on this day

Remembering writer-director Jyoti Swaroop on the occasion of his death anniversary, 17 March, 1991. Starting his career as assistant director with Talaaq (1958), he debuted as director with Miya Bibi Razi (1960), starring Mehmood, Manorama, and David Abraham. Among the films he went on to direct are Bin Badal Barsaat (1963), Padosan (1968), Parwana (1971), and Naya Zaher (1991). Making his debut as screenplay writer with the Sanjay Khan, Parveen Babi, and Rakesh Roshan-starrer Trimurti (1974), he also worked on the screenplays of hits such as Satte Pe Satta (1982), Sweekar Kiya Maine (1983), Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), and Sarphira (1992).

Best remembered for his last work, the evergreen tunes of Pakeezah (1972), Ghulam Mohammed had been involved in theatre from a young age, been an assistant to Naushad and composed for films since the 40s. Today is his death anniversary.

Best remembered for his passionate performance as Shankar in Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Anil Chatterjee was one of the few actors to have featured in the films of almost all the great masters of Bengali cinema, including Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, Asit Sen and others. Acting in over 200 films, he also earned acclaim for his performance as Deshbandhu Chittaranjan. Today is his 25th death anniversary.

Sreekumaran Thampi is a versatile artist who has achieved success in all of his endeavors as a lyricist, poet, novelist, film and television director, producer, and music director. Born on this day in 1940, he was trained as an engineer and worked in the Kerala town planning for two years. In 1966, Thampi entered the film world as a lyricist for P Subramaniam’s Kaattumallika. Most famously known as a lyricist, his words were filled with observations on the nature of life. As a filmmaker, his stories often explored the inner and external life of his characters, navigating the tumultuous relationships with family and love. Some of his noteworthy films are Chandrakantham (1976), Maalika Paniyunnavar (1979), Venalil Oru Mazha (1979), Gaanam (1982) Yuvajanolsavam (1986), and Ammakkoru Tharattu (2015). Lending agency to his female characters and sensitivity and vulnerability to his male characters, Thampi distinguished himself from his predecessors who were more engaged in political cinema and a way back to the rural life. His films were from a modernist and rationalist standpoint while being concerned with the question of love and relationships. Also a celebrated author and poet, Thampi has been honoured with several prestigious awards for his contribution to the film and literary cultural heritage of Kerala. Cinemaazi wishes him on his birthday!

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Remembering music composer and academic Bhaskar Chandavarkar on the occasion of his birth anniversary - 16 March, 1939. Working across film industries, he scored music for more than 40 films in different languages. Teaching Applied Music and serving as the resident music composer of FTII, Pune, he went on to compose music for many New Wave films in the 80s. His skill stands out in his compositions for films such as Girish Karnad's Ondanondu Kaladalli (1978), Mrinal Sen's Khandahaar (1983), Aparna Sen's Paroma (1984), Vijaya Mehta's Rao Saheb (1986) and Sandeep Sawant's Shwaas (2004). He also created critically acclaimed scores for stage productions such as Vijay Tendulkar’s Ghashiram Kotwal directed by Jabbar Patel in 1972, as well as P L Deshpande's Teen Paishacha Tamasha. A multi-faceted talent, he was trained in sitar by greats like Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Umashankar Misra, as well as in Hindustani vocal music, and contemporary western traditions. Among the honours he received were the Sangeet Natak Akademi award for his contribution to music, and the National Award for music direction in Kranti Kanade's Chaitra (2002). Chandavarkar passed away in 2009.

Cinemaazi remembers actor Daya Kishan Sapru, known as Sapru, on his birth anniversary (16 March 1916). In his career spanning over 40 years, he acted in more than 350 films, starting as a lead hero then shifting to roles as a villain and character actor.

Imtiaz Khan rose to fame with his memorable performance as the villain in Ramsay brother’s first horror film Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche. He started his career as a child artist in films such as Nazneen (1951) Wattan (1954) and Gyara Hazar Ladkian (1962). Brother of Amjad Khan, Imtiaz Khan had dreams of becoming a director initially and dabbled in the role of an assistant director to filmmakers like K Asif and Chetan Anand. Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973), Zakhmee (1975 and Zorro (1975) are some of his popular films.The talented actor and director of teleseries passed away on this day in 2020.

