PADMINI - ( June 12 1932 - September 24,2006)
Padmini was a Top star in Bollywood as well as four other regional cinemas...Tamil,Telugu,
Malayalam and Kannada...
Padmini's charisma as a dancer allowed her to cross all regional boundaries and she
excelled in many different styles from Bharatnatyam to Western.Along with Vyjayantimala
her South Indian compatriot, Padmini could also be credited with popularizing, refining and setting
the standard and expectation for Indian popular cinema's psuedo-classical style of dance,that after
them have become a virtual prerequisite of every Bollywood and Indian Popular film.
Born and raised in the Princelty stae of Travancore in Kerala,Padmini was the second daughter....
Her sisters Lalitha and Ragini were also renowned dancers and actresses, and the threesome were
popularly known as the Travancore sisters.They were the disciples of the noted Indian dancer
Guru Gopinath...
At the age of 17 Padmini was cast as the heroine of Kalpana(1950),Uday Shankar's dance extravaganza,
and after that she went on to act in films for nearly 40 years...
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Padmini was renowned for her linguistic abilities and dubbed her own voice onto her movies in Tamil
Telugu,Malayalam and Hindi.This cross cultural linguistic ability made her a very significant figure in
the history of 20th century Indian cinema.
She co-starred with several of the most well known actors in Indian cinema...Sivaji Ganeshan,Prem
Nazir,Gemini Ganeshan,Raj Kapoor, MGR, Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt,Dharmendra,Sanjeev Kumar...
She acted in nearly 550 films of which 400 were in Tamil...
In two of her most popular films 'Jis desh mein Ganga behti hai' and 'Mera naam joker' she was
paired against the legendary Raj Kapoor
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Some of her memorable films
Kalpana(Dance drama)
Mr Sampath
Payal
Jis Desh mein ganga behti hai
Apsara
Aashiq
Raj Tilak
Qaidi
Singapore
Pardesi
Kalpana
Bindiya
Kaajal
Nanha farishta
Afsana
Aurat
Vaasna
Bhai bahen
Chanda aur Bijli
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With Karunanidhi just a couple of days before her death..
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Her Career best and Most famous film was Tillana Mohanambal in Tamil with Sivaji Ganeshan
She won a Filmfare award for the Best Supporting actress in the year 1966 for Kaajal
After her marriage in 1961 to a Doctor, Padmini focused on marriage and refiniing classical dance
She settled in the United States in 1977 and opened her classical Dance school in New Jersey called
The Padmini School of fine arts.Her school today is one of the largest Indian classical dance
institutions in the United States.
Her only son Prem Ramchandra works with Warner Bros.......
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She had relocated to Chennai from New Jersey in June 2006 as she was keen on acting in some
quality films....however she died of a Heart attack in a hospital in Chennai on September 24,2006
leaving behind some memorable films in 5 languages.....
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Full Version: Nostalgia......yesteryear Actresses
Thank you Reeth for the info and those lovely pictures of Padmini.
No doubt, she was a Legend in her own right. As far as the Hindi films are concerned, RK's JIS DESH ME.N GANGA BEHTI HAI was her best. When she sang (Lata's sexy number) O MAINE PYAAR KIYA...heaving her breasts, (RK's favourite close-up shots...) the audience went wild. She would have won the prestigious Film Fare Award but lost out to Vyjantimala's powerful performance in GANGA JUMNA.
NASIR.
No doubt, she was a Legend in her own right. As far as the Hindi films are concerned, RK's JIS DESH ME.N GANGA BEHTI HAI was her best. When she sang (Lata's sexy number) O MAINE PYAAR KIYA...heaving her breasts, (RK's favourite close-up shots...) the audience went wild. She would have won the prestigious Film Fare Award but lost out to Vyjantimala's powerful performance in GANGA JUMNA.
NASIR.
QUOTE(nasir @ Jun 16 2007, 07:42 PM) 
Thank you Reeth for the info and those lovely pictures of Padmini.
No doubt, she was a Legend in her own right. As far as the Hindi films are concerned, RK's JIS DESH ME.N GANGA BEHTI HAI was her best. When she sang (Lata's sexy number) O MAINE PYAAR KIYA...heaving her breasts, (RK's favourite close-up shots...) the audience went wild. She would have won the prestigious Film Fare Award but lost out to Vyjantimala's powerful performance in GANGA JUMNA.
NASIR.
Most welcome Nasir.....Padmini has done quite a few such numbers in Mera naam Joker, Chanda aur bijli,Kajal,Nanha farishta
..........I have seen a lot of her Tamil movies and believe me, she is a fantastic actress , has never been tapped here by the hindi film directors,a pity....QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 2 2007, 08:24 PM)
QUOTE(nasir @ Jun 2 2007, 07:04 PM)
M A D H U B A L A - Thee we remember.
Thanks Reeth for those beautiful pictures of hers and also the write up.
Millions of lives have been lost just because there was no treatment for the disease at a particular point of time. Madhubala's case is in point. If we watch the old movies we get this indication. For example, in JUGNU (1946) Noor Jahan dies of T.B. There seemed to have been no cure then. It was a dreaded disease. Many old movies showed one or the other character suffering from this disease. (Geeta Bali died of Small Pox). Movies of the Seventies showed the plight of the terminable disease CANCER. And now we have AIDS - but this disease is not being projected because of the attached stigma. There was just one movie PHIR MILENGE where the heroine's (Shilpa Shetty) world turn upside down on learning that she has tested HIV Positive. That millions still die of T.B. is because of its newer deadlier form and because of AIDS. So when the cure for Cancer and AIDS is found in future, those future generations would come up with similar observations that so many lives have been lost in the past.
Now, coming back to Madhubala (now this one is like MUJHE YAAD HAI ZARA ZARA) is it true that during the last days of her illness before death Madhubala had come to Dilip Kumar's house?
NASIR.
I am not sure about the fact, but going by all accounts Madhubala never got over Dilip Kumar, and had he accepted her, she would have gladly married him......she married Kishore Kumar only after Dilip and Saira got married...........To be fair to Dilip Kumar.....He is supposed to have gone to her film sets and asked her to go with him , that a qazi was waiting at his home to perform the 'Nikhaa', but she was too timid to do so, and could never go against her Father's wishes, so she is supposed to have refused, this broke his heart and all else that followed was because of his bitterness towards her....
Reeth I doubt the accuracies in these posts. Kindly recheck your resources:
Madhubala's beauty was legendary. The film star Nadira, whom Mahboob Khan
introduced in the first Indian colour film Aan, said of her, "She was like
a fairy descended from the skies. There was such dignity to her beauty,
which was what placed her in a class distinct and apart from others who
bear good looks". Begum Para who used to take morning walks with her said,
"If you saw her face the first thing in the morning as the sun rose, you
felt happy for the entire day. She was like a dream of exceeding
loveliness". Nimmi recalled that when she first saw Madhubala on a movie
set, she could not sleep that night. She just kept wondering if what she
had seen was real or if it was an illusion or perhaps it was an angel come
to earth.
Madhubala came to the movies as a child star and she kept working till the
end, bearing on her shoulders the entire financial burden of family
support. Her father, who kept hawk-like control on her life , also put her
money into wasteful ventures, including an unfinished screen disaster
called Pathan which he directed and which sank without trace. Madhubala by
then was too sick to star in it. He had earlier squandered her money by
launching five other movies that were never completed. He was such a tyrant
that he did not permit her to attend a dinner arranged during a film
festival where Frank Capra was present because he said, “She does not know
how to eat with a knife and fork.” It is hard to imagine that this
heartthrob of millions was a defenceless young woman tyrannised over by a
harsh father ( In classical
psycho-analysis, the memories and experiences become psychic themes
and acquire a dynamism of their own. They can invoke experiences
and by and large determine the direction in one's life. Some recent
researchers regard these early childhood experiences as the process
of "hardwiring" of the human computer. Whichever way it is described,
the point is that childhood experiences, particularly interpersonal relationships
in one's household, command a dominant place in the way a person chooses
to live her life. A daughter's life is considerably affected by her experiences
with her father such that in some cases she cannot rid herself of his influence
for the rest of her life. Madhu Bala's case appears to be typical).
Madhubala was in love with Dilip Kumar, and he with her, but Ataullah Khan
stood like a wall in their way. He did not want her to get married because
he would have thereby lost all the money that she earned. When the two,
Dilip and Madhubala, were cast for the movie Naya Daur, Ataullah Khan laid
down the condition that his daughter would not go for outdoor shooting. He
had earlier decreed that she would not do night shooting. The director of
Naya Daur, B.R. Chopra, wanted the unit to travel to Bhopal, but Ataullah
Khan put his foot down and even said that the entire thing was a ruse to
give Dilip the opportunity to entice away his daughter. Finally, in
desperation, Chopra sued Madhubala for fraudulently obtaining an advance
from him for a project she had no intention of completing. He also sacked
Madhubala and brought in the South Indian bombshell Vijayntimala to replace
her.
The litigation was nasty and Dilip Kumar appeared as a witness for the
prosecution against Madhubala and said some very bitter things about her in
open court. While Dilip was testifying against her, she turned to her
lawyer R.D. Chadha and said, “I don’t believe this is the man who was so in
love with me and whom I loved more than anyone and anything in the world.”
The film Naya Daur was released while the case was still in court and it
was an instant hit, including the music scored by O.P. Nayyar. Feeling
triumphant, Chopra withdrew the case.
Madhubala made one last attempt to reach out to Dilip. She asked their
mutual friend, the movie journalist Bunny Robin, to go to Dilip and tell
him how despite the court case, she still loved him. The moment Robin
mentioned why he was there, Dilip jumped at him angrily. “What rubbish.
What love?!” He was not even prepared to hear her name. Feeling lost and
rejected, Madhubala once and for he only time in her life defied her father
and married Kishore Kumar. It was a disastrous marriage and it never worked.
Nature had given her unparalleled beauty; but it had also left a hole in
her heart which in the 1960s was considered a condition that could not be
repaired. Ironically, the hole that Dilip, the only man she ever loved,
left in her heart, was even bigger and perhaps what brought the short and
tragic life of this lovely woman to an early end was not what nature had
wrought but what the man she loved had done. She lies in the Santa Cruz
graveyard in Bombay, where among others, lies Muhammad Rafi and even
Ataullah Khan who can no longer tyrannise over her. She rests in peace at
last, still mourned by many.
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jun 17 2007, 04:43 PM)
QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 2 2007, 08:24 PM)
QUOTE(nasir @ Jun 2 2007, 07:04 PM)
M A D H U B A L A - Thee we remember.
Thanks Reeth for those beautiful pictures of hers and also the write up.
Millions of lives have been lost just because there was no treatment for the disease at a particular point of time. Madhubala's case is in point. If we watch the old movies we get this indication. For example, in JUGNU (1946) Noor Jahan dies of T.B. There seemed to have been no cure then. It was a dreaded disease. Many old movies showed one or the other character suffering from this disease. (Geeta Bali died of Small Pox). Movies of the Seventies showed the plight of the terminable disease CANCER. And now we have AIDS - but this disease is not being projected because of the attached stigma. There was just one movie PHIR MILENGE where the heroine's (Shilpa Shetty) world turn upside down on learning that she has tested HIV Positive. That millions still die of T.B. is because of its newer deadlier form and because of AIDS. So when the cure for Cancer and AIDS is found in future, those future generations would come up with similar observations that so many lives have been lost in the past.
Now, coming back to Madhubala (now this one is like MUJHE YAAD HAI ZARA ZARA) is it true that during the last days of her illness before death Madhubala had come to Dilip Kumar's house?
NASIR.
I am not sure about the fact, but going by all accounts Madhubala never got over Dilip Kumar, and had he accepted her, she would have gladly married him......she married Kishore Kumar only after Dilip and Saira got married...........To be fair to Dilip Kumar.....He is supposed to have gone to her film sets and asked her to go with him , that a qazi was waiting at his home to perform the 'Nikhaa', but she was too timid to do so, and could never go against her Father's wishes, so she is supposed to have refused, this broke his heart and all else that followed was because of his bitterness towards her....
Reeth I doubt the accuracies in these posts. Kindly recheck your resources:
Madhubala's beauty was legendary. The film star Nadira, whom Mahboob Khan
introduced in the first Indian colour film Aan, said of her, "She was like
a fairy descended from the skies. There was such dignity to her beauty,
which was what placed her in a class distinct and apart from others who
bear good looks". Begum Para who used to take morning walks with her said,
"If you saw her face the first thing in the morning as the sun rose, you
felt happy for the entire day. She was like a dream of exceeding
loveliness". Nimmi recalled that when she first saw Madhubala on a movie
set, she could not sleep that night. She just kept wondering if what she
had seen was real or if it was an illusion or perhaps it was an angel come
to earth.
Madhubala came to the movies as a child star and she kept working till the
end, bearing on her shoulders the entire financial burden of family
support. Her father, who kept hawk-like control on her life , also put her
money into wasteful ventures, including an unfinished screen disaster
called Pathan which he directed and which sank without trace. Madhubala by
then was too sick to star in it. He had earlier squandered her money by
launching five other movies that were never completed. He was such a tyrant
that he did not permit her to attend a dinner arranged during a film
festival where Frank Capra was present because he said, “She does not know
how to eat with a knife and fork.” It is hard to imagine that this
heartthrob of millions was a defenceless young woman tyrannised over by a
harsh father ( In classical
psycho-analysis, the memories and experiences become psychic themes
and acquire a dynamism of their own. They can invoke experiences
and by and large determine the direction in one's life. Some recent
researchers regard these early childhood experiences as the process
of "hardwiring" of the human computer. Whichever way it is described,
the point is that childhood experiences, particularly interpersonal relationships
in one's household, command a dominant place in the way a person chooses
to live her life. A daughter's life is considerably affected by her experiences
with her father such that in some cases she cannot rid herself of his influence
for the rest of her life. Madhu Bala's case appears to be typical).
