Showing posts with label Saawan Kumar Tak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saawan Kumar Tak. Show all posts
Prem Chopra, Padmini Kolhapure, Anu Aggarwal, Poonam Dhillon remember Saawan Kumar Tak
8:30 AM
Actors Prem Chopra, Padmini Kolhapure and Anu Agarwal, who had worked with the filmmaker, share some fond memories
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; August 27, 2022)
Producer-director-lyricist Saawan Kumar Tak, who was admitted to a suburban hospital in critical condition, passed away on August 25. He was cremated in the presence of close family members on August 26 in Mumbai.
The filmmaker, 86, succumbed to a lung infection, for which he was being treated for the last couple of days. He was known for films like Sanam Bewafa and Souten.
Padmini Kolhapure, who played central characters in his films like Souten and Preeti, says, “We had a great rapport, which extended beyond the journeys of these movies. We stayed in touch — over the years he came to watch my play and we would meet and talk. He was a lovely human being and so full of life.”
Anu Agarwal, who was in her 20s when she headlined Khal Naaikaa, recalls, “Saawan ji was always very respectful. I was a young girl, with Aashiqui’s success behind me. He chose to cast me in the film over so many senior and more reputed leading ladies. He showed a lot of faith in me and made people see me as an actress who could deliver a good performance in a tough role like that. The industry’s perception of me changed after that. I will always be grateful to Saawan ji for that.”
Prem Chopra, who was at the funeral, adds, “We did five-six films together. When he told me recently that he wanted to make his next film, I had told him to go easy with things. He had so many creative pursuits. He took highs and lows in his stride and never stopped his work. He was an involved and evolved filmmaker. And a dear friend.”
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Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon pay tribute to the filmmaker, 86, who died on Thursday
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 27, 2022)
Padmini Kolhapure
Actor Padmini Kolhapure, who worked with late filmmaker Saawan Kumar, as a child actor in Saajan Bina Suhagan (1978) and later in Souten (1983), says, “I remember great things about working with him. I used to call him Saawan uncle, because I was a kid back then. But when I did Souten as a leading lady, he said, ‘Khabardaar mujhe uncle bola toh!’ So, I started calling him Saawan ji.”
The actor, 56, adds that he always treated her like family. “We also did a film called Preeti (1986) together, which featured me and (late actor) Rajiv Kapoor, whose birth anniversary was also on August 25, and Saawan ji passed away on the same date. Life is unfortunate. The last time I met him was around 2019. He didn’t even call me and just came home,” says Kolhapure.
Poonam Dhillon
Poonam Dhillon worked with Saawan Kumar in his 1984 directorial, Laila. The actor says, “He went so suddenly. But I am glad he didn’t have to suffer. I did one film with him, but whenever we met, he was very affectionate. He stayed close to my house, and once in a while, we would bump into each other.” The 60-year-old adds,
“He was a charming, poetic man. The songs he wrote, his thought process, his dialogues... he was a very erudite man with great command over language. Whatever he made — films or songs — always had something catchy.”
Filmmaker Saawan Kumar Tak passes away at 86
4:18 PM
Hiren Kotwani (MID-DAY; August 26, 2022)
Veteran filmmaker, writer, and lyricist Saawan Kumar Tak passed away at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital yesterday, at 86. The filmmaker had a heart attack on Tuesday, and was rushed to the ICCU. His nephew, Navin Kumar Tak, confirmed the news, stating, “Saawan ji was also suffering from a lung ailment. His lungs and heart were not functioning properly.”
Filmmaker-actor Rakesh Roshan, who worked with Kumar on Mother (1999), had visited him earlier in the day. He recalled, “He was on respiratory support. Whatever God wishes, happens. Saawan ji’s demise is a great loss, he was a dear friend and also a brilliant writer, producer and director.”
Born in Jaipur in 1936, Kumar came to Bombay in 1960. He forayed into the movies with Naunihal (1972), based on an orphan who wants to meet Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Kumar delivered hits like Saajan Bina Suhagan (1978), Souten (1983) and Sanam Bewafa (1992). He wrote songs like Pyaar ki kashti mein, Jaaneman jaaneman and Chaand Sitare for Hrithik Roshan’s debut, Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai (2000).
