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10 Responses to “BRICKS OF HINDI CINEMA”

1. Devdutt on July 31st, 2007 10:16 pm

   Dear Sir,
   Whilst using the term ‘Hindi cinema’ please address such works as ‘Uski Roti’, ‘Om Dar Ba Dar’ and ‘Chattrabhang’ You may not respect these works but please do address them.
   Devdutt

2. wb on August 1st, 2007 12:33 am

   Devdutt // My god!! Chattrabhang!! Amrish Puri the GOD!! AK Bir’s awesome camera! Nina Shivadasani’s direction (debut?)! I guess it was an award winner as well (french?? cannes??). Not sure if Nina has made any other movies after this. We need a separate post from someone passionate, erudite and authentic (read RK or Oz). Thank you so much for making us remember this masterpiece again!

3. Shailesh Limbachiya on August 1st, 2007 12:53 am

   oh, i haven’t heard about the movies you are mentioning.
   yes, RK/ OZ should write about it.

4. wb on August 1st, 2007 1:00 am

   actually, Devdutt

5. RK on August 1st, 2007 5:27 am

   Hey Shailesh: you opened the cover of a box,
   Many names you have mentioned, but while writing comment I may forget many things what you have already written , so pls excuse me for that, if there is any repetition.
   (1) Abhi Bhattacharya, he started along with Dilip Kumar and he was a sobre person to see on screen, Jagriti you have mentioned. Anuradha (Leela Naidu, Balraj Sahni), Sageena (Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu), Phir Kab Milogee (Mala Sinha, Bisvajeet, Dilip Kumar (perhaps in his sole guest appearance), Amanush(Uttam Kumar, Sharmila Tagore) are few of Abhi Bhatta Charya’s major films.
   (2) Manmohan Krishna: I did not get your lines abt him, we have to watch the actor in films like DharmaPutra, Bees Saal Bad, and Alap where he played silent but devoted lover of old singer Sarju Bai.
   (3)Najir Hussain, you missed this actor. Many may recall him rich father or father in law of lead actress and he often played single parent who is often a widower and he often said to his daughter while standing before the photo of his dead wife,” Beti aaj tumharee maan jinda hotee”. One can recall him in Aankhein, where he played father of Dharmendra, and Kati Patanag where he played father in law of Asha Parekh. Actor was part of Azad Hind Fauz of Neta Ji Subhash Chandra Bose and one should see his film “Pehla Aadmi” to know his calibre as an actor. He looked like a old family member of our own families and thus for years he was part of our lives. he came on screen and we connected with him in fraction of second.
   (3) Jaanki Das: before independence he was a national champion in cycling and he had represented India in Olympics in 40s. He had met Mahatma Gandhi before leaving for Germany to seek his blessings and though nation was under British Raj then, Gandhi Ji had instructed him to use Tri colour flag and he did it in the stadium where Hitler was also present. He has been part of many films and perhaps he weas friends with many many film stars, big stars and small stars. He perhaps took care of astrological consultation for many film folks. He had his own special dialogue delivery.
   (4) Radha Krishna: Actor played a priest and often cunning one in so many films that he was almost typed in that role but his sharp voice to say dialogues never sent boredom to audience. one can recall him in Guide where he tries to bully Dev Anand at a village.
   (5) Rehman, One of the finest actor India has produced. He had got everything, a charming personaility and acting abilities. Never he was loud and he prefered natural and subtle acting. It was unfortunate that he never played lead role but he was an actor in the category of Ashok Kumar and MotiLal. With reasons unknown audience never got to know his full name like Tiwari (you have mentioned him)whose first name is never mentioned.
   (6)Bipin Gupta: one can recall this actor in old Jagriti, where he had played the character of father of boy Ajay(Master Ratan). He can be seen in many films.
   (7)Kanhaya Lal: Hindi Cine history cant be completed without this actor’s many memmorable role especially roles of cunning land lord of villages like Mother India and Ganga Jamuna, Ram aur Shyam etc. The way he stretched his arms behind and pulled his chest ahead and then walk in a kurta which had lonmg sleeves was amazing. One can see, Paresh Raval had taken Kanhaya Lal’s body language in the role of Babu Rao Apte in Hera Pheri. K Lal was a class.
   (8) Murad, father of Raza Murad, this actor also influneced many films with his rich voice and sharp brownish eyes. In Rajesh Khanna’s Prem Kahani, he is shown to scream in full voice ” Rajeshhhhh” and see his facial expressions on full screen. Including Pakizaa he has enriched many memorable films.
   (9) Gajanan Jagirdar: this soft spoken actor was also part of many important films. One can recall him in the role of village head Bhola in Guide.If I recall correctly he was in Shankar Hussain , a low budget beautiful film with Kanwal Jeet in lead role, with a rare quality music by Khaiyyam.

