Chaudvin ka Chand - still

Waheeda Rehman and Gurudatt. Black and white still from Chaudwin ka Chand, digitally colourised by my friend Chandra Budhiraju. Click the above link and listen to this wonderful song "Choudvin ka chand ho.."

Saheb Biwi aur Gulam - Movie stills

In memory of Meena Kumari on her death anniversary today. Here are the digitally converted black and white stills from the classic 'Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam'. I thank my friend Chandra Budhiraju for this excellent work.

Meena Kumari - pencil drawing

My tribute to Meena Kumari, the legendary actress and Tragedy Queen of Indian cinema, on her death anniversaary (31st March)

Bahubali - Kanche - National award winning Telugu films of 2015

రాజమౌళిగారు యు ఆర్ అమేజింగండి. Successful people do
simple things differently and you are one of them,
Congratulations for your success. We knew you'd excel. You always do!!
Your road was rough, but you did an excellent job.
Success is always measured by hard work, discipline and will to win.
I wish all the success on your next endeavor! All The Best!!

రాజమౌళిగారి బాహుబలి "టీమ్" లోనున్న అతిరధమహారధులందరికీ శుభాభినందనలు.
సినీచరిత్రలో అత్యంత అధ్బుతంగా నిలిచిన మాయాబజార్, మొగల్ ఇ ఆజమ్ సరసన మళ్ళీ ఇన్నేళ్ళకి మన తెలుగు సినిమాని జతచేయగలగడం వెనుక రాజమౌళిగారి కుటుంబసభ్యులతో కలిసిపోయి అహర్నిశలూ కష్టపడి పనిచేసిన మీ అందరి గురించీ వింటున్నప్పుడు, బిహైండ్ ద సీన్స్ రషెస్ చూస్తున్నప్పుడు ఎంతో ఉద్వేగం మాకు కూడ.
మంచి చిత్రం తీసారు. ఫేంటసీ, గ్రాఫిక్స్ తో కూడినదైనా...కధవినడం, చూడడం ఇష్టం మనకి.
అమ్మచెప్పే రాజకుమారుడి కధ వింటూ పరవశించేవి పసి మనసులు మనవి.
అద్భుతాలకి పులకరించే పిల్లవాళ్ళ మనసెరిగి విజయేంద్రగారు రాసిన ఫేంటసీ కధని తెరమీదకెక్కించిన విధానం అత్యంత శ్లేఘనీయము.
కధలు వినడానికి ..వయసుకీ సంబంధము లేదు కదా..
సనాతనులకి కూడ కృష్ణలీలలు, కిష్కిందా కాండ తెగ ఇష్టమేగా.
భలే చక్కని చిత్రం తీసిన మీ అందరికీ ధన్యవాదాలు..హార్దిక శుభాకాంక్షలు మరొక్కసారి!!

ఉత్తమ రీజనల్ పిక్చర్ బృందం కృిష్ జాగర్లమూడి గారికి వారి టీమ్కీ శుభాభినందనలతో!!

దేవకి యగళ్ల కాలిఫోర్నియా నుండి.

Credit: Dr chowdari Jampakagaru.
Thanks Devaki Yagalla garu for the post in Facebook.

Credit: Dr V Chowdary Jampala

'Koormavatara' - Kannada movie

Today I had the opportunity to watch an excellent film 'Koormavatara' telecast by DD India. It is a 2011 Kannada movie with English sub-titles.. It is a drama film directed by Girish Kasaravalli, based on short story of the same name written by Kum.

The film was screened in 17 film festivals and won acclaims in Bangkok, New York and Vancouver. At the 59th National Film Awards, it was awarded the Best Feature Film in Kannada.

Rao, who is at the edge of retirement from government service, happens to play the role of Mahatma Gandhi in a television serial. Unknowingly the qualities of Gandhiji imbibe in him. How resurrect is the crux of the film? ‘One would certainly question himself after seeing this film' opines Dr Girish.

