Veteran Bollywood actor Pran, who was remembered for films like played MILAN, MADHUMATI, BOBBY and ZANJEER passed away yesterday in a Mumbai suburban hospital. He was 93.
The actor, who was known for his roles as a villain, performed in over 400 films. He was awarded the country's highest cinema honour, Dada Saheb Phalke award, in April.
He is survived by his wife Shukla Sikand and two sons, Arvind and Sunil, and daughter Pinky.
Son of legendary actor, Mahakshay Chakraborty (Mimoh) will be seen performing some deadly stunts in Vikram Bhatt's upcoming film "HAUNTED" - India's first stereoscopic 3D film. Audiences will be pleasantly surprised to see Mahakshay looking refreshingly different in HAUNTED and performing some daredevil stunts himself. Action director Abbas Ali Moghul and everyone in the unit were very apprehensive about him performing the stunts. However, Mahakshay not only refused to use a body double but also relentlessly pushed himself for few of the action scenes.
Says Abbas, "Mahakshay has performed some deadly stunts himself in the movie. I remember a particular sequence where a chandelier falls on Mimoh and on the timing he had to roll on the ground before the chandelier bursts beside him. We were a little worried but Mimoh decided to do it all by himself. Though everyone on the sets suggested we use a body double but Mahakshay was very excited on doing it himself."
Today Shammi Kapoor turns 79 who born on 21 October 1931,in a Punjabi Khatri family is an Indian film actor and director.
He was born with the given name Shamsher Raj Kapoor in Mumbai to film and theatre actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Shammi was the second of three sons born to Prithviraj (the other two being Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor), all of whom were, like their father, successful Bollywood actors. Though he was born in Mumbai, he spent a major portion of his childhood in Kolkata, where his father was involved with New Theatres Studios, acting in films. It was in Kolkata only that he did his Montessory and Kindergarten. After coming back to Mumbai, he first went to St. Joseph's Convent (Wadala) and then, to Don Bosco School. Shammi Kapoor finished his schooling from New Era School, at Hughes Road.
EARLY LIFE:-
Shammi Kapoor had a short stint at the Ruia College, after which he joined his father’s theatrical company "Prithvi Theatres". He entered the world of cinema in 1948, as a junior artiste, at a salary of Rs.50 per month. Kapoor stayed with Prithvi Theatres for the next four years and collected his last paycheck, being Rs.300, in the year 1952. He made his debut in Bollywood in the year 1953, when the film Jeevan Jyoti was released. It was directed by Mr. Mahesh Kaul and Chand Usmani was Kapoor’s first heroine.
HIS CAREER IN FILM INDUSTRY:-
Kapoor started out with serious roles but with Filmistan's Nasir Hussain directed Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) opposite Ameeta and Dil Deke Dekho (1959) with Asha Parekh, he attained the image of a light hearted stylish playboy. With Junglee (1961) his new image was cemented and subsequent films were all in this genre. He particularly chose Mohammed Rafi as his playback voice. Though in his early career he had often played second fiddle to established heroines like Madhubala in films such as Rail Ka Dibba (1953), producers now loved pairing Shammi with new heroines, but only four became huge stars: Asha Parekh, Sadhna, Saira Banu, and Sharmila Tagore.f all his heroines, he said that Sharmila Tagore, Rajshree, and Asha Parekh were easy to work with.He and Asha Parekh were paired together in four films, the most successful being the murder mystery Teesri Manzil (1966).
During first half of the 1960s, Kapoor was seen in successful films like Professor, Char Dil Char Rahen, Raat ke Raahi, Dil Tera Diwana, ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, Bluff Master, Janwar and Rajkumar. Although nominated before, in 1968, he received the first Filmfare Best Actor award of his career for the film Bramhachari.
At the peak of his career, Shammi Kapoor - tall, athletic, lively, fair complexioned, green-eyed and with handsome features- was a heartthrob and his good looks and physique complemented his image.
