Super Star Rajesh Khanna's Movies - Reviewed by different authors

Kishore Kumar Hit Songs: Rajesh Khanna Hits

2009-01-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

Kishore Kumar Hit Songs: Rajesh Khanna Hits

Aradhana - 1969

2009-01-23T00:43:00.000-08:00

ARADHANA
(“adoration, worship”)
1969, Hindi, 180 minutes
Produced and Directed by Shakti Samanta

Story and screenplay: Sachin Bhowmick; Dialogue: Ramesh Pant; Lyrics: Anand Bakshi; Music: S. D. Burman; Art Direction: Shanti Das; Cinematography: Aloke Das Gupta

When thinking of the dynamics of gender relations in India, I sometimes recall Garrison Keillor’s description of his fictional hometown of Lake Woebegone, Minnesota: “…Where the women are strong and the men are good-looking.” This could serve as a kind of summary-sutra for ARADHANA, a weepy drama of female self-sacrifice, buoyed by a famous Bakshi-and-Burman score, that casts Sharmila Tagore as the ill-starred heroine Vandana (a name that, like the film’s title, connotes “praise” or “worship”) and Rajesh Khanna in the double role of her lover and then son. Its dramatic success as a “golden jubilee” film (one that played for more than fifty weeks in major urban centers) made Khanna a superstar and led to a string of hits in which he starred (many directed by Samanta or by Hrishikesh Mukherjee) between 1969 and 1973—when the actor’s career went into abrupt decline due to the advent of the Next and Bigger Thing, Amitabh Bachchan.

As the credits roll, we see a radiant, white-clad Vandana being denounced in a courtroom, and (after tearfully refusing to speak in her own defense) being sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. One need not have taken Hindi Cinema 101 to grasp that she is doubtless Innocent, but the film will defer explaining her “crime” for its first half, which unrolls as a flashback from her lonely prison cell. As it opens, Vandana is returning from college to her hill-station home, where she lives with her father, Gopal Tripathi, a medical doctor and widower. As she rides the narrow-gauge train through the mountains, she hears a young airman, Arun Varma (Khanna) on the adjacent motor road singing the amorous song Mere sapnon ki rani (“Oh Queen of my dreams, [when will you come to me?]”) while he eyes her flirtatiously. Their paths soon cross in her hometown, where Arun begins to woo her more ardently; and although she is the very model of maidenly modesty and deferral, her jovial and progressive father proves to have no objection to a “love match.”

Soon, with the further blessing of Arun’s avuncular boss Air Commodore Ganguly (Ashok Kumar), the engagement is sealed (and celebrated with the sun-drenched love songs Kora kagaz tha, “My heart was like a blank page,” and Gunguna rahe hai, “The bees are buzzing,” both performed against a backdrop of forests and snow-covered peaks). But before the planned nuptials can occur, Arun and Vandana pay a visit to a Shiva temple where, at the prompting of a cheerful priest, they impulsively exchange garlands and “marry before God.” A sudden storm then forces the lovers into a nearby bungalow where they doff their wet clothes—she substituting an artfully wrapped blanket for her soaked sari, and he building a fire. The blanket is red, and the firepit resembles a Vedic altar; eyeing each other hungrily, they circle the blaze while (substituting for a mantra-chanting priest) an amorous young man in an adjacent room sings the sultry Roop tera mastana (“Your beauty intoxicates me”).

The film’s most erotic song picturization thus simultaneously manages to encode the key elements of a perfectly dharmic Hindu marriage ritual, although it necessarily remains a scandalous secret, unsanctioned by family and “society.” The obvious ensues (off-camera, of course) and though the virtuous Vandana worries about it the next morning, Arun assures her that they will be formally wed in just a few days, when he returns from a flying trip to Delhi.

But alas, Fate is cruel, and the young airman’s plane crashes. He survives only long enough to remind the weeping Vandana, at his bedside, of his dream of having a son named Suraj (“sun”) who, like him, will become a pilot and range the skies; he extracts from her the promise to make this dream come true. Soon after his death, the distraught Vandana indeed discovers that she is pregnant, and reveals to her shocked father—who could arrange a face-saving abortion—that she intends to keep and raise the child, dedicating her life to the “worship” (aradhana) of her lost love. Despite her father’s blessing, Vandana’s plight now grows grimmer. Arun’s family (eager to inherit his property) mocks her tale of a secret “marriage” and denounces her as a loose woman, and soon after this her father expires. When she gives birth to a beautiful son, a lady doctor advises leaving him at an orphanage door and then coming the next day to “adopt” him—the only means by which she can salvage respectability as a single mother. But this plan too goes awry, as the baby is accidentally given to a prosperous couple, the Saxenas, whose own child was stillborn. When Vandana contacts the husband and attempts to retrieve the boy, admitting the real facts behind his birth, Mr. Saxena convinces her to join the household as a nursemaid, so that her son can grow up with the advantage of the family’s wealth. Thus begins Vandana’s long, worshipful “penance” for her romantic indiscretion, as she nurtures the child, indeed named Suraj, maintaining the illusion that he is someone else’s son, while nevertheless forming a close bond with him, celebrated in the lullaby-like song Chanda hai tu (“You are my moon [and sun]”).

Worse trials lie ahead. When the greasy, foreign-returned brother of Mrs. Saxena, Shyam (Madan Puri) tries to rape Vandana, eight-year-old Suraj comes to her defense. She now gladly accepts a jail sentence for murder rather than endanger her child. When she is released on good behavior after twelve years, she learns that Mr. Saxena has died and his wife and son have moved to an unknown place. Homeless once more, she accepts the invitation of the kindly jailer (himself a widower and about to retire) to come to his house in Delhi as his adopted sister and assist in the raising of his spirited teenage daughter Renu (Farida Jalal). It is not long before Vandana learns that, like her “aunt” before her, Renu too has a weakness for daring young men in flying machines, and in fact is in love with a twenty-year-old pilot named….. Ah well, watch the movie—keeping a hankie or two handy—and everything will (in time) be revealed.

The songs of Aradhana were very popular and several remain well known today. Although most are romantic duets performed by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar or Asha Bhosle and Mohamed Rafi, the film's most haunting tune is perhaps the bhajan-like Kahey ko roye (“Why do you weep?”), unusually and soulfully sung by composer Burman himself as a voiceover commentary on Vandana’s many trials.

Despite its suffocating patriarchal morality—which condemns a young woman to a lifetime of solitary adoration of a dead fiancé and self-effacing nurture of the son who is essentially his clone—this is a female-centered film, graced with a memorable performance by Sharmila Tagore. Her character’s two decades of tribulations recall those of two classical heroines celebrated in the Mahabharata, Shakuntala and Draupadi. Like the former, the innocent Vandana, associated with nature and the hills, is ardently pursued and eventually seduced by a more sophisticated urban lover, who then leaves her; their informal marriage is unrecognized by society and she is scorned and humiliated because she bears his child, yet she devotes herself to the boy’s upbringing so that he may one day inherit his patrimony (here, the “kingdom” of the now conquered and militarized sky). And like Draupadi in the epic’s Book of Virata, Vandana, in order to achieve her object, disguises her identity and takes employment as a maidservant in a wealthy household, wherein (in the absence of a male protector) she is sexually harassed by her mistress’ brother, who finally pays for this crime with his life; the blame for his death then falls on her. Yet the outspoken assertiveness of the two epic heroines contrasts sharply with the passive and stoic endurance expected of the modern and respectably middle-class heroine, whose resistance to injustice is here largely expressed through self-imposed suffering.

Anand - 1970

2009-01-22T23:46:00.000-08:00

ANAND
(“Joy.” 1970, Hindi, about 122 minutes)
Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Produced by N. C. Sippy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Story: Hrishikesh Mukherjee; Screenplay: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, D. N. Mukherjee, and Bimal Dutta; Dialogue: Guzlar; Lyrics: Gulzar and Yogesh; Music: Salil Chowdhury; Cinematography: Jaywant Pathare; Art direction: Ajit Banerjee

This multi-handkerchief film about a dying cancer patient whose infectious joie de vivre transforms the lives of those around him was one of the most successful of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s “middle class” films (see notes on ANARI, 1959), and helped Rajesh Khanna establish the character of the fast-talking-but-lovable interloper that he was to deploy (more endearingly, in my view) in BAWARCHI (1972). Fondly regarded in India as a heartwarming tear-jerker, it buttresses a human interest story (on the order of the old Reader’s Digest “My Most Unforgettable Character” series) with the pathos of a losing battle with cancer, a fascination with new medical technology (Anand receives radiation treatments), often witty dialog, and a parade of cameos by veteran cinema luminairies Durga Khote, Johnny Walker, and Dara Singh. The film is dedicated to “the city of Bombay” (which however is not seen much except in the credit sequence) and to Raj Kapoor—a more plausible connection, since the title character’s brand of manic bonhomie suggests the overbearing screen persona for which Kapoor was famous. Anand, at least, has the excuse that he’s terminally ill and trying to drink life to the dregs, and he occasionally reflects on his own behavior—as when he remarks to his physician early in the film, “Whether you live seventy years or six months, life needs to be big, it doesn’t need to be long.”

The film opens at a literary awards ceremony at which a brooding young cancer specialist, Bhaskar Banerjee, M. D., receives a prize for a “novel” entitled Anand. The doctor’s revelation that the book is, in fact, a true story extracted from his diary leads into the flashback comprising the rest of the film. Bhaskar recalls being initially discouraged in his medical practice because of the omnipresence of poverty in India—a reminiscence that occasions a “cameo appearance” by a real-live Bombay slum, evidently intended to assure viewers that Bhaskar’s compassion and public-service credentials are in order. This grimly familiar place and its denizens quickly disappear, however, behind the façade of bourgeois comfort in which Bhaskar and his friends reside (including car, servant, cushy bungalow, and Japanese tapedeck), and the arrival of the large-hearted and likewise middle-class Anand Sehgal appears to obviate the need to give any further thought to The Poor. Indeed, they are (as Jesus said) always with us, whereas Bhaskar will only have Anand around for a bit more than three months (distilled into two cinematic hours). Anand is preceded by a letter from a Delhi physician describing his terminal illness—a rare form of stomach cancer. Realizing that he has no treatment to offer, Bhaskar is initially repelled and even angered by Anand’s bouncy entrance—and here the film briefly but effectively explores the psychology of the physician, when Anand thoughtfully responds to an outburst by Bhaskar (who is appalled that he isn’t taking his illness “seriously”): “Ah, I understand, you aren’t angry at me, you’re angry at yourself, because you can’t help me.”

Though fully aware of the grim prognosis, Anand is determined to snatch whatever joy he can in the time left to him...and he particularly enjoys putting other people’s lives in order. After a brief stay in a private hospital, where he charms the nursing staff, he invites himself to live with Bhaskar and proceeds to take over the doctor’s waking hours. Far from resenting this, Bhaskar loves it! So does nearly everyone else whom Anand meets, comprising a cavalcade of star-powered stereotypes: the outwardly stern but inwardly maternal Goan headnurse Mrs. D’Sa (Lalita Pawar; cf. her similar and identically-named role in Mukherjee’s early film ANARI), the teary-eyed widow (Durga Khote), the brawny Punjabi wrestler (Dara Singh), and the madcap Muslim actor Isa Bhai (Johnny Walker).

It isn’t long before everyone is pleading with God—under His/Her several names and forms—for a last-minute miracle, but as Bhaskar finally concedes, “God needs good people as much as we do….” And so, with none-too-subtle symbolism (a tape running out, a bunch of balloons floating skyward), our hero makes his exit.

Viewed retrospectively, the film seems almost to be an allegory of the cinematic demise of Rajesh Khanna Superstar and his replacement by the (soon to be Angry) Young Man, Amitabh Bachchan, as his sensitive and soulful doctor-cum-diarist. Bachchan’s subdued character—with lanky physique, deep voice, and big, melancholy eyes—is meant to serve as counterpoint to the pudgier Khanna’s manic ebullience, and does, but it also hints at the “darker” heroic personality that was soon to emerge, and that would rule the Hindi screen for more than a decade. Tellingly, when the film was successfully re-released a few years after its first run, Bachchan’s image dominated the poster, ironically relegating leading man Khanna to “supporting” status.

