Dharmatama is a 1975 Hindi movie and the first ever Bollywood film to be shot in Afghanistan. It was produced and directed by Feroz Khan. The movie is the first attempt in India to localise The Godfather. This film's protagonist Premnath was based on the character of matka king Ratan Khatri. It is said that Feroz Khan sat down with Ratan Khatri in order to learn more about the man and understand the nuances of matka (form of Indian gambling). The film cast includes: Feroz Khan, Rekha, Hema Malini, Premnath, Danny Denzongpa, Farida Jalal, Ranjeet, Helen, Madan Puri, Iftekhar and Dara Singh. The location in the movie is Band-e Amir, Afghanistan and the music is by Kalyanji Anandji.This film took Feroz Khan to new heights in his career as this was one of the block buster movies of all times. The same year, Sholay and Deewar were also released, both of which had great photography, especially Sholay's director of Photography Dwarka Dwivecha was to get the Filmfare Award for Sholay, but Dharmatma's Director of Photography Kamal Bose won the race for eye-pleasing locations as well as breath-taking action scenes and got this award.

In this movie, Producer-Director and Actor Feroz Khan showcased the female lead of the film in a glamorous look first time. It is being said that actress Hema Malini was so impressed with the Feroz Khan's method of filming the female lead and she always wanted to work with Feroz Khan.^{[citation needed]} But Feroz Khan, like his all movies, never repeated her in his movie. All the songs of the movie including 'Tere Chahere Main Woh Jadu Hain' were huge hit. The film earned name and fame to Feroz Khan.

Synopsis[link]

Wealthy, powerful and influential Seth Dharamdas(Prem Nath) leads a financially secure life in a palatial mansion. He is known to come to the aid of all people who are beyond any hope of assistance, and this leads to him being known as "Dharmatma". But Seth Dharamdas does have a number of skeletons in his closet, and a parallel life as a gangster and a matka king.The only person who he hates and fears is his own son Ranbir(Feroz Khan).

One day after a heated argument over Dharmatma's matka business,Ranbir leaves home and goes to Afghanistan,where he stays with a friend of his father and manages his business.One day in a forest while riding a horse,he finds a nomadic man named Jankura(Danny Denzongpa) and a woman named Reshma(Hema Malini)fighting.He defends beautiful Reshma and falls for her.Reshma too falls for him.

Meanwhile in India,his sister Mona(Farida Jalal) is all set to marry Kundan,son of their father's old friend.She invites Ranbir to attend her wedding and give them his blessings through a letter stating that "he has a conflict with their father not with her".Ranbir accepts her proposal and arrives there while seven rounds around fires are going on.The marriage commerces and the Mona departs.While in the car,she gifts her husband a steel ring with "I Love You" inscribed beneath it.

Meanwhile,Ranbir leaves back for Afghanistan.He proposes to Reshma,which she accepts.Her foster-father also reluctantly agrees to their marriage.A fortune-teller present there predicts that Reshma will bring death to Ranbir which makes Reshma worried.

Meanwhile in India,a business-rival by the name of 'Anokhelal' propose to deal relating to Narcotic to Dharmatma,which he refuses.His son-in-law tries to force him to accept the scheme but is unsuccessful.Dharmatma recognises the nature of his son-in-law and apologises for his mistake of letting her daughter marry him.He misses Ranbir and orders his assistant Vikram Singh(Iftekhar)to bring Ranbir back from Afghanistan.Vikram Singh agrees but while in the way he is kidnapped by drug-addict sons-Natwar & Rishi of Anokhelal and his brother Biradar. Meanwhile in Afghanistan, Ranbir and Reshma prepare for their marriage.On the day of marriage,they left to take blessings from god from temple.While in they both are in temple,Natwar & Rishi plant a bomb in their jeep which will explode once the car is started.Rabir & Reshma arrive back from the temple to the jeep.Reshma starts the jeep and it explodes,killing Reshma leaving Ranbir heartbroken.

Meanwhile in India,Natwar & Rishi attack a matka centre of Dharmatma,injuring him and Kundan.They both order a nurse, to help Kundan in killing Dharmatma. Meanwhile in Afghanistan,Ranbir gets the news of attack on his father and returns back to India. Meanwhile in India,Kundan kills Dharmatma assisted by the nurse but looses his steel ring given to him by his wife in Dharmatma's hands.Ranbir arrives and finds that his father is dead.He promises to his father that he will find out his murderer and punish him. Some days later,Ranbir along with Sonia,a childhood friend who secretly loves him,goes out for a drive where he is attacked by goons sent by Anokhelal & Company. The doctor who operated his father,gives him the steel ring which he found in Dharmatma's hand while postmartum of his body and also tell him that his father died because of suffocation caused by pressing neck.Ranbir suspects an hospital employee to be a part of conspiracy to kill his father and asks the doctor about the nurse on duty that night and they both visit to her house only to find her killed by Natwar & Rishi.He tries the ring on her hand but it doesn't fits.

After that Kundan arrives and lies to him that Vikram Singh killed his father because his mind got filled with greed after hearing about Anokhelal & Company's drug deal which his father refused and he killed his father.He asks Ranbir to kill Vikram Singh.

Meanwhile,at Anokhelal's place,they raise a toast for dead Dharmatma.Ranbir arrives there suddenly.Kundan,Natwar & Rishi hide themselves upstairs and position a sniper to kill Ranbir. Meanwhile downstairs,Ranbir accepts the drug deal which his father declined and provides them with 50 lac rupees but on a condition that they will give him Vikram Singh,dead or alive,to which Anokhelal agrees.Anokhelal signals Natwar to stop Kundan from firing at Ranbir,which makes Kundan very very angry.He returns home,drunk with a prostitute which makes Mona furious.Drunk Kundan gets angry and beats Mona.Ranbir comes to know about this and gets furious.He arrives at their place and beats Kundan but Mona stops him pleading him not to make her a widow. Meanwhile,kidnapped Vikram Singh is killed by Anokhelal & Company.

Then they take his dead body in a coffin and meet Ranbir in burying ground of a church.Ranbir tries the ring on hands of Vikram Singh but it doesn't fits.Then Anokhelal laughs at him and confessing that he got his father killed.His hiden goons try to kill Ranbir but cops present already saved him,killing Anokhelal and his brother Biradar but Ranbir is injured during that. He thanks cops for saving his life and departs.

At his place,while bandaging his wounds,Sonia asks him to leave this place and travel to a safer place to which he disagrees.After which Mona arrives,tying rakhi to Ranbir's wrist.She sees the steel ring in Ranbir's hands and saying that she given one to Kundan also but he has lost it.Ranbir realises that Kundan is the main culprit behind the death of his father.He wants to kill him but is in a fix because he is his sister's husband and he doesn't want to make her a widow.

After that, Mona and Kundan return home where find Natwar & Rishi already present there.Kundan signals Mona to go upstairs.Natwar & Rishi blackmail Kundan that they will expose that he was the main culprit behind his father-in-law's death.They demand him to find a path for Rabir's Death.Mona hears this conversation and informs about this to Ranbir.Kundan sees her doing all this.

Ranbir along with Shakti Singh(Dara Singh),a top henchman of his father,arrives at their place and finds Mona dead.A mourning Ranbir receives a call from Kundan in he asks Ranbir,if he has the guts to meet him at his hideout in Madh Island to take revenge of his sister's death from him.Meanwhile he plans to kill him and Shakti Singh.

Ranbir accepts and arrives there only find a bunch of goons with machine guns present there to kill him and Shakti Singh.

Meanwhile Kundan lands in helicopter a hilly place with a small cottage where Natwar & Rishi are present. They ask him about their safehouse to which he says that a ship in the sea waiting for their arrival and then he asks them about the narcotics. They reply that it is in cottage.He asks its worth to which they reply that it is full 50 lacs. Then he kills them and takes the carton of drugs from cottage back to the helicopter where he finds Ranbir .He is astonished to see him alive and confesses him about the plan according to which he killed his father. Then he commits suicide by jumping of from the hill.

After that,Ranbir closes all Matka racket across the world which was led by his father and handles over all the black money earned by his father to the police.He,then leaves with his mother and Sonia,now his wife,to Afghanistan to continue his old work there.