Life in a Metro - movie

Yesterday I watched the Hindi movie  Life in a... Metro. 
It is a 2007 Indian drama film directed by Anurag Basu, set in Mumbai, featuring an ensemble cast of Dharmendra,Nafisa Ali, Shilpa Shetty, Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Kangana Ranaut, Sharman Joshi, Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan. The music is composed by Pritam with lyrics by Sayeed Quadri. The film was released on 11 May 2007. It narrates the lives of nine people living in Mumbai^[ and deals with topics like extramarital affairs, sanctity of marriage, and love. The film was critically acclaimed for its story and screenplay. The general plot and a number of characters are based on two classic films, The Apartment and Brief Encounter.

I agree with the movie review in the following link. As a whole the movie was well made. I like the chemistry between Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800956/reviews

Very Happy Birthday - Sashi Kapoor ji

Shashi Kapoor, born as Balbir Raj Prithviraj Kapoor on 18 March 1938, is an Indian film actor and film producer. He has also been a film director and assistant director in the Hindi film industry.

Shashi Kapoor is a member of the Kapoor family, a film dynasty in India's Bollywood cinema. He has appeared in a large number of Hindi language films as well as in a few English-language films.

In 2011, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his contributions to Art-Cinema. In 2015, he was awarded the 2014 Dadasaheb Phalke Award, making him the third member of his family to receive the highest award in Indian Cinema after Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor. ^{(source : Wikipedia)}

Pinjar

Yesterday I watched the movie 'Pinjar' (available on youtube). I liked the movie very much. It is a 2003 Indian period drama film directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi. The movie is about the Hindu-Muslim problems during the partition of India. The film is based on a Punjabi novel of the same name, written by Amrita Pritam.Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Suri are in the lead roles. Besides critical acclaim, the film also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.

Its a 2003 movie. No doubt Urmila did well but Vidya Balan would have been a better choice for the role. But Vidya Balan was new to films and her first film was 'Parineeta' which was released in 2005, i.e. two years after Pinjar.

Do Ankhen Baraah Haath

Nostalgia :

"Do Ankhen Baraah Haath" : Its a 1957 classic made by the legend V. Shantaram.
I haven't had the opportunity to watch the movie in school days. However, I watched it during its 2nd and 3rd runs. I watched the movie today once again thanks to DD National who telecast the movie this noon.

V. Shantaram himself acted in the main role. The story is about a progressive reform-minded young warden gets permission to take six surly murderers from prison to a dilapidated country farm, to rehabilitate it and themselves through hard work and kindly guidance.

It is considered one of the classics of Hindi cinema and is based on humanistic psychology. It won a Silver Bear at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival and was the first Indian film to win Golden Globe Award in the category Samuel Goldwyn Award. The film is also remembered for its song, Aye maalik tere bande hum, sung by Lata Mangeshkar and written by Bharat Vyas.

The film was inspired by the story of an 'open prison' experiment Swatantrapur in the princely state of Aundh near Satara. Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films. During filming V. Shantaram fought with a bull and injured an eye, though his eyesight survived which again inspired him to make another classic 'Navrang'/

Joy Mukherjee

Remembering Joy Mukherjee. a popular actor of 1960s and 70"s, on his death anniversary. (Digitally converted sketch)

Joy debuted opposite Sadhana in the film Love in Simla (1960) directed by R.K. Nayyar. After Love in Simla, he paired with Asha Parekh for several hits like Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Love in Tokyo and Ziddi. Some of his films like Door Ki Aawaz, Aao Pyar Karen and Shagird (opposite Saira Bano), Ek Musafir Ek Haseena with Sadhna, 'Ishaara' with Vyjayantimala and 'Jee Chahta Hai' with Rajashree were superhit movies. Most of his movies had hit music (Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, Aao Pyar Karen, Shagird, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Ek Baar Muskura Do, Door Ki Aawaz, Jee Chahta Hai, Humsaya, etc.)