How you feel about the film may largely depend on how you relate to its main character. Whereas some (like Bhaskar, his friends, and a large number of Indian viewers) may find him instantly endearing and heroically self-sacrificing, others may consider his intrusive and overbearing dosti more problematic and even annoying. After all, this is a guy who not only engineers his best friend’s crucial first “date” with the woman he wants to marry, but then insists on coming along, making it impossible for the lovers to communicate—which doesn’t matter, though, because Anand does all the talking for both of them! There is a cultural point here, concerning a manic, almost pathologically gregarious brand of Hindustani dost—of the sort witheringly satirized by Hindi author Mohan Rakesh in his portrait of a leech-like “Punjabi Bhai” acquaintance in the travelogue Aakhiri chattaan tak (“To Land’s End”) — who expresses his irrepressible “heart” qualities by hurling himself at innocent bystanders and by never permitting a “friend” to experience a moment of solitude or silence. This expansive yet oddly self-centered type, whose principal characteristics are rhetorical wit, frenetic energy, and a deep reservoir of on-tap emotion, may or may not actually exist in large numbers in India, but he is certainly a hardy trope of the Hindi cinema — successively reincarnated by (among others) Raj and Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, and more recently by Salman and Shah Rukh Khan. And in cinema-land, at least, he is invariably successful in his frenzied pursuits, whether wooing reluctant women, eliciting unfailing loyalty from men, or (here) dying gracefully and pathetically amid a clutch of sobbing friends whose lives he has forever altered for the better.

The film’s hit songs include two ballads: Kahin dur (“Somewhere far away…when the day fades”), sung by Mukesh, in which Anand reveals something of his own inner sorrow over a lost love, and the rollicking Zindagi kaisi hai paheli (“Oh what a riddle life is!”), sung by Manna De, and picturised on the Arabian Sea-shore under a glorious blue sky.

[The Bollywood Entertainment DVD of ANAND offers a generally excellent print of the film with good sound quality. The English subtitle track is serviceable, but subtitles are particularly helpless with a chatterbox like Anand, hence much of his verbal wit is lost. Songs too are regrettably left unsubtitled.]

http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/Anand.html

Bawarchi: Bawarchi .... The Movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

Bawarchi: Bawarchi .... The Movie !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Red Rose - 1980

2009-01-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

A rose by any name

The serial killer is the most infrequently used bogeyman in Indian films. It is a far cry from the West which has a fair share of cinematic
tributes to the lunatic fringe of murderers — Psycho, the Hannibal Lecter films, Se7en, and the Saw series.

To say nothing of some of the infamous giallo thrillers from Italy by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci. Which is probably why Bharathi Rajaa’s Sigappu Rojakkal (Red Roses) was such a sleeper hit in 1978. It had a highly original premise and was taut and unsentimental, both rare qualities in Tamil cinema.

Besides, no one expected a slick urban thriller from Bharathi Rajaa who was known for village-themed films. For the Hindi remake, Red Rose (1980), the director (also credited with screenplay and story), roped in Rajesh Khanna and Poonam Dhillon as replacements for Kamal Hassan and Sridevi.

The plot remains unchanged. Anand (Rajesh Khanna) is a misogynistic playboy, constantly on the lookout for unattached, generally flirtatious women. He murders them after a one night stand and has them buried in a rose garden in his backyard. He unwittingly falls in love with one of his potential victims, Sharda (Poonam Dhillon playing the only ‘chaste’ woman in the film), and marries her.

But it is just a matter of time before she stumbles into his Bluebeard’s room like den, full of grisly accounts of his crimes and flees, with Anand in hot pursuit.

Red Rose/Sigappu Rojakkal was exceptionally daring. It’s suffused with an all too rare quality that only the best horror films possess — an oppressive claustrophobic intensity. It works as a grotesque parody of the mawkish conceit so common in Indian films about servants being part of the family.

A young Anand is first given employment and then adopted by Satyen Kappoo. Both Kappoo and the family gardener Shera (Om Shivpuri) are more than a little south of sanity and participate vicariously in Anand’s crimes, watching home videos taped by a hidden camera in his bedroom.

What made Red Rose better than the original was a stellar performance from Khanna. With his glory days as a romantic lead behind him, he seemed ready for total reinvention. He brought a level of lecherous malice to the role that was unprecedented — something a young and dapper Kamal Hassan could never have hoped to accomplish. The scenes where Anand flirts with Sharda are laden with a predatory creepiness that belies Khanna’s history as a melodramatic lover from films in the early 1970s.

Red Rose is layered with irony and black humour — there’s a ‘blink and you will miss it’ joke about the death of Sheela aka Chocolate (Aruna Irani); Khanna is named Anand, a sly dig at one of the star’s most affable roles — Kamal Hassan was called Dileep.

The sequences where Sharda discovers the true psychotic nature of her husband are interspersed with Anand staking out a witness at a night club with Donna Summer’s disco classic I Feel Love blaring in the background. The last half hour is particularly nightmarish. Bharathi Rajaa pulls out all the stops and throws in bizarre Argento-inspired lighting and a truly unsettling score by Bappi Lahiri.

And yet Red Rose was nowhere near as successful as Sigappu Rojakkal — perhaps Khanna’s transformation into a lady killer of a more literal variety was more than his dwindling fanbase could take. There was no redemptive arc to the story, no happily ever after ending. Yet as a psycho-thriller, Red Rose has few equals. One suspects it would retain its pre-eminence even if serial killers were a more popular subject with Indian directors.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Business_of_Bollywood/A_rose_by_any_name/articleshow/2547342.cms

This is a class review which reflects the true performance capability of Khanna by mentioning the following "What made Red Rose better than the original was a stellar performance from Khanna". I may recall that during its release in 1980 or so, Mr. Basab Sinha, a journalist wrote an article on Rajesh Khanna emphasising his negative characterization in Red Rose and Dhanwaan entitled, "Breaking the shackles of his own image", wherein he wrote that it is doubtful that any other Indian actor would have been able to handle these two negative characterization so effectively and with great variety. So after 27 years this article has given us immense pleasure to go through and lot of readers may be able to get acquaint about the unparallel skill of Khanna's performance capability to the present day scenario.

Blogger Buzz: Blogger in beta

2009-01-10T01:54:00.000-08:00

Blogger Buzz: Blogger in beta

AMAR PREM : Juxtaposing legend and contemporary subtext

2008-12-29T19:28:00.000-08:00

The fact that this film was one of the most path breaking and successful movies starring India’s greatest romantic icon Rajesh Khanna , is probably why Amar Prem is remembered as a love story only. In retrospect the immortal love (Amar Prem) it speaks about is but a miniscule part of the entire canvas. The filmmaker succeeds in weaving a tale which is classical and at once contemporary in its subtexts. And music and prose blend to create a cinema which is at once magical and disturbing.

The 70’s decade of Amar Prem was still grappling with the erosion of human values as seen in the 1950’s Amit Mitra – Shambhu Mitra film Jaagtey Raho. And the existence of a woman was still a Rule Book in the hands of a man – that whatever he had written and thought about her would be the final word on it.
The notion of love in Amar Prem has its roots in the legends of Krishna & Yashoda , Meera & Krishna. And it finds its way into a society wherein these notions were gradually losing their meaning, their relevance. The songs are the romantic ideal and the concerns of the film break it completely.
Shakti Samanta’s compassionate ode to unfulfilled passion is ably complemented by its timeless music …so as the characters go about living their lives, music steps in as a friendly bystander cum sutradhar …at times spelling out the essence of the scene and at times exploring the hidden depths of the characters.
In that regard Amar Prem is quite a Bold Film as it reflects very realistically this decadence. The decline of the Pastoral Ideal , the disillusionment of post industrialization , the pre cursor to the angry young man….the players in Amar Prem wonder what went wrong and where.
The first sync song in the film ”Raina beeti jaaye…Shyam na aaye”…. is a Bhajan in which Radha sings her woes following Krishna’s absence. Juxtapose it with Pushpa’s situation in the film and you have some beautiful analogies. While the first antara …”kis sauten ne roki dagariya..kis bairan se laagi najariya” sums up her sense of defeat as a Woman , the second antara reflects her unfulfilled desires … “birah ki maari prem diwaani tan man pyaasa ankhiyon me paani”….
And even as she acknowledges this lacuna in her sub conscious using the Radha – Krishna metaphor, Anand Babu enters her life.
Anand Bakshi’s poetry and the pleasant yet melancholic mood of the morning raga Lalit blend to form an amazing union between love and separation. Radha & Krishna ; Pushpa & Anand Babu …the analogies merge to create memorable celluloid relationships.
The song raises the scene to a sublime level as the opening strains hold back Anand Babu’s fumbling steps and lead him in to Pushpa’s Kotha…which, despite its debauch surroundings, is actually the only complete home shown in the film – it offers refuge to a lost man and to a wounded child…. It is also the Brindavan where Pushpa discovers motherhood (though briefly) and that the woman in her can be loved (though not necessarily acknowledged) .
But at the same time it becomes a weak film as you never hear a single voice of protest. In fact there are no icons of resistance in the film.
Pushpa’s husband brings a second wife into the house and she lives with it. He eventually throws her out and she returns to her village without a protest. Back home the entire village talks ill of her and her own mother listens to the loose talk and actually questions her morality and asks her to leave. Here too Pushpa leaves quietly to kill herself in the village pond . Even death betrays her as she is saved by the man who finally brings her to Kolkata , betraying her trust and depositing her in a Kotha.
No protest yet.
Predictably she has enough slander thrown on her here as well and she , as usual, doesn’t rise against it.
The man who had brought her from the village cheats her yet again when he keeps all the money that she had been sending for her mother for himself. She comes to know…she doesn’t react. He doesn’t tell her that her mother has been dead all this while…she has only shock and tears in answer. She lands up cleaning utensils in a boarding home for men where she is mistreated yet again by the old grouchy incharge…and she is still quiet.
Why is Pushpa so quiet? Why doesn’t she raise her voice?
And its not just her. Sujit Kumar doesn’t question his wife for ill treating his son from his first wife who he himself loves so much. Anand Babu, despite being of the stature that he is, doesn’t question the lovelessness of his marriage. In fact he actually is the biggest escapist as he goes to Pushpa to fill in the vacuums in his marriage…if this be love then it is pretty inadequate….and it surely is NOT a protest .

One of the most metaphorically evolved songs in the film , “chingari koi bhadke” . is Anand Babu’s expression of love for Pushpa. It’s a memorable composition by SD Burman set in Raag Bhairavi but in the Bhatiyaar tradition. And it’s picturised on them taking a boat ride across the Hoogly waters under the Howrah Bridge. So do they bridge the social distance between them? Does she acknowledge his expression and accept it? Or does she comply because submission is all that she understands now? …We don’t know. Because it’s not her song really. She merely smiles through it with her soulful eyes.
Yet she is his companion in life. ..As the refrain fades in across the waters …“ saawan jo agan lagaaye use kaun bujhaaye..” the irony of their lives and the times they live in hits you…that a companion who is the elixir of your life is actually the one whose desire will consume you even as you aspire… and then you are doomed to lose. That the ideal that you aspire for is a system which is lost in the drudgery of politics and social propaganda…and might not be visible in a long long while.

They love each other but they do not have the strength to rise against the world , snatch away their rights and LIVE their loves.

