List of Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients
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Devika Rani Chaudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani (30 March 1908 - 9 March 1994), was an actress in Indian films who was active during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.
Born into a wealthy, anglicized Indian family, Devika Rani was sent to boarding school in England at age nine and grew up in that country. In 1928, she met Himanshu Rai, an Indian film-producer, and married him the following year. She assisted in costume design and art direction for Rai's experimental silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). Both of them then went to Germany and received training in film-making at UFA Studios in Berlin.The couple returned to India in 1934, where Himanshu Rai along with Rajnarayan Dube established a production studio, Bombay Talkies, in partnership with certain other people. The studio produced several successful films over the next 5-6 years, and Devika Rani played the lead role in many of them. Her on-screen pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular in India.
Following Rai's death in 1940, Rajnarayan Dube gave the charge and responsibility of the studio to Devika Rani as she produced some more films with her late husband's associates, namely her manager Sashadhar Mukherjee and Ashok Kumar. As mentioned in the book written by KM Srivastava, Sashadhar Mukherjee questioned the character of Devika Rani and used to pass insulting comments on her. Following these events of baseless accusations by her manager Sashadhar Mukherjee and several conflicts with him, In 1945, disappointed Devika Rani retired from films, married the Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and moved to his estate on the outskirts of Bangalore, thereafter leading a very reclusive life for the next five decades. Her persona, no less than her film roles, were considered socially unconventional. Her awards include the Padma Shri (1958), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1970) and the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1990).
Devika Rani was one of the founders of Bombay Talkies along with Himanshu Rai and Rajnarayan Dube. The Bombay Talkies Studios' story is full of magic and color. In the '30s, the movie business was supposed to be a 'dirty business'. People would talk about movies, but many wouldn't even consider going to watch one. This would be similar to people talking about gold prices but seldom buying it. Even though movies did make people curious, its reputation as a professional field was bad. There seemed to be a lack of respect for the profession because it was being considered the domain of undesirable sections of the then Indian society. Due to this lack of respect and understanding for the profession, financiers during those times would face an impossible challenge when it came to getting returns on their investment.
It was during this hunt for financiers that Himanshu Rai came in contact with Abhimanyu Prasad Singh, a close friend of Seth Badriprasad Dube, who was a well-known financier. He introduced Himanshu Rai, a London return actor/ theatre artist to Seth Badriprasad Dube with a dream of making a cinema company but Seth Badriprasad declined the proposal of funding Himanshu Rai because Seth Badriprasad had once financed the first Indian Talkie film Alam Ara which didn't earn him any profit and he made an opinion that only actors and directors get fame but the financier doesn't get profits. During that era, the film business was not considered money earning business. It was more about the passion for cinema and getting fame. Because of this fact, Seth Badriprasad Dube declined the proposal of financing Himanshu Rai.
Abhimanyu Singh spoke next to Seth Badriprasad's son Shri. Rajnarayan Dube. He was a young and dynamic businessman who operated a successful company called Dube Industries, which he had founded in 1929. Shri. Dube was born on 10th October 1910 at Kalighat in Kolkata and was an ardent devotee of Maa Kali. He was influenced by the power of art and creativity at a young age. Both men met at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay), and discussed an initial investment amount of Rs. 25 lakhs. However, Himanshu Rai couldn't convince Rajnarayan Dube to invest the amount because of the dismal returns on investment that the Indian movie industry offered. At this point, it would seem that Bombay Talkies would never come to be, but things have a way of working out in unexpected ways.
A few months passed by and Himanshu Rai had grown increasingly despondent because it was becoming impossible to raise investment for his movie company. In his depression, the man attempted suicide but was unsuccessful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube got wind of this through Abhimanyu Prasad Singh and wondered about this man, one who so completely and wholeheartedly believed in the power of cinema and talking pictures that he did not see fit to continue living if he couldn't follow his dreams. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Himanshu Rai was onto something here and finalized the investment with him soon after. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube went deliberately against the advice of his father, Seth Badriprasad Dube, who felt that this would not be a good investment choice. In doing this, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube gave birth to the Indian Film Industry, which has now gone on to become a huge cultural and financial force in the country.
At the very nascent age of the cinema Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was born in India when other contemporary film companies of the world such as Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures were born and brought up to create cinematic magic for the world audience, but Bombay Talkies (under the command of Girish Ghanshyam Dube), is the only premier film company which has made a charismatic comeback and repeating its old pride and glory after sixty-three years of utter darkness.
Cinematic Giant and Pillar of Indian Cinema, Rajnarayan Dube founded the Legendary Film Company, The Bombay Talkies Studios along with its associate companies Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures as individual proprietorship companies. At the same time to add more people, he established the first public limited film company of India The Bombay Talkies Limited (ltd.) in 1934, although all companies were commonly known as Bombay Talkies. As Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani were actors they were given some shares of the company as their remuneration. Some films were produced under the banner of The Bombay Talkies Limited also, but most of the films were produced under The Bombay Talkies Studios and Bombay Talkies Pictures. The Bombay Talkies Studios also successfully Distributed, Processed, and Promoted films of other producers and banners other than their own films. All the films were financed by Rajnarayan Dube in his individual capacity as the owner of his proprietorship finance company Dube Industries (Estd. 1929).
