We are living in times of restorations and nostalgia is a side-effect of it, so after Amitabh Bachchan Retrospective in 2022 and later Dilip Kumar festival followed by filmmaker Viddhu Vinod Chopra Film week we have international star Mira Nair showcasing her 30year-old film Mississippi Masala at MAMI festival this year. It is the only one in which Denzel Washington plays a romantic hero and features a cast from all over the world: Sharmila Tagore, Roshan Seth, Mohan Agashe, Ranjit Chowdhry, Mohan Gokhale, Charles Dutton and the luminous debut of Sarita Choudhury.

The invites for the screening are personally dispatched by writer Sooni Taraporevala, and director Mira Nair. Something tells me it is going to be a special screening.

Her life was taking unexpected turns and Hema Malini was going with the flow. As member of the Rajya Sabha Hema Malini said, “I hail from the world of films and it is my dream to see Indian cinema on par with Hollywood in technology. We must aspire to build museums in Bombay like Universal Studios in Hollywood. I have faith it will happen soon.” She started as an unlikely candidate but learnt the ropes fast. Her first project as an MP was to clean up the Juhu beach of Mumbai and worked tirelessly to shift the hawkers from the sand to the footpath. She also addressed the frequent attacks on civilians by leopards from the national park.

Currently serving as a member of the Lok Sabha and representing Mathura constituency, Hema Malini recently released a book promoting tourism titled Chal Man Vrindavan.

At 75 Hema Malini continues with her dance shows, her latest ballet is Ganga. She lives her life 70 mm and divides her time between four cities- Delhi, Mathura, Mumbai and Chennai. She says she is happiest when she is in Mumbai surrounded by her five grandchildren. “It is one life and I want to live it to the fullest. God has been kind to me. I sometimes miss my departed loved ones, my parents and my gurus but I know they are watching over me all the time, showering me with their blessings. I can sense their aura all the time and that is why I am who I am.”

Concluded 

Her dance concerts continued all through her superstardom, post marriage and motherhood. On her father’s suggestion she expanded from pure classical dance form to folk and semi-classical ballets, portraying the lives of mythological and historical characters like Durga, Meera, Ramayan, Savitri, Radha Krishna and more. With time her choice of roles got more adventurous. She was willing to experiment with complex characters like Rihahee, Ek Chadar Maili Si and an over-the-top Jamai Raja. Around this time, she was approached by a publisher who convinced her to become the editor of their newly launched Meri Saheli /New Woman in English and found a voice.

The 1990s proved a landmark decade for the actor. She launched her home production and directed a television serial called Noopur inspired from her own life. Having gained confidence as a director, she next made a feature film Dil Aashna Hai that launched Shah Rukh Khan opposite late Divya Bharati. Around this time, she was mostly doing tele-serials when Vinod Khanna asked her to feature in his son’s debut film Himalay Putra /1997. Next Khanna asked her to campaign for him as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the 1999 general elections and Hema Malini agreed. In 2000, Hema Malini was appointed as the first female chairperson of the NFDC. In 2003 she joined BJP and also made a comeback in films with Baghban.

 To be concluded  

The film was Sapnon Ka Saudagar and the year, 1968. The title ‘Dream Girl’ was coined by Ananantha Swamy and all the bill boards in the city had her face smiling at you.  In just a few weeks, Hema Malini had become a household name and by the end of the decade, she was the undisputed number one star of Hindi cinema. From 1970 to 1979 Hema Malini had 65 releases and barring a few all of them were superhits. Some of the memorable films include Johnny Mera Naam with Dev Anand, Andaz with Rajesh Khanna and Ramesh Sippy’s Seeta aur Geeta and Sholay.

She was working with all the top heroes of that time, Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor and of course Dharmendra. Hema -Dharam pair got the box-office into a tizzy and they went to do close to 28 films together. Sharafat, Tum Haseen Main Jawan, Naya Zamana, Raja Jani, Patthar Aur Payal, Dost, Sholay, Charas, Jugnu, Apna Khoon, Azaad and Dillagi include some of them. Both were young, passionate, successful and cupid was more than eager to strike the arrow.