Cast[link]

• Prem Nath ... Dharamdas 'Dharmatma'
• Feroz Khan ... Ranbir
• Hema Malini ... Reshma
• Rekha ... Anu
• Danny Denzongpa ... Jankura
• Farida Jalal ... Mona
• Ranjeet ... Rishi
• Sudhir ... Natwar
• Imtiaz Khan ... Kundan
• Madan Puri ... Ranbir's Uncle
• Jeevan ... Anokhelal
• Satyendra Kapoor ... Anokhelal's brother Biradar
• Helen ... Dancer
• Iftekhar ... Vikram Singh
• Faryal ... Medical sister
• Sulochana Latkar ... Shanti
• Seema Kapoor
• Jagdish Raj ... Dr. Jagdish
• Krishnakant
• Habib ... Baron
• Anand Pal
• Major Anand ... Police Commissioner
• Brahm Bhardwaj ... Dr. Roy
• V. Gopal
• Hercules
• Dhanraj
• Rafiq
• Zaheera
• Nadira ... Gipsy
• Alka ... Rani
• P. Jairaj
• Yashraj
• Nana Palsikar ... Purshottam
• Nasir Hussain ... Rani's dad
• Krishan Dhawan ... Kishanlal - Anu's dad
• Gurnam
• Mohan Choti
• Himmat Sinh Chauhan
• Dara Singh ... Shakti Singh

Soundtrack[link]

Kalyanji Anandji had composed all the songs of the film.This was their second collaboration with Feroz Khan after Apradh.Indeevar penned the lyrics.The music of this film was superhit is recognised as cult classic today.All the songs of the film were superhit.

External links[link]

• Dharmatma at the Internet Movie Database

Kalyanji Anandji is a name used by Indian composer duo known for its work on Hindi film soundtracks, particularly action potboilers in the 1970s. The name comes from first names of the Gujarati brothers that formed the duo, Kalyanji Virji Shah and Anandji Virji Shah. Some of their best-known works are Don, Saraswatichandra, Qurbani and Safar. They won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for Kora Kagaz.^[1]

Career[link]

Kalyanji and Anandji were children of a businessman who migrated from Kutch to Mumbai to start a grocery and provision store. The brothers began to learn music from a music teacher, who taught them in lieu of paying his bills to their father. One of their great-grandparents was a folk musician of some eminence. They spent most of their formative years in the hamlet of Girgaum (a district in Mumbai) amidst Marathi and Gujarati environs and among some eminent musical talent that resided in the vicinity.

Kalyanji started his career as a musician, with a new electronic instrument called the clavioline. which was used for the famous "Nagin Been," used in the film Nagin (1954) which had the music of Hemant Kumar.^[2] Kalyanji then, with his brother Anandji, started an orchestral group called Kalyanji Virji and Party which organised musical shows in Mumbai and outside. This was the first attempt made for holding live musical shows in India.

Kalyanji Anandji's arrival in the Bombay film industry as music composers was a turning point. When big music directors like S.D. Burman, Hemant Kumar, Madan Mohan, Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan and Ravi were ruling the Hindi film music world — and it was a golden period of film music — it was very tough to make a place amongst them. Still they came and won the hearts and minds of Indian people.

The Bharat Bhushan–Nirupa Roy hit Samrat Chandragupta (1959) was his first film as Kalyanji Virji Shah. Songs like "Chahe Paas Ho" (Lata–Rafi) that are remembered to this day were what made the movie a commercial success. This was followed by his composing music scores for more films like Post Box 999 before Anandji who was assisting him, joined him officially to form the Kalyanji Anandji duo in Satta Bazar and Madari (1959). Chalia (1961) was their earliest major hit. In 1965, two decisive scores, Himalay Ki God Mein and Jab Jab Phool Khile, established them as composers to reckon with.

Kalyanji-Anandji's variety-studded music is complete with some of the topmost songs of all singers and genres. Both Kalyanji and Anandji worked as music composers for over 250 films, 17 of which were golden jubilees and 39 silver. The factor behind their success is hard work, apart from their talent. They were never self-centered or egoistic. The spiritually inclined brothers opened up a new horizon in Bollywood. They used to put society in front of them and, as a thankful gesture, organized many charitable concerts for NGOs and several charitable institutions in India and abroad with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, like Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Rekha, Sridevi, to name a few.

They were tireless in discovering new talents and grooming them, as well. Manhar Udhas, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Sadhna Sargam, Sapna Mukherjee, Udit Narayan, Sunidhi Chauhan, now very popular names, were nurtured as singers and got their first breaks from Kalyanji Anandji. Fellow composers Laxmikant Pyarelal, before becoming famous, worked as music assistants to Kalyanji Anandji.

They helped introduce or gave career defining breaks to lyricists like Qamar Jalalabadi, Anand Bakshi, Gulshan Bawra, Anjaan, Verma Malik and M G Hashmat.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, their work was introduced to a young Western audience by three albums. Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars was a mix album put together by US DJ Dan The Automator; Bollywood Funk was an Outcaste compilation album put together by Sutrasonic DJs Harv and Sunni; while The Beginners Guide To Bollywood was compiled by John Lewis from Time Out magazine. All three of these records concentrated on Kalyanji Anandji tracks from 1970s films that featured funk breakbeats, wah-wah guitars and Motown-style orchestrations. In 2005, The Black Eyed Peas's "Don't Phunk with My Heart" used music pieces from two of their songs: "Ae Naujawan" from the 1972 film Apradh^[3] and "Yeh Mera Dil" from the 1978 film Don, which won them a Grammy Award.^[4]

On 24 August 2000, Kalyanji breathed his last. His era with Anandji will always be remembered for their great contributions. Kalyanji’s dream for training new and young talents and promoting them is carried on today by Anandji in the name of Little Stars.

The composers composed some outstanding songs rendered by the legend Kishore Kumar such as "Jeevan se bhari teri aankhe", "Sindagi ka safar hai ye kaisa Safar", "Pal pal dilke paas", "Neele Neele Ambar Par". Their composition called "Pal bharke liye" was used in an episode of The Simpsons. Remixed version of the song "Apni Toh Jaise Taise," originally from the 1981 film Laawaris was used in 2010 Bollywood film Housefull. The Calcutta High Court restrained producer Sajid Nadiadwala from the cinematic use of the song.^[5]

Awards[link]

• Cine Music Directors Award – 1965 - Himalay Ki God Mein
• First National Award – 1968 - Saraswatichandra
• Filmfare Award – 1974 - Kora Kagaz
• First Platinum Disc by HMV – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)
• 1st Platinum Disc by Polydor - Qurbani (1980)
• IMPPA Award – 1992 - For Contribution to Films
• Padmashree by the Government of India - For Outstanding Contribution
• IIFA Award (South Africa) - 2003 - Lifetime Achievement Award
• Sahara Parivar Award (United Kingdom) - 2004 - Lifetime Achievement Award
• BMI Award (United States) - 2006 - For Grammy Award-winning rap song "Don't Phunk with My Heart"

Discography[link]

Songs and films[link]

Their songs repeatedly entered the top popularity ratings of Binaca Geetmala and topped the list many times. Some of their notable compositions, by song title, are as follows:

