rukh st ....
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Golmaal 1979
Every once in a while a delightful comedy is served by the Hindi film Industry, this 1979 movie was one such movie Golmaal ... a once in a decade comedy of that time. Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Golmaal is the story of an average well educated Indian common man who would like to pursue good things in life, but is looking out for that elusive job which will not only give him a decent life but will also solve most of his monetary issues. Our young man of the story is Ramprasad Sharma (Amol Palekar-Superb) or Ram for short, he follows the Indian virtues but has taste for finer things of life like music, sports and as every Indian loves a taste for acting and films. He wants to live a full life, he has the responsibility of his unmarried sister Ratna (Manju Singh-very subtle character unlike many over-distraught sisters of Bollywood) who is herself pursuing post-graduation. They ....
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Bobby (1973)
Bobby was released on 28 September 1973 and was an instant hit amongst the Young India of the time. Teenage love stories were hitherto unseen on the Indian screens. That too with absolutely fresh faced youngsters actually acting their own age. This movie launched the careers of both Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in lead roles. Though it was planned with Rajesh Khanna in mind but as Raj Kapoor who was also it's Producer and Director and whose Mere Naam Joker had bombed badly on the silver screen, he is said to have not been able to afford Rajesh thus he launched his own son Rishi instead. Rest is now history. Bobby's fresh faced stars became the USP of this movie. Indian cinema was looking for fresh faces and they got them here. The story is about two teenagers coming from two different classes and religions of the society . Raj (Rishi Kapoor) is a son of a rich Hindu businessm ....
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Mausam (1975
MAUSAM appears here in the Retro Gems section due to the sheer sensitivity and the on-screen treatment of a mature subject and also due to the stellar performances by the lead actors Sanjeev Kumar and especially Sharmila Tagore who went on to win the Silver Lotus award at the National Awards that year for her role in the movie. It is Gulzar’s ode of love, he has been credited for writing and directing some of the most sensitive movies of Hindi cinema. Mausam is a work of art. To begin with the most striking sequence is the flashback song picturization of ‘Dil dhoondto hai’ which was novel experiment at that time, literally transporting one individual within the song as a spectator. This movie was released on 29th December 1975 that was the year of some grand hits and revolution of sorts in the Indian cinema side by side with the goings on, on the political scape of INDIA. Mau ....
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Masoom - 1982
Released in 1982, Masoom is adapted from the famous novel Man, Woman and Child by Eric Segal. It was Shekhar Kapur’s (Dev Anand’s nephew) debut directorial venture. Masoom is considered to be one of the most sensitively handled project, with the illegitimate child angle. With lyrics and screenplay written by Gulzar it was a formula bound for success. This is one of the projects of Kapur which did see the light of day. Masoom is a story of a child’s innocence and the film has brilliant music by none other than R.D. Burman with “Do naina ek kahani”, “Tujhse naraz nahin zindagi” topping the charts and the eponymous “Lakdi ki Kathi” which became the childhood anthem of sorts. The film was a hit with the middle class audience. With the ensemble cast of Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Saeed Jaffery and Tanuja who were all at the peak of their craft and child brigade led by ....
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Chupke Chupke 1975
Another movie from the buzzing year 1975 but this time a refreshing comedy in the category of an Indian classic. With all the main course servings of 1975 like Deewar, Sholay and all, Chupke Chupke was like the proverbial sweet dish, an icing on the cake for the year. Chupke Chupke is one more social comedy from the Hrishikesh Mukherjee stable with great direction, best actors of that era and melodious music. Based on Upendranath Ganguly’s Bengali tale ‘Chaddobeshi’, the dialogues were written wittingly by Gulzar. With a remarkable star cast of Dharmendra, Amitabh, Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bhaduri, Asrani, David, Om Prakash and Keshto Mukherjee, the film's music is composed by Sachinda (Sachin Dev Burman). Dr. Parimal Tripathi (Dharmendra) is a Professor of Botany, due to circumstances he doubles as a watchman to a Girls' Botany camping group however his identity is exposed to S ....
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Hum Aapke Hain Koun 1994
Ahem.. Ahem… so the heroine coughed to draw attention in the movie and attention it did draw, that too in hordes. Hum Aapke Hai Koun was the biggest Bollywood blockbuster of all times till then, before DDLJ came along the next year. Released on 5th August 1994. Hum Aapke Hai Kaun - This was the movie responsible to get the audience get back to theatres, as till then the Bollywood Industry was reeling under the onslaught of cable TV and people had almost forgotten to visit the theatres. This hugely successful tale was itself a re-adapted version of Rajshri’s own ‘Nadiya ke Paar’ with Sachin and Sadhana Singh. Steeped in Indian cultural values, Hum Aapke Hai Koun had a good measure of songs and dance associated with a typical North Indian wedding. Some consider it to be a docu-drama on Indian weddings. It sealed the spot for Salman Khan as a superstar. The heroine Madhuri Dix ....
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Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 1998
After the huge success of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayege (DDLJ) and Dil Toh Pagal Hai (DTPH) this film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was the next big film for Shah Rukh. Written and directed by Karan Johar who was himself an assistant director and also played a bit part in ‘DDLJ’, he seems to have taken inspiration from there for this, his directorial debut after which he went on to make many a big budgeted multi-starred blockbusters. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was also a start of a special Actor- director relationship between Johar and Shah Rukh which has given us many a hits in the past. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was released on 16th October 1998. Apart from India, it was filmed in many foreign locations a trend in the Bollywood movies at that time. It was also the movie which gave impetus to Rani Mukherjee’s almost defunct career, projecting her as a neo modern foreign educated girl, firmly entrenched in ....
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Tezaab 1988
A poignant offering of sorts, Tezaab is a story of the youth of the time by N. Chandra who had earlier made hard hitting films like Pratighaat and Ankush, this was his Magnum Opus. Tezaab literally means acid, is about injustice in society which creates rebelliousness in the youth, taking them to the wrong side of the law. Thus the youth who would have been the nation builders, are only fuming acid due to the system. Released 11th November 1988, Tezaab was the relaunch vehicle for Madhuri Dixit who achieved superstardom shaking her hips to the tunes of ‘Ek, do, teen’, before this she was seen in the forgettable ‘Abodh’. This also cemented Anil Kapoor’s place in the industry, a coming of age movie for him, which sort of typecast him in, on the edge rough roles mouthing the Bombay slang lingo. The story is about Mahesh Deshmukh aka Munna (Anil Kapoor) and his failed love ....
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