11 Must See Bollywood Movies Before You Die

Indian Cinema has given so much to the world. It shall be contributing much more. NDTV recently polled ‘All time movies’ with 10 critics and 10 other young filmmakers and the list that we got was amazing.

11# ANAND (1971)

Written by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Anand revolves around Anand (Rajesh Khanna) who is suffering from Intestinal Cancer and is aware of the situation. Dr. Bhaskar Banarjee (Amitabh Bachchan) is amazed to know this and asks him to stay with him. Rest is the story of emotions and drama molded in an amazing format. ‘Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi’, this dialogue by Rajesh Khanna marks the crux of the movie.

10# MADHUMATI (1958)

Directed by Bimal Roy, it was one of the earliest films to have gothic noir feel and reincarnation in it. Starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala, Pran and Johny Walker, the movie won one National and 9 Filmfare awards. Janam Janam (1988) and Om Shanti Om (2007) are adversely inspired by this movie.

9# Guide (1965)

Starring Waheeda Rehman and Dev Anand, Guide proved to be a landmark in director Vijay Anand’s career. Ranked #4 in the list of best Bollywood Classics of all time by Times, the movie is inspired from R.K Narayan’s novel The Guide. The memorable music by S.D Burman strikes the right chord even today.

8# Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1980)

The dark satire on Indian politics, bureaucracy, corruption, business and media directed by Kundan Shah stars an ensemble cast of Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Ravi Baswani, Bhakri Bharve, Satish Kaushik and Neena Gupta. Regarded as a cult classic, the movie is a must watch in our list.

7# Kagaz Ke Phool (1962)

The box office disaster upon its release was later acknowledged as a cult classic in 80s. Directed by Guru Dutt, he played the lead role in the movie and the music by S.D Burman was remarkable. Inspired by Guru Dutt’s association with director Gyan Mukherjee, Kaagaz Ke Phool was a tribute to the man.

6# Mughal-E-Azam (1960)

The highest grossing Bollywood film of all time (The record held for 15 years) was directed by K.Asif and starred Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala in lead roles. The film earned 3 Filmfare and one National Award.

5# Mother India (1957)

Mehboob Khan’s Mother India is the remake of his Aurat (1940) which showcases a mother’s struggle to raise his two sons in the absence of his husband. Sunil Dutt, Nargis Raaj Kumar and Rajendra Kumar starred movie ranks among the highest top grossing movie of all times. The movie received many nominations and awards.

4# Bhuvan Shome (1969)

Directed by Mrinal Sen, it stars Utpal Dutt and Suhasini Mulay in lead roles. 3 National awards for the landmark of Indian Cinema describes the journey of a disciplinarian railway officer on a holiday, a holiday which rejuvenates the isolation in the old man.

3# Pyaasa (1957)

The soulfully romantic drama was directed by, and starred Guru Dutt. The movie portrays the story of a struggling poet Vijay (Guru Dutt) who tries to fame his works and is helped by a prostitute of golden heart Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman). Who can forget the epic dialogue – ‘Apne shauk ke liye pyaar karti hai aur apne aaram ke liye pyar bechti hai’. The music was composed by S.D Burman.

2# Do Bigha Zameen (1953)

The Indian neo-realistic movie was a trend setter for future. Starring Nirupa Roy and Balraj Sinha, the socialist theme was well directed by Bimal Roy, it was a landmark in early parallel Indian cinema. The first movie to win Filmfare Best Movie Award, it also became the first film to gran the International Award at Cannes Film Festival.

1# Sholay (1975)

The best Indian film marks the journey of Jai (Amitah Bachchan) and Veeru (Dharmendra) hired by Thakur (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Directed by Ramesh Sippy, it accounts for highest grossing movie of all time adjusted by inflation and continued for more than 5 years in some theatres. It remarkably is the best film of Indian Cinema.

Bollywood celebrities and hoax

Bollywood and rumors walk hand in hand. The hoaxes literally killed it many a times.

