Shakti Samanta- Kuch Sunheri Yaadein
Growing up during the 80’s, entertainment on Wednesday’s meant one thing, Chitrahaar on Doordarshan. Watching the songs which i loved hearing on the TV screen, was an experience in itself. And some images were unforgettable.
- Rajesh Khanna driving along the Darjeeling road, serenading his “Sapnon Ki Rani” Sharmila Tagore.
- Shammi Kapoor going totally fida over the “chand sa roshan chehra” Kashmiri Kali Sharmila Tagore, cavorting around in a shikara.
- Rajesh Khanna cradling a glass of wine( or was it grape juice), lying on a boat, floating down the Howrah river, pensively musing “Chingari Koi Bhadke”.
- Rajesh Khanna again railing against “Yeh jo Mohabbat Hai”, tottering around drunkenly in a club.
- Madhubala looking dazzling, as she serenaded Ashok Kumar in a Kolkata night club with “Aaiye Meherbaan”.
The magic of silver screen, is the magic of images. Images that stay in your mind, and which create memories that stay for a long time . Or as what you say the “sunheri yaadein”.
And one name behind those unforgettable images mentioned above- Shakti Samanta.
Shakti Da was not a maestro nor was he a master of the spectacle. He was primarily an entertainer, and he did that job rather well. And most importantly he was not restricted to a specific genre. He was pretty much comfortable with more personal, story based movies like Anand Ashram or Anurag or Amar Prem, as much as he was with lavish crime thrillers like An Evening in Paris or hill station romances like Kashmir Ki Kali or Aaradhana. You could sit through his movies without cringing, which is something you could hardly say of what goes on in the name of “entertainment” today.
But for an entertainer, Shakti Da did make movies that were “zara hatke” for those times. He came up with a noirish thriller Howrah Bridge in 1957, which though not following the conventional American noirish genre, adapted some elements of it, to come up with a desi noir genre. So you had Ashok Kumar investigating the murder of his brother, Madhubala as a club dancer who could hold the key to the mystery, plus an assorted lot of shady characters. Howrah Bridge also bought out Shakti Da’s love for music and good songs, with the two O.P. Nayyar classics “Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo” and ” Aaiye Meherbaan”. Shakti da also had a knack for good picturization of songs, especially the “Aaiye Meherbaan” song, with Madhubala in a flowing costume, crooning, and Ashok Kumar, suave, debonair, watching with a wry smile. It is these kind of magical moments that make cinema.
Shakti Da continued to explore the crime genre with Chinatown in 1962. I think this is the first time where we had this concept of a good guy impersonating his bad look alike, in order to help the cops to bust a gang, came up. Shammi Kapoor playing a double role here as the good singer Shekhar, who has to impersonate his baddie look alike Mike in the gang. This same storyline was later repeated in many other succesful movies like Saccha Jhoota, Kalicharan and Don. Interestingly in both Howrah Bridge and China Town, we had Madan Puri playing a Chinese hoodlum.
While Shakti Da’s collaboration with Rajesh Khanna is legendary, he forged an equally good partnership with Shammi Kapoor also, with 2 back to back hits, Kashmir ki Kali and An Evening in Paris. Kashmir Ki Kali was like many other hill station romances of the 60’s, boy meets girl, falls in love, parents disapprove, bad guys et all. The movie had a great soundtrack from O.P.Nayyar with evergreen songs like ”Deewana hua Baadal”, ” Yeh Chaand sa roshan chehra”, ” Ishaaron Ishaaron mein”, “Balma Khuli Hawa mein”, “Yeh tera haath mein mera haath”. An Evening in Paris, created a sensation in the 60’s, thanks to the by now famous shot of Sharmila in a bikini, and here Shakti da does a Chinatown in reverse, the good girl is kidnapped, and her bad look alike, is planted at the hero’s place. Something which would be again attempted later in Sharmilee. This too had a great soundtrack from Shankar Jaikishan, ”Akele Akele”, ” Deewane Ka Naam Na Poocho”, “Raat ke Humsafar”.
