Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

Happy birthday to Asha Parekh.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to Asha Parekh on 2nd October, 2010. 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. The film did great business with hit songs composed by Usha Khanna including “dil deke dekho” sung by Rafi. 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. Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon was shot in Kashmir, while Love in Tokyo was shot in Japan. The romantic scenery entertained the viewers. The songs in most of these films composed by OP Nayyar and Shankar Jaikishan stormed box-office. The most famous songs included “banda parwar”, “lakhon hai nigahon me”, “raton ka sila”, “nazneen bara rangin hai wada tera”, “japan, love in Tokyo”, “hume tum mil gaye humdum”, “o mere shahekhuba”, 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. She got critical acclamation for performance in the film Chirag. 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. She proved her dancing skills opposite other renowned dancers in the film like Helen and Aruna Irani. She also acted in character roles in films like Bulandi, Kaalia, etc., in the 80s. The viewers expect her to continue the great work in character roles in the years to come.

Happy birthday to Mehmood and remembering him with Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi.

Happy birthday to Mehmood and remembering him with Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi.

The viewers of bollywood films wish happy birthday to legendary comedian Mehmood on 29th September, 2010. He was an indispensable actor during the 60s and 70s. He had acted in different types of roles ranging from serious ones in Choti Behen to villainish roles in Pyaasa and obviously serio-comic roles in Gumnaam. He was the other comedian other than Johnny Walker, who had given lips in majority of songs in landmark films. His combination with Subha Khote and Dhumaal, was as brilliant as the legendary pairs of Dharmender Hema Malini or Shashi Kapoor Nanda.

Shankar Jaikishan had always been known to set trends and not follow any existing system created by the other compositions. SJ used Lata to her limit in Barsaat in the late 40s, during a time when the other female singers like Noorjahan, Suraiya, Samshad Begum, Rajkumari were also prominent in singing playback songs in bollywood films. SJ never stuck one single team and that was one of their secrets of success in bollywood films. In respect of Mehmood, it was a tradition for most of the composers to use Manna Dey to sing for Mehmood, most of which were very very successful. SD Burman used Manna Dey to sing “duniya bananewale” in the film Ziddi for Mehmood, where he used Rafi to sing the songs for Joy Mukherjee like “bolo bolo, aye dildaar”, etc. RD Burman used Manna Dey to sing the songs “sawaariya” and “ek chaturnaar” in the film Padosan for Mehmood. LP used Manna Dey to sing “o mere maina” in the film Pyar Kiye Ja, for Mehmood.

There are numerous other examples where Manna Dey was used by the composers to suit Mehmood. Shankar Jaikishan had something else in mind. He used Manna Dey in very serious classical songs like “sur na saje” in Basant Bahar, emotional songs like “tu pyar ka sagar hai” in Seema, or folk songs like “chalet musafir” in Teesri Kasam. When it came to Mehmood, SJ experimented with Rafi, and those songs probably are considered the most successful songs of Mehmood in his entire career.

The song “ajahu na aye balma sawan bita jai” in the film Saanjh Aur Sawera, picturized on Mehmood, stands out as one of the most classically oriented compositions of SJ for Rafi. The song had both appeal for the mass and also the class. The song “hum kale hai to kya hua dilwale hai” in Gumnaam, became a trademark song of Mehmood. Rafi almost reproduced the style of dialogue throwing of Mehmood in the song and it appeared to the masses that the song was sung by Mehmood himself. SJ used Rafi to sing the song “mai rickshawala” in the black and white era in the film Choti Bahen, during a time when Mehmood’s image was not created.

Mehmood almost made people cry in the film and the credit goes to Rafi’s emotions in the song. In the film Zindagi, Rafi’s song for Mehmood titled “ghungharwah mora cham cham baje”, became big hit. The other hit songs of Rafi for Mehmood composed by SJ include “o gori chalona hans ki chaal”, “zindagi mujhko dikhade raasta”, “mai hoon jaani tera”etc.

Rafi’s presence was felt in the films Beti Bete, Bhai Bhai, etc. where Mehmood had prominent roles and SJ composed the music of those films. Even the song “bakhma bakhma” in the film Shatranj became successful. Even in the duets that were sung for Mehmood, SJ created a new trend in allowing Suman Kalyanpur to sing some of the songs with Rafi or Sharda to sing some of them, in addition to Lata who had sung around 440 duets with Rafi during the golden age. The songs and the films of the legendary combination of Shankar Jaikishan, Rafi and Mehmood should be restored for their filmic appeal and versatile creations.