Alia Bhatt is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. Born into a family where her parents, Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan, and elder sister Pooja Bhatt were actors and filmmakers,
Jaikishan was the flamboyant, man-about-town who loved to dress in the best suits. He was the soul of the party and loved his scotch.On September 12, 1971, Jaikishan passed away due to cirrhosis of liver.He was only 42 years of age.In a short span of life he along with shankar was among the top Music Directors of Golden Era.The debonair musician actually wanted to be an actor, which was his prime motivation for moving to Mumbai. He started learning music under Vinayak Tambe and became a trained harmonium player. Prithvi Theatre was searching for a harmonium player and Shankar took Jaikishan under his wings.Soon, both friends were providing music and even acting in plays produced by Prithvi. He along with Shankar started as Music Director with Raj Kapoor's Barsaat (1949) Raj Kapoor may have introduced them but it�s wrong to credit him only for all their success. They shone even in non RK films like Daag, Basant Bahar, Amrapali, Asli Naqli, Arzoo, Dil Ek Mandir, Junglee, Love in Tokyo, An Evening in Paris. They didn�t just stick to established singers but made sure they found the right voice for the mood. For instance, they used an unknown Subir Sen for Dil mera ek aas ka panchi from Aas Ka Panchi (1960), Suman Kalyanpur for Dil ek mandir hai from Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Manna Dey for Yeh raat bheegi bheegi, Chori Chori (1956), Asha Bhosle for Mud mudke na dekh from Shri 420 (1955), Mukesh (for Dilip Kumar) in Yeh mera diwanapan hai, Yahudi (1958) and made many more such off kilter choices. Shankar-Jaikishan�s popular hits
In Hindi cinema, the job of a lookalike is not just to look like the original,but also copy their mannerism andbe experts at mimicry.They single- handedly fight lions, jump from one skyscraper to the other with ease or fight with the villain.These stunt doubles live in anonymity for years, while the stars garner all the praise. Similarly Body doubles are used for Heroines in case of Bold Scenes.In the film "7 Khoon Maaf"A particular scene required Priyanka to drop her top and expose her back. The audience was made to believe that they were ogling at PeeCee's bare back while in reality it was somebody else's.
In 1974 a film 5 Rifles produced and directed by I. S. Johar was released,the USP of that film was that the film stars Rajesh Khanna's look-alike Rakesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor's look-alike Shahi Kapoor to encash the popularity of those stars that time,These duplicates were the lead actors of that film.
Another duplicate Kishore Bhanushali, who played Junior Dev Anand in Dil worked in many films because he did the mimicry of Dev Anand.
We all know that Pakeezah took over 14 years to complete, mainly because of the famously tumultuous relationship between Kamal and Meena Kumari.Her health was not well during the completion of the film.Her condition became so bad that during the filming of the grueling emotional mujraa �Teer-e Nazar,� Meena Kumari collapsed. A body double, none other than filmi vamp Padma Khanna, was recruited to replace her! Meena Kumari personally trained her for the scene, and the song was filmed with the majority of the dancing done with an opaque chunni hiding Padma�s face!
Wahid Lala who was a son of stone quarry labourer He was the first in his family to make a career off daredevilry. He started in 1951, worked in seven Bimal Roy and nine Jugal Kishore productions, was Pran�s body double, and loved smashing cars more than Rohit Shetty does,� he grins. �My most dangerous stunt was in Chakkar Pe Chakkar [1977] � a two-minute chase ending with my car flipping over 10 times.�
Wahid Lala
Manjit Singh-Over three decades ago, Manjit Singh, who worked with action director Veeru Devgan father of Ajay Devgan, found himself at a unique advantage. He bore resemblance to Bollywood's biggest icon Amitabh Bachchan. And simply by virtue of this fact alone, Manjit become hot property in Hindi cinema.Manjit also did stunts for many other actors between 1975 to 2000 but his entire identity came from the fact that he was Amitabh's double. One interesting fact that his son Amrit now works as Abhishek Bachchan's double
Manjit Singh -the body Double of Amitabh Bachchan
Afzal Khan-a third generation stuntie, who has been a double for Salman Khan (Ek Tha Tiger, Jai Ho, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Prem Ratan Dhan Payo) and Aamir Khan (PK). His grandfather, the late Fazal Khan, was a tall, strapping Pathan employed as a watchman at a south Bombay theatre in the 1950s, when he was cast opposite Dara Singh and Dharmendra in fight sequences. Later,his eldest brother Usman did stunts and acted as a double for Raj Kapoor in Dharam Karam (1975) and Mera Naam Joker (1970).He was also Rishi�s regular double � from Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (1977) till 2015 film All is well.Usman performed stunts in women�s clothing. For Mere Apne (1971), Usman, as Meena Kumari, was hit by a car. He also performed stunts for Sadhana and Reena Roy, in female dress.