The decision to get married was not easy for both but they were committed and tied knot in a quiet ceremony held at Hema Malini’s home. Their fans were jubilant and the film industry supportive but their detractors maligned them. Hema Malini and Dharmendra did not offer any explanations. They continued with their lives and work. They were still in demand as  a pair and did Aas Paas, The Burning Train, Alibaba Aur 40 Chor, Baghavat, Samraat, Razia Sultan, Raaj Tilak and more in the 1980s. Hema Malini continued to sing/ dance/ ride and perform action pregnancies during both her pregnancies and the result shows in sequences of Kranti, Razia Sultan and Satte Pe Satta.

To be concluded  

Stories of her box-office success are legendary, be it the sale of tickets outside the cinema halls of Seeta aur Geeta in the 70s or her fiery dialogue delivery as Basanti in Sholay. She was the only female superstar, filmmakers dared to invest in big budget biopics like Meera and Razia Sultan. Her small budget films were equally significant be it Khushboo or Kinara, about women who maintained dignity despite adversities. Her screen presence, her dance ballets on stage, inspired millions across the globe. More than 50 years have gone by but the sparkle has not faded. On October 16 2023, the actor/ dancer /parliamentarian turns 75 and it is time to rewind and revisit her milestones….

When Jaya Chakravarti was pregnant third time, she attended a dance recital and was so enamoured by the performer that she made up her mind that if she had a daughter, she will groom her to become a classical dancer. Hema Malini was enrolled in Bharatnatyam dance class at the tender age of five and began performing on public platforms at the age of 10. Ananatha Swamy spotted Hema Malini at a private concert organized by a common friend in Madras and recommended her to Raj Kapoor. This was in the wake of Sangam 1964 when the showman had committed bulk dates to a South production house. They were keen to launch the film immediately and were desperately on the lookout for a new face and Hema Malini being an accomplished dancer fitted the bill.

To be concluded  

BhawanaSomaaya #Review #Marathi film #Sthal ( Match) featuring in Jio MAMI South Asia Conpetion is directed by #JayantDigambarSomalkar who co-directed #GuiltyMinds.

Sthal tells the story of a college going girl Savita and her parents’ struggle to get her married.

A simple, sensitive narrative about rural India, ancient customs, patriarchy and discrimination.
The last scene where an exasperated Savita expresses her anger is a dejavu of #ShyamBenegal’s film #Ankur where a little child pelts a stone at the zamindar, indicating that
enough is enough!
Winner of NETPAC award in Toronto #Sthal is a must match for all Indians irrespective of whether you understand Marathi or not.
Congratulations team.

I am often asked why three films on Amitabh Bachchan and my answer is why not? One day I was with friends and suddenly everybody started conversing in Bachchan film dialogues. That’s when an idea struck and a book was born.

Amitabh Lexicon captures 2,833 head words of the English dictionary into films of the actor, a colourful joyride into Bachchan’s memorabilia.

Forty-one years and 174 films (and counting) … Amitabh Bachchan has long since sublimated the language of cinema that is peculiar to Hindi films. He has worked its verbs, overwhelmed its adjectives, brought to life its nouns, subjugated its predicates and predicated its subjects. This does render it easy for a writer to describe his phenomenon but then, makes it equally difficult to, when one seeks to summarise it. 

Nearly every word in the English language could find its place in the cinematic vocabulary of Amitabh Bachchan.

Therefore, this attempt, to take you through a Lexicon of his various personas on screen – scenes where he made you cry, laugh, and all shook up. Like he says in his film Namak Halaal “Lo karlo baat…aree English toh aisi ave hain ke that I can leave angrez behind… I can talk English, I can walk in English, and I can laugh English…”

I thought I had said all I wanted to about Amitabh Bachchan in my first book but there were many behind-the-scenes stories related to all his films that was crying for another book. I was fortunate to meet Neville Tully of Osians who was keen to invest in a larger-than-life coffee table book on the actor. Result, Bachchanalia, a collector’s item of Amitabh Bachchan’s 135 films over 40 years and many unseen film posters.

Almost invisible on the posters of his earlier films, his aura overshadowed others on the billboard as Bachchan rose in stardom.

His films stand testimony to not just the changing trends in cinema but also the socio-political changes in the country. Amitabh Bachchan remains the touchstone of the entertainment business.