Raaz - 1967

RAAZ
 

Introduction :

Raaz is a 1967 Hindi romantic thriller movie directed by Ravindra Dave. Produced by G. P. Sippy for Sippy Films, the story was written by C. J. Pavri. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Babita, I. S. Johar and Asit Sen. The films music is by Kalyanji Anandji. Rajesh Khanna and Babita are introduced in this film.

Star Cast :

•     Super Star Rajesh Khanna as Kumar/Sunil
•     Babita as Sapna
•     I. S. Johar as Rocky
•     D.K. Sapru as Sarkar Nath
•     Laxmi Chhaya
•     Kamal Kapoor as Sunil's friend

Other Film Crew's :

• Directed by     Ravindra Dave
• Produced by     G. P. Sippy
• Written by     C. J. Pavri
• Music by     Kalyanji Anandji
• Cinematography     K. Vaikunth
• Edited by     M. S. Shinde
• Production company :  Sippy Films
• Distributed by     Dosani Films
• Release date :     1967
• Language    :  Hindi
• Country     : India

Summary :
Kumar (Rajesh Khanna), though of Indian origin, lives in Africa. He has recurring dreams of a Railway Station in India called "Viran Nagar". He decides to find for himself and travels to India along with his friend, Rocky (I.S Johar). They are able to find Viran Nagar railway station, which is exactly as Kumar had dreamed of. When they go to find a ride, the locals shy away from them as behave as though they have seen a ghost. They find temporary accommodations and set out to discover the mystery behind Kumar's dreams. Then a young woman, Sapna (Babita), meets with Kumar, tells him that she has been awaiting his return, and now they can be together again. But Kumar has never been to this place before, and ends up even more confused. Then another local villager named Bansi tells them he had himself seen Kumar getting killed and buried in the nearby forest. Kumar and Rocky must now find out who was killed, and why the villagers believe that Kumar has returned from the grave.
Kumar finds out the truth from a mysterious man (Kamal Kapoor) who was a friend of Kumar's long-lost identical twin brother Sunil that he had been there before and was in love with Sapna. But Sapna's evil uncle Sarkar Nath (D.K. Sapru) was against their love and hence planned to kill Kumar. Kumar was attacked by Sarkar's henchmen and lost consciousness. At the same time, Sunil and his friend arrived in Viran Nagar and found Kumar unconscious. Sunil went to find help but was mistaken for Kumar by Sarkar's henchmen and killed. It is then revealed that it was Sunil who was killed and buried in the forest. As a result of his head injury from the attack of Sarkar's men, Kumar had lost his memory. Thus he began to have the recurring dreams when he returned to Africa.

In the end Kumar identifies the villains and defeats them. Kumar and Sapna live happily ever after.

Music Sound  Track :

S.No.     Song Title     Singer(s)

1     "Akele Hain Chale Aao" -  By  Mohammed Rafi
2     "Akele Hai Chale Aao" -   By Lata Mangeshkar
3     "Aeji Zara Sunna"  -  By Lata Mangeshkar
4     "Dil Sambhale Sambhalta Nahin"  -  By Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar
5     "Pyar Ne Di Sada Tumko"  -  By  Krishna Kalle
6    "Sochta Hoon Ke Maine Tumhen" -  By Mohammed Rafi and Krishna Kalle

Quotes on the film :
Rajesh Khanna said in an interview,"Though “Aakhri Khat” is my first film, I received my first break as a leading actor in Ravindra Dave's, “Raaz” in 1967. My heroine was Babita, already a popular actress then. Though I had lots of confidence, I was shy in facing the camera initially. In my first three shots, I had to perform with stress on my body language and dialogue delivery. Though I was right with my dialogues, my movements were not up to the mark. Ravindra Dave explained me my scenes and movements very clearly correcting my way of walking.Also it was based on double role and was a film much ahead of its time. There are two Rajesh Khanna.

Aakhri Khat - 1966

 Introduction :

Aakhri Khat (English: The Last Letter) is a 1966 Bollywood film written and directed by Chetan Anand. The music of the film is by Khayyam and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi; it includes the song "Baharon Mera Jeevan Bhi Sanwaro", sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Chetan Anand, started the film with a bare outline of a script and a 15-month-old infant who he let loose in the city, following him with his camera, mostly a hand-held camera, taking in all the city sounds, under the cinematic direction of Jal Mistry.  The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Academy Awards in 1967, but was not accepted as a nominee.