Fazal and Usman
Mansoor Khan-started his career when he was only 17 in 2007.With the support of his maternal uncles Nishant Khan and Sattar Ahmad, both veterans in this field, Mansoor began to train as a stunt.He received the MSAA card after a year and today, the 27-year-old is recognised as one of the best in the industry. With his gym-toned body and curly hair, he has boeen a double for Hrithik Rshan in Agneepath (2012), Bang Bang! (2014) and Mohenjo Daro.
Mansoor Khan with Hritik
Geeta Tandon -This 31 years old claims to be the only stuntwoman to have successfully attempted car chases.Most women don�t like to perform stunts that involve long hours in the sun or getting dirty in the mud,� she says. �But I did it all. Recently, I did a car chase scene for Aishwarya Rai�s 'Jazbaa'. She has worked as a stunt double for many, including Parineeti Chopra, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Deepika Padukone
Geeta Tandon with her children
Sanobar Pardiwala is Another Stuntwoman who has done some brilliant stunts for top actresses like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif.
The trend of composer duos is not new. Earlier decades too boasted of talented music directors like Shankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Peareylal. Thefirst to work as the music director duo.were Husnalal Bhagatram..Both were brothers.Most composers who work in teams feel that working as a duo helps in sharing thoughts and generating ideas.In this blog I have taken 10 such Composer Duos. Husnalal Bhagatram..
They made their presenceon the film music right on their entry in 1944 with the film �Chand� that came with a hit song �Do Dilon Ko Yeh Duniya� sung by Manju.Their compositions �Ek Dil Ke Tukde Hazar Huye� (Pyar Ki Jeet) and �Suno Suno Ai Duniya Walo,Bapu Ki Yeh Amar Kahani (Amar Kahani) sung with his characteristic soulful involvement became runaway hits.The rise of the talented music director duo Husnlal-Bhagatram virtually marked the beginning of Hindi film music�s golden era in the early 1940s.Who can forget the Husnlal-Bhagatram gems sung by Lata �Chale Jana Nahi Nain Mila Ke� (Badi Bahen-1949) and �Abhi To Mai Jawan Hun-Khushiyo Ke Din Manaye Ja� (Afsana-1951)?
Song from Pyar Ki Jeet 1948
Song from Afsana-1951
Shankar Jaikishan
Shankar-Jaikishan, along with other artists, composed "everlasting" and "immortal melodies" in the 1950s, and 1960s,They made their debut as Independent composer with Raj Kapoor's Barsaat in 1949.They formed a core team with lyricists Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri and with singers Mohammed RafiLata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.Shankar-Jaikishan made a significant contribution in promoting Indian classical music throughout their career. It was their established practice to have at least one song in a movie based on semi-classical style. These included songs like `Jhanak-jhanak tori baje payaliya' (Mere Huzoor), `Chham chham baje re payaliya' (Jane-anjane), `Radhike tune bansari churayi' (Beti Bete), `Manmohana bade jhoothe' (old `Seema'), `Koi matwala aya mere dware' (Love in Tokyo), `Ajahu na ayae baalma, sawan beeta jaye' (Sanjh aur Savera), `Lapak jhpak tu aa re badarwa' (Boot polish), `Ye barkha bahar sautaniya ke dwar' (Mayur pankh), `Re man sur mein ga' (Lal pathar) While working as a team, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose their songs separately. Generally, Shankar liked to work with Shailendra and Jaikishan with Hasrat Jaipuri.During their career, S-J won Filmfare Best Music Director Awards nine times.
Song from Barsaat 1949
Song from Sangam 1964
Kalyanji-Anandji
Unlike Shankar jaikishan they were brothers. Kalyanji was elder to Anandji.Kalyanji started his career as a musician, with a new electronic instrument called the clavioline. which was used for the famous "Nagin Been," used in the film Nagin (1954) which had the music of Hemant Kumar.Samrat Chandragupta (1959) was his first film as Kalyanji Virji Shah,This was followed by his composing music scores for more films like Post Box 999 before Anandji who was assisting him, joined him officially to form the Kalyanji Anandji duo in Satta Bazar and Madari (1959). Chalia (1961) was their earliest major hit. In 1965, two decisive scores, Himalay Ki God Mein and Jab Jab Phool Khile, established them as composers to reckon with. Some of their best-known works are Don, Bairaag, Saraswatichandra, Qurbani, TridevMuqaddar Ka Sikandarand Safar. They won the 1975 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for Kora Kagaz.
