Bhootnath - an old Man (ghost) and a young child - starring Amitabh Bachchan (2008)

Bhoothnath the film is an adaptation of the Oscar Wilde short story, The Ghost of Canterville. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawala, Aman Siddiqui, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Rajpal Yadav and Shahrukh Khan. Essentially a film meant for kids, it has a strong message on love and respecting one’s elders. At the end of the film you do get to understand what Virgnina from the original story had meant when she had said that the ghost had taught her “what Life is, what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both.”

The opening sequence of the film sees a family being scared out of a house by a ghostly figure. Soon after Banku, his mother Anjali Sharma (Juhi Chawla) moves in to the same house called the Nath villa. Banku’s father Aditya, an Engineer with a cruise liner has to be away from his family for the greater part of the year. Even though the family is amply warned about the presence of a ghost in the house, they refuse to believe in such hogwash. Barely have they moved in to the new place that Aditya is called back to his ship. Now it is up to Anjali and Banku to make the new place their home.

As a new boy in school Banku has a tough life and back home, it is the ghost who makes his life pretty miserable. Banku however is not afraid of the ghost and even gives him a name, Bhoothnath. Soon this oddball duo strikes up a warm friendship. The ghost is actually none other than the original owner of the Nath Villa, Kailash Nath. He had send his only child to the US to study and he did not come back home to his parents. Father and son have an argument one day while the son (Priyanshu Chatterjee) is visiting and he promises never to return. As Kailash Nath runs after his son, he trips and falls and hurts his head. He dies on the spot and ever since then his spirit has haunted the house, never letting any family settle down and make it their home since he is so embittered.

However Banku, who resembles his grandson, is able to reach out and thaw his cold anger. This is the story that Bhoothnath tells Anjali. Soon after Anjali decide to perform his last rites so that he can move on. Bhoothnath aka Kailash Nath’s son also makes it to the last rite ceremony and father is able to forgive his repentant son. Banku is heartbroken as he realises that he has lost his friend forever but his father reassures him that Bhoothnath will forever look after Banku as his guiding star.


CAST AND CREW

Directed by: Vivek Sharma

Writing credits: Sudhanshu Dube
Screenplay and dialogue: Vivek Sharma

Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Satish Shah, Rajpal Yadav, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Aman Siddiqui, Shahrukh Khan

Produced by
Kenedy Bakshi .... executive producer
Abhay Chopra .... associate producer
B.R. Chopra .... producer
Kapil Chopra .... associate producer
Ravi Chopra .... producer

Original Music by: Vishal Shekhar
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Background score: Saleem Suleiman

Cinematography by Vishnu Rao

Film Editing by Sanjay Verma

Production Design by Muneesh Sappel

Art Direction by Muneesh Sappel

Baghban (2003) - Loving your parents (starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini)

Baghban released in the year 2003 and proved to be super hit. Audiences across the country loved the fact that Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini got to play their age and yet be the lead protagonists unlike other films where older characters are considered to be part of the supporting cast. The mature and mellow love story so effectively portrayed by the duo touched a chord with millions of viewers; while the topicality of the subject proved to be a crowd puller. After a long time, the production house of the illustrious B.R.Chopra delivered a good movie under the able guidance of Ravi Chopra.

Baghban tells the story of Raj Malhotra (Amitabh Bachchan), his wife Pooja (Hema Malinig) and their four sons, Ajay (Aman Verma), Sanjay (Samir Soni), Rohit (Saahil Chadda), and Karan (Nasir Khan). Raj works for ICICI and he and his wife have provided their sons with a comfortable and happy life. The sons are now well settled in their respective careers and are married themselves with kids. Rimi Sen plays the eldest grand child, Payal. After his retirement the couple plan on spending the rest of their lives in house of each son. However they are in for a rude shock when their sons refuse to take on the responsibilities of their old parents.