On 15 April, 1934, Bombay Talkies began operations. The movie company was named by Shri. Dube's mother, Smt. Gayatri Devi. Though Light of Asia and Karma a concept which Himanshu Rai built during his days in Europe, it was released in 1925 and 1933 respectively. As the release went unnoticed, Rajnarayan Dube re-released them and the first films to come out of the stables were Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas) and Karma in 1934. It was followed by Jawani ki Hawa, Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya. The movie company-operated along with the principle of keeping the creative aspects and business aspects separate. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube would look into the business end of things and both Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani would immerse themselves in the creative pursuit. This approach gave rise to some of the most technically impressive films seen this side of the planet. The technical prowess was due to the movie studio employing German and other European technicians, prominent among them being Franz Osten.
In his book, Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema, Late. KM Srivastava mentioned that Rajnarayan Dube's Bombay Talkies was single-handedly responsible for making the careers of some of the leading talents in the golden age of Indian cinema. Besides Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, the company gave the world Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Madhubala (who began as a child artist and was given her stage name by Rajnarayan Dube himself, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Leela Chitnis, David Abraham Cheulkar, Phani Majumdar, Gyan Mukherjee, K.A. Abbas, Saadat Hasan Manto, Nabendu Ghosh, Hansa Wadkar, Uttam Kumar, Kedar Sharma, Gemini Ganesan, P.L. Santoshi, Shakti Samanta, Niranjan Pal, Pt. Narendra Sharma, Kishor Sahu, P. Jairaj, Asit Sen, Mumtaj Ali, Nalini Jaywant, Kamini Kaushal, Snehprabha, Joseph Wirsching, Kanan Devi, Famous Bengali Novelist Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Shaheed Lateef, Sita Devi, Abhi Bhattacharya, R.D. Mathur, Aghajani Kashmiri, Kamal Bose, Pran, Usha Kiran, Renuka Devi, Great Writer Munshi Premchand (Written 2 Films for Bombay Talkies), Mukri, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Mehmood, Kishore Kumar, Kamal Amrohi, Guru Dutt, Suraiya, Bimal Roy, Nitin Bose, Salil Chowdhary, Kavi Pradeep, Franz Osten, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar, Satyajit Ray, Amiya Chakravarti, S. D. Burman, Manna Dey, Saraswati Devi (who was the first woman music director of Asia). All in all, Bombay Talkies gave the world 280 of the most talented movie professionals in the last century.
Under the command of Rajnarayan Dube, Bombay Talkies had Produced & processed 450 films like Achhut Kannya, Kismet, Bandhan, Mahal, Jhoola, Jeevan Naiya, Neel Kamal, Baadbaan, Daag, Majboor, Drishtidan (Bengali), Izzat, Prem Kahani, Punarmilan, Aawaz, Pratima, Raj Mahal, Apnapan, Anyaya, Roti, Farar, Ziddi, Mashal, Azad, Jwar Bhata, Basant, Sangram, Patita, Bhabi (1938), Durga, Kala Patthar, Indian Lady, Jeevan Prabhat, HamariBaat, Anand, Aurangzeb, Bemisaal, Mamta, Sipahi, Milan, Naya Sansar, Anjaan, Adalat, Aandolan, Zindagi, Zamindar, Kanjoos, Ravan, Raja Rani, Phaansi, Kasam, Parakh, Dhobi Doctor, Deewana, Darpan, Dr. Kumar, Maa, Khamosh, Nauka Doobi, Talaq, Zakhmi, Maharaja, Nirmala, Vilayati Babu, Dushman, Khandani, Puraskar, Tawaif, Asha, Aandhi, Sadma, Anaath, Loafer, Muqaddar, Prem Kahani, Vachan, Lahore to Calcutta, Navjeevan, Ramdhari B.A., Saudagar, Ghajini, Hero, Sawa Lakh, Pratima, Bulandi, Char Aankhen, Chanakya, Nakli Heera, Lahore, Rail Ka Dibba, Dost, Chhoti Si Duniya, Cinema and many more.
While Himanshu Rai's original vision for a movie production house sowed the seeds for the formation of Indian cinema as an industry, Shri. Rajnarayan Dube single-handedly architected the business angle of the entire industry which was yet to come. He supported various new theatres such as BN Sircar's New Theatres in Calcutta, V Shantaram's Prabhat Pictures, Homi Wadia's Wadia Movietone, Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone, LV Prasad's Prasad Labs and Pictures (Prasad was an ex-technician from Bombay Talkies), SS Vasan's Gemini Pictures and Mehboob Khan's theatres, Tarachand Barjatya's Rajshri Productions (Barjatya served as a distribution manager for Bombay Talkies for the period of seven years), Sashadhar Mukherjee's (Filmalaya Studio). Shri. Dube financed these fledgling companies and made them stronger. In essence, he builds the entire movie ecosystem in the country. Everyone whom Shri. Dube supported, went on to build a name for themselves in the industry.
