MANOJ KUMAR–A Qunitessential BHARAT
At the age of 10 a boy who has migrated from Lahore to Delhi in year 1947 watches a Dilip Kumar starrer Shabnam at Minerva talkies and decides that he will one day become a Hindi Film Hero and vows to adopt Dilip Kumar’s character name from that film.
In 1956 at the age of 19 years this boy named Harikrishan Goswami lands at Mumbai with two dreams. One to become a Hero and second to earn Rupees Three Lakhs in life. One lakh for his parents, one lakh for his brothers and sisters and one lakh for himself.
And the journey to accomplish his two point mission is no smooth ride.During his struggle days he makes use of his penchant for writing(since school time) and writes for movies being made at Ranjit Studios, Dadar. He gets Rs.11 per scene as a ghost writer! Around that time he is joined by another co-traveller on this road to stardom (later on a buddy-turned-rival) from Punjab. He is none other than Dharmendra. But more of him later.
Harikrishan Goswami lives upto his vow of adopting Dilip Kumar’s character name and is reborn as screen Hero Manoj Kumar in year 1960. He really got into the groove with release of Hariyali Aur Raasta in 1962. During that time his friend Kewal Kashyap was planning a movie on Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom. And Manoj Kumar joined him because he shared not the business prospect of the movie on martyrs but the passion, obsession and mission of the whole subject. The intensity of his passion can be guaged by the fact that Manoj Kumar kept his hand on the burning candle(with no jelly or ointment to provide a shield from fire) and his palm was burnt while giving a close shot for the same. And watching the movie one gets the distinct sensation that Manoj Kumar ’s expressions on the song Aey Watan, Aey Watan Humko Teri Kasam, Teri Raahon mein jaan tak luta jayenge.. are so life-like that they seem to bring out the actual determination and commitment of real Bhagat Singh.
Shaheed was shot in Ludhiana jail at actual locations of condemned cells,prison walls,courtyard et al.It was shot under jail’s search light, lights illuminating a chauraha and actual street lights. The budget was so low there were no extra resources to indulge.Infact the whole movie was shot in just Rs. nine and half lakhs that time! Only the climax portion had some studio shooting as the song Mera Rang De Basanti Chola, Mahe Rang De Basanti Chola had such wonderful music interludes,it required appropriate dramatisation. And its picturised dramatic impact was so powerful that the legendary Satyajit Ray went on record saying he saw it 32 times just to get all the nuances! Even the later Shaheed Bhagat Singh versions made by Raj Kumar Santoshi and Guddu Dhanoa for Deols have almost the same picturisation and framing as Manoj Kumar starrer Shaheed.A backhanded tribute–tribute nonetheless.
After watching Shaheed, the late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri called Manoj Kumar next morning for breakfast and told him about his reactions . He was so impressed and moved by the moive that he just surmised whether a movie could be made on a slogan dear to him–Jai Jawan Jai Kissan. Manoj Kumar was so touched by Shastriji’s dedication and respect for the country that he decided to write a movie incorporating this thought. He got hold of a note-pad and clutch of pens and boarded the Deluxe train from Delhi to Mumbai and wrote the entire story based on ideals represented by that slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kissan, in just 24 hours . And a classic was made– Upkaar. A director was born. And a quintessential Bharat took avatar.
Manoj Kumar was obsessed with his motherland and issues affecting it. If Upkaar had jawan and kissan forming the backbone of real Bharat, it also had Mahatma Gandhi’s call to the farmers to be rooted to their villages (as he could foresee massive migration to the cities)–to cultivate the lands and have dignity in their work. After Upkaar there was no looking back. One wonders whether theme of Upkaar can be reprised in contemporary India.
Manoj Kumar moved ahead and took up a very pertinent topic of those times–brain drain. He was influenced by trials and tribulations of one of our country’s noble laureate Dr. Har Gobind Khorana who had to leave his beloved country and settle in USA because of lack of aid and research facilities back home. He tackled the issue of migration beyond the borders. He wondered what made people to leave their culture,roots,milieu and customs and migrate to foreign lands. As a school boy of ten years he migrated from Lahore to Delhi. And throughout his teens he longed for Lahore. When he came down to Bombay he frequently thought of Delhi. So this same feeling he projected on the larger canvas. He mused whether all those people really craved for their homeland once settled abroad. He had not been to London or anyother foreign country till then. But he could feel the feelings, as they say. He wrote and directed Purab Aur Pashim, which is considered one of the finest movies depicting East and West interaction and divide.