Raj and Pooja’s children decide to split up the couple. They also decide that each brother will host one parent for six months and so on. Deeply saddened by the shocking attitude of their children the old couple who have not spent even a day apart from each other are force to face separation at an old age. The duo tries to adjust to this drastic change of life situations but find it impossible to live apart. Soon they bump into Alok (Salman Khan) an orphan boy whom Raj had looked after. He takes them home and gives them the love and care that their own sons had not. Raj decides to document and capture his life experience in a book titled ‘Baghban’. He publishes this book which becomes a runaway success. As soon as the sons and their wives come to know that Raj has earned a lot of money they flock back to him. However Raj and Pooja decide not to forgive their children and live on their own, thus sending out a strong message of hope and faith to all those elderly people who are scared to live on their own.

Amitabh Bachchan captures the soul of Raj beautifully. His portrayal is poignant and heart touching. Hema Malini still looks ravishing. Salman Khan’s cameo adds a wonderful spark. Aadesh Srivastav’s music is foot tapping and pleasant. Ravi Chopra does a marvellous job bringing to the fore, the plight of the elderly population.


CAST AND CREW

Directed by Ravi Chopra
Produced by B.R. Chopra
Written by Shafiq Ansari, Satish Bhatnagar, B.R. Chopra, Ram Govind, Achala Nagar
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal, Lillete Dubey, Sharat Saxena, Salman Khan
Music by Aadesh Shrivastav
Cinematography Barun Mukherjee

Baabul (2006) - Amitabh Bachchan pushes for widow remarriage in this movie

Baabul released in the year 2006 and talks about the highly sensitive issue of widow remarriage. We are living in the twenty first century but in India, widows still lead a very hard life. The rural-urban divide in terms of the position of widow within mainstream society is only a difference in degree. The question of a widow remarrying and starting life afresh is considered to be blasphemous by many. Babul tackles this very controversial subject by focussing on all the obstacles

Talented artist Malvika Talwar ( Rani Mukherjee) meets handsome rich guy Avinash on a golf course. Following a short misunderstanding, the two fall in love with each other. They decide to get married. Avinash is completely doted upon by his parents, Balraj (Amitabh Bachchan) and Shobhna ( Hema Malini). Avinash’s parents willing acceps Malvika. Her parents too have no problem with the match. She has also the blessings of her best friend Rajat Verma (John Abraham) who secretly lover her but has never had the guts to confess his feelings.



Malvika and Avinash marry and soon become proud parents of baby boy. Things are going smoothly and Malvika is blissfully happy with her husband, son and her in-laws, who treat her like their own child. However life goes from bed of roses to bed of thorns as Avinash dies in a automobile accident. Malvika is totally shattered as are Avinash’s parents, Balrah and Shobhana. In spite of his grief, Balraj is sensitive to the desolation that he sees in his daughter-in-law’s eyes and is determined to remove it. He decides to get Malvika married to her childhood sweetheart Rajat. Initially Malvika is unwilling to start life anew but soon gives in. Shobhana too is not too happy with her husband’s decision as she is concerned whether after remarrying Malvika will let them have any access to her grandson or not. However soon she too come around. The climax sees an impassioned Balraj questioning society’s right to deny a widow the right to a life when the same right is not taken away from a widower. As he convinces his elder brother Balwant (Om Puri), who is against the notion of widow marriage, the humane impact of this act, he sends out a solemn plea to society to change its attitude towards women and particularly towards widows.

Babul is a sincere effort by Ravi Chopra to talk about a relatively taboo topic. He succeeds too up to a point of spreading awareness. Competent acting by one and all makes this film a wonderful watch. Aadesh Srivastav’s music is melodious and catchy. On the whole Babul is an honest attempt to talk about the burning question of widows and their plight.

List of songs (Video + Lyrics):

1. Keh Raha Hai Dil Deewana (link)

2. Har Manzar (link)

3. Gaa Re Maan (link)

4. Bebasi Dard Ka Alaam (link)

5. Baavari Piya Ki (link)

6. Come On Come On (link)

Agneepath (1990) - Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty

Agneepath released in the year 1990. It starred two of the leading superstars of that era- Amitabh Bachchan and Mithun Chakraborty. This was the first film that the duo did together. The title of the film is taken from a poem penned by Shri Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan’s father. The poem is recited by the main characters through out the film. This is the film which fetched Amitabh Bachchan his first National Award as Best Actor.

