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Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)
Director: Aditya Chopra
Starcast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Amrish Puri.
It became the longest running film in Indian film history and is still running to packed houses in Mumbai's Maratha Mandir ever since it was released in October 1995. It struck and amazing balance between two conflicting values, that of tradition and progress. Aditya Chopra's signature style emerged with DDLJ as he charmed the audiences with the intensity of his lead pair's passions and lengthy but thought-provoking dialogues. The then 20-something Aditya perfectly mirrored the dreams and the themes of India's youth, which was caught on the cusp between tradition and modernity.
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)
Director: Anil Sharma
Starcast: Sunny Deol, Amisha Patel and Amrish Puri.
This Anil Sharma directed film's key assets were its ultra patriotic theme (in the wake of Kargil war), the sensitively handled quiet love story between Sunny and Amisha and their haplessness when caught between forces not of their own making and also the film's melodious musical score by Uttam Singh. This film set in 1940s India - Pakistan, perfectly captured the partition trauma from both the sides. Sunny's high decibel dialogues while taking on the Pakistani characters ensured whistles in every single cinema hall it played. The craze for the film was such that in few cinema halls, especially in Northern India, shows would start as early as 6 am in the morning to packed houses. Despite pitched opposite a critically much better received Lagaan, it grossed more than the Aamir Khan film with a total box office collection of over Rs. 70 crore. But it also came in for criticism and protest by various organizations for it's so called anti Muslim sentiments.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
Director: Karan Johar.
Starcast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee and in Sp. App Salman Khan.
Although its premise sounded normal enough on paper it was the lead character's performances, script, direction and music all served to make it a magical experience. Though filled to the brim with cheese and unbelievable coincidences, its unpretentiousness and sheer self-belief allowed it to overcome any shortcomings and ensured that all characters were impossible not to care about. KKHH became a massive hit not just in India but abroad as well. SRK and Kajol's chemistry worked yet again post Baazigar and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and industry got a huge bundle of talent in Karan Johar. Not many know that Tina's role was first offered to everyone from Urmila Matondkar to Twinkle Khanna, Raveena Tandon to Aishwarya Rai and all of these had declined it. But Rani took up the role and went to win hearts of her fans and the awards alike.
Lagaan (2001)
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker.
Starcast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachael Shelley and Paul Blackthorne.
Lagaan had a dhoti clad hero, a debuting heroine who had only done television serials before, the setting periodic that too in a village, three hours and forty five minutes running time and the main theme - cricket. Aamir's conviction in the subject and Gowariker's able handling turned all these negatives that were considered a harakiri at the box office into an Oscar nominated film with super success. The audience lapped up the last 45 minutes of the film consisting of a cricket match with as much enthusiastic participation like that of a real closely fought encounter! Cinema halls would turn into cricket stadiums with them cheering and clapping to every ball hit or wicket taken by Bhuvan's army.
Gowariker had only delivered flops before and Aamir too had rejected Lagaan's script when first heard. But the maker reworked on it for over a year and vowed Aamir who when read the new version, immediately decided to produce the film, making it his first production. The carefully hidden aspect of cricket from the promos took the audience by a major surprise when they went in for the film.
Mughal-E-Azam (1960)
Director: K.Asif.
Starcast: Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Ajit.
Fifteen years in the making with 500 days of shooting, this magnum opus was produced at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore then! The print of the film for its premiere was brought on elephants. The breathtaking battle scenes, the sumptuous splendour of the Mughal Court, some of the most seductive song and dance ensembles ever filmed, Naushad's timeless tunes, the confrontation scenes between Akbar and Salim - the best of Mughal-e-Azam resulted in the film's bumper success. It had perhaps the most sensitively portrayed erotic scene ever on the Indian screen where, Dilip Kumar tickled the impassioned face of Madhubala with a white feather shot mainly in extreme close-ups of the two.
The film continued to enthrall the audience when it was re-released in 2005 in a coloured version. Pitched against Veer Zara and Aitraaz it yet managed to rake in huge moolah.
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
Director: Mansoor Khan.
Starcast: Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Goga Kapoor, Dalip Tahil and Alok Nath.
