The 1981 film Kaalia was a big commercial success. It cemented the status of Amitabh Bachchan as a popular star, and his increasing identification as the ‘angry young man’ of Hindi cinema with a stream of similar roles. Director Tinu Anand‘s first outing with the star, but not his last, would include many popular songs…
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When the film Tashan was released in early 2008, it had everything going for it. Produced by Yash Raj Films, who had been on a roll for quite a while at the time; Some of the biggest, most dependable stars available, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan; An interesting plot; Music by Vishal-Shekhar,…
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When the film Meri Surat Teri Ankhen was released in 1963, the already venerable Ashok Kumar had been a leading man in Indian cinema for nearly three decades. He would go on to act for an equal number of decades after this point, so this could be seen as a middle point in his career.…
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Do Dooni Char was a film made in 1968. It was based on Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, a source that would be referenced by Hindi films on several occasions in the future. Speaking of mistaken identities and doubles, a film of the same name, but with a mildly different spelling, would also be made in…
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The reason the Indian film industry, as a collection of all its many regional language industries, has been the most prolific producer of cinema for a large chunk of film history, is because it is a very deep creature. There are the popular blockbuster films staring big-name stars and top-flight talent, but the vast majority…
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By the 1980s, Amitabh Bachchan was at the height of his stardom. While the decade was not the most vibrant for the Hindi film industry in general, Amitabh went on to do some of his most iconic movies at the time. Their success can in no small part also be ascribed to some of the…
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The 1998 film Ghulam will be remembered for many reasons. It remains director Vikram Bhatt‘s best film (from what I’ve seen), Aamir Khan sang a song in it, in some ways it marked the beginning of Aamir Khan moving away from his popular romantic hero image to being considered a serious actor, and while it…
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As a director, Manmohan Desai will always be known as the one who took the Hindi masala movie to its pinnacle from the 1960s to the early 1980s. He had a dream run of mostly successful films, all depending on a cornucopia of drama, a focus on mass entertainment above all other considerations, and a…
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If the great golden run of Indian pop music peaked during the mid 1990s, by the end of the century and into the new millennium it was pretty much dead. A few established acts were still releasing the odd song video, but gone were the crazy over-the-top productions and the songs that truly took chances.…
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In the black and white Hindi films of the 1950s, it was fairly common for them to shoot a scene or two, or at least a song, on the streets of Bombay. Part of it was probably the relative ease of taking over a little piece of side-street in some suburb for the shooting while…
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This song from the 1981 film Yaarana has a special memory for me. While the song itself is a great little melody, what first comes to my mind is the way my parents described me singing the words to it when I was a kid, rather than what they actually are. While this doesn’t spoil…
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Jo haal dil ka is a very strange song. It’s strange only in the context in which it is presented. After all, heroines in wet, clingy clothes, mouthing sensual songs near waterfalls and other convenient water features is hardly strange for a Hindi film; It’s par for the course, but this song has no attempt…
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