Ashok Kumar, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He was considered the first big star of Indian cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India. He received the Padma Shri in 1962 and Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Nutan Samarth-Bahl, known mononymously as Nutan was an Indian actress who worked primarily in Hindi films. In a career spanning four decades, she appeared in more than 80 films, that ranged in genre from urban romances to socio-realist dramas. Regarded as one of the finest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Nutan was noted for her naturalistic acting in parts of conflicted women often deemed unconventional. She was the recipient of six Filmfare Awards, including a record five Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In 1974, Nutan received the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.
Rahul Dev Burman was an Indian music director and actor, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films, bringing a new level of music ensemble with his compositions. Burman did his major work with legendary singers Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, and Asha Bhosle. He also worked extensively with lyricist Gulzar, with whom he has some of the most memorable numbers in his career. Nicknamed Pancham, he was the only son of the composer Sachin Dev Burman and his Bengali lyricist wife Meera Dev Burman.
Bimal Roy was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Devdas, Madhumati, Sujata, Parakh and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema. Inspired by Italian neo-realistic cinema, he made Do Bigha Zamin after watching Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948). His work is particularly known for his mise en scène which he employed to portray realism. He won a number of awards throughout his career, including eleven Filmfare Awards, two National Film Awards, and the International Prize of the Cannes Film Festival. Madhumati won 9 Filmfare Awards in 1958, a record held for 37 years.
Aandhi (transl. 'Storm') is a 1975 Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship with her estranged husband, but in reality, only the look was inspired by the politician Tarkeshwari Sinha and Indira Gandhi. The story is based on a chance meeting of an estranged couple after several years, when wife Aarti Devi, now a leading politician happens to stay in the hotel run by her husband during an election campaign. The movie is noted for its songs composed by Rahul Dev Burman, written by Gulzar and sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
Madhumati is a 1958 Indian Hindi-language paranormal romance film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar in lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. But they face challenges in their relationship finally leading to a paranormal consequence. The film was ranked 11th in the Outlook Magazine's 25 leading Indian directors' poll for selecting Bollywood's greatest films in 2003.
Satyakam is a 1969 Indian drama film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, based on a Bengali novel of the same name by Narayan Sanyal. The film stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Sanjeev Kumar, and Ashok Kumar. The film was scored by Laxmikant Pyarelal. The name of the film is inspired by ancient Hindu saint Satyakama Jabala.
Sujata is a 1959 Hindi language Bimal Roy film. It stars Nutan and Sunil Dutt in lead roles, supported by Shashikala, Lalita Pawar, Sulochana Latkar and Tarun Bose. Based on a Bengali short story of the same name by writer Subodh Ghosh, the film explored the situation of caste in India. The music is by S. D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
Anupama (transl. Incomparable) is a 1966 Hindi film directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The movie stars Dharmendra, Sharmila Tagore, Shashikala, Deven Verma and Surekha Pandit. The music was composed by Hemant Kumar. At the 1966 National Film Awards it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Anuraag is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed by Shakti Samanta. The film stars Moushumi Chatterjee, in her debut as a heroine, and Vinod Mehra in lead roles. The Shakti Samanta fixture Rajesh Khanna, having earlier made Aradhana (1969) and Kati Patang (1971) with Samanta, makes a special appearance. The music is by S. D. Burman. Initially, Samanta was unsure if the distributors would buy a film with such a storyline and had shared the idea with Rajesh Khanna, who encouraged Samanta and volunteered to make an extended appearance for the film, and also distributed the film under the banner "Shakti-Raj".
Nabendu Ghosh was an Indian author in Bengali literature, and screenwriter. He has written screenplays of classic Bollywood movies like, Sujata, Bandini, Devdas, Majhli Didi, Abhimaan and Teesri Kasam. He has written stories for movies like Baap Beti, Shatranj, Raja Jani. He has also acted briefly in Do Bigha Zameen, Teesri Kasam and Lukochuri. Later in his career, he directed four movies as well.
Gulzar is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this era. He started his career with music director S.D. Burman as a lyricist in the 1963 film Bandini and worked with many music directors including R. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vishal Bhardwaj and A. R. Rahman. Gulzar also writes poetry, dialogues and scripts. He directed films such as Aandhi and Mausam during the 1970s and the TV series Mirza Ghalib in the 1980s. He also directed Kirdaar in 1993.
Tarun Bose was an Indian actor, active in Bollywood during the 1960s and 1970s.
Watan Ke Rakhwale is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by T. Rama Rao. It features an ensemble cast of Ashok Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Sridevi, Moushumi Chatterjee, Puneet Issar, Prem Chopra, Shakti Kapoor, Kader Khan. The film revolves around how a spy plots to bring a terrorist to justice, and how he is helped out by his lover, his elder brother and sister-in-law and a jailed convict.
The 21st Filmfare Awards were held in 1974.
Sudhendu Roy (1921–1999) was a noted Indian film director, art director and production designer in Hindi cinema, most known for his realistic art direction in auteur Bimal Roy's films, like Sujata (1959), Madhumati (1959) and Bandini (1963), and glitzy work in films Subhash Ghai's Karz (1980) and Karma (1986) to Yash Chopra's Silsila (1981), Chandni (1989) and Lamhe (1991). He won the Filmfare Award for Best Art Direction thrice for, Madhumati (1959), Mere Mehboob (1964) and Sagina (1975).
Kamal Bose (1915–1995) was an Indian cinematographer, who shot most of Bimal Roy classics, including Parineeta (1953), Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Bandini (1963), Devdas (1955) and Sujata (1960). He successful transitioned into the coloured film era, and shot Qurbani (1980), Janbaaz (1986) and Dayavan (1988).
Benazir is a Hindi film released in 1964, starring Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, Shashi Kapoor and Tanuja, directed by S.Khalil and music by Sachin Dev Burman.
The 27th Annual Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards were held in 1964, honoring the best in Indian cinema in 1963.
Paari is a 1966 Bengali film directed by Jagganath Chatterjee, based on a story by Jarasandha. It stars Dharmendra in his first Bengali film and Pronoti Ghosh, with Dilip Kumar in a guest appearance as a jailor in Andaman and was successful. It was later remade in 1972 by the same director in Hindi as Anokha Milan with the lead actors reprising their roles. This was the first movie in which Dilip Kumar and Dharmendra appeared together.
