Rajesh Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who worked in Hindi films. considered as one of the greatest and most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema. Known as the "First Superstar of Bollywood", he consecutively starred in a record 15 solo hero successful films between 1969 and 1971. He was the highest-paid actor in Hindi cinema throughout the 1970s and 1980s. His accolades include five Filmfare Awards, and in 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.
Tanuja Samarth, known mononymously as Tanuja, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the Hindi film industry. Part of the Mukherjee-Samarth family, she is the daughter of actress Shobhna Samarth and producer Kumarsen Samarth, and was married to filmmaker Shomu Mukherjee, with whom she has two daughters, actresses Kajol and Tanisha. A recipient of two Filmfare Awards, Tanuja is best known for her roles in the Hindi and Bengali films like Memdidi (1961), Deya Neya (1963), Chand Aur Suraj (1965), Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966), Jewel Thief (1967), Nai Roshni (1967), Antony Firingee (film) (1967), Pratham Kadam Phool (1969), Teen Bhubaner Pare (1969), Jeene Ki Raah (1969), Rajkumari (1970), Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), Anubhav (1971), Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972) and Do Chor (1972). Her pairings with actors Sanjeev Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra and Uttam Kumar were popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Aradhana (transl. "Worship") is a 1969 Indian Hindi romantic drama film directed by Shakti Samanta, starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. It won the Filmfare Award for Best Film at the 17th Filmfare Awards. Tagore won her only Filmfare Best Actress Award. Originally released in Hindi and dubbed in Bengali, Aradhana's huge success led to two remakes: the Tamil film Sivagamiyin Selvan (1974) and the Telugu film Kannavari Kalalu (1974). This film is counted among the 17 consecutive hit films of Rajesh Khanna between 1969 and 1971, by adding the two hero films Marayada and Andaz to the 15 consecutive solo hits he gave from 1969 to 1971. Aradhana was a blockbuster in India and the Soviet Union. The theme of the movie was based on the 1946 film To Each His Own.
Waqt is a 1965 Indian Hindi-language Bollywood drama film directed by Yash Chopra, produced by B. R. Chopra and written by Akhtar Mirza and Akhtar-Ul-Iman. It was included in the British Film Institute's long list of films in consideration for its top ten of Indian films award. Released in India on 30 July 1965, the film stars an ensemble cast of Sunil Dutt, Raaj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhana Shivdasani, Sharmila Tagore, Balraj Sahni, Achala Sachdev, Rehman and Madan Puri. It pioneered the concept of films with multiple stars, starting a trend followed by other films. The film took the top spot at the box office in 1965. The plot of the movie re-introduced the "lost and reunite" formula to Bollywood, originally featured in the 1943 Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti film Kismet. A happy family separated by waqt (time) goes through a series of trials trying to reunite. The film was later remade in Telugu as Bhale Abbayilu (1969) and in Malayalam as Kolilakkam (1981).
Haathi Mere Saathi is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam, with screenplay written by Salim–Javed and dialogues by Inder Raj Anand. The movie has a Disneyesque appeal with an Indian twist. Haathi Mere Saathi was the biggest hit of 1971 going by box office collections, and was also critically acclaimed. The film stars Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja. The film at that point in time was the biggest hit ever made by a South Indian producer in Hindi.
Amar Prem is a 1972 Indian Hindi romantic drama film directed by Shakti Samanta. It is a remake of the Bengali's Classic film Nishi Padma (1970) starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee, directed by Arabinda Mukherjee, who wrote screenplay for both the films based on the Bengali short story Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. The film portrays the decline of human values and relationships and contrasts it by presenting an illustrious example of a boy's innocent love for a neighbourhood courtesan. The movie is about a school boy, who is ill-treated by his step mother, and becomes friends with a prostitute neighbour. The film stars Sharmila Tagore playing a prostitute with a heart of gold, with Rajesh Khanna in the role of a lonely businessman and Vinod Mehra as adult Nandu, the young child, who they both come to care for.
Mahipal was an Indian actor who worked in bollywood mostly in stunt films like Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag, Roop Lekha, Sunehari Nagin, Hindu mythological movies like Sampoorna Ramayan, Ganesh Mahima, Veer Bhimsen, Jai Santoshi Maa. He is known for playing the iconic role of Lord Vishnu, and his two avatars, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in lot of various puranic, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana based movies, besides playing Tulsidas and Abhimanyu, and is also best known as the lead in V. Shantaram's Navrang (1959), and the songs "Tu Chhupi Hai Kahan Me Tadapta Yahan" and "baazigar me tu jaadugar". He acted in several well-known films of the 1950s and 1960s including V. Shantaram's Navrang (1959) and Babubhai Mistry's Parasmani (1963).
Aradhana or Aaradhana is a Sanskrit word meaning an act of glorifying God or worship. It may refer to:
Daag: A Poem of Love (transl. smear) is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film produced and directed by Yash Chopra in his debut as a producer, which laid the foundation of Yash Raj Films. It is an adaptation of the 1886 Thomas Hardy novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Raakhee in lead roles, with Madan Puri, Kader Khan, Prem Chopra and A. K. Hangal.