V Shantaram saw it at Opera House, Charni Road, Bombay and called up Manoj Kumar. His words of appreciation : “Aisi Film bann jaati hai, banai nahin jaati.’(Such a film just gets made, it can’t be made). Purab Aur Pachim spawned many clones. Even the super hit DDLJ or Subhash Ghai’s Pardes had drawn inspiration from it one way or the other.Yes Dev Anand’s Des Pardes was also in the same mould.
But one movie that is most dear to Manoj Kumar as a director is Shor (like Raj Kapoor considers Mera Naam Joker as his best directorial venture). A twoline story of father-son relationship where son can’t speak and father wants to listen.And when son speaks father can’t hear.
Its songs are few of the finest in tradition of philosophy made easy for popular culture.
Manoj Kumar’s take on India’s socialist travails and culture of shortages was simply brilliant with its in-the-face depiction in Roti Kapda Aur Makaan. Then there was Kranti where Manoj Kumar not only directed his childhood hero but also shared screen space with him–the legendary Dilip Kumar.
After Kranti, Manoj Kumar seemed to have lost his masters touch.There is no point dwelling on those non-descript films where he lauched his sons but in vain. May be he had not gauged the changed realities and audience tastes.One need not mull over those turkeys. Because these five movies that Manoj Kumar gave as a writer, director and actor are more than enough to keep his name alive and contribution intact in the annals of Hindi Cinema.
And now some trivia:
In Upkaar Manoj Kumar shot for the first time in actual bungalows, hotels etc. He started a trend about which V. Shantaram quipped : Producers ka faayda hai,lekin studio owners kay pet pe laat hai (its good for producers but deathknell for studio-owners).
Manoj Kumar used to operate camera himself whereever he was not in the scene.
He never let Choreographer decide the camera angle. His job was just to tell the dance movements.
Manoj Kumar even composed his action sequences(essentially dishum-dishum stuff).
Once Dharmendra left a note with Bhajiyya, vada-pav thelewaala(cart-owner) that he was going back to Punjab. Manoj Kumar went across to him in Sion-Koliwada ,where Dharmendra was staying in a railway quarter with one of his acquaintances, and pleaded with him to hang on for just two more months. Dharmendra was so frustrated that he had no more spirit to struggle it out. Dharmendra asked him how they could survive for two months.Where is the money. Manoj Kumar told him about his ghost writing assignments plus there was credit from thelewaala and dhabawaala’s. Dharmendra relented and trusted Manoj Kumar. In three days time both of them signed two movies each.
Manoj Kumar advised Subhash Ghai to try his hand at direction when Subhash Ghai’s career as an actor was going nowhere.
Manoj Kumar is an accomplished homoepathic doctor.
He had so many songs picturised on him while playing piano that he once quipped: ‘Maine Piano nahin bajaaya, magar pata nahin main piano pe kitni baar bajaya gaya hoon.’
Raj Kapoor had lots of respect for Manoj Kumar. He once endearingly told him..Bhaisahab,you are the best story writer, best dialogue writer, best screenplay writer, best director, best actor then what are we doing here.
Manoj Kumar got his first Filmfare award in Upkaar.He was given Lifetime achievement award in 1998.
His lament is the mushrooming of so many awards with nothing to bolster them.
One movie all these years that has impressed him the most and that he felt like making himself is Munnbhai MBBS.
When he was asked to describe himself he quoted from a character from one of his not-made-yet scripts : Desh mera ik Ram hai, Toh main uska Hanumaan hoon.
Cheer kay dekh lo seena mera, poora Hindustan hoon.
(Country is my Rama, And I am its Hanumaan
Tear through my heart, I am whole of Hindustan)
To real Bharat..To a real mirror to the society..To one and only.. Manoj Kumar…On his 71st birthday on 24th July, 2007.