• "Aankhon Aankhon Me Hum Tum" (Mahal, 1969)
• "Aao Tumhe Me Pyar Sikha Doon" (Upasna, 1971)
• "Aap Se Humko Bichhade Huye" (Vishwas, 1969)
• "Akele Hai Chale Aao" (Raaz, 1967)
• "Ankhiyon Ka Noor Hai Tu" (Johar Mehmood in Goa, 1965)
• "Apni to jaise taise" (Laawaris, 1978)
• "Are Oh Re" (Suhaag Raat, 1968)
• "Bekhudi Mein Sanam" (Haseena Maan Jayegi, 1968)
• "Bharat Ka Rahnewala Hoon" (Purab Aur Pachhim, 1970)
• "Bina Badra ke Bijuria" (Bandhan, 1969)
• "Bure Bhi Hum Bhale Bhi Hum" (Banarasi Babu, 1973)
• "Chahe Aaj Mujhe Na Pasand Karo" (Darinda, 1977)
• "Chahe Paas Ho" (Samrat Chandragupta, 1959)
• "Chandan Sa Badan" (Saraswatichandra, 1968)
• "Chand Si Mehbooba" (Himalay Ki God Mein, 1965)
• "Chandi Ki Dewar Na Todi" (Viswas, 1969)
• "Chale The Saath Milkar " (Haseena Maan Jayegi, 1968)
• "Chhalia Mera Naam" (Chhalia, 1960)
• "Chhuk Chhuk" (Rafoo Chakkar, 1975)
• "Chupke Se Dil Dai De" (Maryada, 1971)
• "Darpan Ko Dekha" (Upasna, 1971)
• "Dil Ko Dekho Chehra Na Dekho" (Sachaa Jhutha, 1970)
• "Dulhan Chali" (Purab Aur Pachhim, 1970)
• "Dam Dam Diga Diga" (Chhalia, 1960)
• "Dheere Re Chalo Gori" (Johar Mahmood In Goa, 1965)
• "Do bechare bina sahare" (Victoriya No. 203, 1972)
• "Do Qadam Tum Bhi Chalo" (Ek Hasina Do Diwane, 1971)
• "Dilwala Diwana Mutwala Mastana" (Professor Pyarelal, 1981)
• "Duniya Mein Pyar Ki Sab Ko" (Sachaa Jhutha, 1970)
• "Ga Ga Ga Gaye Ja" (Professor Pyarelal, 1981)
• "Gali Gali Mein" (Tridev, 1989)
• "Ganga Maiya Men Jab Tak" (Suhaag Raat, 1968)
• "Gazar Ne Kiya Hai Ishara (Tridev, 1989)
• "Ghodi Pe Ho Ke Sawar" (Ghulam Begam Badshah, 1973)
• "Govinda Aala Re Aala" (Bluff Master, 1963)
• "Guni Jano Bhakt Jano" (Anshoo Aur Muskan, 1970)
• "He Re Kanhaiya" (Chhoti Bahu, 1971)
• "Hum Chod Chale Hai Mehfil Ko" (Ji Chahta Hai, 1964)
• "Humare Siva Tumhare Aur Kitne Diwane" (Apradh, 1972)
• "Hum Ko Mohabbat Ho Gai Hai" (Haath Ki Safai", 1974)
• "Humsafar Mere Humsafar" (Purnima", 1965)
• "Hamne Tujhko Pyar Kiya Hai " (Dulha Dulhan, 1964)
• "Humne Aaj Se Tume Yeh Naam De Diya" (Raja Sahab, 1969)
• "Ho Gaye Hum Aapke Kasamse" (Bombay 405 Miles, 1981)
• "Husna ke Lakhon rang"(Johny Mera Naam, 1970)
• "Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Aankhen" (Safar, 1970)
• "Jiske Sapne Humen Roz Aate Hai (Geet, 1971)
• "Jo Pyar Tune Mujhko Diya Tha" (Dulha Dulhan, 1964)
• "Jo Tumko Ho Pasand Wahi Baat Karenge" (Safar, 1970)
• "Jo Tum Hansoge To" (Kathputli, 1971)
• "Jubaan Pe Dardbharee Daastaan" (Maryada, 1971)
• "Kankaria Maar Ke Jagaya" (Himalay Ki God Mein, 1965)
• "Kabhi Raat Din Hum Door The" (Aamne Samne, 1978)
• "Karle Pyar Karle Aankhen Char" (Sacha Jhoota, 1970)
• "Kasam Na Lo koyee Humse" (Bombay 405 Miles, 1981)
• "Kaun Raha Hai Kaun Rahega" (Sankoch, 1976)
• "Khaike Paan Banaraswala" (Don, 1978)
• "Khush Raho Har Khushi He" (Suhaag Raat, 1968)
• "Koi Jab Tumhara Hraday Tod De" (Purab Aur Paschim, 1970)
• "Koi Koi Raat Aisi Hoti Hai" ("Banarasi Babu, 1973)
• "Kya Hua Kya Nahin" (Yudh, 1985)
• "Kya Khoob Lagti Ho" (Dharmatma, 1975)
• "Laila O Laila" (Qurbani, 1980)
• "Le Chal Mere Jivan Sathi" (Vishwas, 1969)
• "Main To Ek Khwab Hoon" (Himalay Ki God Mein, 1965)
• "Main Bairagi Nachoon Gaoon" (Bairaag, 1976)
• "Main Doob Jatah Hoon" (Black Mail, 1973)
• "Main Pyasa Tum Sawan" (Faraar, 1975)
• "Main Teri Mohabatt Mein" (Tridev, 1989)
• "Mere Desh Ki Dharti" (Upkar, 1967)
• "Mera Jeevan Kora Kagaz" (Kora Kagaz, 1973) — this soundtrack won a Filmfare Award and topped in Binaca Geetmala for the year 1974.
• "Meri Lotery Lag" (Holi Aayi Re, 1970)
• "Mere Mitwa Mere Meet Re" (Geet, 1970)
• "Mere Toote Hue Dil Se" (Chhalia, 1960)
• "Meri Pyari Behaniya" (Sacha Jhoota, 1970)
• "Mile Mile Do Badan" (Black Mail, 1973)
• "Mujhe Kahte Hai Kallu Qawal" (Dulha Dulhan, 1964)
• "Na Na Karte Pyar Tumhin Se" (Jab Jab Phool Khile, 1965)
• "Na Koi Raha Hai Na Koi Rahega" (Johar Mehmood in Goa, 1965)
• "Naino Mein Nindiya Hai" (Joroo Ka Ghulam, 1972)
• "Nazar Ka Jhuk Jana" (Passport, 1961)
• "O Dilbar Jaaniye" (Haseena Maan Jayegi, 1968)
• "Oh Mere Raja" (Johny Mera Naam, 1970)
• "O Sathi Re Tere Bina bhi" (Muqaddar Ka Sikander, 1978)
• "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas" (Black Mail, 1973)
• "Pal bhar ke liye" (Johny Mera Naam, 1970)
• "Pardesiyon Se aakhiyan milana" (Jab Jab Phool Khile, 1965)
• "Peene Walo Ko Peene Ka Bahana" (Haath Ki Safai, 1974)
• "Peete Peete Kabhi Kabhi" (Bairaag, 1976)
• "Phool Tumhe Bheja Hai Khat Main" (Saraswatichandra, 1968)
• "pyar to ek din hona thaa" (Ek Shrimaan Ek Shrimati, 1969)
• "Qasme Wade Pyar Wafa" (Upkar, 1967)
• "Rafta Rafta Dekho Meri" (Kahani Kismat Ki, 1973)
• "Rahne Do Rahne Do, Gile Shikwe" (Rakhwala, 1971)
• "Saaz-E-Dil Chhed De" (Passport, 1961)
• "Samjhauta Gamon Se Karlo"(Samjhauta, 1973)
• "Salaam-e-ishq Meri Jaan" (Muqaddar Ka Sikander 1978)
• "Sama he suhana suhana"(Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani), 1970)
• "Sukh Ke Sab Saathi" (Gopi, 1970)
• "Tere Hoton Ke do phool" (Paras, 1971)
• "Tere Naina Kyon Bhar Aaye" ("Geet, 1971)
• "Teri raho me khade hai dil tham ke" (Chhalia, 1960)
• "Teri Zulfein Pareshan" (Preet Na Jane Reet, 1963)
• "Tirchi Topiwale" (Tridev, 1989)
• "Tum Ko Mere Dil Ne Pukara" (Rafoo Chakkar, 1975)
• "Tum Mile Pyar Se"(Apradh, 1972)
• "Tu Kya Jane" (Haadsaa, 1983)
• "Vaada Kar Le Sajna" (Haath Ki Safai, 1974)
• "Yaari Hai Meri Imaan" (Zanjeer, 1973)
• "Yeh Bombay Saher Hai Haadsaa" (Haadsaa, 1983)
• "Yeh Duniyawale Poochhenge" (Mahal), 1969)
• "Yeh Mera Dil" (Don, 1978)
• "Yeh Raat Hai Pyasi Pyasi" (Chhoti Bahu, 1971)
• "Yeh Sama, Sama hai yeh pyar Ka" (Jab Jab Phool Khile, 1965)
• "Y.O.G.A Karo Yoga Yoga" (Haadsaa, 1983)
• "Ye Do Diwane Dilke, Chale" (Johar Mehmood in Goa, 1965)
• "Ye Vada Raha" (Professor Pyarelal,1981)
• "Yunhi Tum Mujhse Baat Karti Ho" (Sachaa Jhutha, 1970)
• "Yudh Kar" (Yudh, 1985)
• "Zindagi Ka Safar Hai Ye Kaisa Safar" (Safar, 1970)
• "Zuban Pe Dard Bhari Dastan" (Maryada, 1971)
• "My Guru" (Thicker Than Water, 2003)

Associations[link]

Prakash Mehra

• Haseena Maan Jayegi
• Zanjeer
• Haath Ki Safai
• Hera Pheri
• Muqaddar Ka Sikandar
• Lawaaris
• Ghungroo
• Imaandaar
• Jaadugar

