Suchitra Sen..The Enchantress

The original Paro of Bimal Roy’s classic Devdas breathed her last today 9 years  ago. She was 82 years old…

Suchitra Sen, the first Bengali actress  to have garnered an international award at the Moscow Film Festival in 1962, breathed her last on January 17, 2014  in Kolkata. 

Known for her effortless charm and inimitable style, Sen made her movie debut with Shesh Kothaay in 1952, but the production was never released. In the next year she acted opposite Uttam Kumar in Nirmal Dey’s Sharey Chuattor. The film was a box-office hit and launched Uttam-Suchitra as a leading pair. The duo went on to become icons for Bengali dramas for more than two decades.

In 1955 Sen received the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Paro in Bimal Roy’s classic Devdas. She went on to work in various Bengali and Hindi movies thereafter, but it was her role in Aandhi opposite Sanjeev Kumar that helped her bag a Filmfare Best Actress nomination.

Suchitra Sen combined understated sensuality, feminine charm and emotive force and a no-nonsense gravitas to carve out a persona that has never been matched, let alone surpassed in Indian cinema.

Who can forget Devdas, Aandhi, Bambai Ka Babu ..

Deewana Mastana Hua Dil..

Goosebumps!!

रहें न रहें हम महका करेंगे बन के कली

बन के सबा बाग-ए-वफा में

very true 

She was instrumental in coining the phrase of eternal Bengali Beauty..

Her legacy lives on in daughter Moon Moon Sen and Grand Daughters Raima and Ria.

Raima looks a split image of Suchitra Sen but the similarity ends there

NEEYAT A WHODUNNIT WITH A DIFFRENCE.

 

FIRST DAY REVIEW

NEEYAT

A NEAR PERFECT WHODUNNIT

When an exiled on the run multibillionaire Ashish Kapoor ( AK) ( Ram Kapoor guised on “The Kingfisher” ) hires a Mountaintop Scottish Castle /Mansion to host his birthday and mysteriously dies , all his family and friends are prime suspects, each with a motive to kill him. CBI Officer Mira Rao who has initially come to extradite him must use her skills and deductive acumen to solve the murder.

Neeyat is loosely taken the essence of “Knives Out” (2019)and Agatha Christie's "And then there were None "but is not a remake or copy. After an introductory bit slowish start it does picks up and changes to a racy plot with twists and turns

Everything matters that is going on and no sequence is wasted. There may be a few loopholes but I suppose they can be accepted .

Anu Menon who directed Shakuntala with Vidya Balan. The humour is something that always lands nicely without taking away anything from the moment. She knows what she is doing.

Vidya Blan is a class apart .The art of being a player, even from the background, is something that Vidya Balan knows too well. For an actor of her stature, underplaying herself doesn’t come easy to get and she does that so well. For some this might seem like a dull act, but it works so well in the situation. She is as clueless as the audience, so she is out eyes in this situation.

Ram Kapoor carries out his role without going over the top even after having many shades.

Rahul Bose plays his Character with a comic touch. In his party-hearty no-gooder act. Shashank Arora stands out as the junkie and troubled son of AK, and his dialogue timing is impeccable. Neeraj Kabi and Niki Walia also deserve mention. The other actors do their parts well.

It's a good attempt and the craftsmanship shows. Somehow it cant but help you be reminded of. Gumnaam (1965)

Cant add anything more at the risk of giving spoilers.

See It if you like

Whodunnits.

Sujata

Today woke up early and on Zee Classic got to see Sujata again..

The film is a classic and has been discussed but I just wanted to mention the music by Sachin Dev Burman.

The film starts with some melodious title music..(when heard properly one realises that it was an inspiration for 

Aap Ke Kamre Main Koi Rehta Hain..Trust Pancham to develop such a tune from a title music strip by his father.)

The melodious music, with S D Burman at his best. All time classics like  the  favourite lullaby by Geeta Dutt (Nanhi kali sone chali Hawa Dheere se Aana ), One piano song by Asha ji and Geeta ji (Tum jiyo hazaaron saal, which could also qualify as my favourite birthday song!) Filmed on Cukkoo and Shashikala with Nutan in the backy. The all time favourite telephone song by Talat Mahmood saab(Jalte hain jiske liye). Sublime indeed 

The monsoon song Kaali Ghata Chhai ( Asha Bhosle in a chirpy mood )..

Wah Bhai Wah by Rafi Saab

and the nostalgic Bachpan Ke Din Bhi kya din ( Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt) on Shashikala and Nutan .

The epic Sun Mere Bandhu Re by Dada Burman himself on the river..

The real beauty of this film is in the languid ease with which Bimal Roy tells this well-textured emotional tale.

He cleverly represents how society treated the lower caste or then called untouchables without making the viewer feel as so he were having a history lesson or watching a documentary and he actually manages to show the film as Sujata's story in her perspective.

The music is totally interwoven with the script joining the film and creates the required aura.

The Original Heir Amit Kumar

Happy Birthday

Amit Kumar 

Born 3rd July 1952 turns 71 today.

