IRFAN KHAN- An Acting Powerhouse

This Acting Powerhouse was first spotted by Mira Nair when she cast him in Salaam Bombay in 1988 but he had to wait for 15 years till Tigmanshu Dhulia cast him in Haasil(2003). He won his first Filmfare Award for this film. The very next year he appeared in Maqbool(2004) with a powerful performance.

The successful drama Life in a... Metro (2007) marked a turning point in Khan's career, earning him praise and several awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He rose to prominence with his portrayal of Paan Singh Tomar in the acclaimed biographical sports drama Paan Singh Tomar (2012), which garnered him the National Film Award for Best Actor and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. His performance in the BAFTA Award-nominated romance The Lunchbox (2013) earned him universal acclaim by the critics and audiences. 

Internationally, he had worked in a number of international projects, such as The Warrior (2001), The Namesake (2006), The Darjeeling Limited (2007), the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008), New York, I Love You (2008), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016).

In 2014, Irfan Khan ( 7 January 1967 – 29 April 2020) appeared in Gunday, which was a moderate box office success. He also made guest appearances in the films The Xpose and Haider, playing an important role in the latter. In 2015, he played the lead role in the film Piku alongside Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan, he also appeared in the acclaimed thriller Talvar in which his performance was praised. He appeared in Jazbaa in October 2015 alongside Aishwarya Rai which was very well received by critics.

In 2017, Khan appeared in two films, Hindi Medium which was commercially and critically successful. Khan's portrayal as Raj Batra in Hindi Medium earned him several accolades, one of which was the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

In 2018, Khan appeared in Karwan, he also appeared in Blackmail opposite Kirti Kulhari, the same year. His last film appearance was in Angrezi Medium, directed by Homi Adajania, which was released on 13 March 2020

He died at a young age of 53 on 29th April 2020

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The untold Story Behind Rajesh Khanna Film 'Anand'

 

The character Anand made Rajesh Khanna an immortal. He got his second Filmfare Best Actor Award for this character. This role was his favourite character from 180 films he did. He made full use of his strong director-backed role. For this role, he accepted a meagre sum of Rs 7 Lakh. 

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the director got the idea of making the film when his friend and Indian producer Raj Kapoor was suffering from an illness and everyone thought he would die. Mukherjee’s fear of losing his friend inspired him to pen Anand. 

Kishore Kumar was the original choice for the role of Anand, he was ready to do this role too but when on the day he went to sign him, Kishore Kumar’s watchman didn’t allow Hrishikesh Mukharjee in.  Kishore Kumar had apparently asked his watchman to not allow a Bengali man inside and he mistook Mukherjee to be that man. This made Hrishikesh Da angry and decided to drop the idea of taking Kishore for this role.

 Then he thought of taking Uttam Kumar for this role but he refused the film because the shooting dates clashed with his commitments to Bengali cinema., then he approached Shashi Kapoor for this role, he too was reluctant to accept this role because during those he wanted to consolidate himself as a romantic hero after the success of Jab Jab Phool Khile. 

The film and its script was ready but its cast could not be finalized, in the meantime, Hrishikesh Mukharjee was busy with the films like Aashirwad and Satyakam. In 1969 Rajesh Khanna's Aradhana got released, with this film he became a superstar and was the most sought after hero. Every film of his was making Jubilee, producers were after him to sign their film but it was Rajesh Khanna, who wanted to do the role of Anand. He came to know about this role from Gulzar who was the co-writer of this film.

Rajesh Khanna one day went to Hrishikesh Da, asked him to give this role and complete the film but Hrishi Da was hesitant to work with him because the film was a low budget film, Rajesh Khanna was a Super Star, the film can not afford his price for which Rajesh Khanna said that he is ready to accept whatever they pay. Hrishi Da was aware that Rajesh Khanna had a habit of coming late on sets, so he asked him to report on time and give him his dates as per his requirement. Rajesh Khanna accepted all the terms and conditions to do this film. 

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

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Salman Khan- Deprived of Filmfare Best Actor Awards

Salman Khan( 27 Dec 1965), who made his debut with a minor role in Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988) but has been in the business for more than 32 years now, he has been nominated nine times for Filmfare Award for Best Actor; that’s right, NINE times, but has never won one.

Before him, Dharmendra was another popular Hero who never got the Filmfare Best Actor Award despite nominated for 6 times. It was in 1997 he was given the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Hindi Cinema. Now let's look into the films for which Salman Khan was nominated.

Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)- 

It was Salman's first film as a hero but couldn't get the best debut award being already made his debut earlier in Biwi Ho To Aisi. He was nominated for Best Actor along with Aamir Khan for Raakh, Rishi Kapoor for Chandini, Anil Kapoor for Eshwar, and Jackie Shroff for Parinda. Jackie Shroff, who took home the Black Lady for Parinda. 

Karan Arjun (1995)-

 Salman was nominated once again for the prestigious award along with Aamir Khan for Rangeela, Govinda for Coolie No 1, Ajay Devgan for Naajayaz, and the award went to Shahrukh Khan for DDLJ.

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998)- 

He was nominated for the third time for this film but lost out to Shah Rukh Khan, who won the Best Actor award for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The other nomination was Aamir Khan for Ghulam, Ajay Devgan for Zakhm and Govinda for Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam(1999)- 

This was his fourth nomination for this film. Ajay Devgan was also nominated for this film, Aamir Khan for Sarfarosh, Manoj Vajpayee for Shool and Sanjay Dutt got the award for Vaastav.

Tere Naam(2003)- 

The role that Khan played in this romantic tragedy was very different from his earlier films. He was nominated for this role along with Shahrukh Khan for Kal Ho Na Ho, Amitabh Bachchan for Baghban, Ajay Devgan for Ganga Jal and the award went to Hritik Roshan for Koi Mil Gaya.

Dabangg (2010)-

 Everyone was expecting him the award this time but once again he lost the award to Shahrukh Khan (for playing Rizwan Khan in My Name Is Khan). Other nominees were Hritik Roshan for Guzarish, Ajay Devgan for Once Upon A Time In Mumbai

Bodyguard(2011)- 

Along with him, Shahrukh Khan for Don2, Ajay Devgan for Singham, Hritik for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, but the award was taken by Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar

Dabangg-2 (2012)-

Three consecutive nominations must have given Khan enough joy to compensate for the fact that he again lost it to Ranbir Kapoor, who won the award for playing the deaf and mute lover boy in Barfi!

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)- 

This is considered to be one of the best movies that Khan has done in his career, he was nominated but once again deprived of the award this time too. The award went to Ranvir Singh for Bajirao Mastani. The other nomination was Amitabh Bachchan for Piku

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Musical Instruments Played by Raj Kapoor on Screen

 

Raj Kapoor had always been interested in music. He was classically trained and capable of playing several instruments reasonably well. He was good in Tabla and Harmonium, he was also excellent in Piano.  He played different instruments on screen, the first time he played an instrument on screen was in a song of Barsaat 1949.

 Kindly recall the iconic pose where Raj Kapoor holds a violin in one hand and Nargis in the other hand. On my research, I have found more than a dozen instruments were played by him on screen.

 He was seen playing the Violin in this song, though he did not sing but played the violin only. If you watch the song 'Mujhe Kisi Se Pyar Ho Gaya' he looked so realistic as if he is actually playing it. .

Song of Barsaat 1949

The next year once again he was seen playing the flute in a song 'Sun bairi balam sach bol re' from Bawre Nain (1950), he was playing the instrument only.

Song of Bawre Nain 1950

The piano remained the favourite instrument of Bollywood Films. In almost every film it was seen in the 50s or 60s films. In many hit songs, Piano was essential Prop. In this song 'Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara' from Anhonee 1952, Raj Kapoor is singing and playing the Piano.

Song of Anhonee 1952

Raj Kapoor plays 'Daph' in this very popular song of Shree 420 (1955)film.

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

Another song from the same film 'Shree 420' Pyar Hua Ikrar Hua, Raj Kapoor can be seen playing the Penny Whistle

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

In 3 songs of Shree 420, we can see Raj Kapoor playing three different instruments. In this song, 'Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh' he plays the Trumpet for a few seconds.

Song of Shree 420 (1955) 

The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument from the Indian subcontinent, In this song, Raj Kapoor plays the Sarangi

Song of Parvarish 1958

There is another song from Parvarish where he plays the Tabla. He displays his real skills in this song. He plays the Tabla with his elbow also.