Maybe its due to his background, but for me it seemed that Shakti Da’s best movies were those set in Kolkata or with a Bengali backdrop. Be it the narrow gallis of Kolkata in Amar Prem, or the waterways of Rural Bengal in Amanush and Anand Ashram, or the panoramic beauty of Darjeeling in Aaradhana, Shakti da seemed to be totally at home . I guess it was the familiarity of the millieu. For me two of Shakti Da’s best movies were set against the backdrop of rural Bengal, Amanush and Anand Ashram, both starring Uttam Kumar. Amanush had Uttam Kumar playing a well to do person, who finds himself despised by the village, his beloved, and his life ruined, due to the evil machinations of Utpal Dutt. Shakti Da wonderfully brings out the pain and anguish in Uttam Kumar’s character, the romance between Uttam and Sharmila, and the photography beautifully captures the atmosphere of rural Bengal as well as the river. Anand Ashram one of his more underrated movies, had Uttam Kumar as an idealistic doctor, who falls out with his rich father Ashok Kumar, after he marries a poor girl Sharmila Tagore, and the subsequent fall out.
For me one of the best things about Shakti Da’s movies was his ability to come up with strong characters, with whom you could emphathize. You could feel the love between Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore in Amanush and Anand Ashram, its genuine, natural, and free of any artificialness. When you see them croon “Saara Pyaar tumhara” in Anand Ashram, you feel the warmth and intimacy of a newly married couple. Or take the picturization of the song “Dil Aisa Kisine mera” in Amanush, the way Shakti Da sets it up, you could feel the tension between Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, the lost love between them. And it is this same sense of intimacy with the characters, and delineation one feels in Amar Prem.
Amar Prem, one of Shakti da’s finest movies, deals with the unlikely bond of love between a wealthy borgeuoise Kolkata Babu, Anand Babu(Rajesh Khanna) and a a prostitute Pushpa( Sharmila Tagore). Pushpa hailing from a poor rural family becomes a prostitute, when a “do gooder” from her own village, takes advantage of her suffering, and pushes her into the red light area, on the pretext of helping her. It is the way Shakti da, sketches the relationship between Anand and Pushpa, that elevates the movie. For Anand, who has to bear a shrewish wife at home, the kotha and Pushpa, seem to be his sole source of hapiness. And for Pushpa , Anand seems to be the only person in the world who understands her feelings, treats her like a human being. The song “Kuch to log kahenge” tellingly underscores the hypocrisy in the society, especially in the lines
“Hum ko jo taane dete hain, khud khoye hai, in rang raliyon mein
Hum ne unko bhi chup chup ke, aate dekha in galiyon mein”.
Even considering that Shakti Da had a ear for good music, Amar Prem has one of RD Burman’s finest musical score, be it the haunting “Raina Beet Jaaye” or the gently affectionate “Bada Nathkhat hai yeh” or the more peppy “Yeh Kya Hue” or the philosophical “Chingari Koi Bhadke”.
But then Rajesh Khanna and Shakti Da, seemed to have a great understanding, as director- actor, with both of them perfectly tuning into each others sensibilities. It was Shakti Da who made Rajesh Khanna a superstar with Aaradhana. Whenever i listen to ”Mere Sapnon Ki Rani”, i just imagine one thing, the opening music by Dada, the mouth organ tune, and then Kishore bursting with the opening interlude and Rajesh Khanna comming on to the screen. I have never seen Aaradhana in a theater, most of my viewing it has been strictly on TV, but whenever i just imagine that in a theater, there seems to be something magical about it. Something which goes beyond mere analysis. And as a romantic entertainer, Aaradhana works big time, not just the wonderful songs ”Kora Kaagaz ka yeh man” or ”Gunguna rahe hai bhawre” or ”Baaghon mein bahaar hai”, but even the moments between Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, have their own sweet charm, which just grows on you.
