Happy birthday Hema Malini

'किसी शायर कि गझल ड्रीमगर्ल, किसी झील का कंवल ड्रीमगर्ल…. '

Happy Birthday Hema Malini !

I first met the ' Dream Girl ' in ' Seeta aur Geeta '. The film was running  superhit  and we had to buy tickets in black. While watching the movie, instead of getting carried away by Hema Malini's  beauty, I was impressed much by her fabulous  performance in the Double role .. a meek Seeta in contrast  to bold Geeta...Its no wonder she picked up the best actress award of Film Fare for this role/s.

After acting in two  Tamil films, Hemamalini made her debut in Hindi films through ' Sapno ka Soudagar ' opposite Raj Kapoor in 1968. But the film flopped. Thereafter Hema Malini took risk by accepting some non conventional roles : A young widow in Andaz and a negative role in Lal Pathar. By these roles she could  have some foot hold in the industry, But her lead role with Dev Anand in 'Johny Mera Naam'  straight way took her up to the top and the role in Seeta aur Geeta made her an established star. Hema Malini thereafter rule the Bollywood for next about 10 years by her dazzling beauty, tinkling smile, outstanding acting performance and graceful dancing sequences. Her hit films include Sholay, Pratignya, Sanyasi, Joshila, Dost, Dharmatma, Premanagar, Jugnu, Kranti,Charas , Naseeb, Satte pe Satta etc.

Hema Mailini and Dharmendra fell in love on the sets of Sholay in which Hema Malini has performed the role of talkative Basanti. It is heard that Dharmendra used to pay Rs 100/- to cameraman and spotboy for each mistake they commit during the romantic scene with Hema Malini, so that he could get an opportunity to romance with her again and again! Hema Malini  acted in total 28 films with Dharmendra. She was also paired with  other stars of the time viz.  Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand and Amitabh Bacchan.

Apart from the normal romantic roles, Hema Malini has made significant contribution to Indian Cinema by performing female-centric roles in three films of Gulzar : Khushboo, Kinara and Meera.

In about mid 90s Hema Malini almost took a break from films and made a come back in Baghban in 2003 co-starring with Big B.

Hema Mailini is an elegant and trained Bhart Natyam Dancer and  is also master of  Kuchipudi and Mohiniattam dance formats. She has done a number of dance performances in India and abroad with her daughters, the most notable is her dance ballet 'Durga' at Mysore Palace and the another one at Khajuraho Dance festival.

Hema Malini entered the Politics in 2003 and was a member of Rajya Sabha till 2009. She has also honoured the post of General Secretary of BJP and was the First Lady Chairperson of National Film Development Corporation. Presently she is a MP from Mathura constituency.

It's a still enigma to me how  she could spell bound the audience at her Dance Ballet at Mysore at the age of 60! At this age of 67 also she looks slim, smart and fit ! Any way, we wish her best for both of her careers, Artistic as well as political !

Happy birthday Amitabh Bachchan

'पीटर, अब ये ताला मै तुम्हारी जेबसे चाबी निकालकरहि खोलुंगा' ​

​Happy Birth Day Amitabh.....

It was February 1975 and while passing by the Neelayam Talkies the poster of ' Deewar' used to tempt me.... The upcoming new smart actor ' Amitabh Bachchan ' has already made the inroads in my young mind by  his earlier film ' Zanjeer' and I was eager to see Deewar. But watching Deewar  was not possible till  my SSC exam was over... For school going children going for a movie  was not easy in those days... It used to have a lot of discussions, permissions and sanctions at home !

But as planned, when the last paper was over we directly went ' Neelayam' to watch the much coveted ' Deewar ' and after the first scene of fight itself, Amitabh took a permanent seat in my heart as  an idol,  which I continue to cherish even today..

Stardum did not visit Amitabh easily... he had to pass  through  lot of frustrations, failures and rejections initially. His first film was Saat Hindustani but he rose to limelight from the film 'Anand',  a legendary film with Superstar Rajesh Khanna. After 'Zanzeer and Deewar he was recognised as Star and  was credited with the title 'An angry young man.' 

Amitabh continued to dominate the Bollywood in 1970s and 1980s to such an extent that the french Director 'Francis Truffant' labelled  him as 'One Man Industry '. The list of his films during this period is endless. To name a few Sholay, Don, Trishul, Silsila,Kaala Pathar, Mr Natwarlal, The Great Gambler Dostana,Satte Pe Satta, Lawaris,Sharabi, Naseeb, Mahan etc.

 In 1982, Amitabh suffered a major accident at the time of shooting of ' Coolie'. The entire nation prayed for his recovery and by the grace of God and the best wishes from all of us he came out of it. After recovery he took a break from films, joined politics but reentered the Bollywood in 1988 after getting frustrated from the bad aspects of politics. His first film on reentry was 'Shahenshah' which became the successful hit. But the success waned soon  and he had a bad patch from 1988 to 2000. His films flopped, and the company ABC Ltd, which he floated, went into financial doldrums. In 2000 he made a comeback with 'Mohabbatein' and thereafter has not look back till today.

 In his second innings Amitabh has played a range of character roles, a police officer in Khakee, Chef in Cheeni Kum, Godfather in Sarkar, A stern parent in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum, ageing teacher in Black, a ghost in Bhootnath, and a 13 year old son of his own son in Paa.....He also made a Hollywood Debut in 2013 in the film Great Gatsby in which he has played the role of a Jewish person.

​Bachchan also reached the millions of Indian homes by hosting tv serial ' Kaun Banega Karodpati ' and Big Boss.

Amitabh has acted in about 180 films, had 14 filmfare awards and 3 National film awards to his credit and has been honoured  with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award next to Bharat Ratna. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by 7 leading Universities out of which four are from abroad viz. Universities in Leicester & Leeds in UK, Brisbane in Australia and Cairo in Egypt.

Dear Amitabh,  there is still so much to pen about you, your  lending of  voice to various movies, your playback singing and above all your humble nature, your  humanitarian activities and so on.. but Sorry Big B... you are too Big to be captured in a post of whats app/ facebook.. For you only the sky may be the limit but I have limitations of words and expressions...and therefore please don't mind if all of us only say a ' Happy Birthday ' to you from bottom of our hearts....