Mere Jeevan Saathi is a 1972 Indian film produced by Harish and Vinod Shah. It is directed by Ravikant Nagaich, and it stars Rajesh Khanna, Tanuja, Sujit Kumar, Bindu, Helen, Utpal Dutt, Nazir Hussain and Rajindranath. The movie was made at the height of Rajesh Khanna's popularity and craze. It was the second movie of Rajesh Khanna with Tanuja after the blockbuster Haathi Mere Saathi (1971). Although the movie was an average grosser upon its release and received ambivalent reviews from viewers and critics but the soundtrack and songs became very popular and are evergreen. "O Mere Dil Ke Chain" and "Chala Jata Hoon" are still very famous Kishore Kumar melodies from this film.
Chhoti Bahu is a 1971 Hindi film. Produced by Seeru Daryani and Darius Gotla, the film is directed by K. B. Tilak and written by Raj Baldev Raj.
Apna Desh is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language action drama film, produced by A.V. Subramaniam and T.M.Kittu and directed by Jambu. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Om Prakash, Jagdeep, Mukkamala, Madan Puri and the credited Roja Ramani, who plays Rajesh Khanna's niece Sharda. The soundtrack is composed by R. D. Burman.
Kathanayakudu (transl. Hero) is a 1969 Indian Telugu-language drama film, produced by K. Gopala Krishna under the banner Gopala Krishna Productions and directed by K. Hemambaradhara Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Jayalalithaa, with music composed by T. V. Raju. The film was remade in Tamil as Nam Naadu (1969), and in Hindi as Apna Desh (1972). The film was recorded as a blockbuster at the box office.The film won two Nandi Awards.
Safar is a 1970 Indian Hindi romantic drama film produced by the Mushir-Riaz duo and directed by Asit Sen, based on a novel by Bengali writer Ashutosh Mukherjee. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Feroz Khan in lead roles. The film became the tenth top-grossing production of the year. It won one Filmfare Awards and four Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. Rajesh Khanna received a nomination for BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi). Asit Sen remade the 1956 Bengali film Chalachal, which was directed by him, in Hindi as Safar (1970). As per review by critics, Safar was carried more than ably by Khanna's immense charm at the peak of his popularity. Rajesh Khanna beautifully conveys his character's desperation and his conviction that surviving by a slender thread is not really living. This film is counted among the 17 consecutive hit films of Rajesh Khanna between 1969 and 1971, by adding the two-hero films Maryada and Andaz to the 15 consecutive solo hits he gave from 1969 to 1971.
Sujit Kumar was an Indian actor and producer. He appeared in over 150 Hindi films in the 1960s through the 1990s, and in at least 20 Bhojpuri films. Sujit played the major lead actor in many films in Bhojpuri cinema whereas in Hindi films he played pivotal roles either as a villain or as a character actor. One of his most memorable screen appearances was of a friend playing the mouth organ while driving a jeep as Rajesh Khanna courted Sharmila Tagore in the 1969 film Aradhana. Beginning in the late 1980s through the 2000s, Sujit primarily worked as a film producer.
Jaanwar is an Indian Bollywood fantasy film directed by S. Ali Raza, released in 1982. The film stars Rajesh Khanna and Zeenat Aman as the main lead characters of the film. This film was of different genre than the other films of the pair. The film gives a social message of saving animals The film takes place in a mythical kingdom and tells the tale of Raju who gets separated from his father and has to live in a village next to forest and of Rajkumari who as a newborn girl is forced by circumstances to be abandoned in a forest and subsequently is brought by animals.
Nishi Padma is a 1970 Bengali drama film written and directed by Arabinda Mukhopadhyay, based on a short story Hinger Kochuri by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, and starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee as leads. The film had music by Nachiketa Ghosh, and went on to win two awards at the 1970 National Film Awards: Manna Dey won Best Male Playback Singer for "Ja Khushi Ora Bole", while Sandhya Mukherjee won the Best Female Playback Singer for "Ore Sakol Sona Molin Holo".
Mohan Choti was an Indian actor who worked as a comedian in Hindi films. The name Mohan Choti came from a fictional character of the same name from the 1957 film Musafir, in which he plays a tea shop delivery boy who sports a "choti" or traditional lock of hair on the top of his head.
Gehri Chot, also released as Door-Desh, is a 1983 Indian-Canadian Hindi-language crime-drama film directed by Ambrish Sangal, starring Shashi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore in the lead roles with Raj Babbar, Parveen Babi, David Abraham, Nadeem Baig, and Bobita in supporting roles. This was both Pakistani actor Nadeem and Bangladeshi actress Bobita's only appearance in a Bollywood film. It was a Bangladesh–Indian joint production film. This was also the last time veteran actor David Abraham appeared in a movie, filmed shortly before his death in 1982.
Marutirao Parab, popularly known simply as Maruti, was an Indian actor and director best known for playing comic roles in Hindi films.