1. Ayushman Khurana – He was declared dead on a family trip due to snowboarding accident. The hoax was later nullified by the actor cum VJ himself.

 

2. Amitabh Bachchan – The rumors didn’t spare the superstar as well when he was supposed to be killed in the US in a road accident. Well, people even started discussing the accident details. Mr. Bachchan wasn’t pleased with the hoax and decided to mum on the entire incident.

 

3. Katrina Kaif – A facebook page in November 2013 claimed Katrina Kaif as dead to shock her fans. The news was later withdrawn by the page and the beauty queen was announced very much alive.

 

4. Rajnikanth – Hospitalized for viral infection and allergic bronchitis in 2011, Twitter had a trending topic those days of Rajnikanth being dead. His wife however assured that the legend was doing well.

 

5. Yo Yo Honey Singh – The latest news trended that of the rapper Honey Singh. The photo speaks a lot about the hoax.

 

Reference Links:

http://www.mtvindia.com/blogs/general/news/7-fake-bollywood-celebrity-death-rumours-that-scared-us-52196402.html

 

Top 10 Bollywood Romantic Movies Of All Time

A rich boy, a vivacious girl, an enraged father, a loving mom, few supporting friends and the dish served is a romantic flick. Not exactly? But few love stories were written this way while few marked their thumbs. Romance and Bollywood go parallel and almost each flick has one. Here we are with a list of top 10 most romantic movies Bollywood has given us.

10# Jodha Akbar (2008)

The movie revolves round the long unforgotten love story of Akbar (Hrithik Roshan) and Jodha (Aishwarya Rai). With its heart at the right place, director Ashutosh Gowariker hits the right cord in the lengthy drama. Music by A.R Rahman adds a sweet flavor to the period romance amidst political success. The movie won Filmfare and international awards.

9# Kabhie Kabhie (1976)

Kabhie Kabhie remains to be a Yash Chopra’s master piece blessed with Khayyam’s music. The multi generation movie is a brilliant events of love drama between Anil Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan) who falls in love with Pooja (Rakhee) but she is hooked to Vijay Khanna (Shashi Kapoor). With more tales to follow, it changed Amitabh Bachchan’s image of “Angry Young Man”.

8# Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)

Written by Nasir Hussain and directed by Mansoor Khan, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak shifted the prevailing violence in movies at that time. Raj (Aamir Khan) and Rashmi (Juhi Chawla) are dedicated towards their love against their father’s wish who are long enemies. The romantic drama was a blockbuster and made the leading duo famous overnight.

7# The Lunchbox (2013)

The epistolary romantic sequence of events is what The Lunchbox is. Set in recent times,an unhappy housewife Ila’s (Nimrat Kaur) lunchbox is mistakenly delivered to a lonely widower Saajan Fernandes (Irrfan Khan) an the duo develop a unique bonding through exchanging notes. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui too, Ritesh Batra’s movie won Critics Viewers Choice Award at 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was a box office hit.

6# Veer Zaara (2004)

Set in the backdrop of India-Pakistan conflict, the romantic drama directed by Yash Chopra was the biggest blockbuster of the year. An Indian Air Force pilot Veer (Shahrukh Khan) falls in love with a rich politician’s daughter Zaara (Preity Zinta) but get separated is the star crossed story. The 22 year long separation leads to a reunion with the help of lawyer Saamiya (Rani Mukherjee) who fights against Zakir Ahmed (Anupam Kher) to bring Veer back to his country. The music by Late Madan Mohan with lyrics by Javed Akhtar adds to the ecstasy of the terrific tale.

5# Raja Hindustani (1996)

Inspired from Pyaar Jhukta Nahi, Dharmesh Darshan’s romantic flick is the story of a taxi driver Raja Hindustani (Aamir Khan) and rich yet sensitive Aarti (Karishma Kapoor). The film’s music became very popular and the movie was a commercial hit.

4# Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989)

Sooraj Barjatiya’s musical romantic was a benchmark for Salmaan Khan’s career as a lead actor. The crux of the story rotates around Suman’s (Bhagyashree) and Prem’s (Salmaan Khan) friendship which blossoms to love in a short time span. SPB lend his voice for Salmaan for Raamlaxman’s enthralling music.

3# Dilwale Dulahniya Le Jayenge (1995)

The young Raj (Shahrukh) and Simran (Kajol) born and brought up in Britain fall in love during the Europe but Simran’s traditional father takes her to India fulfilling a betrothal promise. The longest running film in the Indian Film Industry was directed by Aditya Chopra and amuses the audience even today.

2# Mughal-E-Azam (1960)

Directed by K.Asif, the movie inspired by true events portrays a young prince Salim (Dilip Kumar) falling in love with a court dancer Anarkali (Madhubaala). It also alongside witnesses the fight between Salim and his father Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor). The milestone of Indian Cinema was rereleased in colored version in November, 2004.

1# Pyaasa (1957)

The soulfully romantic drama was directed by, and starred Guru Dutt. The movie portrays the story of a struggling poet Vijay (Guru Dutt) who tries to fame his works and is helped by a prostitute of golden heart Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman). Who can forget the epic dialogue – ‘Apne shauk ke liye pyaar karti hai aur apne aaram ke liye pyar bechti hai’. The music was composed by S.D Burman.

Cinema has its own language

The Marathi movie ‘Court’ received the National award for best feature film and is now contending as Indian entry for Oscars. Chaitanya Tamhane is very much excited about the movie which bagged awards in Venice Film Festival as well. Let’s sneak peek into the aspiring life of the 28 year old aspiring youngster who is a role model for many.

Chaitanya was always passionate towards scripting and watching movies. He penned few daily soaps for Balaji telefilms post graduation and eventually started working as a researcher for UTV. Pretty much inspired by Satyajit Ray, ‘City Of God’ introduced him to international cinema. And he then developed a keen interest towards direction. ‘Four Step Plan’ stood out as his first documentary and he moved on to script & direct the play ‘Grey Elephants in Denmark’. One of his short films was shown in numerous film festivals.

Tamhane then left his job and started his own production house but ended up making zero profits and thus went into depression. He faced family pressures for financial help, but was obsessed with film making. In a crux situation like this, a friend of his helped him financially. Vivek knew that Chaitanya had ‘Court’ in his mind and moved on to produce it.

Court is a mixture of Chaitanya’s thoughts and certain facts. Courts in real aren’t the way they are portrayed in TV serials and movies. They are rather glamourized and very much different from actual courts.  Common man generally encounters lower level courts and High or Supreme Courts are a rare confrontation. The courts of the movie were heavily borrowed from the research done in Magistrate and Session court of Mumbai. While Tamhane was probing, an unusual news surprised him – Jiten Marandi in Jharkhand was arrested by local police on suspicion for a bomb blast as he used to exhibit against the system. And this formed the base of movie ‘Court’ which revolves around the same plot.

Court is pretty close to reality. The movie shows the personal life and thoughts of lawyers and judges. Released with English subtitles, Court has Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and English language in it. Cinema is cinema and it has its own language. The unit feared a PIL or case against them though for making this kind of a movie but nothing of that sort did happen luckily. For the matter of fact, Nagpur high court judge recommended Court to local policemen. It came as an honor for the entire team.

Post Oscar nomination now, the team has to take assistance from PR Agencies in Los Angeles for lobbying and lime lighting the movie. Advertisements have to be designed for local trade magazines and the team has to make sure that the voting members do watch the movie.

The plight of Indian movies not winning the Oscars might be due to improper marketing. Well, this has to be studied in depth and the right choice of movie should be the Indian entry for Oscars.

Court is a courtroom drama and features new comers. The Indian legal system is examined with the trial of an ageing folk singer in a Sessions court. It’s the India’s official submission for 88^th Annual Academy Awards under the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Trailer