Happy Birthday 'Lolo'

No doubt Karishma  had a glamorous radiance and an electrifying charm  ... But to me this stunning beauty someway got eclipsed by her contemporaries ... in beauty by Aishwarya and Madhuri and in acting performance by Kajol and Rani Mukerji...

Karishma made an acting debut in ' Prem Qaidi ' in 1991 which received  a moderate response. Thereafter she acted in a number of films viz. Jigar, Anari, Raja Babu, Cooli no 1, Gopikishan etc. But she confirmed herself as an established actor from ' Raja Hindustani ' in 1996 and bagged her first film fare award for best actress. Immediately in 1997 she received National film award for best supporting actress for her role in ' Dil to Pagal Hai '

Thereafter Karishma demonstrated  her great acting caliber in Fiza and Zubaida. The role in Fiza demanded portraying of range of emotions and Karishma put in a superb and flawless performance.

Apart from this Karishma's notable films  are Andaz Apna Apna, Hero no 1, Biwi no 1, Hum Sath Sath Hai, Haseena Maan Jayegi, Janwar etc.

After her marriage in 2003, Karishma renounced the films. But recently  I heard that she is staging a comeback.... that's great ! film lovers will definitely cherish the return of this versatile actress who can do comedy and melodrama with equal ease !

Remembering Hemant Kumar

​( 16th June 1920 to 26th  September 1989 )

ना तुम हमें जानो..... 

Yes, it is difficult to understand Hemant Kumar as he is to be analysed  on two counts; first as a Singer and then as a Music Composer.

As a singer he is considered as foremost exponent of Ravindra Sangeet.  But Hemant Kumar  also learned Classical Music in his youth from Fanivasun Ganguly .He  initially  started singing Bengali songs in 1937 and thereafter switched   to singing for Hindi films. He became popular for playback songs for Devanand in the movies  Solvan Saal, Baat ek Raat ki, Jaal, House no 44 under the music directorship of  S D Burman.

He started  composing music in 1947 for Bengali films. His first Hindi film as a music composer was ' Anand Math'. The song ' Vande Mataram , Vande Mataram  by Lata Mangeshkar still arouses the feelings of patriotism.

But his best as a music composer came in 1955, for the film Nagin. He reached to the height of a fame by the song, ' Man dole mera tan dole' in which he used the clavioline for the effect of 'Been ' bagging his first Film fare award for the best Music Composer. Thereafter the music composition for Gurudatta's film  ' Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam ' added another feather in his cap(न जावो सैंया चुराके बैंया , कोई दुरसे आवाज दो चले आओ ). He was successful  in Bengal film industry  as a singer and music composer. But due to the presence of stalwarts like S D Burman and Madan Mohan, Hemant Kumar was not getting  the big banner films in Bollywood. He therefore turned to Production and started producing and composing music for  his own films. His first film was ' Bees Saal Baad ' featuring Lata's one of the best solos कहि दिप जले कहि दिल and thereafter ' Kohra ' giving his one of his best solo ' ये नयन डरे डरे '. His career reached at zenith with the film ' Khamoshi ' with the unforgettable songs हमने देखी है उन आंखोकि महकती खुशबु & तुम पुकार लो. The song वो शाम कुछ अजीब थी from Khamoshi marked the beginning of the legendary combination of  Kishor kumar for the  Superstar Rajesh Khanna for emotional songs.  

Early 70s witnessed the shift in Bollywood Music from melody to rhythm under the leadership of R.D. Burman. Somehow Hemant Kumar could not sense this  changing pulse of music lovers. Devoid of any work in Bollywood , he returned to Culcutta and continued his career in  Bengli Music where his contribution still  stands unmatched. Hemanat Kumar passed away in 1989. But even today his song   बेकरार करके हमें युं ना जाईये   from बीस साल बाद is being utilized in tv  ad of Secret temptation perfumes. No other proof is needed to confirm   that fragrance of his melody is still alive !