Pushpa is deprived all her life of the basic joys…her one love is way beyond her and remains outside her world till the very end. He cries with her as he drowns his own sorrows in drink and empathises with her. But he doesn’t have it in him to come hold her hand. Except in the confines of her home..when he is offering her solace. …
“Kucch to log kahengey… Anand Bakshi pens the most simple yet the most revolutionary lines in this song….when he says for a prostitute and her environs that …” kuchh reet jagte ki aisi hai jar ek subah ki shaam hui..tu kaun hai tera naam hai kya seeta bhi yahan badnaam hui”.. when he is able to bring in the similarities between Pushpa and Seeta – that if they live with subservience , they die despite the Agni Pariksha and if they protest then they will be scarred for life.
It’s a song with attitude but then that’s all that it is.
Anand Babu is unable to voice his dissent and breathe life into his Radha…neither does he succeed in giving a new life to Nandu…he is unable to try and build a home out of this ‘Amar Prem’ .
And that’s the sense of desolation that stays on with us even after the film.
The ‘immortal’ love in Amar Prem between its lead players doesn’t have the strength to rise above all these wrongs, all these atrocities. On the contrary the unfair world around it continues to go on unaffected.
Amar prem”… mein prem to amar hai lekin uske paas shakti nahi….wo samaaj ki ek dahaad par ek kamre me ghut ghut kar marne waala prem hai. (In Amar Prem the ‘Prem’ might be ‘Amar’ but it has no strength – it is the kind of love that lies in one corner of a dark, suffocating room to grovel and die.)
The only resistance comes from Nandu – a little boy. He braves his stepmother’s beatings to go to Pushpa to put medicine on her wounds. In the end the grown up Nandu brings her home …acknowledging her as his mother.
The love that is so beautifully encapsulated in the song Bada Natkhat hai re…again in the Krishna motif…this time with his surrogate mother Yashoda. Juxtapose it with Pushpa’s unfulfilled motherhood in the film and you have the complete canvas of her relationship with Nandu in this one song.
Shakti Samanta’s Amar Prem protests against the decadence of human values and relationships through the voice of a child. All other characters are barely living their lives of compromise. In a larger perspective Nandu is the one hope, the fresh thought that will break away from the narrow confines of smallness in human behavior and bring about constructive social change.

(Translated from hindi and inputs by Anupama Bose)

Reviewed by:
http://passionforcinema.com/amar-prem-juxtaposing-legend-and-contemporary-subtext/

AJANABEE - 1974

2008-03-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Rajesh Khanna hasn’t been one of my favorites, partly because his characters are often chest-beating male chauvinist types. Here too he portrays a struggling young man who is attracted to and marries a strong-willed, high-spirited heiress, only to resent her for missing the comforts of her former life and wishing for some success of her own. This ends in tears and recriminations, of course. But the film is saved by the nuances of the relationship between the two (a Samanta specialty). Khanna’s performance is very good—he is convincing as a man torn between his inborn values and the woman he adores, and Zeenat Aman as his wife Rashmi is no martyred push-over! And the songs by RD Burman are just brilliant; they include two “tribal” dances and several lovely romantic songs.

The film opens with Sonia (Yogita Bali) arriving at a rural train station at night, where she just misses the train to Bombay. She is distraught and confides in the stationmaster Rohit (Rajesh Khanna) that she is running away from her mother’s stepson, who wants to steal her mother’s expensive jewellery from her. He puts the case containing the jewellery into his office safe, and offers his quarters as a place for her to spend the night before the next morning train. She admires a painting on his wall, and he tells her that it was done by his wife Rashmi who has gone away. He says that they married for love:

He makes sure Sonia is comfortable and returns to his office, where he loses himself in memories of meeting Rashmi on his way to his cousin’s wedding. He is on his motorbike, she is driving a Jeep and he prevents her from passing him. She finally manages to pull up next to him and admonishes him sharply for hogging the road.

As they argue (although he is clearly smitten) her jeep runs out of gas and dies. He offers to give her the fuel from his bike if she will give him a ride to the next gas station—she agrees, but drives off without him after he’s filled her tank. He gets a lift with a passing truck driver and they catch up with her; he scolds her for her behavior and then continues on his way in the truck.

They meet again at his cousin’s wedding ceremonies since it turns out that Rashmi is one of his cousin’s closest friends. He sings “Ek Ajanabee Haseena Se”—a very pretty song which has that typical RD Burman sound. At the wedding itself, she then casts him a wink and a smile and the romance begins.

She convinces her father to hire Rohit as the manager of their timber estates. She tells Rohit that she thinks her late sister’s husband Moti Babu (Prem Chopra) is cheating them and sure enough, Rohit discovers discrepancies in the accounts. Moti Babu devises a plot to get rid of Rohit by setting him up as a rapist. The plot works and Rohit is run out of town after being whipped by Moti Babu, but Rashmi discovers that he was framed and goes after him. She tells him that she loves him and will give up everything for him, and they move to Bombay and get married (accompanied by another lovely song, “Hum Dono”).

At this juncture, Rohit’s memories are interrupted by the arrival of two men claiming to be police inspectors. They describe Sonia and ask if Rohit has seen her. He says no and asks why they are looking for her. They tell him she is accused of robbing a jeweller. Rohit puts them off, but after they leave he goes to find Sonia. He asks her who the two policemen are and she says that Sinha is the stepson who wants her mother’s jewellery. She says that Sinha is a goonda, not a police inspector, and that their ids must be fake.

His suspicions allayed, Rohit returns to his office through the rain, thinking of Rashmi. We return to his memories with another lovely romantic song, “Bheegi Bheegi Raaton Mein”:

In Bombay, Rashmi and Rohit settle happily into married life, although Rashmi can’t cook and misses having servants. Rohit has found work with a modeling agent-photographer-advertising exec (it’s never really clear to me, nor do I figure out what it is that Rohit does for him, exactly). Rohit’s boss (Madan Puri) is a bit of a lecher and hilarious to boot, with an amazing wardrobe of truncated neckties and a flowery way of speaking.

At this point the clothing on everyone begins to threaten to distract me from all else.

Let the fashion parade begin! Pink suits! Polka dots! Crocheted hair accessories!

At home, Rashmi has befriended a neighbor, one Chetan Kumar (Asrani), who is a painter. As Rohit’s time is taken up more and more by work, Rashmi feels lonely. Inspired by Chetan, she starts a painting to give Rohit on his birthday. Chetan suggests that she take up modelling as well, since she’s so beautiful, and tells her that it pays very well. She brings up the idea to Rohit, but he’s not keen on it. They have a fight; Rashmi is tired of being poor and struggling, and she’s bored at home all day. He explains that in the world he comes from, it’s not something that “nice” girls do. But he realizes that she has sacrificed a lot for him and relents:

Rashmi is thrilled, and Chetan helps her put a portfolio together. She catches the suspect attention of Rohit’s boss (who seems unaware that she is Rohit’s wife). Rohit struggles with this and her increasingly busy schedule and late hours. Then Chetan suggests that she enter a beauty pageant, where the prize is Rs 50,000 and a trip around the world (this is the “fashion parade” of the credits and it doesn’t disappoint). When she wins, she is thrilled, but her first thoughts are of Rohit:

He is happy for her, but as they celebrate, Rashmi feels ill and they call a doctor. The doctor tells them that Rashmi is expecting a baby. Rohit is over the moon, but Rashmi realizes that a baby will curtail her success and change everything for her. She hesitantly suggests that maybe they “drop” the baby. Rohit is horrified and she lets the idea go, but a few days later falls down the stairs at home. Chetan takes her to the hospital, where she loses the baby. Rohit learns the news from a jealous “friend” of Rashmi’s, who tells him that she’s had an abortion. He rushes home to confront her. She tries in vain to tell him that it was an accident; but he is too angry to listen. He shouts at her that he hates her, and storms out.

When he calms down a bit and goes home to apologize and talk to her, she is gone. She has left a note with the painting she had done for his birthday gift, and gone back to her father. Chetan arrives, and tells Rohit that he is wrong, that she really did lose the baby by accident but didn’t call him to the hospital because she didn’t want to alarm him.

Racked with guilt, he tries to contact her but she refuses to talk to him. He goes to her father’s but is told that the family has gone away. He receives a divorce notice in the mail, and takes a job as stationmaster in the middle of nowhere. When he does finally track her down and pleads with her to forgive him, her father and Moti Babu intervene.

They tell him that he is not worthy of her, and Moti takes his whip to Rohit again. Rohit grabs it and beats up Moti instead. He vows that he will make enough money to be worthy of Rashmi, and then he will return for her. She watches from inside as he leaves.

With this, Rohit returns to the present. He realizes that the money he needs to be reunited with Rashmi is sitting inside his safe, in the form of Sonia’s jewellery. He takes it out of his safe, tempted. As he sits there with it, the local police arrive and question him about Sonia. They spot the case, and take him to his quarters. She is lying there, dead. She has been murdered, and Rohit is arrested and goes to trial.

What will happen? Was Sonia telling the truth? Who has really killed her? You’ll have to watch to find out.

And I’m going to give Rajesh Khanna another try! I really liked the chemistry between him and Zeenat—their love story was sweet, believable and poignant. And last, but not least, here’s MY fashion parade:

AWAM - 1987

2008-03-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

B.R. Chopra's 'Awam' is the story of people who are willing to lay down their lives to fight any danger to their country. Captain Amar, the son of a freedom fighter is posted to Delhi. He is employed as the P.A. of Jagrattan, the Minister of Defence Purchases on the recommendation of Mohanlal, his father's friend. Mohanlal opens his home to Amar and its there that he meets Sushma and falls in love with her.

Starring: Ashok Kumar | Rajesh khanna | Raj Babbar | Smita Patil | Poonam Dhillon
Director: B.R. Chopra
Studio: YASH RAJ FILMS
Genres: Drama|Indian Cinema

MARYADA - 1971

2008-03-18T20:37:00.001-07:00

Lalita lives with her widowed mother in a small village in India. One day while traveling by road, she is stranded, and a young man named Raja Babu comes to her assistance. Both fall in love with each other. When she informs her mother about her love for Raja, she is met with strong opposition, as her mother knows that Raja Babu is already married and has a son. She also reminds Lalita about her marriage with Diwan. When Lalita meets with Raja, he admits to her that he is not Raja but his real name is Rajan Ram Bahadur, but refuses to divulge any other information to her. She decides that she will have nothing to do with him. The mystery deepens when Pran Bahadur, the step-brother of Raja Babu returns and wants to confront the young man who has taken over Raja's identity, with results that will change the lives of everyone around them forever.

Movie Details
Genre: Romance / Family
Language: Hindi
Release Status and date: Released in 1971

Cast :

Rajesh Khanna - Raja Babu/Rajan Ram Bahadur

Raaj Kumar - Raja Babu

Mala Sinha - Laxmi/Lalita

Pran - Pran Bahadur

Helen - Singer/Dancer (Dil ka lena dena humne..)

Rajendranath

Bipin Gupta

Asit Sen - Dhondumal

Jankidas

Abhi Bhattacharya - Diwan (Lalita's husband)

Director: Aravind Sen
Producer: Aravind Sen
Written by: Satish Bhatnagar,Suhrid Kar

MAHA CHOR - 1976

2008-03-12T00:31:00.000-07:00

Release Date : 1976
Genre : Action/Comedy

Producer : Salim Merchant, Narinder Bedi & Madhoo
Director : Narendra Bedi.

Star Cast:
Rajesh Khanna...... Raju Khan/King Rajeshwar Singh
Neetu Singh...... Neetu
Prem Chopra...... Prem Singh
Aruna Irani...... Rama
Anwar Hussan
Birbal
Kamini Kaushal...... Queen Mother
Manorama...... Nirmala
Krishan Dhawan
Manmohan
Rajan Haksar
Lolly Pop
Viju Khote
Rajpal
Narbada Shankar
Jagdish Raaj
Pratima Devi
Soni
Satyen Kappu
Pinchoo Kapoor
Arya Ved Prakash
Moolchand
Ratna Mala
Harinam Singh
Rajnath
Sonia Sahni...... (Guest Appearance).

Singers : Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar,Anand Bakshi & Asha Bhosle
Lyricist : Anand Bakshi
Music Director : R D Burman
Cinematography : Kaka Thakur
Action : Ravi Khanna
Art : Sudhendru Roy & Babu Rao
Editor : B S Glaad/Tony Glaad/Rajpal.
Sound : Kaushik
Dialogue : Kader Khan
Story / Writer : Narendra Bedi / Dev Kishan

AGAR TUM NA HOTE - 1983

2008-03-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

AGAR TUM NA HOTE

Hindi, 1983

Starring: Rajesh Khanna, Rekha, Madan Puri, Asrani

Directed by Lekh Tandon

Music by R.D. Burman

What does Bollywood do best? They take a group of well-meaning people with their own individual problems and hang-ups and complicated backgrounds. Then they arrange these people in a strategic way so that their otherwise benign traits begin to clash. Some of them end up fighting with each other. Some get wounded by the ones they love. And in the middle of the mess there's always a stoic character, one who's been put in a terrible situation but still -- on the basis of her good nature and fortitude -- manages to make the best out of the awful things that have happened.

