Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas

First in the list of remakes is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (2002) starring Shahrukh Khan (as Devdas), Madhuri Dixit (as Chandramukhi), Aishwarya Rai (as Paro) and Jackie Shroff (as Chunnilal). The music was by Ismail Darbar. Devdas is adapted from a novel of the same name by Saratchandra Chatterjee. It has been made twice before this version.

Devdas (1955) was directed by Bimal Roy had Dilip Kumar (as Devdas), Vyjyantimala (as Chandramukhi), Suchitra Sen (as Paro) and Motilal (as Chunnilal). Music was by Sachin Dev Burman.

Devdas (1936) was directed by P. C. Barua with K. L. Saigal (as Devdas), Rajkumari (as Chandramukhi) and Jamuna (as Paro).

All three versions were hits. Of course, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's was the biggest of them all because it was released the last. It was very garish, and opulent. Personally, I did not like the movie so much. But the re-make ensured lot of praise for Sanjay Leela Bhansali as a film maker and he definitely laughed his way to the bank.

Remakes of Old Classics

For the past few years, it has been a season of remakes of old classics in Bollywood. I am not sure if this signifies a creative bankruptcy of ideas / stories with the writers in Bollywood or is it just plain good business sense to churn old hits into stylized movies of today. Or is it just another way of ensuring a hit as these films were blockbusters when they were released the first time around.

Does anybody think that our writers in Bollywood have ran out of ideas to write for Hindi films?

In my next few posts, I'll deal with some of the remakes that have already been released and some that are in the process of being released.

Music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna

The music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna is out. The music is by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and the lyrics are by Javed Akhtar. They have released two songs as television promos. Personally, I didn't like either of them. But as all the film-makers say, the music will grow on you as you keep on listening. Well, so far, it's not grown on me.

Anybody liked the music of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna?

Karan Johar and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

The character of young Hrithik Roshan in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was inspired from Karan Johar's own life and he was the roly-poly young Hrithik Roshan's character in the movie who was also referred to as "Laddoo".

Vikram Bhatt and Ankahee

Vikram Bhatt's Ankahee (2006) starring Aftab Shivdasani, Esha Deol and Ameesha Patel is rumoured to be based on his relationship with Sushmita Sen. Of course, Vikram Bhatt has gone on record saying that this movie is not based on his relationship with Sushmita Sen.

Of course the movie turned out to be an absolute dud and it seemed that there were no takers for Vikram Bhatt's love life with the very pretty Sushmita Sen.

Farhan Akhtar and Lakshya

Farhan Akhtar has said in many interviews that the character of care free and careless Karan Shergill (prior to his joining the army) in Lakshya was based on his own life i.e., how clueless and careless he was before he realised that making films was his calling in life. Must say it came out pretty well and I am sure that lot of people would have identified with that particular syndrome at that particular age.

Personally, I thought Lakshya was a great film and had very good music by Shankar Ehsaan and Loy. I thought Hrithik Roshan's performance was top rate but Preity Zinta was strictly okay. Unfortunately, the movie did not do very well at the box office. And to top it all, I think Farhan has captured Ladakh / Leh in the most breathtaking manner. Inspite of being totally barren, it looks beautiful on the screen.

Any takers for Lakshya?

Mahesh Bhatt and Arth

This discussion could not have started without any mention of the omnipresent Mahesh Bhatt. The man has an opinion on EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING.

In the year 1982, he directed Arth starring Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raj Kiran and Smita Patil in lead roles. It is said that the movie was based on his tumultous relationship with one of the leading actress of the 80's. This is easily one of the better movies directed by Mahesh Bhatt with amazing performance from Shabana Azmi. The music by Jagjit Singh is outstanding.

I must say that it takes lot of guts and gumption to take a controversial part of your life and paint it on the celluloid for the world to see. Full marks to Mr. Mahesh Bhatt. Well done sir!

Director's own life in the film

There have been many instances in the Hindi film industry where the director of the film incorporates certain parts of his / her personal life into the film. It's quite an interesting practice because it gives the audience a chance to delve deeper into the psyche / lifestyle of the director.

