Celebrity gaze

 Nafisa Ali, not Padmini Kolhapure, was the first choice for Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai  By Rajesh Ahuja   Padmini Kolhapure may today seem the obvious choice for Nasir Hussain's musical thriller Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai with her natural beauty and vivacity but not many are aware that she was not the original choice for the film.  The original choice for the female lead in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai , which created a buzz for its chartbuster music,  was former Miss India Nafisa Ali, it has been revealed in Rishi Kapoor's autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored.  Writing in his autobiography,  Rishi Kapoor,  who was the male lead for the film, said, 'around the same time as Junoon (which was the debut cinematic venture of Nafisa Ali) , Nasir Hussain was drawing up a contract with Nafisa Ali to work with me in Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai . '  Opposition by Nafisa Ali's father,  however,  put a spanner in her casting for ...

 Choreographers Master Kamal, Suresh Bhatt & P L Raj helped to create Rishi Kapoor's image as dancing star  In his autobiography, Rishi Kapoor admits role of these people in creating his 'dancing star' image  By Rajesh Ahuja   Among the legion of stars in Hindi  cinema Rishi Kapoor is considered one of the greatest romantic stars .  A big role in establishing Rishi Kapoor as a romantic star was played by his dancing moves in the film he starred in such as Kabhi Kabhie, Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin,  Karz, Khel Khel Mein and Sargam .  Writing in his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored ,  the late actor acknowledged the contribution of Choreographers Master Kamal,  Suresh Bhatt and P L Raj in creating buzz for him as a 'dancing star'.  'Even as I send my heartfelt gratitude to my music composers, directors and playback singers who embellished my career, I also send out a huge vote of appreciation to the choreographers ...

 Not Sunny Deol but Rishi Kapoor was the first choice for Nasir Hussain's Manzil Manzil  By Rajesh Ahuja   Think of the 1984 romantic thriller Manzil Manzil and almost immediately the image of Sunny Deol and Dimple Kapadia comes to mind.  For cinelovers,  the successful Nasir Hussain film may today seem unimaginable without Sunny Deol and Dimple Kapadia but when the film was conceived, Rishi Kapoor was the filmmaker's choice for the male lead,  it has been revealed in Rishi Kapoor's autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored.  Writing in his autobiography, Rishi Kapoor said that after the box office failure of Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai , which featured him and Padmini Kolhapure in the lead roles, he had avoided making any contact with the filmmaker as he couldn't face making another film with him.  'I was so guilt ridden about the debacle of Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai that I avoided all contact with him(Nasir Hussain). I couldn...

 When Dev Anand sought Dilip Kumar's help to cast Mumtaaz for Hare Rama Hare Krishna  By Rajesh Ahuja   Tales of friendship and camaraderie between Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand- the legendary Trio of the Hindi film industry during the Golden Era of Indian cinema- are fodder for millions of cinelovers across the country.  One such story of how Dilip Kumar helped his friend and contemporary Dev Anand when the latter wanted to cast Mumtaaz in the 70s musical hit Hare Rama Hare Krishna was recently narrated by Dilip Kumar's wife and yesteryear's Bollywood actress Saira Banu.  In a recent post on Instagram, Saira Banu recalled how Dilip Kumar bailed out his friend Dev Anand when he was faced with a problem in casting Mumtaaz for ' Hare Rama Hare Krishna ' due to a ceiling imposed by the film industry that a star could not work in more than six films at a time.  Dev Anand sought Dilip Kumar's help to cast Mumtaaz in Hare Rama Hare Krishna  'At one ...

 Nostalgia: When average box office run of Subhash Ghai's Karz send Rishi Kapoor into a depression  By Rajesh Ahuja   Subhash Ghai's Karz may be seen today as a cult movie for its chartbuster music and its reincarnation theme but at the time of its release,  it was a moderate success.  For the film's lead actor Rishi Kapoor, the less-than-expected success of musical thriller was quite demoralizing, sending him in a state of depression.  Writing in his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored , the late Rishi Kapoor revealed that Karz , on which he had pinned a lot of expectations,  not turning out to be the kind of success he had expected it to be left him shattered.  'To our regret, Karz wasn't the huge hit we had expected it to be, though it did decent business. The reason: Feroz Khan's lavishly made Qurbani which released just a week after Karz . Both films had great music.  Qurbani boasted the cult ' Aap jaisa koi meri Zind...

When protest by Kapoors led Raj Kapoor to drop idea to cast Rajesh Khanna in Satyam Shivam Sundaram  Raj Kapoor had envisaged Rajesh Khanna as the lead hero for Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Rishi Kapoor said in his autobiography  By Rajesh Ahuja   Legendary Raj Kapoor's hit film Satyam Shivam Sundaram may today seem unimaginable without its leading actor Shashi Kapoor but in reality Raj Kapoor had envisaged Bollywood superstar of the early 70s Rajesh Khanna as its leading hero.  This has been revealed by Rishi Kapoor in his autobiography Khullam Khulla:: Rishi Kapoor uncensored.  Writing in his autobiography,  the late Rishi Kapoor said, 'during the casting of the male lead of my father's (Raj Kapoor) film ' Satyam Shivam Sundaram ', papa was fond of Kakaji(Rajesh Khanna) and he was one of the main contenders for the role.  But soon, stories began to circulate that the rest of the Kapoor clan had ganged up against him and made its displeasure clear. Ultima...

Rishi Kapoor almost rejected Kabhi Kabhie: agreed to do the film on uncle Shashi Kapoor's insistence  By Rajesh Ahuja  Yash Chopra's Kabhi Kabhie may now  be seen by film lovers as an integral part of the repertoire of films of Bollywood's favourite lover boy Rishi Kapoor but it is a little known fact that the actor initially rejected the film.  It was uncle Shashi Kapoor's insistence that eventually led a reluctant Rishi Kapoor to finally agree to working in the film.  Writing in his autobiography ' Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored ', the late Rishi Kapoor said, ''today, it is unimaginable to think of my repertoire without Kabhi Kabhie ,  a film I had reluctantly accepted. Looking back, I wonder how I could not have done the film.'''  'How I came to join the film, a landmark in my career,  in an interesting story. I had rejected it outright, Rishi Kapoor said.  Rishi Kapoor almost rejected Yash Chopra's Kabhi Kabhie; agreed t...

Pyar Jhukta Nahin,which propelled Mithun Chakraborty to big league,was first offered to Rishi Kapoor  Rishi Kapoor's loss proved Mithun's gain, reveals Rishi's autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored  By Rajesh Ahuja  The history of Bollywood abounds with one actor's rejection of a film paving way for the movie proving to be a turning point of another actor's career.  The case of  Raj Kumar and Dev Anand's refusal to do Prakash Mehra's Zanzeer proving to be the film becoming a turning point of Amitabh Bachchan's career is well known.  However,  not many may be aware that the Iconic love story Pyar Jhukta Nahin , which propelled the then upcoming actor Mithun Chakraborty into the big league of Bollywood,  was originally offered to Bollywood's lover boy Rishi Kapoor.  This has been revealed by the late actor in his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored.  Pyar Jhukta Nahin was first offered to Rishi Kapoor,...