As did Kati Patang, which in fact i liked more than Aaradhana. Somewhat different from the standard love story, in that Rajesh Khanna, a recluse, who hates love ever since the girl he was supposed to marry, eloped on wedding night, falling for Asha Parekh, who is actually pretending to be a widow to help her dead friend. Like Aaradhana, this movie works out on the moments between Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh, though with a difference. Where the romance in Aaradhana was the key factor, here its more of a subdued love, the attraction between them builds up slowly, and the couple with some mystery and intrigue, makes it entertaining enough. It was also the first movie where Pancham worked with Shakti Da, and the soundtrack is brilliant. Be it the cynical ”Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai”, or the soulful ”Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai” or the breezy ”Yeh Shaam Mastani”, or the more tragic ” Na Koi Umang Hai”, every song is a gem. Interestingly Asha Parekh got her only Filmfare acting award for this movie.
If we take actor-director combos, Rajesh Khanna- Shakti Samanta, would be one of the most popular ones, with hits like Amar Prem, Kati Patang and Aaradhana. But later on their movies Mehbooba, Ajnabee, Anurodh, though containing some great songs, did not really set the box office alight. Mehbooba though had one of my all time favorite Kishore da numbers ”Mere Naina Saawan Bhaadon”, the voice modulation in the song is just impeccable. Ajnabee also had two great duets ”Hum Dono Do Premi” and “Bheegi Bheegi Raaton mein”, but the movie was nothing great for me. Anurodh i thought was quite a good movie, with Rajesh Khanna, playing the son of a rich businessman Utpal Dutt, who wants to be a singer against his dad’s wishes. The movie also had great songs from Laxmikant Pyarelal, ”Aate jaate khoobsurat”, “mere Dil Na Tadap ke” and ”Jab dard nahin ta seene mein”. For me however Simple Kapadia totally spoiled the movie, she looks terrible, and can’t act to save her life.
Shakti da’s collaboration with Amitabh Bachan however was not too succesful. They came together in The Great Gambler, and cashing in on AB’s rising popularity, Shakti Da went all out to make a big budget movie, replete with foreign locations, casinos, egyptian belly dancers, speedboat chases, in short it had everything. But somehow the movie was a failure at box office, though it has proved to be quite popular in TV reruns and even DVD’s. And for a 70’s movie, it has quite a slick appeal too. Even Barsaat Ki Ek Raat was not a very great movie, and i guess it was not that big a hit, as were AB’s other movies of that time. Shakti da however could not keep with the increasing vulgarity and violence in the 80’s flicks. Shakti da’s movies were entertaining, but they also had a sensibility which did not make you cringe. You could watch his movies be entertained, and at the same time not feel as if you had been taken for a ride. He did make one last ditch attempt to recapture the lost glory with Alag Alag, along with Rajesh Khanna and RDB. The movie was produced by Rajesh Khanna himself, in a last ditch attempt to regain his superstardom.However inspite of a great musical score by RDB, the movie was a disaster, and Rajesh lost heavily.
Shakti Da is not with us physically today. But as long as the magic of movies is there we would forever remember Rajesh Khanna serenading Sharmila Tagore in Aaradhana. We would forever remember those magical moments he has bought to screen in Amar Prem, Kati Patang, Kashmir Ki Kali. And we would forever remember a director, who knew the true value of entertainment.
Tags: Aaradhana, amar prem, Bengali movie directors, kati patang, R.D.Burman, Rajesh Khanna, shakti samanta, Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Uttam Kumar
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Alag Alag impacted shakti-da in a big way, and he more-or-less relegated himself to making bilinguals like anyay abichar & dushman. debdas in 2002 wud remain the last film he directed. he was a great asset to the 60’s & 70’s, but 80’s saw his kind of filmmaking take a backseat. in fact other directors of his time like Hrishikesh-da, Basu Chatterjee also stopped doing much work in late 80’s.
shakti da had penchant for double-role in his movies, like the gr8 gambler, aradhana, chinatown, an evening in paris etc
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even his simple movies always had an element of suspense/thriller, like kati patang, anurodh etc
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music is wat he will be remembered for. bringing together the likes of rdb-kishore, rajesh khanna-kishore, shammi-rafi combination. i too have paid tribute to him with a musical approach: http://passionforcinema.com/shakti-samanta-a-musical-tribute
by the way, good write-up ratnakar.
chitrahar and rangoli[on sundays] were the only programs during our days, where we cud watch songs.