In my next few posts, I'll talk about some directors and the movies that they have directed by incorporating some of their personal experiences into the movie.

It would be great to receive views / comments on the same.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Javed Akhtar

For Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan Johar had originally approached Javed Akhtar to write the lyrics. However, Javed Akhtar refrained from accepting it as he felt the title of the movie was not in good taste. Eventually, the lyrics were written by Sameer. The music of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai went on to become a huge hit and the film was an even bigger hit.

Prem Qaidi and Barsaat

Karisma Kapoor was supposed to make her debut with Bobby Deol in Barsaat (1995) to be directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. However, she did not want to wait for too long for Barsaat to be made and hence she went and signed Prem Qaidi (1991) directed by K. Murli Mohan Rao. Her co-star in the film was Harish. Prem Qaidi went on to become a big hit.

And Twinkle Khanna made her debut in Barsaat (1995) directed by Rajkumar Santoshi with Bobby Deol as her co-star. Unfortunately, Barsaat did not do well at the box office.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

The role of Tina played by Rani Mukherjee in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) directed by Karan Johar was originally supposed to have been played by Twinkle Khanna. For some reason, Twinkle Khanna couldn't do the film and eventually it went to Rani Mukherjee who was a newcomer at that time. In spite of this, the name of the character in the film continued to be called Tina.

Woh 7 Din

The character of Prem Pratap Patialawale essayed by Anil Kapoor in Who 7 Din (1983) directed by Bapu was originally supposed to have been done by Sanjeev Kumar. However, I read in one of the interviews that the producers could not afford to pay Sanjeev Kumar and hence the role went to Anil Kapoor. And Anil Kapoor couldnt' have had a better launching pad for his career as this movie definitely was a big hit and a great beginning to his career. Incientally, the movie was produced by Anil Kapoor's father's production company and Boney Kapoor.

Mr. India

The role of Arun Verma played by Anil Kapoor in Mr. India (1987) directed by Shekhar Kapur was initially written for Amitabh Bachchan by his favourite writers Salim - Javed. But since Amitabh Bachchan did not wish to do the film, it went to Anil Kapoor. Needless to say, Anil Kapoor did full justice to the character of Arun Verma and the movie was a runaway success.

Chalte Chalte

The character of Priya Mathur played by Rani Mukherjee in Chalte Chalte (2003) directed by Aziz Mirza, was earlier to be done by Aishwarya Rai. In fact, she had even started shooting for the film. However, according to 'sources' there was an incident on the sets of the film when Salman Khan visited Aishwarya Rai and the shoting of the film came to a stand still. And Aishwarya Rai was replaced by Rani Mukherjee pronto! And since then, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai haven't worked together.

Dil To Pagal Hai

The role of Nisha played by Karisma Kapoor in Dil To Pagal Hai (1997) [produced and directed by Yash Chopra] was first offered to Kajol, Juhi Chawla and Urmila Matondkar. All of them refused the role because it was second to Madhuri Dixit and finally it went to Karisma Kapoor. Ironically, Karisma Kapoor won the National Award [for Best Supporting Actress] for her performance in Dil To Pagal Hai.

Kal Ho Naa Ho

The role of Naina in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) [directed by Nikhil Advani and produced by Karan Johar] was first offered to Kareena Kapoor. But she refused the role (unofficially / apparently due remuneration issues) and it straight went to the lap of Preity Zinta. Kal Ho Naa Ho went on to become a huge success and is one of the top hits in Preity Zinta's credentials.

Father-Son in a Movie - XI

Amitabh Bachchan - Abhishek Bachchan

Arguably one of the best father - son pairings in the recent times that we have seen act together.

The first time they faced the camera together was for Bunty Aur Babli (2005) directed by Shaad Ali and also starring Rani Mukherjee.

Next they came together in Sarkar (2005) directed by Ram Gopal Varma and also starring Supriya Pathak, Kay Kay Menon, Anupam Kher, Tanisha and Katrina Kaif.