Somehow, Bollywood does this very well, even in the worst movies. "Agar Tum Na Hote" isn't a great film...it's cheap and manipulative, and when it comes to maneuvering the characters into doing those awful, inevitable things it occasionally screws up. But with this in mind it stirred up my inky-black emotions and got me crying, thanks to the heart-breaking finesse of the plot, the strength of the principal actors, and a wonderful score by R. D. Burman (ouch, that haunting Hame Aur Jeene Ki...!)

The movie is, in a nutshell, the story of a businessman named Ashok Mehra who -- through his refusal to deal with the death of his wife -- turns his daughter into a tiny, deluded nutcase. There are some global, established childrearing do's and don'ts in this world, and you don't need to be Dr. Spock to understand them all. I'd like to outline one of Ashok's childrearing mistake in the hopes that it will be a valuable lesson to widowers everywhere:

Please, when mummy dies, DON'T tell your daughters that mummy's "coming back." Now, I know it's hard for people to deal with the death of a loved one, especially when that loved one is Rekha. It's PARTICULARLY hard to explain death to a small child, and as the child gets older phrases like "she's in a better place" or "she's visiting auntie in Lahore" just don't cut it anymore. Still...Ashok...WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?

After lying to his daughter about this issue for eight years it's no surprise to anyone when the unbelievably cute Mini turns into a biting, kicking, piano-abusing feral girl much like the Wild Child of Aveyron. I'm sure Ashok didn't do this on purpose -- he loved his wife an awful lot, and maybe spending those years telling his daughter that mummy was coming back was some sort of useful therapy for him. In other aspects of his life Ashok is really quite a sweet, normal man (so normal, in fact, that he does what every other Indian man does when his wife goes into labour: he sticks a big picture of an ugly caucasian baby on the wall. Seriously, this is an ongoing thing in Bollywood, I'm not making it up).

As an aside I would also like to point out that Ashok has got a "woodsy wall-mural" in his office, a strange trait shared with most Bollywood businessmen (as first pointed out by BollyMike...we didn't believe him then, but we believe him now). I've always associated these murals with basement dens and rumpus rooms...you know, the ones with no windows or airflow, requiring a "fake view" to keep you from feeling claustrophobic (which is fine until the mural gets coated with nicotine from trapped cigarette smoke). If anything, the "simulated forest view" in Ashok's inner sanctum shows his painfully human side: it reinforces that people have flaws, such as bad taste.

His wife's death is just the beginning of Ashok's trials, and the "Agar Tum Na Hote" writers must be commended for finding new ways to torture him. Without additional complications he would have ended up a morose, somewhat disconnected young businessman, screwing poor people out of their money and jet-setting around the world trying to find a governess who'll put up with his daughter. Yes, the movie might have ended that way, and that would be bad enough. But Ashok's big mistake -- the one that starts all the complications moving -- is launching a line of cosmetics.

As he tells his executives, "Our promotion must be the best! The Best!" And he's not kidding. He hires the handsome, devil-may-care photographer Raj Bedi to create a series of advertisements for him, and even allows him to find his own model. A few days later, while taking pictures of driftwood, Raj spots a woman named Radha frolicking with a horse on the beach and he decides she'd be perfect. Can you see this coming? Do I need to tell you that Radha looks exactly like Ashok's late wife? Would it help if I mentioned that both women are played by Rekha? It's obvious that somebody is going to end up heartbroken in the end, and it won't be the horse.

Speaking of animals, Raj has a slimy sidekick named Chandu (played by a man who, amazingly, found time to play EXACTLY THE SAME CHARACTER in Himmatwala, which was also released in 1983). He's sort of a satyr-like reincarnation of Pan, adding to the plot by gleefully manipulating others for his own selfish reasons. Amazingly, he's the closest thing this movie comes to a villain -- nobody pulls a gun on anyone in "Agar Tum Na Hote," nobody kidnaps children or sells adulterated food to poor villagers at exorbitant prices. There's just poor, self-absorbed Chandu, all alone in his uncomfortably tight trousers, making everybody else's life miserable.

But not everything Chandu does is destructive. During their first photo session together he so flusters Radha that she almost gets blown up in an explosion...but is saved by Raj, just in time. Thanks to this misadventure (and possibly because Raj pounced on top of her to protect her from falling rocks) the two fall in love and get married. But in a Chandni-esque turn of events Raj is paralyzed when he falls from the roof of a factory, and in order to pay for his treatment (and keep his plutonium-powered thermos filled) Radha is forced to get a job as a governess for Mini, Ashok's wild-child daughter. And since the position is only open to unmarried women, Radha hides her Mangalsutra...leading the amazed and delighted Ashok to think she's single. Round and round it goes, the vast, karmic wheel of Bollywood plotlines...

After Radha saves Mini from a hit and run by two mentally-handicapped men in a speeding car (it looks like the passenger is trying force-feed the driver alcohol, but it's difficult to be sure and even more difficult to understand), things begin to get very complicated indeed. Ashok is so smitten with Radha that he's begun fantasizing about her being a puppet, which is a bad sign but results in the film's stand-out dance sequence: Rekha doing a charming, playful marionette impersonation...the only chance she really gets to let loose and have fun. And she doesn't have much time for fun, since her bedridden husband hates Ashok (in fact, he holds Ashok responsible for his injuries and misfortunes), and the lovably evil Chandu is just waiting for a chance to tell Raj who his wife is really working for...

From this point on there aren't many chuckles or light moments in the movie. Except for a few forced situations (Ashok's treatment of his daughter in particular) the filmmakers just let things move towards their obvious conclusion, and the message -- as always in these sorts of films -- seems to be "my goodness, isn't life a struggle, but aren't there some wonderful things about living as well?" The positive life force in this movie is incarnated in the ridiculously cute, absolutely charming Mina, who can laugh and cry more convincingly than most adults in Western films (and certainly more convincingly than their child-actor counterparts). She's an adorable little girl, even when acting bratty and putting amphibians in Rekha's purse, and this means a lot coming from somebody who was glad when Newt died in Aliens 3. Rekha herself plays the sober, wary, devoted and stoic Radha to the hilt; she needs to give a strong portrayal because the events of the story hinge on her and her decisions. And Rajesh Khanna -- whose acting I normally find wooden and a bit annoying -- is excellent as well, particularly when he needs to be strong for his daughter's sake but finds himself unable to do so.

Looking back, I'm having a surprisingly hard time remembering the details about the film. Maybe it's because I've got a lot of other things on my mind, or maybe it's because I'd previously seen a version without subtitles and got my impressions mixed up. But I think it's really because the movie -- for all it's logistical flaws and sloppy execution -- made an emotional impact that overpowered the nit-picky particulars. That might not be the ideal impression to make, but I think it's what the filmmakers were really going for: making the audience cry without worrying exactly why. This, at the very least, they accomplished.

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ITTEFAQ - 1969

2008-03-04T02:59:00.000-08:00

Cast : Rajesh Khanna, Nanda, Alka, Sujit Kumar, Bindu, Jagirdar, Madanpuri, Shammi, Iftekar.
Directed by : Yash Chopra
Produced by : B R Chopra
Music Director : Salil Chowdhary

Plot Summary:

Dilip Roy is a Painter by profession and makes his living selling his paintings. He gets married to beautiful Sushma, who would like him to spend more with her than on paintings. When they get invited to their anniversary party, Sushma is all set, but Dilip must complete his painting, Sushma is displeased and snatches his paint brushes from his, an argument ensues, and Dilip grabs Sushma by the neck ...( show more ) and chokes her to death. Sushma's sister, who witnesses this, calls the police, who arrive and arrest Dilip for murder. Dilip is produced before the courts, where he is sent for psychiatric evaluation to the care of Dr. Trivedi. However, Dilip escapes from this institute and breaks into a house with a lone married woman, Rekha, in it. Dilip decides to hole up here for sometime. Meanwhile the police have been informed, believing him a danger to others, they have launched a manhunt. Dilip decides to remain in Rekha's house for sometime until the police leave the area. What Dilip does not know that the police are already aware of his presence, and there is a dead body of the woman's husband in this very house.

SECOND REVIEW ON ITTEFAQ:

Today, acclaimed filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma is making waves for daring to film a songless Bhoot (Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan, Rekha, Nana Patekar). But B R Chopra showed similar gumption decades ago when he made two successful films without songs in the 1960s -- Kanoon (1960) and Ittefaq (1969). It is also apparent to any avid filmgoer that Varma's earlier film Kaun (Urmila, Manoj Bajpai) had a hangover, conscious or otherwise, of Ittefaq.

Acclaimed for its experimentalism at the time of its release, Ittefaq was planned by Chopra as a modestly budgeted, offbeat quickie primarily because his big-budgeted Aadmi Aur Insaan (Dharmendra, Feroz Khan, Saira Banu) had been delayed. He assigned the direction of this songless film -- always a rare phenomenon in Hindi cinema and even more so in the song-saturated 1960s -- to his younger brother, Yash.

The thriller begins with painter Dilip Roy (Rajesh Khanna) returning home to find his wife Sushma (Alka) murdered. His belligerent sister-in-law Renu (Bindu) accuses him of having killed his wife in a fit of rage. When Dilip breaks down and laughs hysterically during a court interrogation (in a Kafkaesque scene relying heavily on shadow-play to convey the court setting), he is sent to a psychiatric ward for treatment.

Dilip has the choice to do time either in prison or in a lunatic asylum. He creates a third option and escapes -- in a rather clumsy and amateurishly shot scene. Even in later years, action scenes have often proved Yash Chopra's Achilles heel.

CREDITS

Producer
Director
Music
Cast

B R Chopra
Yash Chopra
Salil Chaudhary
Rajesh Khanna, Nanda

With the police hot on his heels, Dilip gatecrashes into a mansion inhabited by a housewife Rekha (Nanda, wearing a figure-hugging chiffon sari throughout the film) and holds her at gunpoint. The hapless lady nervously divulges that she is alone as her businessman husband Jagmohan is in Kolkata.

For the next couple of reels, the film escalates the tension to fever pitch as the overtly sexy Rekha tries to free herself from Dilip's grip. She lunges for her husband's revolver, sneaks a phone call to the police station when a drenched Dilip excuses himself to change into her husband's clothes, and flashes a torch on her drawing room windows. She even keeps back a visiting doctor (Gajanan Jagirdar) and a police officer (Sujit Kumar) by offering them cups of coffee. But all her efforts come to naught.

Finally, Rekha changes her strategy. She decides to befriend Dilip. At this juncture, the director downplays the thriller aspect and concentrates on the subtle seduction game, with its undercurrent of carnal passion. Dilip and Rekha exchange intimate notes about their on-the-rocks marriages, while sipping whiskey and sherbet, respectively. This portion of the film is as slow as a well-thought-out chess move, yet involving.

The film regains its pace when Dilip discovers Jagmohan's body in the bathtub. He hysterically accuses Rekha of murdering her husband. Resorting to physical force, he forces Rekha to look into the tub -- but there is no body!

An enraged Rekha convinces Dilip he is hallucinating. But a phone call from Kolkata, inquiring after Jagmohan's return, reignites his suspicion. In a high-strung climax, the police break into Rekha's house to find Dilip and Rekha exchanging a flurry of allegations. A nail-biting battle of wits ensues.

In keeping with the tone of Bollywood's golden age, when sinners received just punishment for their onscreen acts, the film concludes with the murderer killing himself/herself.

The combative spirit between a seasoned performer like Nanda and the keen-to-prove himself novice Rajesh Khanna gives the film an edge.

A pre-Aradhana Rajesh is, by turns, effortless and overly excitable. His easygoing affinity works like a charm.

Nanda is the spellbinder here. Her character seems to be constantly in a state of emotional meltdown and she conveys it with a carefully controlled performance.

The lack of a glitzy supporting cast -- Sujit Kumar, unfortunately, is more wooden than a totem pole, Alka and Bindu were unknown names in those days -- works to the film's advantage because it leaves one clueless about the characters' ulterior motives. A cameo by Shammi, as a nosy neighbour who descends on Nanda while Rajesh is holding her captive, effectively serves as an air pocket in the breathless thriller.