Manoj Kumar

• Upkar
• Purab Aur Paschim

Feroz Khan

• Apradh
• Dharmatma
• Qurbani
• Janbaaz

Manmohan Desai

• Chaliyaa
• Bluff Master
• Sachaa Jhutha

Sultan Ahmed

• Heera
• Ganga Ki Saugandh
• Dharamkaanta
• Daata

Rajiv Rai

• Yudh
• Tridev

Gulshan Rai

• Vidhaata
• Johny Mera Naam

Subhash Ghai

• Kalicharan

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kalyanji Anandji Kalyanji Anandji's Association with Mohammed Rafi
• Lyrics of Hindi Movie Songs composed by Kalyanji Anandji
• Kalyanji-Anandji's Filmography (over 250 movies)
• List of hindi songs from Kalyanji-Anandji (over 500 songs)
• Kalyanji at the Internet Movie Database
• Anandji at the Internet Movie Database

Lata Mangeshkar
Mangeshkar in 2008
Background information
Born	(1929-09-28) September 28, 1929 (age 82) Indore, Central India Agency, British India
Genres	Film music (playback singing)
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1942–present

Lata Mangeshkar (born September 28, 1929) is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India.^[1][2] Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi. She is the elder sister of singer Asha Bhosle, Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar. She is the second vocalist to have ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.^[3]

Mangeshkar was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world. The claim was that she had recorded approximately 25,000 solo, duet, and chorus-backed songs in 20 Indian languages between 1948 to 1974. Over the years, while several sources have supported this claim, others have raised concerns over its veracity, claiming that this number was highly exaggerated and that Mangeshkar's younger sister, Asha Bhosle, had more song recordings than she had.^[4][5] In 2011 Guinness officially acknowledged Bhosle as the most recorded artist in music history.^[6]

Early life[link]

Lata Mangeshkar was born in Sikh Mohalla,^[7] in the princely state of Indore, part of the Central India Agency (now part of Madhya Pradesh). Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar who belonged to a Gomantak Maratha Samaj family from Goa, was a classical singer and theater actor. Her mother Shevanti (Shudhamati) who was from Thalner, Maharashtra, was Deenanath's second wife. The family's last name used to be Hardikar; Deenanath changed it to Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his native town, Mangeshi in Goa. Lata was named "Hema" at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father's plays, BhaawBandhan.^[8] Lata is the eldest child of her parents. Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridayanath are her siblings in sequence.

Mangeshkar took her first lessons from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical plays (Sangeet Natak in Marathi). On the first day in the school, she started teaching songs to other children. When the teacher stopped her, she was so angry that she stopped going to the school.^[8] Other sources cite that she left school because they would not allow her to bring Asha with her, as she would often bring her younger sister with her.

Singing career[link]

Early career in the 1940s[link]

In 1942, when Mangeshkar was 13, her father died of heart disease. Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), the owner of Navyug Chitrapat movie company and a close friend of the Mangeshkar family, took care of them

Mangeshkar sang the song "Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari" which was composed by Sadashivrao Nevrekar for Vasant Joglekar's Marathi-language movie Kiti Hasaal (1942), but the song was dropped from the final cut. Vinayak gave her a small role in Navyug Chitrapat's Marathi movie Pahili Mangalaa-gaur (1942), in which she sang "Natali Chaitraachi Navalaai" which was composed by Dada Chandekar.^[8] Her first Hindi song was "Mata Ek Sapoot Ki Duniya Badal De Tu" for the Marathi film, Gajaabhaau (1943). Mangeshkar moved to Mumbai in 1945 when Master Vinayak's company moved its headquarters there. She started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Amanat Ali Khan . She sang “Paa Lagoon Kar Jori” for Vasant Joglekar's Hindi-language movie Aap Ki Seva Mein (1946),^[8] which was composed by Datta Davjekar. Mangeshkar and her sister Asha played minor roles in Vinayak's first Hindi-language movie, Badi Maa (1945). In that movie, Lata also sang a bhajan, “Maata Tere Charnon Mein.” She was introduced to music director Vasant Desai during the recording of Vinayak's second Hindi-language movie, Subhadra (1946).

Following the partition of India in 1947, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan migrated to newly formed Pakistan, so Mangeshkar started to learn classical music under Amanat Khan Devaswale. Pandit Tulsidas Sharma, a pupil of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, also trained her.

After Vinayak's death in 1948, music director Ghulam Haider mentored her as a singer. Haider introduced Mangeshkar to producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was working then on the movie Shaheed (1948), but Mukherjee dismissed Mangeshkar's voice as "too thin."^[8] An annoyed Haider responded that in the coming years the producers and the directors would "fall at Lata's feet" and "beg her" to sing in their movies. Haider gave Lata her first major break with the song “Dil Mera Toda,” from the movie Majboor (1948).^[8]

Initially, Mangeshkar is said to have imitated the acclaimed singer Noor Jehan, but later she developed her own style of singing.^[8] Lyrics of songs in Hindi movies are primarily composed by Urdu poets and contain a higher proportion of Urdu words, including the dialogue. Actor Dilip Kumar once made a mildly disapproving remark about Mangeshkar's Maharashtrian accent while singing Hindi/Urdu songs; so for a period of time, Lata took lessons in Urdu from an Urdu teacher named Shafi.^[9]

One of her first major hits was “Aayega Aanewaala,” a song in the movie Mahal (1949), which was composed by music director Khemchand Prakash and lip-synced on screen by actress Madhubala.

1950s[link]

Mangeshkar as a young woman

In the 1950s, Mangeshkar sang songs composed by various music directors of the period, including Anil Biswas (in films such as Tarana and Heer), Shankar-Jaikishan, Naushad, S. D. Burman, C. Ramchandra, Hemant Kumar, Salil Chowdhury, Khayyam, Ravi, Sajjad Hussain, Roshan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Vasant Desai, Sudhir Phadke, Hansraj Behl, Madan Mohan, and Usha Khanna.

Mangeshkar sang many raga-based songs for Naushad in movies such as Baiju Bawra (1952), Mughal-E-Azam (1960), and Kohinoor (1960). Ae Chorre Ki Jaat Badi Bewafa, a duet with G. M. Durrani, was her first song for composer, Naushad. The duo, Shankar-Jaikishan, chose Mangeshkar for Aag, Aah (1953), Shree 420 (1955), and Chori Chori (1956). Before 1957, composer Sachin Dev (S. D.) Burman chose Mangeshkar as the leading female singer for his musical scores in Sazaa (1951), House No. 44 (1955), and Devdas (1955). However a rift developed between Lata and Burman in 1957, and Lata did not sing Burman's compositions again until 1962.^[8]

Mangeshkar won a Filmfare Best Female Playback Award for Salil Chowdhury's composition “Aaja Re Pardesi,” from Madhumati (1958). In the early fifties, Lata Mangeshkar's association with C. Ramchandra produced songs in movies such as Anarkali, Albela, Asha, Pehli Jhhalak, Shin Shinkai Bublaa Boo, Azad and Amardeep. For Madan Mohan, she performed for films like Adalat, Railway Platform, Dekh Kabira Roya and Chacha Zindabad.

1960s[link]

Mangeshkar's song "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" from Mughal-E-Azam (1960), composed by Naushad and picturized on Madhubala, still remains famous . The Hawaiian-themed number "Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh" from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960) was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan and picturized on Meena Kumari.

In 1961, Mangeshkar recorded two popular bhajans, "Allah Tero Naam" and "Prabhu Tero Naam", for Burman's assistant, Jaidev. In 1962, she was awarded her second Filmfare Award for the song "Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil" from Bees Saal Baad, composed by Hemant Kumar.

On June 27, 1963, against the backdrop of the Sino-Indian War, Mangeshkar sang the patriotic song "Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo" (literally, "Oh, People of My Country") in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India. The song, composed by C. Ramchandra and written by Pradeep, is said to have brought the Prime Minister to tears.^[8][10]

In 1963, Mangeshkar returned to collaboration with S. D. Burman. She also sang for R. D. Burman's very first film Chhote Nawaab and later for his films such as Bhoot Bangla (1965), Pati Patni (1966), Baharon ke Sapne (1967) and Abhilasha (1969). She also recorded several popular songs for S. D. Burman, including "Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai", "Gata Rahe Mera Dil" (duet with Kishore Kumar) and "Piya Tose" from Guide (1965), and "Hothon Pe Aisi Baat" from Jewel Thief (1967).

During the 1960s, Lata Mangeshkar continued her association with Madan Mohan which included the songs "Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha" from Anpadh (1962), "Lag Ja Gale" and "Naina Barse Rim Jhim" from Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), "Woh Chup Rahen To" from Jahan Ara (1964), and "Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega" from Mera Saaya (1966).

The 1960s also witnessed the beginning of Mangeshkar's association with Laxmikant-Pyarelal, the music directors for whom she sang the most popular songs in her career. She sang for Parasmani (1963) which was their first film together.