Song from Jab Jab Phool Khile 1965
Song from Kora Kagaz 1969
Laxmikant-Peareylal
They composed music for about 635 Hindi movies from 1963 to 1998, working for almost all notable filmmakers.Laxmikant and Pyarelal met at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children, run by the Mangeshkar family. After Lata ji came to know about their financially poor backgrounds, Lata recommended their names to music directors like Naushad, Sachin Dev Burman and C. Ramchandra. Similar financial backgrounds and age made Laxmikant and Pyarelal very good friends. The first released movie which featured them as music directors was Babubhai Mistry's Parasmani (1963),Laxmikant�Pyarelal hit the big time with Rajshri Productions' 1964 film Dosti. The film had two newcomer heroes who never became popular, and the film was a success due to its music. Songs like "Chahoonga main tujhe shaam savere" and "Rahi manava" became very popular. At that time, many used to think that there was a single person by the name of Laxmikant Pyarelal. Laxmikant�Pyarelal won their first Filmfare Best Music Director Award for the movie. LP dominated the Weekly Hindi Film songs Countdown programme Binaca Geet Mala,from 1964 to 1980s.They won 7 Filmfare Awards.The team of Laxmikant�Pyarelal and lyricist Anand Bakshi churned out some of the most popular songs in Hindi Cinemas history. The combo composed songs for more than 250 movies.
Song from Dosti 1964
Song from Do Raaste 1969
Shiv Hari
As a composer for many Yash Chopra films, the Shiv-Hari team offered pleasant melodies in an era when the music scene is said to be truly awful. Ye kahaan aa gaye hum (Silsila), Mere haathon mein nau-nau choodiyaan hain (Chandni), Jaadu teri nazar and Tu mere saamne (Darr) are just some of their many euphonic tunes.They did 8 films together
The duo soon found that they couldn�t find a balance between their work in cinema and their music outside the film circuit, and they quit films after Darr, summarily refusing Yash Chopra�s Dil To Pagal Hai, but that�s another story.
Song from Silsila 1981
Song from Chandani 1989
Nadeem Sharvan
Nadeem�Shravan were the most successful music directors of the 1990s until the early 2000s. They have the strong reliance of Hindustani music in their compositions and were the only composers during the 1990s and 2000s who relied heavily on three particular instruments: the bansuri, the sitar and the shehnai in almost all of their songs. Their first Hindi movie assignment was Maine Jeena Seekh Liya in 1981 sung by Amit kumar. In 1989, their three big movies were released: Ilaaka, Hisaab Khoon Ka and Lashkar. They composed soundtracks for many films, including Aashiqui (1990), Saajan (1991), Deewana (1992), Dil Ka Kya Kasoor (1992), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), Rang (1993), Dilwale (1994), Raja (1995), Barsaat (1995), Agni Sakshi (1996), Jeet (1996), Raja Hindustani (1996), Pardes (1997), Sirf Tum (1999), Dhadkan (2000), Kasoor (2001), Hum Ho Gaye Aapke (2001), Raaz (2002), Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), Dil Ka Rishta (2003), Andaaz (2003), Tumsa Nahi Dekha (2004), Bewafaa (2005) and many others.They won 4 Filmfare Awards,the first was for Aashiqui in 1991.Kumar Shanu,Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik were the main singers who sang for them.
Song from Aashiqui (1990)
Song from Pardes (1997)
Jatin Lalt
The brother jodi who made it big in the 1990s.They began their career in 1991, composing music for the Hindi movie Yaara Dildara. Although the film was a flop, its music was a big hit. The evergeen famous song of the movie was "Bin Tere Sanam", which topped the charts. They were first noticed for their work on the soundtrack of the movie Khiladi and for "Pehla Nasha", a romantic song from Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, the film which earned then their first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Jatin�Lalit's score for the cult classic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was a massive success, and is remembered as one of the all-time best Bollywood soundtracks, earning them another nomination at the Filmfare,Some of their best known films are .Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) ,Yes boss 1997,Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Mohabbatein, (2000),Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), Hum Tum (2004), Chalte Chalte (2003) and Fanaa (2006), After working for almost 16 years together, they announced that they would be parting ways due to personal problems.
This is not a duo but a musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. Composers who have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and English. Among the most critically acclaimed Indian musicians. The trio have won numerous awards, including National Film Award (India), Filmfare Awards, IIFA Awards. Shankar Ehsaan and Loy came up from the ranks of the non-film music scene, performing rock, blues, jazz and pop before entering the film music industry.Their first Hindi film was Dus 1n 1997 but became famous from Dil Chahta Hai 2001. Following Dil Chahta Hai, their next big venture was Dharma Productions' Kal Ho Naa Ho, directed by Nikhil Advani. The album broke all the previous records as a best-selling album. The music won many awards including the National Film Award for Best Music Direction.The year 2005 saw them collaborate with Shaad Ali for Bunty Aur Babli.The soundtrack, despite the initial mixed reaction from various critics, became immensely popular among the public, and went on to win several awards including Filmfare and IIFA awards. The song "Kajra Re" featuring Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan became a rage among the listeners. Some of their best known films are Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna,Don,Jhoom Barabar Jhoom,Taare Zameen Par ,Rock On,My Name Is Khan ,Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag
Song from Dil Chahta Hai 2001
Song from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna 2006
The other Music Director Duos are Sonik Omi, Sapan Jagmohan, Dilip Sen Samir Sen, Salim Suleiman, Sajid Wazid, Sanjiv Darshan and Ajay Atul