Salil Chaudhary's background music, in retrospect, sounds like it's come from the Jurassic age. The sounds of suspense have undergone many tonal changes since Ittefaq.

This essentially two-actor film is basically a director's litmus test. Despite a few flaws in the film, Yash Chopra distinguishes himself. Some of the two-character scenes seem like stage-acting classes. The night scene, after the lights are switched off, could have been lit a shade less brightly. Also, Ittefaq's theme offers scope for intimacy rather than spectacle. Yash, however, lays emphasis on gloss and stylish treatment, often leaving you wishing for more subtext and psychological insights.

The plus factor is that the thriller keeps you guessing till the very end and has a satisfying climax. The ability to startle is the key to Yash's central characters. Besides, he casually plants details that pay off later. And he creates just the right ambience by employing rain-swept streets and a huge, curtained house as the backdrop for the often claustrophobic story.

Abetted by cameraman Kay Gee, he adventurously indulges in a lot of technical bravura. A low-angle camera offers us a view of an anxiety-ridden Rajesh as he is being walked to his cell by policemen, while a handheld camera staggers ahead of him to show us the reactions of the crowd assembled at his home after his wife is murdered.

Sidelights:

* Ittefaq won Filmfare awards for Best Director (Yash Chopra) and Best Sound Recordist (M A Shaik).

* Mala Sinha, a favourite actress with the Chopra camp, was considered for the role of the adulteress.

* Rajesh Khanna and Nanda were paired in two more films, a comedy, Joru Ka Ghulam, and a thriller, The Train.

* Ittefaq, a quickie, was completed in a couple of months. Since Rajesh Khanna was sporting an unshaven look in Ittefaq, he had to sport a stubble in Do Raaste (co-starring Mumtaz), which was being shot simultaneously.

Music highlights:

* Salil Chaudhary, who had earlier composed the background music of Chopra's songless courtroom drama Kanoon (also a Nanda-starrer), was roped in once again for Ittefaq. He was renowned for his mastery over the background score. After Madan Mohan's untimely death, he also composed the background score of Gulzar's Mausam.

AASHIQ HOON BAHARON KA - 1977

2008-03-04T02:38:00.000-08:00

Name: Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka

Starring: Rajesh Khanna & Zeenat Aman

Director: J. Om Prakash

Language: Hindi

Synopsis:

Ashok Sharma (Rajesh Khanna) gets an opportunity to travel to Switzerland for research purposes. Once there, he meets with Chandidas Rai, a businessman, who would like Ashok to work for him in his uranium laboratory, which Ashok accepts. Ashok meets with Chandidas’ attractive daughter, Veera (Zeenat Aman), and both eventually fall in love and would like to get married. While the two are busy making plans, Rai descends on them with the police and has Ashok arrested for stealing uranium, after seducing Julie, another employee of Rai. Did Ashok really steal the uranium? And what of his romance with Veera?

Review:

To understand my feelings on this movie it must be known - I LOVE Rajesh Khanna!

Since seeing him in my first classic film (Aradhana) i have been in love with this ultimate romantic hero. Amitabh has more style and is more fun to watch, but its Rajesh for me is the one who does the romance of the movie better.

So i see on IMDB that Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka (with Rajesh & Zeenat Aman) got 8.5/10, so i figure how bad can it be! But boy was this movie the biggest let down! My aim for this review is to prevent further people who are fans of Rajesh from making the same mistake as i by watching this awful movie.

The biggest victim of this movie was the story/screenplay. Disjointed, the story was a mess. Riddled with stereotypes and cliched events i see in so many 70s film. This movie offers nothing new. Second victim was the faith i had in Rajesh to somehow even redeem the worst films.

The romance between Rajesh & Zeenat is unconvincing. They make Zeenat’s character so bratty and annoying that even when they try to pair the two up, you want Rajesh to run as far away as he can from her. Zeenat’s bratty rich character ‘Veera’ is brought up in Switzerland so therefore the normal sterotype of her being devoid of all humanity cause she is angloised indian. Also shows alot of Switzerland men just wanting to rape the good indian girl (with thank goodness Rajesh coming to her rescue to save her sensibilities). So despite the writers efforts to make the viewer suddenly like her, they just went too far at making the character obnoxious and annoying.

Rajesh’s character is slightly better, but he’s a very one-dimension ‘hero’ type character with a mixture of annoying superiority complex. No other sides to this character other then his fight for good and justice, which for 2 hours + gets boring quick. Please writers tie in a story that we care about to his fight so we want him to win. The thing that made me most sad in this film was Rajesh’s charisma i usually enjoy in his films, was gone in this film. I’ve heard one should avoid his 1975+ films, but i’ve heard he still has some other good ones like Mehbooba, so i will not make a judgement on that till then.

AA AB LAUT CHALEN - 1999

2008-03-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

Director:Rishi Kapoor

Writers:Sachin Bhowmick (screenplay)
Rumi Jaffery (dialogue)
Release Date:22 January 1999

Cast
Rajesh Khanna ... Balraaj Khanna
Akshaye Khanna ... Rohan Khanna
Aishwarya Rai ... Pooja Walia
Suman Ranganathan ... Loveleen
Navin Nischol ... Ashwin
Kader Khan ... Sader
Paresh Rawal ... PC Jack Patel
Satish Kaushik ... Chaurasia
Jaspal Bhatti ... Iqbal
Vivek Vaswani ... Vaswani
Himani Shivpuri
Alok Nath ... Rohan's Grandfather
Moushumi Chatterjee ... Rohan's Mother (as Moushmi Chatterjee)
Jatin Sial
Aditya Hitkari

BANDISH - 1980

2008-03-04T01:52:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna ... Kishan
Hema Malini ... Madhu / Chanchal
Danny Denzongpa ... Kapilkumar
Tanuja ... Chanda (Kapilkumar's wife)
Om Prakash ... Kishan's dad
G. Asrani ... Murli
Jeevan
Om Shivpuri ... Brijmohan
Madan Puri
Bindiya Goswami ... Shanti

Nalini Jaywant
Manorama ... Mrs. James
Preeti Ganguli ... Dumpko
Mohan Choti
Pinchoo Kapoor ... College principal
Jagdish Raj
Padmini Kapila ... Lilly
Priti Sapru (as Preeti Sapru)

Produced by
D. Rama Naidu .... producer
Director .... K. Bapaiah
Original Music by
Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar (as Laxmikant)
Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (as Pyarelal)

This movie has middle aged Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini playing roles as college students. The movie is a commercial attempt by the maker of Prem Nagar and is a good clean movie which keeps the audience entertained and has Hema Malini in a double role with the Super Star loving both the characters. The pair looks great on the screen. The movie has some good songs composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and are still hit after 27 years of its release. The other members of the cast carry themselves well - Danny, Asrani, Omprakash. But the movie belongs to Rajesh Khanna and he has been ably supported by Hema Malini. The movie in those days was an average success but is a good time pass and one should see if for the pair - Super Star Rajesh Khanna and Dream Girl Hema Malini

ANAND - 1970

2008-03-03T02:03:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Johny Walker,Ramesh Deo, Seema, Sumitra.

Music Director: Salil Chowdhury
Director: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Producer: Sippy N C
Lyrics: Yogesh
Year: 1970

REVIEW - I

It is very rare for guys to shed tears after watching a movie, this movie does make you shed tears for Anand, the main protagonist played by the superstar of the 70's Rajesh Khanna.

The movie has everything going for it. Acting, direction, story, music, dialogues etc... everything is fabulous. It has drama, humor, emotions in dollops. It is a story a dying man who looks at life with a positive attitude and enjoys his time knowing fully well his disease is incurable and that he is going to die soon.

Rajesh Khanna as Anand is absolutely brilliant, this is his career-best performance , notwithstanding movies like Kati Patang, Roti, Aradhana, Amar Prem etc. You cannot think of any other actor in this role and to think Rajesh Khanna was not the original choice(Shashi Kapoor was). He makes you laugh and cry. He causes anxiety and goose bumps. Simply superb.

Amitabh Bachchan is fantastic as babumoshai( a name with which Raj Kapoor used to address the film's director Hrishikesh Mukherjee). He showed the world that the next superstar was coming, though he really "arrived" a couple of years later. The rest of the supporting cast is also brilliant be it Johhny Walker(stands out) or Ramesh Deo or Seema or Sumitra. Everyone is wonderful.

Music is the hallmark of all great hindi movies and this one has music ranking right up there, on the top. Be it "Kahin door jab din dhal jaye" or " Maine tere liye hi saath rang" or "Zindagi kaisi hai paheli".

Maverick composer Salil Chowdury comes up with an absolutely fantastic score and singers Mukhesh and Manna Dey do complete justice to his tunes.

About the director Hrishikesh Mukherjee, what can one say, he is one of the best directors ever in the Indian film history. A guy with a complete repertoire,a complete entertainer (though people consider other directors to be more entertaining, but real movie buffs will agree with me). All his movies, he has been directing movies since 1957 are worth a watch. Some are brilliant and others watchable. None of his movies can be rated as unwatchable(except maybe Jooth bole Kauwa kaate and Jhooti).

Simply put, this is one of the best Hindi movies ever made.

REVIEW - II:

anand (1970)
Starring
Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo, Seema Deo, Lalita Pawar, Durga Khote and Johnny Walker

Story
Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Screenplay
Gulzar, Bimal Dutt, DN Mukherjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Dialogues
Gulzar

Art Direction
Ajit Banerjee

Cinematography
Jaywant Pathare

Lyrics
Gulzar, Yogesh

Music
Salil Choudhury

Produced by
NC Sippy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Directed by
Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Synopsis

Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee(Amitabh Bachchan) wins the Saraswati Award for his maiden work as a novelist. Whilst accepting the award, Bhaskar reveals that the character in his novel is not fictitious but is actually based in a real person named Anand. Anand (Rajesh Khanna), who was suffering from the final stages of cancer, first came to Dr. Prakash Kulkarni (Ramesh Deo), a close friend of Bhaskar. Prakash tells Bhaskar about his reluctance to take Anand as his patient, but after meeting Anand, he was astonished that a dying man could have such a wonderful zest for life and happiness. Bhaskar despite his education and success, is a brooding, bitter and frustrated man. Anand's exuberence brings Bhaskar out of his shell and even helps a tongue tied Bhaskar win over his lady love, Renu (Sumita Sanyal). The two men becomes fast friends and Anand, an interal part of Bhaskar's life. Bhaskar tries hard to cure Anand but all his efforts are finally in vain; ultimately Anand dies, but not before leaving behind a universal message of love and happiness.

The film

Up to Anand, though Hrishikesh Mukherjee had arrived following Anari (1959) and Anuradha (1960) and was making films round the clock, barring a stray Asli Naqli (1962), Anupama (1966), Ashirwaad (1968) and Satyakam (1969) which had their strong moments, many of his films were largely adequate and no more. Anand, however, changed all that. Dedicated to Raj Kapoor and the city of Mumbai (then Bombay), it is undoubtedly Hrishida's masterpiece, his greatest film.

Looking at a man dying of cancer but who is determined to make every moment of his remaining life happy, Anand is a bittersweet film with great compassion, a delicate balance between hope and fear, between life and death, between joy and sorrow, between humour and pathos. The moral of the story is emphasized via the recording of the hero's voice, replayed after his death as he enjoins the audience to value a large-hearted life over a merely long one.

It is said that Anand was planned with Raj Kapoor in mind. But Hrishida, a very close friend of Raj Kapoor, felt it would be too painful to see his dear friend die even if it was on screen and toyed with the idea of casting Shashi Kapoor before deciding to take on Rajesh Khanna.

Today as one views Anand, the film is unthinkable without Rajesh Khanna. Take him away and there is no film. As the selfless, boisterous, humerous non-stop chatterbox changing the lives of those around him in particular Amitabh Bachchan, or having his quiet, serious introspective moments - Khanna is nothing shot of brilliant. Anand's address of Bhaskar as 'Babumoshai' was replete with affection, warmth and had a teasing note to it. The same playfully affectionate address takes on profoundly tragic overtones when Anand's recorded message tries to comfort Bhaskar as he weeps over the death of his patient who had also become his closest friend. In Anand, Rajesh Khanna more than justified Frank Capra's immortal observation,

"Tragedy is not when actors cry. Tragedy is when audiences cry."