She also sang several playback songs for Marathi films, composed by Marathi music directors including Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Vasant Prabhu, Srinivas Khale, Sudhir Phadke and herself (under the name Anandghan). During the 1960s and 1970s, she also sang several Bengali songs, composed by music directors like Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar.

In this period Lata Mangeshkar has recorded duets with Mukesh, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, and Kishore Kumar.

1970s[link]

In 1972, Meena Kumari's last film, Pakeezah released. It featured popular songs including "Chalte Chalte" and "Inhi Logon Ne" sung by Lata Mangeshkar, and composed by Ghulam Mohammed. She recorded many popular songs for S. D. Burman's last films, including "Rangeela Re" from Prem Pujari (1970), "Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan" from Sharmeelee (1971), and "Piya Bina" from Abhimaan (1973).

Lata Mangeshkar's most notable songs in 1970s were composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal (Laxmi-Pyare) and Rahul Dev Burman^{[citation needed]}. She recorded several songs composed by Laxmi-Pyare in 1960s and 1970s, many of them written by the lyricist Anand Bakshi. She also recorded many hit songs with Rahul Dev Burman in the films Amar Prem (1972), Caravan (1971), Kati Patang(1971), and Aandhi (1975). The two are noted for their songs with the lyricists Majrooh Sultanpuri, Anand Bakshi and Gulzar.

In 1973, she won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for the song "Beeti Na Bitai" from the film Parichay, composed by R. D. Burman, and written by Gulzar. In 1974, she sang her only Malayalam song "Kadali Chenkadali" for the film Nellu, composed by Salil Chowdhury, and written by Vayalar Ramavarma. In 1975, she again won the national award, this time for the song "Roothe Roothe Piya" from the film Kora Kagaz, composed by Kalyanji-Anandji.

From 1970s onwards, Lata Mangeshkar has also staged many concerts in India and abroad, including several charity concerts. Her first concert overseas was at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1974. She also released an album of Mirabai's bhajans, Chala Vaahi Des, composed by her brother Hridayanath Mangeshkar. Some of the bhajans in the album include "Saanware Rang Raachi" and "Ud Jaa Re Kaaga". In the early 70s, she released other non-film albums, such as her collection of Ghalib ghazals, an album of Marathi folk songs (koli-geete), an album of Ganesh aartis (all composed by her brother Hridaynath) and an album of abhangs of Sant Tukaram composed by Shrinivas Khale.

In late 1970s and early 1980s, she worked with the children of composers she had earlier worked with. Some of these composers included Rahul Dev Burman (son of Sachin Dev Burman), Rajesh Roshan (son of Roshan), Anu Malik (son of Sardar Malik), and Anand-Milind (sons of Chitragupt).

1980s onwards[link]

From 1980s onwards, Lata Mangeshkar worked with music directors including Shiv-Hari, Ram Laxman, and A. R. Rahman. She recorded some non-film songs, including ghazals with Jagjit Singh.

In 1990, Mangeshkar launched her own production house for Hindi movies which produced the Gulzar-directed movie Lekin.... She won her third National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer for her rendition of the song "Yaara Sili Sili" from the film, which was composed by her brother Hridayanath. During the 1990s, she recorded with music directors including Jatin-Lalit and Nadeem-Shravan. She has sung for Rajshri Productions, including Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994).

Mangeshkar has sung for almost all the Yash Chopra films and films from his production house Yash Raj Films at that time, including Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Darr (1993), Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) and later on Mohabbatein (2000), Mujhse Dosti Karoge (2002) and Veer Zaara (2004).

A. R. Rahman recorded a few songs with Mangeshkar during this period, including "Jiya Jale" (Dil Se..), "Khamoshiyan Gungunane Lagin" (One Two Ka Four), "Ek Tu Hi Bharosa" (Pukar), "Pyaara Sa Gaon" (Zubeidaa), "Lukka chuppi" (Rang de Basanti) and "O Paalanhaare" (Lagaan). She made an appearance in the film Pukar singing this song.

In 1999, Lata Eau de Parfum, a perfume brand named after her, was launched.^[11]

In 1999, Mangeshkar was nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha.^[12] However, she did not attend the Rajya Sabha sessions regularly, inviting criticism from several members of the House, including the Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah, Pranab Mukherjee and Shabana Azmi.^[13][14] She stated the reason for her absence as ill-health; it was also reported that she had not taken a salary, allowance or a house in Delhi for being a Member of Parliament.^[13][15]

In 2001, Lata Mangeshkar was awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor. In the same year, she established the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in Pune, managed by the Lata Mangeshkar Medical Foundation (founded by the Mangeshkar family in October 1989). In 2005, she designed a jewellery collection called Swaranjali, which was crafted by Adora, an Indian diamond export company. Five pieces from the collection raised £105,000 at a Christie's auction, and a part of the money was donated for the 2005 Pakistan earthquake relief.^[16] Also in 2001, she recorded her first Hindi song with the composer Ilaiyaraaja, for the film Lajja; she had earlier recorded Tamil and Telugu songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Lata Mangeshkar's song "Wada Na Tod" is in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and on the film's soundtrack.

On June 21, 2007, she released an album Saadgi, featuring eight ghazal-like songs written by Javed Akhtar and composed by Mayuresh Pai.^[17]

Lata Mangeshkar records songs for Madhur Bhandarkar Kitne Ajeeb Rishte Hain Yahan Par for Page 3 (2005), Daata Sun Le for Jail (2009) and, Kyun Yahan Hota Hai was recorded years ago for Corporate (2006), but is only being used in Heroine (2012).^{[18] [19]}

Non-singing career[link]

Music direction[link]

Lata Mangeshkar composed music for the first time in 1955 for Marathi movie Ram Ram Pavhane. Later in 1960s, she composed music for following Marathi movies under the pseudonym of Anand Ghan.^[20]

• 1960 - Ram Ram Pavhana
• 1963 - Maratha Tituka Melvava
• 1963 - Mohityanchi Manjula
• 1965 - Sadhi Manase
• 1969 - Tambadi Mati

She won Maharashtra State Government's Best Music Director Award for the film Sadhi Manase. The song "Airanichya Deva Tula" from the same film received best song award.^{[citation needed]}

Production[link]

Lata Mangeshkar has produced four films:

• 1953 - Vaadal (Marathi)
• 1953 - Jhaanjhar (Hindi), co-produced with C. Ramchandra
• 1955 - Kanchan (Hindi)
• 1990 - Lekin... (Hindi)

Awards and recognitions[link]

Lata Mangeshkar has won several awards and honors, including Bharat Ratna (India's Highest Civilian Award), Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999), Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), Maharashtra Bhushan Award (1997),^[21] NTR National Award (1999), Bharat Ratna (2001), ANR National Award (2009), three National Film Awards, and 12 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. She has also won four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards. In 1969, she made the unusual gesture of giving up the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award, in order to promote fresh talent. She was later awarded Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.

In 1984, the State Government of Madhya Pradesh instituted the Lata Mangeshkar Award in honour of Lata Mangeshkar. The State Government of Maharashtra also instituted a Lata Mangeshkar Award in 1992.

In 1974, The Guinness Book of Records listed Lata Mangeshkar as the most recorded artist in the history, stating that she had reportedly recorded "not less than 25,000 solo, duet and chorus backed songs in 20 Indian languages" between 1948 and 1974. Her record was contested by Mohammed Rafi, who was claimed to have sung around 28,000 songs.^[4][22] After Rafi's death, in its 1984 edition, the Guinness Book of World Records stated Lata Mangeshkar's name for the "Most Recordings", but also stated Rafi's claim. The later editions of Guinness Book stated that Lata Mangeshkar had sung no fewer than 30,000 songs between 1948 and 1987.^[23]

Although the entry has not been printed in Guinness editions since 1991, several sources claim that she has recorded thousands of songs, with estimates ranging up to figures as large as 50,000.^[24][25] However, even the earliest Guinness claim of 25,000 songs (between 1948–1974) was claimed to be exaggerated by several other sources, with one of them stating that the number of songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar in Hindi films till 1991 was found to be 5250.^[26][27][28] Mangeshkar herself stated that she does not keep a record of the number of songs recorded by her, and that she did not know from where Guinness Book editors got their information.^[29] In 2011 Asha Bhosle was officially acknowledged by Guinness as the most recorded artist in music history, surpassing Mangeshkar.^[6]

See also[link]

• Playback singer
• Asha Bhosle
• List of Indian playback singers
• Bollywood songs