Shri. Rajnarayan Dube had a big vision for Indian Cinema. He wanted Indian film making to be a respectable profession. He thus stipulated that Bombay Talkies would only hire graduates. He hoped this move would legitimize the Indian film industry of the thirties and forties, and it certainly did. Besides this, Shri. Dube also wanted the Indian film industry to be inclusive of Indians from all states and sectors of life. Even though the movie company worked with European technicians, Shri. Dube would bring on Indian technicians and make sure that they learned the art of movie-making. He also brought a lot of Indian writers on-board so that movies could have an Indian cultural sensitivity and thus could appeal to a large number of people. This move gave rise to a whole new Indian profession, movie making! This seemed to be a good move in the light of circumstances that were yet to arrive.
During one scene in the movie Karma, there was a minute-long kissing scene between Himanshu Rai & Devika Rani onscreen. During the re-release, some extra controversial scenes were shot at that time for the sake of sensational purpose. This caused quite a stir in Indian society then Seth Badriprasad Dube's father of Shri. Rajnarayan Dube was furious about the scene. Himanshu Rai apologized and held his ears' and said that it would not happen again. After that incident, Shri. Dube however, resolved to screen all films by himself before they could be released. He was a Brahmin and a conservative and strictly discouraged smoking, drinking and other vices in the studio premises. He was also a very caring employer for those pioneering people who worked at Bombay Talkies. He made sure that Education, Rent, Food, and other daily necessities were provided free of cost to employees of Bombay Talkies. He also championed the rights of the movie industry by setting up Unions and Associations such as IMPPA (of which Bombay Talkies was the first member) Several people along with Rajnarayan Dube, Himanshu Rai, and Devika Rani were responsible for the formation of IMPPA. He also helped grow the regional film industry. He staunchly supported Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Oriya, Gujarati and Southern cinema. If it wasn't for Shri. Dube, the Indian movie industry would have resembled other Southeast Asian movie industries from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Bollywood today is big enough to compete with Hollywood movies.
During the Second World War, Bombay Talkies was struggling. The war had made things very difficult in many ways. The company had several movies on the floor but they could not get them finished because the crucial German technicians had been arrested and detained by the British Government. At this point, 15-20 films were on the production floor and were stalled pretty badly. Himanshu Rai suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of this and passed away in 1940. Bombay Talkies had just lost its crucial co-founder on whose vision the entire company stood to be successful. Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that Rai's vision for Indian cinema would continue and he again invested four lakhs ten thousand rupees into the venture. This injected some much-needed blood into the company and a new era of Indian film making began. Shri. Dube decided that from that moment on, Bombay Talkies would only hire Indian technicians and production professionals.
In this second phase, the company boomed and went on to a very productive cinematic run. 1943 hit Kismet was getting rave reviews everywhere and managed to run in theatres for 3 and a half years in over 90% of the Indian theatres! By comparing the value of gold and land by today's standards, the movie made the equivalent of Rs. 40000 crores. Not one movie has broken this record in terms of business. By 1954, Bombay Talkies had put its name to a huge amount of work. It had produced & processed 450 films, had introduced over 280 new talents, built 400 theatres across the country. With the historical grand success of Bombay Talkies, the legendary film company under the influence of Rajnarayan Dube had now processed more than 450 films of outside and likeminded producers and made more than 250 film projects for the new and needy producers. As the success of Bombay Talkies was going sky-high the clash of ego between the giants also started roaring high? The three companies which solely belongs to Rajnarayan Dube, The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures were doing fine but the fourth company The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established by him to include more people and more talents was becoming a platform to project nasty ego clashes of the directors and management of the company. Instead of being devoted to filmmaking and cinema they devoted their energy and talent for spreading rumours and objectionable stories. At this time Shri. Rajnarayan Dube decided that he and his company had arrived at the goal that they had set out to complete two decades earlier. Indian films were now a major force in terms of communication and entertainment in post-independence India. Shri. Dube shut down his sole proprietorship companies The Bombay Talkies Studios, Bombay Talkies Laboratories and Bombay Talkies Pictures in 1954 so that he could pay more attention to other aspects of his business and continued to distribute and finance films. The fate of the limited company, The Bombay Talkies Limited, which was established to include more people and more talents, got entrapped in selfish motives and litigation. Since 1953, complicated legal battles have been going on in different courts till date. Among all odds and misfortune, of the past time Bombay Talkies became a dream only to be in memories, the artists and technicians, whom Bombay Talkies made living legends in their own lives, who became national and international personalities by virtue of their own right, became world famous. But there was no one to take notice of Bombay Talkies.