Madhubala was in love with Dilip Kumar, and he with her, but Ataullah Khan
stood like a wall in their way. He did not want her to get married because
he would have thereby lost all the money that she earned. When the two,
Dilip and Madhubala, were cast for the movie Naya Daur, Ataullah Khan laid
down the condition that his daughter would not go for outdoor shooting. He
had earlier decreed that she would not do night shooting. The director of
Naya Daur, B.R. Chopra, wanted the unit to travel to Bhopal, but Ataullah
Khan put his foot down and even said that the entire thing was a ruse to
give Dilip the opportunity to entice away his daughter. Finally, in
desperation, Chopra sued Madhubala for fraudulently obtaining an advance
from him for a project she had no intention of completing. He also sacked
Madhubala and brought in the South Indian bombshell Vijayntimala to replace
her.
The litigation was nasty and Dilip Kumar appeared as a witness for the
prosecution against Madhubala and said some very bitter things about her in
open court. While Dilip was testifying against her, she turned to her
lawyer R.D. Chadha and said, “I don’t believe this is the man who was so in
love with me and whom I loved more than anyone and anything in the world.”
The film Naya Daur was released while the case was still in court and it
was an instant hit, including the music scored by O.P. Nayyar. Feeling
triumphant, Chopra withdrew the case.
Madhubala made one last attempt to reach out to Dilip. She asked their
mutual friend, the movie journalist Bunny Robin, to go to Dilip and tell
him how despite the court case, she still loved him. The moment Robin
mentioned why he was there, Dilip jumped at him angrily. “What rubbish.
What love?!” He was not even prepared to hear her name. Feeling lost and
rejected, Madhubala once and for he only time in her life defied her father
and married Kishore Kumar. It was a disastrous marriage and it never worked.
Nature had given her unparalleled beauty; but it had also left a hole in
her heart which in the 1960s was considered a condition that could not be
repaired. Ironically, the hole that Dilip, the only man she ever loved,
left in her heart, was even bigger and perhaps what brought the short and
tragic life of this lovely woman to an early end was not what nature had
wrought but what the man she loved had done. She lies in the Santa Cruz
graveyard in Bombay, where among others, lies Muhammad Rafi and even
Ataullah Khan who can no longer tyrannise over her. She rests in peace at
last, still mourned by many.
Mahesh i got this info from an article by Syed Badrul Ahsan...A hole in her heart...biography of Madhubala,is available on the net...
NO.. not about her illness but about the kazi thing and the statement that
she got married to kishore kumar only after dilip and saira got married.
They got married in 1966 while madhubala and kishore in 1961.
Accounts of events given are misleading and lop sided.
I personally know many old timers here in Mumbai who were witnesses
to all those events. It pains me when I read such fanciful thoughts
errupted out of flight of imagination.
Which biography are you mentioning about? Let me see.
she got married to kishore kumar only after dilip and saira got married.
They got married in 1966 while madhubala and kishore in 1961.
Accounts of events given are misleading and lop sided.
I personally know many old timers here in Mumbai who were witnesses
to all those events. It pains me when I read such fanciful thoughts
errupted out of flight of imagination.
Which biography are you mentioning about? Let me see.
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jun 18 2007, 01:41 AM)
NO.. not about her illness but about the kazi thing and the statement that
she got married to kishore kumar only after dilip and saira got married.
They got married in 1966 while madhubala and kishore in 1961.
Accounts of events given are misleading and lop sided.
I personally know many old timers here in Mumbai who were witnesses
to all those events. It pains me when I read such fanciful thoughts
errupted out of flight of imagination.
Which biography are you mentioning about? Let me see.
I am sorry about that....i am trying to locate the article where i got that from, which as you say is not correct....infact kishore kumar and Madhubala had a civil marriage in 1960 and later he is supposed to have converted to islam and got married according to muslim rites which angered his family.....i should have rechecked before writing that...
however the qazi incident has been quoted in a couple of other articles as well other than the one i mentioned earlier...
QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 18 2007, 02:54 PM)
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jun 18 2007, 01:41 AM)
NO.. not about her illness but about the kazi thing and the statement that
she got married to kishore kumar only after dilip and saira got married.
They got married in 1966 while madhubala and kishore in 1961.
Accounts of events given are misleading and lop sided.
I personally know many old timers here in Mumbai who were witnesses
to all those events. It pains me when I read such fanciful thoughts
errupted out of flight of imagination.
Which biography are you mentioning about? Let me see.
I am sorry about that....i am trying to locate the article where i got that from, which as you say is not correct....infact kishore kumar and Madhubala had a civil marriage in 1960 and later he is supposed to have converted to islam and got married according to muslim rites which angered his family.....i should have rechecked before writing that...
however the qazi incident has been quoted in a couple of other articles as well other than the one i mentioned earlier...
Reeth, on conversion, did KK change his name to ABDUL REHMAN? Is that mentioned somewhere?
Nasir.
QUOTE(nasir @ Jun 18 2007, 08:59 PM)
QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 18 2007, 02:54 PM)
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jun 18 2007, 01:41 AM)
NO.. not about her illness but about the kazi thing and the statement that
she got married to kishore kumar only after dilip and saira got married.
They got married in 1966 while madhubala and kishore in 1961.
Accounts of events given are misleading and lop sided.
I personally know many old timers here in Mumbai who were witnesses
to all those events. It pains me when I read such fanciful thoughts
errupted out of flight of imagination.
Which biography are you mentioning about? Let me see.
I am sorry about that....i am trying to locate the article where i got that from, which as you say is not correct....infact kishore kumar and Madhubala had a civil marriage in 1960 and later he is supposed to have converted to islam and got married according to muslim rites which angered his family.....i should have rechecked before writing that...
however the qazi incident has been quoted in a couple of other articles as well other than the one i mentioned earlier...
Reeth, on conversion, did KK change his name to ABDUL REHMAN? Is that mentioned somewhere?
Nasir.
Not sure abt that nasir, i can look it up....
it may upset kishore fans but i wonder as he married abt four times..
what he was looking for
what he was looking for
let me know if kishore ever sing for dilip kumar or not
Suchitra Sen(Bengali),Padmini(South) & Sandhya(Marathi) they all were not regular Bollywood Actresses,but they did some fine work in Bollywood too.Sandhya later became part of Hindi films,but there was always gap in her film.Suchitra and Padmini did Hindi Films,when they got something nice to do.Here are biographies of these three Regional Actresses.....
Suchitra Sen
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Born in 1931 in Patna,Suchitra Sen was the most popular actress that Bengali Cinema has ever seen. Her beauty and acting talent was just superb.All this gave her a legendary cult status in Bengal.Her debut was in the unreleased Shesh Kothai made in 1952 oppocite Uttam Kumar.They went on to become icons of Bengali romantic melodramas for more than twenty years .She was already a superstar of Bengal,but did good work in Bollywood too.She did not get much success in Bollywood may be because of language problems. Her first Hindi film was Bimal roy s Devdas (1955),she played role of Paro and got critical acclaim for her. Later she did few hindi films Bambai Ka Babu & Musafir but these films could not do well at the box office.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.She retired from the screen in 1978.A devotee of Ramakrishna Mission, Suchitra now immerses herself in meditation and prayer.Her daughter Moon Moon Sen(who is just remembered for exposing) and grand daughters Riya and Raima(both are doing well as comparison to their mother) are all actresses as well.
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She got filmfare nomination of best actress award for Mamta and Aandhi.
Suchitra Sen is the first Indian actress awarded in an international film festival. She received the Best Actress award for the movie saat paake bandha in 1963 Moscow film festival.Some of her Bengali films also remaked in Hindi for eg. Khamoshi(Wahida Rehmaan,Dharemndra & Rajesh Khanna) and Kora Kagaj(Vijay Anand,Jaya Bachan).
Her Performances(In Hindi)-Devdas(Dalip K,Vyajantimala),Champakali(with Bharat Bhushan),Musafir(with Dalip K,Kishore K),Mamta(with Ashok K,Dharamendra),Bambai Ka Babu(with Dev Anand),Aandhi(with Sanjeev Kumar) and couple of Bengali films.
Suchitra Sen
Click to view attachment
Born in 1931 in Patna,Suchitra Sen was the most popular actress that Bengali Cinema has ever seen. Her beauty and acting talent was just superb.All this gave her a legendary cult status in Bengal.Her debut was in the unreleased Shesh Kothai made in 1952 oppocite Uttam Kumar.They went on to become icons of Bengali romantic melodramas for more than twenty years .She was already a superstar of Bengal,but did good work in Bollywood too.She did not get much success in Bollywood may be because of language problems. Her first Hindi film was Bimal roy s Devdas (1955),she played role of Paro and got critical acclaim for her. Later she did few hindi films Bambai Ka Babu & Musafir but these films could not do well at the box office.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.She retired from the screen in 1978.A devotee of Ramakrishna Mission, Suchitra now immerses herself in meditation and prayer.Her daughter Moon Moon Sen(who is just remembered for exposing) and grand daughters Riya and Raima(both are doing well as comparison to their mother) are all actresses as well.
Click to view attachment
She got filmfare nomination of best actress award for Mamta and Aandhi.
Suchitra Sen is the first Indian actress awarded in an international film festival. She received the Best Actress award for the movie saat paake bandha in 1963 Moscow film festival.Some of her Bengali films also remaked in Hindi for eg. Khamoshi(Wahida Rehmaan,Dharemndra & Rajesh Khanna) and Kora Kagaj(Vijay Anand,Jaya Bachan).
Her Performances(In Hindi)-Devdas(Dalip K,Vyajantimala),Champakali(with Bharat Bhushan),Musafir(with Dalip K,Kishore K),Mamta(with Ashok K,Dharamendra),Bambai Ka Babu(with Dev Anand),Aandhi(with Sanjeev Kumar) and couple of Bengali films.
Click to view attachment
Padmini
Born in 1932,Padmini was small time bollywood actress,but she was super star in south and did good work in hindi films too.Her elder sister Lalitha and younger sister Ragini were also renowned film actresses.Padmini had her early education at Mahila Mandiram School and at Sea Shell convent in Thiruvananthapuram. Later she devoted her entire time and energy in pursuing classical dance and has been religiously doing it for the past 64 years.At 14, she became a member of a dance troupe that toured various parts of India. At the age of 17, Padmini became the heroine of the Hindi film "Kalpana," .Later she did films like Jis desh mein ganga behti hai. She then went on to act in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films.But she nevar did so many films in Hindi.Padmini has acted with all the leading heroes during that age, which include legendary stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand,Rajinder Kumar,Dharamendra,Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, Prem Nazir, and Raj Kumar.She got married to Dr. KT Ramachandran in 1961.Her Mera Naam Joker s one scene create lot of hoo haa. She left the soaring acting career and settled for family life. 1977, she started her own school 'Padmini School of Fine Arts' at the basement of her house in New Jersey with four students.Late film actress Richa Sharma, Sanjay Dutt's wife was one of her students. She is a founder-member of the Hindu Temple Society of North American. She is also associated with many charities.In 1981 her husband died at the age of 48. Their only son Premanand is an official with the Warner Brothers. He acted in one Malayalam movie and produced three documentaries.
Click to view attachment
She got Filmfare Best Actress Nomination for Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai and Filmfare Best Supportiung Actress Nomintation for Kaajal and she won the award Kaajal and also won Best actress awards(South) of the Film Fans Association in 1954,'59,'61 and '66.
Her Performances-Kalpana(with Ashok K),Kaajal(with Meena K,Rajkumar,Dharamendra),Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai(with Raj K),Bhai Behan(with Ashok K,Sunil D,Nutan),Mahabharat(with Pradeep K,Dara Singh),Vaasna(with Rajkumar,Biswajeet),Chanda aur Bijli(with Sanjeev Kumar,Sachin) and Mera Naam Joker(with Raj K,Rajendra K,Dharamendra,Manoj K,Simi,Rishi Kapoor)etc.
Padmini
Born in 1932,Padmini was small time bollywood actress,but she was super star in south and did good work in hindi films too.Her elder sister Lalitha and younger sister Ragini were also renowned film actresses.Padmini had her early education at Mahila Mandiram School and at Sea Shell convent in Thiruvananthapuram. Later she devoted her entire time and energy in pursuing classical dance and has been religiously doing it for the past 64 years.At 14, she became a member of a dance troupe that toured various parts of India. At the age of 17, Padmini became the heroine of the Hindi film "Kalpana," .Later she did films like Jis desh mein ganga behti hai. She then went on to act in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films.But she nevar did so many films in Hindi.Padmini has acted with all the leading heroes during that age, which include legendary stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand,Rajinder Kumar,Dharamendra,Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, Prem Nazir, and Raj Kumar.She got married to Dr. KT Ramachandran in 1961.Her Mera Naam Joker s one scene create lot of hoo haa. She left the soaring acting career and settled for family life. 1977, she started her own school 'Padmini School of Fine Arts' at the basement of her house in New Jersey with four students.Late film actress Richa Sharma, Sanjay Dutt's wife was one of her students. She is a founder-member of the Hindu Temple Society of North American. She is also associated with many charities.In 1981 her husband died at the age of 48. Their only son Premanand is an official with the Warner Brothers. He acted in one Malayalam movie and produced three documentaries.
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She got Filmfare Best Actress Nomination for Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai and Filmfare Best Supportiung Actress Nomintation for Kaajal and she won the award Kaajal and also won Best actress awards(South) of the Film Fans Association in 1954,'59,'61 and '66.
