"Gone Too Soon..."

They say the brightest stars burn out the fastest, and that's especially true when some of the Bollywood's brightest stars died before they had a chance to be included amongst the veteran stars of their time. Here is a tribute to the stars who contributed to write Hindi cinema's most glorious pages and left us when they were still climbing to scale the highest peak of their glory.

K. L. Saigal (1904 – 1947)

Kundan Lal Saigal, recognized as the greatest singer of the last century,  was a musical genius who became a legend in his life time. He brought music to the masses and with his God-gifted voice and unique style gave a totally new dimension to the music of his time. His unforgettable melodies continue to enthrall millions of listeners and have become a part of our heritage.

In 1934, Chandidas earned him  fame and stardom. However, the real breakthrough came with the film Devdas, directed by P. C. Barua, in 1935, which  created history.  Songs of Devdas like 'Baalam Aan Baso More Man Me..' and 'Dukh Ke Din Ab Beetat Nahin..' became very popular.   A number of successful movies followed with Saigal in the main lead which were lapped by the audience mainly for Saigal songs.

In 1941 Saigal moved to Bombay to work with Ranjit Movietone, where he did films like Bhakt Surdas and Tansen, both  very successful. However, by now Saigal’s dependence on alcohol had started affecting his work and his health. In 1947 Saigal passed away in his hometown when he was just 42. But not before giving us such melodic gems like  'Ae Dil-e-Bekaraar Jhoom..', 'Jab Dil hi Toot Gaya..' from Shah Jahan (1946).

Shyam (1920 – 1951)

Shyam  literally ruled the silver screen between 1949 and 1950. He made his acting debut in the Punjabi movie, Gowandhi (1942). The film was a hit. The song Pagri Sambhal Jatta was a rage all over India.  He was well  appreciated when he appeared  in  Man ki Jeet (1944),  Room No. 9 (1946) and Majboor (1948)  and did not have to look back thereafter. Shyam made it big in 1949 with a string of hits including Dillagi (1949), Kaneez (1949) and Patanga (1949). Dillagi, co-starring Suraiya, remains his best known film.  The film, a tragic romance, was a huge success at the box office with the song Tu Mera Chand Main Teri Chandni hummed all over the country.  As he became a star, Shyam acted in many successful movies including  Chandni Raat (1949)), Chhoti Bhabi, Meena Bazaar, Surajmukhi, Nirdosh, Wafa (all 1950)) and Kale Badal (1951). While shooting for the Filmistan swashbuckler, Shabistan co-starring Naseem Banu, Shyam fell off the horse and suffered major head injuries. He succumbed to his wounds in Hospital.

Guru Dutt (1925 – 1964)

Considered to be a man ahead of his time, Guru Dutt was one of the greatest icons of commercial Indian cinema. Although he made less than 50 films during his lifetime, they are believed to be the best to come from Bollywood's Golden Age, known both for their ability to reach out to the common man and for their artistic and lyrical content, and they went on to become trendsetters that have influenced Bollywood ever since. He got his big break when Dev Anand invited him to direct a film in his newly formed company Navketan Films. Dutt made his directorial debut with Baazi (1951), which starred Dev Anand.  The film was a success and became a trendsetter for future crime films. On the personal front, Dutt met his wife, playback singer Geeta Roy, during the song-recording sessions of Baazi (1951), and they married 26th May 1953.

Dutt's next releases were Jaal (1952) and Baaz (1953). Dutt made his acting debut in the latter film, which he also directed. But while they were average successes, he finally tasted success with Aar-Paar (1954), another crime thriller, but with a far more polished story and look. Then came Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), a frothy romantic comedy focusing on women's' rights; and C.I.D. (1956), yet another crime thriller in which Waheeda Rehman made her debut. His next films, Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), are regarded as his best work. Pyaasa (1957) was his masterpiece, about a poet trying to achieve success in a hypocritical, uncaring world. It was a box-office hit and is ranked as his greatest film ever.

Although he had sworn off directing after miserable failure of his classic Kagaz Ke Phool, Dutt continued to produce and act in films, notably the period dramas Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1961) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962).   On 10 October 1964, Dutt was found dead in his bed. The cause of death was deemed a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills, although a debate still lingers over whether his death was by accident or a successful suicide attempt.

Geeta Bali (1930 - 1965)

There has rarely been an actress as full of life as Geeta Bali. Geeta Bali's dancing eyes and her animated, expressive face which mirrored her soul were her most outstanding features. Geeta's reputation as an actress rests more on her performances than her roles. Natural, spontaneous and gifted with a spot-on sense of comic timing, Bali became a star in the 1950s. Impressed by her off-screen vivacity, director  Kidar Sharma Sharma cast Geeta in his Suhaag Raat (1948). Audiences related to her instantly. Soon, Geeta was inundated with film offers. She accepted most. She won raves even in supporting roles like in the 1949 Suraiya starrer Badi Behan and the Madhubala starrer Dulari. In 1951, she became a major star with Guru Dutt's first hit, Baazi.  Geeta proved she could do tragedy (Bawre Nain)  and play the lighthearted heroine to comedian Bhagwan in the super successful Albela.  She received a Filmfare Nomination as Best Actress for Vachan (1955) and another nomination as Best Supporting Actress for Kavi (1955). One of her memorable movies ever remembered is Anand Math. She married the man she loved -- Shammi Kapoor -- and had two children.  When Geeta decided to make a comeback to films with an author-backed role in Rano, and left on an outdoor shoot to Punjab, she contacted the dreaded disease of smallpox. She was rushed back to the best possible treatment in Mumbai but she succumbed to the disease. In the winter of 1965, Geeta was cremated at Banganga, close to the Mumbai temple where she had married Shammi Kapoor.

 Madhu Bala (1933 – 1969)

Early in her career, when she was still in her teens, Madhubala was called "the Venus of the screen".  It was in 1942 that she entered the film world as a nine year old child artist (Baby Mumtaz) playing the role of daughter to Mumtaz Shanti and Ulhaz, popular actors at the time, in the movie ‘Basant’, which was an instant hit. In  ‘Neel Kamal’ in 1947, director Kidar Sharma cast her as the leading lady against Raj Kapoor who was himself a fledgling star at twenty-three. It was Kidar Sharma who changed her name to ‘Madhubala’ (woman of honey).   In the two years 1948-49, she acted in thirteen films, most of them in 1949.It was during this time that Madhubala blossomed into a great beauty.  The movie that turned her into a real star overnight was Kamal Amrohi’s ‘Mahal’ (1949).  She proved herself very versatile and spontaneous in the many diverse roles she did in her films 'Taraana' (1951),  'Amar' (1954),  'Howrah Bridge' (1958) and the rollicking comedy film 'Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi' (1958). Throughout the 1950s, she balanced the ups and downs of a demanding career with the knowledge that she was living on borrowed time -- she had a weak heart. Amazingly, her illness never cast a shadow on her luminous beauty.  Ironically, in 1960, at the time of Madhubala's greatest creative achievement -- Mughal-e-Azam -- she was declared not fit enough to toil in the studios anymore. Her creativity was stifled; and her marriage to Kishore Kumar was also troubled. The Venus of Hindi cinema wilted when she was only 36. It may be a small measure of compensation but Madhubala's early death has added immeasurably to her legend. One never saw Madhubala look anything less than gorgeous.