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bichu, Dr. Mandar (2011). Lata - Voice of the Golden Era. Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7991-625-4. 
• Bhimani, Harish (1995). In search of Lata Mangeshkar. Indus. ISBN 978-81-7223-170-5. 
• Bharatan, Raju (1995). Lata Mangeshkar: A Biography. UBS Publishers Distributors. ISBN 978-81-7476-023-4. 
• Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2009). Lata Mangeshkar: In Her Own Voice. Niyogi Books. ISBN 978-81-89738-41-9. 
• Lata, Mangeshkar (1995). Madhuvanti Sapre and Dinkar Gangal. ed (in Marathi). In search of Lata Mangeshkar. Harper Collins/Indus. ISBN 978-81-7223-170-5. . A collection of articles written by Lata Mangeshkar since 1952.
• Nerurkar, Vishwas (in Hindi). Lata Mangeshkar Gandhar Swaryatra (1945-1989). Mumbai: Vasanti P. Nerukar. .
• Bichhu, Mandar V. (1996) (in Hindi). Gaaye Lata, Gaaye Lata. Sharjah: Pallavi Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7223-170-5. . A collection of articles written by Lata Mangeshkar since 1952.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lata Mangeshkar

• Lata Mangeshkar at the Internet Movie Database

Awards for Lata Mangeshkar v t e Bharat Ratna laureates Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) C. Rajagopalachari (1954) C. V. Raman (1954) Bhagwan Das (1955) Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) Indira Gandhi (1971) V. V. Giri (1975) K. Kamaraj (1976) Mother Teresa (1980) Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) M. G. Ramachandran (1988) B. R. Ambedkar (1990) Nelson Mandela (1990) Rajiv Gandhi (1991) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) Morarji Desai (1991) Abul Kalam Azad (1992) J. R. D. Tata (1992) Satyajit Ray (1992) A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) Ravi Shankar (1999) Amartya Sen (1999) Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) Lata Mangeshkar (2001) Bismillah Khan (2001) Bhimsen Joshi (2008) v t e Dadasaheb Phalke Award 1969–1980 Devika Rani Chaudhuri Roerich (1969) B. N. Sircar (1970) Prithviraj Kapoor (1971) Pankaj Mullick (1972) Ruby Myers (1973) Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy (1974) Dhirendranath Ganguly (1975) Kanan Devi (1976) Nitin Bose (1977) Rai Chand Boral (1978) Sohrab Modi (1979) Paidi Jairaj (1980) 1981–2000 Naushad Ali (1981) L. V. Prasad (1982) Durga Khote (1983) Satyajit Ray (1984) V. Shantaram (1985) Bommireddy Nagi Reddy (1986) Raj Kapoor (1987) Ashok Kumar (1988) Lata Mangeshkar (1989) Akkineni Nageswara Rao (1990) Bhalji Pendharkar (1991) Bhupen Hazarika (1992) Majrooh Sultanpuri (1993) Dilip Kumar (1994) Rajkumar (1995) Sivaji Ganesan (1996) Pradeep (1997) B. R. Chopra (1998) Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1999) Asha Bhosle (2000) 2001–present Yash Chopra (2001) Dev Anand (2002) Mrinal Sen (2003) Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2004) Shyam Benegal (2005) Tapan Sinha (2006) Manna Dey (2007) V. K. Murthy (2008) D. Ramanaidu (2009) K. Balachander (2010) Soumitra Chatterjee (2011) v t e National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer 1968–1980 No Award (1968) P. Susheela (1969) K. B. Sundarambal (1970) Sandhya Mukherjee (1971) P. Susheela (1972) Lata Mangeshkar (1973) No Award (1974) Lata Mangeshkar (1975) Vani Jairam (1976) P. Susheela (1977) S. Janaki (1978) Chhaya Ganguly (1979) Vani Jairam (1980) 1981–2000 S. Janaki (1981) Asha Bhosle (1982) P. Susheela (1983) P. Susheela (1984) S. Janaki (1985) K. S. Chithra (1986) K. S. Chithra (1987) Asha Bhosle (1988) K. S. Chithra (1989) Anuradha Paudwal (1990) Lata Mangeshkar (1991) Vani Jairam (1992) S. Janaki (1993) Alka Yagnik (1994) Swarnalatha (1995) Anjali Marathe (1996) K. S. Chithra (1997) K. S. Chithra (1998) Alka Yagnik (1999) Jayshree Dasgupta (2000) 2001–present Bhavatharini Ilaiyaraaja (2001) Sadhana Sargam (2002) Shreya Ghoshal (2003) Tarali Sarma (2004) K. S. Chithra (2005) Shreya Ghoshal (2006) Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar (2007) Shreya Ghoshal (2008) Shreya Ghoshal (2009) Nilanjana Sarkar (2010) Rekha Bhardwaj (2011) Rupa Ganguly (2012) v t e Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer 1959–1960 Lata Mangeshkar (1959) No Award (1960) 1961–1980 No Award (1961) No Award (1962) Lata Mangeshkar (1963) No Award (1964) No Award (1965) Lata Mangeshkar (1966) No Award (1967) Asha Bhosle (1968) Asha Bhosle (1969) Lata Mangeshkar (1970) Sharda (1971) Asha Bhosle (1972) Asha Bhosle (1973) Asha Bhosle (1974) Asha Bhosle (1975) Sulakshana Pandit (1976) Hemlata (1977) Preeti Sagar (1978) Asha Bhosle (1979) Vani Jairam (1980) 1981–2000 Nazia Hassan (1981) Parveen Sultana (1982) Salma Agha (1983) Aarti Mukherji (1984) Anupama Deshpande (1985) Anuradha Paudwal (1986) No Award (1987) No Award (1988) Alka Yagnik (1989) Sapna Mukherjee (1990) Anuradha Paudwal (1991) Anuradha Paudwal (1992) Anuradha Paudwal (1993) Alka Yagnik and Ila Arun (1994) Kavita Krishnamurthy (1995) Kavita Krishnamurthy (1996) Kavita Krishnamurthy (1997) Alka Yagnik (1998) Jaspinder Narula (1999) Alka Yagnik (2000) 2001–present Alka Yagnik (2001) Alka Yagnik (2002) Kavita Krishnamurthy and Shreya Ghoshal (2003) Shreya Ghoshal (2004) Alka Yagnik (2005) Alisha Chinai (2006) Sunidhi Chauhan (2007) Shreya Ghoshal (2008) Shreya Ghoshal (2009) Kavita Seth and Rekha Bhardwaj (2010) Mamta Sharma and Sunidhi Chauhan (2011) Rekha Bhardwaj and Usha Uthup (2012) v t e Filmfare Award for Lifetime Achievement 1991 – 2000 Amitabh Bachchan (1991) Dev Anand (1992) Dilip Kumar (1993) Lata Mangeshkar (1994) Shammi Kapoor & Waheeda Rehman (1995) Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt & Vyjayanthimala (1996) Dharmendra, Mumtaz & Pran(1997) Sharmila Tagore (1998) Manoj Kumar & Helen (1999) Vinod Khanna & Hema Malini (2000) 2001 – 2010 Feroz Khan & Asha Bhosle (2001) Gulzar & Asha Parekh (2002) Jeetendra (2003) Sulochana Latkar, Nirupa Roy & B.R. Chopra (2004) Rajesh Khanna (2005) Shabana Azmi (2006) Javed Akhtar & Jaya Bachchan (2007) Rishi Kapoor (2008) Bhanu Athaiya & Om Puri (2009) Shashi Kapoor & Khayyam (2010) 2011 - present Manna Dey (2011) Pyarelal & Aruna Irani (2012)

Feroz Khan (Hindi: फ़िरोज़ ख़ान, Urdu: فیروزخان September 25, 1939 – 27 April 2009) was an Indian actor, film editor, producer and director in the Hindi film industry. For his flamboyant style, with cowboyish swagger and cigar toting persona which revolutionised the style quotient of the otherwise conventional Filmi hero, he is known as the Clint Eastwood of the East and a style icon in the industry.^[1][2][3]

He appeared in over 50 films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and became one of India's best-loved heroes with his role in the 1980 hit film Qurbani, which he also directed. Khan followed this multi-disciplinary achievement by directing more successful films like Dayavan (1988) and Janbaaz (1986).^[3][4] He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan in 1970, and was honoured with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.^[5]

Early life[link]

Khan was born in the Indian city of Bangalore on September 25, 1939, but his roots are traced to Afghanistan.^[6] His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli^[7] and his mother was Iranian.^[8][9] He was educated in Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and St. Germain's Boys High School, Bangalore. His brothers are Sanjay Khan (Abbas Khan), Shahrukh Shah Ali Khan, Sameer Khan and Akbar Khan (director). He has a sister Dilshad Bibi. After his schooling in Bangalore, he arrived in Mumbai where he made his debut as second lead in Didi in 1960.