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these days, the so-called music channels are hosting and telecasting reality shows instead of airing songs. wat a gr8 dis-service and blot in the name of music channel :(
may he rest in peace…
@ Satyen, basically the advent of TV and VCR in 80’s, saw the family audiences staying away from theaters. And that was a blow to likes of Hrishida, Shakti, Basuda whose major audiences were families. Hrishida and Basuda switched over to TV smartly, but some how dont understand why Shakti Da never did it. He did attempt a typical 80’s kind of movie, Aawaz, but even that did not work out.
@ Rals, did check out your musical tribute.
Regarding music channels on TV stopped watching them, these days i want to listen to songs, switch on FM. Or best You tube, which has some great videos of oldie songs. Or else the Net, where i can find these lovely melodies.
Ratnakar you made me remember THOSE days. Rangoli almost every alternate week used to play Akele akle kahan ja rahe ho from An evening in Paris.You were very right about the IMAGES.The most popular images of Hindi cinema those days on tv were mostly from a Shakti da film.I was very surprised to see the way he treated the subject in Amar Prem.In the hands of another director it could have easily turned into one of those kotha films replete with vulgar dances.He made Sharmila sing a bhajan in a kotha!!!!And what a song it was….Raina beete jae.My two favourite film of Shakti da had very strong female characters,Amar Prem and Kati Patang.I think one of the main reasons for Sharmila’s success during that time was the roles she did in Shakti da and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films.Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila did their best and most successful films with him.
Anindya, as i had mentioned, Shakti Da had a totally different sensibility, and thats the reason Amar Prem came out as it is. Also at no stage did he try to force fit a love angle between Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore, till the end, they remained 2 persons whose bond was due to the fact that they found a kind of solace in each other. And i guess that was one reason Shakti Da, never really got along during the 80’s.
Yes Ratnakar the days of D.D were simply special.One always looked forward to Chitrahar on Wednesday’s & Fridays.I also did not mind getting up early on sunday just to watch Rangoli.In fact I even used to watch Chitramala – it used to have film songs of different languages like Tamil,Malayalam,Punjabi,Bengali etc.While the top 10/20 countdown was started by Philips Top 10 on Zee and Superhit Muqabla on D.D. Metro it was a novelty for all of us.Now how many of us are bothered to even watch any of these countdowns?
Going back to the topic Shaktida was truly a great entertainer & had the knack to make all kinds of movies. His keen sense of music is seen very well across all his movies. Such people are truly legends.
BTW not many are aware that Shaktida’s son- Ashim Samanta also became a director and made a few movies like Palay Khan,Main Awara Hoon,Aankhon Mein Tum Ho etc before shifting to T.V.After a long gap he made a dud last year- Don Muthuswami
Anyone who was born on the 70’s and grew through 80’s could very well associate with your article.
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‘Maybe its due to his background, but for me it seemed that Shakti Da’s best movies were those set in Kolkata or with a Bengali backdrop.’
Bengali intellectuals were normally very attached to their roots- their language and culture. Tagore and Ray are the biggest example. Amanush, Anusanshan ( Barsaat ki Ek raat), Ananda Ashram was major hits in Bengali too.
However one of his Bengali film ‘ Anyay Abichar’ did not fare well in BO.
I understand few of his movies are being talked to be remake with an animated version.
May his soul RIP.
~uh~
Humko jo taane dete hain, hum khoye hain in rang-raliyon mein
humne unko bhi chhup chhup ke aate dekha in galiyon mein
A correction there.
Script courtsey : Sujoy Chatterjee
Based on Shakti da’s interview on Vividhbharati ( Ujaal
Script courtsey : Sujoy Chatterjee
Based on Shakti da’s interview on Vividhbharati ( Ujaale Unki Yaadon Ke :
Shakti Samanta was born in Bengal. His father was an engineer. According to Shakti, in those times people wanted to become either an engineer or a doctor. His father died in an accident when he was only one and a half years old. He was sent to his uncle’s place in Badayun in UP for education. He passed his Intermediate from Dehradoon. He appeared in the Engineering Entrance Examination of Calcutta and topped the Merit List. But when he appeared for the admission, he was denied as the entrance exam was only for the students of West Bengal, Bihar and orissa. As he had studied from UP, he was not eligible for the course in West Bengal. Unfortunately, when he returned back to UP, the sessions in all colleges had already started leading him to a ‘year-loss’. On advice of his uncle, Shakti started working with him in his work of supplying cots to the Military departments. He also started pursuing his hobby of working in theatres and stage plays. One night, he was late from rehearsal and reached home at 21:30. His uncle told him some unpleasant thing that he did not like and decided to leave his uncle’s place.
