Basu Chatterjee is called the pioneer of middle-of-the-road cinema. He made films that struck a balance between mainstream entertainment and parallel cinema. There was neither much masala nor heavy cinema art in his films.

Stories of common life and relationships
Simple love stories, everyday life of middle class families, problems of married relationships and light humor were seen in Basu Chatterjee’s films. There was no unnecessary drama or action in his films like ‘Rajnigandha’, ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ and ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’. 10th January is the birth anniversary of Basu Chatterjee.

Birth and early career
The special thing about Basu Chatterjee was that his stories seemed exactly like those of common people. He was born on 10 January 1930 in Ajmer (Rajasthan) in a Bengali family. He started his career as a cartoonist and illustrator in Mumbai and worked in a magazine for about 18 years.

Entry into the world of films and first film
In the year 1966, he entered films and became an assistant director. His first film as a director was ‘Sara Aakash’ released in 1969. In this film, the problems that come after marriage were shown with utmost truth and sensitivity.

Not a hero but a common man became a star
In Basu Chatterjee’s films, the hero did not fight with goons but was seen managing love and relationships in small matters. He made Amol Palekar the face of a middle class man. This common man’s style was seen in films like ‘Chhoti Si Baat’, ‘Rajnigandha’, ‘Khatta-Meetha’, ‘Chitchor’ and ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’.

Long list of hit films
Basu Chatterjee’s successful films include 1974’s ‘Rajnigandha’, 1975’s ‘Chhoti Si Baat’, ‘Chitchor’, ‘Khatta-Meetha’ and ‘Baaton Baaton Mein’. These films won people’s hearts without much fanfare.

Left a deep mark in the world of TV too
Along with films, Basu Chatterjee also did excellent work on TV. He created the iconic serial ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ for Doordarshan, which ran from 1993 to 1997. In this, Rajit Kapoor played the role of a Bengali detective. In the TV show ‘Rajini’ released in 1985, Priya Tendulkar took social issues to the common people. Both these shows were seen in every household in the eighties and nineties and had a huge fan following. Basu Chatterjee’s films were liked not only by the people but also by the people of the film industry. He made his first film ‘Sara Akash’ based on the experience he gained from French, German, Italian and Mexican films.

Special praise to Mrinal Sen
According to Basu Chatterjee himself, the most special praise for ‘Sara Aakash’ was given by the famous director Mrinal Sen. Mrinal Sen had said, ‘We make films for the people but you have made this film for us.’

timeless legacy
Basu Chatterjee’s contribution to cinema and TV is timeless even today. He died on 4 June 2020 at the age of 93, but his compositions like ‘Rajnigandha’, ‘Chhoti Si Baat’ and ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ are still alive in the hearts of people.

When it comes to the most famous and successful music composer duo in the history of Indian cinema, the name of Laxmikant-Pyarelal immediately comes to mind. This pair ruled Bollywood with their music for almost four decades.

Due to his music, the 1964 film “Dosti” established him in the film industry. Who can forget the songs “Chahunga main tujhe saanjh savere” and “Raahi manwa dukh ki chinta kyun satati hai” from this movie?

Laxmikant’s childhood was spent in poverty.

We are talking about late Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar, who was born on November 3, 1937 in Mumbai. He worked as a composer and lyricist in more than 500 films, but he gained fame only after working together with music composer Pyarelal.

After the death of his father in his childhood, due to poverty and debt, the burden of managing the house fell on his shoulders at an early age. He left studies and started working as a child artist. He wanted to earn money for the family, so he thought of buying a musical instrument. Along with purchasing the instrument, he learned to play it from Hussain Ali for 2 years and while honing his skills, he created excellent music.

How Laxmikant-Pyarelal pair was formed

The story of the meeting of music composers Laxmikant and Pyarelal is also unique. Both of them met because of the famous Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar. Actually, Laxmikant saw Lata Mangeshkar for the first time in Colaba’s Radio Club. Laxmikant also impressed everyone with his presentation in the club.

Lata Mangeshkar was also very impressed by Laxmikant and she enrolled him in Suril Kala Kendra. Suril Kala Kendra was run by Lata ji’s family, which provides music education to poor children.

It was in this center that Laxmikant met Pyarelal for the first time. Laxmikant started composing music at the age of 12 and Pyarelal also joined him at the age of 10.

Both of them worked together from a young age and by the time they reached young age, both of them blessed Hindi cinema with many hit songs and melodious music. The hit duo composed music and also wrote lyrics for about 750 songs.

Feroz Khan is considered one of the most stylish actors of Bollywood. His attractive look was in discussion. He acted in more than 60 films in his career. He gave Indian cinema many memorable films like Dharma, Kurbani, Jambaz, Mela and Welcome.

Feroze remained in the news for extra marital affair
Feroz Khan’s acting career was highly appreciated, but his personal life was always in discussions. Sometimes due to the news of link-ups, sometimes failed marriage and extra marital affair, they often remained in the limelight.

Start with modeling
Feroz Khan was born in Bangalore in the name of Zulfikar Ali Shah Khan. His mother was from the Persian dynasty, while the father was of Afghan origin. He grew up with three brothers and two sisters, of which his brother Shah Abbas Khan alias Sanjay Khan also later became a well-known Bollywood actor. Due to his attractive look and personality, he stepped into modeling at an early age and in this connection, he moved from Bangalore to Mumbai.

Feroze became women’s choice
After starting with some B-grade films, the 1965 film Arzu made him a star. Feroz Khan, who was counted among his generation’s smartest and handsome actors, always attracted the attention of women. Whether fans or their co-stars. He soon also came to be called “Ladies Man”. According to reports, her name was associated with many actresses, including Zeenat Aman.

News of affair even after marriage
Feroz Khan married Sundari, whom he had two children, son Fardeen and daughter Laila. There was also a child from Sundari’s first marriage. But despite being married, his heart came to Jyotika Dhanrajgir, a very young air hostess while going to Bengaluru in connection with a work. Jyotika, who belonged to the royal family of Hyderabad and King Mahendragir was the daughter of Dhanrajgir, lived in Bengaluru. For this reason, Feroze often spent time with his girlfriend away from Mumbai. But he could not marry Jyothika. That is why he had a breakup.

Feroz Khan rejected rumors of extra-marital affair
After a breakup from Jyothika, Feroze returned to his family and tried to improve his relationship with wife Sundari. But for the second time, the situation was not completely correct and the situation worsened, due to which Sundari and Feroze decided to separate in 1985. There were reports that Feroze had returned to his ex girlfriend Jyotika.

However, despite the rumors of divorce due to his extra-marital affair, Feroz rejected it completely. He clearly said that he never knew Jyothika nor had any kind of relationship with him, and divorce happened only because the relationship was gradually away.