Remembering Jeevan

( October 24, 1915 to June 10, 1987 )

Film making is a team work but the success of the film normally gets attributed to the  heroes, heroines, directors, music composers and story writers. But it is always forgotten that  some of the actors who are neither  in lead roles nor even in supporting actor roles contribute significantly to the success of the film. Unfortunately  media does not have any time or space for them. Obviously they are not crowd pullers but the crowd on exiting  the theatre remarks about them ' wah ! kya kaam kiya hai '. One of such actors was ' Jeevan .....'

Jeevan, born as ' Omkar nath Dhar ', hailed from a royal family. His grandfather was Governor of Giligit. But he ran to Bombay to become an actor with only 26 rupees in his pocket as films in those days  were considered  taboo in the respectable families. He initially started with a job of sticking silver papers on reflectors in Mohan Studios. Gradually he was promoted as an actor. In the beginning, in the era of mytholgical fims he used to do role of Narad Muni. Later His peculiar nasal voice and somewhat sarcastic tone  of dialogue delivery made him suitable for the roles of villain. His notable films include Kanoon, Naya Daur, Nou do Gyarah, Ankhen, Johny Mera Naam, Amar Akbar Anthony , Naseeb, Roti, Suhaag, Lawaris, Sanam teri kasam, Hathkadi and so on. Unfortunately the towering presence of   'Pran ' as a villain prevented Jeevan to have access to lead roles of villain in big banner films and his potential as an actor could not be exploited.

Jeevan remained active till his last days till  he passed away in 1987. He did not receive any recognition, any award for any of his roles. But he still remains in the memory of film goers especially for his roles of 'Heera' in Johny Mera Naam and 'Robert' in Amar Akbar Anthony !

Remembering Sunil Dutt

( 6th June 1929- 25th May 2005 )

'जलते है जिसके लिये तेरी आंखोके दिये  ...'

Bollywood actors entering into politics is not so uncommon but it is very rare that a Bollywood star becomes a successful Politician and remains in active politics for about 25 years. But this happened in case of Sunil Dutt. He got elected to Parliament from Mumbai North West constituency 5 times and when he passed away in 2005 he was the Minister of sports and Youth in the Manmohan Singh Govt!

But he was also a star by himself though he could not garner the stardom as similar to that of the great trio ( Raj, Dilip, Dev ) He made a humble start with the film 'Railway Platform' in 1955. But the film 'Mother India ' in 1957, established him as a star. His successful films include Sadhana, Sujata, Mujhe Jeene do, Khandan, Padosan, Milan, Gumrah, Waqt, Pran Jaye par Vacchan na Jaye among others. He also created a record of directing and starring in the unique film ' Yaadein' in which he was the only actor. He then turned to Production but his two films ' Man ka Meet' and ' Reshma aur Shera' failed miserably at Box office.

Apart from Politician, Sunil Dutt was a tireless social worker. He was the founder of Nargis Dutt Foundation which helps the cancer patients and was also the sponserer of India Project.

His last appearance in film was in Munnabhai MBBS in 2003 in which he first and last time shared the screen with his son Sanjay Dutt !

About the Author

Jagdeesh V. Dhongde

Practicing Chartered Accountant, Past-Chairman of the Pune Branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Hindi Film Industry fan, Loving father, Altruist, Legend in his own terms.

My father is a practicing CA and an avid Bollywood fan (nothing new in India I guess!). But I think one special thing about his love for Hindi movies is that it transcends era - he enjoys movies as far back as the early 50s to even some choicest movies from 2015. And he adores the stars of the cine-world. Not just the brightest, but the rarest, the unknown, the most common whom most overlook. As a tribute to each one of them, he  has started taking out time from his hectic schedule and putting up posts on their birthdays, sharing their stories, his personal experience while watching the movies. It is well appreciated among his circles and I thought I could put it all together on one page.

Disclaimer: Information and image sources are the internet - imdb and Wikipedia and no copyright violation is intended.