Retro Bollywood

Mumbai, one of the mega cities, situated on western coast of India, is a city of hope and dreams. All types of people from all walks of life, from all parts of the World, have enriched the city's heritage. This is a city of hope and dreams, and yet a city of paradox as well. Here there are cloud kissing skyscrapers, amidst vast sprawl of slums. Here there is elite Malabar Hill, yet it also has Asia's biggest slum. There are swanky, sophisticated flyovers , yet its traffic is in perpetual dead locked jams. The city is witness to numerous stories of rags to riches, yet there is no dearth of people whose fortunes were ruined in a day . The city has posh restaurants and hotels, yet nearly one fourth of its population lives on street food. It's police force is ranked second to Scotland yard, yet the city is home to some of the most dangerous gangwars. It is the city of hope and yet it is the city of despair also.Waves after waves of migrating people from all ove...

Nanda   (8 January 1939 – 25 March 2014) They say, " Simplicity is the essence of Beauty". Actress Nanda was a perfect example of this. Current generation may not remember her, but hum some memorable songs, and they will easily recognize her." She was an idiom of beauty. She was as innocent as a lamb and her smile was as pretty, as a rose drenched in morning dew. She was an actress, who was such a simple person, with no tantrums of a celebrity. During her acting career, in around 70 films, she played different roles encompassing wide spectrum of shades, from sensuous ( Ye samaa, Samma hai Suhana Suhana) to pious ( Prabhu Tero Naam) to sisterly (Chali Chali Re Patang), to romantic ( Likha Hai Teri Aakhomein) and so on. She excelled equally in playing roles with modern sensibilities as well as a coy Indian beauty. In real and reel life as well , her image was that of a cheerful, yet shy girl, with golden innocent heart, nestling within her. Unli...

He was the last emperor and last word in acting acumen. Although his first movie ' Jwar Bhata ' bombed at Box office, Dilip Kumar later on created an aura of legendary proportion, and compelled the critiques to idolize his kind of method acting. Dilip Kumar was the first (and perhaps only) Method actor.Traditional theater acting is loud, stylized and flamboyant as practiced by Prithviraj Kapoor, Sohrab Modi, Saigal to name a few.Method Acting attempts to recreate the impression of reality where the actor "becomes" the role.  There are two ways of "becoming" the role. a) By physically living the role, for example, by starving oneself to play a beggar's role. This method is controversial and often denigrated as "but the actor is not acting". b) By understanding and internalizing the role - the Stanislavski Method - based on the idea that great acting is a reflection of "truth" conveyed both internally and externally through th...

  He had velvety and soothing voice and she had sweet voice suffused with divine beauty. He was King of Gazals and She was Queen of Melody. Both had high regards to each other. Talat always praised Lata's simplicity and modesty and Lata regarded his diction and intonation in high esteem. Both had synergy and were well aware of each others virtues. Therefore when two such great voices come together, there is no doubt the resulting melody would certainly be outstanding and spell bounding. Talat Mehmood sang total 67 duets with Lata, some sad, melanchollic, some soothingly quiet and calm and some lilting happy and cheery ones as well. Here are some of his best Ten happy Duets with Lata as far as my personal preference goes. 1.Gaya Andhera Hua Ujala-Film Subah ka Tara 1954-Lyrics Noor Lucknowi- Music C.Ramchandra. Subah Ka Tara was a film depicting the dismal life of a forlorn widow.Mohan (Pradeep Kumar) is madly in love of a young widow Padmini (Jayashree)....

Lullaby's or lorie songs as they are called in hindi, are often meant for infants to induce the later to go to sleep. They are slow, with simple harmony, swinging rhythm and generate infant's undivided attention.their tone and tempo is simple and repetitive.Paired with slow swinging motion, the lories are very much soothing and infants associate them with sleep. Some lories have hypnotic quality, whereas some express the mournful lament, the concerns and worries in the mind of mother.Whatever may be the meaning of the words, the lories induces relaxation, comfort and rest. The mother and infant develop a kind of affectionate bond,when  the mother sings lorie holding the infant to her chest with slow rhythmic swinging.The therapeutic effect of lullabies can thus have a strong impact on calming anxieties and nurturing bonds, which is especially important with premature and fragile infants. Every human being, however grown he/she may be, has a infant within. That's wh...

Thinking of Hemant Kumar Mukherjee, I always wonder, what is it that appeals me and makes me his ardent fan. Is it as a singer, his manly, deep and resonant voice or as a music composer, his uncanny ability to produce musical gems that even after 60 years later, never fail to mesmerise the music lovers. I think both. The singer and music composer Hemantda complemented each other. He possessed unique profound voice that was his characteristic just as quivering voice was Talat Mahmood, S. When such a voice combines with sweet and divine voice of Lata Mangeshkar, the confluence was sure to produce unforgettable melodies. When I think of Hemant - Lata duets, a flurry of songs crowd into the mind, all serene and lilting. It is always an uphill task to select best Ten songs. However I would like to list the best duets which are my all time favorite.... So...here it goes.. 1.Aa Neele Gagan Tale- Film: Badshah 1954- Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri- Music: Shankar Jaikishan Obvi...