Song: Kaahe ko roye chaahe jo hoye safal hogi teri aradhana (Aradhana)
Shakti started looking for a job nearby Bombay as his final destination was this ‘kalaa-nagri’. He got a job in an Anglo High School in Dapoli, which is 60 mins from Bombay in steamer. The students in that Anglo school were mostly African Muslims in the age group of 23-24 years. He was only 21 at that time, hence he needed soemthing special to have a control on the students. Shakti saw that the school lacked infrustructure of games and art. e told the Principal to arrange for these extra-curricular amenities. The Principal was happy and asked himt o prepare a list and get them purchased. The students were immensely happy to get these sports facilities and soon became Shakti’s friend. Shakti used to get 2500 to 3000 rupees in the military job, but here his salary was Rs 130. Out of this, only Rs 30 was needed and he saved Rs 100 every month. His hidden desire to make it in the film industry forced him every weekend to visit Bombay. On Friday night, he used to travel to Bombay by steamer and look for a job there, and again return back on Monady morning. He met several producers but that was the time of partition. It was bad time for the film industry as well. Many actors, singers, music directors went to Pakistan. Shakti then finally met Ashok Kumar, his favourite star, who was associated with the Bombay Talkies’ films. Ashok Kumar got him introduced in Bombay Talkies as Assistant Director on the condition that he wont get any salary, but get lunch and tea on the days of shooting. Shakti agreed! As he had studied from UP, he had good command over Hindi. So, soon he started translating Bangla texts into Hindi that Phani Mazumdar used to write. Now he satrted getting money for this work. After some days, Shakti told Ashok Kumar that he had come to Bombay to act in films. But Ashok Kumar advised him not to go for acting but to go into the technical side of filmmaking. The first shooting that he saw was that of the song “Upar gagan vishaal”. He was surprised to see that a ‘tanga’ was kept on a table and the wheel was being shown in the frame.
Song: Upar gagan vishaal (Mashaal)
Shakti’s desire of acting was still alive. He used to get minor roles in films. He recalls humorously that he was given the role of police inspector in every film and the only dialogue was “Follow Car No ’such and such’, Inspector ‘Such and such’ speaking”. Being a part of the film industry, he gradually started knowing a number of people there. Two such were Guru Dutt and writer Brijendra Gaur. Gaur had got the contract of producing the film Kastoori. But as he was under an agreement with another company, he was not legally eligible to direct another film. So he asked Samanta to help him in the film. Samanta charged Rs 250 for it. This was his first earning from films. Then S H Bihari and writer Daroga-ji were planning to make Inspector but were short of money. They approached Nadiadwala for producing the film. When Nadiadwala said that this film would need some highly paid actors like Ashok Kumar, Pran etc, they decided to take Samanta as the director to save some money in the director front. And in this way, Shakti Samanta directed his first film Inspector that became a hit and there was no looking back for him after that.
Song: Dil chheD koi aisa naghma (Inspector)
Shakti Samanta bought a car and met with an accident and was admitted in the hospital. Though he was unable to move, he did not stop his imagination and thought of a story while being in the hospital. When Ranjan Ghosh, his friend, came to see him in the hospital, he told him his story idea and asked him to write it. And thus was born Howrah Bridge.