Her Performances-Kalpana(with Ashok K),Kaajal(with Meena K,Rajkumar,Dharamendra),Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai(with Raj K),Bhai Behan(with Ashok K,Sunil D,Nutan),Mahabharat(with Pradeep K,Dara Singh),Vaasna(with Rajkumar,Biswajeet),Chanda aur Bijli(with Sanjeev Kumar,Sachin) and Mera Naam Joker(with Raj K,Rajendra K,Dharamendra,Manoj K,Simi,Rishi Kapoor)etc.
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Sandhya
Sandhya was Marathi Actress,who later joined Hindi Films in 50s,She is known for her dances in hindi films and song E Malik Tere Bande Hum.She did very few films,but we can consider her most of films as classic.She mostly worked with V.Shantaram,whom she got married later.She was second wife of V.Shantaram.She was different from other actresses from her era,may be that’s coz she was not part of Raj Kapoor kind romance or Bimal roy kinda social films.She got good reviews for Navrang,she was acclaimed for her crossdressing holi song 'are ja re natkhat',where she appeared in both man & woman s role.Her Films were also based on Dance,Romance and Social Issues but they were not typical bollywood flicks.The other reason can be that she was not paired oppocite stars like Raj Kapoor,Daleep Kumar,Dev Anand etc.So she was not in the stage like other actresses.She was even not continuely doing films,most of her films came after litlle gap.In the beginning of 70s she alsmost stopped doing films and started looking after her family.
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She got Lifetime Achievment Award for her contribution to cinema by Marathi Film Accosiation in 2000.
Her Performances-Teen Batti Chaar Raaste(with Karan Diwan),Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje(with Mehipal & Madan Puri),Navrang(with Mehipal),Do Aankhen Barah Haath(with V.Shantaram),Jal Bin Machali Nritiya Bin Bijli(with Abhijeet),Sehra(with Prashant) and Pinjra(with Dr.Shri Ram Lagoo)
Sandhya
Sandhya was Marathi Actress,who later joined Hindi Films in 50s,She is known for her dances in hindi films and song E Malik Tere Bande Hum.She did very few films,but we can consider her most of films as classic.She mostly worked with V.Shantaram,whom she got married later.She was second wife of V.Shantaram.She was different from other actresses from her era,may be that’s coz she was not part of Raj Kapoor kind romance or Bimal roy kinda social films.She got good reviews for Navrang,she was acclaimed for her crossdressing holi song 'are ja re natkhat',where she appeared in both man & woman s role.Her Films were also based on Dance,Romance and Social Issues but they were not typical bollywood flicks.The other reason can be that she was not paired oppocite stars like Raj Kapoor,Daleep Kumar,Dev Anand etc.So she was not in the stage like other actresses.She was even not continuely doing films,most of her films came after litlle gap.In the beginning of 70s she alsmost stopped doing films and started looking after her family.
Click to view attachment
She got Lifetime Achievment Award for her contribution to cinema by Marathi Film Accosiation in 2000.
Her Performances-Teen Batti Chaar Raaste(with Karan Diwan),Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje(with Mehipal & Madan Puri),Navrang(with Mehipal),Do Aankhen Barah Haath(with V.Shantaram),Jal Bin Machali Nritiya Bin Bijli(with Abhijeet),Sehra(with Prashant) and Pinjra(with Dr.Shri Ram Lagoo)
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 19 2007, 03:19 PM)
it may upset kishore fans but i wonder as he married abt four times..
what he was looking for
I guess he did marry four times, but that is his personal choice .......
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 19 2007, 03:33 PM)
Suchitra Sen(Bengali),Padmini(South) & Sandhya(Marathi) they all were not regular Bollywood Actresses,but they did some fine work in Bollywood too.Sandhya later became part of Hindi films,but there was always gap in her film.Suchitra and Padmini did Hindi Films,when they got something nice to do.Here are biographies of these three Regional Actresses.....
Suchitra Sen
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Born in 1931 in Patna,Suchitra Sen was the most popular actress that Bengali Cinema has ever seen. Her beauty and acting talent was just superb.All this gave her a legendary cult status in Bengal.Her debut was in the unreleased Shesh Kothai made in 1952 oppocite Uttam Kumar.They went on to become icons of Bengali romantic melodramas for more than twenty years .She was already a superstar of Bengal,but did good work in Bollywood too.She did not get much success in Bollywood may be because of language problems. Her first Hindi film was Bimal roy s Devdas (1955),she played role of Paro and got critical acclaim for her. Later she did few hindi films Bambai Ka Babu & Musafir but these films could not do well at the box office.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.Mamta and Aandhi were her two best performances of hindi films.She retired from the screen in 1978.A devotee of Ramakrishna Mission, Suchitra now immerses herself in meditation and prayer.Her daughter Moon Moon Sen(who is just remembered for exposing) and grand daughters Riya and Raima(both are doing well as comparison to their mother) are all actresses as well.
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She got filmfare nomination of best actress award for Mamta and Aandhi.
Suchitra Sen is the first Indian actress awarded in an international film festival. She received the Best Actress award for the movie saat paake bandha in 1963 Moscow film festival.Some of her Bengali films also remaked in Hindi for eg. Khamoshi(Wahida Rehmaan,Dharemndra & Rajesh Khanna) and Kora Kagaj(Vijay Anand,Jaya Bachan).
Her Performances(In Hindi)-Devdas(Dalip K,Vyajantimala),Champakali(with Bharat Bhushan),Musafir(with Dalip K,Kishore K),Mamta(with Ashok K,Dharamendra),Bambai Ka Babu(with Dev Anand),Aandhi(with Sanjeev Kumar) and couple of Bengali films.
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 19 2007, 03:37 PM)
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Padmini
Born in 1932,Padmini was small time bollywood actress,but she was super star in south and did good work in hindi films too.Her elder sister Lalitha and younger sister Ragini were also renowned film actresses.Padmini had her early education at Mahila Mandiram School and at Sea Shell convent in Thiruvananthapuram. Later she devoted her entire time and energy in pursuing classical dance and has been religiously doing it for the past 64 years.At 14, she became a member of a dance troupe that toured various parts of India. At the age of 17, Padmini became the heroine of the Hindi film "Kalpana," .Later she did films like Jis desh mein ganga behti hai. She then went on to act in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films.But she nevar did so many films in Hindi.Padmini has acted with all the leading heroes during that age, which include legendary stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand,Rajinder Kumar,Dharamendra,Sivaji Ganesan, MGR, Prem Nazir, and Raj Kumar.She got married to Dr. KT Ramachandran in 1961.Her Mera Naam Joker s one scene create lot of hoo haa. She left the soaring acting career and settled for family life. 1977, she started her own school 'Padmini School of Fine Arts' at the basement of her house in New Jersey with four students.Late film actress Richa Sharma, Sanjay Dutt's wife was one of her students. She is a founder-member of the Hindu Temple Society of North American. She is also associated with many charities.In 1981 her husband died at the age of 48. Their only son Premanand is an official with the Warner Brothers. He acted in one Malayalam movie and produced three documentaries.
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She got Filmfare Best Actress Nomination for Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai and Filmfare Best Supportiung Actress Nomintation for Kaajal and she won the award Kaajal and also won Best actress awards(South) of the Film Fans Association in 1954,'59,'61 and '66.
Her Performances-Kalpana(with Ashok K),Kaajal(with Meena K,Rajkumar,Dharamendra),Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai(with Raj K),Bhai Behan(with Ashok K,Sunil D,Nutan),Mahabharat(with Pradeep K,Dara Singh),Vaasna(with Rajkumar,Biswajeet),Chanda aur Bijli(with Sanjeev Kumar,Sachin) and Mera Naam Joker(with Raj K,Rajendra K,Dharamendra,Manoj K,Simi,Rishi Kapoor)etc.
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 19 2007, 03:40 PM)
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Sandhya
Sandhya was Marathi Actress,who later joined Hindi Films in 50s,She is known for her dances in hindi films and song E Malik Tere Bande Hum.She did very few films,but we can consider her most of films as classic.She mostly worked with V.Shantaram,whom she got married later.She was second wife of V.Shantaram.She was different from other actresses from her era,may be that’s coz she was not part of Raj Kapoor kind romance or Bimal roy kinda social films.She got good reviews for Navrang,she was acclaimed for her crossdressing holi song 'are ja re natkhat',where she appeared in both man & woman s role.Her Films were also based on Dance,Romance and Social Issues but they were not typical bollywood flicks.The other reason can be that she was not paired oppocite stars like Raj Kapoor,Daleep Kumar,Dev Anand etc.So she was not in the stage like other actresses.She was even not continuely doing films,most of her films came after litlle gap.In the beginning of 70s she alsmost stopped doing films and started looking after her family.
Click to view attachment
She got Lifetime Achievment Award for her contribution to cinema by Marathi Film Accosiation in 2000.
Her Performances-Teen Batti Chaar Raaste(with Karan Diwan),Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje(with Mehipal & Madan Puri),Navrang(with Mehipal),Do Aankhen Barah Haath(with V.Shantaram),Jal Bin Machali Nritiya Bin Bijli(with Abhijeet),Sehra(with Prashant) and Pinjra(with Dr.Shri Ram Lagoo)
Thanks a lot Jassi ...
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 19 2007, 03:19 PM)
let me know if kishore ever sing for dilip kumar or not
Of course, Dilip Kumar did use Kishore Kumar during the KK wave. This was in Sagina (1974).
The songs that instantly come to my mind are:
SAALA MAI.N TO SAAB BAN GAYA.....
Here KK is joined by Pankaj Mitra who actually has to speak words: e.g. WAH FAKIRA...
The other song which is a duet:
Tumre Sang Rayn Bitaayi Kaha.n Bitaaoo.n Din?
Rayn Ka Sapna Beet Gaya Ab Din Mein Taare Gin...
Then there is the one in which Dilip Kumar has skilfully blended his voice into Kishore's:
KK. OOPER WALA DUKHIYO.N KI NAAHI.N SUNTA RE....
D.K. - SOTA HAI.... BAHUT JAAGA HAI NAA..
Nasir.
THE BEAUTIFUL GIRL…..MADHU BALA
It seems both ironic and incongruous that my relationship with the leading lady of Indian cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s - a relationship that was among the most meaningful in my life, and not only as a film journalist - should have begun on an inauspicious note. For a scene to be shot at China Creek for a Hindi film whose title I cannot now recall, a ban was imposed by Madhubala, or, more correctly, by her formidable father, Khan Ataullah Khan, on film journalists and photographers from visiting that particular set. Hastily, and rather thoughtlessly, the film press responded by imposing a total blackout of Madhubala in the film press. I was appointed, without being consulted, chairman of the blackout committee.
In my considered opinion, then as now, both the ban and the response to it were uncalled for and, worse, ineffective. I told the journalists that the press needed Madhubala as much as Madhubala needed the press. In the dispute, the reaction of her many, many fans was not taken into account. The matter dragged on purposelessly for a couple of months till, one fine morning, Khan Saheb summoned the photographer Ram Aurangbadkar, my right-hand man in Movie Times which I then edited, and told him that the dispute was pointless and, as a gesture of goodwill, invited the film press to a tea party at Madhubala’s residence Arabian Villa in Bandra.
Arabian Villa, a picturesque little cottage in a Bandra side-lane, was one of many such cottages that sprawled all over the suburb in those days. At the villa’s gate, along with the security guards, stood Khan Saheb with a genial smile welcoming us journalists, eight or nine of us. We were taken to a small but elegantly decorated, richly-carpeted, drawing room. Unlike the other filmstar homes I’d visited, not a single portrait of Madhubala adorned the walls.
I hadn’t met Madhubala (her real name was Mumtaz Begum) earlier, but I had seen several of her films and had been impressed by her attractive personality and her obvious budding talent. I wasn’t prepared for the woman I saw slowly descending a curved staircase from the upper floor. It was as if a vision of beauty had achieved form and presence, in a simple white sari and matching sandals, right in front of my eyes, without a touch of make-up. I was so struck that I forgot my manners and didn’t stand up when, before greeting everyone else, she stood before me, her manicured hands together in a namaste.
I struggled to my feet, still feeling dazed, mumbled an apology for not standing up earlier and returned her namaste. With a dazzling smile, showing her pearly white teeth, she put her hands on my shoulders and pressed me down back into my seat. Then she went on to greet my wife and the other guests. My first thought was, “How could the camera have so signally failed to capture that quite extraordinary beauty?” I was to find my answer to that later. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her deep brown hair loosened and fell around her shoulders; her complexion I can only describe with the cliché “peaches and cream”. Her eyes were luminous of a light brown, whose shade kept lightening or darkening according to her moods.
But they were the most expressive features on her face. So was her voice, soft and low with a sexy huskiness to it. Then, suddenly, the answer came to me. Her films which I had seen were in black and white. Colour had not then come to Indian cinema. Only colour could do justice to the flush even now glowing on her cheeks. Khan Saheb was holding forth on which films had been hits and which had flopped. There was a lot of discussion on this. Khan Saheb mentioned a particular film in which Madhu, as he called her, had been a big hit. “No doubt,” my wife, who reviewed Hindi films for my paper, said. “But it was a frame by frame copy of an American film.” She named the film. Khan Saheb was taken aback. One could see his mind working on a rebuttal, “Don’t you see, Madam, when someone sets a good example, we follow it. What’s wrong with that?”
He could be quite cynical at times. Khan Saheb was a rather short, thick-set man. A dangerous enemy but, as we were to discover, a wonderful friend. His geniality could not conceal a trace of bitterness in his face, maybe because of the struggles he had faced bringing up his daughters. Madhubala had sisters, too, whom I was to get to know much later. I noticed that his cheeks were flushed. He suffered, I learned, from high blood pressure. It was rumoured that he was the father of eleven children, of whom Madhubala was the fifth.