Meena Kumari (1932 - 1972)

Meena Kumari  is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema. During a career spanning 30 years from her childhood to her death, she starred in more than ninety films, many of which have achieved classic and cult status today. She gained a reputation for playing grief-stricken and tragic roles, and her performances have been praised and reminisced throughout the years. Meena Kumari is often cited by media and literary sources as "The Tragedy Queen",  for her frequent portrayal of sorrowful and dramatic roles in her films.

Meena Kumari gained fame with her role as a heroine in Vijay Bhatt's Baiju Bawra (1952).  She became the first actress to win the Filmfare Best Actress Award in 1953 for her performance. Meena Kumari was highly praised for  playing the roles of a suffering woman in Parineeta (1953), Daera (1953), Ek Hi Raasta (1956), Sharda (1957), and Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960). Though she cultivated the image of a tragedienne, she also performed commendably in a few light-hearted movies like Azaad (1955), Miss Mary (1957), Shararat (1959), and Kohinoor (1960).

One of her best-known roles was in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962),  which is regarded as one of the best performances of Hindi Cinema.  In 1962, she made history by getting all the three nominations for Filmfare Best Actress Award, for her roles in Aarti, Main Chup Rahungi, and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She won the award for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. For four more years, she performed successfully in Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Kaajal (1965), and Phool Aur Patthar (1966), all of which earned her Filmfare nominations, with Kaajal garnering her a fourth and last win of the Best Actress award.

Her final triumph was  the epic love story Pakeezah.  Despite her rapidly deteriorating health, she gave the finishing touches to her performance. Initially, after its release in February 1972, Pakeezah opened to a lukewarm response from the public; however, after Meena Kumari's death less than two months later, people flocked to see it, making it a major box-office success. The film has since gained a cult and classic status. She posthumously received her twelfth and last Filmfare nomination. Besides being a top-notch actress, she was a talented poetess, and recorded a disc of her Urdu poems, 'I write, I recite' with music by Khayyam.

Sanjeev Kumar (1937 - 1985)

One of the most endearing actors of Hindi cinema, Sanjeev Kumar was well loved whether he played the hero, a comedian or a grey-haired character actor. He carved for himself an enviable reputation as a thespian, starting with supporting roles in the Dilip Kumar starrer, Sunghursh and the Dharmendra murder mystery, Shikar.  His performance in Anokhi Raat, Ashirwaad and Satyakaam was like a revelation. No one could imagine that this newcomer would one day become the most respected of actors of the Hindi cinema. Sanjeev Kumar’s real break into big-time cinema came in 1968 when he worked in films directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. In 1968, the then struggling Sanjeev made his presence felt by his natural and down-to-earth performance  in Ashirwaad.  In Sangharsh he matched strides with the thespian Dilip Kumar and proved how good he was as an artist. He walked away with the best supporting actor award. He played the role of a maniac in Khilona that took him to the pinnacle of glory and grandeur. After Khilona he never looked back. He  never fit into the idiom of a conventional hero as was proved when he successfully played Jaya’s lover in Anamika and Naukar within months of playing her father in Parichay and then went on to play the role of her father-in-law in Sholay.

Sanjeev Kumar was an actor for all seasons. Be it comedy or tragedy, he could do it effortlessly. It is amazing how he could skilfully move from a flirtatious husband in Pati Patni Aur Woh to the tearful lover in Anamika. When it comes to comedy, one can only think of Sanjeev Kumar. No other actor could excel at comedy like him. He was so hilarious in Angoor. Naya Din Nayi Raat was Sanjeev Kumar’s magnum opus. He performed nine different roles and assayed all of them deftly.  This film earned him a permanent place in the Hall of Fame.

From 1960 to 1985, he acted in 153 films. He was given the coveted National Award for his brilliant performance in Dastak and Koshish. Some of the other films in which Sanjeev Kumar left an indelible impression of his histrionics are Seeta Aur Geeta, Biwi O Biwi, Anhonee, Harjayee, Yehi hai Zindagi, Zindagi, Imandaar, Man Mandir Qatal, Love & God, Sawal, Ladies Tailor, Manoranjan, Vidhaata, Jani Dushman, Ram Tere Kitne Naam, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Namkeen,..

Sanjeev Kumar  was barely 46 when he died on November 6, 1985.

Smita Patil (1955 - 1986)

Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. She was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985. Perhaps the word that describes Smita best is 'intense'.  Her dusky, aboriginal beauty helped her tremendously as an actress; but finally it was her ability to emotionally penetrate her characters that marked Smita as one of the best actresses Hindi cinema has ever known.

Drawn to the visual arts, Smita made her debut in Shyam Benegal's childrens' film, Charandas Chor  in 1974. Fortunately for Smita, she entered films at a time when there was a struggle brewing against the shackles of commercial cinema. And Smita found she fitted right into the new idiom espoused by a select few.  After Shyam Benegal had tested her with a supporting role in Nishant (1975), he cast her in the lead in Manthan where Smita seemed to merge right into her character of a rustic woman. But her tour de force came with Benegal's next film, Bhumika (1977), in which she portrayed a troubled actress. She won the National Award and the film established the arrival of a formidable talent. She became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, a New Wave movement in India cinema, though she also appeared in several mainstream movies throughout her career. Her performances were often acclaimed, and her most notable roles include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985) and Mirch Masala (1985).

In time Smita was accepted by commercial filmmakers and from Raj Khosla and Ramesh Sippy to B.R. Chopra, they all agreed that she was "excellent."  Smita was soon flooded with films. Namak Halal and Shakti (both 1982) were opposite Amitabh Bachchan (she was part of the original cast of Silsila too) and these films immediately put Smita in the A-list. Bollywood also admired her grit -- for taking part in a film industry morcha and walking in the sun when she was eight months pregnant. But all too soon, tragedy struck this actress' life. The industry was hosting a grand event called Hope 86 in December, 1986; the fateful night became a vigil for some when news filtered in that Smita was fighting for her life in a hospital. Smita passed away that night, but her work continues to live on.

Vinod Mehra (1945 - 1990)

Vinod Mehra  started out as a child actor in a few films in the late 1950s and early 1960s before starting his adult film career in 197,  acting in over 100 films in the 1970s through to the 1990s. Mehra made his debut in the 1958 film Raagni as a child artist playing the younger version of the character played by Kishore Kumar. After playing a few more minor roles as a child, he started his film career as an adult in 1971 with Ek Thi Rita, a smash hit based on the English play, 'A Girl Called Rita', along with Tanuja. This was followed by the film "Parday Ke Peechhay" opposite debutant Yogeeta Bali followed by Elaan (with Rekha), Amar Prem (1972) and Lal Patthar, though it was only Shakti Samanta's Anuraag (1972) with Maushmi Chatterjee, which established him as an actor. He went on to appear in over 100 films in his career spanning over two decades. He played the lead role in some of his earlier films but often acted in many multi-starrers as the secondary lead. Some of his prominent films were Nagin, Jaani Dushman and Khud-Daar. He received Filmfare Nominations as Best Supporting Actor for Anurodh (1977), Amardeep (1979), and Bemisal (1982).