Abhishek Bachchan also did a small cameo in Ek Ajnabee (2005) directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Amitabh Bachchan was the main lead and the movie also starred Arjun Rampal, Rucha Vaidya, Perizad Zorabian and Vikram Chatwal.

Both the movies were big hits of 2005 and that made them a hot pair as actors. Forthcoming movie of these two actors is Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) directed by Karan Johar and also starring Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee. QUite an awesome starcast I must say. But this one promises to be one hell of a tear-jerker (typical Karan Johar movie) and deals with the sensitive issue of adultry.

They will also be seen together in Sarkar 2 which is a sequel to Sarkar and would be directed by Ram Gopal Varma.

Father-Son in a Movie - X

Vinod Khanna - Akshaye Khanna

The only movie they acted together in was the utterly forgettable debut of Akshaye Khanna in Himalaya Putra (1997) directed by Pankaj Parashar and also starring Hema Malini, Anjala Zaveri and Shazia Malik.

Father-Son in a Movie - IX

Dharmendra - Sunny Deol

Kshatriya (1993) directed by J. P. Dutta and also starring Sunil Dutt, Rakhee Gulzar, Vinod Khanna, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Raveena Tandon, Sanjay Dutt and Divya Bharati.

Sultanat (1988) directed by Mukul Anand and also starring Sridevi, Karan Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Shakti Kapoor and Amrish Puri.

Sunny (1986) directed by Raj Khosla and starring Waheeda Rehman, Sharmila Tagore and Amrita Singh.

IIFA Awards - 2006

This year the IIFA Awards were held at Dubai. Some of winners of IIFA Awards this year were:

Best Picture - Black

Best Director - Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Black

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male) - Amitabh Bachchan for Black

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female) - Rani Mukherjee for Black

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) - Abhishek Bachchan for Sarkar

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) - Ayesha Kapoor for Black

Best Performance in a Comic Role - Javed Jaffery for Salaam Namaste

Best Performance in a Negative Role - Nana Patekar for Bluffmaster

Best Best Story - Nagesh Kukunoor for Iqbal

Best Music - Shankar Ehsaan Loy for Bunty Aur Babli

Best Lyrics - Gulzar for Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli)

Best Playback Singer (Male) - Himesh Reshammiya for Aashiq Banaya Aapne (Aashiq Banaya Aapne)

Best Playback Singer (Female) - Alisha Chinai for Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli)

Out of the above lot, frankly, I thought the only people who deserved the award were Javed Jaffrey, Shankar Ehsaan and Loy and Gulzar. Rest all the awards are mere patronising.

Frankly, all the award ceremonies these days (be it Filmfare, Screen, IIFA etc.) indulge in gross patronising of Yash Chopra (and his family), Karan Johar, Amitabh Bachchan (and his family) and Shahrukh Khan (and his family). It is for this very reason, that film awards ceremonies put me off completely.

Does anybody share my feelings on the above?

Breaking News - Abhishek Bachchan

The media continues to surprise me time and again and again and again.

The whole controversy over Mika Singh's lip lock with Rakhi Sawant had not even died down I was very amazed at the BREAKING NEWS on India TV last evening (June 22, 2006) at about 9.30 pm.

And guess what the BREAKING NEWS was? It was Abhishek Bachchan's interview where he was talking about his forth coming movies Dhoom 2 and Umrao Jaan. I was wondering what was the breaking news. Then I read at the bottom ticker of the news channel. The BREAKING NEWS was that Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna was not a remake of Silsila. Oh my god! THAT was the BREAKING NEWS!!!!! Not to mention that this interview was given at an event where Abhishek Bachchan was being announced as the brand ambassador of OMEGA. Very convenient for everybody!

Vishal Bharadwaj's "Omkara"

Has anybody seen the trailer of Vishal Bharadwaj's "Omkara"? I thought the movie looks pretty interesting and intriguing and is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. The star cast of "Omkara" is very interesting. It's got Ajay Devgan in the main lead as Omkara alongwith Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Konkona Sen Sharma and (my favourite actor) Naseeruddin Shah. The music is by Vishal Bharadwaj himself.