It was now time for tea. Madhubala carried the tray herself. She brought it to me, questioning me with her eyes, holding up the sugar spoon. “One, please,” I said. She put in one, then holding up the sugar-filled spoon again, looking straight into my eyes, mischievously, tauntingly, she added that one too. As she moved around with the tray, I noticed the spring and suppleness of her movements. There was something startlingly different about her from the other stars I was friendly with, as if she carried an aura about her. It was my first meeting with Madhubala, but somehow it seemed to me that I had known her for a long, long time. Perhaps it was a prescience of things to come.
It was a friendly meeting. Soon, too soon, it was time to leave. The journalists were given a lift home in Madhubala’s Town and Country station wagon. Abad and I had our own car and we were saying goodbye too, when with a concealed gesture of his right hand Khan Saheb indicated that we should stay behind. I had earlier noticed his rather condescending attitude to the others compared to his friendliness, almost humbleness with us. Now he made it obvious.
“I respect you, Mr Karanjia, for two reasons. Movie Times shows courage in fighting our industry’s battles and I respect you personally for bringing dignity to film journalism. That’s all I wanted to tell you.” I felt flattered. He expressed the desire to be in constant touch. We had honoured him by visiting his home and he would reciprocate by visiting ours. He took down our address and both home and office telephone numbers. Then both father and daughter came down to our humble Ambassador to see us off.
As we were driving back to our home in Chowpatty, Abad remarked quite out of the blue, “I think she’s taken a shine to you, Burjor. Better be careful.” “She? You mean him, her father. She hardly spoke a word to me the entire evening. It was he who kept buttering me up. He realises the power of Movie Times. He’s always involved in some controversy or the other and would like to have us on his side, I suppose,” I said.
I was wondering if and when we’d meet again. A couple of days later, I had hardly sat down at my desk to check the proof pages of the next issue when the phone rang. It was Khan Saheb. I could never mistake his high-pitched, rasping voice. He thanked me again for coming to his home and enquired if I was free the next Sunday afternoon at about 4 pm. I said it would be a pleasure to meet him again. I told him that our house stood exactly behind the Orient Club on Chowpatty sea face and we were on the third floor. He said not to worry, he’d find it. He enquired after “Madam” (my wife) and then told me to hold on, Madhu wanted to say hello.
My heart jumped. She also thanked me. I told her how happy I was to have met her and added that I found her more beautiful in person than on the screen. It was my eyes that had made her beautiful, she replied. It sounded like a bit of dialogue from a Hindi film, but it was music to my ears. She asked about my daughter Rutton about whom my wife had spoken to her and expressed a desire to meet her some time.
Our conversations were always bilingual, she spoke to me in Hindi, and I, in English. On the frequent occasions we met, she would try to speak a few sentences in English “for practice,” she said. Well, her English did improve, but my Hindi remained the same. That call made my day. Our relationship wasn’t ended with the meeting at Arabian Villa. I rubbed my hands in glee.
Khan Saheb arrived on the dot, dressed in a cream silk shirt and white trousers, and wearing chappals. “You have a huge house,” he remarked, looking around and adding, “and look at that ceiling, it’s so high, you don’t get houses like this these days. It must be a very old house.” “Yes,” I said, “it was my grandfather’s gift to my mother when she got married. I introduced him to my mother who was sitting at the other end of our drawing room. He bowed to her with deep respect. And when little Rutton came in, all dressed up for the occasion, he fondled her cheeks and drew her close to him and indulged in a bit of child talk.
Over tea we discussed the deteriorating conditions of filmmaking in India, black money pouring in, trade bodies at loggerheads with one another, freelancing filmstars working in several films at the same time, the lack of a strong organisational base and of a film policy worth the name. It became a habit with him to visit us every alternate Sunday afternoon. I grew to like him, even admire him for his deep knowledge of cinema and for the strict discipline he was able to enforce on his daughter which should have set an example to other freewheeling stars. On one occasion I recall, the city was flooded with rains. Transport had come to a standstill. Still Madhubala managed to reach M&T Studios on time, at 9 am, only to learn that the shooting had been cancelled.
One Sunday, to my great joy, Madhubala accompanied her father to our home, carrying a huge box of sweets for Rutton. She became extremely friendly with my wife and, believe it or not, actually played hide-and-seek with Rutton in our 5,000-square-foot flat. The child was still present in the woman I was getting to know. When I came down to the garden to see the star and her dad to their car, I could see neighbours peering from their windows. There was also a small crowd around the car, since in India filmstars are recognised by the cars they own. I sensed that the star’s visit had somehow elevated our status in the neighbourhood.
Madhu — I began to call her that — would often ring me up, seeking my advice on a particular role she didn’t like to play or convey to me some currently raging scandal. One thing she particularly admired in Movie Times and even the monthly “Cinevoice” which I edited was that we never indulged in film gossip. I once told her that while gossip sells, there’s more to selling than gossip as the circulation figures of Movie Times clearly proved. On my weekly studio rounds, I made it a point to include whatever studio she was working in. Whenever she spotted me, her face would light up with a welcoming smile, and as soon as the shot was over she would come to sit with me and order tea for both of us. Our closeness was becoming apparent but it had such a dizzying effect on me that I couldn’t have cared less. We were not doing anything wrong. We let things take their course.
But then, what about the world’s sense of right and wrong? I soon realised the impossibility and, yes, the absurdity of our friendship getting any closer. I was married, and happily too. Abad and Madhu became extremely fond of each other. Madhu’s father had tremendous faith in me and any such “affair” would have shattered him. Above all, I had my own code of honour as editor of a powerful paper — never, ever, mix business with pleasure. I would have been seriously compromised and Madhu even more than me.
In the meantime a crisis was brewing on the office front. For some time, we had been facing financial problems as a direct result of filmdom’s uncertainties. If a film flopped, its producer made that an excuse for not paying for the advertisements he had put in the paper. He would plead with us to be patient till he had his next hit. And in an industry in which there were at least ten flops to each hit, this became a major problem. If we insisted on an immediate payment, we would get a rubber cheque.
The file containing rubber cheques had pride of place as being the thickest among our office files. In desperation, in one or two cases we did file legal suits. But the industry’s ways were so devious, we ended up by losing more money, good money after bad. But let me be fair. There were distributors like K.K. Kapoor, producers like Seth Chandulal Shah and actor-directors like Raj Kapoor who came to our rescue by booking a full year’s advertising in our paper and paying in advance.
But these were in a hopeless minority. There were occasions when we didn’t have the means to bring out the next week’s issue. My financial director, A.M. Kapadia, who also had invested in the paper, threw up his hands in despair. Movie Times was my life; it now appeared that it had been lived in vain. We had finance enough for a couple of months, after which we took the decision, bitter as it was, to close down the publication.
But we had reckoned without Madhubala. One evening my wife and I were having coffee at Bombelli’s, as was our practice, when Ram Aurangabadkar joined us. He looked quite excited, for Movie Times meant as much to him as it did to us. He told us how, meeting Khan Saheb by accident on his studio rounds, he mentioned in passing to Khan Saheb that Movie Times would shortly be closing down and he was shocked. “I will never allow Movie Times to close down,” he said.
He made a tempting offer to Ram that I should produce a film and Madhubala would work free in it. Her price then was Rs two to three lakhs per film, and we could utilise that to carry on. Even as he was telling us this, I recalled how during the “Madhubala ban” days, Khan Saheb had referred to film journalists as kutte (dogs) who devoured the chunks thrown to them by the likes of him. I rejected the offer and Ram, also a man of integrity, agreed with my decision. Besides, the very idea of producing a film seemed preposterous to me.
The very next day Madhubala rang, requesting an urgent meeting with me. I would have invited her to lunch or dinner, as I had done with other stars, but it was out of the question in the case of Madhubala who had never been to a five-star hotel and was a recluse by nature. I felt quite frustrated, when Madhu herself came up with a solution. Her driver would pick me up from home and we’d go for a drive in her Town and Country and talk.
As soon as she saw me, she lowered the burkha she was wearing to her shoulders. Madhu pleaded with me, holding my hand in both hers, to accept her offer. I told her how deeply grateful I was, but that what she was suggesting wouldn’t help in the long run. But she had her answer ready, “I’ll do two pictures, three, as many as you wish, but I want your paper to survive” (after a pause) “so does my father.”
I shook my head and tried to explain that it wasn’t a question of three pictures or thirty, the basic mistake I had made was to launch both my papers in an individual capacity, without any institutional support.
Conditions in the film industry being what they were and with men not respecting their own signatures, we’d go deeper and deeper into loss. I was grateful to her, I’d always be grateful, but as one who cared deeply for her, I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow her money to go down the drain. Did she realise what the film world would make of a filmstar coming to the rescue of a film journalist? It would cause a scandal of unimaginable proportions and would affect her stardom and compromise my integrity.
“If you really cared for me, you wouldn’t insist. You’d try to understand my helplessness,” I said. She fell back into her seat, looking quite forlorn. “What about me, what about our friendship? How am I going to convince my father? He’ll be heartbroken. What are you going to do about your career?” she asked. I assured her as solemnly as I could that we’d always be friends, her friendship and affection meant a lot to me, even more than it did to her.
I’d explain to Khan Saheb when he came next Sunday and I’m sure he’d understand. And as for my work, I had already received the offer of a job as PRO of the vast Godrej enterprise, she need have no worry on that score. She smiled for the first time that evening. A desire to hold her in my arms flared like a fire inside me. With a tremendous effort I subdued it. I don’t recall how many rounds the station wagon made from Chowpatty, up Walkeshwar, across Malabar Hill, round Kemp’s Corner and Hughes Road and then back all over again. We were together for almost an hour. Before getting down at Chowpatty, I told her I wanted to thank her for a great lesson I had learned from our relationship. Her eyes opened in wonder.
“You taught me, dear Madhu, that true love survives the body’s passion. Passion gets spent, love survives and triumphs. And I am doubly glad that I learnt this lesson from one whom I consider the most beautiful woman I’ve met.” She looked down and was silent for a long time. Then quickly, she took my hand to her lips.
Movie Times closed down, not with a whimper but a big bang, with the staging of “Constellation Night”, a star show in aid of charity at which we got Suraiyya to sing on the stage for the first time in her career. Radiant in the first row sat Madhu, next to Dilip Kumar. When, years later in 1961, I was appointed editor of Filmfare, Madhu’s was the first phone call to congratulate me. She said the news made her happier than she had ever been. It proved her faith in me.
Of course Madhu and I continued to be the best of friends. I heard rumours that Dilip Kumar wanted to marry her, but Khan Saheb objected, I’ve no idea why. Then suddenly, I heard that she had married the singer Kishore Kumar. It seemed to me the unlikeliest of marriages, even by Bollywood standards. A couple of years later she fell sick with a heart ailment, for which there apparently was no cure. Khan Saheb took her to London, but her health became worse. She was confined to bed and her shooting days appeared to be over. The film industry forgot her, but I continued to send flowers on her birthday even though she was no longer a star.
I’ve described in my book Counting My Blessings my visit to her, it was my last visit, as she lay dying in Breach Candy Hospital. After considerable persuasion I was allowed to see her for just three minutes. Three minutes after a lifetime of companionship! She couldn’t speak because of tubes in her mouth and nose. But immediately I saw recognition in her eyes and, what particularly cheered me, the remembrance. She held my hand as she had always done and we continued looking into each other’s eyes. She wouldn’t let go off my hand, though the nurse asked me to leave.
I loosened her hand with both mine and bent to kiss her on her pale, moist brow. She gave a deep sigh as if in contentment, and then closed her eyes. My eyes were moist, my features were crumpling as I tiptoed out of the room. Seeing me, the nurse followed me out and put her hand on my shoulder and whispered just one word “Pray!” Madhu died two days later on February 20, 1969. She left me with two regrets. One, that colour had not come to Indian cinema in the heyday of her career. And second, that just a year after her death, I read in the Lancet medical journal that at last a cure had been found for the ailment she suffered.
Fate implacably drives men and women to self-knowledge and an acceptance of their limitations. I spoke earlier of Madhubala giving a meaning to my life. My memory of her is still vibrant. Almost 40 years after her death, the enchantment is still with me. No, she is not lost to me.
By B.K.Karanjia
It seems both ironic and incongruous that my relationship with the leading lady of Indian cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s - a relationship that was among the most meaningful in my life, and not only as a film journalist - should have begun on an inauspicious note. For a scene to be shot at China Creek for a Hindi film whose title I cannot now recall, a ban was imposed by Madhubala, or, more correctly, by her formidable father, Khan Ataullah Khan, on film journalists and photographers from visiting that particular set. Hastily, and rather thoughtlessly, the film press responded by imposing a total blackout of Madhubala in the film press. I was appointed, without being consulted, chairman of the blackout committee.
In my considered opinion, then as now, both the ban and the response to it were uncalled for and, worse, ineffective. I told the journalists that the press needed Madhubala as much as Madhubala needed the press. In the dispute, the reaction of her many, many fans was not taken into account. The matter dragged on purposelessly for a couple of months till, one fine morning, Khan Saheb summoned the photographer Ram Aurangbadkar, my right-hand man in Movie Times which I then edited, and told him that the dispute was pointless and, as a gesture of goodwill, invited the film press to a tea party at Madhubala’s residence Arabian Villa in Bandra.
Arabian Villa, a picturesque little cottage in a Bandra side-lane, was one of many such cottages that sprawled all over the suburb in those days. At the villa’s gate, along with the security guards, stood Khan Saheb with a genial smile welcoming us journalists, eight or nine of us. We were taken to a small but elegantly decorated, richly-carpeted, drawing room. Unlike the other filmstar homes I’d visited, not a single portrait of Madhubala adorned the walls.