Indeed at the end of Anand as Amitabh sits by Khanna's dead body and as the tape recorder plays Khanna's voice, you cannot help but cry along with Amitabh. Such was the impact of Khanna's performance that apart from winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the film, when Star and Style held an Essay Competition in the 1980s on 'the film where a single performace carried the film through', the top two prize winning entries wrote about Khanna in Anand ahead of even Nargis in Mother India (1957)!

Khanna aside, Anand also sees a brilliant understated performance by Amitabh Bachchan acting in only his second film. He beautifully captures the pain and frustration of a doctor who knows his science can do nothing to save a man who has become an inseperable part of his life. Bachchan won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor for the film. Sumita Sanyal, Lalita Pawar, Ramesh and Seema Deo, Durga Khote and especially Johnny Walker lend solid support.

A major highlight of the film is Salil Choudhury's music. Each of the songs - Maine Tere Liye, Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye, Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli and Jiya Lage Na are extremely well written and composed. Interestingly the three Rajesh Khanna songs are sung by Mukesh (Maine Tere Liye, Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye) and Manna Dey (Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli) and not Khanna's regular voice - Kishore Kumar. But both Mukesh and Manna Dey come through strongly and make the songs their own.

Apart from the Best Actor and Supporting Actor Filmfare Awards, Anand also won the Best Picture and Best Story (Hrishida) Filmfare Awards as well as a National Award for Best Hindi Film.

Anand led to other films using the formula of endowing the central character with a terminal disease

DAAG - 1973

2008-03-03T01:58:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna,Madan Puri, Manmohan Krishan, Prem Chopra, Rakhee, Sharmila Tagore.

Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal
Director: Yash Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
Year: 1973

Yash Chopra, younger brother of B R Chopra had worked under B R Chopra banner for many years and given some good films. At last he decided to do on his own. He came of the B R Banner and set his own - Yash Raj Films. Thus Daag is the first film of Yash Raj banner. We don’t know the truth but it is said that when Yash Chopra had no money and he went to Rajesh Khanna with the script and proposal. Rajesh Khanna was on the Top of the world that time. He liked the idea very very much. He agreed with the project and this is how it came about. So Daag was financed by Rajesh Khanna.

The Story :

Daag is based on Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Mayor Of Casterbridge’ and Gulshan Nanda’s novel ‘Maili Chandni’. In current trend we can say that it is inspired from the movie called ‘The Mayor Of Casterbridge’.

Like always, Yash Chopra had preferred a Love Triangle. It was Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee.

Sunil (Rajesh Khanna) and Sonia (Sharmila Tagore) get married and go to Honey moon. But they meet with an unexpected problem. Rajesh kills Sonia’s would be rapist. He has to run away from his wife. He is trying to establish his new identity and set somewhere in life. During that he meets Chandni (Rakhee) and ends up marrying her to give her illegitimate child his name.
Then Sonia, Sunil and Chandni meet each other but Sunil is recognized by law. He is now charged with two cases, double marriage and murder. What happens to Rajesh, who helps him all this questions get unfolds when you will watch the movie?

Music and Song :

Music: Laxmikant Pyarelal
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi

1. Hum Aur Tum by Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
2. Ni Main Yaar Manana by Lata Mangeshkar, Minoo Purshottam
3. Ab Chahe Maa Roothe by Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
4. Main To Kuch Bhi Nahin (Shayari) by Rajesh Khanna
5. Mere Dil Mein Aaj by Kishore Kumar
6. Jab Bhi Jee Chahe by Lata Mangeshkar
7. Hawa Chale Kaise by Lata Mangeshkar

As usual Yash Raj music was of top quality. It is really hard to find the best song out of all 7 but I can give you list of my favorite. I like ’’hum aur tum’’ and ’’Jab Bhi Jee Chahe’’. Shayari - Main to Kuch bhi is also very nice.

There are some interesting facts I got from internet... here are those

1. This was the first film under banner Yash Raj Films, box office was not doing well at time so they had released the film with very few prints. But with in one week the release, they had to sent more than double prints again to market looking to response of people.

2. Yash Chopra went on his honeymoon, and when he returned, he decided to form his own movie production company by leaving his brother’s B R Films. So who influenced him to work separately?

3. This movie was also about tension between the two leading ladies. Yash Chopra had supported Sharmila in all way by giving good role, it was Rakhee who had walked away with all praise and awards.

Aa Ab Laut Chalen - 1999

2008-03-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Artists: Aishwarya Rai, Akshaye Khanna, Suman Ranganathan, Rajesh Khanna
Director: Rishi Kapoor
Music Director: Nadeem-Shravan
Year: 1999

Yaaron Maaf Karna
Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik

Tere Bin Ek Pal
Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik

Yeh Kaisi Mulaqat
Udit Narayan, Jaspinder Narula

Yehi Hai Pyar
Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik

Aa Ab Laut Chalen
Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik

Bombay Hai Pyaar

Otashi Anata

Mera Dil Tera
Alka Yagnik

Rajesh Khanna in Kati Patang - 1970

2008-03-01T04:40:00.001-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Asha Parekh, Bindu, Nazir Hussain, Prem Chopra.

Music Director: Burman R D
Director: Shakti Samanta
Producer: Shakti Samanta
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Year: 1970
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes.

Hold on to your hat because this film gets off to a jump-start. It begins with a sad looking Asha Parekh sitting in the midst of her wedding celebration waiting for her groom to appear. It turns out that this is an arranged marriage and that she has never even seen her prospective husband. She receives a letter from the man she truly loves declaring his affection for her. On the spur of the moment she rushes to him leaving the wedding ceremony behind. She goes to his door to declare that she is willing to break with all tradition by marrying him – only to discover that he has a disreputable woman (Bindu) coyly hiding behind his curtain. Asha realizes immediately that he had been playing her all along in order to get a connection to the wealthy uncle who brought her up.

Asha? – what exactly did you expect! Prem Chopra who plays the fellow is probably the sleaziest character actor ever in Indian film! In the films in the 1960’s and 70’s there were two actors who almost always seemed to play the villain – oily haired Pran who tended to be the sneering type of villain who would calmly puff on his cigarette holder as he planned his evil doings and Prem who was more the leering kind of bad guy – he always looks as if he has just peeked up a girl's dress. He also generally has his shirt unbuttoned far down to show his hairy chest, gold medallions swung around his neck and sideburns sliding far down his face – a definite bad hair, bad attire sort of bad guy. He has the look of someone who would sweat oceans in an airtight freezer. So how Asha could have believed his offers of love is a bit difficult to swallow – of course we all make mistakes of the heart – but with Prem?

Anyway, she realizes what a wanker Prem is and goes home to beg her uncles forgiveness for what she has done – only to find him dead from shame. Knowing her future in this town is a dead end, she goes to the train station to leave and sees an old friend of hers named Punam. It turns out that Punam has her own tragic story to tell – her husband married her against the wishes of his parents and they were both disowned. The husband died though and she is going to see her parents-in-law for the first time with her son – a strange kid who looks like a baby Oscar Wilde! Hearing of Asha’s predicament, she asks her to come along and pose as her sister. On the way though the train crashes and Punam – now minus her legs and about to die – makes Asha promise to take her place so that her son can be brought up as the family heir. Asha seeing that her own life has little hope agrees to carry this out.

On the cab ride to her faux parents-in-law, the driver tries to rob her but she (and baby Oscar) is rescued by a forest ranger (Rajesh Khanna) who then brings her back to stay at his place for the night. His servant sorrowfully informs Asha that Rajesh has become heartbroken and a drunkard because the woman he was supposed to marry disappeared at the ceremony. Take a wild guess who that was! Talk about a small world – and it soon gets even smaller. Now how he became a drunkard since the wedding day – which seemed to be only the day before – is a little difficult to understand – did he take a crash course in “How to be an alcoholic in 24-hours or your money back”. Learn how to sing while intoxicated, dance while inebriated and spill drinks on complete strangers! Rajesh also just happens to be the best friend of Punam’s husband! Is this getting complicated or what and at this point in the film we are only at the 20-minute mark! I need to take a rest and catch my breath. There is still 140 minutes to go!

You probably see the irony headed right at you. Asha falls in love with the man she unknowingly left at the alter – he falls in love with her – but she is of course now a “widow” and the widow of his best friend. What is a couple to do? In India it is customary – or at least it was until recent times – for a widow to grieve always for her dead husband and never remarry. In the really old days of course they sometimes tossed the widow on the funeral pyre (sati) – so I guess grieving isn’t such a bad alternative. There have actually been cases in which a young girl who was in an arranged marriage but had yet to start living with her equally young husband had to take on widow status if her husband died before they even consummated the marriage – forever! On top of this very repressed love angle, good old Prem and his vamp Bindu show up and soon we have a tale of blackmail, murder and heartbreak on our hands. All good stuff!

Asha won the Best Actress Award for this performance – she is as always very appealing in a girl next-door kind of vulnerable way. The big eyes in full bloom – eyelashes so long that you could hang your laundry on them to dry and a sad and tentative smile playing around her mouth. She and Rajesh were at opposite trajectories in their careers when the film was made in 1970. Asha was a huge star in the 1960's but she was slowly winding it down at this point. Rajesh on the other hand was in the mouth of a hurricane. His film Aradhana in 1969 had made him a gigantic star with hoards of fans following him everywhere and the press detailing his every move. He is generally considered the first Indian actor who could truly be called a “Superstar” in the modern sense. It didn’t last long. By the mid-70’s his films began to flop and he went into a deep depression. A different type of actor had come along – no longer the gentle lover type – but an intense fiery type by the name of Amitabh Bachchan had replaced him and his style of acting.

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Amar Prem

2008-02-29T04:47:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Priyanka Chopra

2008-02-29T04:46:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Leena Chandravarkar in Mehabub Ki Mehandi

2008-02-29T04:43:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Shabana Azmi in Aavatar

2008-02-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

RED ROSE - 1980 ( Super Star Rajesh Khanna & Phoonam Dhillon )

2008-02-29T04:39:00.000-08:00

STORY :

A misogynist named Anand hates girls because he is always haunted by his past. He likes to make love to young women and then kill them to be buried his gardener who plants red roses on their graves. He meets, falls in love with a simple girl named Saarda who works at a clothes shop. Both of them get married.After marriage however she discovers some terrible things about her husband's past life

Rajesh Khanna with Babita in Raaz

2008-02-29T04:37:00.000-08:00

Zeenat Aman with Super Star Rajesh Khanna

2008-02-29T04:33:00.000-08:00

Aradhana - 1969

2008-02-29T04:25:00.000-08:00

Raaz - 1967

2008-02-29T04:23:00.000-08:00

Baharon Ke Sapne - 1967

2008-02-29T04:21:00.000-08:00

Aurat - 1967

2008-02-29T04:20:00.000-08:00

Aakhri Khat - 1966

2008-02-29T04:18:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Waheeda Rehman in Khamoshi

2008-02-29T04:16:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Daag

2008-02-29T04:14:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Rekha in Prem Bandhan

2008-02-29T04:12:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Raakhee in Shehazade

2008-02-29T04:10:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Zeenat Aman in Jaana

2008-02-29T04:08:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Amar Prem

2008-02-29T04:06:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Tina Munium in Bewafai

2008-02-29T04:04:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Jaya Bahaduri in Bawarchi

2008-02-29T04:02:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Zeenat Aman, Praveen Babi & Shabana Azmi in Ashanthi

2008-02-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Farida Jalal in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:58:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Simple Kapadia in Anuroudh

2008-02-29T03:56:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Amar Prem

2008-02-29T03:54:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sree Devi & Jaya Pradha in Naya Kadam

2008-02-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:50:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Hema Malini in Mehabooba

2008-02-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Asha Parekh in Baharon Ke Sapne

2008-02-29T03:40:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Hema Malini in Mehabooba

2008-02-29T03:38:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:36:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Mumtaz in Do Raaste

2008-02-29T03:35:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Daag

2008-02-29T03:34:00.001-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Daag

2008-02-29T03:31:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Tina Munium in Alag Alag

2008-02-29T03:29:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:25:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:23:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:22:00.001-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Asha Parekh in Kati Patang

2008-02-29T03:20:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana

2008-02-29T03:18:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Mumtaz in Aap Ki Kasam

2008-02-29T03:16:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Hema Malini in Kudrat

2008-02-29T03:15:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana

2008-02-29T03:14:00.001-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Nanda in Ittefaq

2008-02-29T03:12:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Sharmila Tagore in Amar Prem

2008-02-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Zeenat Aman in Ajanabee

2008-02-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna with Mumtaz

2008-02-29T03:08:00.000-08:00

SUPERSTAR RAJESH PROFILE - IV

2008-02-28T22:32:00.001-08:00

Rajesh Khanna

In the 60s there came an euphoria, a craze, a tidal wave which swept the entire genre of womankind with those naughty crinkling eyes, the stylish shake of the head and the enigmatic smile. It belonged to none other than superstar Rajesh Khanna, who later, with an amazing fan following, went on to create history of sorts in the Indian film industry.