The true heir of Kishore Kumar,but never imitated him. 

Amit Kumar is himself a talented and melodious singer with a style of his own who has sung many popular songs. However, some people believe that he has not been able to fulfil his full potential. There are a few reasons for this.

Amit Kumar was and had always been overshadowed by his father ,Kishore Kumar who was a larger-than-life personality and a hugely  maverick singer. Amit Kumar was always compared to his father , but he as far as possible never imitated him. 

Second, Amit Kumar has never been as prolific as his father . Kishore Kumar recorded hundreds of songs, while Amit Kumar has recorded a fraction of that number. This is partly due to Amit Kumar's own choice. He has always been more interested in singing for the love of it, rather than for commercial success.

Again it’s a classic case of a tree not growing under the shadow of a taller tree.

There are so many Kishore Kumar clones or imitators but Amit Kumar preferred to stay away from that group and maintained his own unique identity. Kishore Kumar had the depth deepest baritone. Amit's voice is not that deep-throated.

The choice of songs Amit Kumar sings on stage and picks for his own private albums suggests that out of the two diverse aspects of his father's repertoire — being as sad in emotional songs as he was peppy in comic ones — he picked only the latter. Amit Kumar has very, very few numbers that move you for their sheer pathos; his father had many. 

Amit Kumar also suffered also because he had barely started rising as a constant voice of first Kumar Gaurav and then Anil Kapoor — four back-to-back hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s — when Kumar Sanu took the audience by storm, debuting with Ashiqui. While Sanu's greatest support Nadeem-Shravan was on the rise, the only duo that was giving Amit chances repeatedly, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, was at the fag end of their career followed by Anand Milind.

Amit Kumar gave his best with his mentor Pancham ( R.D.Burman ). After Burman's death in 1994, citing a lack of quality music composition, Kumar withdrew from playback singing and concentrated on live orchestra shows. In addition to singing in Hindi, has also performed in Bengali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Assamese, Marathi and Konkani.

Kishore Kumar and Amit Kumar sang a total of 28 songs together. 5 of them for Amitabh Bachchan starrers.

When you listen to them together you understand how individual and different they were from each other.

He now sings with his brother Sumeet and both give Private albums under their own banner.

Amit Kumar's best would be Base Acche Lagte Hain followed by his songs in Love Story and Teri Kasam.

Later his songs of Baazi 

One of my favourites is the one stanza he sang in Roz Roz Aankhon Tale (Jeeva).

One landmark moment in his career when he sang for Rajesh Khanna ( Kishore Kumar was known as Voice of RK) in Fiffty Fiffty, Akhir Kyon.

Another moment was when he won the Best Singer award in 1982 for Yaad Aa Rahi Hain when KK was also nominated for Choo Kar Mere Man Ko ( Yaarana) and Hamen Tumse Pyaar Kitna ( Kudrat).

These days he comes on various TV programs as an expert or Guest and his tales of his father are a treat to one's ears.

Happy Birthday Amit Ji..

Base Acche Lagte Hain Aapke Nagme.

Two Maestros..Two Days Apart

Madan Mohan & R.D Burman..

Both share their Birth Anniversaries  2 days apart..25th June and 27th June ( But 15 years apart )..Both died young Madan Mohan at 51 and R.D.Burman at 54...

You may think it odd, but when I think of Madan Mohan, I can’t help but think about the parallels between his career and RD Burman’s. Both Madan Mohan and RD Burman had to work hard to make a mark in their careers..

Both Mohan and RD struggled for many years before seeing some success. It took them both about six years before they saw their first hit – Teesri Manzil (1966) for RD Burman and Bhai Bhai (1956) for Madan Mohan. Towards the end of their career, both Madan Mohan and RD Burman grew disillusioned with their careers and died before they could enjoy the success of their last films – Mausam (1975) and Laila Majnu (1976)for Madan Mohan and 1942 – A Love Story (1994) for RD Burman.

Both Madan Mohan’s and RD Burman’s legacies have grown by leaps and bounds after their deaths. While RD Burman’s legacy grew mostly because of his fan base, Madan Mohan’s legacy had help from his family. But in Both Cases Melody was supreme.

The class of Panchamda ( R.D.Burman) won only 3 Filmfare awards.. The last after he passed away..out of 17 nominations..and one as best play back singer.

and The Agony is that the Musical magic of  Madan Mohan had 4 nominations and never won the award in his lifetime.

Film Maker and Music Director Pairing and how R.D lost out

Pairing of Music Director and Director/ Actor is common.

Many a time dependant on the equation and relationships they share and the success they achieve.

Raj Kapoor- Shailendra- Shankar Jaikishan or Dilip Kumar Naushad.

Brij - Kalyanji Anandji, 

Dev Anand S.D.Burman

Chetan Anand - Madan Mohan 

Prakash Mehra Kalyanji Anandji

Prakash Mehra Bhappi Lahiri

Manmohan Desai Laxmikant Pyarelal

Yash Chopra Khayyam

Yash Chopra Shiv Hari

J.Om.Prakash Laxmikant Pyarelal

But when one goes to R.D.Burman one finds that barring Ramesh Behl, Nasir Hussain and Shakti Samanta we hardly find anyone pairing up inspite of giving hits.