With the noble intention and the purpose of promotion, protection, and projection of ancient divine culture globally Girish Ghanshyam Dube Revived Bombay Talkies after six decades with full glory and pride. With the historical revival of the legendary Bombay talkies, Girish Ghanshyam Dube paid his heartfelt tribute to his grandfather, pillar of Indian Cinema Rajnarayan Dube along with Himanshu Rai, Devika Rani, and many great filmmakers, artists and technicians. Girish Ghanshyam Dube brought his idol, Chandrashekhar Azad, from the darkness of history and presented him for the first time in the larger than life manner. Rashtraputra first patriotic film based on the life and times of the greatest revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad was screened at the 72nd Cannes film festival, France. The international audience connected with the patriotic and nationalistic thoughts of the great son of mother India through Rashtraputra. After Rashtraputra Girish Ghanshyam Dube created and released the first mainstream Sanskrit film of the world Cinema, Aham Brahmasmi to promote, protect & project Devbhasha Sanskrit worldwide and to preach Bramhavakya of Vedas to every corner of the World.
Many film-makers followed Rajnarayan Dube as a fortune for them, like in his Book, 'Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema', Senior Most Journalist of India Late. KM Srivastava mentioned Prakash Mehra, one of the legendary filmmakers of India who got the first chance to direct a movie named, Haseena Maan Jayegi, starring Shashi Kapoor. The film got stuck because of lack of budget. Later, popular actor Shashi Kapoor advised him to acquaint with Shri. Rajnarayan Dube; "He is the person who will appreciate your talent and help you out from the issue". Rajnarayan Dube said yes to him and the film triumphed magnificently. The same incident happened with Prakash Mehra in the film Samadhi which was starred by Dharmendra. Rajnarayan Dube helped him and got a huge applause. Because of such incidents, Prakash Mehra followed Rajnarayan Dube as a deity and he was always thankful to him. Then he gave back to back hits like Zanjeer, Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri with the help of Rajnarayan Dube. After his establishment he didn't face financial trouble but still, he used to take one hundred and one rupees as goodwill from Rajnarayan Dube for his later hits like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Laawaris, Jaadugar and many more.
Recently in an event, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Saheb Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing the Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Saheb Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
Numerous people have written books about Bombay Talkies and Rajnarayan Dube like Multiple editions of a book written by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed titled as The Man Behind Indian Cinema, which was launched in The United States of America on 19th June 2016. The last edition of the book mentions that The truth behind "The Bombay Talkies ltd" and commercial Indian cinema lies beneath the biography of Mr. Rajnarayan Dube. The novels unfold the truth of Indian cinema and the history that people made without any substantial evidence. Many news reports and media tries to recreate the fact about Indian cinema.
History witnessed the success and fall of the pillar of Indian cinema and the disasters of broken fire in the Bombay talkies studio campus many times. Negatives, important documents along with props and properties of filmmaking got burned and became ashes. Multiple researches were done on Indian Cinema and Bombay Talkies, numerous books were read on Bombay Talkies, only information on released films were obtained but no vital information could be gathered. Every book mentioned contradictory information on Bombay Talkies, only a few names were mentioned related to Bombay Talkies and its foundation. From the very ashes of history the senior most and respected film journalist K M Srivastava recollected the truths and facts of Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava's career spanning fifty years, he has done a great service to the students of cinema by researching Bombay Talkies. K M Srivastava has disclosed nearly each and every aspect of Bombay Talkies in his historical book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema, that how London return flop Actor Himanshu Rai got to finance his films, how he met Rajnarayan dube and how the actors and actresses of that time rose to glory. All the needful information was available in this book. The book is now the authentic prime source of inspiration, information and knowledge about Bombay talkies and that magnificent era. K M Srivastava's work contains more authentic information than any other source available. K M Srivastava documented nearly everything in detail in his research book on Bombay talkies. He has interviewed most of the legends who were associated with Bombay talkies. He was the eye-witness of most of the events along with his fellow journalists. The intense and comprehensive research book Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema - 3rd Edition written by senior journalist K M Srivastava was released by Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, the grandson of father of Indian cinema Dada Sahab Phalke on On 19 May 2018.
In his 52 years long career, It is the third time that senior most Journalist Of Indian Cinema , K M Srivastava wrote Bombay Talkies History in the book, Bombay talkies - the pillar of Indian cinema.
The event was organized by Manika Sanstha. The guests and speakers of the event were senior editor of Madhuri Magazine, Sudeep, Rashtriya Sahara editor, senior journalist and narrator Harish Pathak, senior film actors Surendra Pal, Gajendra Chauhan and actress Asema Bhatt. The program was conducted by Devmani Pandey and incorporated by Amar Tripathi. A large number of friends of the literary world were present on the occasion. Chief Guest at the book launch event, Mr. Chandrashekhar Pusalkar Phalke, grandson of the father of Indian Cinema Dada Sahab Phalke said, "With the establishment and work culture of Bombay Talkies, Rajnarayan Dube has played a great historic role in nurturing and developing Indian film industry. He gave it the form of an organised industry and made it to be accepted as a respectful form of art by the civilised society." He further added, "Like Dada Sahab Phalke, Rajnarayan Dube also faced all kinds of conflicts and the result of his immense struggle is visible like a World Heritage Site in the form of Bombay Talkies today. He strongly affirmed, If Mr. Rajnarayan Dube was not there, there would be no Himanshu Rai, neither Devika Rani nor there would be Bombay Talkies."