Vishal Bharadwaj's earlier outing Maqabool (which was an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth) was also mindblowing. I think Pankaj Kapur and Irfan Khan really gave the performance of their lives.

Anybody seen the trailer of Omkara? Any views?

Father-Son in a Movie - VIII

Feroz Khan – Fardeen Khan

This father and son pair first acted together Janasheen (2003) directed by Feroz Khan. This movie was Celina Jaitley's debut film. The film bombed at the box office.

They also acted together in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) directed by Suparn Verma. The movie did not do very well and (as written by me in my earlier posts) was very well inspired from the hollywood flick Confidence.

Does anybody know of any other movies done by these two together?

Father-Son in a Movie - VII

Rajendra Kumar and Kumar Gaurav

Both Rajendra Kumar and Kumar Gaurav appeared together in Love Story (1981) directed by Rajendra Kumar himself. This movie proved to be a spectacular launch for Kumar Gaurav and his popularity had reached unprecedented heights. Unfortunately, he could not capitalies on the success of Love Story and none of his subsequent movies did well.

They also appeared together in Star (1982) directed by Vinod Pande. However, Rajendra Kumar had a guest appearance in the movie.

They also acted together in an utterly forgettable Phool (1994) directed by Srinivasa Rao Singeetham and Kumar Gaurav's co-star in this movie was Madhuri Dixit.

Father-Son in a Movie - VI

Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt

The first movie where both Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt acted together was Reshma Aur Shera (1971). It was directed by Sunil Dutt himself and starred Waheeda Rehman, Sunil Dutt, Rakhee Gulzar and Vinod Khanna. Sanjay Dutt acted as a child actor in the movie and had a very brief role in the film.

They also acted together after a long gap in Munnabhai MBBS (2003) directed by Rajkumar Hirani and also starring Gracy Singh, Jimmy Shergill and Boman Irani.

Does anybody know any more movies done by these two together?

Controversy - Rakhi Sawant and Mika Singh

Everybody must have read about the controversy about Mika Singh's lip-locking incident with Rakhi Sawant at the former's birthday bash on Saturday night. Well, you couldn't have missed it as every news channel and every newspaper (on Monday) carried article about the same. Some national newspapers carried the story about this latest controversy on their front page.

For the uninitiated, Rakhi Sawant is famous for her raunchy item numbers and music videos and she has also acted in few movies like Chura Liya Hai Tumne and Main Hoon Naa. Mika Singh is Daler Mehendi's younger brother and also a pop star in his own right.

Last weekend’s incident just reminds me of the interview Aamir Khan did with Rajdeep Sardesai couple of weeks back on CNN-IBN (entitled "Citizen Khan") about Aamir Khan's controversial stand on the rehabilitation of the farmers in Gujarat.

During the interview, Aamir had stated that the media has this habit of blowing everything out of proportion and that's when Rajdeep shot back by saying that even the people from the film industry use the media as and when they want to promote their films. At that juncture, Aamir admitted that film actors do use the media as and when they want. However, he also said that media should act responsibly by not sensationalising even issues that are absolutely trivial as there are many more important national issues that need the media's attention.

Saturday night's episode was another case of sensationalism by the media over Rakhi Sawant and Mika Singh, both of whom have had no or negligeble contribution to the field of arts and entertainment. I am not even sure if this is a publicity gimmick. Surpsisingly, all the news channels carried this incident and one channel also did a live tele-conference call between Rakhi Sawant and Mika Singh.

I am not sure where will our media stop because personally, I found this very difficult to digest that this incident captured so much media attention, time, energy and money. Probably, one reason could be that there may be takers for these kind of news as well. If that is so, then it's really sad as to what our society has come to.

Father-Son in a movie - V

Raj Kapoor - Randhir Kapoor

This father-son duo have have shared screen space in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) directed by Randhir Kapoor and starring Randhir Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Prithviraj Kapoor. This movie had three generations of the Kapoor family working together and sharing screen space. Babita played the lead actress to Randhir Kapoor in the movie.

They have also acted together in Dharam Karam (1975) directed by Randhir Kapoor and starring Rekha, Premnath and Dara Singh.