Song: Aayiye meherbaan (Howrah Bridge)
While making Howrah Bridge, Samanta had financial contraints. So he asked Ashok Kumar to request Madhubala to do the film with a low signing amount. Ashok Kumar called up Madhubala and made Samanta talk to her. After hearing Samanta, Madhubala started laughing which made Samanta very nervous. Then Madhubala said that she would take Rs 1.50 as the signing amount and would charge Rs 5000 once she give her dates. Music director O P Nayyar said, “main free mein to karoongaa naheen, aap mujhe 1000 rupay de deejiye aur mera naam ‘announce’ kar deejiye”. The film was sold all India in one week’s time in Rs 50,000, with an investment of Rs 1000 to Nayyar and Rs 1.50 to Madhubala. The total expenditure in the film was Rs 4 lacs. Ashok Kumar and Madhubala took Rs 75000 each; other artistes like K N Singh, Pran etc charged very nominal amounts. The entire amount was recovered in just one week after its release. Samanta became producer with this film and that too a successful producer.
Song: Mera naam Chin Chin Chu (Howrah Bridge)
Shakti Samanta is very fond of music, especially the films songs of K L Saigal and Ashok Kumar. He used to memorise all songs of Ashok Kumar and sang in front of him. Once Ashok Kumar had told him, “jab main mar jaayunga tab yeh waala geet gaana – Ruk na sako to jaayo tum jaayo’”. Ashok Kumar was very close friend of Samanta and worked in many of his films. It happened on many occassions that Samanta went to Ashok Kumar’s house in the evening and returned home only after having dinner at his place.
Shakti Samanta believes that filmmaking is a total teamwork and its success or failure is not because of a single person. The writer, cameraman, director, assistant director, music director, every one is equally responsible.
Talking about his ‘inspirational films, Insan Jaag Utha deals with a dam construction…
Song: Mehnatkash insaan jaag utha (Insan Jaag Utha)
Shailendra had written the song “dekho re dekho log ajooba” after man landed on the moon…
Song: Dekho re dekho log ajooba yeh beesvee sadee ka (
Anuraag was based on the concept of eye donation. One Bengali doctor practising in Australia watched this film and was highly moved.
Song: Tere nainon ke main deep jalaayunga (Anuraag)
Shakti Samanta wanted his films to give some message along with good entertainment. He developed story ideas but never liked to write. So he used to tell his ideas to the writers who in turn would write the full story. Among his friends were big writers like Gulshan Nanda, Madhusudan Karulkar, Brijesh Gaur and Ranjan Ghosh.
Song: Yeh jo mohabbat hai (Kati Patang)
Before Aradhana, Rajesh Khanna had worked in 2/3 films all of which had flopped. When the concept of Aradhana came in Samanta’s mind, he wanted to cast new actors as he wanted the audience not to compare the performances of the actors with their earlier films. Samanta liked the performances of Rajesh Khanna in his previus films and called him. But Khanna was disappointed on hearing the story as his character dies before the interval and comes again at the end. But Samanta tried to convince him by all means. He even assured him of financial security that he would get his money even if the film flopped. With new faces, Samanta made this film in a low budget, but when it released, it made him a ‘lakhpati’.
Song: Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu (Aradhana)
Aradhana was released in Bandra Talkies. In Madras, it ran for 2 years at a stretch. Even the style of Sharmila Tagore was adopted by the girls and many started wearing their sarees in her style. Aradhana also gave birth to a superstar (Rajesh Khanna). It also flagged off the association of Rajesh Khanna, Anand Bakshi, S D Burman and Kishore Kumar. One song of this film was composed by R D Burman as his father’s health was not going well.
Song: Baagon mein bahaar hai (Aradhana)
At first it was decided that Rafi would sing the songs. But he was on a long world tour, hence it was decided to get Kishore. But at that time, Kishore used to sing for Dev Anand, so S D Burman was not sure if Kishore would sing for the new hero. Shakti called up Kishore, who had become his friend by that time through Ashok Kumar. Kishore said that he sings for Dev Anand. Samanta replied, “nakhre kyun kar raha hai, ho saktaa hai ki yeh tumhaare liye kuchh achchha ho jaaye!” ishore agreed and in this way the first song was recorded.
Song: Kora kaagaz tha yeh man mera (Aradhana)
When Rafi returned back, he was given the remaining two songs.