Note: Most of the material is from Manoj Kumar himself as he appeared on RKB show on Sahara Mumbai..It was so good that I felt it a kind of my responsibility to share it with my PFC friends.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Excellent write up Krysh…
Even though many of us have made fun of Manoj Kumar’s palm over the face dialogue delivery and those 60degree angled poses, it undeniable the contribution of Manoj Kumar to the Indian Cinema…
First I really admire the use of camera in his movies… the angles were inventive, the images very impressionable and have the ability to last life long in memory…
A few of those images that come to my mind are :
- The Rangde basanti chola song and when the jailer (Madan Puri?) asks the prisoners their last wish
- This one still haunts me even though surprisingly I watched this movie when I had barely learnt to talk – it’s the scene in Roti Kapada aur Makaan where the three shopkeepers push Moushami Chatterjee in the warehouse and there the white wheat flour pouring all over her as she cries and begs for help…
- The black and white scene in Purab aur Paschim (a movie I like but have reservations over the entire UK episode and the flaunting of vices almost to the point of senselessness) – it’s the scene where the town is flooded with knee deep water in the streets and the revolutionary father is hides through the water giving the British soldiers the slip.
- The quick back and forth use of focus in Purab aur Paschim which later was used so moronically by other film makers but never achieved the class with which Manoj Kumar achieved in his movies
- The song picturizations… are almost at par as the master of song picturizations – Vijay Anand
- The cycle song in Shor… can’t remember the lyrics by have the tune in my head…
- The brothers confrontation in front of India Gate in Roti Kapada aur Makaan
- The song Hai Hai Yeh Majboori with Zeenat Aman in the rain while he tries to keep his head dry with his jacket over his head… watch for lyrics in this one… it is plain spicy, mischievous and of course romantic…
- Perhaps the first in Bombay to give a good guy’s role to an established villain… he was intensely discouraged not to use Pran as the good but brash guy with a lost leg in Upkaar. Pran had only done villain roles so far in Indian cinema and so hard was the impact of his villainy on screen that between the 50s to 70s there was hardly any child in India that was named ‘Pran’… it was a death wish people said, when Manoj gave the good guy’s role to Pran… it boosted Pran’s career and what a success the movie had.
- ditto to Premnath… in Shor and Roti Kapada aur Makaan… Premnath had vanished into oblivion until Vijay Anand brought him back in “Johnny Mera Naam” as the eccentric villain… but Manoj again gave Premnath the good man Pathan/Sikh roles.
- In one of the interviews some 20 odd years ago, Manoj Kumar had recapped the scene in Upkaar where he is unconscious in a tent, wakes up and asks for his younger brother. Asha Parekh, a doctor in the movies, smiles and lifts the door flap of the tent to reveal his younger brother (Prem Chopra) plowing the field with the full circled rising sun behind him. Somehow that morning sun, the angle, Prem Chopra right in front of the sun at the horizon – all these factors wouldn’t fall in place… and they couldn’t take more takes as the sun would move up and the shot could not be taken exactly as Manoj had in mind. So they would wait till the next morning for the shot… the second day too… same problem… third day… same problem… this according to Manoj irritated the lead actress Asha Parekh so much that she was supposed to have expressed her displeasure to another member of the team “Sunrise dikhane se kya film hit ho jaye gi?” (Will the film become a hit if he shows that sunrise?)… fortunately they got the shot the next day exactly the way Manoj had in mind. Yet in that interview Manoj mentioned that he was quite hurt when he came to know what Asha Parekh had mentioned.
- In yet another interview, he claimed to have taught Jaya Bhaduri/Bachchan the right camera angles for her face and closeup.
- It was heard that in Kranti he had invested everything he had… and he would have gone bankrupt if Kranti failed… and it was pitted to release around the time Ramesh Sippy was coming back with a new film after his colossal block buster “Sholay”… Sippy’s movie was ‘Shaan’… People expected Shaan to tear open all box office records while Kranti was expected to bring Manoj Kumar to the streets… in actuality Shaan didn’t do big business, but Kranti became Manoj Kumar’s last big hit.
- He invested in a movie called “Painter Babu” after Kranti… the movie introduced I think his nephew and launched Meenakshi Seshadri, who today prefers to call Subhash Ghai’s “Hero” as her first movie… Painter Babu was so bad that there were rumours theaters changed the movie midweek itself… The movie had a song – the kind which is real bad but sticks in your head for days together – ‘Painter Babuuuuuuuuuuuuu I looooooooooooove youuuuuuuuuuuu’ I was around 12 or 13 when the movie came out and I sat through the entire 3 hours and for the first time in my life felt like reviewing a movie and beating the shit out of it.