The detailed history on Bombay Talkies and Indian cinema, can be found in the Books, The Man behind Indian Cinema by Mohammad Zahid Ahmed and Bombay Talkies - Pillar of Indian Cinema by KM Srivastava.- Actor
- Director
Prithviraj Kapoor was born on 3 November 1906 in Samundri, Punjab, British India. He was an actor and director, known for Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Maharathi Karna (1944) and Bidyapati (1937). He was married to Rama Kapoor. He died on 29 May 1972 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Pankaj Mullick was born on 10 May 1905 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. He was a composer and actor, known for Zalzala (1952), Maya (1936) and Didi (1937). He died on 19 February 1978 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.- Actress
Ruby Myers is known for Siren (2007).- Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy is known for Pooja phalam (1964).
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Dhirendranath Ganguly was born on 26 March 1893 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. He was a director and actor, known for Kamanar Aagun (1930), Takay Ki Na Hay (1931) and Shesh Nibedan (1948). He was married to Premika Devi. He died on 18 November 1978 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.- Actress
- Music Department
- Producer
Kanan Devi was born in 1916 in Howrah, Bengal Presidency, British India. She was an actress and producer, known for Haar Jeet (1940), Parajay (1939) and Abhinetri (1940). She was married to Haridas Bhattacharya and Maitra, Ashok. She died on 17 July 1992 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Nitin Bose was born on 27 April 1897 in Calcutta, Bengal, British India [now India]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Gunga Jumna (1961), Desher Mati (1938) and Dharti Mata (1938). He died on 14 April 1986 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.- Composer
- Director
Rai Chand Boral was born on 19 October 1903 in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency, British India. He was a composer and director, known for Hamrahi (1944), Sapurey (1939) and Maya (1936). He died on 25 November 1981 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Sohrab Modi was born on 2 November 1897 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was an actor and director, known for Mirza Ghalib (1954), Pukar (1939) and Jailor (1938). He died on 28 January 1984 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Director
Paidi Jairaj was born on 28 September 1909 in Karimnagar, Hyderabad State, British India [now India]. He was an actor and director, known for Sholay (1975), Shahjehan (1946) and Pratima (1945). He was married to Savitri. He died on 11 August 2000 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.- Composer
- Music Department
- Producer
Regarded as a pioneer of Indian music, Naushad Ali was one of the one of the first and foremost composers in the history of Bollywood. Since 1937, he was composing music for films that, along with his music, formed the very foundation and core of Bollywood. He is also known for introducing the legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi to the world and transfiguring them into the icons they are today. While he did less than a hundred films during his lifetime, 26 of those films went on to celebrate jubilees, some of them making golden and even diamond jubilees!
He was born on December 25, 1919, in the city of Lucknow. From early childhood, he was an avid film buff, listening to the live orchestras that accompanied silent films back then. He studied classical Indian music under renowned musicians like Ustad Ghurbat Ali, Ustad Yusuf Ali, and Ustad Babban Saheb, and began composing music for amateur theatrical groups like the Windsor Music Entertainers. He also spent much of his time repairing harmoniums.
In the late 1930s, he came to Bombay to be a success as a musician. But he had to struggle to make it to the top. Initially he faced rebuffs, and had to endure periods of utter deprivation. Naushad even spent nights sleeping on footpaths before he finally secured a job as a pianist in composer Mushtaq Hussain 's orchestra. Composer Khemchand Prakash took him on as his assistant and taught him, an act for which he remained extremely grateful throughout his life. Soon, Naushad got his break with the film Prem Nagar (1940), but it was only with Sharda (1942) that he got attention. The film Ratan (1944) took him right to the top, and from then on he could produce blockbuster songs for appropriately smash hit films, most notably films made by either Abdul Rashid Kardar or Mehboob Khan.
Naushad's style was renowned for his ability to incorporate classical rhythms into his symphonies. He based his music upon the "ragas" that formed a basis in Indian classical music, and thus his music took on complex formations and . His taste for classical music was legendary - in the Mughal musical Baiju Bawra (1952), he used actual classical singers to sing his ghazals. In spite of his classical tendencies, he could also keep up with the times and adapt Western techniques and instruments into his music, as heard in the films Jadoo (1951) and Mere Mehboob (1963). Naushad was also among the first to use the techniques of sound mixing, of separate recording of vocal and music tracks in playback singing, and using background scores to enhance characters' moods and dialogues through music.