In the time when senseless action was ruling the box office, QSQT came like a breath of fresh air. It was the perfect blend of the oft repeated theme of Romeo and Juliet with debutante director Mansoor Khan (Aamir's cousin) giving it his own take and modern sensibility and coming out with a glossy and technically slick (for its times) yet extremely believable young romance that caught the imagination of youngsters across the country. Anand - Milind's youthful evergreen music topped the charts for a long time that year.
Aamir and Juhi made a fresh and extremely likeable pair and went on to become overnight stars and singer Udit Narayan became Aamir's exclusive voice for many years ahead.
Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Starcast: Salman Khan, Bhagyashree, Alok Nath and Ravi Varma.
MPK had all the right masala to click with the Indian audiences - a respectful boy, a docile and domesticated girl and well nuanced emotions. Raam Laxman's music gradually became a rage and the innocence personified Bhagyashree became every young man's dream girl. Salman became a star. Salman's mother played by Reema Lagoo redefined the look and character of mothers in Hindi films by her modern outlook and contemporary dressing sense. Small things like the antakshri or the cap worn by Bhagyashree with FRIEND written over it became trendsetters amongst the fans. Sooraj Barjatya was catapulted to the big league with his very first film
Sholay (1975)
Director: Ramesh Sippy.
Starcast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and Amjad Khan.
With a running time of over three and a half hours, it was advertised as the greatest story ever told and standing true to it, the film went on to become a massive blockbuster that ran for five consecutive years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. Ticket sellers in black outside this theatre made a fortune out of the film too. Shot in 70mm with stereophonic sound, Salim - Javed's script was patterned on American Westerns with added dose of Bollywood masala - action, emotions, comedy, songs and dance in just the perfect proportion. The film opened to a lukewarm response but once the word of mouth spread, there was no looking back. Each thing associated with the film achieved legendary status. Gabber Singh turned out to be the biggest and most popular villain of all times in Indian cinema. His dialogues would be repeated word by word by the audience who would be watching the film in the cinema hall for the nth time. A love triangle of sorts too happened on the film's sets with Sanjeev Kumar trying to win Hema Malini's heart but Dharamendra managing to woo the dream girl instead.
Ironically, Ramesh Sippy could never repeat the film's financial success in his later films.
[www.starscreenawards.in]
Director: Aditya Chopra
Starcast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Amrish Puri.
It became the longest running film in Indian film history and is still running to packed houses in Mumbai's Maratha Mandir ever since it was released in October 1995. It struck and amazing balance between two conflicting values, that of tradition and progress. Aditya Chopra's signature style emerged with DDLJ as he charmed the audiences with the intensity of his lead pair's passions and lengthy but thought-provoking dialogues. The then 20-something Aditya perfectly mirrored the dreams and the themes of India's youth, which was caught on the cusp between tradition and modernity.
Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001)
Director: Anil Sharma
Starcast: Sunny Deol, Amisha Patel and Amrish Puri.
This Anil Sharma directed film's key assets were its ultra patriotic theme (in the wake of Kargil war), the sensitively handled quiet love story between Sunny and Amisha and their haplessness when caught between forces not of their own making and also the film's melodious musical score by Uttam Singh. This film set in 1940s India - Pakistan, perfectly captured the partition trauma from both the sides. Sunny's high decibel dialogues while taking on the Pakistani characters ensured whistles in every single cinema hall it played. The craze for the film was such that in few cinema halls, especially in Northern India, shows would start as early as 6 am in the morning to packed houses. Despite pitched opposite a critically much better received Lagaan, it grossed more than the Aamir Khan film with a total box office collection of over Rs. 70 crore. But it also came in for criticism and protest by various organizations for it's so called anti Muslim sentiments.
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
Director: Karan Johar.
Starcast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukherjee and in Sp. App Salman Khan.
Although its premise sounded normal enough on paper it was the lead character's performances, script, direction and music all served to make it a magical experience. Though filled to the brim with cheese and unbelievable coincidences, its unpretentiousness and sheer self-belief allowed it to overcome any shortcomings and ensured that all characters were impossible not to care about. KKHH became a massive hit not just in India but abroad as well. SRK and Kajol's chemistry worked yet again post Baazigar and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and industry got a huge bundle of talent in Karan Johar. Not many know that Tina's role was first offered to everyone from Urmila Matondkar to Twinkle Khanna, Raveena Tandon to Aishwarya Rai and all of these had declined it. But Rani took up the role and went to win hearts of her fans and the awards alike.