Star Cast :

•     Super Star Rajesh Khanna - Govind
•     Indrani Mukherjee - Lajjo
•     Master Bunty - Buntu
•     Nana Palsikar
•     Manvendra Chitnis - Inspector Naik
•     Mohan Choti - Moti (Servant)
•     Tun Tun
•     Maruti Rao
•     Naqi Jehan - Wealthy young woman

Other Film Crew's :

• Directed by     Chetan Anand
• Produced by     Himalaya Films
• Written by     Chetan Anand
• Cinematography     Jal Mistry
• Edited by     Jadav Rao
• Distributed by     Prabha Pictures
• Release dates :    1966
•  Language    :  Hindi
• Country     : India

Summary : 
 Govind (Rajesh Khanna) is a young sculptor, while vacationing near Kullu, sees Lajjo (Indrani Mukherjee) and falls in love. Subsequently, they get married secretly in a village temple. He then has to leave for the city to pursue further education. Meanwhile, the girl finds that she is pregnant. On finding this her step mother sells her off for Rs. 500, where she is beaten, some time later she gives birth to a little boy, Buntu. Later Lajjo comes to Mumbai to meet Govind, carrying her one-year-old son. She leaves a letter for him at his doorsteps, and want to leaves the child as well, is unable to go through it, and takes him along. They keep wandering, and feed off whatever comes their way, soon she dies leaving her son alone.
The rest of the film is a story of the little child, wandering around the city. He goes out of the house, eating whatever he finds, including a pill, which makes him doze off. On waking up, he wanders even more and more into the city. Meanwhile Govind, comes know all through a letter she has left behind, Aakhri Khat (Last Letter), he soon realizes his mistake and with the help of police tries to find his wife and son, though only finds his wife's body. Later, he shows the Police inspector Naik, (Manvendra Chitnis), the statue of Lajjo he has kept in his studio.
The child is then rescued by a man who is a staff member of an orphanage nearby. He escapes from that place at night. And after a long time of wandering here and there, and after the help of some people, he ultimately reaches home to find a statue of his lost mother, and a new lady, who is now his new mother..

Production :
The film Rajesh Khanna's debut film as an actor, and he was shy while face the camera, after facing difficult in first three shots, director Ravindra Dave helped him understand his scenes and movements, and corrected his way of walking. Quotes on the film

Rajesh Khanna disclosed in an interview,"I consider “Aakhri Khat” a memorable film of my initial days. It was out and out a director's project and Chetan Anand, highly imaginative and sensitive director handled the film with expertise. I still clearly remember how cinematographer Jal Mistry shot the song sequence, “Ab Na Ja” on me and Indrani Mukherjee in five to six close ups also picturising the natural panorama of the Himalayas with rare aesthetics and perfection. My most challenging scene in “Aakhri Khat” was the last one where I am in a pensive mood in silence till I recognise my son, Bunty. Chetan Anand used to wake me up with late night phone calls so that my face had the ideal pathos oriented look."

Music Sound Track : 

• Music by     Khayyam
• Lyrics by Kaifi Azmi

The soundtrack includes the following tracks, composed by Khayyam, and with lyrics by Kaifi Azmi, also marked the debut of Bhupinder Singh as a solo playback singer.

S.No. Song Title    Singer (s) :

1. Aur Kuchh Der Thahar  -   By   Mohd. Rafi
2. Baharon Mera Jeevan Bhi Sanwaro  -   By   Lata Mangeshkar
3. Mere Chanda Mere Nanhe  -  By   Lata Mangeshkar
4. O My Darling  -  By   Manna Dey
5. Rut Jawan Jawan Raat Mehrbaan  -   By Bhupinder Singh

Aurat - 1967

                                                AURAT

Introduction :

Aurat is a 1967 Hindi movie produced and directed by S. S. Balan and S. S. Vasan. The film stars Padmini, Pran, Rajesh Khanna, Feroz Khan, Kanhaiyalal, David, O. P. Ralhan, Nazima, Lalita Pawar and Leela Chitnis. The films music is by Ravi.The film is totally revolving around character of Parvati's life played by Padmini. The film deals with how Parvati (played by Padmini), who is in true love with character played by Feroz Khan, is forced by circumstances to marry Manoharilal (played by Pran) against wishes of her brother (played by Rajesh Khanna) and later is tested by life to show whether after marriage to Manoharilal, she is truly affectionate to Manoharilal or is she having affair with the her ex-boyfriend.

