on this day

One of the key forces behind the Vividh Bharati programme of All India Radio, and an accomplished lyricist, Pandit Narendra Sharma left a rich legacy behind. In this feature Krishna Kumar Sharma pens a touching tribute to his life and career. The article was originally written around the time of his passing.

Image source: www.bollywoooddirect.com

A trained painter, photographer, engraver and magician, Dadasaheb Phalke was a true renaissance man. On his birth anniversary, read about how he came to become one of the most important figures in Indian cinema history here.

As a child Agha was not interested in much except horse-racing. It was the experience of watching a street play that turned him towards acting. He went on to enjoy a long stint as a comedian in Hindi cinema, garnering a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award nomination for Ghunghat (1960). Today is his death anniversary.

A master composer, arranger and sitarist, Mohammed Shafi was Naushad's assitant for 14 years. He also left his mark as a composer in films like Hulchul (1951), Aabshar (1953) and Bazooband (1954). Today marks his death anniversary.

#OnThisDay last year Rishi Kapoor left us. Read Mira Hashmi's tribute to the star who made her fall in love with Hindi cinema.

Over a career of nearly five decades, Achala Sachdev became an iconic character artiste of Hindi cinema, remembered for countless memorable appearances. Cinemaazi remembers her on her death anniversary.

Despite not having a long career in cinema, poet and lyricist Ramesh Shastri left his mark on Hindi cinema, known principally for the Hawa mein udta jaye song from Barsaat (1949). Today is his death anniversary.

Image source: www.cinestaan.com

Cinemaazi wishes Shanti Prakash Bakshi on his 95th birth anniversary. 

A filmmaker and a screenplay and dialogue writer in Hindi and Punjabi films, his first film was the Punjabi language Koday Shah (1953), for which Sardul Singh Kwatra scored the music. He also directed Mr Chakram (1955), Pataal Pari (1957) and Sun To Le Hasina(1958). 

 

Cinemaazi remembers the music director C.Arjun, who passed away of a cardiac arrest on April 30 1992. He worked for a number of B- and C-grade films.
 
C. Arjun started his film career composing for the Sindhi language film Abana (1958). The first Hindi film he worked on was Road No 303 (1960). 
The song Paas baitho tabiyat bahal jayegi from the film Punarmilan(1964), voiced by Mohammed Rafi, is one of his popular compositions. He composed music for the popular film Jai Santoshi Maa (1975). 


 

Cinemaazi honours the music composer Mohammed Shafi on his 30th death anniversary. Shafi composed over a hundred songs for Hindi films, of which many became vastly popular. He trained as an assistant to Pankaj Mullick, K.C. Dey and Naushad. A great sitar player, he was considered one of the best music arrangers of his time. 









Image Courtesy: Sangeeta Gupta, whose family was known to Mohammed Shafi. 

 

Cinemaazi remembers the actor Agha on his 28th death anniversary. Known for his comic roles, Agha enjoyed a long run in the Hindi film industry, with a career commencing in the silent era and continuing till the 1990s. 

 

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, remembered as Dadasaheb Phalke, the grand patrician of Indian cinema, turns 150 on 30 April, 2020. The indefatigable Phalke not only wrote his own scripts, but also photographed and directed his films. He worked for 21 years producing more than 100 films in total.
 
In the picture, Phalke sits in his study, the very room where he laid out the plans for the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra(1913).
 

Kidar Sharma performed a myriad of roles before he became a director - from stills photographer to background scenery painter. On his death anniversary, look back on this account of his friendship with Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor , penned by Ajay Brahmatmaj.

On this day a year ago, Irrfan Khan left us. Irrfan's ability to develop an idiosyncratic nuance of acting, yet dissappearing into every role made him one of the most enigmatic and versatile actors of modern Indian cinema. To commemorate him, we look back on some of the interesting roles Irrfan has essayed over the years. Some large, some small, but all were captivating.

Cinemaazi remembers the talented film, television and theatre actor Mohan Gokhale, on his 21st death anniversary. He acted in films like Sparsh(1979), Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho! (1984), Mirch Masala (1985), Hero Hiralal (1988) and a number of Marathi films. He also appeared in some renowned television serials and plays. 

 

Largely forgotten today, Satish Bhatia was a man of many talents. Cinemaazi remembers the composer, conductor and lyricist on his 15th death anniversary. His first film as a composer was the 1951 release Maldar. He focused on radio thereafter. Later, he composed music for Boond Jo Ban Gayee Moti(1967) at the request of the filmmaker V. Shantaram. An expert in the folk music of North India, Satish Bhatia won a number of accolades and awards. 


