Matinee Masala

It was a usual evening at Laxmikant’s (of Laxmikant- Pyarelal music duo) house where himself and Anand Bakshi were sitting and working on the lyrics for a romantic duet to be filmed on Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh for Aan Milo Sajna (1970).

The tune was ready but somehow nothing worthwhile was emerging regarding the lyrics. That’s when Bakshi sahab was about to leave Laxmikant’s house when he casually said- “Achcha to hum chalte hain”, Laxmikant replied- “Phir kab miloge?”, Bakshi sahab replied-“Jab tum kahoge”…it carried on for a while till they realized that it sounded good and fitted the situation perfectly.

And so a superhit song Achcha to hum chalte hain… by Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar was born.

It was on June 19, 1970 that Chetan Anand’s Heer Ranjha was released. It was a typical Chetan Anand film with loyalists Raaj Kumar playing Ranjha, Priya Rajvansh playing Heer, Madan Mohan, Kaifi Azmi etc.

Heer Ranjha is considered to be a benchmark film in hindi cinema because of its dialogue treatment. For the first time Chetan sahab had requested Kaifi Azmi to pen the songs as well as the dialogues for the film because he wanted to give a poetic feel to this period love saga. Though no one had attempted anything of this kind earlier but Chetan sahab was convinced that it would work.

Although Kaifi sahab didn’t keep good health those days but somehow managed to write the dialogues in verses to ensure that Heer Ranjha is made the way Chetan sahab wanted.

It was a calculated risk that turn out to become a huge success. The unforgettable songs are still remembered for its melody and sheer poetry. Incase you haven’t seen it, grab a DVD and I bet you won’t regret it.

We all know K. Asif ‘s Mughal-e-Azam, released on 15 August 1960 was nine years in the making. There were plenty of controversies and stories that surrounded before and after its release.

The most remarkable story was about the lead star Prithvi Raj Kapoor who played Emperor Akbar, refused to rehearse his dialogues until he was given to wear the costume that Emperor Akbar wore. It was later known that Prithvi Raj Kapoor lived the character even after Mughal-e-Azam eventually become India’s most celebrated movie.

Yes, it was Rajesh Khanna, the first ever superstar of Hindi cinema, who prayed to god because he desperately needed a flop- believe it or not! That was the kind of success he had achieved. The kind of superstardom that Rajesh Khanna achieved was phenomenal; it was like ruling over every filmgoer’s heart in the 70’s.

Better known as Jatin Khanna among friends and Kaka to the film fraternity, he started as a stage actor in his college days in Mumbai and went on to win the best actor award always.

Later he went on to win the United Producers Talent Contest organized by Filmfare after which he signed his first film ‘Raaz’ but Chetan Anand’s ‘Aakhri Khat’ opposite Indrani Mukherjee was the first to release in 1966. After which a string of hits followed but the one that put in the top bracket was Shakti Samanta’s ‘Aradhana’ in 1969 and as they say the rest is history.

Who can forget his performances, his songs, his romances, his dialogues like…

Babumoshai, hum sab to rangmanch ki kathpuliyaan hai jiski dor ooparwale ke haath mein hai, kaun kab kahaan uth jaaye…yeh koi nahin jaanta…ha ha ha ha…(Anand)

Babumoshai, zindagi badi honi chahiye lambi nahin…(Anand)

Yeh aansoo pochh daalo, Pushpa. I hate tears…(Amar Prem)

…and many more.

Born on the 29th of December 1942, lets wish the legend on his 64th birthday.

The year was 1980 when Disco became a rage and a singing sensation was born. Still in her teens who took the music world by storm was none other than Nazia Hassan. Nazia with her brother Zoheb came as a breath of fresh air with their album Disco Deewane which topped the charts all over the world and continues to remain a favorite with many.

The age of stereophonic had just begun and the response that Disco Deewane got was mind boggling and to follow it up in came Feroz Khan’s Qurbani which was a block buster. Aap jaisa koi by Nazia added zing to the music of Qurbani which made her walk away with the Filmfare Award for the Best Female Playback Singer in 1980.

Born into a well-to-do Karachi family, Nazia and Zoheb spent their teenage years in London. The brother and sister duo did release quite a few albums thereafter but could never recreate the past magic.

Nazia died of lung cancer in London in 2000 at the age of 35.