I hadn’t met Madhubala (her real name was Mumtaz Begum) earlier, but I had seen several of her films and had been impressed by her attractive personality and her obvious budding talent. I wasn’t prepared for the woman I saw slowly descending a curved staircase from the upper floor. It was as if a vision of beauty had achieved form and presence, in a simple white sari and matching sandals, right in front of my eyes, without a touch of make-up. I was so struck that I forgot my manners and didn’t stand up when, before greeting everyone else, she stood before me, her manicured hands together in a namaste.
I struggled to my feet, still feeling dazed, mumbled an apology for not standing up earlier and returned her namaste. With a dazzling smile, showing her pearly white teeth, she put her hands on my shoulders and pressed me down back into my seat. Then she went on to greet my wife and the other guests. My first thought was, “How could the camera have so signally failed to capture that quite extraordinary beauty?” I was to find my answer to that later. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her deep brown hair loosened and fell around her shoulders; her complexion I can only describe with the cliché “peaches and cream”. Her eyes were luminous of a light brown, whose shade kept lightening or darkening according to her moods.
But they were the most expressive features on her face. So was her voice, soft and low with a sexy huskiness to it. Then, suddenly, the answer came to me. Her films which I had seen were in black and white. Colour had not then come to Indian cinema. Only colour could do justice to the flush even now glowing on her cheeks. Khan Saheb was holding forth on which films had been hits and which had flopped. There was a lot of discussion on this. Khan Saheb mentioned a particular film in which Madhu, as he called her, had been a big hit. “No doubt,” my wife, who reviewed Hindi films for my paper, said. “But it was a frame by frame copy of an American film.” She named the film. Khan Saheb was taken aback. One could see his mind working on a rebuttal, “Don’t you see, Madam, when someone sets a good example, we follow it. What’s wrong with that?”
He could be quite cynical at times. Khan Saheb was a rather short, thick-set man. A dangerous enemy but, as we were to discover, a wonderful friend. His geniality could not conceal a trace of bitterness in his face, maybe because of the struggles he had faced bringing up his daughters. Madhubala had sisters, too, whom I was to get to know much later. I noticed that his cheeks were flushed. He suffered, I learned, from high blood pressure. It was rumoured that he was the father of eleven children, of whom Madhubala was the fifth.
It was now time for tea. Madhubala carried the tray herself. She brought it to me, questioning me with her eyes, holding up the sugar spoon. “One, please,” I said. She put in one, then holding up the sugar-filled spoon again, looking straight into my eyes, mischievously, tauntingly, she added that one too. As she moved around with the tray, I noticed the spring and suppleness of her movements. There was something startlingly different about her from the other stars I was friendly with, as if she carried an aura about her. It was my first meeting with Madhubala, but somehow it seemed to me that I had known her for a long, long time. Perhaps it was a prescience of things to come.
It was a friendly meeting. Soon, too soon, it was time to leave. The journalists were given a lift home in Madhubala’s Town and Country station wagon. Abad and I had our own car and we were saying goodbye too, when with a concealed gesture of his right hand Khan Saheb indicated that we should stay behind. I had earlier noticed his rather condescending attitude to the others compared to his friendliness, almost humbleness with us. Now he made it obvious.
“I respect you, Mr Karanjia, for two reasons. Movie Times shows courage in fighting our industry’s battles and I respect you personally for bringing dignity to film journalism. That’s all I wanted to tell you.” I felt flattered. He expressed the desire to be in constant touch. We had honoured him by visiting his home and he would reciprocate by visiting ours. He took down our address and both home and office telephone numbers. Then both father and daughter came down to our humble Ambassador to see us off.
As we were driving back to our home in Chowpatty, Abad remarked quite out of the blue, “I think she’s taken a shine to you, Burjor. Better be careful.” “She? You mean him, her father. She hardly spoke a word to me the entire evening. It was he who kept buttering me up. He realises the power of Movie Times. He’s always involved in some controversy or the other and would like to have us on his side, I suppose,” I said.
I was wondering if and when we’d meet again. A couple of days later, I had hardly sat down at my desk to check the proof pages of the next issue when the phone rang. It was Khan Saheb. I could never mistake his high-pitched, rasping voice. He thanked me again for coming to his home and enquired if I was free the next Sunday afternoon at about 4 pm. I said it would be a pleasure to meet him again. I told him that our house stood exactly behind the Orient Club on Chowpatty sea face and we were on the third floor. He said not to worry, he’d find it. He enquired after “Madam” (my wife) and then told me to hold on, Madhu wanted to say hello.
My heart jumped. She also thanked me. I told her how happy I was to have met her and added that I found her more beautiful in person than on the screen. It was my eyes that had made her beautiful, she replied. It sounded like a bit of dialogue from a Hindi film, but it was music to my ears. She asked about my daughter Rutton about whom my wife had spoken to her and expressed a desire to meet her some time.
Our conversations were always bilingual, she spoke to me in Hindi, and I, in English. On the frequent occasions we met, she would try to speak a few sentences in English “for practice,” she said. Well, her English did improve, but my Hindi remained the same. That call made my day. Our relationship wasn’t ended with the meeting at Arabian Villa. I rubbed my hands in glee.
Khan Saheb arrived on the dot, dressed in a cream silk shirt and white trousers, and wearing chappals. “You have a huge house,” he remarked, looking around and adding, “and look at that ceiling, it’s so high, you don’t get houses like this these days. It must be a very old house.” “Yes,” I said, “it was my grandfather’s gift to my mother when she got married. I introduced him to my mother who was sitting at the other end of our drawing room. He bowed to her with deep respect. And when little Rutton came in, all dressed up for the occasion, he fondled her cheeks and drew her close to him and indulged in a bit of child talk.
Over tea we discussed the deteriorating conditions of filmmaking in India, black money pouring in, trade bodies at loggerheads with one another, freelancing filmstars working in several films at the same time, the lack of a strong organisational base and of a film policy worth the name. It became a habit with him to visit us every alternate Sunday afternoon. I grew to like him, even admire him for his deep knowledge of cinema and for the strict discipline he was able to enforce on his daughter which should have set an example to other freewheeling stars. On one occasion I recall, the city was flooded with rains. Transport had come to a standstill. Still Madhubala managed to reach M&T Studios on time, at 9 am, only to learn that the shooting had been cancelled.
One Sunday, to my great joy, Madhubala accompanied her father to our home, carrying a huge box of sweets for Rutton. She became extremely friendly with my wife and, believe it or not, actually played hide-and-seek with Rutton in our 5,000-square-foot flat. The child was still present in the woman I was getting to know. When I came down to the garden to see the star and her dad to their car, I could see neighbours peering from their windows. There was also a small crowd around the car, since in India filmstars are recognised by the cars they own. I sensed that the star’s visit had somehow elevated our status in the neighbourhood.
Madhu — I began to call her that — would often ring me up, seeking my advice on a particular role she didn’t like to play or convey to me some currently raging scandal. One thing she particularly admired in Movie Times and even the monthly “Cinevoice” which I edited was that we never indulged in film gossip. I once told her that while gossip sells, there’s more to selling than gossip as the circulation figures of Movie Times clearly proved. On my weekly studio rounds, I made it a point to include whatever studio she was working in. Whenever she spotted me, her face would light up with a welcoming smile, and as soon as the shot was over she would come to sit with me and order tea for both of us. Our closeness was becoming apparent but it had such a dizzying effect on me that I couldn’t have cared less. We were not doing anything wrong. We let things take their course.
But then, what about the world’s sense of right and wrong? I soon realised the impossibility and, yes, the absurdity of our friendship getting any closer. I was married, and happily too. Abad and Madhu became extremely fond of each other. Madhu’s father had tremendous faith in me and any such “affair” would have shattered him. Above all, I had my own code of honour as editor of a powerful paper — never, ever, mix business with pleasure. I would have been seriously compromised and Madhu even more than me.
In the meantime a crisis was brewing on the office front. For some time, we had been facing financial problems as a direct result of filmdom’s uncertainties. If a film flopped, its producer made that an excuse for not paying for the advertisements he had put in the paper. He would plead with us to be patient till he had his next hit. And in an industry in which there were at least ten flops to each hit, this became a major problem. If we insisted on an immediate payment, we would get a rubber cheque.
The file containing rubber cheques had pride of place as being the thickest among our office files. In desperation, in one or two cases we did file legal suits. But the industry’s ways were so devious, we ended up by losing more money, good money after bad. But let me be fair. There were distributors like K.K. Kapoor, producers like Seth Chandulal Shah and actor-directors like Raj Kapoor who came to our rescue by booking a full year’s advertising in our paper and paying in advance.
But these were in a hopeless minority. There were occasions when we didn’t have the means to bring out the next week’s issue. My financial director, A.M. Kapadia, who also had invested in the paper, threw up his hands in despair. Movie Times was my life; it now appeared that it had been lived in vain. We had finance enough for a couple of months, after which we took the decision, bitter as it was, to close down the publication.
But we had reckoned without Madhubala. One evening my wife and I were having coffee at Bombelli’s, as was our practice, when Ram Aurangabadkar joined us. He looked quite excited, for Movie Times meant as much to him as it did to us. He told us how, meeting Khan Saheb by accident on his studio rounds, he mentioned in passing to Khan Saheb that Movie Times would shortly be closing down and he was shocked. “I will never allow Movie Times to close down,” he said.
He made a tempting offer to Ram that I should produce a film and Madhubala would work free in it. Her price then was Rs two to three lakhs per film, and we could utilise that to carry on. Even as he was telling us this, I recalled how during the “Madhubala ban” days, Khan Saheb had referred to film journalists as kutte (dogs) who devoured the chunks thrown to them by the likes of him. I rejected the offer and Ram, also a man of integrity, agreed with my decision. Besides, the very idea of producing a film seemed preposterous to me.
The very next day Madhubala rang, requesting an urgent meeting with me. I would have invited her to lunch or dinner, as I had done with other stars, but it was out of the question in the case of Madhubala who had never been to a five-star hotel and was a recluse by nature. I felt quite frustrated, when Madhu herself came up with a solution. Her driver would pick me up from home and we’d go for a drive in her Town and Country and talk.
As soon as she saw me, she lowered the burkha she was wearing to her shoulders. Madhu pleaded with me, holding my hand in both hers, to accept her offer. I told her how deeply grateful I was, but that what she was suggesting wouldn’t help in the long run. But she had her answer ready, “I’ll do two pictures, three, as many as you wish, but I want your paper to survive” (after a pause) “so does my father.”
I shook my head and tried to explain that it wasn’t a question of three pictures or thirty, the basic mistake I had made was to launch both my papers in an individual capacity, without any institutional support.
Conditions in the film industry being what they were and with men not respecting their own signatures, we’d go deeper and deeper into loss. I was grateful to her, I’d always be grateful, but as one who cared deeply for her, I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow her money to go down the drain. Did she realise what the film world would make of a filmstar coming to the rescue of a film journalist? It would cause a scandal of unimaginable proportions and would affect her stardom and compromise my integrity.
“If you really cared for me, you wouldn’t insist. You’d try to understand my helplessness,” I said. She fell back into her seat, looking quite forlorn. “What about me, what about our friendship? How am I going to convince my father? He’ll be heartbroken. What are you going to do about your career?” she asked. I assured her as solemnly as I could that we’d always be friends, her friendship and affection meant a lot to me, even more than it did to her.
I’d explain to Khan Saheb when he came next Sunday and I’m sure he’d understand. And as for my work, I had already received the offer of a job as PRO of the vast Godrej enterprise, she need have no worry on that score. She smiled for the first time that evening. A desire to hold her in my arms flared like a fire inside me. With a tremendous effort I subdued it. I don’t recall how many rounds the station wagon made from Chowpatty, up Walkeshwar, across Malabar Hill, round Kemp’s Corner and Hughes Road and then back all over again. We were together for almost an hour. Before getting down at Chowpatty, I told her I wanted to thank her for a great lesson I had learned from our relationship. Her eyes opened in wonder.
“You taught me, dear Madhu, that true love survives the body’s passion. Passion gets spent, love survives and triumphs. And I am doubly glad that I learnt this lesson from one whom I consider the most beautiful woman I’ve met.” She looked down and was silent for a long time. Then quickly, she took my hand to her lips.
Movie Times closed down, not with a whimper but a big bang, with the staging of “Constellation Night”, a star show in aid of charity at which we got Suraiyya to sing on the stage for the first time in her career. Radiant in the first row sat Madhu, next to Dilip Kumar. When, years later in 1961, I was appointed editor of Filmfare, Madhu’s was the first phone call to congratulate me. She said the news made her happier than she had ever been. It proved her faith in me.
Of course Madhu and I continued to be the best of friends. I heard rumours that Dilip Kumar wanted to marry her, but Khan Saheb objected, I’ve no idea why. Then suddenly, I heard that she had married the singer Kishore Kumar. It seemed to me the unlikeliest of marriages, even by Bollywood standards. A couple of years later she fell sick with a heart ailment, for which there apparently was no cure. Khan Saheb took her to London, but her health became worse. She was confined to bed and her shooting days appeared to be over. The film industry forgot her, but I continued to send flowers on her birthday even though she was no longer a star.
I’ve described in my book Counting My Blessings my visit to her, it was my last visit, as she lay dying in Breach Candy Hospital. After considerable persuasion I was allowed to see her for just three minutes. Three minutes after a lifetime of companionship! She couldn’t speak because of tubes in her mouth and nose. But immediately I saw recognition in her eyes and, what particularly cheered me, the remembrance. She held my hand as she had always done and we continued looking into each other’s eyes. She wouldn’t let go off my hand, though the nurse asked me to leave.
