Mehmood- His Name was Sufficient to Sell a Film

 

He was a star of the Golden Era Of Bollywood. He was one of the few comedians who managed to deliver box-office hits with some films riding solely on his shoulders. His specialty was that he cracked a lot of impromptu jokes and that brought the audiences closer to him.

He was the only actor for whom the audience came to the theatre before the movie started. His huge fan following spoke of his dedication and talent. He was a superstar, his name helped producers sell their film in advance and his picture on the poster ensured that the crowd turned up at the theatres. Many heroes of his time were insecure about sharing screen space with him. 

A time came when he was so much “in demand” that producers approached him, offering him full-length comedy films. He teamed up with  Shubha Khote, I S Johar, and Kishore Kumar gave us some great comedy films.

He began acting as a (reluctant) child actor. After he grew up, he pursued several odd jobs -- including that of a car driver.  For a short while, he was a chauffeur for director P.L. Santoshi. As an adult actor, he first appeared in Guru Dutt’s suspense thriller – CID. After that, Guru Dutt gave him a small part in Pyaasa. After that, he got his first noticeable “break” in Parvarish (1958), in which he landed a role as the brother of the hero, Raj Kapoor. His first breakthrough film as a comedian was Sasural, a melodramatic mega-success. The movie also created one of the most successful comedy pairings of the sixties – Mehmood and Shubha Khote. Both did more than 15 films together and gave many hit songs. The most famous films are Saural 1961,Dil Tera Diwana (1962),Hamrahi (1963) ,Grihasti (1963) ,Ziddi (1964),Love In Tokyo (1966), and Pockit Maar (1974). Mehmood and Shubha Khote gave fans endless hours of a laugh riot,

He also produced and directed films. He gave RD Burman his first break with Chhote Nawab (1961)and worked with him regularly down the years until a misunderstanding with Burman in the 70s saw him introduce Rajesh Roshan with Kunwara Baap (1974). He is also responsible in a way for Amitabh Bachchan’s rise to fame as it is after seeing him in Mehmood’s Bombay to Goa (1972), Salim-Javed found in him the perfect angry young man for their stories!

In the late 1970s, Mehmood's popularity began to decline as other comedy actors like Jagdeep, Asrani, Paintal, Deven Verma and Kader Khan shot to prominence. Between 1989 and 1999, he made a handful of movies, but most of them were either shelved or made no impression. He acted as Johnny in Rajkumar Santoshi's Andaz Apna Apna (1994)– his last known film as an actor.

In the 90s his health did not allow him to work. He died in his sleep on 23 July 2004 in the American state of Pennsylvania, where he had gone for treatment of cardiovascular heart disease after suffering from poor health over several years.  

Great songs of Mehmood and Shubha Khote

Song of Hamrahi 1963

Song of Grahsthi 1963

Song of Chhoti Bahen 1959

Song of Beti Beta 1964

Song of Sasural 1961

Song of Sasural 1961

Song of Ziddi 1964

Prakash Mehra- Who Gave Hindi Cinema a New Definition .

Prakash Mehra(13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009)  was a true entertainer. He changed mainstream Hindi cinema with his sense of drama, Indian emotion, and above all his ear for great music. His songs are still thriving, despite being decades-old. He started off his career with Haseena Maan Jayegi starring Shashi Kapoor and Babita, followed by Mela, and Samadhi which were the perfect formula for a commercial hit. 
With Zanjeer, he started his own banner.  His combination with Amitabh Bachchan proved lethal at the box office. After Zanzeer seven films of this combination ruled the Box office.
He seemed to know the magic of Amitabh the actor which he successfully used in films like 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Laawaaris', 'Namak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi', all of them major hits, one bigger than the other. 
Amitabh Bachchan once told that he was a dreamer and was never afraid of taking risks. He wanted to make big things in life. He had a film in his mind to cast the boxing legend, Mohammad Ali, with him. He even scheduled a meeting with him and Ali, at the sports icon's US home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.
He was the first filmmaker to name Amitabh as Vijay in 'Zanjeer'. Amitabh was Vijay in more than twenty films, some of them made by Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra.
Music was the strong point of all his films. He always had the veteran music directors Kalyanji- Anandji to score the music for his films but had Bappi Lahiri in two of his most successful films 'Namaak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi' He himself used to write poems, In fact in many of the songs of his films, he wrote the first few lines which formed the themes of the songs and left the rest of the lines to be written by Anjaan, In his first film Haseena Maan Jayegi, he wrote the hit song "O Dilbar Janiye" sung by Mohammad Rafi.
Prakash Mehra also directed & produced Zindagi Ek Jua with actor Anil Kapoor in 1991, which was not a commercial success. In 1996, he introduced veteran actor Raaj Kumar's son Puru Raajkumar in Bal Bramhachari which was also unsuccessful. This was the last film he directed.
 He died on 17 May 2009 in Mumbai of pneumonia and multiple organ failure. 

Song of Haseena Maan Jayegi 1968

Song of Zanzeer 1973

Song of Ek Kunwari Ek Kunwara (1973)

Song of Haath Ki Safai (1974)

Song of Hera Pheri (1976)

Song of Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978)

Song of Laawaris (1981)

Song of Namak Halaal (1982)

Song of Sharaabi (1984)