Shakti Samanta Puns

"Pushpa, I hate tears” is enough to paint the picture of this timeless classic. Rajesh Khanna’s melancholic and drunk character delivering this line to a crying yet beautiful Sharmila Tagore along with R.D. Burman’s haunting melody and Kishore Kumar's soul touching vocals fill this image with such pathos, desire and love rarely felt in a movie. Shakti Samanta’s hat trick of superhits of Aradhana, Kati Patang and Amar Prem made Kaka an Icon. His unparalleled and unbeaten 17 consecutive movie hit spree in 3 years at the Box office made him “The superstar". Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana started the 17 movie hit spree which ended with the box office disappointment of “Badnaam Farishte”. “Amar Prem” was the movie which marked his return to the top and continue his reign as Bollywood’s superstar till the angry young man eventually dethroned him in the mid 70s. Surprisingly Kaka wasn’t the movie’s lead as he played second fiddle to the movie’s main character of Pushpa played flawlessly by Sharmila Tagore.

Amar Prem (1972)
Directed by Shakti Samanta
Produced by Shakti Samanta
Starring - Sharmila Tagore, Rajesh Khanna, Om Prakash, Madan Puri and Vinod Mehra
Written by Arabinda Mukhopadhyay based on Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Music by R.D. Burman
Budget/Box Office - INR 0.8 Crore/INR 3 Crore (INR 350 Crore adjusted for inflation)
Awards - 6 Filmfare Award Nominations with 2 awards for Screenplay and Sound
IMDB Rating - 8.2/10 
RT Rating - 81% 
My Rating - 10/10

This is a movie that has everything, a brilliant storyline, great acting, superb direction, memorable dialogues and the finest lyrics and songs ever recorded. The movie was based on a novel called Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay whose first novel which is often considered an autobiography by many was none other than “Pather Panchali”. "Pather Panchali" was the story that introduced the world to Satyajit Ray and his beloved character of Apu and created cinematic history putting Indian cinema on the world map. Hinger Kochuri was his story about relationships which have no name and was brought to the silver screen by Arabinda Mukhopadhyay who wrote and directed the hit Bengali movie “Nishi Padma”. Shakti Samanta was so impressed with the movie that he asked Arabinda to write a script for a Hindi adaptation of the story. Since Arabinda wasn’t fluent in Hindi, he wrote the script in English and Shakti Samanta

His name unspools vignettes of tenderly written numbers like Chingari koi bhadke (Amar Prem), Saawan ka mahina (Milan), Bindiya chamkegi (Do Raaste), Main shayar to nahin (Bobby), Woh kya hai (Anuraag), Khilona jaan kar (Khilona), Teri pehli nazar ko salaam (Ek Duje ke liye) and more recently Tujhe dekha toh (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), Le gayi, le gayi (Dil To Pagal Hai), Taal se taal mila (Taal), in your mind. And like the Everready batteries, he’s still charged. And raring to go. Long after the others have fallen by the wayside.

With over 4000 songs under his belt, 38 Filmfare nominations, four Filmfare Awards in a career spanning 45 years, his is no mean achievement. At 70, Anand Bakshi’s certainly the most prolific lyricist of our times.

It all began in Rawalpindi during pre-partition. Cinema was still a nascent medium. Anand Bakshi reminisces, “There were times when I would sell my books in order to buy a movie ticket. My parents would scold me. But that never stopped me. I dreamt of coming to Bombay and doing something in films. Though I wasn’t clear what.” His natural talent for music made him popular among his friends. He’d entertain them by singing film, Punjabi folk songs and ghazals. But contrary to his literary image, Anand Bakshi studied only upto the eighth standard. “The situation were such that I had to drop out,” he recalls. “I have no formal training in writing songs.”

After serving the army for 2-3 years, Bakshi chucked it all up to come to Bombay in 1952. After three years of fruitless struggle, a depressed Bakshi returned to his old job: the army. “But I was restless,” says Anand Bakshi. “So after three years, I came back to Bombay once again. By then I’d married and had a daughter. My wife and my parents thought I was simply wasting my time. They told me to stop dreaming and to concentrate on my job. But I was adamant.”