He turned producer and director with the film Gurudev in the late 1980s, with Sridevi, Rishi Kapoor and Anil Kapoor in the lead. He died of a heart attack before completion of the film at the age of 45 in October 1990. The film was released in 1993 after director Raj Sippy completed the film.

Divya Bharti (1974 - 1993)

Divya Bharti  started her career in 1990 with Telugu films making her debut in Bobbili Raja that became a colossal hit. She had captured the South by storm, and she was a goddess there. After several other hits in the South, she entered Hindi films with 'Vishwatma' in 1992 as her debut film, where she earned accolades for performing the song Saat Samundar Paar. Then Pehlaj Nihlani's Shola Aur Shabnam came along. The film was a box office hit and Divya was riding high again.  Four Months later, Raj Kanwar's love story Deewana became the biggest hit of 1992, where she held her own against veteran Rishi Kapoor and debutant Shahrukh Khan. With the super success of Deewana, Divya got rid of her promising newcomer status and entered the A-list. Her performance in Deewana was highly appreciated. Around that time, Divya's other films Balwaan with another debutant Sunil Shetty and Jaan Se Pyaara with Govinda released and did well at the box office. By the end of the year, Hema Malini's Dil Aashna Hai released, in which Divya played a bar dancer, who searches for her biological mother. Although the film was a box-office failure, her performance in the film was much appreciated by critics.

On 20 May 1992, Divya got married to Sajid Nadiawala. Around midnight of 5 April 1993, Divya fell to her death from her husband's 5-storey Versova apartment building, Tulsi 2 in Mumbai. There were numerous speculations by the media regarding Divya's sudden demise, including the possibility of accidental death, suicide and even murder.  The investigation into the circumstances of Divya Bharti's death was closed in 1998 without any definite verdict.

Obituaries rank as some of the highest read articles published by newspapers and news sources around the world. It might come as a surprise to some, but the obituaries of famous people often are written in advance, so when their soul departs, the news can deploy within seconds of their departure. But some celebrities, like the stars listed above, left so suddenly that the media was taken by surprise and unprepared  with  their obituaries.  Their departure is so truly described by Michael Jackson - “Born to amuse, to inspire, to delight; here one day, gone one night” - in his soulful and so true to his own life song, “Gone Too Soon...”

May God Help Them!

May God Help Them!



"Given the children's age, taking away the children from their natural parents till they are 18 is an extreme step which should normally be a last resort. The circumstances as known to the Indian government do not appear to justify such measures in the present case," External Affairs Minister S M Krishna reiterating India's concerns over the Norwegian Childcare Services taking away the two children of an NRI couple from their natural parents. The children have been put under foster care.

This happened in Norway, but it happens all the time in the U.S. In 1904, when moved by the plight of vulnerable children, Mrs. E.K. Foster, a Los Angeles community leader, formed a volunteer group which successfully advocated for legislation to protect children, she could never have imagined that her noble idea of foster care system would one day be turned into big business, a money making machine by the state. In USA the nationwide foster care budget exceeds that of the National Defense Budget, to the tune of well over 12 billion dollars! In addition, from the system’s perspective, they are providing a great service to humanity, soliciting millions of private donations for the plight of millions and millions of abused and neglected children. Is child abuse on the rise? Or are there more incentives to terminate parental rights, placing the child in a foster adoptive home to receive federal dollars through foster care? If parents have a child taken away and put in state’s foster care system, not only does the state now receive money each month from the federal government for their care, but the birth parents are also required to make payments to the state, if they deem that their income allows it. In fact, federal and state tax payer funds are just the tip of the funds available to agencies once the state removes a child from their birth home. Once a child has had parental rights terminated, if a child is under age 5 and deemed "marketable", a private agency takes over and then "double dips" by charging the adopting parents for the same care? It appears that the system may take children out of homes because it pays to do so. Foster care agencies get considerably more federal and state funds for removing a child from his home than they do in making reasonable efforts to preserve the family. So, even the slightest excuse is enough for the state to separate children from their natural parents and put them under foster care system.

Imagine this: You have an ongoing feud with a neighbor. Your angry neighbor calls and makes false allegations to the police that you abuse your children. You prove to DCFS (The Department of Child & Family Services) that your children are fine. Even so, the police respond by gaining unlawful entry to your home, put your children in foster care, and throw you in jail. It all sounds like a bad dream, doesn’t it? This is exactly what the Henderson family went through. And there are so many more families who are terrified because their neighbors are making false reports about them to get into good books of the administration. Here is an open letter to neighbors from Linda Martin, a social activist, which is an eye opener on the issue:

Dear neighbors,

Someone called CPS. Was it you? Please read this letter before calling CPS again.
I am honestly terrified of losing my children and implore you, if you are the one who made the call, to let me know if I do something you think is wrong regarding my children, and do not call CPS again.

My terror is nothing compared to the trauma my children suffer at the thought of losing me, their home, their friends, their school, their pets, their toys, their grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins, and everything else that is part of their world. In the foster care system siblings often even lose each other.

You might think foster care is a better place for children but according to federal statistics children are much more likely to be abused in state custody foster homes. In foster homes many thousands of children have been abused emotionally, physically, and sexually. Many children have died in foster homes – many of whom were beaten to death by foster “parents”.

So I ask that even if you don’t like me, please have mercy on my children and do not call CPS. It is a very dangerous government agency and not good for children. You are welcome to come to my house to advise me if you think I’m doing something wrong. I would prefer a life where we as neighbors can help one another without having to call in government workers for every little thing. Please do not be afraid to contact me if you feel I’m doing something wrong. Do not be afraid to offer to help me. But please, do not terrorize my children – they are traumatized at the thought of being taken away.

Thank you… from a neighbor.

Terry's story is in many respects typical of the plight of America's 500,000 foster children. He entered foster care at the age of one after he was found with his five siblings suffering from frostbite in an unheated home, his mother in a drug-induced sleep. When he was five, he and two of his siblings were adopted by a foster family. This should have provided the happy ending to Terry and his sibling's travails. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of a long journey through the labyrinth of the child welfare system. Terry and his siblings had to be removed from their new home due to extreme abuse and neglect after the subsequent death of abuse of his five-year-old adoptive brother. Thereafter followed a sequence of sixteen placements, during which Terry began to exhibit increasingly serious behavioral problems.By the time he turned 11, Terry was placed in a residential facility where he began making suicidal comments, saying that he wanted to go to heaven to be with his deceased adoptive brother. He left the facility during severe thunderstorms without any shoes on. When he was found, he had to be hospitalized for over a month. He has since been diagnosed as suffering from the psychological effects of the extreme abuse and neglect he had suffered while in various placements, complicated by a lack of permanence over his ten years in government custody. Similar narratives are everywhere to be found.

