Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 25, 2018)

He’s played Kabir and Krishna, Mirza Ghalib, Kalidas and Chaintanya, but for me Bharat Bhushan will always be Baiju who after defeating Tansen in a musical duel, allows himself to be swept up in love. I saw Vijay Bhatt’s 1952 film, Baiju Bawra, as a teenager and though I know little about ragas, “Ghanana Ghanana Ghana Garjo Re” and “O Duniya Ke Rakhwale” still resonate.

“I remember my father coming home with tommes full of notations and raagas for a six-month research. He’d sit with Naushad saab through the night working on the music,” reminisces Bhatt’s son Pravin Bhatt who was in school then and would be packed off to bed early. Naushad had impressed with his compositions in Rattan, Anmol Ghadi, Shahjehan and Deedar, but many wondered if he’d pull off a light classical score and endear it to the masses. It bagged him a Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.

Pravin Bhatt informs that Dilip Kumar had been approached to play Baiju and Nargis for Gauri. He turned down the offer—a decision he later regretted—while she was away in Europe and unavailable. Vijay Bhatt then turned to another tragic hero, Bharat Bhushan, and Meena Kumari whom he’d launched as a seven-year-old in Leatherface.

No one is sure if Baiju existed. Pravin Bhatt recalls the legend of Bakshu (also called Manjhu and Bacchu), a musician in Bahadur Shah’s court who after the Sultan’s defeat, found a patron in emperor Humayun. Another legend revolves around musician Baijnath Mishra from the court of the Raja of Chanderi who could make flowers bloom, bring rain and light oil lamps with his voice. He turned insane after losing his family, and Tansen, another disciple of Swami Haridas, cajoled his own patron, Raja Ramachandra Baghela of Rewa, to organise a contest, hoping Baiju would come. He did, hypnotising a deer and melting a marble slab with his renditions. Maybe the filmi Baiju was an amalgamation of the two, but a real Baiju exists, Lata Mangeshkar’s nephew who owes his name to the character.

“In keeping with the Mangeshkar family tradition of a ‘Nath’ appendage, I was named Srinath soon after I was born, but my father (Hridaynath) was not happy and while looking for an alternative, decided on Baijnath, Baiju’s real name in the film,” smiles Baiju, a singer-composer in his own right.

He recalls seeing the film when he was seven, the first video cassette his aunt got from London. The elders would watch it every week, raving about Ustad Amir Khan saab’s “Sargam” and DV Paluskar and his “Aaj Gawat Man Mero Jhoomke”. Baiju enjoyed his father’s bhajan, “Sacho Tero Naam Ram” with Mohd. Rafi, and his “Ho Ji Ho” cries for child actor Master Rattan from the riverbank, bemused at how young his father sounded in these parts and how he’d matured as a singer later. “In my naivety, I believed the makers had waited for him to grow up, not knowing it was Rafi saab’s voice,” Baiju laughs, marveling over how village belle Gauri’s songs were folksy and simple, a contrast to the raag-based court songs with Ustad Amir Khan who later became his father’s guru giving voice to Tansen.

Pravin Bhatt, who grew up to be a well-known cinematographer, rhapsodises about the camera angles in “O Duniya Ke Rakhwale” and the musical montage which inspired a similar montage in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan. “Bharat Bhushan played music teacher to Rekha’s Umrao and we chatted briefly during the shoot. Baiju Bawra’s cinematographer V N Reddy, who was my grand guru — I was assistant to his assistant, Bipin Gujjar — came for the first day of shoot of Himalaya Ki God Mein, a film I landed after much pleading as my father doubted my ability to handle a colour film, telling him to try with me for two days and if I didn’t measure up, he could replace me. Reddy saab was very encouraging, telling me to boldly do what I wanted, as long as my light meter gave a reading, I’d have a scene to print,” he chuckles at the memory.

Baiju flashbacks to his aunt Lata Mangeshkar telling him that in an era when a couple of rehearsals were a must before any recording, she’d had gone directly to the set and sung “Door Koi Gaye” for Naushad with Shamshad Begum. “The recording went off without a hitch and Naushad saab later insisted he wanted her to sing 'Tu Ganga Ki Mauj' too, though Vijay Bhatt had recorded it as a solo with Rafi saab. The male version of the song was retained in the film, but for the record, Naushad saab re-recorded the song and added Lataji’s voice. She was running a temperature that day, but it was only after she’d finished that, in reply to Naushad saab’s concerned query, admitted to being unwell and asked for permission to rush back home,” he narrates.