In Bombay, Bakshi once again began his struggle, meeting people, hopping from one studio to another. To make matters worse his money was over in about three months. ” I was at the end of my tether,” he grins today. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought I should return home. But I was embarrassed to do so. What would my family say?”

Soon his struggle bore fruit. Bakshi heard that Bhagawan Dada was launching a film, Bhala Aadmi. “I went to his office at Dadar,” Bakshi flashbacks. “I told him I was a song writer. Right away he told me to write four songs. I was paid Rs 150 for those songs. It was a whoppi

Chandramukhi’s role in Bimal Roy’s Devdas (1955) was rejected by Nargis, Bina Rai and Suraiya. Vyjayanthimala, who finally did the role refused to accept Filmfare’s Best Supporting Actress Award for Devdas, stating that her role was as important as Paro’s. Years later, Reena Roy too, rejected Filmfare’s Best Supporting Actress trophy for Apnapan (1978), citing that her role was leading and not supporting.

Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen (1953) remains a landmark film that has influenced several films including Lagaan (2001). One can find echoes of “Hariyala sawan shol bajata aaya…” from Do Bigha Zameen in “Ghanan ghanan ghir aayee…” from Lagaan.

Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 (1955) was a tremendous hit in India and overseas, especially in Russia, Egypt, Middle-East etc. “Ichak dana…” and “Mera joota hai japani…" were rewritten in the languages of various countries and sung as local songs.

V. Shantaram’s Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) was inspired by the story of an ‘Open Prison’ experiment in Satara. The film portrays a young jail warden, Adinath, who rehabilitates six deadly prisoners released on parole into persons of virtue. During the shooting of the film, V. Shantaram battled with a bull and hurt his eyes and affected his vision. During the period of temporary blindness, he visualized some unseen colours of life which resulted into the making of his colourful Navrang (1959).

Dilip Kumar initially refused to be part of Naya Daur (1957) but then, his friend Ashok Kumar, who heard and loved the story, convinced him to accept it. Madhubala was the female lead in this movie but when B.R. Chopra decided to shoot the movie in Bhopal, Madhubala’s father, Ataullah Khan, refused to let her go citing personal reasons. Finally, Madhubala had to be replaced with Vyjayantimala who entered a new phase of her career with the super hit – Naya Daur.

Guru Dutt wanted Dilip Kumar to play the leading role in Pyaasa (1957). The Tragedy King declined because he thought this role was similar to his Devdas (1955). So, Guru Dutt himself decided to play the role. Similarly, Madhubala and Nargis were his first choices for the leading ladies, which were eventually played by Mala Sinha and Waheeda Rehman. Pyaasa went on to become a cult film in the history of Indian cinema.

Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), was the colour remake of his own Aurat (1940) which featured his wife Sardar Akhtar. Aurat was inspired from Pearl S. Buck’s novel “The Mother”. Nargis got the role of her lifetime

What's monsoon without some piping hot chai, bhajias and some Kishore Kumar melodies playing in the background.

I am sure you may have heard of these iconic Kishoreda songs, but did you know the interesting tidbits behind these unforgettable monsoon songs?

Rim Jhim Gire Saawan - Manzil (1979)

Possibly one of the first songs which pop up in our mind when it rains, ‘Rim Jhim Gire Sawan’ is the ultimate homage to Mumbai’s monsoons. There are two versions of this timeless musical gem. Kishoreda’s soulful rendition and Lata Mangeshkar’s up-tempo one. It’s the latter which plays in the background as Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee frolic in the rains near the famous Queen's Necklace and Oval Maidan.

To lend authenticity to the song, director Basu Chatterjee chose not to use a rain machine, but instead filmed the song during the Mumbai rains. There was no choreography involved, so the relatively newbie actors did whatever they felt was best, adding to the authenticity. This improvisation is evident from Moushumi’s running eyeliner (this was before waterproof eyeliners were a thing) and the pair’s natural mannerisms!

Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si - Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

We can all agree that ‘Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si’ is one of the most iconic rain songs in Bollywood. But did you know that this song is a recreation of the song Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford? Kishoreda was a great fan of country music (as is attested by his yodeling skills) and it is said that S.D. Burman recreated this song on Kishoreda’s express request!

And what a recreation this is! The genius of S.D. Burman and the singing prowess of Kishore Kumar managed to turn this relatively simple melody into a peppy tune that barely sounds like the original but is hummable, nonetheless. What’s especially notable is the way Kishoreda’s playful voice alternates in tempo throughout this lively tune. The mischief in his voice perfectly complementing his impish antics on screen!

Roop Tera Mastana - Aradhana (1969)

‘Roop Tera Mastana’ signaled many changes that would take place in Bollywood in the 70s. It made the film’s hero Rajesh Khanna the nation’s heartthrob. It also brought Kishoreda back into the limelight after being overshadowed by Mohd. Rafi, earning him his first Filmfare award for playback singing.

An interesting fact about the song is that it was shot in just one take! The reason wasn’t aesthetics, but practicality. The crew was pressed for time as the se

He came. He saw. He conquered. He fell. And how.

Rajesh Khanna's rise and fall of fortunes is stuff sigh-inspiring stories are made of. From evoking mass-hysteria, the once upon a time superstar is slipping into an invisible existence only to re-surface in projects that degrade him and everything he stood for.

There are rumours that the actor will be a wild card entry into Bigg Boss, a television reality show known for its many controversies.

But Rajesh Khanna was quite a story. Like most strugglers with big dreams, Rajesh, born Jatin, Khanna, strived to be a force to reckon with in Hindi cinema. Only this adopted son of a rather affluent family preferred to drive in his own car while approaching filmmakers for work.

Winning a talent show came in handy and he bagged Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat followed by films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Khamoshi and Aurat. But lady luck wasn't in a generous mood. Not just yet.

#Favourite heartthrob

Around the same time, he was signed up to play a double role in Shakti Samanta's Aradhana opposite the dainty Sharmila Tagore. Despite its heroine-centric theme, Khanna hold his own effortlessly with suave and charming persona essaying both father and son.

The film's golden-jubilee success, followed by another super-hit with Mumtaz, Do Raaste, ensured the actor was here for the long haul.

Such was the impact of his characteristic head-shake, playful gestures and undeniable charisma that fans were willing to go any extent to catch a glimpse of their favourite heartthrob.

Especially those of the fairer sex, from writing letters in blood to smothering his four-wheeler with kisses to screaming his name in passion to marrying his photograph, you name it, they did it.

#The golden phase

A seemingly-invincible Kaka, as he was fondly addressed by the industrywallahs, reciprocated with terrific hits like Sachaa Jhutha, Aan Milo Sajna, Mehboob Ki Mehndi, Haathi Mere Saathi, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Kati Patang, Daag and Dushman.

The late 1960s and early 1970s was a golden phase of Khanna's career marking some of his definitive performances proving there's more to him than a romantic hero.

Be it as a dying patient's undying zest for life in Anand, a philosophical yet sympathetic do-gooder in Amar Prem, a melancholic painter diagnosed with a fatal disease in Safar or a furious killer on the run in Ittefaq.

Though he enjoyed a solid position and a narcissistic image as a leading man, Khanna was happy to play the ethical, supportin

Do your worst!

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

It really does, I swear!

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

Buenosdillas

They’re on standbi

As a screenplay for a Bombay film, it would have been a smash hit. The only problem is: it actually happened. Madras is humid the year round, but is exceptionally muggy in July. On a warm evening, the biggest names in the Indian music industry - Ganesh Kumar Jain of Venus, K Taurani of Tips and many others - gathered in the airconditioned comfort of a five-star hotel. The only one among them who seemed relaxed was Gulshan Kumar.