One of the most tragic aspects of many of these cases is that the children suffer needlessly, for in their zeal to protect them against the perceived shortcomings of their natural parents, child protective workers placed them into dangerous homes that inflicted upon them precisely the injury they had hoped to prevent. Just how many abuse and neglect related incidents actually occur in foster care is difficult to determine, given the child protection agencies apparent unwillingness to investigate them. It becomes nearly impossible with confidentiality laws shielding child protection agencies from public scrutiny. What is clear is that there is no shortage of them. Notes outspoken veteran juvenile court judge Judy Sheindlin: “Every year in every a state a commission meets to attempt to identify the scores of children killed and maimed while in foster care. And each year a report is published with suggestions for legislative and systemic change. Although the number of victims is increasing, there has been no nationwide overhaul of the systems that permit these in-house tragedies to occur.”

With all the problems in the country's foster-care system, nothing short of a major overhaul would serve as a lasting solution to this national disgrace. For years, children have been sentenced to navigate the system that promised them refuge from abuse and neglect in their own homes. However, foster care remains as inconsistent, abusive neglectful and dysfunctional as many of the homes from which the children were removed from in the first place. Without cohesion, leadership and accountability, the system continues to fail too many of the 500,000-plus children assigned to it. Once these children age out of the system at eighteen, the state sees the effects that this broken system has on society.
It's like all of a sudden you're 18 and they expect you to be an adult, but the system doesn't teach you to be an adult. It's one thing to be sad about being in the system but still have a roof over your head. It's another to be sad and homeless and unemployed. For the 20,000 youth nationwide who emancipate - or "age out" - of the foster-care system every year, nothing is more terrifying than the number 18.
It is on this birthday that these youth, many abused and neglected before and after entering the system, are expected to instantly become responsible adults. While many children outside of the system are eager to leave home at this point, their parents often serve as a safety net in times of financial or emotional need. Most emancipated foster children do not have this luxury. They are moved from house to house, forming few, if any, long-lasting ties to any of the adults they are forced to live with. Then, at eighteen, they are instantly cut off from a system that never prepared them to live on their own.The state has failed them. Each year, the state fails approximately 20,000-plus foster youth, who, once they turn eighteen, are no longer eligible for foster-care services such as housing. During this pivotal time, many of these youth find themselves with no place to live, and no one to turn to.
May God help them!

Bless You Bollywood!

Mention Bollywood, today the first thing that comes to mind is the Bolly-dance. It is this phenomenon that makes Bollywood and cinema in India so very unique. 99% of the films Bollywood turns out are musicals full of incredibly imaginative, loud, vibrant and exciting scenes of song and dance. Bollywood song and dance numbers do not only provide the most popular entertainment to the people, they are also contributing in a big way to convert over 300 million people in India from weak-literacy to functional literacy through Same Language Subtitling (SLS). SLS simply suggests subtitling the lyrics of existing film songs and music-videos on TV, in the ‘same’ language as the audio. In other words, Bollywood film songs marry Karaoke to produce mass literacy. “Karaoke” approach to literacy provides automatic and regular reading practice to the early-literate in India. In addition, nearly 300 million illiterate people are motivated to become literate.

Bollywood dance scene is a piece of art, and it is the costume designer who adds to the art it's color. As the slow and steady progress of western culture imposes itself onto the East it is nice to see that somethings are being returned. Bolly-dance is starting to subtly but undoubtedly influence Western dance, specifically Hip-Hop and Pop. It cannot be over emphasized how special Bolly-dance really is to India's, and even world's culture. A small but significant example is when America's NBC show Smash goes Bollywood. NBC's musical drama pays homage to Indian movies with an elaborate performance airing April 23. It's a dream sequence, set to the original song ''A Thousand and One Nights'' written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, and is ­triggered by the strained relationship between Karen (Katharine McPhee, pictured) and Dev (Raza Jaffrey). ''They have dinner in an Indian restaurant and there are Bollywood numbers playing in the videos on the wall,'' says Smash creator Theresa Rebeck.

However, Bollywood's biggest contribution is in India's cultural unite. There was a time when Indians were fanatically divided for speaking different language in different states to the extent that non-Hindi speaking people literally hated Hindi language. However, their lifelong passion for Bollywood films, particularly the songs, has totally changed the scenario. Now the people from Maharashtra to Mizoram and Kashmir to Kanyakumari cannot wait to watch the latest Hindi language film from Bollywood and repeatedly listen to its hit songs and even remember the lyrics of the songs they like. Thanks to Bollywood, the language barrier, particularly the hate wave against Hindi, is long over and passed into history. Not only Bollywood has helped non-Hindi speaking people leave their hate against Hindi language far behind, it has also contributed in a big way to bring together people belonging to different cultural background. Bollywood fosters the spirit of brotherhood which is displayed by filmgoers every day in every show. While enjoying a film, one never thinks to which caste and religion the next person in the theatre belongs to. In fact, everybody sit together in one place and enjoy the film together. They cry for the same reason, laugh at the same joke and sing the same songs.

Bollywood movies have time and again shown that they are immune to economic turmoil. Even during the worst of economic depression Bollywood blockbusters have made thousands throng to the theaters. When people are depressed due to inflation they want to watch a movie, when they are happy with elation they want to watch movies. Amid the continuing poverty and frustrating period that came in the aftermath of partition, Indians looked to Bollywood to provide the messages of their best hope. In the beginning era of Bollywood, what was then an extremely conservative society, Bollywood gently pressed back boundaries by portraying relations between the sexes as those between companions and equals. The radicals of Indian cinema sought to rebel without causing outrage. In V. Shantaram's “Duniya Na Mane” Shanta Apte was cast as Nirmala, a young girl marri­ed to a man old enough to be her father. Instead of accepting the marriage as a ‘failed accomplishment” she revolts, refusing to have conjugal relations with her hus­band and making him realize his mistake. Dev Anand's film, Guide, was a tale of love between a single man and a married woman – an extremely taboo subject that was nonetheless finessed into a popular and perennially beloved hit. The tacit Bollywood ethic helped to familiarize its audience with the possibility of Hindus, Muslims and others living in amity in a plural India. Bollywood has given Indians an inspiring image and narratives of integrity and decency, giving them an optimism that, until recently, the circumstances of the country rarely gave cause for.