The film begins with school teacher Dinanath Chauhan (Alok Nath) and his ten year old son, Vijay (Manjunath) where the former teaches his son the poem Agnipath, that teaches one to tread upon the path of good no matter what. Dinanath lives in the village of Mandwa where infrastructure is non-existent as it is being used by underworld don Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzonpa) as his landing dock. Dinanath tries to bring development to the small hamlet and thus becomes prey to the evil schemes of Cheena and his cronies. Kancha buys off a local merchant Dinkar Rao (Goga Kapoor). Dinkar Rao stages a scandal where the upright Dinanath is lured to the town brothel, drugged, and found to be in bed with a local prostitute. The angry villagers lynch Dinanath before his wife Suhasini (Rohini Hattangadi) and his young children Vijay and Siksha. Suhasini and the children are forced to flee Mandwa. Young Vijay swears to avenge his father.



Vijay soon finds himself working for three underworld dons, Terelin (Sharat Saxena), Usman Bhai (Avtar Gill and Anna Shetty (Deepak Shirke). He grows up to be a underworld lord himself and now running his own empire. His one time benefactors, Terelen, Uman Bhai and Anna Shetty, decide to finish him off as he has become bigger than the. He is shot at point blank range by these three. But the timely intervention of a coconut water seller Krishnan Iyer MA (Mithun Chakraborty) saves his life. The dons try to kill him in the hospital, but he is again saved by Krishnan, and nursed back to health by Nurse Mary Matthew (Madhavi). Vijay appoints Krishnan as a bodyguard for his sister Siksha (Neelam).

Soon Siksha and Krishnan fall in love and decide to settle down. On the other hand Vijay whose mother has distanced herself from him due to his life of crime finds solace and love with Mary. Vijay’s growing stature in the underworld brings him face-to-face with his old enemy Kancha Cheena and he buys off Mandwa from him without the latter being aware of his true identity. Vijay tries to punish Cheena by handing him over to the police but the wily Cheena escapes and kidnaps Suhasini and Siksha hostage as he demands an open confrontation with Vijay. The climax of the film finds Vijay and Krishnan defeating Cheena and Vijay dieing in his mother’s lap reciting Agneepath, having finally found his redemption.


AWARDS WON

National Film Award for Best Actor-Amitabh Bachchan

Best Supporting Actor-Filmfare Award-Mithun Chakraborty

Best Supporting Actress-Filmfare Award- Rohini Hattangadi

Songs from the movie:

1. We are made for each other (link)

2. I am Krishnan Iyer MA (link)

3. Ganapati Bappa Moriya Re (link)

Zanjeer - The start of the superstar, the angry young man (Amitabh Bachchan) (1973)

The year was 1973 and the film was Zanjeer. It was a relatively small film given the fact that the leading man of the film had yet to deliver a hit and also the fact that the lead role had been turned down by all the leading heroes of Hindi film industry. However the same film and the same unsung hero made history by delivering a phenomenal hit and by changing the face of Hindi commercial cinema from romance to action. It also gave Hindi cinema its first angry young man and first super star-Amitabh Bachchan. This was the cult film that gave Bachchan his iconic status.

The film begins on the night of Diwali with the death of a couple, the parents of the young Vijay Khanna. The young Vijay is unable to identify his parents’ murderers except for a charm bracelet with a white horse. This traumatic event gives him nightmares of a white stallion. Twenty years down the lane Vijay is an honest police officer. In his line of duty he meets two individuals who change his life forever. The first one is Sher Khan, a man who runs gambling dens. He summons Khan to the police station where the latter’s insouciance irks him. Khan tells Vijay that he gets respect only because of his uniform. Vijay takes him up on his challenge, and meets him in street clothes to fight him. At the fight's end, Sher Khan not only closes his gambling dens, but has gained respect for Vijay. He becomes an auto mechanic, and reforms his ways.