Song: Gungunaa rahe hain bhanwren (Aradhana)
“Roop tera mastaana pyar mera deewana” was a very bold song for that period. Shakti usually listened to the his songs at night in his house and thought about their picturizations. For this song, it suddenly came to his mind to picturize this song in one shot. He took a piece of paper and wrote ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ on it, A for hero, B for heroine and C for camera and picturized the song i his mind. He arranged for a round trolley and shot it in the Filmalaya studio. Many people put an objection to his idea of shootng it in one shot. Someone said, “iska dimaag kharaab ho gaya hai jo itna achchha gaana ek hi ’shot’ mein le raha hai”. Samanta jusitified by saying that “jab raat ko gaana sun raha tha to samajh hi naheen aaya ki kahaan ‘cut’ karoon”. This song became the first song in Hindi cinema to be picturized in a single shot.
Song: Roop tera mastaana pyar mera deewana (Aradhana)
In Kashmir Ki Kali, Shakti Samanta had introduced Sharmila Tagore. He had seen her photograph in a Bengali magazine and he liked her. He called her father and fixed an appointment for story narration. Her father assured that if the story is good, he would allow her to work. Shakti, with 3 distributors, went to meet Sharmila. The distributors did not like Sharmila much but Shakti was confident in his choice.
Dialogues from Kashmir Ki Kali (Sharmila Tagore & Shammi Kapoor)
On the very first day of shooting, a god rappo was established between Sharmila and Shammi Kapoor. The entire team went to Kashmir. 7/8 house boats were rented and rooms in a near-by small hotel were booked for the unit members. Shooting was help up for 15 days due to continuous rains. They passed these days catching fish
The Bhangra dancers used in the songs were called from Jalandhar while the other dancers were brought from Mumbai.
Song: Haaye re haaye yeh tere haath mein (Kashmir Ki Kali)
The shooting of Amanush was done in the famous mangrove forest ‘Sundarban’ that houses the famous Royal Bengal Tigers. It was an unforgettable experience for the entire crew. There was only place where tigers could not enter. It was a plot of land surrounded by water on all four sides. Tents and boats were used to accommodate a crew of nearly 150. There were small sharks in the waters, so instruction was given to the unit not to venture into the waters. Also, it was instructed not to lean out hands through the boat window at night as tigers generally hide in the water waiting for a piece of flesh in the form of a ‘human hand’.
During the initial days of Amanush, Samanta used to make frequent visits to Uttam Kumar’s house (Uttam Kumar was the hero of the film). It was at his place where Samanta met Shyamal Mitra and requested him to compose the songs of this film. Mitra agreed on the condition that the lyrics should be good enough.
Song: Dil aisa kisi ne mera toDaa (Amanush)
Shakti Samanta became a fan of Indeevar after he wrote the extraordinary songs of Amanush. However, the Indeevar song “Kaise koi jeeye” from Baadbaan was one of Samanta’s favourites.
Song: Kaise koi jeeye zeher hai zindegi (Baadbaan)
It was a surprising decision to cast Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in an offbeat film like Amar Prem when the two actors were at the height of popularity. Motivated by a Bengali film, Samanta went to its writer and requested that he wanted to make this film in Hindi with certain changes and asked for the price. The writer listened to the changes Samanta wanted to make and got agreed. The writer got the Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay. Before getting started with the film, Samanta collected a print of the Bengali film and asked Sharmila to watch it and give her comments in 1 week. The very next day Sharmila met Samanta and asked, “kab shuru karenge, bataaiye!”
Dialogues from Amar Prem (Sharmila Tagore & Rajesh Khanna)
Shakti Samanta is fan of Sarat Chandra’s writings. He points out that whenever a film has been made out of his novel, it has become a superhit. Whatever times Devdas was made, each time it has been a blockbuster. Samanta, however, maintains that it is very difficult to make a film based on a Bankim Chandra’s novel. He still keeps on reading ‘Bankim Rachanavali’.
Song: Raina beeti jaaye (Amar Prem)
As the story and plot suggests, the music of An Evening in Paris was required to be westernized. Samanta selected the city of Paris as it was very popular destination in those days. Samanta agrees that there was nothing special in the story of this film. The dancers were hired from Paris itself. When a French producer saw this film, he asked Samanta if he can put few scenes of the film in his film and asked for the price.
Song: Raat ke humsafar thak ke ghar ko chale (An Evening in Paris)
Samanta says that he got the most satisfaction in those films that has touched the audience emotionally, like Anuraag. Another significant film with a morale was Anand Ashram.