After the film released, Bharat Bhushan’s lawyer-father sneaked out to catch the film in a theatre, and back home apologized to his son for his aversion to his profession. “Had I not come in your way, you might have become an even greater artiste. I know how fond you have been of films since your childhood, I am happy you have been able to go ahead,” he said, and years of bitterness was washed away in that moment.

Baiju Bawra drowned but through his death Bharat Bhushan was reborn. He went on to play Tansen in Sangeet Samrat Tansen and Meera. He died only four decades later, on January 27.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 15, 2015)

After Hariyali Aur Rasta's jubilee run, Manoj Kumar received a postcard reminding him of his promise to do another film with the production house, Prakash Pictures, as part of his two-film deal with them. He responded by assuring them that he would have kept his word even if they had simply called. And despite his recent success, he would stick to the same price as the previous film, a modest Rs 11,000.

"There were several middlemen who tried to get me to jack up my remuneration to Rs 2-3 lakh but I stuck to the agreed fee, insisting that even if they wanted to pay me more, I wouldn't agree," reminisces Mr Bharat 50 years later.

Himalay Ki Godmein was inspired by the story its director Vijay Bhatt had read in an issue of Reader's Digest about Dr Albert Schweitzer, a preacher, author, internationally recognised concert organist and musicologist. From the money he earned from his performances, he studied medicine, got a MD degree and went to Africa as a medical missionary.

Moved by the plight of the natives there, he set up a hospital in Lambarene in French Equatorial Africa. In 1917, his wife and he were sent to a French internment camp as prisoners of war. Released a year later, he spent the next six years in Europe, preaching in his old church, giving lectures and concerts, taking medical courses and writing books, before returning to Lambarene in 1924. Then, except for relatively short breaks, he spent his life there, expanding the hospital to 70 buildings, which by the early 1960s, could take care of over 500 patients. He bagged the Nobel Peace Prize in '52, and with the $33,000 prize money, started the leprosarium at Lambarene. He died on September 4, 1965, and was buried at Lambarene.

Vijay Bhatt's film also revolved around a philanthropist doctor who is kidnapped by the dacoits and left to die. But a village belle nurses him back to health, and he repays her debt by leaving his lucrative practise in the city to move to the Himalayas and eventually builds a hospital there, convincing his former fiancee (played by Shashikala) to join him.

It opened in 1965 and despite stiff competition from Waqt, Arzoo, Kaajal, Mere Sanam, Jab Jab Phool Khile and Gumnaam, was adjudged the best film of the year by the Filmfare jury. It was one of the 20 top grossers of the decade.

"I remember after Purab Aur Paschim, I was laid in bed with a slipped disc. My assistant, Chandra Barot, came to me one day saying a doctor was waiting to see me. I tried to shake his hand but he touched my feet instead and admitted that after seeing the film, he hadn't been able to sleep peacefully for two months. He eventually quit his job in the US to return home to India and serve his own people. He was Dr Narendra Pandya, one of the 10 best plastic surgeons in the world," informs the actor.

He is all praise for his mentor director, Vijay Bhatt who he describes as a fine gentleman with a great sense of humour, a Sanskrit scholar well versed with the Bhagavad Gita, who was like a father figure to him. "His film propagated a noble ideology without getting preachy, using music to take the message forward," says Manoj Kumar, pointing out that the film had beautiful songs like Ek tu na mila which got Lata Mangeshkar and Indeevar Filmfare nominations for best playback singer and lyricist, Kalyanji-Anandji were in the running for best music directors too. "I still hum Chand si mehbooba ho meri, penned by Anand Bakshi, raving about the heroine, Mala Sinha. She was a top star of the time and the film was often referred to as Him-mala Ki Godmein."

His big compliment was when Bhatt asked him to rework some scenes, "It put me on the write path, so what if everyone knew that Manoj Kumar had been paid just Rs 11,000 for the film," he says

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 11, 2014)

Not many would remember Reshmi Rumal but for Manoj Kumar it was a significant film. After its director Harsukh Jagneshwar Bhatt showed some rushes to his older brother, producer-director Vijay Bhatt invited the actor home and signed him for a two-film contract. The first film was Hariyali Aur Rasta (1962) for which he was paid Rs 11,000. "It was my first silver jubilee hit and Shashi who I had married just before its release, insisted she'd brought me luck," smiles Mr Bharat, half a century later.