DVD Movie:

The second individual is Mala (Jaya Bhaduri) an eye witness to a horrific traffic accident that leave several children dead. Initially she refuses to testify but later on has a change of heart upon viewing the mangled bodies of the dead children. She comes clean and identifies the perpetrator. Underworld Don Teja (Ajit) whose men have been behind the incident come after her and she finds refuge in Vijay’s house and the two orphans slowly fall in love. Eventually, Vijay is framed for bribery, stripped of his title and position as inspector, and jailed for 6 months on false charges, trapped by Teja. When he is released from jail, he plans to take revenge.

Mala on the other hand wants him to forget the ordeal and begin life afresh and not resort to violence. Vijay acquiesces to her pleas but becomes withdrawn and depressed. Soon Mala realises the battle raging within Vijay and asks him to go out and punish the culprits. He goes after Teja and soon realises that it was Teja who murdered his parents on that fateful Diwali night (the charm bracelet gives Teja away). Finally with Sher Khan’s help Vijay is able to avenge his dead parents.

Awards won

Filmfare Best Story Award - Salim-Javed
Filmfare Best Screenplay Award - Salim-Javed
Filmfare Best Lyricist Award - Gulshan Bawra for the song "Yari Hai Imaan Mera"
Filmfare Best Editing Award - R. Mahadik

Cast and Crew:

Directed by Prakash Mehra
Produced by Prakash Mehra
Written by Javed Akhtar, Salim Khan
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Om Prakash, Ajit, Bindu
Music by Kalyanji-Anandji
Cinematography N. Satyen
Editing by R. Mahadik

Movie songs and lyrics:

1. Dil Jalon Ka Dil Jala (link)

2. Yari Hai Imaan Mera (link)

3. Banake Kyun Bigade (link)

Nishabd - An experiment based on Lolita starring Amitabh Bachchan (2007)

Nishabd the film directed by Ram Gopal Verma is his take on Nabokov’s famous novel Lolita. The subject matter of the novel is such (a middle aged man lusting after a twelve year old girl, it was paedophilic in its stance) that it raised eyebrows and caused a lot of controversy even in the progressive western societies. For Verma to take this idea and attempt to make a Hindi movie based on it is definitely a laudable effort. However he did do away with the paedophile angle as that would have been too much for commercial Hindi cinema. The rest of the older man-much younger woman story remains the same.

The film begins with a young called Ritu (Shraddha Arya) inviting her close friend Jia (Jiah Khan) to spend the holidays with her at her home in God’s own country, Kerala. Riut’s parents Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Amrita (Revathu) have been married for twenty seven years and have a beautiful home in the midst of picturesque settings. They have a vast estate and Vijay is a photographer. Amrita, who was an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer, gave up her passion to look after the family. Into this idyllic set up enters Jia who comes from a broken family and lives with her mother in Brisbane. Jia comes across as a free spirit who is not too bothered by societal rules and norms.



One lazy day Vijay catches a glimpse of Jia playing with the water hose and that turns his world upside down. He feels himself inexplicably drawn to this young girl who is his daughter’s age. Jia too feels a pull towards a man old enough to be his father. Initially Vijay tries to fight off this unspoken attraction but soon he gives in and the two get close to each other. Ritu stumbles upon this illicit relation and tries to make Jia leave her house without her mother finding out the truth. But she fails. Around this time, Amrita’s brother Shridhar (Nassar) visits them. He also discovers the disturbing truth about Vijay and Jia. He questions his brother-in-law about the seriousness of the affair and find things are pretty serious. Soon Vijay confesses his love for Jia to Amrita, which leaves her shattered. However Vijay convinces Jia that he has no love for her because he realises that at the end of the day he is indeed too old for her. Jia leaves with Rishi, a close friend of hers, heartbroken. Ritu leaves for the US angry with her father and Amrita is determined never to forgive her husband. Having lost his love and his family, Vijay drives to a cliff to end his life. But does he? Watch the film to find out the answer.

