Immediately after independence, the focus of the films was firmly inward, focussing on the subjects of 
poverty and struggle faced by the people at large. The Oscar nominated (in the Best Foreign-Language Film category) “Mother India” became the defining film of the period. This Mehboob Khan movie, starring Sunil Dutt and Nargis, captured the essence of film making in those days, a motif of pain, soulful music and socially relevant storyline that was also evident in films like “Naya Daur”, which starred another superstar of the era, Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar was the quintessential Bollywood success story that came to represent the dreams associated with Bollywood. A resident of Peshawar, he was spotted in Pune, where his family had relocated in the 1940s. Born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, he was given the screen name Dilip Kumar by Devika Rani, herself a film legend and the wife of Himangshu Rai, the founder of Bombay Talkies. After his first break in 1944 in “Jwar Bhata”, he went on to create history winning eight Filmfare awards for the best actor, having starred in landmark films such as “Devdas” and “Mughal-E-Azam”. He was indeed Bollywood’s first superstar and in the life and career of every superstar that followed – be it Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan or even Shah Rukh Khan – you can trace vestiges of his aura. The decade of the 60s couldn’t escape the worldwide trend of a throwback to a romantic era (remember The Beatles and the hippies?) and Bollywood reflected the same with films like “Guide” (Vijay Anand’s magnum opus).….Continue
poverty and struggle faced by the people at large. The Oscar nominated (in the Best Foreign-Language Film category) “Mother India” became the defining film of the period. This Mehboob Khan movie, starring Sunil Dutt and Nargis, captured the essence of film making in those days, a motif of pain, soulful music and socially relevant storyline that was also evident in films like “Naya Daur”, which starred another superstar of the era, Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar was the quintessential Bollywood success story that came to represent the dreams associated with Bollywood. A resident of Peshawar, he was spotted in Pune, where his family had relocated in the 1940s. Born Muhammad Yusuf Khan, he was given the screen name Dilip Kumar by Devika Rani, herself a film legend and the wife of Himangshu Rai, the founder of Bombay Talkies. After his first break in 1944 in “Jwar Bhata”, he went on to create history winning eight Filmfare awards for the best actor, having starred in landmark films such as “Devdas” and “Mughal-E-Azam”. He was indeed Bollywood’s first superstar and in the life and career of every superstar that followed – be it Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan or even Shah Rukh Khan – you can trace vestiges of his aura. The decade of the 60s couldn’t escape the worldwide trend of a throwback to a romantic era (remember The Beatles and the hippies?) and Bollywood reflected the same with films like “Guide” (Vijay Anand’s magnum opus).….Continue