Some films of 2006 that went unnoticed. Read them at your own risk:

Vidyaarthi, Bipasha- The Black Beauty, Item Girl, Husn Bewafa, Men Not Allowed, Husn - Love & Betrayal, Mr 100% - The Real Player, Be-Parda, Rafta Rafta - The Speed, Ek Se Mera Kya Hoga, Bhookh - The Hunger of Body, Choco-Bar, Galtiyaan - The Mistake, Ankush - The Command, Pink Ludoos, Retake - Phir Ek Baar, Ek Zakhm - The Blast, Chumban - The Kiss, Tera Pati Mera Pyar, Free Entry…

…the list is endless, phew!

A year where private albums and remixes took a back seat and popular film songs were marketed aggressively thru ringtones. Some albums were a ‘must buy’, some had great names but just not worth a buy. ‘Fanaa’ just managed to squeeze thru. So, my pick for the year are:

1. Gangster
Music: Pritam

2. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy

3. Rang De Basanti
Music: AR Rehman

4. Aksar
Music: Himesh Reshammiya

5. Lage Raho Munnabhai
Music: Shantanu Moitra

6. 36 China Town
Music: Himesh Reshammiya

7. Woh Lamhe
Music: Pritam

8. Fanaa
Music: Jatin- Lalit

1. Dhoom: 2 (November 24)
Director: Sanjay Gadhvi
Producer: Yashraj Films

2. Krrish (June 23)
Director: Rakesh Roshan
Producer: Filmkraft

3. Lage Raho Munnabhai (Sept 1)
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions

4. Vivah (November 10)
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Producer: Rajshri Productions

5. Fanaa (May 26)
Director: Kunal Kohli
Producer: Yashraj Films

6. Rang De Basanti (January 26)
Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Producer: UTV Motion Pictures

7. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (August 11)
Director: Karan Johar
Producer: Dharma Productions

8. Phir Hera Pheri (June 9)
Director: Neeraj Vohra
Producer: Base Industries Group

9. Malamaal Weekly (March 10)
Director: Priyadarshan
Producer: Sahara One Media & Entertainment

10. Golmaal (July 14)
Director: Rohit Shetty
Producer: Shri Ashtavinayak Cine Visions

This unforgettable chartbuster from Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan has a little story behind it. One of Rekha’s landmark films which had soulful music by Khayyam and amazing lyrics by Shahryar. The other exceptionally composed songs were ‘In Aankhon Ki Masti’ or ‘Yeh Kya Jagah Hai Doston’ or ‘Zindagi Jabhi Teri Bazm Mein’ by Talat Aziz.

Muzaffar Ali had already signed on Shahryar, a professor at Aligarh Muslim University to write the lyrics for Umrao Jaan. After the film released Shahryar confessed that the second set of couplet was not his, he happen to read it on the wall while sitting in the college loo which read-

‘is anjuman mein aapko aanaa hai baar baar
deewaar-o-dar ko gaur se pehchaan lijiye’

It was amusing but Shahryar knew it would give birth to a great composition. To refresh your memories here’s it once again…

dil cheez kyaa hai aap meri jaan lijiye
bas ek baar mera kahaa maan lijiye

is anjuman mein aapko aanaa hai baar baar
deewaar-o-dar ko gaur se pehchaan lijiye

maanaa ke doston ko nahin dosti kaa paas
lekin ye kyaa ke gair kaa ehasaan lijiye

kahiye to aasamaan ko zameen par utaar laayein
mushkil nahin hai kuchh bhi agar thaan lijiye

It was during this week the 29th December 1989 when two biggies were released along with a not so big film which went on to break all box-office records. Yes, you guessed it; the biggies were David Dhawan directed AAG KA GOLA & JURRAT starring Sunny Deol with Dimple & Shatrughan Sinha with Kumar Gaurav respectively. AAG KA GOLA was a remake of the old Jeetendra Mumtaz hit HIMMAT (1970) and JURRAT was inspired by the then Hollywood hit The UNTOUCHABLES featuring Kevin Costner & Sean Connery. Unfortunately both proved to be duds.

The movie which was written off initially and pitted against these biggies was none other than MAINE PYAR KIYA. MPK (in short) turned out to be one of the all time great hits in Bollywood and till date is remembered as a trend setter of sorts. MPK gave birth to Salman Khan (he made his debut in BIWI HO TO AISI) and Sooraj Barjatya and reconstructed the career of music director Ram Laxman and SP Balasubramanium. MPK was produced by Rajshri’s who were desperate for a hit then and managed to release the film with limited prints to begin with theatres having stereophonic sound system.

MPK songs are still hummed by many and who can forget the cap that Bhagyashree and Salman wore in the film with ‘Friends’ written on it.

Through word of mouth the film spread like wild fire. It was a sort of achievement to get a ticket of the film in those days because I had to wait for more than two months to get a ticket.