Father-Son in a movie - IV

Raj Kapoor - Rishi Kapoor

This father-son duo acted in Mera Naam Joker (1970) directed by Raj Kapoor but they were never in one frame together as Rishi Kapoor played the role of young Raj Kapoor in the movie. Another instance of father directing son. This movie was a complete washout and Raj Kapoor had to suffer huge monetary losses as he had bet big on this movie. However, he made a spectacular comeback with Bobby.

Father-Son in a movie - III

Prithviraj Kapoor - Shammi Kapoor

This father son duo acted in two movies together. One was Jaanwar (1965) directed by Bhappi Sonie and starring Rajashree, Rehman and Rajendranath. The movie did well at the box office.

The second movie in which both Prithviraj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor acted together was Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya (1963) directed by Ranga B. S. Not sure how the movie did at the box office.

Father-Son in a movie - II

Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor

This father-son duo, both were big actors in their own right. They have shared screen space in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971) directed by Randhir Kapoor and starring Randhir Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Prithviraj Kapoor. It was amazing to see these three generations together share screen space. Babita was Randhir Kapoor's love interest in the film.

Also the novelty about this movie was a son directing his father and grandfather in a movie. There are not many such instances in Hindi film industry where a son has directed his father.

I am not sure if this movie did well or not. But it surely didn't set the box office on fire.

Anybody knows about the box office performance of this film?

They have also acted together in Awara (1951) directed by Raj Kapoor. The movie also had Raj Kapoor as a lead actor and Nargis as the lead actress. This movie was a big hit. Even in this movie, a son has directed his father.

Father-Son in a movie - I

Besides the instances of a father directing his son in Hindi films, there have also been instances where father and son have shared screen space in the movie. I have my dobts as to how successful this has been in the Hindi film industry.

In my coming posts, I will try to list out some (if not all) of the leading father-son pairs that have acted together in movies. Let us analyse these and see if movies having father-son as actors have fared well at the box office.

Father directing Son - VII

Tahir Hussain – Aamir Khan

Yes, believe it or not but Aamir Khan has been directed by his father Tahir Hussain in an utterly forgettable Tum Mere Ho (1990). the movie also had Juhi Chawla as Aamir's co-star and Ajit Vachhani. Music was by Anand - Milind. This movie was a complete wash out.

Father directing Son - VI

Feroz Khan - Fardeen Khan

Fardeen Khan made a disastrous debut with Prem Aggan (1988) which was totally (mis)directed by Feroz Khan. Meghna Kothari was Fardeen's love interest and the cast was supported by Raj Babbar and Anupam Kher. The music was by Anu Malik.

Thereafter, Feroz Khan once again directed Fardeen in Janasheen (2003). This movie was Celina Jaitley's debut film. The film bombed at the box office.

Father directing Son - V

Rakesh Roshan – Hrithik Roshan

This director-actor duo has proved to be very successful at the box office.

Rakesh Roshan directed Hrithik in his debut vehicle Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000) which was a runaway success at the box office and own numerous awards. The movie had Hrithik Roshan in a double role and also starred Amisha Patel, Dalip Tahil, Satish Shah and Anupam Kher.

Their second innings together was Koi Mil Gaya (2003) was a big hit as well. This movie loosely was an inspiration of "ET" meets "Forrest Gump". However, Hrithik as the mentally challenged person did very well. Rekha and Priety Zinta played pivotal roles in the movie.

Their third outing together Krrish is ready to be released. This is a sequel to Koi Mil Gaya and has Preity Zinta in a special appearance while Priyanka Chopra plays Hrithik's love interest in this movie.

The music for all the above three films has been scored by Rajesh Roshan. While the music of Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Koi Mil Gaya were super hits, it still remains to be seen if the music of Krrish is as successful.

Father directing Son - IV

Rajendra Kumar and Kumar Gaurav

Kumar Gaurav made a sensational debut with Love Story (1981) directed by his father Rajendra Kumar (popularly also known as Jubilee Kumar). Vijeta Pandit was Kumar Gaurav's love interest in the movie. Rajendra Kumar, Danny Denzonpa and Amjad Khan played pivotal roles in this romantic flick. Music for this film was by R. D. Burman.