Naushad's career continued at a steady peak throughout the 1950s and 1960s, with some of his melodies being featured in now-perennial classics like the Mughal period films Baiju Bawra (1952) and Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and the epic Mother India (1957). Unfortunately and to his distaste the times were changing and demanded more fast-paced, peppier tunes, and Naushad had to struggle to keep his music pure and classical. In fact for Saathi (1968), he was persuaded, against his will, to re-record two of his songs to pep up their pace and their appeal. It was due to this uncompromising attitude towards his music that he would only compose less than a hundred films in his lifetime.
In the 1960s, he composed for Dilip Kumar 's dacoit drama Gunga Jumna (1961), which became a smash hit in India. However, both Kumar's and Naushad's days were numbered, and as their films came unstuck at the box-office, their fortunes dwindled. Naushad was still held in high regard, but he was now given mostly period films, most notably the courtesan romance Pakeezah (1972). However, he still gave his all in his efforts and he continued composing for films right through to the 1990s. He received the Dhundiraj Govind Phalke Award in 1981 for his lifetime contribution to Bollywood cinema and in 2004, when Mughal-E-Azam (1960) was re-released in colour, he was on hand along with Dilip Kumar - to attend the premiere and revive their days of glory.
In early 2006, Naushad was admitted to Ninavati Hospital after complaints of uneasiness, and on 5 May 2006, he died of old age. His last film, Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005), while receiving mixed reviews, was greatly praised for its musical score. Even in today's fast-moving world, people still found something special in his music. Such is the hallmark of a truly great composer...- Director
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- Actor
L.V. Prasad was born on 17 January 1908 in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was a director and producer, known for Jai-Vijay (1977), Bidaai (1974) and Jeene Ki Raah (1969). He was married to Soundarya Manoharamma. He died on 22 June 1994.- Durga Khote was born on 13 January 1905 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India. She was an actress, known for Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Bidaai (1974) and Anand (1971). She died on 22 September 1991 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.
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- Composer
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Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta on May 2, 1921. His father, Late Sukumar Ray was an eminent poet and writer in the history of Bengali literature. In 1940, after receiving his degree in science and economics from Calcutta University, he attended Tagore's Viswa-Bharati University. His first movie Pather Panchali (1955) won several International Awards and set Ray as a world-class director. He died on April twenty-third, 1992.- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Rajaram has been married twice. His second marriage was to actress Jayashree. Jayashree passed away on the 19th of October, 2004 in Bombay, at the age of 84. Jayashree and Rajaram are survived by their son, Kiran Shantaram, former Sheriff of Bombay, and daughter, Rajashree, well-known former Bollywood actress.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
B. Nagi Reddy was born on 2 December 1912 in Pottimpadu, Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was a producer and director, known for Deva (1989), Gundamma Katha (1962) and Pathala Bhairavi (1951). He died on 25 February 2004 in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Raj Kapoor was the son of well-known Indian actor Prithviraj Kapoor, who acted both in film and on stage. After apprenticing in the Bollywood production studios of the 1940's, at 24 years of age Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in Aag (1948), with his new company, RK Films. His next production, Barsaat (1949), was a smash hit. In 1951, he also produced, directed and starred in Awaara (1951), which was another megahit, and costarred Nargis, who had appeared in Aag and Barsaat. Awaara also gained popular acclaim in Russia, where the movie and songs were dubbed into Russian. The theme song, Awaara Hoon, was popular in the East for many years. Kapoor has been dubbed "a great showman," and a filmmaker in the purest Romantic tradition, as he strove to entertain as well as address social themes close to his heart. Awaara dealt with the question of what forms an individual's moral grounding, ("nurture or nature") while incorporating comedy and stirring love scenes; in Shree 420 (1955) he addressed issues of poverty, unemployment and national pride in the new Indian state at the same time maintaining the audience's interest in the romantic plot. While never revolutionary in tone, many of his films explore the ability of the individual to overcome economic and environmental injustice while maintaining his/her innocence and integrity. He is quoted as believing that the individual's struggles ultimately lead to the desire for love, to care and be cared for. This is consistent with his admiration of Charles Chaplin, and Kapoor's own "tramp" (Awaara, Shree 420, Mera Naam Joker (1970) is modeled somewhat on his mentor, though with a definite individual flair.
His films demonstrate an understanding of music and direction that continue to influence Bollywood filmmaking today. Also a musician, his understanding of the musical feel of his movies gives them a storytelling fluidity equal to that of the best American movie musicals. He surrounded himself with the foremost talents in filmmaking, acting, writing (Kwaja Ahmad Abbas'), music composition (Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal, 'Shankarsinh Raguwanshi'), and playback singers, including Mukesh, 'Mohamed Rafi', and Lata Mangeshkar. Kapoor continued to make films of varying critical and popular success up until his death in 1988, and apparently considered Mera Naam Joker his personal favorite. He is still a well-known name not only in India, but in the Middle East, SE Asia, and Eastern Europe. His descendants have attempted to continue the RK Films banner.- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
The Grandfather & Great Custodian of Indian Motion Pictures!
Ashok Kumar was one of India's most famous actors for over half a century, from before independence to the cusp of the new millennia!
