Bollywood will miss wizard of entertainment Shakti

Bollywood will miss wizard of entertainment Shakti Samanta

By Jivraj Burman

Mumbai, April 10 (IANS) Bollywood has lost another veteran filmmaker in Shakti Samanta, known as the wizard of entertainment after giving pure entertainers like "An Evening in Paris" and "Kashmir Ki Kali".

The veteran filmmaker died Thursday after a month-long hospitalisation in the Nanavati Hospital at Ville Parle in the western suburb of Mumbai. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Though Samanta started with making B-grade movies in the early 1950s, he became one of the most successful names in the business a decade later.

As the unstoppable star of the 1960s, Shammi Kapoor helped Samanta steer his career to success. So did Rajesh Khanna, the superstar, during the following decade. And the filmmaker admitted that unequivocably and with all humility.

"What made Shakti Samanta different from many other successful filmmakers was that he never took recourse to cheap subjects to pander to the box office. His movies saw box office success by their own merits," said filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

During the 1970s, Samanta made one successful movie after another. Hits like "Kati Patang", "Amar Prem", "Amanush" and "Anand Ashram" put him on a pedestal and made his Shakti Films one of the most sought after banners.

"In spite of all the adulations he received from his audience and peers, he remained a humble man. He never allowed success to turn his head. That speaks for the man's character," said Kiran Shantaram, owner of Rajkamal Studios in central Mumbai.

A science graduate, Samanta began making his living as a school teacher in a remote village in Maharashtra. It was his love for films that brought him to Mumbai in the early 1950s.

Thanks to producer Karimbhai Nadiadwala, he got an opportunity to make four movies - "Bahu", "Sheroo", "Inspector" and "Hill Station". But it was his 1958 film "Howrah Bridge" that brought him success.

Uneasy with making B-grade movies, he tried his hand at a socially relevant theme with "Insaan Jaag Utha" in 1959. It disheartened him when the movie received a lacklustre response from the audience. So he reverted to making entertainers and found a saleable star in Shammi Kapoor - he teamed up Shammi in "Singapore", "China Town", "An Evening in Paris" and "Kashmir Ki Kali".

Later he teamed up with Rajesh Khanna and it was Samanta's "Aradhana" that made him a superstar. The duo later worked together in films like "Amar Prem", "Anurodh", "Awaaz", "Kati Patang" and "Mehbooba".

With the decline of the popularity of Rajesh Khanna, Samanta's grip over the box-office also started slipping. None of the movies he made with other stars, except "Great Gambler" (1979) and "Barsaat Ki Ek Raat" (1981) with Amitabh Bachchan, could bring him the success which was his for the asking in the preceding decade. Suddenly he lost his Midas touch.

It was at about this time that he slowed down the pace of his filmmaking and handed over the reins of Shakti Films to his son Ashim Samanta. With time at his disposal, he became president of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) and later also assumed the post of chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

In the mid-1990s, his health began deteriorating and later he had a cardiac arrest. He had a pacemaker placed in his heart about a year ago. Last month, he was rushed to the Nanavati Hospital for a prostate gland operation.

The cumulative affect of having to withstand a weak heart and the operation became too much to bear for the 83-year-old filmmaker. He was discharged from the hospital only a week before he died.

After B.R. Chopra, Samanta's death is seen as another huge loss for the Hindi film industry.

Asha Parekh : "I feel miserable because all my directors are going one after the other. Two years ago I lost another of my favourite directors Pramod Chakravorty...I did two fine films with Shaktida 'Kati Patang' and 'Pagla Kahin Ka'," Parekh said.

"I was supposed to do another of his earlier films that went on to be a big hit. But at that time I was reluctant. It was Shaktida's son Ashim who suggested I do 'Kati Patang'. And I'm so glad I did. I got my first Filmfare award for it...Shaktida was an incredible talent," She added.

Recalling the indomitable spirit of the late ace director, she said: "Six months ago Shammi Kapoor and I accompanied him to Kolkata where he was felicitated. At the airport Shammiji had to be taken on a wheelchair to the aircraft. But Shaktida refused the wheelchair. At the airport Shaktida and his son spent hours humming and singing the songs from their films. What music Shaktida created with R.D Burman and other composers!"

Talking about the last days of Samanta, she said: "He had such energy till almost the end although his health was deteriorating. He had to suffer a lot during the his last months. He was in hospital to be operated for his prostrate. Then his pacemaker failed him. I'm glad the pain ended. But I've lost a friend and a filmmaker who was a pleasure to work with."

Sharmila Tagore : The image of the coy beauty seated primly in a makeshift kotha singing "Raina beeti jaye" in Lata Mangeshkar's soulful voice pervades our senses as now. The gorgeous Sharmila Tagore, who played the prostitute in Shakti Samanta's "Amar Prem", is deeply grieved by the death of the maker of some of the most sensitive romantic cinema of the 1970s.

"Shaktida was very straightforward, very honest. He'd tell me what he wanted to in my face. No mincing of words. And he chain-smoked in that special style with the cigarette clamped in his fist. We went back a long way. When his son Ashim called to tell me about Shaktida's death, I remembered all the times we shared," Sharmila told IANS.

Sharmila remembers her beginnings in Hindi cinema with Samanta's "Kashmir Ki Kali".

"It didn't require much persuasion from Shaktida for me to agree to his film. There was that whole Bengali collection... the writer Sachin Bhaumick, the music director Sachindev Burman and his son Panchamda (Rahul Dev Burman). Shaktida was my mother's friend and they remained friends till the end," she said.

After her debut in "Kashmir Ki Kali", Sharmila went bold with a vengeance in "An Evening In Paris".

"You know I remember a funny incident. As you know I wore a one-piece bathing costume in 'An Evening In Paris' and not a bikini as is generally believed. But I wanted to wear a bikini. Shaktida put his foot down. He forced me to wear a one-piece.

"I was very unconventional and self-willed during those early days. Shaktida would drill the dos and don'ts in my head. I remember at a party once I got up and started dancing with a man. Shaktida gently told me such behaviour is not allowed in our film industry," said the veteran actress.

Samanta also taught Sharmila to be wise with finances.

"He gave me Rs 25,000 for 'Kashmir Ki Kali' and suggested I buy land in Vile Parle. I laughed it off saying what would I do with that marshland. Today, the same land is worth Rs.8 crores (Rs. 80 million). He finally persuaded me to buy a flat in Mumbai. I insisted on staying at the Taj hotel. If it wasn't for him, I'd have continued to stay there," she said.

Sharmila met the man, who gave us some of the most memorable musicals in the 1960s and 70s, for the last time in January this year.

"This was just before he suffered that stroke that finally took away his life. I was in Mumbai dubbing for a film. And it was wonderful catching up with him. He was still very much the patriarch in charge, scolding his son Ashim, getting the office to be faster with the work... I was part of most of his films in the 1960s and 70s except 'Kati Patang', which I didn't do for some silly reason.

"I loved even our unsuccessful films like 'Charitraheen'. But if you ask me to choose my favourite film with Shaktida, it would have to be 'Amar Prem'. What lovely songs, music and what an era that was! God, I will miss Shaktida so much!"

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awww.. i haave like no idea who he is.. but i saw an evening in Paris yesterday - it on was on T.V. . and omg it was really good..