Showing posts with label Lal Patthar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lal Patthar. Show all posts
Lyricist Dev Kohli Kohli of ‘Yeh Kaali Kaali Aankhen’ fame passes away
8:12 AM
Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 27, 2023)
Lyricist Dev Kohli, who started his career with the sensitively-penned contemplative track, ‘Geet gaata hoon main, gungunata hoon main’ (film: ‘Lal Patthar’, 1971) but had to wait for nearly two decades before earning bigger fame and recognition with ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989) and ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun!’ (1994), passed away at his Andheri residence on Saturday. He was 81.
“He was in Kokilaben Hospital for almost three months and brought back home ten days ago. He passed away at 4 am,” his spokesperson Pritam Sharma told TOI.
Composers Uttam Singh, Anu Malik and Anand Raaj Anand performed his last rites in Oshiwara. Uttam Singh said, “He was a saintly man — my dear friend of 50 years. I tended to him and took him to hospital over eight years when he underwent multiple surgeries. Our winning partnership in ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ and ‘Hum Aapke..’ created such evergreen hits.” Singh, Kohli and a third friend Shailesh Sawant met regularly over Sunday meals.
Singh said, “I will miss his friendship. Kohli Sahab had no vices. He did not smoke or drink or attend parties. Over the last 8-10 years, he had stopped working. If anyone urged him to write, he would say he will only do so if Uttam Singh composes the tune!”
The 1990s were the high noon of Kohli’s career. He wrote the floorscorcher, ‘Yeh kaali kaali aankhen’ (music: Anu Malik, singer: Kumar Sanu, film: ‘Baazigar’, 1993) that Shah Rukh Khan and Kaajol jived to with verve and zing. The chartbusting track from the Abbas-Mustan film became a nightclub favourite earning Kohli a Filmfare award nomination for best lyricist. Kohli also received nominations for the title tracks of ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ and ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’.
In all three cases, the award went to other nominees. Born in Rawalpindi (Pakistan) and growing up in Dehradun, Kohli had earlier penned two winners in another Abbas-Mustan suspense-thriller, ‘Khiladi’ (1992), an early Akshay Kumar hit. The songs, composed by Jatin-Lalit were, ‘Wada Raha Sanam’ and ‘Kya Khabar Thi Jaana’.
But the blockbuster success of ‘MPK’ and ‘HAHK’, both Rajshri Productions, propelled Kohli’s career to high gear. ‘Didi Tera Devar Deewana’ from HAHK (music: Raam Laxman, singers: Lata-SPB) was mandatory at every ladies sangeet. He would often collaborate with Anu Malik, in his prime then, churning out popular and populist lines such as ‘Oonchi Hai Building Lift Teri Bandh Hai’ (film: ‘Judwaa’, 1997) or ‘Akela Chal Raha Hoon Ek Gaadi Chahiye’ (film: ‘Mr And Mrs Khiladi’, 1997) that a David Dhawan film demanded. In several Dhawan ventures during this period, Kohli had a song or two. ‘Lift Teri Bandh Hai’ was also reprised in ‘Judwaa 2’ (2017).
Kohli had waited for serious success for a long time although ‘Geet Gaata Hoon’ (singer: Kishore Kumar, music: Shankar-Jaikishan), had happened when he was in his early 20s. It was the only song he wrote in director Sushil Majumdar’s ‘Lal Patthar’, a complex requiem to last-gasp feudalism in early 20th century colonial Bengal. Raaj Kumar and Hema Malini played the lead roles, though, the number was lip synced on screen by a young moustachioed Vinod Mehra.
The lyricist told this reporter in 2012, “The song’s success changed my life. I was immediately interviewed by magazines and on radio. From then on I started getting small films.” Those films include ‘Khoon Khoon’ (1973), which had the evocative bhajan, ‘Maati Ke Jalte Deepak’, ‘Kabhie Ajnabi They’ (1985) which had the melancholic 'Dil Ke Is Dehleez Tak' and several others such as ‘Ek Baar Kaho’. All these films flopped. It was only with ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ that he vaulted to a bigger league.
(With inputs from Bella Jaisinghani)
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HINDUSTAN TIMES (August 27, 2023)
Veteran lyricist and poet Dev Kohli, who gained popularity for his work in Salman Khan and Bhagyashree’s Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), died in Mumbai on Saturday. The news was confirmed by Kohli’s spokesperson, who shared that the veteran had been admitted to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital for the last few months and passed away in his sleep. Kohli was 81.
He had written over 100 songs for several Hindi films, including Baazigar (1993), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Musafir (2004), etc. While he was active primarily in the ’90s, the lyricist also worked on several recent films, such as Shootout At Lokhandwala (2007) and Judwaa 2 (2017). In a career that spanned from 1969 to 2013, he collaborated with different generations of composers, from Shankar-Jaikishan to Vishal-Shekhar.
Several celebs took to X to share heartfelt tributes to the artiste. Actor Renuka Shahane shared, “Kaisey bhool paaungi mein baba woh bachpan ki kahaniyaan.”