Song: Saara pyar tumhara maine baandh liya hai aanchal mein (Anand Ashram)
Yaar KCP, i really have to bow down to you. Where do you dig out such gems from? Boss you are truly an encyclopedia of Hindi cinema, compared to u, i am nothing. And thanks a tonne for that wonderful excerpt. Can you put this up on main, the same way u did with Kishore Da’s diary. Maan gaye, you surely are a repository of information. What you have put up here is a fantastic insight into the mind of Shakti Da.
BTW i do recall one anecdote for movie Alag Alag, where Kishore refused to take advance payment from Rajesh Khanna saying that he was a top singer today just because of Rajesh.
@kcp: dude…u shud have put this as a totally new post on PFC main so it cud have reached a wider audience.
… no offence meant, just in jest 
hats off to u man…where do u get thiese gems from??
thanx for this wonderful work, and plz write more often on PFC main.
it looks to me like, u r a laidback person and u need to be pushed into posting more often in PFC
thanx again :D
@kcp- Your material should be published in more public domain like wiki or something. Awesome contribution. It deserved to be a separate post to get featured on search results.
I agree that it could have been a new post, but full credits to Mr Sujoy, who painstakingly types everthing that is related to Vividhbharati. Mark my words – it will be a one-stop reference for the world one day.
As I said earlier I get these nuggets from every corner of the world. I simply love to read them over and over. I will not copy-paste anybody else’s articles and present it as a “new post” on PFC. But surely I will add them as comments (with proper credits ) and I am sure guys here will love to read them.
You just wait for the new posts that I make, by articles that I have taken pains to type, after searching them “physically” from everywhere on earth :P
I am very sad that I did not live in that era and through these articles, I want to get transported along with those great artists. Because of them our lives have become so wonderful, meaningful sometimes !
@ KCP
While maybe not as a new post, at least the way you had put up that post on Kishore Da’s Diary. And i feel its more imperative in case of Shakti Samanta.
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While there are people who have some idea of Kishore Da, there are not many who have any clue about Shakti Da or his movies, especially from this generation. What you have put up is a treasure trove of information regarding Shakti Da. I love digging out info on the Sunheri Yaadein, when we had those great artistes and directors.
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We could get this published on PFC as an Exclusive, the way we did with Kishore Da’s diary.
kcp- I really appreciate the efforts you take towards your keeping your interest alive.you are one truly passionate cinema lover.I am very proud to see that you have a wonderful treasure chest- a treasure chest filled with filmi nostalgia.Keep the show going.After all the show must go on !!!!
Well done Ratnakar and KCP
@kcp I really enjoyed your writing.Please write a seperate post on such more incidents.
Some more tidbits on Shakti Samanta
* He had a great relationship with Ashok Kumar, whom he referred to as his elder brother. Shakti Da in fact used to sing for Dada Moni at Bombay Talkies.
* He was bitter about the way Rajesh Khanna treated him, even though he was responsible for his superstardom with Aaradhana.
* Shakti Da won the Filmfare Award for Best Movie thrice with Anurag, Aaradhana and Amanush.
* Aashim made a period epic Paley Khan, with Jackie, Farah and Poonam Dhillon, but the movie was a flop.
Ratnakar- in fact none of Ashim’s movies have really made any mark @ the box office.Be it his early movies like Palay Khan,Main Awara Hoon or his last movie before he switched to T.V- Aankhon Mein Tum Ho or his comeback movie- Don Muthuswami.
@KCP … .Awesome information. Please make sure that such information is posted on forums which are more easily accessible. Thanks a lot.
gr8 post ratnakar and gr8 input from kcp
where is childstar of aradhana/love in tokyo fame master shaahid.is he still in movies.
Hi Ratnakar,
It was a very interesting reading- However, I don’t agree with you regarding your comments on Anurodh.Your derogatory comments on Simple Kapadia are appalling. I watched the movie & never had the impression that she “looked terrible” in it.And remember, she was only 18 & it was her first movie.Its very unjust to put the failure of Anurodh on her shoulders-right?