Kumar Gaurav tasted unprecedented success and stardom after the relesae of Love Story and a new romantic star had arrived on the scene. However, he could not repeat his success of Love Story in his subsequent movies and he just faded away into oblivion. He was last seen in Kaante (2002) directed by Sanjay Gupta and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Mahesh Manjrekar and Lucky Ali.

Father directing Son - III

Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt

Sunil Dutt has directed his son Sanjay Dutt in two movies.

The first one was Reshma Aur Shera (1971) starring Waheeda Rehman, Sunil Dutt, Rakhee Gulzar and Vinod Khanna. Sanjay Dutt acted as a child actor in the movie and had a very brief role in the film.

The second movie was Rocky (1981) which was Sanjay Dutt's debut film as a lead actor. This movie proved to be a cracker of a debut for Sanjay Dutt because he had totally arrived as a lead actor. The movie also starred Rakhee Gulzar, Reena Roy, Tina Munim, Amjad Khan and Shakti Kapor. The music of the film, by R. D. Burman was super - hit as well.

Father directing Son - II

Raj Kapoor directed Rajeev Kapoor in Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985). Other mail actors in the film were Mandakini (in what turned out to be a sensational debut), Divya Rana, Saeed Jaffrey, Sushma Seth, Raza Murad and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.

This movie was probably the only hit in the not-so-great career of Rajeev Kapoor. And the movie probably did well because of the story line, music and Mandakini under the waterfall wearing the wet-white saree leaving absolutely nothing to imagination.

Music by Ravindra Jain was a big hit as well.

Father directing Son - I

There have been quite a few instances when a father has directed his son in Bollywood. In some of my coming posts, I will try and list out some of the prominent father (director) - son (actor) duo.

Raj Kapoor - Rishi Kapoor

1. Mera Naam Joker (1970) starring Raj Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Simi Garewal, Dharmendra and Rajendra Kumar. Rishi Kapoor played the role of a young Raj Kapoor.

2. Bobby - Rishi Kapoor's debut as a leading actor with Dimple Kapadia as the leading actress. Pran, Prem Nath, Durga Khote and Prem Chopra played pivotal roles in the film.

3. Prem Rog - In this social drama, Rishi had Padmini Kolhapure as his co-star alongwith Shammi Kapoor, Nanda, Tanuja, Vijayendra Ghatge, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sushma Seth and Raza Murad.

Mera Naam Joker did not do to well at the box office but Bobby and Prem Rog were block busters.

Birth Names of Actors - IV

21. Salman Khan - Abdul Rasheed Salim Salman Khan

22. Akshay Kumar – Rajeev Bhatia

23. Hrithik Roshan – Hrithik Roshanlal Nagrath

24. Rakesh Roshan – Rakesh Roshanlal Nagrath

25. Mallika Sherawat – Reena Lamba

Birth Names of Actors - III

16. Govinda – Govind Ahuja

17. Dharmendra - Dharmendra Singh Deol

18. Sunny Deol – Ajay Singh Deol

19. Bobby Deol – Vijay Singh Deol

20. Ajay Devgan – Vishal Devgan

Birth Names of Actors - II

6. Amitabh Bachchan – earlier family name was Srivastava and Harivanshrai took the pen name Bachchan. Amitabh stuck to Bachchan when he entered films and the name Amitabh Bachchan has become a legend since then.

7. Jeetendra – Ravi Kapoor

8. Rajesh Khanna – Jatin Khanna

9. Johnny Walker – Badruddin Qazi

10. Kishore Kumar – Abhas Kumar Ganguly

Birth Names of Actors - I

Bollywood has always had the age-old trend of actors taking up screen names different from that of their birth names. In the next few posts, I'll try to give out the birth names of some of the more popular actors / actresses against their screen names.