Song of Parvarish 1958

Another rustic instrument played in a song of the 1959 film Do Ustad.  Raj Kapoor playing the been in this song. Generally Been is used by the snake charmers.The Been music was very popular in the 50s, especially after the popularity of the song from Nagin in 1954. Recall the song 'Man Dole Tan Dole'

Song of Do Ustad 1959

'Daph' was the favourite instrument of Raj Kapoor. He played this instrument again in the Songs of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai 1960

Raj Kapoor plays 'Dhol' in the song 'Yeh To Kaho Kaun Ho Tum' from 'Aashiq' released in 1962

Song of Aashiq 1962

Sangam (1964) film had 3 songs in which he played 3 different instruments. He plays the Piano in the song 'Dost Dost Na Raha', Piano Accordion in 'Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega' and Bag Pipe in 'Bol  Radha Bol Sangam'

Song of Sangam 1964

In the 1967 film 'Deewana', he played Shehnai in almost all the songs

Song of Deewana 1967

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Rajnikant- Amitabh Bachchan is his Inspiration

 

Rajinikanth is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors in the history of Indian cinema. His popularity has been attributed to his uniquely styled dialogues and idiosyncrasies in films, His style of flipping the cigarette in the film made him popular among the audience He made his debut in 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal,

He is god down south but for actor Rajinikanth, screen legend Amitabh Bachchan is a “role model”, “inspiration” and “guru“. You would be surprised to know that he worked in more than 10 Tamil films that are Amitabh Bachchan's remake. This began with Shankar Salim Simon (1978), a remake of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), followed by Naan Vazhavaippen (1979), a remake of Majboor (1974). In this blog, I look into the films in which he played Amitabh Bachchan.

Shankar Salim Simon (Amar Akbar Anthony)

This film was released in 1978, Rajnikant played the role of Simon, similar to Anthony played by Amitabh in Amar Akbar Anthony. He remade the Manmohan Desai film again in Telugu, this time as with actors Krishna as Robert, Rajinikanth as Ram and Chandra Mohan as Rahim. Both films were hit.

 Naan Vazhavaippen

This film was released in 1979, it was based on the 1974 hit film Majboor,  it featured Rajinikanth playing Big B’s part. This film was also remade in Telugu

Billa

This film is a remake of Amitabh's Don(1978). This is one of the most memorable films of Rajnikant. It was a super-duper hit.  The success of Billa was a turning point in Rajinikanth's career. Billa established Rajinikanth as the top star of South Indian cinema, overtaking Kamal Haasan.

Thee

1981 saw the release of Thee, a remake of the 1975 Bollywood blockbuster Deewaar, also originally written by Salim-Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan; in Thee, Rajinikanth reprised the role of Bachchan in the original.

Mr. Bharath 

lt is a remake of Trishul (1978), released in 1985. It was also a super hit film. Rajinikanth playing the son who takes revenge from his father for cheating on his mother.

Dharamathin Thalaivan

It is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language action-drama film directed by S. P. Muthuraman, starring Rajinikanth in dual roles, along with Prabhu, Suhasini, Kushboo, Nassar and Captain Raju in other roles. The film is a remake of the 1978 Hindi film Kasme Vaade. Dharmathin Thalaivan became a super hit 

Panakkaran 

It's a remake of Laawaris (1981). The film was released in 1990.  This film ran for more than 200 days and was declared a blockbuster hit film. It was dubbed in Telugu as Kondaveedi Puli  Rajinikanth reprised Bachchan’s role

Maaveeran

Maaveeran is a 1986 tamil film.  A remake of the 1985 Hindi film Mard, it stars Rajinikanth, Ambika and Jaishankar. Maaveeran was the first in Tamil to be shot in 70 mm film format, and have a six-track stereophonic sound. It was released on 1 November 1986, Diwali day, and failed commercially.

Padikathavan

Padikkadavan is a 1985 Tamil  film, starring Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth. It is a remake of the Hindi film Khud-Daar starring Amitabh Bachchan  . The film was a huge blockbuster and had a run for more than 250 days. This film is considered as one of the biggest hits for Rajinikanth during the 1980s.

Siva

It was released in 1989, was the remake of Bachchan’s 1977 film Khool Pasina. The film also starred actor-dancer Shobana playing Rekha’s role from the original.The film was dubbed in Telugu as Tiger Shiva.

Velaikkaran

It is a 1987 Tamil-language action comedy film This film is a remake of the 1982 Hindi film Namak Halaal.  So faithful was Rajinikanth to the original that it even featured Bachchan’s iconic ‘I can talk English, walk English because English is a very funny language’, of course, with a few changes.

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