As a young assistant to Bengali film-maker Himanshu Rai, he got his start in acting by accident when he volunteered to substitute for the lead actor, Jeevan Naya (1936), who fell ill before production on the film Achhut Kanya (1936) was to start. Kumar was terrified of acting in the first place, especially opposite lead actress Devika Rani, known as 'the dragon lady' for her smoking, drinking, cursing and legendary hot temper. After finishing shooting, Kumar continued with overseeing the process of the film with editing, mixing and processing. His unexpected acclaim to his role had him in demand for more acting roles, which he pursued in a few more 'Bombay Talkies' with Devika Rani.
His breakthrough performance was in Kismet (1943) which ran for three years in Bombay and Calcutta and was one of the first Hindi language mega-hits of India and gained him national fame through his charismatic performances and his talented singing. From then onwards, Kumar became a sought-after actor who appeared in over 200 Hindi and a few other Indian language films, playing romantic leads or threatening villains and making Rs.300-400 a month during the 1940s and 1950s.
Although his roles gradually decreased to supporting and minor parts as he got older and suffered more ill health, his popularity in India never diminished and he was often in demand for cameos and live convention appearances. From the 1990s to his death, he lived in a comfortable retirement in Bombay with a slew of Indian films to show for his work.- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actress
Lata Mangeshkar was born in Indore on September 28, 1929, and became, quite simply, the most popular playback singer in Bollywood's history. She sung for over 50 years for actresses from Nargis to Preity G Zinta, as well as recorded albums of all kinds (ghazals, pop, etc). Until the 1991 edition, when her entry disappeared, the Guinness Book of World Records listed her as the most-recorded artist in the world with not less than 30,000 solo, duet,and chorus-backed songs recorded in 20 Indian languages between 948 and 1987. Today that number may have reached 40,000!
She was born the daughter of Dinanath Mangeshkar, the owner of a theater company and a reputed classical singer in his own right. He started giving Lata singing lessons from the age of five, and she also studied with renowned singers Aman Ali Khan Sahib and Amanat Khan. Even at a young age she displayed a God-given musical gift and could master vocal exercises the first time.
Ironically, for someone of her stature, she made her entry into Bollywood at the wrong time - around the 1940s, when bass singers with heavily nasal voices, such as Noor Jehan and Shamshad Begum were in style. She was rejected from many projects because it was believed that her voice was too high-pitched and thin. The circumstances of her entry into the industry were no less inauspicious - her father died in 1942, the responsibility of earning income to support her family fell upon her, and between 1942 and 1948 she acted in as many as eight films in Hindi and Marathi to take care of economic hardships. She made her debut as a playback singer in the Marathi film Kiti Hasaal (1942) but, ironically, the song was edited out!
However, in 1948, she got her big break with Ghulam Haider in the film Majboor (1948), and 1949 saw the release of four of her films: Mahal (1949), Dulari (1949), Barsaat (1949), and Andaz (1949); all four of them became runaway hits, with their songs reaching to heights of what was until then unseen popularity. Her unusually high-pitched singing rendered the trend of heavily nasal voices of the day totally obsolete and, within a year, she had changed the face of playback singing forever. The only two lower-pitched singers to survive her treble onslaught to a certain extent were Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum.
Her singing style was initially reminiscent of Noor Jehan, but she soon overcame that and evolved her own distinctive style. Her sister, Asha Bhosle, too, came up in the late 1950s and the two of them were the queens of Indian playback singing right through to the 1990s. Her voice had a special versatile quality, which meant that finally music composers could stretch their creative experiments to the fullest. Although all her songs were immediate hits under any composer, it was the composers C. Ramchandra and Madan Mohan who made her sound her sweetest and challenged her voice like no other music director.
The 1960s and 1970s saw her go from strength to strength, even as there were accusations that she was monopolizing the playback-singing industry. However, in the 1980s, she cut down her workload to concentrate on her shows abroad. Today, Lata sings infrequently despite a sudden resurgence in her popularity, but even today some of Hindi Cinema's biggest hits, including Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), and Veer-Zaara (2004) feature her legendary voice.
No matter which female playback singer breaks through in any generation, she cannot replace the timeless voice of Lata Mangeshkar. She was an icon beyond icons....- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Akkineni Nageswara Rao was born on 20 September 1923 in Venkataraghavapuram, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India. He was an actor and producer, known for Meghasandesam (1983), Laila Majnu (1949) and Devadasu (1953). He was married to Annapurna Akkineni. He died on 22 January 2014 in Hyderabad, India.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Bhalji Pendharkar was born on 3 May 1898 in Kolhapur, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was a director and writer, known for Thoratanchi Kamla (1941), Netaji Palkar (1939) and Shyam Sundar (1932). He died on 28 November 1994 in India.- Music Department
- Composer
- Director
Bhupen Hazarika is one of the most well-known personalities from Assam, India. Born in 1926, in Sadiya, Assam, he holds an M. A. in Political Science in 1946. He holds an M.A. in Political Science from Beranes Hindu University, and a PhD in Mass Communication from the Columbia University, New York, where he came in contact with,and was greatly influenced by, Paul Robeson. He also received the Lisle Fellowship from the Chicago University, USA.
