Cinema: The Magic Lantern!!

Madhubala was a priceless gift to Indian Cinema, the moment we say Madhubala, it reminds of us her million dollars smile and beautiful eyes. Besotted poets called her ‘A living Taj Mahal’. Madhubala’s radiant beauty was timeless yet ephemeral. Madhubala, The Venus of Bollywood, took over the reins from the Venus of the East ‘Devika Rani’ and firmly saddled herself as the crowing queen with Mahal (1949). One success followed another, establishing her as a top-grade star with a rare versatility and ebullience. Madhubala was declared ‘The Biggest Star in the World’ by an American magazine comparing her mystique to Marilyn Monroe. Madhubala was born as Mumtaz Jahan Dehlavi on Valentine’s Day in 1933. Her father Attaullah Khan was a horse-cart puller in Delhi. Baby Mumtaz, dreamt of becoming a movie star since childhood. A holy man predicted that she would have fame and fortune but failed love affairs and early death. Subsequent events bore out the accuracy of this clairvoyant...

Shakeel Badayuni’s lyrics “Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho Ya Aftab Ho..”, are an exquisitely refined description of Waheeda Rehman’s bewitching prettiness. Her classic beauty is an example where a poet’s dreamily romantic imagination finds its match in real life. She possessed the mischievous streak of a precocious village belle. Waheeda, the quintessential beauty of Bollywood, has wooed the captive audience for decades with her charms and acting savoir faire without any sensual display of her limbs. She has an uncanny ability to give visible expression to innermost feelings through the entire spectrum of emotions. Most of her films were classic flabbergasted by her radiance on screen. She portrayed multi-layered characters like the role of seductive Gulabo in Pyasa, a defiant Rosie in Guide, coquettish Hira Bai of Teesri Kasam and emotionally deranged nurse Radha in Khamoshi. Her illustrious career-trajectory culminated in her attaining the iconic status. Waheeda Rehman was born o...

A powerhouse of talent, O.P. Nayyar, gave new orientation to Indian film music.   His music studded with melodious rhythm is a sheer joy for the Opiums (music lovers). His compositions are like bright sunshine full of beauty and romance. He is particularly acclaimed for haunting, mesmerizing and enchanting peppy numbers with Punjabi flavour . He always disclaimed any knowledge of classical music, yet composed some of the best songs based on ragas. He was a born music director, who attained ecstatic heights with his divine music. O.P. Nayyer (Omkar Prasad Nayyar) was born in Lahore on 16 January, 1926. He was initiated into classical music during his school days. He participated in children's show at Lahore Radio at the age of 11. He was not interested much in studies and used to frequent film shootings in Lahore. Luckily, he got the role of junior ‘Dulla’ in Punjabi film ‘Dulla Bhatti’ (1940) and also lent his voice in its chorus ‘ Rabb Di Janab Wichon.. He also com...

A creative genius, C. Ramchandra came to the city of dreams to become an actor, did only some cameos and vanished from the acting field. However, he continued to struggle and became a famous music director. He was a pioneer and trendsetter, whose mellifluous music left an indelible imprint on listener’s mind. He was brilliantly versatile, having composed music for peppy club songs to lullabies to ghazals and lilting love songs. His creativity, variety and flair for composing simple tunes without getting overly obsessed with classical music, reflected his flamboyant personality. He composed numerous juvenile songs depicting raucous and joyful mood, mostly picturised on the raunchy comedy team of Yakub and Gope. He gave playback as Chitalkar, while scoring music he adopted many names like Anna Sahib, Ram Chitalkar, P Ramakant, C Ramachandra and Shyamoo. C. Ramchandra was born as Ramachandra Narhar Chitalkar in Puntambe village (Ahmednagar), on January 12, 1918 in a t...