Singer-music director Shekhar Ravjiani wrote, “Had the honour and privilege of working with #devkohli sahab on Musafir and Taxi 9211 … What a wonderful human being and an extraordinary lyricist .. Thank you for the beautiful songs.”
If my marriage had been conventional, I would have been a nobody-Hema Malini
8:12 AM
Debarati S Sen (BOMBAY TIMES; May 9, 2023)
She’s the OG Dream Girl of Bollywood. At 75, her beauty, grace and poise are striking and unmatched. Hema Malini, actress, danseuse, director, and politician keeps her creative passion alive more through her dance ballets than cinema. In an exclusive conversation with Bombay Times, she spoke about her work, her unconventional life and the rise of the Southcinema. Excerpts...
You have been working for the last 60 years, what keeps you going? What inspires you?
I have been working for so many years now ki ab main chup chaap nahi baith sakti. I kept working even after my marriage and kids, all thanks to Dharam ji (Dharmendra). He never interfered in my work at all. Also sometimes, I need to go to Mathura (my constituency), for work. Managing all these aspects of life comes naturally to me. I feel that if I don’t work, I will get bored. Kuch na kuch karna chaiye. Kuch seekhne ko bhi milta hai. If it is difficult, I don’t say I can’t do it, I learn. If it’s a new role, then I plan for it. If there is a song, then I decide how to perform it, what to wear...I need to think about all that. You are constantly in a creative mode and that is what keeps you going. If you don’t do that, then what will you do?
Your work, especially your ballets have a spiritual tonality to them. Is that an aspect which you have consciously weaved into your work?
Spirituality has always been a part of my life and upbringing. Also, my dance is connected to Gods and temples. So, automatically there is a connection there. Similarly, children also pick it up and get attracted to what the parents do. Parents should lead a good life so that they can set a good example for their children, hai na?
Your marriage with Dharmendra was not conventional, and recently, you posted a picture on social media celebrating your 43rd wedding anniversary…
Love is such a thing – you get involved with somebody, you like somebody, and that continues. Being conventional is something which I guess was not meant for me, and that is why I am able to do all this. If my marriage had been a conventional one, I think I would have been a nobody. Today, I am doing all this – films, dance, going to places for talks, being in politics – itna sab kuch kaise hota if it was a conventional life.
You were one of the first female superstars of Bollywood. What kind of pressure did that put on you?
I never planned to be a superstar in Bollywood. Aisa ho gaya. Maybe, I am the lucky one and people liked me. There was a transition happening in the Hindi film industry when I came in. Meena Kumari and Nargis ke jo type of films thhe, uss se badalke thoda sa modernise ho raha tha sab. You could call it women empowerment. In my film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Geeta earns money by doing nautanki and that is her profession, while Seeta is very timid and is restricted to the house. These were contrasting roles, and then there was Basanti in Sholay, who was also an independent woman. I also played Meera, and even in bhakti bhava the character is of a very powerful woman who left everything. Lal Patthar is one of my best films, along with Ek Chadar Maili Si and Kranti. I have always portrayed very strong women on screen. Isi liye shayad logo ne mujhe zyada pasand kiya. Plus, main fight scenes bhi karti thi. Mostly, Dev Anand ki filmon mein maine dhana-dhan marpeet ki hai aur villain ko maara bhi hai (laughs!).
This year, Indian cinema was celebrated internationally with RRR’s song Naatu Naatu bagging Best Original Song at the Oscars and the Golden Globes. The Elephant Whisperers also won the Academy Award in the Best Documentary Short category…
I’m very proud that we won two Oscars this year. It’s a great honour for India. Yeh toh bas shuruat hai. Main toh chahungi ki aage bhi bahut mile. I feel happy that RRR is from the South film industry. When referring to South Indian films, people would always say yeh regional films banate hain, but what a movie they’ve made! I watched RRR and I must say, Rajamouli ne kya kamaal ka kaam kiya hai. I also saw Pushpa: The Rise - Part 01, aur bada maza aaya dekhke. So many people have done the dance steps based on Allu Arjun’s walk in the film. I loved his performance, too. Then I saw him (Allu Arjun) in another film and realised that he is such a good-looking boy. He looked so rustic and drastically different sporting a lungi in Pushpa. He played such a character and yet, he is the hero! It’s commendable that he agreed to sport such a look and do the role. Hamare Hindi film heroes thodi na aise dikhenge. I remember in Razia Sultan, Dharam ji had to look darker, and he was hesitant.
Do you feel the South Indian film industry is finally getting the recognition it deserves?
The South film industry is doing very well now, but that wasn’t the case before. Itna ubhar ke kuch nahi aaya tha for all these years. Kamal Haasan also tried his best, but those remained as regional films because the subjects were all very regional. Rajamouli’s Baahubali also was amazing. They have used technology so very well in the movie. With RRR, too, Rajamouli has taken it to another level.
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