As Bollywood celebrates its centenary there is no better way to congratulate it than to continue counting its countless blessings. Bollywood seems to be one of the reasons why India is so prominent on the global map. True, there are other reasons for it but none of them are as glamorous as the movies made by great Bollywood moviemakers. Bollywood has nowadays become synonymous with instant celebrityhood. Bollywood has witnessed a lot of progress from its nascent years. It has been continuously evolving for the better. Bollywood fascinates one and all; it has captivated the hearts of millions of viewers in India and abroad. Hindi cinema had humble beginnings. Raja Hrishchandra was the first silent feature film made way back in 1913. Ardeshir Irani’s Alam Ara (1931) was the first sound film. This was just the beginning of what would later become revered as Bollywood. It has seen a monstrous growth ever since. Bollywood has come a long way, seen a lot, shown a lot and it marches ahead without faltering much. Now the time has come when Bollywood industry is touching the height of sky. The great Indian Bollywood saga is more enchanting than a fairy tale, spicier than Indian food. Bollywood’s evolution with time can provide enough fodder for a million books to be written or odes to be sung. On its auspicious centenary celebrations let us wish Bollywood the best and an immortal life :
Tum jiyo hazaron saal, har saal ke din hon hazaar!
Bless you Bollywood!!

Lahore Loves Bollywood!

Mein nikla gaddi lay kar…Rastay mein …O sadak par…Ik mod aya…mein oothey dil chod aaya…
Rab jaaney…Kab guzra…Amritsar…O kab jaaney…”Lahore” aaya…mein dil oothay chod aaya

The lovely lyric of the super hit song from film Gaddar beautifully depicts the decades old love between Lahore and Bollywood that began in the early era of Indian cinema. Next to Mumbai and Kolkata, Lahore was the largest movie making center in India. In fact the best known industry in Lahore is the movie industry. Like you have Hollywood in America, Bollywood in India, film industry in Lahore is called Lollywood. It is a mixture of Lahore and Hollywood. During the twenties and thirties, a lot of movies were made in Lollywood, based on the ones made in Hollywood. There was even a big movie studio, named “United People's” on Ravi Road. Besides two big studios, Pancholi Arts and Shorie Pictures, that boasted of many super-hit movies, there were a large number of smaller units, which too had quite a few hit films to their credit. Dalsukh Pancholi, a film tycoon from Lahore (born in Karachi) and the founder of Pancholi Studios of Lahore, studied scriptwriting and cinematography from New York, and played an important part in the careers of stars such as Noor Jehan, Ramola, Om Prakash, music composers Ghulam Haider and O.P. Nayyar. His first film was Gul-e-Bakawli (1938) starring Noor Jehan. Ghulam Haider's "shaala jawaania" was an instant rage. Pancholi's film Khazanchi was one of the longest running movies of its time. Master Ghulam Haider a phenomenal music director from Lahore, was the man who gave Lata Mangeshkar the break of her career in the movie Majboor (1948). Mohd Rafi's debut also happened to occur in Lahore, at the hands of music director Shyaam Sunder in Pancholi's film Gul Baloch. Many of the mainstream stars started their career in movies that were made in Lahore, and later moved to Mumbai where they became some of the biggest stars of Indian cinema.

Many high profile Indian actors and singers lived in the Walled City in the 1940s and Lakshmi Chowk was where the film fraternity got together in tongas decorated with maroon flowers, foot bells and lamps on the side. The tonga was the primary means of transport for the ordinary and elite in the 40s. Most tongas were undecorated, but the ones used by the elite were special and fascinating. Lakshmi Chowk was the hot spot for formal and informal film gatherings. Lakshmi Chowk was the focal point of Lahore’s film industry crowd. By the evening, Lakshmi would be full of tongas, with film stars, top film directors and producers thronging teahouses and discussing filmy affairs. Pran, Om Parkash and Al Nasir, another Lahori film hero, would spend their evenings chatting and playing billiards.

Pran, who mostly played the role of a villain in films, lived in Qilla Gujjar Singh. He was a skilled photographer and took photographs of famous artistes. One day – while standing at a pan shop in Lakshmi Chowk – he met Wali, a leading film director of the time. Wali asked Pran if he was interested in acting and Pran said yes. Wali wrote the address of Pancholi Studios on the back of a cigarette pack and asked Pran to see one of his friends there. Pran started his film career with ‘Chaudhry’ and later appeared as a hero in ‘Khaandaan’, a film by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The heroine was melody queen Noor Jahan. Later Pran established his career in Lahore as a villan in punjabi films. Pran migrated to Bombay in 1947. B. R. Chopra was born in Lahore. He studied journalism, directed/produced plays, and worked as a film critic in Lahore. Yash Chopra, B. R’s younger brother was born in Lahore as well, later he joined his brother in Bombay to start their own production house. B.R. Chopra was working on his first film Chandni Chowk when the partition riots began. And the man who made the epic master piece Mughal-E-Azam in bollywood, Mr. K. Asif hailed from Lahore. Om Parkash was also one of the great names of Bombay. He lived at Matti Chowk, Lohari Gate and always rented out a decorated tonga to take him from Matti Chowk to Lakshmi Chowk every day. Om Parkash did many small and large roles in films made in Lahore and also migrated to India in 1947. Balraj Sahni also lived at Matti Chowk and was the secretary general of the All India Communist Party. He studied at Government College. Sahni also acted in pre-Partition films in Lahore. Dev Anand lived in Lohari Gate, but later moved to Bhaati Gate. He also studied at Government College. Dev Anand participated actively in politics in Lahore. His brother Chaitan Anand was a famous film director in Lahore and was considered quite influential in film studios when it came to casting and other affairs. Meena Shori was one of the leading female actors of her times. She lived in Bhaati Gate and married the owner of Shori Film Studio (now Shah Noor Studio). She acted in several pre-Partition films made in Lahore and migrated to India in 1947.

Lahore was considered the 'launchpad' for famous singers and musicians. K. L. Saigal, the legendary singer, acquired fame in Lahore then later moved to Calcutta. and then to Mumbai. The subcontinent’s greatest playback singer Muhammad Rafi lived in Bhaati Gate. He was from a family of barbers and ran his own barbershop. Rafi had a beautiful voice and most of his customers would often ask him to sing for them while they got their hair cut or got a shave. A man from the film industry introduced Rafi to film director Gul Baloch who gave Rafi the opportunity to sing three songs for ‘Gul Zaman’. The film proved a launching point for Rafi’s film career in Lahore and by the time he migrated to India in the 40s he was an accomplished singer. Khurshid Begum was an outstanding singer from Lahore who too moved to India for better opportunities. She also lived in Bhaati Gate. She sang several famous songs for various Indian films, including great songs with singer K. L. Sehgal. Hritik Roshan's grandpa Roshan (Roshan Lal), the famous music director, was from Lahore. He was given a chance as an assistant by another Lahori musician, Khwaja Khurshid Anwar (who was in Bombay at the time). Khayyam the music composer of Umrao-Jaan fame started his career in Lahore. Roshan Ara Begum from Lahore was acclaimed the best interpreter of Kirana Gharana Sytle of Khayal singing in the subcontinent. Composer O.P Nayyar, Ustad Fateh Ali, Baray Ghulam Ali (the only film he ever sang for was Mughal-e-Azam), all are from Lahore. Other famous musicians from Lahore who migrated later to Mumbai include Pundit Amarnath, Shyam Sunder, Gobind Ram, Lachi Ram and Dhanni Ram. More recently Lahore has given India Nusrat Fateh Ali, Sabri Brothers, Adnan Sami, Reshma, Mehdi Hassan, Abida Parveen, Tassawar Khanum, Atif Aslam, Ghulam Ali, Rahat Fateh Ali, Shafqat Amanat Ali---- their talent truly saturates Bollywood.