They begged and they pleaded with Gulshan.

>You've ruined the market. No matter how hard we try to sell, you undercut us. We owe huge amounts to lenders. For God's sake, ease up on your business so that we can carry on with ours.

"Maine darshan kar liya. Ab nahin karoonga (I've seen the light. I won't do it any more)," promised Gulshan. But they knew he was lying. Everybody present there then gave Gulshan Kumar a gold coin to seal the bargain. The gift was both a gesture of respect and an expiation of guilt. It was an acknowledgement of Gulshan's gurudom. But the dons of the music mafia knew Gulshan was going to come to a sticky end and thought they had warned him.

Gulshan Kumar's rise in the music world and his death is a story of avarice, greed and cunning and the clash of two mafias - one represented by Gulshan Kumar and the other by those whom he damaged.

Much is made of Gulshan Kumar's managerial abilities: that he started the music duplicating industry and through aggressive marketing, managed to turn T-Series into a Rs 3 billion empire in 10 years.

In fact, so impressed was former finance minister V P Singh by Gulshan that when music industry players went to plead with the finance minister to punish Gulshan Kumar for violating copyright laws and pirating music, V P Singh was dismissive.

>Don't come to me with your hard luck stories. You've no marketing strategies so you haven't discovered the marketplace. Gulshan has. And you want me to punish him for his entrepreneurial ability?

His visitors were speechless. They left North Block, wondering bitterly at the finance minister's naivete.

What Gulshan Kumar did was simple and everyone knew it had nothing to do with management.

He began in 1979-80 by making all his money from piracy. In those days, His Master's Voice, an established player in the market, was the biggest sufferer, followed by Polydor. For here was this man, traversing the catalogues of both HMV and Polydor with impunity, picking up music from both, compiling them in one cassette and se

Pilot on me!!

Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.

This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.

If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.

Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.

When I got home, they were still there.

What did 0 say to 8 ?

" Nice Belt "

So What did 3 say to 8 ?

" Hey, you two stop making out "

I won't be doing that today!

[Removed]

You take away their little brooms

This morning, my 4 year old daughter.

Daughter: I'm hungry

Me: nerves building, smile widening

Me: Hi hungry, I'm dad.

She had no idea what was going on but I finally did it.

Thank you all for listening.

There hasn't been a post all year!

Why

It’s pronounced “Noel.”

Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Manmohan Desai, Yash Chopra, Vijay Anand, et al are some of the names that first appear in the minds of vintage Bollywood aficionados, when they’re asked to list some of the greatest film makers of yore. I wonder why these names never appear in such top ten lists:-

1. V. Shantaram: known for his countless socially relevant films of the time. Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani is regarded as an example of fine cinema, and it was one of his earliest films. He even made a box office topper of its time, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje. His Marathi film Pinjara received a lot of acclaim, and was re-released in 2016. Why don’t people list him among the greats?!
2. B.R. Chopra: His Naya Daur was the Lagaan of its time. His Kanoon broke a lot of presets, being the first song-free movie in a long time. Many of his other movies had picturesque moments, and great tunes. His Sadhna was extremely thought-provoking. But seldom is he regarded as an ace filmmaker.
3. Mehboob Khan: Aan was a trendsetter in terms of many kinds. Mother India is an unmistakable classic of Hindi Cinema. His films such as Anmol Ghadi and Amar boast good music and stellar performers. Why is he not revered by film buffs anymore?
4. Asit Sen: Films like Mamta, Anokhi Raat and Khamoshi cannot be repeated. This speaks enough of his stature as a director. Sadly, nothing explains why he isn’t remembered so much.
5. Shakti Samanta: Aradhana, Amar Prem and Amanush struck emotional chords like no other film. Howrah Bridge and China Town entertained the audience a lot. It makes no sense to me why he isn’t regarded as an all time great.
6. Chetan Anand: Haqeeqat, Aakhri Khat, Heer Ranjha and Kudrat. All of these were so unique, which made his repertoire so rich and diverse. His Neecha Nagar was the first film of this subcontinent to receive international recognition. But nobody remembers him anymore.
7. Amiya Chakroborty: Was never a household name, but a movie like Seema became a milestone in Nutan’s career. I love watching Dekh Kabira Roya to kill stress. He gave Bollywood the gift of Dilip Kumar. Sadly, he is a forgotten name now.
8. Gulzar: A celebrated poet, no doubt but his films always suffered an ill-fate. Koshish was an endearing effort. Mausam was adapted well on screen, thanks to great performances. With Meera, he explored a spiritual proponent. It is not something a lot of directors do. Maachis has a cult following, and Tabu could not have shone bet