- Though he directed and produced “Kalyug Ki Ramayan” strangely he credited veteran Babulal Mistry with the direction… that movie caused him many pre release problems where the Hindu fundamentalists objected to the story – it had Lord Hanuman coming to present day and checking the modern sinful Ramayan… I thought the story had a lot it could do with a few more creative inputs and drafts… unfortunately a good concept does not result in a good screenplay and the movie crashed under it’s own weight…
- Manoj Kumar later dabbled as presenter or the TV series “Kahan Gaye Woh Log” which was covered all known and forgotton revolutionaries in British India…
… and that’s the last I saw of him… Thanks for this Krysh… many memories… many opinions on this amazing writer/director/actor/cinematographer just came out like that…
Oh… I remember ‘Clerk’… it was the anti Manoj Kumar of cinema… every innovation, style, originality, believability seen in his movies was all washed away in Clerk… Both Manoj and Rekha were 50/60 plus when they did this movie and both were shown in a song as college going kids… he brought in a Pakistani acting couple (who are famous in Pakistan) for this movie… but as seen in most movies even now… all the talent got wasted… Clerk was the nail in the Manoj Kumar’s professional coffin.
Sorry to be the bad guy here. First let me wish Manoj on his birthday.
Then let me start my banter- What Manoj presented was hardly true patriotism. There was element of major porn mixed into that. Don’t take my word for it, but in Koffee with Karan, Hema Malini alluded to that, when she came with Zeenat Aman and they both laughed without mentioning his name.
There was a reason he chose all the camera angles, they were the hallmark in vulgarity and I am a guy, I guess the women must have been repulsed by that.
A guy who is scared of flying, can hardly be termed as a braveheart and the true son of the soil. That is an insult to all our brave pilots who fly for the IAF (Indian Air Force).
Like a Dev Anand, he had a major fixation on himself in his movies. He wanted himself in all the frames and even folks like AB, Shashi Kapoor, the late Praveen Babi, were at best reduced to extras.
There is a reason why his films stopped working in the last couple of decades….the indian audience got more intelligent and started to reason everything (and good for them) and patriotism per se, could not be sold, if there was nothing compelling about the other elements.
Thanks Krysh, for making us recall the handsome actor and a good writer and director Manoj Kumar. Everybody has its time when he creates best out of his creative pool and he created best between 1965-1980. Growing children liked him a lot in those years. MANOJ KUMAR was a NAME then. Though Shaheed was not directed by him but song mera rang de basanti chola has influenced a lot of songs since then. Latest we can find “aaj bhangra pane ko jee karta” in 1971. After making his debut in direction he worked mostly in his own films and thus his own acting talent remained unflourished. If he was not a brilliant actor then he was quite good in Hariyali aur Rasta or Dr Vidha type films and he was so good in those suspense thrillerss like Wo Kaun Thee, Gumnaam etc. Without any shame he and Rajendra Kumar tried to immitate Dilip Kumar and they felt proud if people pointed this out because he was their idol and for that matter do we have a single actor in India who has not taken acting clue from Dilip Saab? Though this is different they dont accept it because of their ego but they all take inspiration from him. Manoj Kumar played well in Adami against Dilip saab. He fulfilled a dream to direct country’s biggest actor when Dilip saab agreed to do Kranti which was sort of come back film for him. He had not acted in any film after Bairag and Manoj Kumar brought him back in to the films.
Manoj Kumar was a respected name and veterans respected him. Manoj Kumar himself has quoted that for unknown raesons Dilip Saab used to call him Pandit ji, and in response to this Manoj Kumar used to call Dilip saab as HAJIYO; which is an address in urdu to a respected man. when Manoj Kumar conceptualiseed Kranti then he visited Dilip Saab and said Hajiyo, there is a very third class story. Dilip Saab smiled and said ” Dekh lenge”. Not a script, no narration of story, nothing and most respected actor of India agreed to do the film. that says a lot about Manoj Kumar’s status as a director in those days. Many people ridicule him and his kind of patriotism but he has his solid contribution towards hindi cinema. He did not give faulty films when he was young, like todays young film makers and writers who ridicule Manoj Kumar kind of films dosed with patriotism or subjects dealing with issues relevant to the country. That was understanding of those days filmmakers, they wished to connect their films with lives of people and people enjoyed those films.
KRANTI was not less than an event like ASIAD 82 in India. Months before the film’s release radio had started giving advertisement for the film and the famous dialogue in Dilip Saab’s special voice” Hum Asman ko apne khoon se rang denge, likh denge Kranti” was sufficient to send thril among audience and when it was released it was a fair kind of scene in every city around the theatres whereever film was screened. People were unable to get tickets for weeks because of advanced booking.