I loosened her hand with both mine and bent to kiss her on her pale, moist brow. She gave a deep sigh as if in contentment, and then closed her eyes. My eyes were moist, my features were crumpling as I tiptoed out of the room. Seeing me, the nurse followed me out and put her hand on my shoulder and whispered just one word “Pray!” Madhu died two days later on February 20, 1969. She left me with two regrets. One, that colour had not come to Indian cinema in the heyday of her career. And second, that just a year after her death, I read in the Lancet medical journal that at last a cure had been found for the ailment she suffered.
Fate implacably drives men and women to self-knowledge and an acceptance of their limitations. I spoke earlier of Madhubala giving a meaning to my life. My memory of her is still vibrant. Almost 40 years after her death, the enchantment is still with me. No, she is not lost to me.
By B.K.Karanjia
Waheeda Rehman ( Born May 14, 1936 )
Waheeda Rehman is one of the most talented golden era actresses.She is considered to be the
epitome of Classic Indian beauty. She has won the hearts of millions through her elegence
those soulful eyes and acting skills.An actress like Waheeda was complete in herself, however
untrained and unaware she may have been in the fine art of acting.Her finely chiseled features
her expressive eyes and her well-modulated voice were capable of expressing a range of emotions.
Waheeda was born into a traditional muslim family in Hyderabad.She was trained in Kuchupudi and
Bharatanatyam.She lost her father early at the age of 12.....
Her first screen appearance was in a Telugu film Jaisimha(1955) followed by another telugu film
Rojulu Maarayi(1955).....She was spotted by GuruDutt in a song in the latter film and was
offered the role of a vamp in the film CID, directed by Raj Khosla. She lost her mother
soon after.....
After the tremendous success of CID she was given the leading role in Pyaasa(1957)
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
With Pyaasa came success and Waheeda got involved with Guru Dutt, but it was an unsuccessful
love affair and Guru dutt's marital status and her growing success tore them apart. They acted in
four classic movies including Pyaasa.....Chauduvin ka Chand,Sahib bibi aur Ghulam and
the semi autobiographical Kagaz ke phool.........Guru dutt committed suicide in 1964...
Her career continued throughout the 1960's, 1970's and the 80's....She has been paired with most of
the top leading heroes be it Dilip kumar, Raj kapoor or Dev anand.....Guru dutt,Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra,
Pradeep Kumar,Amitabh bachchan,Rajesh Khanna, Manoj kumar,Rajendra kumar,Biswajeet....a long list indeed....
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Memorable films...
CID
Pyaasa
Solva saal
Sahib bibi aur ghulam
Kagaz ke phool
Kala bazar
Roop ki rani chorn ka raja
Chauduvin ka chand
Bees saal baad
baat ek raat ki
Ek phool char kaante
Kohra
Guide
Teesri kasam
Ram aur shyam
Dil diya dard liya
Patthar ke sanam
Palkhi
Aadmi
Shagun
Neel kamal
Khamoshi
Kabhi khabhi
Trishul.....
Impressive collection of films....
She won the Filmfare best actress award for her role in Guide (1965) and neel Kamal ( 1968)...
She has won the Lifetime Achievement award in the year 1995 and The special award for
'Invaluable Contribution to the Indian Cinema' in 2001....
Waheeda Rehman married Kamaljeet (who was her costar in Shagun) on April 27 1974 and
after her marriage she shifted to Bangalore and concenterated on raising her family,occassionally
acting in some quality films .
She has two children, son Sohail and daughter Kashvi.....Her husband Kamaljeet died on November
21,2000 following a prolonged illness....
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Waheeda Rehman has settled down in Bangalore where she is involved in a business venture
marketing her own brand of breakfast cereals and leads a contented life in her farm house.
Waheeda Rehman combined the classic Islamic beauty with an extraordinary grace, talent and a
truly transcendent appeal that ranked her among the Pantheon of Bollywood's elite actresses...
Waheeda Rehman is one of the most talented golden era actresses.She is considered to be the
epitome of Classic Indian beauty. She has won the hearts of millions through her elegence
those soulful eyes and acting skills.An actress like Waheeda was complete in herself, however
untrained and unaware she may have been in the fine art of acting.Her finely chiseled features
her expressive eyes and her well-modulated voice were capable of expressing a range of emotions.
Waheeda was born into a traditional muslim family in Hyderabad.She was trained in Kuchupudi and
Bharatanatyam.She lost her father early at the age of 12.....
Her first screen appearance was in a Telugu film Jaisimha(1955) followed by another telugu film
Rojulu Maarayi(1955).....She was spotted by GuruDutt in a song in the latter film and was
offered the role of a vamp in the film CID, directed by Raj Khosla. She lost her mother
soon after.....
After the tremendous success of CID she was given the leading role in Pyaasa(1957)
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
With Pyaasa came success and Waheeda got involved with Guru Dutt, but it was an unsuccessful
love affair and Guru dutt's marital status and her growing success tore them apart. They acted in
four classic movies including Pyaasa.....Chauduvin ka Chand,Sahib bibi aur Ghulam and
the semi autobiographical Kagaz ke phool.........Guru dutt committed suicide in 1964...
Her career continued throughout the 1960's, 1970's and the 80's....She has been paired with most of
the top leading heroes be it Dilip kumar, Raj kapoor or Dev anand.....Guru dutt,Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra,
Pradeep Kumar,Amitabh bachchan,Rajesh Khanna, Manoj kumar,Rajendra kumar,Biswajeet....a long list indeed....
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Memorable films...
CID
Pyaasa
Solva saal
Sahib bibi aur ghulam
Kagaz ke phool
Kala bazar
Roop ki rani chorn ka raja
Chauduvin ka chand
Bees saal baad
baat ek raat ki
Ek phool char kaante
Kohra
Guide
Teesri kasam
Ram aur shyam
Dil diya dard liya
Patthar ke sanam
Palkhi
Aadmi
Shagun
Neel kamal
Khamoshi
Kabhi khabhi
Trishul.....
Impressive collection of films....
She won the Filmfare best actress award for her role in Guide (1965) and neel Kamal ( 1968)...
She has won the Lifetime Achievement award in the year 1995 and The special award for
'Invaluable Contribution to the Indian Cinema' in 2001....
Waheeda Rehman married Kamaljeet (who was her costar in Shagun) on April 27 1974 and
after her marriage she shifted to Bangalore and concenterated on raising her family,occassionally
acting in some quality films .
She has two children, son Sohail and daughter Kashvi.....Her husband Kamaljeet died on November
21,2000 following a prolonged illness....
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Waheeda Rehman has settled down in Bangalore where she is involved in a business venture
marketing her own brand of breakfast cereals and leads a contented life in her farm house.
Waheeda Rehman combined the classic Islamic beauty with an extraordinary grace, talent and a
truly transcendent appeal that ranked her among the Pantheon of Bollywood's elite actresses...
QUOTE(maheshks @ Jun 21 2007, 02:05 AM)
THE BEAUTIFUL GIRL…..MADHU BALA
It seems both ironic and incongruous that my relationship with the leading lady of Indian cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s - a relationship that was among the most meaningful in my life, and not only as a film journalist - should have begun on an inauspicious note. For a scene to be shot at China Creek for a Hindi film whose title I cannot now recall, a ban was imposed by Madhubala, or, more correctly, by her formidable father, Khan Ataullah Khan, on film journalists and photographers from visiting that particular set. Hastily, and rather thoughtlessly, the film press responded by imposing a total blackout of Madhubala in the film press. I was appointed, without being consulted, chairman of the blackout committee.
In my considered opinion, then as now, both the ban and the response to it were uncalled for and, worse, ineffective. I told the journalists that the press needed Madhubala as much as Madhubala needed the press. In the dispute, the reaction of her many, many fans was not taken into account. The matter dragged on purposelessly for a couple of months till, one fine morning, Khan Saheb summoned the photographer Ram Aurangbadkar, my right-hand man in Movie Times which I then edited, and told him that the dispute was pointless and, as a gesture of goodwill, invited the film press to a tea party at Madhubala’s residence Arabian Villa in Bandra.
Arabian Villa, a picturesque little cottage in a Bandra side-lane, was one of many such cottages that sprawled all over the suburb in those days. At the villa’s gate, along with the security guards, stood Khan Saheb with a genial smile welcoming us journalists, eight or nine of us. We were taken to a small but elegantly decorated, richly-carpeted, drawing room. Unlike the other filmstar homes I’d visited, not a single portrait of Madhubala adorned the walls.
I hadn’t met Madhubala (her real name was Mumtaz Begum) earlier, but I had seen several of her films and had been impressed by her attractive personality and her obvious budding talent. I wasn’t prepared for the woman I saw slowly descending a curved staircase from the upper floor. It was as if a vision of beauty had achieved form and presence, in a simple white sari and matching sandals, right in front of my eyes, without a touch of make-up. I was so struck that I forgot my manners and didn’t stand up when, before greeting everyone else, she stood before me, her manicured hands together in a namaste.
I struggled to my feet, still feeling dazed, mumbled an apology for not standing up earlier and returned her namaste. With a dazzling smile, showing her pearly white teeth, she put her hands on my shoulders and pressed me down back into my seat. Then she went on to greet my wife and the other guests. My first thought was, “How could the camera have so signally failed to capture that quite extraordinary beauty?” I was to find my answer to that later. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her deep brown hair loosened and fell around her shoulders; her complexion I can only describe with the cliché “peaches and cream”. Her eyes were luminous of a light brown, whose shade kept lightening or darkening according to her moods.
But they were the most expressive features on her face. So was her voice, soft and low with a sexy huskiness to it. Then, suddenly, the answer came to me. Her films which I had seen were in black and white. Colour had not then come to Indian cinema. Only colour could do justice to the flush even now glowing on her cheeks. Khan Saheb was holding forth on which films had been hits and which had flopped. There was a lot of discussion on this. Khan Saheb mentioned a particular film in which Madhu, as he called her, had been a big hit. “No doubt,” my wife, who reviewed Hindi films for my paper, said. “But it was a frame by frame copy of an American film.” She named the film. Khan Saheb was taken aback. One could see his mind working on a rebuttal, “Don’t you see, Madam, when someone sets a good example, we follow it. What’s wrong with that?”
He could be quite cynical at times. Khan Saheb was a rather short, thick-set man. A dangerous enemy but, as we were to discover, a wonderful friend. His geniality could not conceal a trace of bitterness in his face, maybe because of the struggles he had faced bringing up his daughters. Madhubala had sisters, too, whom I was to get to know much later. I noticed that his cheeks were flushed. He suffered, I learned, from high blood pressure. It was rumoured that he was the father of eleven children, of whom Madhubala was the fifth.
It was now time for tea. Madhubala carried the tray herself. She brought it to me, questioning me with her eyes, holding up the sugar spoon. “One, please,” I said. She put in one, then holding up the sugar-filled spoon again, looking straight into my eyes, mischievously, tauntingly, she added that one too. As she moved around with the tray, I noticed the spring and suppleness of her movements. There was something startlingly different about her from the other stars I was friendly with, as if she carried an aura about her. It was my first meeting with Madhubala, but somehow it seemed to me that I had known her for a long, long time. Perhaps it was a prescience of things to come.
It was a friendly meeting. Soon, too soon, it was time to leave. The journalists were given a lift home in Madhubala’s Town and Country station wagon. Abad and I had our own car and we were saying goodbye too, when with a concealed gesture of his right hand Khan Saheb indicated that we should stay behind. I had earlier noticed his rather condescending attitude to the others compared to his friendliness, almost humbleness with us. Now he made it obvious.
“I respect you, Mr Karanjia, for two reasons. Movie Times shows courage in fighting our industry’s battles and I respect you personally for bringing dignity to film journalism. That’s all I wanted to tell you.” I felt flattered. He expressed the desire to be in constant touch. We had honoured him by visiting his home and he would reciprocate by visiting ours. He took down our address and both home and office telephone numbers. Then both father and daughter came down to our humble Ambassador to see us off.
As we were driving back to our home in Chowpatty, Abad remarked quite out of the blue, “I think she’s taken a shine to you, Burjor. Better be careful.” “She? You mean him, her father. She hardly spoke a word to me the entire evening. It was he who kept buttering me up. He realises the power of Movie Times. He’s always involved in some controversy or the other and would like to have us on his side, I suppose,” I said.
I was wondering if and when we’d meet again. A couple of days later, I had hardly sat down at my desk to check the proof pages of the next issue when the phone rang. It was Khan Saheb. I could never mistake his high-pitched, rasping voice. He thanked me again for coming to his home and enquired if I was free the next Sunday afternoon at about 4 pm. I said it would be a pleasure to meet him again. I told him that our house stood exactly behind the Orient Club on Chowpatty sea face and we were on the third floor. He said not to worry, he’d find it. He enquired after “Madam” (my wife) and then told me to hold on, Madhu wanted to say hello.
My heart jumped. She also thanked me. I told her how happy I was to have met her and added that I found her more beautiful in person than on the screen. It was my eyes that had made her beautiful, she replied. It sounded like a bit of dialogue from a Hindi film, but it was music to my ears. She asked about my daughter Rutton about whom my wife had spoken to her and expressed a desire to meet her some time.
Our conversations were always bilingual, she spoke to me in Hindi, and I, in English. On the frequent occasions we met, she would try to speak a few sentences in English “for practice,” she said. Well, her English did improve, but my Hindi remained the same. That call made my day. Our relationship wasn’t ended with the meeting at Arabian Villa. I rubbed my hands in glee.
Khan Saheb arrived on the dot, dressed in a cream silk shirt and white trousers, and wearing chappals. “You have a huge house,” he remarked, looking around and adding, “and look at that ceiling, it’s so high, you don’t get houses like this these days. It must be a very old house.” “Yes,” I said, “it was my grandfather’s gift to my mother when she got married. I introduced him to my mother who was sitting at the other end of our drawing room. He bowed to her with deep respect. And when little Rutton came in, all dressed up for the occasion, he fondled her cheeks and drew her close to him and indulged in a bit of child talk.