CAST AND CREW

Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay
Jiah Khan as Jia
Revathi as Amrita
Nassar as Shridhar
Aftab Shivdasani as Rishi

Directed by
Ram Gopal Verma

Produced by
Sheel Nimbalkar
Ram Gopal Varma

Original Music by
Vishal Bhardwaj
Amar Mohile

Cinematography by
Amit Roy

Film Editing by
Nipun Gupta
Amit Parmar

Art Direction by
Aparna Sud


VIDEO OF SONG

Rozaana Jiye Rozaana Mare (link)



LYRICS

Rozaana Jiye
Singer: Amitabh Bachchan

rozaana jiye rozaana mare - 2
teri yaadon mein hum - 2
rozaana - 2

rozaana jiye rozaana mare
teri yaadon mein hum - 2
rozaana

ungali teri thame huye har lamha chalta hoon mein - 2
tujhko liye ghar lautu, aur ghar se nikalta hoon mein
ek pal ko bhi jata nahi tere bin kahin
yun raat din
bas tujhmein hi - 2
lipta rehta hoon mein
rozaana - 4
rozaana jiye rozaana mare
teri yaadon mein hum
rozaana jale rozaana ghoole
teri yaadon mein hum - 2
rozaana - 4

har din teri ankhon se iss duniya ko takta hoon mein
tu jiss tarah rakhti thi ghar, vaise hi rakhta hoon mein
teri tarah sang sang chale yaadein teri
yun har ghadi baaaton mein bas, baaton mein teri
gumsa rehta hoon mein
rozaaana - 4

kuchh gaao to yaad aaate ho...
gungunao to yaad aate ho...
kuchh phehnu to yaad aate ho...
kahin jaanu to yaad aate ho...
kuchh khone pe yaad aate ho...
kuchh paanu to yaaad aate ho...

rozaana chale yaadon mein teri, zindagi ka safar
tujhse hai roshan, tujse hai zinda, (yeh dil ka sheher - 2)
rozaana - 8

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) - Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Vinod Khanna, Rakhee, Amjad Khan

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar released in the year 1978 and was the third film that Prakash Mehra and Amitabh Bachchan made together as a director-actor combination. It turned out to be the highest grosser of the year and went on to become the most successful film of the decade. As a commercial pot boiler it had all the right ingredients-dramatic story, tight screenplay, great actors and stars and a tremendous musical score.

A boy is orphaned at a very young age and has to face the hard world alone as he struggles to make a living. He works in the house of a wealthy lawyer named Ramnath who does not show the poor orphan any mercy. Ramnath’s daughter Kamya however sympathises with the boy and the two become friends. Eventually this orphaned boy is adopted by a Muslim lady named Fatima who also works for Fatima. He is given a new name-Sikandar. On the occasion of Kaamna’s birthday, Sikandar steals an expensive doll to gift it to his friend but Ramnath refuses him to enter the party. Sikandar tries to sneak into Kaamna’s room to leave the doll behind but is caught and he and his adopted mother are thrown out of the house.

Shortly thereafter Fatima dies making Sikandar an orphan twice over. However now he has the responsibility of looking after Fatima’s daughter Mehroo. As Sikandar cries by his mother’s grave a fakir comes to him and tells him to embrace the ups and downs of life with equal nonchalance for then he would conquer fate. This become’s young Sikandar’s mantra for life. He grows up to be a handsome young man who has amassed a fortune by turning in smuggled goods to the police and receiving the reward payouts. He is now the master of an impressive house and the owner of a profitable business.



Sikandar still loves Kaamna and tries to anonymously support her family as they have fallen upon hard times. He tries to talk to her and express his love but she snubs him. Upset by her behaviour he drowns himself in alcohol and visits a nautch girl by the name of Zhora (Rekha). In the meantime he has also struck up a friendship with a struggling Advocate, Vishal (Vinod Khanna) who saves his life one night. He introduces Vishal to Ramnath and the two starts working together. Eventually Vishal and Kaamna fall in love. On the other hand Zohra’s growing affinity towards Sikandar angers one of her admirers Dilawar (Amjad Khan), a hardcore criminal. Soon it is time for love and friendship to be tested. Whether Vishal and Kaamna get together; whether Zohra finds her true love and what happens to Sikandar,forms the climax of the film. It is truly a very entertaining film with some great acting and wonderful songs.

Songs from the movie:

1. Dil To Hai Dil (link)

2. O Saathi Re (link)

3. Pyar Zindagi Hai (link)

4. Rote Hue Aate Hain Sab (link)

5. Salam E Ishq Meri (link)