Tickets were sold in black. It is so interesting story to share that after almost 1 month of release, Police raided a cinema hall and caught people who were selling tickets in black, there was small use of force also by police to handle the crowd. People were rushed away from the cinema hall and black marketeres ran away.
This cinema hall was at the foot of a hill where a famous temple is situated and religious people were also satisfying two purposes. They used to go early in the morning at the cinema hall to get ticket (of any show that day)and if they were lucky to get ticket for that day, they used to go up side the hill to visit the temple and later they used to see the film Kranti.
It was Sunday and police had raided the cinema hall on saturday, so on Sunday people took tickets from the counter and soon ticket counter was closed and now again people bought tickets from black marketeres. It was show of 3-6PM in evening and when people went inside, there were almost 2 people claiming for every single seat. scene in Balcony was far pathetic.
Reason was, that black marketeres had sold tickets which they could not sell on Saturday so for every single seat two people were standing claiming the seat. Again police had to come and people who had by mistake bought Saturdays ticket had to leave cinema hall and show started after 4 PM. and this happened in small city, so scenes in big cities can be imagined.It said that for making Kranti, Manoj Kumar had mortgaged his Bunglow at Juhu and if film had not got success he could have come on streets. Some films have to be seen in contemporary perspective and may be today people will not like Kranti but then it was a grand show.
Later Manoj Kumar tried to launch his younger brother Rajeev Goswami with Painter Babu and Meenkashi Sheshadri and another actress Neelima were also launched from this film. Film was a flop but songs sung by Mahendra Kapoor were hit.
Kranti was last success show by Manoj Kumar.
He tried to bring Pakistani super star Nadeem in India through his later film. all his films of 80s misrably flopped. But in 80s many other film makers, film stars went through this phase. His time was finished.
Vivek has mentioned KWK’s incidence, certainly Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman hinted towards awkward camera angles by a director but it can be anyone, because both have worked with some other directors also like Firoz Khan. They maintained mystery and we should accept it that way only.
Manoj Kumar knew his assets well. Its amuisng but once he was compared with Rajendra Kumar who was jubilie star in 60s and Manoj Kumar had said we both were quite popular but you know, I was far handsome than him, he had thicker lips.
Lyric writer Santosh Anand may be the right person to shed light on the film maker Manoj Kumar. Manoj Kumar gave him life in writing songs in films.
@OZ & RK, thnx for enriching the nostalgia with your wonderful observations and anecdotes abd bringing alive the persona of Manoj Kumar.
Vivek you may have a valid point giving reference of Zeenat Aman and Hema Malini, but in that refrain Raj Kapoor will be the main culprit..A great porn director! Or a voyeur to the core!..Who decides..And then all said and done it is really very difficult to categorise Manoj Kumar’s patriotism as pseudo..It came from somewhere within..And is reflected every 15th August with all FM channels blaring Mera Rang De Basanti Chola Mahe Rang de Basanti Chola..And no 26th January celebration is complete without Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugaley, Ugaley heerey moti, Mere Desh ki Dharti being played across the board..
I have always maintained Raj Kapoor was the king of porn. Will be happy to mention it to Rishi Kapoor if I can ever find him in a non drunk stupor. The two instances that I did run into him, at 6 AM (emphasizing it was the morning) in the Deccan Queen Express Train from Mumbai to Pune, light years ago and next in the loo of the NSCI club in Haji Ali, also light year’s ago, he was sloshed (but like the guy for his honesty, when Karan wanted to offer him a Coffee Hamper, he requested a Liquor Hamper, more power to honesty)!!
Another observation – Superstar of yesteryears Rajesh Khanna, if you see his acting/movies now (of the superstar era), his mannerism’s are totally GAY. Then again maybe that was the era then, this is now, maybe Raj/Manoj’s porn was acceptable then, this is now.:x
Sorry to be spoilsport, Manoj Kumar will be and still is the best hammer till date lapped by the previous generations for his pulpy reference to patriotism and populist socialism (But I agree the social stratification and the political directions and inclinations of the top national leaders of those times were socialist or purist in nature, which makes are debatable now). However, the song mentioned by you in Shaheed is really class apart (But I was more rapt with Prem Chopra, [I havent seen the film but seen the songs in Chitrahaar or Rangoli, I guess])
To praise Manoj Kumar with such high words is a hyperbole. The emerging film community/appreciators should not be burdened by the morality of the past generations (the valid question raised Sudhir Mishra in his recent post). Lets dont give due where it is not deserved.