Another stream of Bollywood is also connected to Lahore, in this case intellectually, and that is the progressives. Sajjad Zaheer (father of Nadira Babbar), Jan Nisar Akhtar (father of lyricist Javed and grandfather of actor/director Farhan and director Zoya), Kaifi Azmi (father of Shabana), Majrooh Sultanpuri and so many others have a deep link to that city. Sahir Ludhianvi (Abdul Hayee) started his career in Lahore as a lyricist/poet, who later went on to become one of the biggest lyricist in Bollywood. Tanveer Naqvi was a noted lyricist of his times. He lived in Faqirkhana Museum inside Bhaati Gate. He wrote ‘Awaz Dey Kahan Hai’ and ‘Jaan-e-Baharan, Rashk-e-Chaman’.

Lahore also boosted box-office figures of Bollywood films with its large number of movie theaters where “House Full” sign was a usual sight, especially on Sundays and holidays. It was Lahore that encouraged women to throng the theaters for the first time where the Wednesday matinees were reserved for women in special “Ladies Only” shows in all theaters at half the normal rates. Lahore's love for Bollywood movies continues till date where while the Pakistani films have vanished from the cinema, the screening of Bollywood movies is again in full swing after a setback when Indian films were banned for sometime to help indigenous industry to pick up. Almost every cinema hall in the city including those located in the Northern Lahore and Walled City known for showing Punjabi movies, has switched over to either Indian or English films. The cinema-owners are going for the foreign flicks after the Pakistani films failed to attract viewers in a sizable number to sustain the cinema industry. Many of the Hindi films might have miserably failed to impress Indian audience but they seemed to have conquered Pakistan's historic city Lahore. No wonder today Lahore is fast becoming the Bollywood celebrities' top destination. They are all the time looking forward to crossing the Wagah border to promote their films and mingle with their most favorite film fraternity in Lahore. It is not only because they are well aware of the ages old Bollywood bonds with Lahore, but especially so because they have seen and felt how much Lahore loves Bollywood.

The Blessed Bio-data!

I was born in Lahore as the youngest sibling in a large well off family of Punjab, where father, the sole provider, worked as the Chief Representative of Oxford University Press, London. I had just finished high school, winning merit scholarship from Punjab University scoring very high marks, when the family was forced to leave Lahore which became part of Pakistan after India's partition in 1947. The family moved to New Delhi to start from scratch, where after graduating with very high grades in Law and MBA from Delhi University, I started my career as a corporate executive with Godrej, one of the most reputed companies in India, then the biggest manufacturers of bank lockers, steel cupboards and furniture. After working there for the first 20 years of my corporate career, I moved on to avail better opportunities in other big companies, taking retirement after a well rewarded service of over 40 years in the corporate sector of India. In the post retirement period I worked for a while as Dy. Director (Publications) with Institute of Marketing and Management, New Delhi. Side by side, I passionately pursued my hobby for writing and remained a regular contributor to newspapers in India. My 'Letters to the Editor' in the Hindustan Times received great respect, as these were invariably published under 3-4 column headlines or placed prominently in a box. I also started a Sunday paper, the Priceless, in West Delhi, which revolutionized the way small neighborhood business community advertised their businesses. Instead of printing and distributing individual handbills in their area, they were now able to put in their advertisements at a much less cost in the Priceless, which was distributed free with the mainstream newspapers every Sunday. The concept was applauded by the advertisers and the reading public alike, but before I could plan expanding the idea to other parts of Delhi, I moved to the U.S. along with my wife Inderjeet, former Principal of senior secondary govt. girls' school in Delhi, to be with our only son Alok, settled there as a prominent software engineer in Silicon Valley.

In the U.S. I took to what I wanted to do all my life, writing a book. Many true happenings and characters I came across in life, including interaction with former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, inspired my first book, Paradise Lost and Found, published in the U.S.. A family saga, it starts from Kashmir, when this paradise on earth is lost for the tourists who thronged in thousands every year to enjoy its scenic splendor. Terrorists turned it into one of the most dangerous places on the planet. The family is not only a witness to the loss of this paradise, but also to another tragedy of much bigger magnitude. In the aftermath of the partition of India, along with millions uprooted from their homes in Pakistan, the family is forced to leave behind all that it had in Lahore. Starting from a scratch on the difficult path to progress, it still has many joyful moments when along the way it tries to make a difference in many a life. The survival to success story climaxes in California where the family finds a substitute for the paradise that was lost in Kashmir.

As a big movie buff, who grew up with Hindi cinema, I have combined my personal knowledge and research on the subject, to complete work on my second book, Bollywood Celebrates Centenary - a tribute to the 100 years of excellence in Hindi cinema, now known as Bollywood. I cherish great memories of the bygone era of 30s and 40s, the golden age of 50s and 60s, the period of the parallel cinema in 70s and 80s, and Bollywood's grand entry into the new millennium with movies popular worldwide. Spanning a wide range of decades, genres and style, the Bollywood film culture in all its glory is a wonderful thing. Of the hundreds of great hits it has given, some have attained an aura of unparalleled respectability because, overtime, they continue to draw viewers in multitudes for weeks, months and even years. My book on Bollywood is only an endeavor to express my gratitude for the great joy Bollywood gave me all my life and to pay my tributes to the tallest amongst movie makers, artistes, composers, lyricists, singers and script writers down the decades, for contributing their extraordinary caliber to Hindi Cinema's 100 years of excellence in entertainment.

Next, I have started work on my second novel, “Doaba to Yuba”, based on the true experiences of a group of farmers from Doaba region in Punjab, who migrated to the U.S. in early 20th century for greener pastures, to eventually settle in Yuba City, as some of the most flourishing and influential families of California, having helped the State become the food bowl of U.S.A. While I'm on my computer working on the new novel, my wife keeps herself engrossed in watercolor painting, the hobby she has passionately taken to since arriving in the U.S.. Taking time from our respective hobbies, we go for our daily walks to enjoy the awesome weather and lovely landscapes of Bay Area in California, called the Golden State of USA. Our years of retirement are truly rewarding, made more so by our son Alok and daughter-in-law Ranjan, with their loving care that tempted me to title this piece of personal particulars as The Blessed Bio-data!

Dedicated To Bollywood Buffs!