   (10) Raj Mehra, like Najir Hussain, he also played rich father of lead actor or actress. He had a special way to tilt his face while saying his dialogues or while smiling. Mostly he had a pipe or cigaar in his hands.
   (11)Harindra Nath Chattopadhyay: Though he has lesser number of films but whatever he did, became an example of class act.
   (12)Gupta: we dont know his full name also but he mostly played Judge in the film and he was shown sitting on his chair in the court only. we never saw him with black hair and he was always with completely white hair.
   (13)Tarun Bose, he played harsh father of Sharmila Tagore in Anupama and greedy rich lover of Jaheeda in Anokhi Raat.
   (14)In mothers, Leela Chitnis, Shobhna Samarth can be said most authentic mothers of all the list. They had less dramatic roles than Nirupa Roy. Leela Chitnis became mother of Dev Anand in many films including Guide. and if one needed a mother who was suffering from TB, asthama or old cough like disease than Shobhna Samarth was always capable to bring that effect on screen. She was mother Nutan and Tanuja, means grand mother of Mohnish Behal, Kajole and Tanisha.
   (15) Sajjan: one will recall him easily in the role of Vetal in the TV serial Vikram aur Vetal. He has long list of films
   (16) Iftekhar, other than Jagdish Raj, this actor might have played police officer in maximum number of films. Well he has been part of many memmorable films including greedy elder brother of Dilip Kumar in Bimol Roy’s Devdas and lusty Landlord in Teesri Kasam (Raj Kapoor Waheeda Rehman starrer) and most famously he played DSP in original Don. He was there in Ittefaq also, again playing a police officer.
   (17) Ram Sethy, he played Pyarelalaka awarelal in Muqadar Ka sikandar and he was in many of AB starer films.
   (18) Jayant, father of Amjad Khan. he became king, villain, tribal, poor villager etc etc and remained impressive on screen. Watch him in the role of father of Vaijayanti Mala in Madhumati.
   (19) Ramesh Dev, with Bengali directors he remained part of many super hit and memorable films made in 1960s and 1970s including Safar, Mere Apane etc.
   (20) Sujeet Kumar, he became famous when Aradhana became a super hit film and he was there driving the jeep when Rajesh Khanna sings most famous song of the film, mere sapno kee rani…. He also played friend of hero, good guy and some times villain also, but he was part of many films in those years.
   (21)C.S Dube: he played bad guy very effectively. he produced irritation through his disgusting characters in Mausam, Ghar etc. he had started the trend of saying dialogues in marwari style which Ashok Sarraf did in Karan Arjun.
   (22) Om Shiv Puri, Police officer of Sholay, Viadya ji and father of Sharmila Tagore in Mausam and Vardan in original Don.
   (23) Asit Sen, his way of dragging the dialogues made people laugh for many years. he played simple but foolish man in many films
   (25) Yakub, he had a good place in films for some years. He played greedy, cunning man with ease. His pair with Gope was a hit pair to produce comedy but alone also he was equally impressive.
   (26) Ullhas, Dev Anand’s maternal uncle in Guide. we saw him in many old films
   (27)Tom Alter played whiteman in many many films
   (28) Yunus Parvez, most famosuly we can recall him in Angoor and Bazar
   (29) Shashi Kala, Shubha Khote became major parts of many films
   (30) and ofcourse Helen, one actress who was never a lead actress but her presence in the film added value to the film. Tun Tun also falls in this category
   Many more names are there who played small but significant roles and gave their valuable input in the films which have been admiring over the years.:)

6. Shailesh Limbachiya on August 1st, 2007 5:54 am

   RK, i have intentionally excluded some names like
   Rehman, Shobhna Samarth, Sujeet kumar, Nazir Hussain, Omshivpuri, Asit sen, Shashilkala, Helen etc. because most of them were well known and i want to include those names which are famous by their characters not by their names. We can identify them while watching them in films but don’t know their names.

   Anway, thanks for precious information on Jankidas, Kanhaiya lal, Rehman and other great actors.

7. Vinayak on August 1st, 2007 7:09 am

   I started reading the post down from the bottom to up.
   RK please make your comment a separate post. It wonderful and has so much information. Also, put the images to the names. In gumnam logo ko chehra toh milega.

   Why I say this is because: I read the actual post by Shailesh Limbachiya also from bottom to up. Could recognize lot of the names except a few. However, I saw all the familiar faces in the images at top of the post.

   They truly were indispensable part of Hindi Cinema.

8. Devdutt on August 1st, 2007 8:08 am

   Yes Nina SR Sugati is very much around and is planning to release Chattrabhang on DVD in India

9. wb on August 1st, 2007 1:16 pm

   RK bhai ^:)^

   Your list is the most comprehensive one! Mujhe aap se yahi umeed thi. You’ve mentioned him with Ifftekar, however, Jagdish Raj, Anita Raj’s dad and the perennial police inspector, need his own entry on this list. It’s just because the viewers were so used to seeing him as a cop that Goldie used him as a red herring in Johnny Mera Naam.

10. RK on August 2nd, 2007 6:46 am

    Vinayak and WB: brothers

    I could search following link, here you can find images of many old actors. Hope their faces take us all to a trip down the memorry lanes.
    http://hindi-movies-songs.com/actor-photos/actors2.html

    I doubt some names are wrong. its not Radha Krishan’s photo . Tarun Bose’s photo is more like Utpal Dutt’s photo.

    but here also some photos are missing like photos of Yakub, Gupta, Tarun Bose, Gajanan Joagirdar, CS dube etc.
    about Yakub we have to admit that we have yet to see a better actor who could play pimp better than him in hindi films.

    and here there is Rashid Khan, a must in Dev Anand’s films. he was a part of his studio also and when he died Dev Saab kept one day closing of his studio.

    Wb: While mentioning Iftekhar and Jagdish Raj, I recalled that Shailesh had mentioned Jagdish Raj, so I did not write on him. Other than roles of Police officer he has played many times colleague of main villain in many films. and its so intertesting that we can find boring if heros repeat them again and again but we did not mind many character actors who played same kind of roles because they played these with full devotion and its different they never got lengthy roles.

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