Hrishikesh Mukherjee - A Legend

... whose sudden demise brought an end to an era in Bollywood movie industry. His movies were based on subtle, folksy type storylines, which set him different from others. Be it Anari or Bemisaal, Mili or Golmaal, his movies stayed in our mind and heart long after leaving the movie theatres.

Here are some interesting facts about Hrishida & his movies (found on the web):
- Raj Kapoor, a dear friend of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, used to address him as Babumoshai, the name which Hrishida used in Anand (for you know who)
- Initially Raj Kapoor was to play Kaka's role in Anand; however, Hrishida couldn't see his friend dying in the movie.
- Big B met his future wife Jaya Bhaduri at the set of Guddi, even though his role was eventually given to Shamit Bhanja (a bengali actor from Kolkata).
- Bawarchi was actually inspired by Hrishida's father, a man of many talents and a big heart.
- You would have seen Utpal Dutt in Jhoot Bole Kauwa Kaate, had it been made a decades earlier. Unfortunately, Utpal Dutt passed away long before the movie hit the set.

My tribute to his great soul, with a Kishoreda number from Mili.

Badi Suni Suni Hai
Movie: Milie (1975)
Music: S. D. Burman
Lyrics: Yogesh
(Original) Singer: Kishore Kumar
Click to play Badi Suni Suni

Friends, I have received an overwhelming number of email about the blog. My friends from Kolkata sent me a long list of requests, including many bengali numbers, which I'd definitely do in course of time. Thanks for all your inspiration, encouragement and help. Special Thanks goes to Leena Gore, for giving me that gala introduction on her blog page. Thanks Leena!

Here is the farmaaish of my friend Soumitra Sarkar, from Canberra, Australia (by the way, if you haven't visited Soumitra's blog, you don't know what you are missing....check it out at http://soumitrasongs.blogspot.com/):

Chanda O' Chanda
Movie: Lakhon Mein Ek (1971)
Music: R. D. Burman
Lyrics: Anand Bakshi
(Original) Singer: Kishore Kumar
(Click here to play Chanda O' Chanda)