Krishna Kalle, the versatile singer, made an immense contribution to Hindi, Marathi and Kannada film music. She started performing on stage from an early age and began her professional career in All India Radio at the age of 16. Some of her noteworthy films are Shankar Khan (1966), Raaz (1967), Alibaba And 40 Thieves (1967), Aanchal Ke Phool (1968), Begunah (1970), Alam Ara (1973), Sapne Suhane (1974), and Mera Shyam (1976). In 2014, the Maharashtra government awarded her with the Lata Mangeshkar Jeevan Gaurav Purashkar. She passed away on this day in 2015. Cinemaazi remembers her on her death anniversary.

Lyricist of popular songs in the 70s and 80s, Verma Malik passed away on 15 March, 2009. Winner of two Filmfare awards for his work in Pehchan (1970) and Be-imaan (1972), he penned well-received songs such as the wedding anthem Aaj meri yaar ki shaadi hai, the evergreen Yashoda ka nandlala, Hai hai yeh majboori from Roti Kapda Aur Makaan (1974), Do bechaare from Victoria No. 203 (1972), Tere sang pyaar mein from Nagin (1976), Ek taara bole from Yaadgar (1970), and Kaan mein jhumka chaal mein thumka from Saawan Bhadon (1970). Born Barkatrai Malik in 1925, he had started off writing bhajans, and also penned many patriotic songs. Working in Punjabi films, post Partition, he settled in India. He got his break in Hindi films via actor-director Manoj Kumar. Penning Ek tara bole for Yaadgar, which was a big hit, he won attention and went on to create many memorable classics. Verma Malik had a unique way of blending shayari and folk songs, and penned approximately 500 songs in the course of his career.

Today is the death anniversary of G. Devarajan, popular as Devarajan Master, who rendered music for over 350 Malayalam films. His debut film was ‘Kalam Marunnu’ (1955). He went on to traverse a whole gamut of tunes that have turned immortal. His genius as a composer lay in his ability to blend harmoniously the best from folk, Carnatic, Hindustani and traditional music. Most of his hit songs were written by Vayalar Ramavarma. The combination of Vayalar-Devarajan was synonymous with beautiful songs.

Today is the death anniversary of Dr Rahi Masoom Reza, one of Urdu's finest writers, and an icon of the Hindi film industry. His body of memorable work includes the screenplay and dialogue for the very successful teleserial, Mahabharat. Questioned by Hindi fundamentalists about how a Muslim could write the dialogue for a Hindu epic, he responded: “I am a son of the Ganga. Who would know the civilization and culture of India better than I?" Raza penned the dialogues of films such as Mili (1975), Alaap (1977), Gol Maal (1979), Karz (1980), Judaai (1980), Hum Paanch (1980), Anokha Rishta (1986), Baat Ban Jaye (1986), Naache Mayuri (1986), Awam (1987), Lamhe (1991), Parampara (1992), and Aaina (1993). Born in 1927 in Ghazipur to a leading civil lawyer father who refused to leave for Pakistan, Raza acquired a PhD from Aligarh Muslim University, and even lectured in the Urdu department, before he sought his livelihood in the film industry in 1967. Remaining in Bombay till his death in 1992, he stayed an intellectual in the commercial film industry. Working in over 300 films, literature remained Raza’s enduring love.

 

 

Cinemaazi remembers G. Aravindan - film director, screenwriter, musician, cartoonist & painter from Kerala, on his death anniversary. Considered one of the pioneers of Parallel cinema in Malayalam, he is celebrated for his 11 feature films & several documentaries that transformed the trajectory of Malayalam cinema.

Remembering well-known cinematographer Save Dada today on his birth anniversary—the ‘Father of Indian Factual Film’ was born on 15 March, 1868. Born Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar, he started off as a portrait photographer. Acknowledged as the first Indian to create moving images in India, he was inspired by the Lumiere Brothers, who pioneered the motion picture. Acquiring a motion picture camera from London, he went on to create India’s first film, a documentary called The Wrestlers (1899). It was a recording of a wrestling match at Bombay’s Hanging Garden. Save Dada went on to make short, silent, black and white documentary films such as Man and Monkey (1899) which depicted the training of monkeys, Atash Behram (1901) on the renovation of the fire temple, and Landing of Sir M M Bhownuggree (1901) on the life of the British Member of Parliament of Parsi Indian origin, and also covered the Delhi Durbar, the coronation of Edward VII in 1903 in Delhi’s Coronation Park. In the later years of his life, he also served as manager of Gaiety Theatre in Bombay. Saave Dada passed away on 20 February, 1958.

