Five Forgotten Heroes of Hindi Cinema
In the 100 year old Hindi film industry, there have been a large number of leading male actors, who in their time entertained the audiences and in turn were adored by the film goers. However today they are a forgotten and hardly ever mentioned. In the world of Hindi cinema and its history , they have a place of respect and in their own way they were also important milestones. Every generation has its heroes and it is natural that the older ones will be remembered less and less with passage of time. But it is worth while to remember a few forgotten heroes from time to time. Five such heroes are remembered below:
1. Bharat Bhushan :
He was the star of the 1940's, making his highly successful debut in director Kidar Sharma's 1941 hit movie, Chitralekha. He was to star in many hugely successful mythological movies, that celebrated golden jubilee runs at the box-office. He is best remembered for his title role in the musical film Baiju Bawra, released in 1952 and whose songs are a listened with great relish today also.
He born in June,1920 in Meerut, UP and lost his mother at the age of two. His elder brother was a film producer and also owned a film studio in Lucknow. After completing his studies, against the wishes of his father, he went to Kolkatta and Mumbai to seek a career in films. After the success of his first movie Chitralekha, he had to struggle for a decade before he could make it big. It was the highly acclaimed musical 1952 film, Baiju Bawra which established him. He was to play the role of a tragic musician in many films thereafter. He was equally a good script and story writer and wrote for many successful films.
He had the distinction of getting the second Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role in Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in 1955. The inaugural first Award had gone to the legendary actor Dilip Kumar. He was the first of the good looking stars of the Hindi films and enjoyed playing historical and mythological characters the best. Most of his movies met with success at the box-office and were almost always backed with melodious music and songs,which are enjoyed today also.
Like a few other actors of that time, he also did not properly plan his financial savings and when roles stopped , he fell into dire straits. His last years were spent in great financial difficulties and it is reported that he even worked as a watchman in a film studio and did small roles in some TV serials. He had married twice and his second wife was the leading lady of his film Barsaat ki Raat. He died in a rented flat in 1992.
In the 1950's and 60's he starred in hit films like Suhaag Raat (1948), Baiju Bawra (1952), Anand Math (1952), Mirza Ghalib (1954), Basant Bahar (1956), Pardesi (1957), Rani Roopmati (1957), Phagun (1958), Soni Mahiwal(1958), Angulimal (1960), Barsaat ki Raat (1960), Jahan Ara (1964), Pyar ka Mausam (19690, Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), Hero (1983). His last appearance was in Maachis in 1996.
Bharat Bhushan had the distinction of acting in some of the most famous Hindi movies of the golden era of Indian films.
2. Pradeep Kumar :
He was another fine actor of the 50's and 60's and hailed from Bengal. He was born in 1925 and decided to become an actor at the age of seventeen, notwithstanding his father's objection. He stared acting on stage till he was spotted by the renowned director Debaki Bose who introduced him in his Bengali film Alaknanda in 1947. Soon he moved to Mimbai and got an opportunity to work in the 1952 Anand Math along with Bharat Bhushan. The Vande Matram song if this movie has attained a cult status. However it was the 1953 Anarkali opposite Bina Rai and the 1954 Nagin opposite Vyjantimala that shot him to fame. Both films were highly successful and there music is evergreen and songs are popular today also.
He had a series of films in the fifties and formed a good pair with the legendary actress Meena Kumari in seven movies following the success of Aarti in 1962. He had ten releases in 1956. His regal looks made him very suitable to play historical characters. He played the character of Shah Jahan in the highly successful movie Taj Mahal in 1963.
Some of his other famous films are Swami (1949), '42 (1951), Anarkali (1953), Subah Ka Tara (1954), Nagin (1954), Badshah (1954), Sitara (1955), Adil-e-Jahangir (1955), Durgesh Nandini (1956), Heer (1956), Yahudi Ki Ladki (1957), Naya zamana (1957), Miss India (1957), Duniya na Mane (1959), Tu Nahin Aur Sahi (1960), Ghunghat (1960), Apsara (1961), Rakhi (1962), Meri Surat Teri Ankhen (1963), etc. His last appearancewas in Badmaash in 1998.
He passed away in 2001 in Kolkatta leaving behind a rich portrayal in many films.
3 Mahipal Singh:
Perhaps very few readers may know that an actor by the name Mahipal ruled the roost once in Hindi films. Born as Mahipal Chand Bhandari in Jodhpur in 1919, he came to Mumbai to seek an acting career. He made his debut in Nazrana in 1942. It launched him into a successful career in Hindi films. He specialized in playing mythological and religious characters. He gained fame in Gulf countries also when he acted in a few fantasy films based on stories from Arabian Nights.
He was an excellent dancer who could outperform his female counterparts. He became a household name for his dance in the V Shantaram directed Navrang on the songs Tu Chhupi Hai Kahan Me Tadapta Yahan and Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhi. He was a popular actor in the 1950's and 60's in the golden black and white era of Hindi films. His movies had strong musical back up and popular songs which delighted the audiences. He had seven releases in 1957 and nine releases in 1963.
He loved travelling. In fact he went on a world tour after he stopped working in films.