In the 1970s, Kapoor’s weight problem proved an obstacle in his path of success and ended his career as a romantic hero. One of his last hits, in which he played the lead role, was Andaz (1971). With time, he moved to carecter roles and acted in films like Zameer, Hero and Vidhaata. In 1974, he donned the hat of a director and made Manoranjan, a film based on Irma La Douce. Two years later, he made Bandalbaaz (1976). However, both the films failed to create magic at the box office. His last appearance, as a character actor, was in the delayed 2006 film, Sandwich.Recently he has decided to act with Ranbir Kapoor, the grandson/great-nephew of his brother Raj Kapoor, in Imitiaz Ali's next movie.
PERSONAL LIFE:-
Shammi Kapoor met Geeta Bali in the year 1955, during the shooting of the film ‘Rangeen Raaten’, in which he was the main lead and she played a cameo. They fell in love, but since she was a year older to him and had acted with his elder brother and father, they were skeptical. Four months after they first met, they decided to get married. Shammi and Geeta went to Banganga Temples, near Napean Sea Road of Mumbai, and got married, with Hari Walia as the sole witness. It was only after the marriage that they informed their parents.
The couple lived a life of bliss in the coming years and had a son the following year. Aditya Raj Kapoor was born on 1 July 1956, at Shirodkar's Hospital, Mumbai. Five years later, in 1961, they had another child. This time, it was a daughter, Kanchan. Tragedy struck the Kapoor family during the filming of Teesri Manzil (1966) and Geeta died of small pox leaving him with two small children. It led to a failed romance with Mumtaz, his co-star from Brahmchari (1968).
In 1969, he married his second wife Neela Devi Gohil from the Royal Family of Bhavnagar in Gujarat , and his significant weight gain ended his career as a romantic hero in the early 1970s, with Andaz (1971) being one of his last hits. He turned into a successful supporting actor in the 70's, playing Saira Banu's father in Zameer (1975), when he had been her leading man a decade earlier in Junglee (1961) and Bluff Master (1964) and playing Amitabh Bachchan's foster father in Parvarish. He also directed Manoranjan (1974) a copy of Irma La Douce and in which he played a supporting role himself and Bandalbaaz (1976), but neither were successful. In the 1980s and 1990s, he continued to play supporting roles in many films and won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Vidhaata (1982). He eventually cut down on film appearances by the late 1990s and early 2000s and made his last appearance in the delayed 2006 release Sandwich.
Shammi Kapoor is one of the leading internet users in India. He is the founder and chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). Apart from that, he has also played a major role in setting up internet organizations like the Ethical Hackers Association. Kapoor also maintains a website dedicated to the ‘Kapoor family’. In 2006, he told interviewers that he goes to dialysis three times a week. Even that has failed to depress him. Rather, he is thankful to God for giving him so much.
Today Amitabh Bachchan turns 69. He was born on 11th October 1942. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Bollywood cinema, and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history.
Bachchan has won numerous Awards in his career, including four National Film Awards, three of which are in the Best Actor category, and thirteen Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.
EARLY LIFE:-
He was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a well-known Hindi poet, while his mother, Teji Bachchan was a Sikh-Punjabi from Faisalabad. Bachchan was initially named Inquilaab, inspired from the famous phrase Inquilab Zindabad, during the Indian independence struggle, but was re-named Amitabh which means, "the light that would never go off." Though his surname was Shrivastava, his father had adopted the pen-name Bachchan, under which he published all his works. It is with this last name that Amitabh debuted in films, and, for all public purposes, it has become the surname of all members of his current family.
Amitabh is the eldest of Harivansh Rai Bachchan's two sons, the second being Ajitabh. He attended Allahabad's Jnana Prabodhini and Boys' High School (BHS), followed by Nainital's Sherwood College, where he majored in the art stream. He later went on to study at Kirori Mal College of the University of Delhi and completed a Bachelor of Science degree. In his twenties, Bachchan gave up a job as freight broker for the shipping firm, Bird and Co., based in Calcutta now known as Kolkata, to pursue a career in acting.
PERSONAL LIFE:-
Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children, Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan. Abhishek is also an actor and is married to actress Aishwarya Rai.