Roshan says, “Saawan ji wrote fabulous lyrics for Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai. Be it as a filmmaker, friend or a person, he was very good-hearted. When I acted in his film, Mother, we had a great time. You could talk to him about anything under the sun. His passing is a big loss. I pray for his soul.”
Navin shares that his uncle gave him the title for his maiden production. “Saawan ji suggested Souten: The Other Woman, for the film I was making with Mahima Chaudhry and Padmini Kolhapure,” he says, adding that his uncle was working on a new film. “He called the subject, Blind Love. He had recorded the songs for it. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to make it.”
Salman Khan also paid tribute to the filmmaker.
Kumar’s last rites will be performed today.
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Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; August 26, 2022)
New Delhi: Versatile filmmaker Saawan Kumar Tak, who made family-friendly box-office winners such as ‘Saajan Bina Suhagan’, ‘Souten’ and ‘Sanam Bewafa’, and penned the breezy chart-topper ‘Shayad meri shaadi ka khayal dil mein aaya hai’, passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Thursday. He was 86. The Jaipur-born producer-director was suffering from heart and lung-related ailments.
His nephew Navin Kumar Tak told ETimes. “He was a colorful person, a fine writer-director and a hit songwriter. I had sent him a message wishing him a speedy recovery. Alas, that was not to be,” noted industry person and lyricist Amit Khanna told TOI. Tak’s career spanned nearly four decades. He produced ‘Naunihal’ (1967), among the early films of Sanjeev Kumar.
He directed ‘Gomti Ke Kinare’ (1972), Meena Kumari’s last film. He gave Rajesh Khanna a box-office hit in ‘Souten’ (1983) when the star badly needed one. And he directed Salman Khan in three movies, including the megahit ‘Sanam Bewafa’ (1991). The actor tweeted, “May u rest in peace my dear Sawaanji. Have always loved n respected u.”
Tak made the adult-themed ‘Hawas’, the murder-mystery ‘Ab Kya Hoga’ and the psychological revenge drama ‘O Bewafa’ (repurposed from Sidney Sheldon’s The Other Side of Midnight). He made love stories where young couples were trapped between warring families (‘Laila’ and ‘Sanam Bewafa’). But he was on surest ground in family dramas with a twist. In ‘Saajan Bina Suhagan’, a widow is forced to keep the façade of her husband alive and is blackmailed by a ward boy (a brilliant T P Jain) who threatens to spill the secret. ‘Souten’ was a love triangle shot in Mauritius where one of the leading ladies (Padmini Kolhapure) was a Harijan.
An uplifting element in Tak’s movies is the music of Usha Khanna, to whom he was married. The two formed a first-rate creative couple. The collaboration started with ‘Sabak’ (1973) and ‘Hawas’ (1974), which contained the evergreen track, ‘Tere galiyon mein na rakhenge kadam’ (singer: Mohd Rafi, film: ‘Hawas’). The association reached its zenith with Souten’s ‘Zindagi pyaar ka geet hai’ and ‘Shayad meri shaadi ka khayal…’, which became Binaca Geetmala’s top song of 1983.
“Saawan ji was the writer, producer, and director of his movies. So it was easy working with him. You were working for only one person. He used to just give me the mukhda and I used to easily compose the tune at one go ,” his ex-wife Usha Khanna told this reporter in 2016.
As a child, Tak was impressed by Prithviraj Kapoor in ‘Sikander’ (1941) and wanted to be an actor. In a 2019 interaction available on YouTube, he confessed to stealing Rs 45 and fleeing home. Like every struggler, he went through hard times, which included selling away his watch, before he saw a film shooting in Bombay. He saw the great Bimal Roy at work with Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari and decided to become a film director, he said during the interaction. Tak not only ended up directing Meena Kumari but also became a friend and learnt to write poetry from her.
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