Some of his famous films are Nazrana (1942), Shankar Parvati (1943), Mali (1944), Lakshmi Narayan (1951), Jai Mahalaxmi (1951), Devyani (1952), Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (1952), Khoj (1953), Tusidas (1954), Lal Pari (1954), Aladin and 40 Thieves (1954), Roop Kumari (1956), Hatimtai Ka Beta (1955), Mast Qalandhar (1955), Roop Kumari (1956), Sher-e Bhagdad (1957), Chamak Chandni (1957), Navrang (1959), Zabak (1961), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961), Pyar ki Jeet (1962), Naag Devata (1962), Been ka jadoo (1963), Parasmani (1963), Cobra Girl (1963), Vishnu Puran (1973), Amar Jyoti (1984) etc.
The fine actor passed away in 2005 in Mumbai. After retiring from films he had kept away from them totally, even though he had acted in nearly 90 films.
4. Sheikh Mukhtar:
The tall six feet two inches Mukhtar was the Hindi films first anti hero , long before Amitabh Bachchan started doing soon the screen. He had a rugged body of hefty proportions with roughness on his face, all of which made him a hunk. He excelled in playing toughie especially the 'dada' type roles.
He made his debut in Ek Hi Rasta in 1939 and went on to carve out a niche by playing roles of the tough characters. His career lasted for nearly four decades and he acted in more than 70 movies and also produced eight movies. He fitted well into historical characters like Babar and Changez Khan, and at the same time acted as the uncouth lover.
His pairing with the beautiful Begum Para was especially a hit with the audiences. It was the classic pairing of the beauty and the beast. He also formed a hit partnership on the screen with Mukri the comedienne less than half his height.
His undoing was the film he produced with all his savings, Noor Jahan, which miserably bombed at the box-office. Life became difficult for him as debtors mounted pressure. One fine day, along with a few of his film prints he escaped to Pakistan. However he found it difficult there also but manged to get Noor Jahan released.
It was tragic that he suffered a heart attack on the day Noor Jahan was released in Pakistan in May, 1980 and passed away. The film became a box-office hit in Pakistan. However it was too late for Mukhtar.
Some of his films are Ek Hi Rasta(1939), Bahen (1941), Roti (1942), Bhookh (1946), Anokha Pyar (1948), Ghayal (1951), Annadata (1952), Mangu (1954), Mr Lambu (1956), Changez Khan (1957), Qaidi No 911 ( 1959), Do Ustaad (1959), Tel Malish Boot Polish (1961), Bada Aadmi (1961), Gangu (1962), Dilli Ka dada (1962), Birju Ustaad (1964), Lal Bangla (1966), Nadir Shah (1968), Noor Jahan (1968), Mangu Dada (1970), Ustad Pedro (1971), Hum Sab Chor Hain (1973).
Mukhtar was an actor of a different type who succeeded in making a place for himself with the audiences.
5. Motilal:
He came to Mumbai to join the Navy but ended up becoming a part of Hindi films. Born as Motilal Rajvansh in an affluent family in Simla in 1910, he got a break in 1934 as a hero in Shaher ka Jadoo.
He is considered to be the pioneer of natural acting and is also remembered as a powerful character actor. He had as his competitiors the powerful actors like Prithviraj Kapoor and Sohrab Modi who gave theatrical performances. He was a flamboyant personality who believed in living and spending lavishly. By the 1950'she had lost most of his money and from hero he now became a character actor and did some memorable rloes.
He is best remembered for his role of Chunilal in the Bimal Roy directed classic Devdas in 1955 for which he won his first Filmare Best Supporting Actor Award. He was also at his best as the gentleman crook in S S Vasan's adaptation of R K Laxman's Mr Sampat in 1952. He earned accolades for his comic timing and stylish mannerisms in his portrays of various characters. His role in Parakh (1961) got him him second Filmare Award.
He was full of life and humour. He was also good at cricket and used to joke that if not for his films he would have become captain of Indian team. He learnt to fly and owned a plane and had been upto Andamans.
Some of his famous movies are Silver King (1935), Dr Madhurika (1935), Lagna Bhandhan (1936), Do Diwane (1936), Jagirdar(1937), Hum TUm Aur Woh (1938), Sach Hai (1939), Sasural (1941), Pardesi (1941), Umang (1944), dost (1944), hamari beti (1950), Mr sampat (1952), ek Do Teen (1953), Devdas (1955), Jagte Raho (1956), Bhandan (1956), Ab Dili Door Nahin (1957), Paigham (1959), Leader (1964), Waqt (1965), etc
He acted in more than 60 movies.
He was married but still got entangled with Shobna Samarth a famous actress and mother of Nutan and Tanuja. He died almost penniless because of his lavish life style and love of horse racing and betting. He was famous for his felt hat and was always immaculately dresses. He was known for his effortless acting.
He became director of Chhoti Chhoti Baatein in 1965 but passed away before its completion. In his death Hindi film industry lost its smartest hero.
The above actors in their hey days were the toast of the audiences and their fans. Today they are hardly remembered except by some old timers and film buffs with a sense of history. Every generation has its own heroes and all pass on into history with passage of time. But what remains behind is their work.
Hindi films have just entered into its 101st year and the yester year heroes are a legacy to be nourished and remembered with love and gratitude.
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