He cut his first L.P. record when he was just 10 years old, and his first role as an actor was for the Assamese movie, Indramalati, made in 1939.
He was involved with the Indian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA), and has also sporadically tried his chance at electoral politics.
He won the National Award for the best film maker for "Shakuntala" (1960) "Pratidhwani"(1964), and "Loti Ghoti"(1967). He also won the National Award for best music composition in 1977 for "Chameli Memsaab". His other honors include Padma Bhushan(1977), Sangeet Natak Academy award (1987) and Dada Saheb Phalke award (1993.- Music Department
- Actor
- Writer
Majrooh Sultanpuri's reputation as a poet was ironically overshadowed by his being a lyricist for popular Bollywood films. It has happened very frequently that the real merit of a person is pushed into the background by some lesser work that is done for a medium with a bigger outreach or for some popular event. Though Majrooh was a very successful lyricist and his "geets" were hummed by millions of people in continents where Indian cinema is the rage, yet it would be unfair to judge him based solely on this lesser work. He was a serious poet who made significant contributions to the development of a sensibility and an idiom, that was truly inspired by the Progressive Writers Movement. In the early years after partition the poets felt hugely hemmed in by the their lack of reaching out to the people they were supposed to be addressing. Though they had a steady audience, it was very tiny compared to that enjoyed by popular media including that of the cinema. It was decided by a few poets and literary organisations to ride on the back of a popular medium to exploit the greater outreach of the cinema, and as it were, to spread the message. Pardeep, Sahir Ludhianvi, Qamar Jalalabadi, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Shakeel Badayuni, Saghar Nizami, Rajinder Krishen and Majrooh Sultanpuri, were all sucked into the insatiable vortex of the film world with Sahir having remained the most outstanding but Majrooh Sultanpuri being a close second. It may be said that when these poets agreed to write for the films the quality of poetry in the context of the film lyrics showed a vast improvement. If it was a loss to urdu poetry it was surely a gain for the "filmi" song text and the vast divide of serious writing and popular writing was narrowed a little by the Bombay films. Majrooh had earlier fought the hardest battle of his life as a ghazalgo. It was an article of faith with the early progressive poets that the stylised form of ghazal with its well wrought references and associated inferences was not suitable for the new sensibility which needed a new form. The same rationale was also behind the movement known as the naturi shairi of the mid nineteenth century but it was sponsored from the top by the establishment. Like all movements the Progressive Writers too took an extreme position and denounced much in the name of being a product of feudalism. Literature and the arts were seen in the framework of a one to one relationship and the entire effort seemed to be based on exclusion rather than incorporation. But Majrooh did not tow the line and held the position that ghazal could retain its glory through its ability to say new things for the new age. He was himself an outstanding ghazal poet and introduced new imagery and new diction into the heavily stylised format. He was able to maintain the lyrical quality of the ghazal which is its real spirit and test without losing on the vigour that was supposed to be an integral part of this new poetic idiom. The awareness of where the exploitation has taken the ordinary man and a whipping up of emotions for greater activism was the twin aim of these poets. Majrooh was not alone in this struggle. He had support from a contemporary, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, who too was not keen on losing the rich referential and allusive matrix of the traditional ghazal while talking about the main contradiction of the class divide that cut across board. It was the awareness that the rejection of the ghazal would be a turning away from our tradition that made its acceptance and currency possible again by the fifties. When Majrooh appeared on the scene Faiz's Naqsh e Faryadi, Majaz's Aahang, Ali Sardar Jaffery's Parwaz, Jazbi's Ferozaan and Makhdoom's Surkh Sawera had already been published with leading critics like Ehtesham Hussain and Doctor Alim, being the real opponents of the ghazal, wanting to do away with this archaic form as a critical canon. Faiz and Majrooh gradually introduced the themes generally associated with the Progressive Movement, and transformed the ghazal without losing on its strength. During the fifties ghazal was gradually and grudgingly accepted as a legitimate form of poetry even by Ehtesham Hussain who wrote about it then. Poetry thus disengaged itself from being a mere slogan, and moved towards the lyrical and melodic richness generally associated with ghazal. It abandoned the harsh declamatory style meant to exhort the listener to take up arms against the sea of troubles for a more introspective mood where awareness became part of a larger collective consciousness. The Urdu poets found themselves being edged out in the new socio-cultural environment of India and saw their language shrink and the literate audience dwindle. Amidst the growing demand of Hinduising Urdu Majrooh stood his ground and fought for the rightful place of his language with a rich heritage. Perhaps history will judge Majrooh as a poet who partially frittered away his talent by writing for the films. The limited opportunity and the constraints of the situation do not let the poet grow and prosper in the same manner when he is just writing poetry as a an autonomous form. But Majrooh's contribution in giving a new meaning to the ghazal will keep the torch of his name burning for quite some time.