The love triangle was the fourth highest grossing film of the year and revolved around Shankar (Manoj Kumar) who is forced to tie the knot with Rita (Shashikala) -- a match fixed by their parents when both were kids. Rita turns out to be an uncaring wife and mother and the marital journey gets messier when Shobhana (Mala Sinha), Shankar ex-flame, re-enters his life. "It was a little awkward for me to play the father of a child but Hariyali Aur Rasta wasn't just another love story. It was a film with a message--about the mother's role and the folly of arranging marriages without the consent of the bride and the groom," he says.

Working with an established star like Mala Sinha was a dream come true. "I used to watch her films when in college. At that time I'd never imagined that one day I would be singing songs with her in the tea gardens of Darjeeling," admits Manoj Kumar. The film was shot extensively in the Ging and Rangneet Tea Estates.

Hariyali Aur Rasta had a memorable score by Shankar-Jaikishan with evergreen hits like Allah jaane kya hoga aage, Lakhon taare aasman mein ek magar dhunde na mila, Ek tha raja ek thi rani and of course the unforgettable title track beautifully rendered by Lata Mangeshkar.

Manoj Kumar has vivid memories of filming the last one on Darjeeling's picturesque Tiger Hill. "I went there one day to watch the sunrise. It was amazing! So was the shoot but when later we saw the rushes, we were shocked to see smoke coming out of our mouths while we were delivering the dialogues - it was that cold there," laughs the actor.

While shooting in the hill station Manoj Kumar had Dev Anand for company. He was there with the unit of Mohan Kumar's Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai. And so was Bengal's maestro, Satyajit Ray, who was on a receee for his next film, Kanchenjungha. "One day I worked up the courage to speak to Manikda (as Ray was fondly called) and asked him what he was doing roaming around in that cold and he explained that he was studying the pattern of sunlight, shadows and snowfall so that when he starts shooting, he would be prepared," he flashbacks.

Talking about the snow, he remembers a scene in a cemetery. It was snowing and after Om Prakash pays an emotional homage to his wife, Manoj Kumar opens his mouth to deliver his bit of dialogue, but instead of words all that comes out is foam. "Since we couldn't get real snow, the production guys had made flakes from soap and were showering it on us. Some of it entered my mouth and that caused the gush of bubbles," he laughs, adding that how an exasperated Mala had then reacted by asking why the hell he had come into the film industry. "I responded respectfully by telling her it was my obsession."

He remembers Mala Sinha as a graceful and generous costar, who along with veterans like Om Prakash and Helen, boosted his confidence; and Vijay Bhatt as a creative, cultured and calm person who left a lasting impression on him. "On many occasions, he would compliment me. He was open to accepting my inputs. Even when I was wrong, he would explain why he couldn't incorporate the suggestions. He influenced me a lot," says Manoj Kumar.

He went on to do another film with Vijay Bhatt, Himalay Ki God Mein. Here also his costars were Mala Sinha and Shashikala. Shot in Kullu and Manali, it was adjudged the Best Film of 1965 by the Filmfare Awards jury and was later remade in Telugu as Dr Babu. "It was another silver jubilee hit and once again I was paid Rs11,000 for it. They wanted to pay me more, but I refused," he says.

THE TIMES OF INDIA (September 7, 2014)


Creature 3D director Vikram Bhatt has appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to watch his film starring Bipasha Basu. He has requested Modi to watch his work as the main villain of the film has been entirely generated by computer graphics imagery. Here is his letter to the PM:

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

In the year 1943 my grandfather, Shri Vijay Bhatt made a film by the name of 'Ram Rajya'. The unique distinction that this film had was that it was the only film that Mahatma Gandhi saw in his entire lifetime and 70 years later I, Vikram Bhatt his grandson, am the only filmmaker to have the distinction of making a film that has its main villain entirely generated by computer graphics imagery. The film is called, 'Creature 3D'.


I write to you because, in you, the new and vibrant India sees hope. You are one leader who has always encouraged Indians to do better than anyone else in the world. You have given us the faith that what anyone in the world can do an Indian can do better.

'Creature 3D' has done just that. Without the assistance of any foreign VFX studio and with the use of new technology we have made a whole creature on our own that looks more real and credible than work done anywhere else in the world. In my humble way, I do think that we have done something that no one has ever done in the country. It's a step up for the entire country not to mention the film industry.