Mehmood off course was the one who introduced R.D.

Let's take the example of

Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai.

Prakash Mehra used R.D.Burman for Mela, Samadhi and Khalifa.

The songs were popular but after Zanjeer it was back to Kalyanji Anandji till Namak Halaal where he switched to Bhappi Lahiri.

Manmohan Desai had R.D.Burman in Rampur Ka Laxman and Aa Gale Lag Ja. The latter being a true musical melodious treat but differences came when Manmohan Desai wanted to use Mohmmad Rafi Saab for Shashi Kapoor but R.D. Insisted on Kishore Kumar due the Charecter being depicted by Shashi Kapoor. After that it was Laxmikant Pyarelal all the way till Mard ( Allha Rakha before that ) made way to Anu Malik and after Rafi Saab passed away..it was Shabbir Kumar and Mhd Aziz .

There is another example of Tinnu Anand ..Kaalia was a big hit and the music also was successful and songs are still popular but he never worked with him again.

Yash Chopra worked with R .D in Joshila and  Deewaar but due to personality clashes never worked with him again. The producer Gulshan Rai also shifted from

R.D .Burman back to to 

Kalyanji Anandji (Johnny Mera Naam).

J.Om Prakash made Aap Ki Kasam which was a musical blockbuster. and then never worked with Pancham again.??

With Actors it was like a Combination once of Rajesh Khanna, Kishore Kumar and R.D.Burman.

Randhir Kapoor, R.D.

Rishi Kapoor , R.D

Used by R.K. however just for Dharam Karam and later Biwi O Biwi.

Why was it that after churning melody after Melody he was not offered films in his last days ?

Yes one association which can be cherished is that of Gulzar and R.D.Burman as a Lyricist and as a director.

Another Post on that soon 🙏

I still feel he deserved better.

Adbhut Pancham

#adbhutpancham 

Today is the 82 nd Birth Anniversary of the Wizard of Music also 

Called the musical phenomenon, a maverick, the game-changer of the Indian film and music industries, the quintessential musical genius — he was none other than Rahul Dev Burman, known popularly as RD or Pancham.

For three decades, he ruled the hearts of music lovers( still does 27 years after he left )and gave to the film industry new sounds and dimensions in music which would captivate the imagination of music lovers and music makers for a long time to come. Some artistes create a world of their own, where they make invaluable art that moves the hearts of people when it reaches them. RD was one such artist who created music for his own joy and satisfaction without giving much thought as to what people would appreciate.

Hundreds of wonderful compositions, based on Indian classical music as well as Western music, come to mind immediately — Raina Beeti Jaaye (Amar Prem), Ghar aaja ghir aaye badra saanwariya (Chhote Nawab), Yeh shaam mastani (Kati Patang), Churaa liya hai tumne jo dil ko (Yaadon ki Baaraat), Raat kali ek khwaab mein aayi (Buddhha Mil Gaya), Dum maro dum, mitt jaaye gham (Hare Rama Hare Krishna ), Aaj unsay pehile mulaaqaat hogi (Paraya Dhan), the wonderfully melodious songs of the classic film Padosan including Sharm aati hai magar aaj yeh kehna hoga, Kehna hai, kehna hai aaj tumse yeh pehli baar, Mere saamne waali khidki mein, O mere dil ke chain (Mere Jeevan Saathi), the Sholay songs and the background score, Aandhi’s songs and those of Love Story — the list is no doubt too long to complete!

In the 1980s, RD gave us the songs of Khoobsoorat, Love Story, Kudrat, Rocky, Sanam Teri Kasam, Shakti, Masoom, Betaab, Sunny, Ijaazat, Parinda and Gardish. But in the second half of this decade, he had health and career problems. A famous director reportedly replaced him, and did not even inform him that he had been replaced. RD was tired and not quite himself. However, his swan song, the music of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s grand film 1942: A Love Story, vindicated him completely — he showed the world that musicians like him can never fade away. Fade away, though he did, shortly before the release of this film. It was in January 1994, three months before the film came out, that RD left this world.

The fact is that all these resounding soulful melodies created by Pancham are an integral part of our lives and memories and will always be.

RD made magic — the era has changed but we can still hear RD’s sounds in the music of modern composers like AR Rahman , Vishal Shekhar , Jatin Lalit and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy.

His songs are the most remixed songs that bring his music to this generation.

Pancham will never be forgotten.

His vast body of work will never let any music lover forget him.

RD is forever. And we all know this.

Memories of Pancham are shared by his Singers and Lyricist and his own Voice..

Do Listen to this Music Sitting Mix 

The first of three parts.

https://youtu.be/8loVKY0QVdU

Yateendra Manohar Indapwar 

Reference 

Adbhut Pancham ( YouTube )

Galaxy Golden Stars Jaskiran Chopra