Many of my regular readers must be wondering why I often prefer to bring up Bollywood, with whatever title, in my blogs. Well, it is because I'm a big Bollywood buff. Bollywood is as much a part of my identity as birthmark on my nose. It may not have been in my blood because my father had never watched movies in his entire life, may be with the only exception of Mughal-E-Azam, which the family forced on him as the concluding part of my brother's wedding festivities. It must have been my mother then. She was quite the opposite of my father as far as watching movies was concerned. Going to movies every Wednesday was a must for her, when it was a “Ladies Only” matinee in every theater at half the normal rates in Lahore. She enjoyed all movies, musical or mythological, slapstick comedy or tear-jerker tragedy, without exceptions. All her friends had open invitation to accompany her to watch the latest movie, where she would not only buy their tickets but also treat them to sodas and snacks, which the hawkers sold inside the hall during interval. This was perhaps the package deal her friends deserved to find time for my mother's weekly movie addiction. Her companion for the week could change generally depending on her friends' likes and dislikes of a particular genre, except for the one whom she never liked to leave behind. My mother always took me along to the 'Ladies Only' matinees till I was 12-year old; the permissible age limit of boys’ admission provided ladies accompanied them. And thus turned me into a movie buff, even if inadvertently, right from the time I was a toddler.

My brother Raghu, better known as R. R. Rishi, also played a big role in making me a movie buff. He actually took over from where my mother left, when she could no longer take me to 'Ladies Only' shows. He was the editor of ‘Film Critic’, the only English language film magazines published in Lahore then. I was still in school when I became addicted to reading all the then prominent publications related to cinema, brought home by him, including Baburao Patel's Film India, the most famous film magazine published from Mumbai(then Bombay) and B.R. Chopra's Cine Herald, besides his own Film Critic . Once in a while he would even give me a chance to write review of the latest release or films related write-up, to be published in his magazine. My compensation for the contribution used to be free gate pass for admission to four persons for the film I was to review, which he received from film distributors as a matter of routine. Truly a big treat for me and my buddies. The addiction to reading film magazines as also watching movies, which went on to become more expensive by the day, continued through my adult life and so did my hobby to write articles or blogs on Bollywood topics.

Last but not the least, I owe being a Bollywood buff to my brother-in-law Surendra, the singing star of bygone era, who helped me have the intimate feel and firsthand knowledge of happenings in Bollywood from the 40s when he married my sister Satya, till the 80s when he breathed his last. I fondly remember the film parties and shootings to which he would take me whenever I visited Mumbai. Memories of the time spent with him in Mumbai, especially meeting his personal friends from the film fraternity like Prithviraj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Motilal, Chandramohan, Talat Mehmood and many more, later became my source for the stories on these artistes in my blogs and articles.

A movie buff who grew up along Hindi cinema, I cherish great memories of the bygone era of 30s and 40s, the golden age of 50s and 60s, the period of the parallel cinema in 70s and 80s, and Bollywood's grand entry into the new millennium with worldwide popular movies. Spanning a wide range of decades, genres and style, the Bollywood film culture in all its glory is a wonderful thing. Of the hundreds of great hits it has given, some have attained an aura of unparalleled respectability because, overtime, they continue to draw viewers in multitudes for weeks, months and even years. My blogs on Bollywood are only an endeavor to express my gratitude for the great joy Bollywood gave me all my life and to pay my tributes to the tallest amongst movie makers, artistes, composers, lyricists and script writers down the decades, for contributing their extraordinary caliber to Bollywood's around 100 years of excellence in entertainment.

When Lady Gaga descended on Delhi to perform at an F1 gala recently, she tweeted a pic of herself partying with who's who of Bollywood, “Screw Hollywood,” she declared. “It’s all about Bollywood.” As I was still reacting to Lady Gaga’s Bollywood proclamation, my son showed me on TV a Heineken ad that also went viral on the internet. The logic- and gravity-defying “The Date” spot shows a couple dodging faux-dragons, performing magic tricks, and dancing with gusto—all to the beats of a frenzied 1960′s Mohammed Rafi classic, “Jaan Pehchaan Ho.” Well done, Bollywood. It’s about time you got the world dancing to your tune. It makes the multitude like me, who’ve grown up with Bollywood, singing and dancing with joy. The fact remains that with more than a billion Indians, Bollywood boasts a built-in audience far more vast than anything Hollywood could ever dream of, and hundreds of millions of others are also caught under the influence. Think of Bollywood what you will, but if you’re Indian, there’s no escaping it—whether you’re growing up in England, America or Australia. But being a true Bollywood fan has always required a certain kind of undying devotion, a willingness to celebrate the insignificant and overlook the illogical; it’s about loving the culture. To billions of people, it’s a way of life. Any religion requires a degree of blind faith; Bollywood is no different a creed. So regardless of whether the latest flick is hit or a flop, your heart will flutter with pride when you see its name light up the marquee at the most prestigious theater in London, Paris or New York alongside considerably more substantive flicks from Hollywood. To all the true Bollywood fans, overtime many of whom have turned Bollywood buffs, I owe a big 'Thank You'. It is because your feedback through thoughtful comments complimenting my blogs or your views and reviews on movies making a way to internet that I always enjoy reading, have been the most rewarding source material for all my writings on Bollywood. I feel honored and happy to declare with true sense of gratitude that all my writings and blogs on Bollywood are, along with my mother, my brother R. R. Rishi and my brother-in-law Surendra, are dedicated to Bollywood buffs.

Bollywood Celebrates Centenary!

Birth Of Hindi Cinema

Dadasaheb Phalke -- a man of versatile talent, who had a varied career as a painter, photographer, playwright and magician before he took to film -- was responsible for the production of India's first fully indigenous silent feature film, Raja Harishchandra, adapted from the Mahabharata. The film had titles in Hindi and English, and was released on May 3, 1913 at the Coronation Cinema in Mumbai. This laid the foundation of what, in time, would grow to become the largest film producing industry in the world. Phalke followed with other feature films like Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914) and Lanka Dahan (1917), the last one being India's first big box-office hit. Two new film companies, the Kohinoor Film Co. and Phalke's Hindustan Cinema Films Co. were established in 1918.

By 1920 film-making transformed into a regular industry and the number of films produced increased to 207 in 1931 from a mere 27 when the silent films were started in India. The first Indian love story, Dhiren Ganguly's Bilat Ferat (England Returned) was released in 1921. In the same year Kohinoor studios of Bombay produced Bhakt Vidur, a chapter from Mahabharata. The new decade saw the arrival of many new companies and film-makers. Baburao Painter (Savkari Pash), Suchet Singh (Sakuntala), Chandulal Shah (Guna Sundari), Ardershir Irani and V. Shantaram were the prominent film-makers of the twenties. Some of the noteworthy silent films of the period were Madan's Nala Damayanti (1921), Pati Bhakti (1922) and Noor Jehan (1923); Baburao Painter's Maya Bazaar (1923), Kala Naag (1924) and Cinema Queen (1926); Chandulal Shah's Bhaneli Bhamini (1927); Ardeshir Irani's Anarkali (1928); V.Shantaram's Gopal Krishna (1929); Jagdish Co's Chandramukhi (1929); Seth Manecklal Patel's Hatim Tai (1929); SS Agarwal's Diler Jigar (1931) and Gulaminu Patan (1931).

During the early twentieth century cinema as a medium gained popularity across India's population and its many economic sections. Tickets were made affordable to the common man at a low price and for the financially capable additional comforts meant additional admission ticket price. Audiences thronged to cinema halls as this affordable medium of entertainment was available for as low as an anna (4 paisa) in Bombay. The content of Indian commercial cinema was increasingly tailored to appeal to these masses. Young Indian producers began to incorporate elements of India's social life and culture into cinema. Others brought with them ideas from across the world. This was also the time when global audiences and markets became aware of India's film industry.