Regarded as the pioneer of Telugu cinema, Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu passed away on 15 March, 1941. A film exhibitor, studio owner, director and producer, he had a foundational role to play in almost every aspect of Telugu cinema. 
Inclined towards art from a young age, he rented a house at Mount Road in Madras at the age of 18 to form an art center. Interested in the new medium of photography, he became adept at it and set up a photo studio. Having heard of the Chrono Megaphone, he ordered it from John Dickinson & Company. He started making short films and exhibited them at the Victoria Hall. He also started travelling to places like Bangalore, Vijayawada and even Sri Lanka and Rangoon with his films. 1910 was a landmark year, when he established the Esplanade Tent House in Madras. In 1912, he built the first film theatre in Madras - the Gaiety Talkies. He also built the Crown Theater and Globe Theater. The first few films shown in these theatres were American and British imports. 
The first step towards indigenous production of films was taken in 1919 with the formation of Star of East Films and the studio Glass Studio. After his son Raghupathi Surya Prakash Naidu returned from London trained in cinematography, they set about making their first film. Meenakshi Kalyanam was their first film, but the feature was ruined due to a faulty camera. The next attempt Bhishma Pratigya (1921) was successful. The film also included luminaries like A Narayanan and C Pullaiah working on it. It had intertitles in various languages and was distributed throughout the subcontinent. Other films produced by him were Gajendra Moksham (1923), and Mathsyavatharam. But heavy debt led him to sell all his properties.

The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award (now known as Raghupathi Venkaiah Award), constituted in his honour, is considered the highest award in the Telugu film industry.

Well-known documentary filmmaker Shanti S Varma was born this day, March 15 in 1922 in Sitapur, United Provinces. He directed several popular documentary short films for Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. His works include Money is More Than Honey (1958), Banyan Deer (1959), Four Centuries Ago (1961), Your Share (1963), Challenge of the Sea (1964), My Dearest Maa (1965), Tankon Ki Pehchan (1969), A Friend in Asia (1969), Artists of the Sky (1970), Sonar Bangla (1972), and Bundi - A Reminiscence (1973). He also directed Ready for Action (1958), and the short, Radha and Krishna (1957).

One of Bombay Talkie’s brightest stars was Mumtaz Ali, who earned his position in the studio by impressing Himanshu Rai with his craft. Born on this day in 1912 as Anwar Ali, he overcame the tragic loss of his parents and wealth early on in his childhood. In 1936, Ali made his debut as an actor with Achyut Kanya. Janma Bhoomi (1936), Jeevan Prabhat (1937), and Jhoola are some of his popular films from Bombay Talkies. After Rai’s death, he joined Sashadhar Mukherjee in his newly established studio Filmistan. He is the father of the eminent comedy actor Mehmood and actor Minoo Mumtaz. Cinemaazi remembers him on his birth anniversary.

Hindi film director Nandlal Jaswantlal was born this day in 1906 in Bardoli, Surat. Son of Jaswantlal Mehta, an administrative officer at Kohinoor, he started his career in 1924 at Kohinoor Studio. He went on to assist Chandulal Shah and direct films for Ranjit Studio. Leaving to tour Europe in 1934, he later joined Imperial. A stint running a film laboratory in Madras was followed by his return to direction. While his work in silent films was influenced by Gandhian nationalism, Nandlal Jaswantlal became well-known for his later Filmistan musicals. He delivered huge musical hits with Bina Rai-starrer Anarkali (1953) and Vyjayanthimala-starrer Nagin (1954). He was known for his sophisticated lighting, extreme close-ups, and unusual angles in filmmaking. His filmography includes Jawani Diwani (1929), Pahadi Kanya (1930), Premi Jogan (1931), Pardesi Preetam (1933), Indira MA (1934), Pujarini (1935), Bambai Ki Billi (1936), Jeevan Saathi (1939), Kamadhenu (1941), Pratigya (1943), Kadambari (1944), Sati Toral (1947), Sanam (1951), Taj (1956), Champakali (1957), and Akeli Mat Jaiyo (1963), his last film which was completed by Chandulal Shah.

Eugenio De Liguoro was a popular Italian and Hollywood actor-director who worked briefly in Indian cinema during the silent era. Born on this day in 1899 to the pioneering filmmaker-actor Giuseppe De Ligouro, Eugenio was invited by Madan Theatres to direct Nala Damayanti in 1920. He made a few more films in India, a couple of them starring Patience Cooper. Cinemaazi remembers the veteran filmmaker on his birth anniversary.