Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala
Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala were probably the most popular stars of the golden age of bollywood films including the 50s and 60s. The dancing skills of Vaijayantimala balanced the tragic andaz of Dilip Kumar and most of the films were legendary hits. In Devdas, Vaijayantimala played the role of Chandramukhi who tried to reform Devdas but failed as he died for his unsuccessful affair with Parbati, which was played by Suchitra Sen. Madhuri dixit played the same role of Vaijayantimala in Shahrukh Khan’s Devdas.
In Bimal Roy’s Madhumati, Vaijayantimala was a village girl who was loved by Dilip Kumar who was officer who took the charge of the hills. Their romance ended unsuccessfully as Pran killed Vaijayantimala. Dilip Kumar met another girl having resemblance with the girl whom he loved. The songs composed by Salil Chowdhury in the film like “aaja re”, “daiare daiare”, “suhana safar”, “dil tarap tarap”, etc., were masterpieces and the film stormed bollywood in 1958.
With the advent of colour Dilip Kumar and Vaijayantimala amazed the audience with their powerful performance in the film Ganga Jumna. Dilip Kumar was a dacoit in the film and took Vaijayantimala with him after he was wanted by the police. He used his weapons for the good the people at large. The Bhojpuri songs composed by Naushad including “nain lad jaihe”, “dhundo dhundo”, etc. sung by Rafi and Lata became big hits.
Both of them were sublime in the film Leader. All the songs in the film composed by Naushad including “tere husn ki”, “apni azaadi ko”, “ek shahenshah ne”, etc., were masterpieces and Rafi and Lata were at their top form, and their songs were given adequate expression by strong performance of the legendary pair.
They were probably the most popular pair of bollywood films in the 60s and their successful films one after the other including Paigham, Naya Daur, Sunghursh, had established the fact that the audience had associated themselves with their realistic performance. These epic films should be preserved for the next generation.
