End of Golden Era, an Era of Romanticism! [Part I]

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In the current situation, a realistic world is more desired than living in a hallucination. The constant use of internet also helped in this context. The virtual world is a virtue indeed, at least I consider so.  Today we are more practical than ever before but this pragmatic theory falls flat when it comes to the movies.  We still like to live in a dream world that was created by the unrealistic sequence. We Indians cannot think a movie without a half-dozen of songs and dance sequences. In this case, our preference is very far from the reality. How many people are there who remember Spencer Tracy in ‘old man and the sea’, rather will remember him in ‘Guess who’s coming for the dinner’. A realistic movie yet to strike the chord with the masses. Therefore, movie wise we are yet to accept a convenient thing. We still enjoy Julie Andrew’s  ‘Sound of Music’ than ‘10’ or Audrey Hepburn’s ‘Roman Holiday’ over ‘Blood Line’. Therefore, while living in a world where emotion has no value yet in heart we like to drive after an illusion. Living a couple of hour in a fantasy world is no harm, it is rather stress buster.

In Indian film industry, we have some unforgettable golden oldies and we still don’t get bored while spending time with it. Today, my page is a tribute to the stars of that golden era. With the sad demise of Dev Anand we are finally done with that golden period of romantic films. It also belongs to Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. Frankly speaking, with respect to acting, none of them excites me very much but they left some unmemorable films. Specially music in Dev Anand’s film that was mostly composed by S.D. Burman and later by R. D. Burman was a treat.  Of course, we cannot forget the natural actors like Ashok Kumar and Motilal.

Motilal

 In 1934 at the age of 24, Motilal  was offered the role of the hero. He considered being one of the best actors of Hindi cinema. He and died almost penniless in 1965. Here is a interesting comment of his regarding film - "Married a 100 times, died almost twice, never born but always brought down by a parachute".

Filmography :    Waqt, Leader, Anari, Jagte Raho, Devdas, Mr. Sampat.

Balraj Sahni

Balraj Sahni was undoubtedly one of the greatest actors ever to come on the Indian screen: a highly natural actor who reminded the audience of the actors like Motilal because of his simple persona and a sophisticated style of acting. He was looked up to as a role model as he was never involved in any scandal. His acting in Do Bigha Zameen and Garam Hawa were the highlights of his career. He believed in what is known as Neo-Realistic cinema.

Filmography :  Anuradha, Do Bigha Zamin, Garam Hawa , Ek Phool Do Mali, Garam Hawa 

Ashok Kumar

Ashok Kumar born as Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur. He started his career in Bombay (Mumbai), albeit accidentally, with the Bombay Talkies production He started his career in Bombay (Mumbai), albeit accidentally, with the Bombay Talkies production.  The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema. He also did playback singing for a few movies. He died on 10 December 2001.

Filmography : Achhut Kanya, Kismet, Parineeta, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Hatey Bazarey, Aashirwad, Choti Si Baat, Mili, Khoobsurat, Khatta Meetha.

Raj Kapoor

Raj Kapoor was born in Peshawar to Prithviraj Kapoor. He was the eldest of six children.  At the age of eleven, he appeared in films for the first time.  Raj Kapoor's big break came with the lead role in film opposite Madhubala in her first role as a leading lady. In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, he established his own studio, R. K. Films, and became the youngest film director of his time making his directorial debut with the film Aag. It was marked the first of many films in which he and Nargis appeared together. He acted and directed some memorable movies.

Filmography : Barsaat, Aag, Aah, Awaara, Boot Polish, Shree 420, Chori Chori,  Jagte Raho , Anari, Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, Teesri Kasam, Sapnon Ka Saudagar, Mera Naam Joker.

!!An anomaly? Sad, that the stars never know how to grow old with dignity!!!