Over tea we discussed the deteriorating conditions of filmmaking in India, black money pouring in, trade bodies at loggerheads with one another, freelancing filmstars working in several films at the same time, the lack of a strong organisational base and of a film policy worth the name. It became a habit with him to visit us every alternate Sunday afternoon. I grew to like him, even admire him for his deep knowledge of cinema and for the strict discipline he was able to enforce on his daughter which should have set an example to other freewheeling stars. On one occasion I recall, the city was flooded with rains. Transport had come to a standstill. Still Madhubala managed to reach M&T Studios on time, at 9 am, only to learn that the shooting had been cancelled.
One Sunday, to my great joy, Madhubala accompanied her father to our home, carrying a huge box of sweets for Rutton. She became extremely friendly with my wife and, believe it or not, actually played hide-and-seek with Rutton in our 5,000-square-foot flat. The child was still present in the woman I was getting to know. When I came down to the garden to see the star and her dad to their car, I could see neighbours peering from their windows. There was also a small crowd around the car, since in India filmstars are recognised by the cars they own. I sensed that the star’s visit had somehow elevated our status in the neighbourhood.
Madhu — I began to call her that — would often ring me up, seeking my advice on a particular role she didn’t like to play or convey to me some currently raging scandal. One thing she particularly admired in Movie Times and even the monthly “Cinevoice” which I edited was that we never indulged in film gossip. I once told her that while gossip sells, there’s more to selling than gossip as the circulation figures of Movie Times clearly proved. On my weekly studio rounds, I made it a point to include whatever studio she was working in. Whenever she spotted me, her face would light up with a welcoming smile, and as soon as the shot was over she would come to sit with me and order tea for both of us. Our closeness was becoming apparent but it had such a dizzying effect on me that I couldn’t have cared less. We were not doing anything wrong. We let things take their course.
But then, what about the world’s sense of right and wrong? I soon realised the impossibility and, yes, the absurdity of our friendship getting any closer. I was married, and happily too. Abad and Madhu became extremely fond of each other. Madhu’s father had tremendous faith in me and any such “affair” would have shattered him. Above all, I had my own code of honour as editor of a powerful paper — never, ever, mix business with pleasure. I would have been seriously compromised and Madhu even more than me.
In the meantime a crisis was brewing on the office front. For some time, we had been facing financial problems as a direct result of filmdom’s uncertainties. If a film flopped, its producer made that an excuse for not paying for the advertisements he had put in the paper. He would plead with us to be patient till he had his next hit. And in an industry in which there were at least ten flops to each hit, this became a major problem. If we insisted on an immediate payment, we would get a rubber cheque.
The file containing rubber cheques had pride of place as being the thickest among our office files. In desperation, in one or two cases we did file legal suits. But the industry’s ways were so devious, we ended up by losing more money, good money after bad. But let me be fair. There were distributors like K.K. Kapoor, producers like Seth Chandulal Shah and actor-directors like Raj Kapoor who came to our rescue by booking a full year’s advertising in our paper and paying in advance.
But these were in a hopeless minority. There were occasions when we didn’t have the means to bring out the next week’s issue. My financial director, A.M. Kapadia, who also had invested in the paper, threw up his hands in despair. Movie Times was my life; it now appeared that it had been lived in vain. We had finance enough for a couple of months, after which we took the decision, bitter as it was, to close down the publication.
But we had reckoned without Madhubala. One evening my wife and I were having coffee at Bombelli’s, as was our practice, when Ram Aurangabadkar joined us. He looked quite excited, for Movie Times meant as much to him as it did to us. He told us how, meeting Khan Saheb by accident on his studio rounds, he mentioned in passing to Khan Saheb that Movie Times would shortly be closing down and he was shocked. “I will never allow Movie Times to close down,” he said.
He made a tempting offer to Ram that I should produce a film and Madhubala would work free in it. Her price then was Rs two to three lakhs per film, and we could utilise that to carry on. Even as he was telling us this, I recalled how during the “Madhubala ban” days, Khan Saheb had referred to film journalists as kutte (dogs) who devoured the chunks thrown to them by the likes of him. I rejected the offer and Ram, also a man of integrity, agreed with my decision. Besides, the very idea of producing a film seemed preposterous to me.
The very next day Madhubala rang, requesting an urgent meeting with me. I would have invited her to lunch or dinner, as I had done with other stars, but it was out of the question in the case of Madhubala who had never been to a five-star hotel and was a recluse by nature. I felt quite frustrated, when Madhu herself came up with a solution. Her driver would pick me up from home and we’d go for a drive in her Town and Country and talk.
As soon as she saw me, she lowered the burkha she was wearing to her shoulders. Madhu pleaded with me, holding my hand in both hers, to accept her offer. I told her how deeply grateful I was, but that what she was suggesting wouldn’t help in the long run. But she had her answer ready, “I’ll do two pictures, three, as many as you wish, but I want your paper to survive” (after a pause) “so does my father.”
I shook my head and tried to explain that it wasn’t a question of three pictures or thirty, the basic mistake I had made was to launch both my papers in an individual capacity, without any institutional support.
Conditions in the film industry being what they were and with men not respecting their own signatures, we’d go deeper and deeper into loss. I was grateful to her, I’d always be grateful, but as one who cared deeply for her, I couldn’t and wouldn’t allow her money to go down the drain. Did she realise what the film world would make of a filmstar coming to the rescue of a film journalist? It would cause a scandal of unimaginable proportions and would affect her stardom and compromise my integrity.
“If you really cared for me, you wouldn’t insist. You’d try to understand my helplessness,” I said. She fell back into her seat, looking quite forlorn. “What about me, what about our friendship? How am I going to convince my father? He’ll be heartbroken. What are you going to do about your career?” she asked. I assured her as solemnly as I could that we’d always be friends, her friendship and affection meant a lot to me, even more than it did to her.
I’d explain to Khan Saheb when he came next Sunday and I’m sure he’d understand. And as for my work, I had already received the offer of a job as PRO of the vast Godrej enterprise, she need have no worry on that score. She smiled for the first time that evening. A desire to hold her in my arms flared like a fire inside me. With a tremendous effort I subdued it. I don’t recall how many rounds the station wagon made from Chowpatty, up Walkeshwar, across Malabar Hill, round Kemp’s Corner and Hughes Road and then back all over again. We were together for almost an hour. Before getting down at Chowpatty, I told her I wanted to thank her for a great lesson I had learned from our relationship. Her eyes opened in wonder.
“You taught me, dear Madhu, that true love survives the body’s passion. Passion gets spent, love survives and triumphs. And I am doubly glad that I learnt this lesson from one whom I consider the most beautiful woman I’ve met.” She looked down and was silent for a long time. Then quickly, she took my hand to her lips.
Movie Times closed down, not with a whimper but a big bang, with the staging of “Constellation Night”, a star show in aid of charity at which we got Suraiyya to sing on the stage for the first time in her career. Radiant in the first row sat Madhu, next to Dilip Kumar. When, years later in 1961, I was appointed editor of Filmfare, Madhu’s was the first phone call to congratulate me. She said the news made her happier than she had ever been. It proved her faith in me.
Of course Madhu and I continued to be the best of friends. I heard rumours that Dilip Kumar wanted to marry her, but Khan Saheb objected, I’ve no idea why. Then suddenly, I heard that she had married the singer Kishore Kumar. It seemed to me the unlikeliest of marriages, even by Bollywood standards. A couple of years later she fell sick with a heart ailment, for which there apparently was no cure. Khan Saheb took her to London, but her health became worse. She was confined to bed and her shooting days appeared to be over. The film industry forgot her, but I continued to send flowers on her birthday even though she was no longer a star.
I’ve described in my book Counting My Blessings my visit to her, it was my last visit, as she lay dying in Breach Candy Hospital. After considerable persuasion I was allowed to see her for just three minutes. Three minutes after a lifetime of companionship! She couldn’t speak because of tubes in her mouth and nose. But immediately I saw recognition in her eyes and, what particularly cheered me, the remembrance. She held my hand as she had always done and we continued looking into each other’s eyes. She wouldn’t let go off my hand, though the nurse asked me to leave.
I loosened her hand with both mine and bent to kiss her on her pale, moist brow. She gave a deep sigh as if in contentment, and then closed her eyes. My eyes were moist, my features were crumpling as I tiptoed out of the room. Seeing me, the nurse followed me out and put her hand on my shoulder and whispered just one word “Pray!” Madhu died two days later on February 20, 1969. She left me with two regrets. One, that colour had not come to Indian cinema in the heyday of her career. And second, that just a year after her death, I read in the Lancet medical journal that at last a cure had been found for the ailment she suffered.
Fate implacably drives men and women to self-knowledge and an acceptance of their limitations. I spoke earlier of Madhubala giving a meaning to my life. My memory of her is still vibrant. Almost 40 years after her death, the enchantment is still with me. No, she is not lost to me.
By B.K.Karanjia
Great article mahesh
......Thanks a lot...
I wonder if all that is true. Why wud Madhu be interested in him ( a married man )?
Noorie
Noorie
profiles of actresses should be post in the way they made their debut,i think it was little early to post waheeda's profile before nutan,meena kumari and vyajantimala..i guess we have yet to gone through nargis profile
50s was an era of Stardom,in 50s actors got more stardom as comparing to 20s,30s & 40s stars.Nargis,Madhubala,Meena Kumari and Geeta Bali were reknown faces of 50s.Actresses of 40s like Suraiya,Nirupa Roy,Kamini Kaoshal were also doing well.Nutan,Vyjayantimala & Waheeda Rehman got stardom in mid of 50s.
Beena Roy,Nimmi,Sandhya,Geeta Dutt,Shakila,Nadira,Kalpana Kartik,Shyama,Kumkum,Shashikala etc were another actresses of that era,who got stardom.Cuckoo,Kuldeep Kaur and Nigar Sultana were doing supporting roles like Vamp,Comic roles etc.Some of 20s and 30s actresses started playing character roles like Sulochana,Lalita Pawar,Durga Khote,Leela Chitnis etc.They also did lead roles in small films.Mala Sinha and Nanda became esteblish actresses in last of 50s.Padmini(South) and Suchitra Sen(Bengali) were not regular bollywood actresses,but they did some performance oriented roles in Bollywood too.
Beena Roy,Nimmi,Sandhya,Geeta Dutt,Shakila,Nadira,Kalpana Kartik,Shyama,Kumkum,Shashikala etc were another actresses of that era,who got stardom.Cuckoo,Kuldeep Kaur and Nigar Sultana were doing supporting roles like Vamp,Comic roles etc.Some of 20s and 30s actresses started playing character roles like Sulochana,Lalita Pawar,Durga Khote,Leela Chitnis etc.They also did lead roles in small films.Mala Sinha and Nanda became esteblish actresses in last of 50s.Padmini(South) and Suchitra Sen(Bengali) were not regular bollywood actresses,but they did some performance oriented roles in Bollywood too.
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Shakila-She made debut with Suraiya,Karan Diwan starring Duniya in 1949.Soon she got some supporting roles and after that got chance to play leading lady.Dataan,Duniya,Jhansi Ki Rani,Hatimtai,Aar Paar,C.I.D,Begunah etc were her reknown films.Later she played supporting roles in some movies.
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Shyama-She made debut in 1949 with Dev Anand,Suraiya starring Shair.Soon she got leading roles,She did not get much scope,but supporting roles helped her.Tarana,Shair,Patanga,Saza,Aasmaan,Aar Paar,Bhai Bhai,Hill Station,Choti Behan,Shardha etc were her main films.She got Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Shardha(1957).
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i have no information where they are now
Shakila-She made debut with Suraiya,Karan Diwan starring Duniya in 1949.Soon she got some supporting roles and after that got chance to play leading lady.Dataan,Duniya,Jhansi Ki Rani,Hatimtai,Aar Paar,C.I.D,Begunah etc were her reknown films.Later she played supporting roles in some movies.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Shyama-She made debut in 1949 with Dev Anand,Suraiya starring Shair.Soon she got leading roles,She did not get much scope,but supporting roles helped her.Tarana,Shair,Patanga,Saza,Aasmaan,Aar Paar,Bhai Bhai,Hill Station,Choti Behan,Shardha etc were her main films.She got Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Shardha(1957).
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i have no information where they are now
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Kumkum-She made debut with Bharat Bhushan,Suraiya starrer Mirza Ghalib in 1954.She was having little role.Soon she got some supporting roles,where she got do something.She got noticed in Basant Bahar.She got lot of hits,but somewhere she did not get much attention as an actress.Later she got films like Mother India,Funtoosh,Dil bhi tera hum bhi tere,Mr and Mrs 55,Mr X in Bombay,Kohinoor,Raja Aur Runk,Geet,Aankhen,Lalkaar etc.Mehboob Khan's Son Of India turned out of big flop,one of her most big project as leading lady.She was even going well in 60s and early 70s.Few Years back she was given lifetime achievement award by Bhojpuri Cinema(i have no idea if she was part of bhojpuri films,may be she might have done few films with Sujit Kumar).Recently got special award during Dada Saheb Falke Awards.
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Kumkum-She made debut with Bharat Bhushan,Suraiya starrer Mirza Ghalib in 1954.She was having little role.Soon she got some supporting roles,where she got do something.She got noticed in Basant Bahar.She got lot of hits,but somewhere she did not get much attention as an actress.Later she got films like Mother India,Funtoosh,Dil bhi tera hum bhi tere,Mr and Mrs 55,Mr X in Bombay,Kohinoor,Raja Aur Runk,Geet,Aankhen,Lalkaar etc.Mehboob Khan's Son Of India turned out of big flop,one of her most big project as leading lady.She was even going well in 60s and early 70s.Few Years back she was given lifetime achievement award by Bhojpuri Cinema(i have no idea if she was part of bhojpuri films,may be she might have done few films with Sujit Kumar).Recently got special award during Dada Saheb Falke Awards.