Born in Amritsar, on 29th December 1942, Jatin Khanna (now Rajesh Khanna or `kaka` as he is affectionately called) was the adopted child of his parents and hence pampered right from the start. When the young Jatin expressed the desire to act, he became that rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car! After doing theater, he was selected by the United Producers` Talent Contest.

Though Rajesh Khanna began his film career with inconsequential movies like Akhri Khat (1966) and Raaz (1967), but once Aradhna (1969) was released, he spread a frenzy in the masses that remained unfazed long after.

There was no obvious rationale for the Rajesh Khanna miracle. He didn`t really have the conventional good looks, yet the boy-next-door appeal and the charisma generated through his twinkling eyes and heady smile were enough to ensure the birth of a super-duper star.

He began his rule over the tinsel town when both his films Aradhana and Do Raaste ran simultaneously in the same year (1969), to become golden jubilee hits. A spate of stupendous hits like Safar, Sachcha Jhutha and Kati Patang followed within 1970. He could play the playful or the tragic romantic effortlessly with equal grace.

Khanna put an end to the Shammi Kapoor era, when he consolidated his position as the king of the box office by delivering a hat-trick of hits in 1971, in the form of Andaz, Anand and Amar Prem. Khanna immortalized himself through Anand when he played the poignant role of a determinedly cheerful chatterbox, living under the shadow of a fatal disease.

He was brilliant in Bawarchi (1972), Namak Haram (1973) Daag and Aan Milo Sajna (1973). Prem Nagar (1974) Aap Ki Kasam (1974) and Mehbooba (1976) also won him accolades.

With an appetite for creating headlines, he created a furore in the media by marrying the nubile Bobby girl Dimple Kapadia, overnight by separating from his longtime girlfriend Anju Mahendru. All the media focus was on him and anything that he did made hot news.

But then "Change happeneth to them all". The success by now had seemingly gone to his head, and thereafter, he was on the decline - both professionally and personally. Post-1974, though he starred in many movies, his era started to end with the onslaught of the new angry young man Amitabh Bachchan, who brought aggression and fire to the screen as against the romantic Rajesh with mannerisms that now looked jaded and repetitive. This was also followed by the split in his marriage with Dimple.

In a desperate attempt to regain his past glory he even tried pairing up with younger heroines like Sridevi, Padmini Kolhapure, Tina Munim who even happened to be his love interest for a long time, but all in vain. With a mix of flops and occasional hits like Thodi si Bewafai (1980), Agar Tum Na Hote (1983) Avtaar (1983), Souten (1983), he managed to survive.

But after that, he was seen less and less. He was appreciated in his final comeback vehicle Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) due to his subtle and polished performance. Meanwhile, both his daughters Twinkle and Rinkie Khanna too joined Bollywood.

He recast his career as a politician and won an election from a Delhi constituency to become an Member of Parliament. But later, his defeat in the next election disillusioned him further and recently he made a comeback in one of the serials on television, to reach a wider audience. Years may have passed, blockbusters may have happened, the film galaxy may have produced several other stars, but those who have seen him in his heydays still believe that there was or there still is no one like him.!!

Rajesh Khanna bags two US Bollywood awards

2008-02-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna, the heartthrob and superstar of the 1960s, will be conferred two Bollywood awards in the US.

Khanna has bagged the Bollywood Awards 2004's Lifetime Achievement Award and will also receive the Lifetime of Glamour award at the Kingfisher Bollywood Fashion Awards, according to a press release.

Both these events will be held at The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The fourth Kingfisher Bollywood Fashion Awards and the sixth Bollywood Awards, organised by South Asians living in America to honour movie and fashion artistes from India, will be held April 30 and May 1 respectively.

Jatin Khanna, now Rajesh Khanna or Kaka, as he is affectionately called, was born in Amritsar on Dec 29, 1942. He captured the hearts of filmgoers with his style of acting.

He began his rule over tinsel town when both his films 'Aradhana" and "Do Raaste" ran simultaneously in the same year (1969), to become golden jubilee hits.

It was followed by some hit movies like "Safar", "Sachcha Jhutha" and "Kati Patang", "Bawarchi", "Namak Haram", "Daag", "Aan Milo Sajna", "Prem Nagar", "Aap Ki Kasam" and "Mehbooba", all of which won him accolades.

Khanna immortalised himself through "Anand" in which he played the role of a cheerful young man living under the shadow of death from cancer.

He married up and coming film star, Dimple Kapadia and has two daughters, Twinkle and Rinki Khanna, both of whom are talented actresses.

Rajesh Khanna then entered politics and won an election from a Delhi constituency to become a member of parliament.

Thiru Rajesh Khanna, Ex-Member of Parliament called on the Hon'ble Chief Minister at Secretariat

2008-02-27T05:07:00.000-08:00

Thiru Rajesh Khanna, Ex-Member of Parliament called on the Hon'ble the then Smt. Jaya Lalitha Chief Minister at Secretariat at Chennai

HAATHI MERE SAATHI - 1971

2008-02-27T04:15:00.000-08:00

Raju (Rajesh Khanna) likes to surrounds himself with his four elephants after a childhood incident in which the big-eared creatures saved his life from an attack by a leopard. But when his wife gives birth, she worries that Raju's long-trunked pals will crush their baby. Unable to tear himself away from his lumbering animal friends, Raju breaks up with his wife, but when the elephants learn of Raju's sorrow, they hatch a plan to bring the couple back together.

Actors
Rajesh Khanna
Tanuja

Director
M.A. Thirumugam

SHEHZADA - 1972

2008-02-27T04:12:00.000-08:00

Even though he drives a bus for a living, Shehzada is actually a millionaire. Determined to help his mother back into the family that rejected her years ago, he begins a journey of self-realization and growth.

Actors
Rajesh Khanna
Raakhee

Director
K. Shanker

PHIR WAHI RAAT - 1980

2008-02-27T04:06:00.000-08:00

PHIR WAHI RAAT is a chilling horror odyssey of psychological terror. Asha (Kim) is a young woman whose mother was strangled by her psychotic aunt, an event which still haunts her and elicits recurring nightmares of a strange woman choking her to death. Having been treated by and fallen in love with her psychiatrist, Dr. Vijay (Rajesh Khanna), Asha visits the childhood home where her mother's murder took place and encounters the woman from her dreams, triggering either another descent into madness--or truth.

Actors
Rajesh Khanna
Aruna Irani
Suresh Oberoi
Lalita Pawar
Danny Denzogpa

Director
Danny Denzogpa

JAROO KA GHULAM - 1972

2008-02-27T04:03:00.000-08:00

JAROO KA GHULAM is a vintage hybrid of comedy and romance. When poor boy Rajesh (Rajesh Khanna) and rich girl Kalpana (Nanda) marry despite their families' objections, the down-on-their-luck couple must pretend to be well-off in order to placate Kalpana's angry father--a charade that becomes even more difficult when the in-laws actually show up for a visit.

Actors
Rajesh Khanna
Nanda
Prakash Mehra

Directors
A. Bhim Singh

BABU - 1985

2008-02-27T03:24:00.000-08:00

A. V. Tirlokchander's 1985 drama stars Rajesh Khanna as Babu, a naÃ¯ve but well-meaning young man who grew up dirt poor and alone on the streets, but devotes his life to others--particularly a woman (Mala Sinha) and her young daughter (Rati Agnihotri), who once helped him when he needed it most, but are now destitute themselves.

GHAR PARIVAR - 1991

2008-02-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

Ghar Parivar

Film
Ghar Parivar

Year
1991

Music
Kalyanji Anandji

Directed
Mohanji Prasad

Produced by
B K Parivar

Cast
Rajesh Khanna,Rishi Kapoor , Meenakshi , Prem Chopra, Moushmi Chatterjee , Kader Khan ,

AGAR TUM NA HOTE - 1983

2008-02-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

Actors:
Rajesh Khanna
Rekha
Raj Babbar

Director
Lekh Tandon

Lekh Tandon's twisty 1983 love triangle follows a crippled photographer (Raj Babbar) who becomes increasingly bitter and suspicious of his gorgeous wife (Rekha), whose wealthy employer (Rajesh Khanna) has fallen in love with her

AAKHIR KYON - 1985

2008-02-27T02:14:00.000-08:00

AAKHIR KYON is a soap-opera-like melodrama blending tragedy and romance. Nisha (Smita Patil) believes she is happily married until she discovers that her successful businessman husband, Kabir (Rakesh Roshan), has been having an affair with her cousin, Indu (Tina Munim). Distraught, Nisha abandons her husband and newborn daughter and leaves for the city, where she finds love in the arms of a sensitive writer, Alok (Rajesh Khanna). But Nisha's past soon catches up to her and forces her into a soul-searching decision over whether or not to return to her family and old life.

Actors
Rajesh Khanna
Rakesh Roshan
Smita Patil
Tina Munim

J. Om Prakash Director

AAKRAMAN - 1975

2008-02-27T02:03:00.000-08:00

Aakraman (1975)
Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Asrani, Rakesh Roshan, Sanjeev Kumar, Rekha.

Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal,

Director: J. Om Prakash.

Producer: Jagdish Kumar.

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi.

Music Director Laxmikant Pyarelal

Year: 1975

BEWAFAI - 1985

2008-02-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

Movie : Bewafai.

Shot in 1985, BEWAFAI follows the story of a love affair between a man named Ashok and his bossÂs daughter. After learning of their liaison, the boss fires Ashok, and the couple faces further tragedy as the poor man discovers he only has a year to live.

Cast : Rajesh Khanna, Tina Munim, Padmini Kolhapure, Meenakshi Sheshadri.

Director : R. Thyagarajan

DOLI - 1969

2008-02-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Babita, Prem Chopra, Sunder , a , Nazima , Sulochana , Nana Palsikar, Randhir , Sulochana Chatterji, Raj Mehra, Parveen Paul, Shammi , Hari Shivdasani, Om Prakash.

Director: A. Subba Rao

Producer: Bahar Films

Music Director: Ravi Shanker

Lyrics:

Year : 1969

ARADHANA - 1969

2008-02-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Farida Jalal, Sujit Kumar, Pahari Sanyal, Anita Dutt, Ahi Bhattacharya, Madan Puri, Asit Sen, Manmohan , Master Shahid, C. S. Dubey, Subhash Ghai.

Language: Hindi
Year: 1969
Actors: Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore
Director: Shakti Samanta
Story & Screenplay: Sachin Bhowmick
Music: S.D.Burman
Playback Singers: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhonsle & Mohammed Rafi Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
Dialogs: Ramesh Par

ITTEFAQ - 1969

2008-02-26T21:12:00.001-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna,Nanda, Bindu, Sujit Kumar, Jagirdar , Madan Puri, Shammi , Jagdish Raaj, Iftekhar.
Director: Yash Chopra

Producer: B. R. Films

Music Director: Salil Choudhry

Lyrics :

Year : 1969

RAAZ - 1967

2008-02-26T20:43:00.000-08:00

RAAZ - 1967
Cast: Rahul , Rajesh Khanna, Babita , Sapru , Asit Sen, Laxmi Chhaya, Kamal Kapoor, I. S. Johar, Ratanmala , Harin Chattopadhyaya.
Director: Ravindra Dave

Producer: Sippy Films

Music Director: Kalyanji-Anandji

Lyrics :

Year : 1967

Ravindra Dave's suspenseful movie focuses on Kumar (Rajesh Khanna), a young Indian man born and raised in Africa, who decides to visit his homeland after experiencing a series of vivid, terrifying dreams set there. As he arrives in Viran Nagar, pieces of his visions start to come true, and it's clear that much more is going on in the small town than meets the eye. This tight-knit, intriguing, and tense film also stars Babita, I. S. Johar, and Laxmi Chhaya.