This movie is the remake of 1966 Tamil movie Chitthi (meaning 'step-mother') played by Padmini in the lead role and R. Muthuraman as her younger brother. It is one of the first significant on screen roles for Rajesh Khanna, then a new comer to screen.

Star Cast :

•     Super Star Rajesh Khanna - Suresh
•     Padmini (actress) - Parvati
•     Pran - Manoharilal
•     Feroz Khan
•     Nazima - Asha
•     David
•     O. P. Ralhan - Rattanlal
•     Lalita Pawar - Dadi Maa
•     Leela Chitnis
•     Nana Palsikar
•     Achala Sachdev
•     Mohan Choti
•     Niranjan Sharma
•     Kanhaiyalal

Other Film Crew's :

• Distributed by  Gemini Pictures
• Directed by  S. S. Vasan and S. S. Balan
• Produced by  S. S. Vasan and S. S. Balan
• Written by  K. S. Gopalakrishnan
• Music by  Ravi
• Cinematography  by  Kamal Ghosh
• Edited by M Umanath
• Release year :    1967
• Language     : Hindi 
• Country     : India

Summary :
Parvathi (Padmini) is an elder daughter of eight children family who is the primary bread earner of her house. Her aim is bring up her family position and marry off all her sisters which include a dumb girl. So she spents her whole life and struggles hard to educate her brother Suresh (Rajesh Khanna) and make him doctor so that he can lend her helping hand. Though she works hard she smiles at times when she meets a man (Feroz Khan) whom she has a liking but her circumstances prevent her moving further.
Manoharilal an aged rich man and father of six children wants to marry again and searches for bride and keeps an eye on Parvati. A proposal for marriage is raised on his behalf to which Suresh and Parvati's mother does not accept even though he has money. But Parvati accepts the proposal on the grounds that her family position will improve if she marries him. Suresh tries his level best to make her back-off from the marriage but she does not accept it. Parvati marries Manoharilal and steps in his family.

Manoharilal's family who are against his marriage does not welcome Parvati to their home due to step-mother fear. Suresh worries on the situation of her sister in the new home but Parvati manages win the love of all her husband's children. Parvati spends most of the time with the children and this irritates her husband. So she behaves in the way which is liked by her husband but not liked by herself. At times he doubts on the fidelity of his wife and assumes that she has affair with some other man and tortures her. Suresh and Manoharilal's sister gets attracted towards each other but it is strongly opposed by Manoharilal. Hence he stops aiding Suresh's education but somehow Manoharilal's sister manages money for his studies by getting money from a man. Because of which she frequently visits a hotel. Suresh passes in his final examination and cheers Parvati.
Manoharilal arranges for groom visit for his sister. The groom looks at the bride and is shocked as he has seen her frequently coming to a hotel and assumes that she is a dirty woman earning money in dirty way. This shocks Parvati and Manoharilal. But the fact is the money for Suresh's education is provided by the man whom Parvati wanted to marry in the beginning. She also finds that he married is dumb sister. Manoharilal realises his mistake and unites his sister with Suresh and all live happily.

Baharon Ke Sapne - 1967

BAHARON KE SAPNE

Introduction :

Baharon Ke Sapne is a 1967 Hindi movie under Nasir Hussain films banner. It starred Rajesh Khanna, and the Nasir Husain fixture- Asha Parekh. It also had Premnath, Madan Puri and another Nasir Husain fixture Rajendranath. Another pair of Husain fixtures gave the music Majrooh Sultanpuri the lyrics and composition by R.D. Burman.