Lagaan (2001)
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker.
Starcast: Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Rachael Shelley and Paul Blackthorne.
Lagaan had a dhoti clad hero, a debuting heroine who had only done television serials before, the setting periodic that too in a village, three hours and forty five minutes running time and the main theme - cricket. Aamir's conviction in the subject and Gowariker's able handling turned all these negatives that were considered a harakiri at the box office into an Oscar nominated film with super success. The audience lapped up the last 45 minutes of the film consisting of a cricket match with as much enthusiastic participation like that of a real closely fought encounter! Cinema halls would turn into cricket stadiums with them cheering and clapping to every ball hit or wicket taken by Bhuvan's army.
Gowariker had only delivered flops before and Aamir too had rejected Lagaan's script when first heard. But the maker reworked on it for over a year and vowed Aamir who when read the new version, immediately decided to produce the film, making it his first production. The carefully hidden aspect of cricket from the promos took the audience by a major surprise when they went in for the film.
Mughal-E-Azam (1960)
Director: K.Asif.
Starcast: Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Prithviraj Kapoor and Ajit.
Fifteen years in the making with 500 days of shooting, this magnum opus was produced at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore then! The print of the film for its premiere was brought on elephants. The breathtaking battle scenes, the sumptuous splendour of the Mughal Court, some of the most seductive song and dance ensembles ever filmed, Naushad's timeless tunes, the confrontation scenes between Akbar and Salim - the best of Mughal-e-Azam resulted in the film's bumper success. It had perhaps the most sensitively portrayed erotic scene ever on the Indian screen where, Dilip Kumar tickled the impassioned face of Madhubala with a white feather shot mainly in extreme close-ups of the two.
The film continued to enthrall the audience when it was re-released in 2005 in a coloured version. Pitched against Veer Zara and Aitraaz it yet managed to rake in huge moolah.
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988)
Director: Mansoor Khan.
Starcast: Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Goga Kapoor, Dalip Tahil and Alok Nath.
In the time when senseless action was ruling the box office, QSQT came like a breath of fresh air. It was the perfect blend of the oft repeated theme of Romeo and Juliet with debutante director Mansoor Khan (Aamir's cousin) giving it his own take and modern sensibility and coming out with a glossy and technically slick (for its times) yet extremely believable young romance that caught the imagination of youngsters across the country. Anand - Milind's youthful evergreen music topped the charts for a long time that year.
Aamir and Juhi made a fresh and extremely likeable pair and went on to become overnight stars and singer Udit Narayan became Aamir's exclusive voice for many years ahead.
Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
Director: Sooraj Barjatya
Starcast: Salman Khan, Bhagyashree, Alok Nath and Ravi Varma.
MPK had all the right masala to click with the Indian audiences - a respectful boy, a docile and domesticated girl and well nuanced emotions. Raam Laxman's music gradually became a rage and the innocence personified Bhagyashree became every young man's dream girl. Salman became a star. Salman's mother played by Reema Lagoo redefined the look and character of mothers in Hindi films by her modern outlook and contemporary dressing sense. Small things like the antakshri or the cap worn by Bhagyashree with FRIEND written over it became trendsetters amongst the fans. Sooraj Barjatya was catapulted to the big league with his very first film
Sholay (1975)
Director: Ramesh Sippy.
Starcast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini, Jaya Bachchan and Amjad Khan.
With a running time of over three and a half hours, it was advertised as the greatest story ever told and standing true to it, the film went on to become a massive blockbuster that ran for five consecutive years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. Ticket sellers in black outside this theatre made a fortune out of the film too. Shot in 70mm with stereophonic sound, Salim - Javed's script was patterned on American Westerns with added dose of Bollywood masala - action, emotions, comedy, songs and dance in just the perfect proportion. The film opened to a lukewarm response but once the word of mouth spread, there was no looking back. Each thing associated with the film achieved legendary status. Gabber Singh turned out to be the biggest and most popular villain of all times in Indian cinema. His dialogues would be repeated word by word by the audience who would be watching the film in the cinema hall for the nth time. A love triangle of sorts too happened on the film's sets with Sanjeev Kumar trying to win Hema Malini's heart but Dharamendra managing to woo the dream girl instead.
Ironically, Ramesh Sippy could never repeat the film's financial success in his later films.
[www.starscreenawards.in]
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