Archive for the ‘Singing’ Category
Movie – Abhimaan (1973) – A remarkable movie from Amitabh’s early career
On January 26, 2010 in Bollywood, Lyrics, Marriage, Melody, Movie, Romance, Singing, Song, Video
Abhimaan was released in the year 1973, the year that saw Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri officially tie the knot and become husband and wife. In fact they got married just seven days prior to the filming of the song ‘Teri Bindiya Re”. For many industry watchers the plot of the film could have become a real life incident, had Jaya Bhaduri not put on the breaks on her career after her marriage. People still speculate as to whether real life would have imitated reel life had not the superstar’s wife sacrificed her career. However all that is conjecture and takes away from the breath taking sensitivity of this wonderful film.
Subir Kumar (Amitabh Bachchan) is a popular singer who rules over millions of hearts courtesy his songs. His dashing good looks and silken voice are especially irresistible to his legions of female supporters. Subir himself is a carefree young man who enjoys his stardom and his bachelorhood. Chandu (Asrani) is his manager cum best friend and someone keeps him rooted to reality. Subir goes to meet his aunt (Manju Mausi, Durga Khote) and there he meets Uma, whose golden voice enthrals him and whose earthy unaffected charm attracts him. He ends up falling in love with Uma and the two ties the knot.
Movie – Shaan – Starring Amitabh and Shashi Kapoor (released in 1980)
On January 20, 2010 in Bollywood, Classic, Lyrics, Melody, Movie, Music, Singing, Song, Video
Shaan, released in the year 1980, almost four years after the blockbuster, Sholay. The common thread between these two films is the director, Ramesh Sippy. Great things were expected from the man who had given Indian cinema its mammoth blockbuster in the form of Sholay. Almost everybody who had seen Sholay was expecting a repeat performance.
DSP Shiv Kumar Sharma (Sunil Dutta) is an honest and diligent police officer who lives in Bombay (present day Mumbai) with his wife (Rakhi) and son. He also has two wayward brothers in Ravi (Sashi Kapoor) and Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) who are petty crooks. The two of them spend most of their time indulging in schemes that are so wildly ridiculous that one feels that the whole purpose of these plots was not to make money but to have some fun. The two brothers meet their matches in a pair of women-the glamorous Parveen Babi and the somewhat gawky yet charming Bindiya Goswami- who are also good-hearted con artists.
Namak Halal – Another superb Amitabh Movie (1982)
On January 20, 2010 in Bollywood, Classic, Drama, Lyrics, Melody, Movie, Music, Singing, Song, Video
Namak Halal released in 1982, was directed by Prakash Mehra, the man who gave Amitabh Bachchan Zanjeer and us a viewers, a superstar. Namak Halal went on to become one of the biggest hits of his career and of the year that it released. It bore his trademark style of story telling, interesting with lots of twists and turns, the right amount of emotional drama and a nice does of comedy. The film starred some of the biggest stars of that era who turned in superb performances like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Om Prakash and the dusky powerhouse of talent Smita Patil.
Young Arjun is brought up by his Daddu (paternal grandfather) Om Prakash after his father is killed in the line of duty, while trying to save the life of his employer. As he grows up, he is sent to the city by Om Prakash, in searh of a new job and a new life. In the city he meets up with Bhairon ( Ram P. Sethi) who helps him land a job at a five star hotel. The hotel is owned by Raja (Shashi Kapoor). In the course of his work he ends up saving the honour of a female employee, Poonam (Smita Patil) and the duo end up falling in love. Arjun Singh also discovers that the manager of the hotel (Ranjeet) and a host of shadowy bad guys are out to kill Raja. The whole thing has been planned in a way so as to point the finger of suspicion at Savitri Devi (Waheeda Rehman) Raja’s foster mother. The bad guys have enlisted the support of a cabaret singer Nisha (Parveen Babi) to get close to Raja but she ends up falling in love with him.
Movie – Laawaris – Another Amitabh Bachchan potboiler (1981)
On January 20, 2010 in Bollywood, Classic, Lyrics, Melody, Movie, Music, Singing, Society, Song, Video
Laawaris came in the year 1981 and became synonymous with the song Mere Angne Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai. It appears twice in the film, once rendered by Alka Yagnik (who received her first Filmfare nominations for this particular song) and once by the hero Amitabh Bachchan himself. It went on to become one of the landmark songs of his career. The film too was a super duper hit and notched up another success for the Prakash Mehra-Amitabh Bachchan pairing. The duo had made their mark with Zanjeer and considered by then to be one of the most bankable director-actor combination of Hindi commercial cinema.
Mehra stayed true to his forte and his style. Laawaris packed in a lot of emotional drama with the right amount of humour and of course hum-able scores. The story resolved around Hira ( Amitabh Bachchan), the illegitimate child of Seth Ranbir (Amjad Khan) and Rakhee, a singer. Disowned by Amjad Khan, Rakhee dies heartbroken and young Hira is brought up by an alcoholic beggar Gangu Ganpat (Sreeram Laagoo). Hira grows up believing he is the child of this useless man.