Screen Name Birth Name

1. Raj Kapoor - Ranbir Raj Kapoor

2. Shammi Kapoor - Shamsher Raj Kapoor

3. Shashi Kapoor – Balbir Raj Kapoor

4. Gulzar – Sampooran Singh Gulzar

5. Sanjeev Kumar – Haribhai Jariwala

Cricketers and Movies - IV

10. Kapil Dev has acted in few movies and made his debut with Stumped (2003) directed by Gaurav Pandey and starring Raveena Tandon (also the producer of the film) and Aly Khan.

He has also made special appearance (as himself) in the following movies:

Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) directed by David Dhawan and starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Amrish Puri. Kapil paaji was acting as himself in the movie.

Iqbal (2005) directed by Nagesh Kukkunoor and starring Shreyas Talpade, Shweta Prasad, Yateen Karyekar, Prateeksha Lonkar, Girish Karnad and Naseeruddin Shah.

Aryan (2006) directed by Abhishek Kapoor and starring Sohail Khan, Sneha Ullal, Inder Kumar and Puneet Issar.

11. Mohammed Kaif

12. Ashish Nehra

13. Parthiv Patel

14. Irfan Pathan

15. Harbhajan Singh

16. Javagal Srinath

17. Navjot Singh Sidhu

All the above actors (from 11 to 17) have done a cameo (during the climax of the film) in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi directed by David Dhawan and starring Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Amrish Puri.

Cricketers and Movies - III

7. Ajay Jadeja – Khel (2003) directed by Yusuf Khan and starring Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty and Celina Jaitley.

8. Vinod Kambli – Annarth (2002) directed by Ravi Dewan and starring Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Ashutosh Rana and Preeti Jhangiani.

9. Salil Ankola made his debut with Kurukshetra (2000) directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and starring Sanjay Dutt, Mahima Choudhary, Om Puri and Shivaji Satam.

He also did about two other movies being:

Pitaah (2002) directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and starring Sanjay Dutt, Nandita Das and Sachin Khedekar. The plot of this film had a faint resemblance to A Time To Kill (based on a novel by John Grisham going of the same name) (1996) directed by Joel Schumacher starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel Jackson, Kevin Spacey and Ashley Judd.

Chura Liya Hai Tumne (2003) directed by Sangeeth Sivan and starring Zayed Khan and Esha Deol. This was Zayed Khan’s debut film.

Cricketers and Movies - II

5. Mohsin Khan – The famous Pakistani opening batsman made his Bollywood debut with Batwara (1989) directed by J. P. Dutta and starring Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Poonam Dhilon, Amrita Singh, Shammi Kapoor and Amrish Puri.

He also acted in about 10 other movies, prominent amongst them were:

Saathi (1991) directed by Mahesh Bhatt starring Aditya Pancholi, Varsha Usgaonkar, Kader Khan, Paresh Rawal and Anupam Kher. This movie was a true inspiration of the Hollywood flick “Scarface” (1983) directed by Brian De Palma starring Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth.

Mahaanta (1997) directed by Afzal Khan and starring Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit and Poonam Dhillon. This was Mohsin Khan’s last movie in Bollywood.

6. Salim Durrani acted in a movie called Charitra (1973) directed by B. R. Ishara and starring Parveen Babi.

Cricketers and Movies - I

Cricket and Movies are two of the biggest religions in India. The popularity of these two can be gauged from the fact that the most popular celebrities, across the board, are primarily cricketers and movie stars. One look at the celebrities endorsements and this fact is confirmed. The kind of money the movie stars and cricketers are paid to for endorsements are mind-boggling.

There have been a few cricketers who have dabbled into movies, most of them rather unsuccessfully. Here is a look at some of the actors who have acted in movies.

Cricketers who have acted in movies

1.Sunil Gavaskar did a special appearance in Malamal (1988) directed by Kawal Sharma and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah, Poonam Dhillon, Mandakini and Aditya Pancholi.

2.Sandeep Patil was the lead actor in Kabhi Ajnabee The (1985) starring Poonam Dhillon.

3. Syed Kirmani played villian in Kabhi Ajnabee

4. Clive Lloyd did a special cameo in Kabhi Ajnabee The and played himself as the West Indian cricketer.