The song that best encapsulates Geeta Dutt's unfairly abbreviated life would probably be: Yaad Karoge, Yaad Karoge, Ek Din Humko Yaad Karoge. On her 95th birth anniversary on November 23, Dinesh Raheja pieces together the life of this talented singer.
'You have become a big star. How can you play a secondary role to Meena Kumari?'
'I always considered him as a director, never an actor. Do you know he always considered other actors for his films first?' 'For Pyaasa, he wanted to cast Dilip saab; only when Dilip saab refused did Guru Duttji decide to do the role himself.'
'Everyone at Guru Dutt Productions would get monthly salaries. Waheeda didi would get Rs 2,500 per month. And that was the reason why she left.'
'Abrar uncle said he had started drinking from the afternoon on that fateful day. And he continued drinking till late at night.' 'Thereafter, he must have consumed some sleeping pills, as was his habit.' 'I think that combination went fatally wrong.'
The budget of this bio-pic is said to be Rs 1.2 billion.
The luminous Waheeda Rehman will be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year,
V K Murthy is credited with providing some of Indian cinema's most breathtaking visual moments in classics like Guru Dutt's Kagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, Baazi, Jaal, Chaudavin Ka Chand, Pyasa, 12 O'Clock and Ziddi.
'Then, one fine morning, I returned to my first love.' 'All the top directors of the time were waiting for me.' 'In one day, I signed 12 films.' 'Prosenjit Chatterjee was back!'
'You become a critic because the job entails watching a 100 films a year, out of which there will be five or six good films.' 'It's really a glutton for punishment, but you're also optimistic and want to see exciting things.'
Eid-ul-Fitr has been celebrated in a big way in Hindi films.
'I was attracted to Javed because he was exactly like my father.'
Sukanya Verma looks at the many, many reasons for marital discord reported in Hindi movies.
Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah are a testament to the Bachchan-Mukul Anand actor-director chemistry. Of the three, Hum is a natural crowd-pleaser, says Sukanya Verma.