You Sir are one person who believes and advocates the use of modern and new technology. You are also so the most tech savvy leader India has ever had and so sharing our achievement with you gives us pride and happiness.

I know you are extremely busy but should you find the time from your busy schedule to view my film or parts of it, it will be an honour and it will be a huge pat on our backs. It will encourage not only me but my entire fraternity to break all frontiers and leap ahead.

Looking forward to showcase our work for you.

Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 8, 2014)

"My grandfather, Vijay Bhatt, told me that Dilip Kumar was the first choice but things didn't work out. That's when my granduncle Shankar Bhatt and his co-producer suggested they go with newcomers and the film launched the careers of Bharat Bhushan and Meena Kumari," reminisces filmmaker Vikram Bhatt. The film in question is the 1952 musical Baiju Bawra, produced and directed by Vikram's grandfather Vijay Bhatt.

Buzz is, date problems could have been the reason for Dilip Kumar opting out of the project, along with Nargis. "I don't know about Nargisji but Meena Kumari, who played the comely Gauri, was my grandfather's discovery. He'd launched Mahjabeen Bano as a child artiste in Leatherface in '39 and rechristened her Baby Meena," says Vikram.

For this film, composer Naushad Ali took home one of those coveted black statuettes, his only Filmfare Award, for his classical compositions like Man tarpat Hari darshan ko aaj, O duniya ke rakhwale, Tu Ganga ki mauj and Mohe bhool gaye saawariya to name a few.

"Naushad saab and my grandfather would work through the night and my grandmother would cook for them at odd hours," Vikram smiles, recalling the day of the recording of one of the songs by Lata Mangeshkar (she sang four, including Mohe bhool gaye saawariya, Bachpan ke mohabbat, Door koi gaye and Jhoole mein pawan ki aaye bahar and he can't recall which one it was). She was running a temperature but she still sang as she found the track "uplifting".

Over half a century later, Baiju Bawra is still remembered for these evergreen classics. Legend has it that as a boy, Baiju saw his father getting killed by Tansen's guards who wanted him to stop singing. Before dying his father got Baiju to promise that he would defeat the court musician and avenge his death. He eventually does, but he pleads with the Emperor not to kill Tansen as that would mean a death sentence for music too.

In 1952, at the age of 40, Ustad Amir Khan began to sing for films. His first was Tapan Sinha's Bengali film Kshudhita Pashan (Hungry stone). He was also a consultant to Naushad on Baiju Bawra which released in the same year. He was Tansen's voice and sang the bandish in Raaj Puriya Dhanashree, Tori jai jai kartar, the alaap Sargam in Raag Darbari and Ghanana ghanana Ghana garjo re in Raag Megh which was not included in the film but released as a record.

Even though Mohd Rafi was Baiju's voice in the songs O duniya ke rakhwale, Insaan bano, Tu Ganga ki mauj, Man tarpat Hari darshan ko and the duet Jhoole mein pawan ki aai bahar, there were long discussions on who would take on Amir Khan in the climatic duel when Baiju defeats Tansen. It was Khan saab who suggested that they approach Pandit D V Paluskar. Together, the two maestros recorded a six-minute jugalbandi in Raag Desi, Aaj gavat mana mero jhumke. They also sang Langar kankariya ji na maro in Raag Todi together. Their duel was the piece de resistance of the score.

The story goes that both the singers were at par with each other till Emperor Akbar suggested that whoever could melt a marble slab with his singing would win. And that's how Baiju wins the competition. When Vikram wondered how his grandfather had melted the sangarmar when special effects were unheard of, he was told that they had used fatkari!

He also points out that the Yamuna river was created at Prakash Studio for the film climax. "It was in this river that Biaju and Guari drowned so they could be reunited in another world".

However, in this world the film went on to be a superhit not just in India but worldwide. "It was the first Indian film to be telecast nationwide in Japan," he says.

Meena Kumari bagged her first Filmfare Award for her performance as Gauri while Bharat Bhushan not only managed to finally woo the critics but even his estranged father Raibahadur Motilal who was dead against his joining films. The actor in his diary page for Filmfare wrote about how his father had sneaked out to see the film and returned home to apologise for resenting his son's choice of career till then. Baiju still makes cinemgoers bawra and Vikram remembers his grandfather working on the film, 24X7 for two years. "So much so that people started calling him Viju Bawra," Vikram smiles.