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Lets talk abt Priya Rajvansh, she was well fine looking... well she was in Hanste Zakhm.
i will talk abt her,but its humble request from me
plz lets first finish profiles of 50s actresses...than we will move to 60s..
plz lets first finish profiles of 50s actresses...than we will move to 60s..
Regarding Shakila, I was fortunate to attend her wedding held at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in Bombay. She was a student of Arabic and learnt from a Maulana who was our tenant. (Reeth will remember I mentioned this Maulana in the topic of Ghosts....) It was a grand wedding after which Shakila stopped working in movies.
Shakila had that something which is called "Namak" in hindustani. I loved her fairy's role in HATIM TAI, (1957) which till today is the best among all the Hatim Tai movies.
NASIR.
Shakila had that something which is called "Namak" in hindustani. I loved her fairy's role in HATIM TAI, (1957) which till today is the best among all the Hatim Tai movies.
NASIR.
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 21 2007, 07:36 PM)
Lets talk abt Priya Rajvansh, she was well fine looking... well she was in Hanste Zakhm.
Hers is a sad story.
She was a victim of murder; the two sons of her late partner Chetan Anand ( with whom she had a live-in relationship ) were found guilty of the crime.
There was a trial, and they served time in prison for a while, last I heard they are out on parole.
Poor Priya, who wud have thought she wud meet such a gory end.
Noorie
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 21 2007, 05:37 PM)
profiles of actresses should be post in the way they made their debut,i think it was little early to post waheeda's profile before nutan,meena kumari and vyajantimala..i guess we have yet to gone through nargis profile
Jassi Nargis and Meena Kumari have already been covered.....Nutan and Vyjayantimala come after Waheeda Rehman(going by their dob)...
Thanks a lot for all those writeups and pics about Shakila , Shama and Kum kum.........they definitely deserve to be mentioned....
QUOTE(nasir @ Jun 21 2007, 10:41 PM)
Regarding Shakila, I was fortunate to attend her wedding held at the Mahalaxmi Race Course in Bombay. She was a student of Arabic and learnt from a Maulana who was our tenant. (Reeth will remember I mentioned this Maulana in the topic of Ghosts....) It was a grand wedding after which Shakila stopped working in movies.
Shakila had that something which is called "Namak" in hindustani. I loved her fairy's role in HATIM TAI, (1957) which till today is the best among all the Hatim Tai movies.
NASIR.
I lkied her dancing to Geeta's 'Hoon abhi mein jawan yeh dil... and Ankhon ki aankhon mein ishara ho gaya......and yes ,she had a certain kind of charm
QUOTE(noorie @ Jun 21 2007, 11:11 PM)
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 21 2007, 07:36 PM)
Lets talk abt Priya Rajvansh, she was well fine looking... well she was in Hanste Zakhm.
Hers is a sad story.
She was a victim of murder; the two sons of her late partner Chetan Anand ( with whom she had a live-in relationship ) were found guilty of the crime.
There was a trial, and they served time in prison for a while, last I heard they are out on parole.
Poor Priya, who wud have thought she wud meet such a gory end.
Noorie
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Priya led an enigmatic life. For one, she was perhaps the only heroine educated in London, at a time when most of the leading ladies were hardly literate! After her debut film 'Haqeeqat', her professional and personal life were so intricately fused that it became difficult to seperate one from the other. She only starred in seven films in her entire career and all of them were directed by Chetan Anand. He went on to become her friend, philosopher and guide. Priya remained faithful to him till his death recently. And became a recluse. However the personal rapport between Chetan Anand and Priya Rajvansh could not crystallize into memorable performances from the latter. Whether it was the Heer of Heer Ranjha, the call girl of 'Hanste Zakhm' or the modern day Cinderella of Sahib Bahadur, Priya remained glacial, in all of them! Priya Rajvansh, however will be remembered for some of the most melodious Lata Mangeshkar solos tuned by Madan Mohan and picturised on her. .....
i ll have to check previous pages,how i can miss it...
well nutan,vyjantimala and waheeda all three were born in same year 1936,i was not knowing abt date of birth..but if we go by debut it was nutan who made her debut in 1951 and vyajantimala in 1953 and waheeda in 1955-56
i was just knowing abt kumkum,shayma and shakeela's proffessional life,someone update abt their personal life too
thanks reeth for encouraging words
well nutan,vyjantimala and waheeda all three were born in same year 1936,i was not knowing abt date of birth..but if we go by debut it was nutan who made her debut in 1951 and vyajantimala in 1953 and waheeda in 1955-56
i was just knowing abt kumkum,shayma and shakeela's proffessional life,someone update abt their personal life too
thanks reeth for encouraging words
QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 22 2007, 10:20 AM)
QUOTE(noorie @ Jun 21 2007, 11:11 PM)
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 21 2007, 07:36 PM)
Lets talk abt Priya Rajvansh, she was well fine looking... well she was in Hanste Zakhm.
Hers is a sad story.
She was a victim of murder; the two sons of her late partner Chetan Anand ( with whom she had a live-in relationship ) were found guilty of the crime.
There was a trial, and they served time in prison for a while, last I heard they are out on parole.
Poor Priya, who wud have thought she wud meet such a gory end.
Noorie
Click to view attachment
Why was she killed? You dont kill sum1 who looks like that, thatz just wrong!
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 22 2007, 03:50 PM)
QUOTE(Reeth @ Jun 22 2007, 10:20 AM)
QUOTE(noorie @ Jun 21 2007, 11:11 PM)
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 21 2007, 07:36 PM)
Lets talk abt Priya Rajvansh, she was well fine looking... well she was in Hanste Zakhm.
Hers is a sad story.
She was a victim of murder; the two sons of her late partner Chetan Anand ( with whom she had a live-in relationship ) were found guilty of the crime.
There was a trial, and they served time in prison for a while, last I heard they are out on parole.
Poor Priya, who wud have thought she wud meet such a gory end.
Noorie
Click to view attachment
Why was she killed? You dont kill sum1 who looks like that, thatz just wrong!
She was caught in the middle of a sordid property tussle; she wished to sell off the bungalow that was willed to her by Chetan Anand; apparently this didn’t go down very well with his two sons by his first wife.
They hatched a plot to dispose off her for good, and were very successful; fortunately for us the law caught up with them, and put them behind bars.
They wud still be in there, if it hadn’t been 4 the rotten legal system in India.
This article has a lot on her life with Chetan Anand; very interesting.
Remembering Priya Rajvansh
-Sharmila Taliculam
'It has still to sink in' Click to view attachment
Nothing, at the present moment, has caught the industry's imagination as much as the gruesome tale of the murder of yesteryear actress, Priya Rajvansh. And the horrifying knowledge that the alleged suspects are Chetan Anand's sons.
But a few months ago, nobody even remembered Priya Rajvansh. She was as good as forgotten by the industry and its people. For those whose memory went that far back, she was just a heroine that film-maker Chetan Anand, Dev Anand's elder brother, was fascinated with and lived in with.
But their lifestyle did not generate much gossip. They made very few films and never really partied much. They kept to themselves of the most time and interacted with only a few close friends. They preferred to invite friends over to their shack and have a few drinks and discuss poetry, politics, books, etc. Amit Khanna, CEO, Plus Channel, who had known the couple since 1971, says, "The evenings in their shack were very stimulating."
Priya came to India from London, where her father was deputed as a forest conservator by the United Nations. She had studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatics. Chetan, who was on the lookout for a new heroine for his film Haqeekat, spotted her a friend's place and immediately signed her on.
"They became very close during the making of the film. Chetansaab had just gone through a divorce and Priya was alone here. They both were lonely and that, I think, is what brought them together in the first place," says Hasan Kamaal, writer and lyricist, who worked with Chetan on Haathon Ki Lakheeren (1982) and the television serial, Paramveer Chakra.
Priya was 20 years younger than Chetan, a fact that obviously didn't bother either of them. "Chetansaab was her mentor. He introduced her to the film industry. Priya was totally dedicated to him. Whatever relationship they had, everybody knew about it. We also accepted it. We never thought about it ever. It was a decent relationship and they both liked each other," says Kamaal.
"Priya and Chetan had a very good relationship," adds Khanna. "She was the gregarious one, he was very reticent. Despite that, they liked each other a lot. Priya was completely dedicated to him."
Priya's dependence on Chetan was not just mental and emotional, there are strong indications that it could have been financial as well. "When Chetansaab was alive, he saw to it that she was well looked after. Perhaps, if he had married her, the situation would have been different today because she would have more legal powers," says Kamaal.
Priya and Chetan never thought of marriage. Even if they did, it probably didn't affect their relationship. They were happy with each other. "Priya and Chetansaab never discussed their relationship. I don't know why they never married and, frankly, I never thought of asking them. It never mattered," says Khanna.
"As far as I know, Priya was happy with the way things were going. She never talked about marriage. Chetansaab didn't want to marry, maybe because of the kids and his previous marriage, which had gone sour," says Kamaal.
"I remember we used to tell Priya she must do something for herself and not be involved so much with the man she loved. She would only reply that she couldn't see beyond Chetansaab at all. She was completely devoted to him and, finally, it didn't matter because they really behaved like husband and wife. Only, they didn't have the tag of 'being married.' We accepted this. We found nothing unusual in their relationship as such."
The usual fights and arguments were generally considered normal, they would have happened even if the two were married. The only difference was the fact that Priya lived separately. She had her own flat first in Kalumal Estate and, later, a bigger house in Mangal Kiran. She would go over to Chetan's house twice a day, for lunch and in the evenings for about three or four hours.
"That was when she would call and invite us over for drinks and conversation. They would behave like any married couple. They had their share of fights and arguments. They would also discuss their likes and dislikes. We never thought it was something different because we accepted them as a couple," says Kamaal.
They were so dedicated to each other that Priya never thought of acting in anyone else's films. Chetan, too, never made a film without her as the central character. She probably had offers, but she never accepted them. She never gave any reasons why she did that.
"She did tell me she had got some offers. But she never really explained why she didn't take them up. Maybe Chetansaab didn't want her to. Maybe, she didn't feel like it. The fact is, she was involved in every aspect of Chetansaab's films. Right from scripts to story to lyrics to postproduction. It wasn't as if she didn't have anything to do at all. She contributed a lot professionally and personally," says Kamaal.
Even Chetan's family, including his two brothers, their families and his two children, had accepted her.
Since she was so involved with a man who was so much older to her, Priya never gave a thought to herself. She never even thought about having an income of her own. Apparently, she never gave any thought to what life would be like after Chetan Anand. That, probably, could be why she became very lonely after his death.
According to Khanna, though she was lonely, she had her circle of friends whom she kept in touch with on a regular basis. Kamaal disagrees. "The people who would drop in when Chetansaab was alive didn't come over anymore. Even though we would go over sometimes, the frequency of our visits decreased. She even contemplated going back to Chandigarh because she felt she had nothing left after Chetansaab. She had a beautiful bungalow there and she wanted to settle down. But we would discourage her, saying she didn't have anybody there and she would be very lonely. At least she had us here, to call and chat with whenever she wanted."
Since she never acted in any other films and never thought of doing films after Chetan's death, Priya was not very well off financially. Kamaal says she wanted to sell the bungalow because she thought the resultant money would assure her of a decent living for the rest of her life.
"She did mention she had arguments about the property with Chetansaab's sons, but she put it in such a manner that we thought it was regular thing and it would get solved soon. We never thought it would take such a dramatic and violent turn," says Kamaal.
"She would mention them in such a manner that we would think these things happen everywhere. She never gave us a chance to seriously worry about her situation. Like she would say that her servant would be rude to her, but then again we thought it was something which was quite ordinary."
Priya was known in the industry for her grace and style. She was looked upon as a very civilised and cultured person. "Never has she spoken a harsh word against anybody. Or been rude to anyone. So this death has shocked me and everybody who knew her."
Priya was murdered in the same bungalow and the culprits are suspected to be Chetan's sons, Ketan and Vivek. "The whole thing baffles me because I know the boys well and logic tells me there is something more to this than meets the eye. Both the boys wouldn't do such a ridiculous thing," says Khanna.
Again, Kamaal disagrees. "I have no reason not to believe it. I only wish I had known the seriousness of the situation. It's sad that she had to die in this manner. She was very close to my wife and daughter. She would come to my house for Eid every year for dinner. She would tell me, 'Hasansaab, if this house could get sold, I would be settled.' Now she is dead. It has still to sink in."
Is the woman in white Priya? Ewwwww! I wanna shake the hands of those 2 outstanding gentlemen 4 performing a public service.
QUOTE(YaarMere @ Jun 22 2007, 09:32 AM)
Is the woman in white Priya? Ewwwww! I wanna shake the hands of those 2 outstanding gentlemen 4 performing a public service.
Can we find someone to get of rid of this insensitive boob, maybe someone will kick this YM in a place where the sun don't shine and perform another public service!!!
Your chronic obstructive pulmonary withstanding, step-up, perform 1 y dont you?
let me know abt sardar akhtar,if she was the same actress who played jhansi ki rani..
QUOTE(jassi @ Jun 23 2007, 02:04 PM)
let me know abt sardar akhtar,if she was the same actress who played jhansi ki rani..
Sardar Akhtar was the heroine of Mehboob in AURAT (1939) and later married him. Mehtab was the heroine of Sohrab Modi's JHANSI KI RANI (1952). She also married Sohrab Modi. Incidentally, despite being fully in colour in th