 Star Cast :

•    Super Star Rajesh Khanna ... Ramaiya
•     Asha Parekh ... Geeta
•     Prem Nath ... Mr. Kapoor
•     Rajendra Nath ... Pandu
•     Madan Puri ... Ranjeet
•     Sulochana Latkar ... Gouri
•     Nana Palsikar ... Bholanath
•     P. Jairaj
•     Anwar Hussain
•     Ram Avtar
•     Bela Bose as Dancer. 
•  
• Other Film Crew's :

• Directed by     Nasir Hussain
• Produced by     Nasir Hussain
• Cinematography     Jal Mistry
• Edited by     Babu Lavande and Gurudutt Shirali
• Release date :    1967
• Language     :  Hindi
• Country      :  India

Summary :

In a small industrial town near Bombay lives Bholanath, who works at the local mill, and is the proud husband of Gauri, a daughter, Champa, and above all his son, Ramaiya, who is a graduate in the arts faculty, - the only one in this town who has attained this degree. But times are hard, and jobs are difficult to come by. When Bholanath loses his job, Ramaiya decides to find employment, and does so as a menial worker in the same mill his dad used to work. Ramaiya is very popular with his co-workers and they soon elect him as their new union leader. This puts Ramaiya in conflict with the Management of the Mill, headed by the owner, Kapoor, who has ordered that Ramaiya be eliminated post haste. But Ramaiya is determined to address the workers' grievances, and he gets himself framed for theft; has the police on the lookout for him, and so Ramaiya goes into hiding. When Ramaiya does not show up for a workers' meeting, some believe that he has been bought by the mill management, and they decide to take the matters into their own hands - by burning the mill down, killing Kapoor and his family, and getting into direct confrontation with the local police, who have been issued orders to shoot-at-sight.

Music Sound Track :

• Music by     R.D. Burman 
• Lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri

S.No. Song Title     Singer(s)

1. Aja Piya Tohey Pyar Dun  -   By Lata Mangeshkar
2. Chunri Sambhal Gori  -   By Manna Dey  and Lata Mangeshkar
3. Kya Janoo Sajan Huti Hai Kya Gham Ki Sham   -  By Lata Mangeshkar
4. O Mere Sajna O Mere Balmaa   -  By Lata Mangeshkar and Rajesh Khanna
5. Zamane Ne Maare Jawan Kaise Kaise  -   By Mohammed Rafi
6. Do Pal Jo Teri Aankhon Se Mile Na Mile  - By Asha Bhosle and Usha Mangeshkar

Awards :

Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award  : Black and White Film : Jal Mistry

Aradhana - 1969

                                             
                                              ARADHANA

Introduction :

Aradhana (English: Worship) is a 1969 Hindi language film directed by Shakti Samanta, starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. It is a remake of the 1946 Hollywood film To Each His Own. It was voted best film of the year by the Filmfare Awards. Sharmila Tagore won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for the same role that won Olivia de Havilland her first Academy Award for Best Actress. The film was the highest grosser of 1969.

Originally released in Hindi and dubbed in Bengali, Aradhana's huge success gave way to two remakes, both starring Vanisri in Sharmila Tagore's role: the Tamil film Sivakamiyin Selvan (1974) and the Telugu film Kannavari Kalalu (1974).

Star Cast :

•     Super Star Rajesh Khanna as Arun / Suraj Prasad Saxena
•     Sharmila Tagore as Vandhana Tripathi
•     Sujit Kumar as Madan Verma
•     Pahadi Sanyal as Gopal Tripathi
•     Anita Dutt as Mrs. Prasad Saxena
•     Abhi Bhattacharya as Ram Prasad Saxena
•     Madan Puri as Jailer
•     Asit Sen as Tikaram
•     Farida Jalal as Renu
•     Manmohan as Shyam
•     Subhash Ghai as Prakash
•     Dulari as Doctor

Other Film Crew's :

• Produced and Directed by     Shakti Samanta
• Written by     Sachin Bhowmick
• Music by     S. D. Burman
• Cinematography  by   Alok Dasgupta
• Edited by     Sahil Budhiraja
• Distributed by     Shakti Films
• Release date :     24th October 1969
•  Language  :   Hindi
• Country   :  India

