YAADEIN

Any discussion on movies is incomplete without a reference to Bollywood, the hub of the entertainment scene in India. Though I was born and brought up in the Southern parts of India , where Hindi is not widely spoken, I had a good dose of Bollywood films in the places I grew up and again my memory rewinds to the nostalgic 1950s & 60s, the era of legends like Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar not to forget the Kapoor Khandan (of all shapes, sizes and ages) and heroines like Nutan, Vyjayantimala, Sadhana,Simi et al.

Here I am sharing with you some of the evergreen melodies of my childhood from Bollywood films of the 50s & 60s.

KOHINOOR

Kohinoor is a 1960 entertainer produced by Dr V. N. Sinha and directed by S U Sunny. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Kum Kum and Leela Chitnis. It is said that Dilip Kumar went into depression after playing tragic roles in films such as Devdas and his psychiatrist recommended that he do lighter roles. One such role that he took up was Kohinoor. Kohinoor had Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari play a prince and princess of different kingdoms and was full of sword fights, songs and dances. Its tone was light and it lacked the intense characterizations of his earlier films.

This song 'Madhuban mein Radhika Nache Re' is an all-time hit and remembered even today, after almost 50 years, for its tuneful music by Naushad and soulful rendering by the Greatest ever, the one and only Mohamed Rafi.

DILIPKUMAR AND KUM-KUM ON SCREEN

MADHUMATI

Madhumati (1958) directed by Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak deals with reincarnation and had a gothic noir feel to it. The film was one of Roy's greatest commercial successes. Madhumati is the very first Hindi Movie that I saw and it perehaps baptized me into a string of other Hindi Films.. Music by Salil Choudhury, lyrics by Shailendra. The movie stars Dilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala, Pran and Johnny Walker.

While all the songs in Madhumati were super-hits, here I am sharing with you what I consider as the best number in Madhumati.

“Dil tadap tadap ke keh raha hai aa bhi ja

Tu humse aankh na chura, tujhe kasam hai aa bhi ja

Tu nahin tho yeh bahaar kya bahaar hai

Gul nahin khile ke tera intezaar hai.. ke tera intezaar hai”

VYJAYANTIMALA & DILIPKUMAR ON SCREEN

HUM DONO

Hum Dono (1961) is a Dev Anand super-hit produced by Navketan films. Written by Vijay Anand, the film is directed by Amarjeet. The film stars Dev Anand in a double role, and also has Nanda, Sadhana and Leela Chitnis. Hum Dono is also known for its mellifluous music by Jaidev. Here I have pleasure in sharing with you “Abhi Na Jao Chodkar” a duet rendered by Mohamed Rafi & Asha, an all time super-hit number in Hum Dono.

SADHANA WITH DEVANAND ON SCREEN

CID

C.I.D (1956) produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Raj Khosla features Dev Anand, Shakila, Johnny Walker, K. N. Singh and Waheeda Rehman. The movie was a crime thriller and has Dev playing a police inspector investigating a case. O. P. Nayyar composed music to the lyrics of Majrooh Sultanpuri.

I invie you to savour “Ankhon Hi Mein” a duet rendered by Mohamed Rafi & Geeta Dutt.

DEV ANAND AND SASIKALA ON SCREEN

Geeta Dutt (1930 - 1972) originally known as Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri was a prominent Indian playback singer in Hindi films in the 1950s and 60s, and also a singer of Bengali songs.

SHREE 420

Raj Kapoor (1924-88) is considered one of the greatest showmen of the "golden age" of Bombay musicals, and one of Bollywood's first megastars: producer and director, as well as star, of a string of box office hits. Shri 420 is one of the masterpieces of the Bombay cinema of the 50s, This is the second film to feature Raj Kapoor’s trademark character Raju, a Chaplinesque Indian Everyman. The title refers to section 420 of the Indian penal code, which deals with fraudsters; to call someone "a 420" is to imply that he is a cheat; "Shri" is an honorific prefix.

The song "Ramayya vastavayya, Ramayya vastavayya…." is an evergreen number from Shree 420 rendered by the two legends of Hindi Cinema, Mohamed Rafi & Mukesh besides Lata and chorus.

RAJ KAPOOR AND NARGIS ON SCREEN

AWAARA

Awaara (The Rogue) released in 1951 and directed and produced by Raj Kapoor who also did the lead role. His father Prithviraj Kapoor also stars as his on-screen father and Prithiviraj's father Dewan Bashwanath Kapoor also played a cameo in his only film appearance.

I invite you to enjoy the Video clip of “Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi” an evergreen hit from Awara. Music composed by Shankar Jaikishan duo to Shailendra’s inimitable lyric.

RAJ KAPOOR AND NARGIS ON SCREEN

TERE MERE SAPNE

Tere Mere Sapne (1971) was produced by Navketan Films and written & directed by Vijay Anand. The movie features Dev Anand, Mumtaz, Hema Malini, Vijay Anand and Prem Nath. The film's music is by S. D. Burman, and the story is based on "The Citadel", a novel by A.J. Cronin. Please enjoy the Video clip of "Jeevan Ki Bagiya Mehkaygi" a sweet melody rendered by Kishore Kumar & Lata to S.D.Burman's Music in Tere Mere Sapne.

DEVANAND AND MUMTAZ ON SCREEN

Enjoy another Video clip from Tere Mere Sapne "Ae Maine Kasam Li" a sweet melody rendered by Kishore Kumar & Lata to S.D.Burman's Music.

DEVANAND AND MUMTAZ ON SCREEN

PADOSAN (1969)

Padosan is a lighthearted comedy and tells the story of a simpleton (Sunil Dutt) who falls in love with his neighbour (Saira Banu) and woos her with ceaseless support from his friends (Kishore Kumar, Mukri, Raj Kishore and Keshto Mukherjee). Mehmood donning the role of a Tamil musician and rival to Sunil Dutt is the highlights of the film.

It is a remake of the super-hit Tamil film Adutha Veettu Penn (1960) starring Anjali Devi, Thangavelu and T.R. Ramachandran.

KISHORE KUMAR , MEHMOOD, SUNIL DUTT AND SAIRA BHANU ON SCREEN

DOSTI 1964

Dosti is an amazing depiction of friendship between Mohan (Sudhir Kumar) who is blind and Ramu (Shushil Kumar) a cripple. Sudhir Kumar and Sushil Kumar have performed as if they were born to play the role. The bonding between the two is perfect in the movie. Direction by Satyen Bose is faultless with each emotion being captured and portrayed so vividly. The scene where Mohan brings a lantern for Ramu was just superb and the way Ramu's examination result is disclosed to Mohan at the end is so heart wrenching and emotional that one can hardly resist one's tears.

The fact that Dosti was released on the same day as Sangam (the magnum opus from RK banner) and gave the latter a run in box-office ratings was hard to digest for some of the super powers of Bollywood and SudhirKumar (the role of blind boy) died under mysterious circumstances soon after the release of Dosti.

I invite you to enjoy the Video Clip of the song ‘Raahi Manwa Dukh Ki Chinta’ a solo by Mohamed Rafi in Dosti.

SUDHIR AND SUSHIL KUMAR DUO ON SCREEN