After all his first name is No-vac

What, then, is Chinese rap?

Edit:

Notable mentions from the comments:

• Spanish/Swedish/Swiss/Serbian hits

• French/Finnish art

• Country/Canadian rap

• Chinese/Country/Canadian rock

• Turkish/Tunisian/Taiwanese rap

There hasn't been a single post this year!

(Happy 2022 from New Zealand)

Nothing, it just waved

Bob

Him: I can explain everything!

(It's his best joke yet I think)

So that I could frequently say, "I am going to walk 5 miles now."

Edit: My most popular post on Reddit! 😀 Thank you for the awards.

Just to clarify, 12345678

Me grabbing a soda from my (what I thought was) half full 12pk...

Notices there's only 2;

Me: "Awe man... This is a damn bird box!" Her: "What the hell does that mean?!" Me: (Pulls both cans out & shows them to her) "It's only got Toucans."

I'm not ashamed to admit the look on her face was glorious.

His name unspools vignettes of tenderly written numbers like Chingari koi bhadke (Amar Prem), Saawan ka mahina (Milan), Bindiya chamkegi (Do Raaste), Main shayar to nahin (Bobby), Woh kya hai (Anuraag), Khilona jaan kar (Khilona), Teri pehli nazar ko salaam (Ek Duje ke liye) and more recently Tujhe dekha toh (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge), Le gayi, le gayi (Dil To Pagal Hai), Taal se taal mila (Taal), in your mind. And like the Everready batteries, he’s still charged. And raring to go. Long after the others have fallen by the wayside.

With over 4000 songs under his belt, 38 Filmfare nominations, four Filmfare Awards in a career spanning 45 years, his is no mean achievement. At 70, Anand Bakshi’s certainly the most prolific lyricist of our times.

It all began in Rawalpindi during pre-partition. Cinema was still a nascent medium. Anand Bakshi reminisces, “There were times when I would sell my books in order to buy a movie ticket. My parents would scold me. But that never stopped me. I dreamt of coming to Bombay and doing something in films. Though I wasn’t clear what.” His natural talent for music made him popular among his friends. He’d entertain them by singing film, Punjabi folk songs and ghazals. But contrary to his literary image, Anand Bakshi studied only upto the eighth standard. “The situation were such that I had to drop out,” he recalls. “I have no formal training in writing songs.”

After serving the army for 2-3 years, Bakshi chucked it all up to come to Bombay in 1952. After three years of fruitless struggle, a depressed Bakshi returned to his old job: the army. “But I was restless,” says Anand Bakshi. “So after three years, I came back to Bombay once again. By then I’d married and had a daughter. My wife and my parents thought I was simply wasting my time. They told me to stop dreaming and to concentrate on my job. But I was adamant.”

In Bombay, Bakshi once again began his struggle, meeting people, hopping from one studio to another. To make matters worse his money was over in about three months. ” I was at the end of my tether,” he grins today. “I didn’t know what to do. I thought I should return home. But I was embarrassed to do so. What would my family say?”

Soon his struggle bore fruit. Bakshi heard that Bhagawan Dada was launching a film, Bhala Aadmi. “I went to his office at Dadar,” Bakshi flashbacks. “I told him I was a song writer. Right away he told me to write four songs. I was paid Rs 150 for those songs. It was a whoppi