Starts Speaking

March 14, 1931 was a historic day for Indian cinema. Ardeshir Irani of Imperial Movietone released Alam Ara, the first full-length Indian talkie film at the Majestic cinema in Bombay. This film very effectively broke the golden silent era and laid a milestone that marked the steeping into the new talkie era as well as rang the death knell to silent films. The most remarkable thing about the birth of the sound film in India is it came with a bang and quickly displaced silent movies. The first Indian talkie, Alam Ara (1931) was a 124-minute feature produced by the Imperial Film Company in Mumbai and directed by Ardershir Irani. Advertised as an all talking, all singing, all dancing film, Alam Ara was a period fantasy starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Master Vithal and Zubeda. Although Mehboob, who later turned a legendary director, was scheduled to play the lead in Alam Ara, Master Vithal; from Sharda Studios got the part. When Sharda sued Vithal for breach of contract, he was defended by M A Jinnah.

On the day of its release, surging crowds started gathering near the Majestic cinema in Bombay right from early morning. The booking office was literally stormed by jostling mobs to secure tickets and all traffic was jammed on the roads leading to the theatre. For weeks together the tickets were sold out and the mad rush to watch the first talking film continued till more movies came in. The Bombay Chronicle (April 2, 1931) noted that the film has shown that with due restraint and thoughtful direction, the players could by their significant acting and speech evolve dramatic values to which the silent cinema cannot possibly aspire. Inspired by Universal's Melody Of Love, the whole plot is a string to tie together the numerous songs and dances which became a mandatory feature of Hindi cinema. Alam Ara will always be remembered as the film that ushered in the era of sound films in India. The era of the talkies brought about social awareness as they focused on themes like practice of human sacrifices, women's liberation and arranged marriages.

The film took months to make following the hazardous recording conditions, the distressing laboratory processing methods of that time and the secrecy surrounding the project. Says Irani , "There were no sound-proof stages , we preferred to shoot indoors and at night. Since our studio is located near a railway track most of our shooting was done between the hours that the trains ceased operation. We worked with a single system Tamar recording equipment. There were also no booms. Microphones had to be hidden in incredible places to keep out of camera range."
As a film, Alam Ara had few technical and artistic qualities but it was pioneering effort. In a letter to the Times of India (March 23, 1931), a viewer who signed as Filmster wrote about the quality of sound, "Principal interest naturally attaches to the voice production and synchronizations. The latter is syllable perfect; the former is somewhat patchy, due to inexperience of the players in facing the microphone and a consequent tendency to talk too loudly."

Alam Ara's rather predictable story line managed to string together the numerous song and dance numbers. And much to the filmmaker's surprise, the Majestic cinema in Bombay where the film was released was mobbed by surging crowds. Recalls Irani's partner Abdulally Esoofally in the Indian Talkie Silver Jubilee Souvenir, " In those days, the queue system was not known to filmgoers and the booking office was literally stormed by jostling, riotous mobs, hankering to secure somehow, anyhow a ticket to see a talking picture in the language they understood. All traffic was jammed and police aid had to be sought to control the crowds. For weeks together tickets were sold out and black-market vendors had a field day."

Teething Troubles

The talkie had brought revolutionary changes in the whole set up of the industry and completely over-shadowed the silent movies at a time when they were at a peak. However, it also brought into focus many peculiar problems which needed to be tackled -- there were no dialogue writers or lyricists and songs had to be sung during the filming as pre-recording facilities were not known. Minimum instruments were used, as the instrumentalists had to be camouflaged behind the singer.The arrival of sound in spite of being welcome in several quarters had serious implications for the whole industry and its appendages. The talkies era silenced a whole generation of artists, film-makers and technicians. Many studios unable to switch over to sound closed down; Anglo-Indians who did not speak fluent Hindi or Urdu were the worst hit. Those who could not sing were also hit as there was no playback and direct recording meant artistes had to sing their own songs. "Problems? Of course we had problems--thousands of them--no one knew how to handle the sound equipment. We did not know how to deal with echoes inside the studios. The cameras had no blimps and their noise drowned out the dialogues. We tried all we could to muffle the camera noise. We wrapped the camera in blankets, put insulating shields around it. Nothing seemed to work. We couldn't hear a word the actors spoke inside the studio." When the shoot was moved outdoors, the quality of sound improved "but one cannot shoot an entire film outdoors. Even in a historical, the characters have to go home sometimes." - Krishna Gopal, veteran film technician.
Long takes from a single point became a necessity because of the many unsolved problems of combining photography with sound. Actors had to huddle around a hidden, low-fidelity microphone, often resulting in self-conscious performances. Picturisation of songs too were done in a single shot. Trial and error resulted in mush wastage of raw stock and many films had to be abandoned.
However, there was the other side to it too. The box-office returns were so fabulous that they came to be known as mortgage-lifters, enabling those cinema houses that had shut down during the Depression to reopen. The public respect for the film producers and their cast and crew was beyond their imagination. Whenever and wherever they camped, they were given a princely ovation and a hero's send-off. The Railways gave them travel concessions and the guards delayed trains for the latecomers. Most coffeehouse they visited refused payment for food and drink. The tumultuous welcome by the film fans overshadowed the initial problems and the talking film had come to stay.

Comes Of Age

In the 20th century, Indian cinema, along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries, became a global enterprise. At the end of 2010 it was reported that in terms of annual film output, India ranks first, followed by Hollywood and China. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the target audience, as per regional tastes. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.

India is the world's largest producer of films. In 2009, India produced a total of 2961 films on celluloid, that include a staggering figure of 1288 feature films. The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV, Adlabs and Sun Network's Sun Pictures also participated in producing and distributing films. Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt.

The Indian diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema, the net worth of which was found to be US$1.3 billion in 2000. Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India.

Renamed Bollywood

The term "Bollywood" itself has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer. The name "Bollywood" is derived from Bombay (the former name for Mumbai) and Hollywood, the center of the American film industry. However, unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as a physical place. Though some deplore the name, arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood, it has its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.

The naming scheme for "Bollywood" was inspired by "Tollywood", the name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal. Dating back to 1932, "Tollywood" was the earliest Hollywood-inspired name, referring to the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge, whose name is reminiscent of "Hollywood" and was the center of the cinema of India at the time. It was this "chance juxtaposition of two pairs of rhyming syllables," Holly and Tolly, that led to the name "Tollywood" being coined. The name "Tollywood" went on to be used as a nickname for the Bengali film industry by the popular Kolkata-based Junior Statesman youth magazine, establishing a precedent for other film industries to use similar-sounding names, eventually leading to the term "Bollywood" being coined.

Bollywood today is by far the fastest growing film industry in the world. Wow, what an amazing success story. Definitely deserves a big applaud and the biggest show ever by the industry when very soon Bollywood celebrates centenary.