Summary :
The story opens against the backdrop of idyllic hilly terrain with Indian air force officer Arun Varma (Rajesh Khanna) crooning "Mere sapno ki rani" atop an open jeep along with his co-pilot Madan (Sujit Kumar), while Vandana (Sharmila Tagore), the daughter of a doctor Gopal Tripathi (Pahadi Sanyal) demurely sneaks glances at him from a mini train. After a brief romance, they have a secret wedding.
Soon afterwards, Arun dies in an air crash leaving behind a heartbroken and pregnant Vandana. His family refuses to accept the unwed mother-to-be since her marriage with Arun is never formalised. Meanwhile, her father also dies, leaving her destitute. Vandana's son is finally born, but she is forced to let a childless couple adopt him. But determined to be a part of his life, she accepts the responsibility of becoming his nanny. The boy is named Suraj. Events take an ugly turn when her employer's brother Shyam (Manmohan) arrives and lusts for Vandana. He tries to harass her physically when no-one is around, but Suraj arrives and stabs him to death in order to save his nanny. Upon the arrival of police, Vandana confesses to the murder while Suraj runs away. Thus, Vandana is sent to jail and Suraj forgets this mishap as he grows up.

Several years later, when Vandana is released from jail she is befriended by the jailer (Madan Puri) who takes her home and introduces her to his daughter Renu (Farida Jalal). Vandana comes face to face with her son Suraj (Rajesh Khanna) when she discovers that Renu is dating him. Suraj, just like how his father wished, is an air-force officer. He slowly starts remembering that he has seen Vandana somewhere, although Vandana wants to hide the truth as she feels Suraj may be embarrassed upon realizing his parent's background and history. Vandana makes herself home at the jailer's house.
At one time, Suraj gets injured in an air crash just like his real father Arun, but survives. At that time, Vandana meets Madan, who knows that Suraj is Arun and Vandana's son and he wants to tell Suraj the truth. Again, Vandana denies wanting to let Suraj know that he is her son, fearing the consequences. Later when Vandana is not around, Suraj sees her diary where Arun's photo is found. Realizing that Arun and Vandana are his true parents, he however salutes Vandana's self-sacrificing attitude and accepts her as his own mother.

Production :
The film was scripted by Sachin Bhowmick. However, a day prior to the shooting of Aradhana, producer Surinder Kapoor showed Samanta his latest film, Ek Shrimaan Ek Shrimati with Shashi Kapoor as the lead which was also written by Sachin Bhowmick. Much to his surprise this film had similar ending as his own film. The following day Samanta decided to scrap his film, when writers Gulshan Nanda and Madhusudan Kalelkar visited his office. Upon hearing the issue, it was Gulshan Nanda who suggested to have a double role of father and son in the film. Originally the first hero was to die by the interval and a new hero was to step in.[4] The same evening, while Aradhana was being cancelled, Nanda recited a story of Kati Patang to Samanta, which he instantly liked, so for the next couple of hours they first rewrote the second half of Aradhana, and subsequently went on to discuss, Kati Patang.

Music Sound Track :

The soundtrack of the film was composed by S. D. Burman, with lyrics by Anand Bakshi. Burman had already started recording the songs for Aradhana, but became very ill shortly thereafter. The responsibility for finishing the soundtrack fell on his son R. D. Burman, who used Kishore Kumar for the songs "Roop Tera Mastana" and "Mere Sapnon ki Rani". According to music and film expert Rajesh Subramanian, in the song 'Roop tera mastana' Kersi Lord played the Accordion, Homi Mullan the duggi and Manohari Singh played the saxophone.

S. No.     Song Title     Singer(s)      

    1.     ""Roop Tera Mastana""  -   By   Kishore Kumar    
2.     ""Baghon Mein Bahar Hai""  -  By  Mohammed Rafi and  Lata Mangeshkar 
3.     ""Chanda Hai Tu Mera Suraj Hai Tu""  -  By  Lata Mangeshkar    
4.     ""Mere Sapno Ki Rani"" -   By   Kishore Kumar    
5.     ""Gun Guna Rahe Hai Bhanvare"" -  By Mohammed Rafi and  Asha Bhosle 
6.   ""Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera""- By Kishore Kumar and  Lata Mangeshkar 7.     ""Saphal Hogi Teri Aradhana""  -    By  S D Burman   

 
Awards :

1969 Filmfare Awards :

•     Best Film - Shakti Samanta
•     Best Actress - Sharmila Tagore
•    Best Male Playback Singer - Kishore Kumar for the song "Roop Tera Mastana"