............................................................................Film & Entertainment

  Raj Kapoor  

Raj Kapoor is known as the biggest showman of Hindi cinema. The beauty of Raj Kapoor lay in depicting a sensitive subject with ease and conviction. He played the Indian version of the tramp in a lot of his movies to great success. Son of the screen and stage doyen Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor started his career as a filmmaker in 1948, with Aag - a patchy but sometimes brilliant film shot on a miniscule budget. Barsaat, a blockbuster followed a year later.

The film got together a team that then went on to one hit after another - music composers Shankar and Jaikishen, lyricist Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, the voices of Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh under the RK Films banner. From Shri 420, Awara, Aah, Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam all met success of the box office. But the film closest to his heart Mera Naam Joker did not, and maybe therefore remained the film that he loved the most. RK Films also made films like Jagte Raho and Bootpolish that were not directed by Raj Kapoor.

His film 'Bobby' introduced teenage romance in Hindi films. Later on in his career, he made films like Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Prem Rog, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Heena. He brought in pretty faces like Dimple Kapadia, Mandakini and Zeba Bakhtiar.

 Dev Anand  

Dev Anand has a never dying spirit. His zest and enthusiasm works as an inspiration to millions of his fans. 'Evergreen' as he is appropriately called, this never ageing man goes on undaunted. Born in 1923 in Gurdaspur, Dev Anand was one of three brothers who went on to be closely associated with the Hindi film industry. Elder brother Chetan was director of films like Aandhiyan, Taxi Driver, Funtoosh, Aakri Khat, Heer Ranjha and Haqeekat. Dev Ananad started Navketan, an independent production unit in 1949 with Chetan Anand.

Their first film Afsar was an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's Inspector General. Navketan made several films that are remembered even today. It also saw the debut of Guru Dutt as a director with Baazi. Younger brither Vijay joined Navketan with films like Kala Bazaar, Tere Ghar ke Saamne, Guide, Jewel Thief and Johney Mera Naam. Dev Anand was one of the first romantic heart throb this country has seen.

As a filmmaker, actor, director he is a colossus. Apart from Guru Dutt and Vijay Anand, he introduced Raj Khosla, S D and R D Burman, Jaidev, Sahir Ludhianvi, Fali Mistry to the Hindi screen. To Dev Anand also goes the credit of introducing actresses like Zeenat Aman, Tina Munium and several others. He continues to make films with the same zest to this day.

 Javed Akhtar  

Javed Akhtar began his career in Hindi films as one half of the script writing duo - Salim Javed. They were possibly the most successful scriptwriters that Hindi cinema has seen. They were hugely responsible for the 'angry young man' who took over Hindi cinema at that time. They commanded huge fees for their scripts, sometimes even exceeding the stars. They had a long association with Ramesh Sippy, which started with Sippy's first film Andaz. It reached its highest point with Sholay.
Unfortunately, the combination broke up and today they are sorely missed.

Javed Akhtar went solo with films like Arjun, Betaab and Mr India. Today, Javed Akhtar is more popular as a lyricist and poet. He is the lyricist behind films like Tezaab, Sagar, Mr India and Silsila. Some of the more popular songs penned by him of late include "Ek Do Teen…" from Tezaab, 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha….' from '1942 - A Love Story'. But his recognition as a poet goes beyond Hindi film lyrics.

Javed hails from a family of poets and writers. His father Jan Nisar Akhtar was a well-known Urdu poet and film lyricist and his mother Safia Akhtar was a teacher and writer. During his long career in the films, Javed has won many popular awards, including ten Filmfare awards for lyrics and script writing, two Screen Videocon Awards, the Zee Award and three national awards. He has also composed various Ghazal albums in collaboration with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Jagjit Singh and Shankar Mahadevan.

 SMITA PATIL  

One of the most talented actresses in Indian Cinema, Smita Patil was born in Pune in 1955. Her father was a former minister in the government of Maharashtra. She was a news reader on Doordarshan when she was discovered by Shyam Benegal. She went to deliver extraordinary performances for Benegal in films like Manthan, Charandas Chor, Nishant, Mandi and most of all Bhumika, the film based on the life of Marathi screen actress Hansa Wadkar.

She worked for almost all the filmmakers who were leading the charge of parallel cinema in that era. Her other performances that stand out include those in films like Satyajit Ray's Sadgati, Govind Nihalani's Aakrosh, Jabbar Patel's Umbartha and Jait Re Jait, G Aravindam's Chidambaram, Ketan Mehta's Bhavani Bhavai, Mahesh Bhatt's Arth and Robindra Dharmaraj's Chakra. She also got her share of mainstream success with films like Shakti and Namak Halal. Her work was celebrated at the festival of La Rochelle and by the French cinematheque in 1984.

She was an activist and a photographer. Her skills as a photographer became evident in an exhibition of her work 'Through the eyes of Smita', at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Bombay in 1992. Smita was married to Raj Babbar. Her unfortunate death during childbirth at Smita Patil at the young age of 30 left a hole in the film world that has not yet been filled.