Manna Dey and Sudhin Dasgupta.

Manna Dey and Sudhin Dasgupta.

Manna Dey had a very sweet relationship with Sudhin Dasgupta. He was used by almost all the leading composers of Bengal namely Anil Bagchi, Nochiketa Ghosh, Salil Choudhury and others. But probably his westernized andaz was used to the limit by Sudhin Dasgupta.

Sudhin Dasgupta used Manna Dey in Uttam Kumar’s film Goli Theke Rajpoth with the song “lag lag lag lag bhelkir khela”. Manna Dey’s songs “ami agantuk” and “ke prothom kache esechi” composed by Sudhin Dasgupta in Uttam Kumar’s film Shankhabela created sensation in Bengali celluloid in 1966. Manna Dey’s songs “ami kon pothe je choli” and “bachao ke acho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Choddobeshi became super hit as well.

In the 70s, Manna Dey’s songs “esechi ami esechi”, “lekha porata shikhe phele” and “paye paye joriye rakho” in Uttam Kumar’s film Har Mana Har created sensation as well. Uttam Kumar gave the lips of his lifetime in the film Har Mana Har. While major success of Sudhin Dasgupta came in Uttam Kumar’s films, he made major contribution in Soumitra Chatterji’s films as well. The songs “ei shohor theke aro anek dure”, “hoyto tomari jonyo”, “jibone ki pabona” in the film Teen Bhubaner Pare, composed by Sudhin Dasgupta and sung by Manna Dey showed the westernized orchestration of the giant composer.

Sudhin Dasupta’s songs in Soumitra’s films Prothom Kodom Phul and Bosonto Bilaap were equally successful. Manna Dey’s all round musical skills were used to perfection in these films. Even the song “ogo tomar sesh bichare asay” sung by Manna Dey in bayul andaz in Kali Banerjee’s legendary film Dak Horkora, and composed by Sudhin Dasgupta made the viewers speechless.

Manna Dey sang many numbers of solo numbers as basic discs under the compositions of Sudhin Dasgupta. One of the notable songs included “ami taar thikana rakhini”. The songs of Sudhin Dasgupta and Manna Dey combination should be preserved and restored.

Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Asha Parekh on 2nd October, 2009. She had been a dancing legend of the 60s. Bollywood industry is indebted to her for her brilliant performance in various films.

She started her career opposite Shammi Kapoor in the film Dil Deke Dekho in 1959. After that she acted in musical blockbusters most of which were directed by Nasir Hussain. She was sublime in the film Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai opposite Dev Anand. The songs in the film composed by Shankar Jaikishan like “sau saal pehle”, “yeh ankhe uff yumma”, “teri zulfon ki”, “jiya ho” became rich assets of history.

Asha Parekh had a fantastic combination with Joy Mukherjee. Her films Ziddi, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon and Love in Tokyo became superhit. The songs in most of these films composed by OP Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishan stormed box-office. The most famous songs included “banda parwar”, “raton ka sila”, “nazneen bara rangin hai wada tera”, “japan, love in Tokyo”, “hume tum mil gaye humdum”, etc. Similarly Asha Parekh’s combination with Biswajeet and Shammi Kapoor was very grand. Her film Mere Sanam with Biswajeet was another musical blockbuster. All the songs of the film like “pukarta chala hoon mai”, “humdum mere maan bhi jayo”, “hue hai tumpe aashiq hum bhala mano bura mano” sung by Rafi stormed box-office in the mid-60s.

Asha Parekh played many serious roles in films like Chirag opposite Sunil Dutt, Kati Patang opposite Rajesh Khanna, Upkaar opposite Manoj Kumar, etc. Asha Parekh dancing skills gave her a separate recognition during an age when actresses like Vaijayantimala, Rajashree, Mumtaz, Padmini were already created sensation in bollywood.

Asha Parekh’s performance in the film Carwan opposite Jeetender requires special mention. The viewers expect her to continue the great work in character roles in the years to come.