Career[link]

Through the early 1960s and 1970s, he made low-budget thrillers opposite starlets. In 1962, he appeared in an English-language film titled Tarzan Goes to India opposite Simi Garewal. His first big hit was in 1965, with Phani Majumdar's Oonche Log (1965), where he was pitted against screen idols Raaj Kumar and Ashok Kumar; he gave a notable sensitive performance.^[10][11] Again, in the same year, he played a sacrificing lover in the mushy musical Arzoo, starring Sadhana. With this, Khan earned his entry into A-list second leads. With the film Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969), Khan won his first Filmfare award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He appeared alongside his real-life brother Sanjay Khan in the hit films Upaasna (1967), Mela (1971), and Nagin (1976).

He turned into a successful producer and director in 1971 so as to improve his career opportunities as a leading man with his first directorial film Apradh, which was the first Indian movie showing auto racing in Germany; Mumtaaz was his co-star. He produced, directed, and starred in the 1975 film Dharmatma, which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as producer, director, and star and marked appearance of actress Hema Malini in a glamorous avatar.^[12] This movie was inspired by the Hollywood film The Godfather.

Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, he was a leading Bollywood star, directing and starring in many of his films. He also starred in the Punjabi film Bhagat Dhanna Jat (1974). The 1980 film Qurbani, with Zeenat Aman, was the biggest hit of his career and launched the singing career of iconic Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, with her memorable track "Aap Jaisa Koi."^[11] In 1986, he directed and starred in Janbaaz, a box-office hit,^[13] which some consider to be one of his best movies, featured an all-star cast and was possessed of great songs and excellent cinematography. In 1988, he directed and starred in Dayavan, which was a remake of a South Indian film titled Nayagan. After directing and starring in Yalgaar (1992), he took a long break from acting for 11 years.

He launched his son Fardeen Khan's career with the 1998 film Prem Aggan, which, however, was a box-office bomb. In 2003, he made his acting comeback as well as produced and directed Janasheen, which also starred his son Fardeen. He always used performing animals in his films—a chimpanzee and lion were used in Janasheen—but People for Animals (PFA) Haryana [2] chairman Naresh Kadyan moved a complaint in the court of law at Faridabad for animal cruelty and legal action as per law against the producer, director, and actor.

He starred alongside his son again in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) and made his last film appearance in Welcome (2007).

Feroz Khan was ahead of his time in terms of his unmatchable style, which reflected in his movies and music. His movies like Qurbani and Dharmatma are cult favourites in Hindi cinema. Though he was not considered a superstar, he would remain immortal for several years to come.

In May 2006, Feroz Khan was blacklisted by then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf when he went there to promote his brother's film, Taj Mahal. In an intelligence report submitted to Musharraf, he was said to have gotten drunk and insulted Pakistani singer and anchor Fakhr-e-Alam and criticizing the country saying:

"I am a proud Indian. India is a secular country. The Muslims there are making lot of progress unlike in Pakistan. Our President is a Muslim and our Prime Minister a Sikh. Pakistan was made in the name of Islam, but look how the Muslims are killing Muslims here."

Pakistan's high commission in India and the foreign and interior ministries were subsequently directed to deny Khan a visa in the future.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Feroz Khan has a son named Fardeen Khan who is married to Natasha Madhwani, daughter of former Bollywood actress Mumtaz. He also has a daughter Laila Khan, who is married to Farhan Furniturewala. Laila was married to Rohit Rajpal, a national level tennis player but divorced him and married Furniturewala in 2010. Although Fardeen and Farhan had their differences and nearly came to blows at a nightclub with each other, Fardeen and Farhan sorted everything out and accepted each other later on.

Awards and nominations[link]

• Filmfare Best Debut Award: Didi(1960)
• Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan (1970)
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for International Crook (1974)
• Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001^[15]
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Villain for Janasheen (2003)^[16]
• Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008
• "Pride of the industry" at the Max Stardust Awards 2009.^[17][18]

Filmography[link]

• Didi (1960)
• Main Shadi Karne Chala (1962)
• Reporter Raju (1962)
• Tarzan Goes to India (1962) ... Prince Raghu Kumar
• Bahurani (1963) ... Vikram
• Suhagan (1964) ... Shankar
• Char Dervesh (1964) ... Qamar Bhakt
• Teesra Kaun (1965)
• Oonche Log (1965) ... Rajnikant
• Raat Andheri Thi (1965)
• Ek Sapera Ek Lootera (1965) ... Mohan/Vijay Pratap Singh
• Arzoo (1965) ... Ramesh
• Tasveer (1966)
• Main Wohi Hoon (1966) ... Vijay
• Raat Andheri Thi (1967)
• Woh Koi Aur Hoga (1967)
• Raat Aur Din (1967) ... Dilip
• CID 909 (1967)
• Aurat (1967)
• Aag (1967) ... Shanker
• Nadir Shah (1968)
• Pyaasi Sham (1969) ... Ashok
• Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) ... Jai Kishan/J.K.
• Safar (1970) ... Shekhar Kapoor
• Mela (1971)
• Ek Paheli (1971) ... Sudhir
• Upaasna (1971)
• Apradh (1972) ... Ram Khana
• Kashmakash (1973)
• Kisan Aur Bhagwan (1974)
• Khhotte Sikkay (1974) ... Horseback rider
• Geeta Mera Naam (1974)
• Bhagat Dhanna Jatt (1974) ... Ramu
• Anjaan Raahen (1974) ... Anand
• International Crook (1974) ... SP Rajesh
• Rani Aur Lalpari (1975) ... Gulliver
• Kala Sona (1975) ... Rakesh
• Aa Jaa Sanam (1975) ... Dr. Satish
• Dharmatma (2012' march, releasing with don 2) .... Ranbir
• Sharafat Chod Di Maine (1976)
• Qabeela (1976)
• Shanker shambu (1976) ...Shambu
• Nagin (1976) ... Raj
• Jadu Tona (1977) ... Dr. Kailash
• Darinda (1977)
• Chunaoti (1980)
• Qurbani (1980) ... Rajesh Kumar/Kailash Nath
• Khoon Aur Paani (1981)
• Kachche Heere (1982) ... Nephew of Kamal Singh
• Janbaaz (1986) ... Inspector Rajesh Singh
• Dayavan (1988) ... Shankar Waghmare
• Meet Mere Man Ka (1991)
• Yalgaar (1992) ... Rajesh Ashwini Kumar
• Prem Agan (1998) ...
• Janasheen (2003) ... Saba Karim Shah
• Chitappa (2005) ... Raman
• Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) ... Jehangir Khan (Special Appearance)
• Om Shanti Om (2007) ... as himself (Special Appearance)
• Welcome (2007) ... Ranbir Dhanraj Xaka (RDX)

Death and Funeral[link]

He succumbed to a battle with cancer on April 27, 2009. During his illness he returned to rest at his farmhouse in Bangalore.

He was laid to rest in his beloved Bangalore near to his mother's grave at Hosur Road Shia Kabristan with thousands in attendance included his close family, dear friends, and notable celebrities of Indian film industry. He was remembered for his larger than life presence, and excellence in cinema.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Feroz Khan at the Internet Movie Database

Hema Malini
Born	Hema Malini R. Chakravarthy (1948-10-16) 16 October 1948 (age 63)[1] Ammankudi, Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India[1]
Occupation	actress, director, producer, politician
Years active	1965–present
Spouse	Dharmendra (1980–present)
Children	Esha Deol Ahana Deol

Hema Malini (Tamil: ஹேமா மாலினி, Hēmā Māliṉi ^?; born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director and producer, as well as a Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968), she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra.^[2] She was initially promoted as "Dream Girl", and in 1977 starred in a film of the same name.^[3] During this period, she established herself as one of Hindi cinema's leading actresses, noted for both her comic and dramatic roles, her beauty, and her accomplished classical dancing.^[4][5][6]

Malini is one of the most successful female film stars in the history of Indian cinema.^[5][7][8] Appearing in over 150 films in a career span of 40 years, she has starred in a large number of successful films, and her performances in both commercial and arthouse cinema, were often recognised.^[5] During her career, she has been nominated 11 times for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, of which she won once in 1972. In 2000, she was presented with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In the same year, she was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India.^[9] She also served as the Chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation. She was awarded the prestegious "SaMaPa Vitasta Award 2006" in Delhi by SaMaPa - "Sopori Academy of Music And Performing Arts" by Music Legend Pandit Bhajan Sopori for her lifetime contribution and service to Indian culture and Dance.