AAKHRI KHAT - 1966

2008-02-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

AAKHRI KHAT - 1966
Synopsis :Aakhri Khat is the story of an innocent child who is lost in a heartless city, seeking what all children seek, mother's love. It is story every one wants to forget but can never really be forgotten.
Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Indrani Mukherjee, Naqi Jehan, Nana Palsikar, Bunty , Manvendra Chitnis, Maruti , Tuntun , Mohan Choti.
Director: Chetan AnandProducer: Himalaya FilmsMusic Director: KhaiyyaamLyricist: Kaifi AzmiYear: 1966

FIFTY FIFTY - 1981

2008-02-26T00:39:00.000-08:00

Released on on Nov 13 1981
Cast: Rajesh Khanna Tina Munim Kader Khan Ranjeet Indrani MukherjeeFilm

Music
Laxmikant Pyarelal

Directed
Shomu Mukherjee

Produced by
Shomu Mukherjee

KUDRAT - 1981

2008-02-26T00:14:00.000-08:00

Chandramukhi is a pretty young woman who lives in Bombay, India, with her mom, Sarla, and dad. They decide to go on a holiday to scenic Simla, where Sarla meets her childhood friend, Kanta Gupta, who lives there with her Psychiatrist son, Naresh. Chandramukhi and Naresh are attracted to each other much to joy of their respective parents. Then on the first night in Simla, Chandramukhi has a nightmare where she sees herself chasing a man. The second night she has the same nightmare, prompting Naresh to hypnotize her, and walks her through her adult life, then to her younger years, and then to her past life. Unable to proceed further, as he has no experience in this field, Naresh stops. Then Chandramukhi's condition keeps on getting worse, she feels herself being attracted to former resident of Chandigarh, and now Simla's Public Prosecutor Mohan Kapoor, who is to marry Advocate Karuna , the daughter of wealthy Choudhury Janak Singh. When Mohan begins to fall in love with Chandramukhi, and tells about this to Karuna, she decides to step aside and let him marry her. when Karuna invites Mohan and Chandramukhi over to her father's house - the very day he has decided to announce her engagement with Mohan - Chandramukhi reacts with a terrified scream in Janak's presence - an incident which will result in the investigation of sexual molestation and the subsequent murder of a village belle named Paro over 20 years ago. The perpetrator of these crimes is still at large with very little evidence to show that he actually did rape and kill Paro.Who was the rapist and murderer of Paro? What is the real mystery behind these strange happennings.

Movie Details
Language: Hindi
Release status and date: Released on Apr 03 1981
Directed By Chetan Anand
Produced By B S Khanna
Music Director : R D Burman
Runtime 164 min
Release Year1981
Genre : Drama,Family,Musical

Cast
Raj Kumar as Choudhury Janak Singh
Hema Malini as Chandramuki/Paro
Rajesh Khanna as Mohon Kapoor/Mahan
Priya Rajvansh as Karuna Singh
Vinod Khanna as Dr Naresh Gupta
Deven Verma as Pyarelal
Om Shiv Puri
Aruna Irani as Saraswati (Satto) A K Hangal

SONGS:
Chhodo Sanam by Kishore Kumar , Annette Pinto
Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna by Kishore Kumar
Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna by Parveen Sultana
Sajti Hai Yun Hi Mehfil by Asha Bhosle
Sawan Nahin Bhadon Nahin by Asha Bhosle , Suresh Wadkar
Song 7
by Parveen Sultana
Song 8
by Mohammed Rafi
Tune O Rangeele
by Lata Mangeshkar

MEHBOOBA - 1974

2008-02-25T21:31:00.000-08:00

MEHBOOBA - 1974

Cast: RAJESH KHANNA, Ashok Kumar, Hema Malini, Jagdeep, Kamini Kaushal, Prem Chopra.

Music Director: Burman S D

Director: Ks Prakash Rao

Producer: Rama Naidu

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

Year: 1974

BANDHAN - 1969

2008-02-25T03:04:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz , Jeevan , Kanhaiyalal , Rajendranath , Achla Sachdev, Sapru , Anju Mahendru, Aroona Irani, Sunder , Ratnamala.
Director: Narendra Bedi
Producer: Sippy Films
Music Director: Kalyanji-Anandji
Lyrics:
Year : 1969

AURAT - 1967

2008-02-25T03:01:00.000-08:00

StarCast : Rajesh Khanna, David, Feroz Khan, Kanhaiyalal, Lalitha Pawar, Nana Palsikar, Pran, Achala Sachdev, Leela Chitnis, Padmini, Mohan Choti, Nazima.

Director: S. S. Balan & S. S. Vasan

Producer: Gemini Combines

Music Director: Ravi Shanker

Lyrics :

Year : 1967

BAHARON KE SAPNE - 1967

2008-02-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

Cast: Rajesh Khanna,Bela Bose, Jayshree Gadkar, Asha Parekh, Premnath , Jairaj , Anwar , Nana Palsikar, Sulochana , Madan Puri, Rajendranath , Laxmi Chhaya.
Director: Nasir HussainProducer: Nasir Hussain FilmsMusic Director: R. D. Burman

A young man returns to his provincial home with his big-city dreams in tatters, only to win over the villagers by taking an important union position at a local factory. Joyous and uplifting, BAHARON KE SAPNE is a 1967 Bollywood feature from director Nasir Hussain.

Dream Cities of The World - Vimla Patil

2008-02-25T02:47:00.000-08:00

Vimla Patil was associated with Femina, India’s number one women’s magazine, published by the Times of India Group for 29 years. Femina is Vimla Patil's personal success story. Today, FEMINA is one of the strongest international brands with a vast readership in India and abroad. She initiated the Miss India contest in the mid-sixties for the journal and brought it to its present international stature. Vimla Patil promoted Indian textiles and fashion garments – especially handlooms – for decades by presenting over 4000 fashion shows in India and most countries of the world. After finishing her long stint with Femina, she built a brand new career for herself as a freelance multi-mediaperson with writing, events, public relations, shows and many more activities in her portfolio! Vimla Patil will be delighted to answer readers' questions. Please click on the comments page link at the bottom of the article to post your questions for her or to comment on her article.
Over the centuries, some of the world’s most glittering cities have been labeled as ‘dream cities’! This is because they are magnets that draw millions of people to seek money, fame and success while living and working in them. Some of these cities are Los Angeles (Hollywood), Paris, Milan, London, New York, Singapore, Dubai and most important, Mumbai (Bollywood)! While the dream factory of Hollywood sees thousands of would-be actors and film-makers flocking to the city with shining ambitions in their eyes, Paris and Milan attract artists, fashion designers, perfumiers and models. London, New York, Singapore, Dubai and Mumbai attract those devoted to the good life – through making their millions in business and finance. These cities, like several others across Europe and the USA, are the financial hubs of the world where the brave of heart and adventurous of spirit come to learn the tricks of the trade and settle down to make their fortunes.
Among these cities, Mumbai attracts hoardes of people from all over the world!
Mumbai, the glittering city on the west coast of India, they say, never sleeps. Its glittering streets, markets and business districts see life in its most frenetic form throughout the year, irrespective of holidays, festivals and normal working days. Its citizens are fun loving, generous and never miss an opportunity of celebrating life. Its markets, restaurants, entertainment plazas and religious monuments offer the visitors everything they wish for. No wonder then that all kinds of people who dream of big money, success, fame and magic in their lives, are attracted to Mumbai which now houses almost 15 million people – almost the population of a small country. Every day, trainfuls and busloads of people seeking their livelihood or a decent standard of life arrive in the city to make it their home!
But among those who come to Mumbai, Bollywood seekers are prominent!
Rajesh Khanna in Amar Prem (1971)
For over half a century, the huge film industry in Mumbai has drawn all dreamers to this city. One of the first – and most prominent – actors to seek his fortune in Mumbai was the late Prithviraj Kapoor whose sons (Raj, Shashi and Shammi), grandsons (Randhir, Rishi and Rajeev) and grand daughters (Karisma and Kareena) continued to make history in the industry. Rajesh Khanna came and conquered the marquees. Waheeda Rahman came, so did Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and hundreds of others. Mumbai’s tradition of being the hub of fortune-seekers continues to this day.

Rajesh Khanna launching music channel

2008-02-25T02:23:00.000-08:00

Rajesh Khanna, yesteryears’ Bollywood superstar is all set to launch a music channel. The music channel, named under his initials, RK Music, will be operational from later this year.
The channel apart from featuring Khanna’s evergreen hits daily will also see the Anand star taking part in many shows based on music.Apparently, it will be a joint venture between Kaka, a famous Mumbai based Music Company and a big media company from down south, namely the Sun TV Network informs our source. He further informs us that the basic formalities have been done with for the same with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The channel shall be on air in just three months’ time with the former superstar in charge of the programming himself. The actor turned politician shall also be involved in a day to day functioning of the channels proceedings.After his cine career was virtually over in the late 80s, Rajesh Khanna joined politics and became a Member of Parliament by winning a Lok Sabha seat in Delhi from a Congress ticket. Few years back he had also floated a successful lottery business in Maharashtra. Khanna was last seen in the utterly forgetful flop, Jaana – Lets Fall in Love (2006) with his olden days co-star Zeenat Aman. He has currently only one film in hand, Hello Kaun Hai, directed by item girl, Rakhi Sawant’s brother, Rakesh Sawant.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - VIII

2008-02-25T02:06:00.000-08:00

Film: Aradhana
Cast : Rajesh Khanna & Sharmila Tagore
Song : Roop Tere Mastana Pyar Mera Diwana
Singer : Kishore Kumar
Year : 1969

He was the loverboy without compare.
She was the demure girl with a bod to kill for.
Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore came together in 1969's Aradhana, and the sensuality between them felt so real. it virtually set the screen afire.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - VII

2008-02-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

Cast : Rajesh Khanna & Waheeda Rehman

Film : Khamoshi

Song : Woh Shaam Kuchh Ajeeb Thi

Singer : Kishore Kumar.

Year : 1969

An enchanting track, this one talks about one particular surreal evening -- and how every evening's been surreal since

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - VI

2008-02-25T01:05:00.000-08:00

Film : Mere Jeevan Saathi

Cast : Rajesh Khanna & Tanuja

Song : O Mere Dil Ke Chain

Singer : Kishore Kumar

Year : 1972
This is the kind of song that shows just why Kishore Kumar and Khanna gelled so magically, leading to boomtime for Kumar with the actor's ascent, even as Mohammad Rafi momentarily languished with lesser stars of the era.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romatic Hero - V

2008-02-24T23:24:00.000-08:00

Film : Dushman

Cast : Rajesh Khanna & Bindu

Song : Vaada Tera Vaada
Singer : Kishore Kumar
Year : 1971
A fine, powerful track, this one's about a more unconventional kind of love.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - IV

2008-02-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

Film : Aan Milo Sajna
Cast : Rajesh Khanna & Asha Parekh
Song : Achcha Toh Hum Chalte Hain
Singers : Kishore Kumar & Latha Mangeshkar
Year : 1970
A great Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar collaboration, this is one of those tracks that'll never lose its charm.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - III

2008-02-24T22:49:00.001-08:00

Film : Kati Patang
Cast : Rajesh Khanna
Song : Pyaar Deewana Hota Hai
Singer : Kishore Kumar
Year : 1970

Again one of those tough decisions. This great song just barely inched out the fantastic Jis Gali Mein Tera Ghar Na Ho Baalma.

Rajesh Khanna - The True Romantic Hero - II

2008-02-24T22:46:00.000-08:00

Film : Aradhana
Cast : Rajesh Khanna
Song : Mere Sapno Ki Rani
Singer : Kishore Kumar
Year : 1969

Virtually every song from this classic could fit onto this list, so here's looking at arguably the most successful song of the film.