 

Cinemaazi honours the musician Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi on his 101st birth anniversary. He popularized the art of tabla playing all over the world, a legacy his son Zakir Hussain diligently carried forward. He composed music for a number of Hindi and Punjabi films for over two decades, starting with Mahasati Ansuya (1943). 

Cinemaazi remembers the work of the versatile actor Irrfan Khan on the day of his demise. Born SahabzadeIrfan Ali Khan in Rajasthan, Irrfan Khan studied at the National School of Drama in New Delhi after completing an MA in Jaipur. Soon after he graduated, he was cast in a small role in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay (1988). This did not make much of an impact, and he struggled for some time to find his footing in the film industry. 

Meanwhile, he played Lenin in the 1992 Doordarshan teleplay titled Laal Ghaas Par Neele Ghode. He worked in a few other television serials, of which his role as the poet and Marxist activist Makhdoom Mohiuddin in Kahkashan was notable. He played a role in the film Kamla Ki Maut (1989), produced under the banner of the National Film Development Corporation. He also appeared in Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990). 

Irrfan Khan rocketed to fame with his role in the critically acclaimed Maqbool (2003), the first in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare trilogy. The skill he demonstrated as the titular character of the film brought him further offers to act in Hindi films, and he appeared in Rog (2005), Haasil(2003) and Life In A Metro (2007). Meanwhile, he garnered praise for his performances outside the country, and appeared in international releases like The Namesake (2006), Life of Pi (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and Jurassic World (2015). Known for his prescient choice of roles, he also starred in the widely acclaimed Punjabi film Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost(2013). 

Irrfan Khan continued his work in Hindi-language films with other well-received movies like Paan Singh Tomar (2012), Piku (2015), and the third of Vishal Bhardwaj’s Shakespeare films, Haider (2014). For his performance in Paan Singh Tomar, he was honoured with the National Film Award for Best Actor in 2012. He has also received four Filmfare Awards over the course of his career. 

Unfortunately, Irrfan Khan was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in March 2018. After extensive treatment, he recovered and shot for his last film, Angrezi Medium(2020). 


Image Credit: Sabine Cattaneo, taken at the Locarno Film Festival 2017

One of India’s most celebrated actors worldwide, Irrfan Khan acted in nearly 80 films in a career spanning only three decades. He is survived by his wife Sutapa Sikdar and his two sons, Babil and Ayan. 

 

The veteran character actor Pinchoo Kapoor passed away #OnThisDay in 1989. He was a popular face in films of the 70s and 80s, though he was active as an actor from before that.

On editor D N Pai's birth anniversary, check out one of his most acclaimed works, Bombay Talkies's Jeevan Naiya (1936) on Cinemaazi's YouTube channel. D N Pai was primarily associated with Bombay Talkies early on in his career, his work outside consisted of diverse films like Gumnaam (1965), Padosan (1968) and Pakeezah (1971).

Cinemaazi greets the revered doyenne of Indian costume designers, Bhanu Athaiya, on her 91st birthday. Bhanu Athaiya has an astounding repertoire of 130 films to her credit. 
She began her career in costume design in 1953. Over the next five decades, she built a body of work that defined the aesthetics of costume design in Hindi cinema, often setting fashion trends in the 1960s and the 1970s. Her association with films started when the actress Kamini Kaushal signed her on as a personal costume designer in the early 1950s. 
Bhanu Athaiya was the hand behind iconic looks like Waheeda Rehman’s in Guide (1965), Mumtaz’s clothes in Brahmachari (1968), Zeenat Aman’s in Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) and Sadhana’s costumes in Waqt(1965). She has worked with directors and producers of repute, including Raj Kapoor, Guru Dutt, B.R. Chopra, Yash Chopra, F.C. Mehra, Sunil Dutt, Dev Anand and Ashutosh Gowariker. From black-and-white cinema to the age of Technicolor, Bhanu has stunned with her designs in films ranging from Sangam(1964) and Gunga Jamuna (1961) to contemporary works like Lagaan (2001) and Swades(2004). 

With her work in the English language Gandhi (1982), Bhanu Athaiya won an Academy Award, the first Indian to be honoured with the same. 

 

Cinemaazi remembers the actress Geeta Nizami on her 12th death anniversary. Born as Rashida Begum, she had initially taken the screen name Mohini, but later settled on Geeta Nizami. She made the headlines with her dance for the song More jubna ko dekhou bhaar in Man Ki Jeet (1944). Considered too sensuous, the song was banned in Bombay, but became vastly popular across the country. She appeared next in Navyug’s Panna (1944), in which her acting garnered praise. She appeared in only 13 films over the course of her brief career, before she left for Pakistan in the early 1950s.