Of late Malini spends most of her time on charitable and social ventures, while making occasional appearances in films. She is a member of India's Bharatiya Janata Party and was nominated member by the party in Rajya Sabha, the upper House of parliament during 2003–2009.^[10]

Early life and family[link]

Hema Malini Chakravarty was born into a Tamil Iyengar family in Ammankudi, Tiruchirappalli to V.S. Ramanujam Chakravarthy^[11] and Jaya Chakravarthy on 16 October 1948.^[1] Her mother was a film producer. Malini was the youngest of the three children and has two brothers.^[12] She was not interested in academic studies but enjoyed history, her favourite subject in school.^[12] She was educated at Andhra Mahila Sabha in Chennai.^[11]

Some of Bollywood's most popular Bollywood actors like Sanjeev Kumar and Jeetendra have proposed to Hema Malini.^[13][14] In her authorized biography, Hema Malini mentions she almost accepted Jeetendra's proposal, but later backed out.^[13] Unable to tolerate the rejection, Sanjeev Kumar was reportedly driven to alcoholism and remained unmarried till his death in 1985.^[13]

Hema fell in love with her co-star Dharmendra during the filming of Sholay.^[15] She eventually married him in 1980. Before they married, they both converted to Islam,^[16] since Dharmendra was already married to Prakash Kaur^[17][18][19] who refused to divorce him. Apart from Sholay, the Dharmendra-Hema pair appeared together in films like Seeta Aur Geeta, Dreamgirl, Charas and The Burning Train. After her marriage she became the step-mother of Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, both popular actors in Bollywood. She has two daughters with Dharmendra, Esha Deol (born 1982) and Ahana Deol (born 1984). Her elder daughter Esha is a well-known actress in Bollywood while her younger daughter Ahana is an aspiring director^[20] who worked as an assistant director to Sanjay Leela Bhansali in his film Guzarish (2010) which starred Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai.^[21][22]

Hema Malini's niece is actress Madhoo who had starred in films Phool Aur Kaante (1991), Roja (1992)^[23] and Annayya (1993)

Film career[link]

Debut: 1960s[link]

Hema was considered for a Tamil film when she was 15 but rejected by director C. V. Sridhar saying that she was too thin.^[24] In 1965, she got an opportunity to act in a short episode as dancer in Pandava Vanavasam, a Telugu film. Later Ananthaswamy, a film poducer offered her a role opposite Raj Kapoor in his film Sapno Ka Saudagar (1968).^[24] She was promoted as the dream girl of Bollywood right from that film itself.^[24]

Breakthrough: 1970s[link]

In Johnny Mera Naam (1970), she was cast in a more pivotal role and the film became a blockbuster. She took challenging roles which most of the heroines of the 1960s refused to do. She played the role of a young widow in Andaaz (1971) and in Lal Patthar (1971) she played a character with negative shades.^[24] The following year, Hema double-roled with Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar in Seeta Aur Geeta.^[25] Even after many years the film remains one of the best in her career.^[25] The film was a blockbuster and earned her first Filmfare Best Actress Award.^[26] Within four years of making her debut, she established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood.^[4]

During the mid 70s, her fans started calling her "Dream Girl", an allusion to the movie of the same name where she starred opposite Dharmendra.^[24]

A majority of her films released during this period were highly successful; Sanyasi, Dharmatma and Pratigya. Sholay, released in 1975, became a box-office phenomenon, where she played the role of Basanti, an unforgettable role of a talkative girl.^[24]

Malini starred in many movies throughout the 1970s and is perhaps best remembered for her glamour, style, and accomplished classical dancing.^[13][27] The Dharmendra-Hema pair had back to back hits from the early 70's like Sharafat, Tum Haseen Main Jawan, Naya Zamana, Raja Jani, Seeta Aur Geeta starring together in 28 movies in all, eventually marrying him in 1980.^[24] The pair continued with box office hit movies like Patthar Aur Payal, Dost, Charas, Jugnu, Azaad, Dillagi and Dil Kaa Heera. She also achieved some strong dramatic or comic moments in films like Trishul, Joshila and Khushboo. In the late 1970s she acted in female-centric movies like Kinara (1977) and Meera (1979), directed by Gulzar.

Post marriage: 1980–1999[link]

After her marriage she continued to work in films like Kranti, Naseeb, Satte Pe Satta and Vijay Anand's Rajput. The couple Dharmendra Hema Malini were paired together even after marriage, in the eighties in Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, Baghavat, Samraat and Razia Sultan.In 1983 she starred in Andha Kanoon which marked the debut of Tamil actor Rajinikanth in Bollywood. In the film she played the sister of Rajinikanth, seeking revenge for the death of her parents. The following year she acted in K. Balachander's Ek Nai Paheli, a remake of his Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal. She portrayed the role of a classical singer in the film.

She was a part of the hit multi-starrers Baghavat and Raaj Tilak both opposite Dharmendra, and continued to gain success in films focusing on her character like Aandhi Toofan, Durgaa and Ramkali in 1985, Sitapur Ki Geeta in 1987 saw her doing action oriented roles while Ek Chaddar Maili Si (1986), Rihaee and Jamai Raja (1990), saw her playing more matured roles.^[24]

Hema also directed a film, Dil Aashna Hai which was a commercial failure and her career tapered off as she chose to concentrate more on her dance ballets and Television serials.^[24]

Comeback: 2000s[link]

After taking a break from films for a number of years in the 1990s and early 2000s, Hema made a comeback with Baghban (2003).^[24] The film had Amitabh Bachchan playing her husband and also earned her a Filmfare Best Actress Award nomination. She also played a cameo in the 2004 film Veer-Zaara. In both films, she played a self-possessed, elderly married woman. In 2011, She directed her second feature film that featured her daughter Esha Deol in the lead role alongside her husband Dharmendra in Tell Me O Khuda which released on Diwali of 2011.^[28][29]

Political career[link]

Hema Malini and her husband have been involved in politics, as members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, with the support of the Bhratiya Janata Party.^[30][31] She campaigned for the BJP candidate, Vinod Khanna, former Bollywood actor in the 1999 Lok Sabha Elections in Gurdaspur in Punjab.^[30] In 2004, Hema Malini joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.^[30]

In February 2004, she joined the party (BJP) officially.^[30] With her film career less hectic, she has been an active member of the party, attending party meetings and rallies and campaigning for the party through various elections. In March 2010, she was made general secretary of the BJP. In February 2011, it was reported that Hema Malini has been recommended by H.N.Ananth Kumar, party general secretary.^[31]

Other work[link]

Malini performing at a concert

Hema Malini is a trained Bharatanatyam artist, a classical dance of India. Her daughters are well trained in the same dance form; the three have performed together at charity dance concerts.^[32][33] Malini is also trained in Odissi by Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra. Her refulgent smile eased her portrayal of a wide range of characters ranging from the fiery Narasimha to a graceful Rama on Tulasidas's Ramcharitmanas.^[34] In 2007, she performed in Mysore on the eve of Dussera, where she played the roles of Sati, Parvati and Durga.^[35] She had performed at the Khajuraho Dance Festival with her daughters.^[36]

In 2003, she played the role very well of Goddess Durga in television serial Jai Mata Ki, directed by Puneet Issar and aired on Star Plus.^[37] She directed and starred in the television serial Noopur, in which she played the role of a Bharatanatyam dancer.^[24] She owned the editorship of New Woman, a Hindi woman's magazine.^[38][39] In 2000 she was appointed as the first-ever woman chairperson of the National Film Development Corporation for three years.^[11][40] She owns a dance school, Natya Vihar Kalakendra.^[41]

In 2007, she was signed by Kent, a mineral water purifier system, as its brand ambassador.^[42] She is one of the three brand ambassadors of Pothys, a textile showroom in Chennai (the others being Sudha Ragunathan and Trisha Krishnan).^[43]

The first biography of Malini, Diva Unveiled-Hema Malini, was written by Ram Kamal Mukherjee and first published in 2005.^[44]

Latest filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of awards and nominations received by Hema Malini
• List of Indian film actresses

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Somaaya, Bhawana (2007). Hema Malini: the authorized biography. New Delhi: Lotus Collection. ISBN 81-7436-467-6. 
• Raheja, Dinesh. "Hema Malini: Bollywood's Dreamgirl". Rediff. http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/oct/25dinesh.htm. Retrieved 15 June 2011. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hema Malini

• Hema Malini at the Internet Movie Database