=Om Prakash,
Manoj Kumar of past has been mentioned w.r.t his yester years only. He had an important place in those years and its an undeniable fact. Man Mohan Desai and Prakash Mehra were most successful Directors at BO in 70s and early 80s, its a proven fact, today many can ridicule their kind of films. Perhaps they did not have vast vision about cinema and were happy in making films for their contemporary audience only.
One may ridicule Bhagwan by seeing him in his old age in films always as a drunkard engaged in dances but he had his years though 3-4 years only when he was a name just after the success of ALBELA.
Ham no ham but people can be mentioned in their glorious years and this is entirely different scenario that whether they made a long lasting impact or not.
RK,you said it all..i need say no more..thnx
Krysh: I hope you know the story behind Zeenat Aman’s inclusion in Satyam Shivam Sundaram. She had heard Raj Kapoor or Raj Saaab as he was known was looking for a suitable actress and he was not getting because film needed exposure. It was clear from the day 1 that film will be needing exposure. Zeenat Aman was too westernized for this role of a village based woman and perhaps RK office had denied her the role. Its said one morning she reached at RK’s home and she had draped white dhoti or saree as it was required in the film. RK came out in drawing room and he was astonished to see him he called his wife, Mrs Krishna Kapoor and said, Krishna dekho is ladki ko.
Zeenat had appeared in exposure based roles before also and she had appeared in 2 piece bikini in Heera Panna before. She had done adult theme based films like Manoranjan and Prem Shashtra. She never had any reservation about any exposure based role. later she did Qurbani and latest Boom.
=Vivek (comment 5)
It does not look like that this comment is coming from you. It looks like someone has used your computer.
was it not better if discussion remained limited to films only. If none in the society is affected by someone’s personal conduct then its better to avoid such reference. What you could not do in past two meetings with Rishi Kapoor why you think you would do this time? and what do you think how a son will respond with such irrelevant talk especially in the case when his father is known in various countries for his works in cinema.
It can be disputable that how many psychologists will have accordance with your conclusion abt Rajesh Khanna’s films but this is sure that any common pyshcologist may search something in this comment. Moreover such comment defintely does not help neither you nor PFC.
As you have put your comment on a public forum so I hope you dont mind opposition to your views.
sorry for disagreement but disappointment comes from the expectation that a senior PFC authors may not write such comment and that too its coming from you who write serious issues, thats why there remains a doubt that someone has used your computer.
=Vivek (comment 5)
Sorry for nitpicking-light years is the unit of distance not time.
no, no it was me . I take responsibility for both the bouquets and the brickbats that life has to offer to me.So yes the comments were from me and by me. As someone who is going to go “public” with my script soon I cannot run or hide behind anything. MY action and my words are mine:)
RK, yes i am aware of that episode and it had created waves during those days..Zeenie Baby’s(as she was called) bindaas behaviour had raised many an eyebrow..An actress who gave her competition in being savvy and sensual was Parvin Babi..Somehow i prefered her of the two..But the girls in bikinis before Zeenat were Sharmila Tagore in An Evening In Paris, and Mumtaz in Apradh..correct me if I get my facts wrong.
@RK
To praise someone who didnt pass the test of time is inappropriate. As you yourself said that he (like others – Manmohan Desai or Prakash Mehra) didnt have a lasting impact on cinema. The mere popularity at the time shouldnt be considered as a benchmark for praising them. How can we use the same words for Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Shahji N Karun, Sudhir Mishra, Shyam Benegal, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Mrinal Sen, etc when we are praising the so called patronising, indifferent films and/or actors. By doing that we have to invent new words for the auteurs. :-?
Only impact they (Manoj Kumar and others of his elk) had was detrimental to healthy growth of indian cinema. They might be successful but didnt serve the purpose of cinema as an art form. I would have agreed for example Anurag Kashyap even if he made all his subsequent movies a complete sham simply based on the fact that he made one black friday. But, I am sorry the same cannot be said of Manoj Kumar or Bhagwan or Manmohan Desai or Prakash Mehra or Subhash Ghai. I do not have any problem with commercial movie but they should be watched and forgot and not apprise/appreciate them in retrospective (as it is being done in this article) to give a false impression of greatness.
P.S. The above are my opinions and neednt be a general one.