One word, which has the capability of conjuring up dozens of images of gorgeous ladies and handsome men, clad in colourful costumes, singing and dancing in the rain, running around trees, falling in love… and in the process, overcoming all obstacles in the way of their love, to finally be each other’s companion for life – True love!

Since time immemorial, movies have served as a dose of daily entertainment for the Indian audience. Movies have been a wonderland where people could be lost for 3+ hours, leaving their monotonous schedules and troubles behind… a luxury that they could otherwise not afford.

However, times have changed, and how! People are different, as is the face of the movies presented to the Indian audience. Gone are the days of those evil step mothers, the pretty damsels-in-distress, the one-man-army heroes, and of course, friends who did nothing more than serve as the side-kicks of the heroes and heroines.

Hindi film stereotypes gave way to contemporary characters, typical Bollywood masala gave way to author-backed scripts and performances. Heroes became as vulnerable as (gasp!) women, while heroines dared to dream. Where once upon a time, being a part of the film industry gave you automatic entry to the Social Outcasts Group, Bollywood became the ultimate destination for fame starved, starry eyed youngsters, who wanted nothing more than to eke out an easy way of living.

Bollywood.

As is obvious, Bollywood is an amalgamation of two words – Hollywood, and Bombay. Bombay went on to become Mumbai, but somehow, Bollywood remained Bollywood.

The exact origins of the term ‘Bollywood’ are unknown, but it gained popularity somewhere in the 1970’s. Many prominent film celebrities (most notably, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan) have made clear their disdain of this term, but this didn’t stop ‘Bollywood’ from gaining national, and international, fancy.

Oh, and Bollywood’s the largest producer of films on earth – almost 1000 films (in all languages) per year.

Sounds all too good, doesn’t it? The future looks bright for Bollywood, what with its very well deserved international recognition. BUT, how many of us know about its past? About how it all began? About the who’s who of decades ago? Who the first superstars were and how they defined the Indian cinema as we see it today?

Do not look any further, for BollySpice is going to do that job for you!

For the next few weeks, we will be featuring 9 articles (each article dedicated to a decade), and will enlighten our readers about the wonderful history of BOLLYWOOD.

Hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did researching and writing about it!

1930’s

The movies of the thirties were all about addressing social issues prevailing in the country at that period of time. V.Santharam’s Duniya Na Maane, Aadmi and Padosi, Franz Osten’s Achut Kanya, Mehboob’s Watan, Ek Hi Raasta and Aurat were some of the numerous serious films with gripping social themes which were meant for all classes of the cinema audience.

The greatest event of the thirties was the introduction of sound. With the advent of this new technology, Ardeshir’s Alam Ara became the first Indian “talkie” movie to be released in cinemas. It opened on March 14, 1931 at Mumbai’s Majestic Cinema to packed houses. According to old records, people became desperate to watch the first day first show, and police aid had to be summoned to control the crowds. Four anna tickets were sold at Rs. 4 and Rs. 5. Since there was such a demand, black marketing of cinema tickets began with the first public show of Alam Ara, and the practice is still in use today.

Prabhat’s Sairandhri, which was processed and printed in Germany in 1933, became India’s first colour film. However, the first indigenously made colour film was Ardashir Irani’s Kisan Kanya made in 1937 and directed by Gidwani. From then on began the film industry’s romance with colour films.

Probably the most important (and definitely the most iconic) film of this period, Devdas, was released in 1935. The film, directed by Pramathesh Barua, depicted a tale of love frustrated by social distinction, and made eternal the love triangle of Devdas, Chandramukhi and Paro. The movie broke stereotypes, for characters of the movies were not completely evil, nor were they completely saintly. They were ordinary people conditioned by a rigid and crumbling system that was prevalent in the society at that time. KL Saigal immortalized the role of Devdas in the Hindi Cinema, though, sadly, not many would come to remember the names of the female leads of the movie.

Sulochana (Ruby Myers), the biggest star of the silent era, found surviving the ‘talking, singing’ cinema was very tough. With three major films – Madhuri (1928), Anarkali (1928) and Indira B.A. (1929) – she was riding the crest of glory in the silent film era. Her popularity was such that when a short film on Mahatma Gandhi inaugurating a khadi exhibition was being shown, they added to it a hugely popular dance number of Sulochana’s from Madhuri, with sound effects!

However, with the advent of sound, Sulochana suddenly found her career on the skids. Not one to give up easily, she took a year off to learn the language and made a dramatic comeback with the ‘talkie’ remakes of her ‘silent’ hits like Anarkali (1935), Bombay Ki Billi (1936) and Indira B.A (now called Indira M.A.-1929).

They were so successful that Sulochana was back in the reckoning with a bang. She was drawing a huge (for those days) salary of Rs 5000 a month, driving a sleek car (Chevrolet 1935) and going around with one of the biggest heroes of the silent era, D. Billimoria!

India’s first dream girl, Devika Rani, began her career in the 1930’s and became the top heroine of her days. She made her debut in 1933 in Karma opposite her husband Himanshu Rai and soon became the leading star of the time with films like Jawani Ki Hawa, Mamta, Jeevan Nayya and Achhut Kanya. Devika Rani, who came to be identified as the ‘First Lady of Indian Cinema’ became a major force in the ’30s and the early ’40s.

Acchut Kanya (1936) was her most notable film, wherein the story revolved around an untouchable girl (played by herself) and a Brahmin boy (played by Ashok Kumar), and how they fall in love and face the society which tried to tear their love apart. This movie was released at a time when law and precedent obstructed the inter-caste marriage and firmly supported the ostracism of the untouchable.

Simultaneously, 1935 saw the rise of Australian actress Mary Ann Evans, who became popular later on with the title of Fearless Nadia. Evans exploded on the screen with Wadia Movietone’s stunt films in the mid-’30s. Her debut in 1933, Lal-e-Yaman, became a huge hit at the box-office. This was followed by Hunterwali in 1935, which went on become a bigger success, to an extent wherein she was bestowed with the nickname “Hunterwali”. Nadia brought to the Hindi screen the hunter-wielding ‘masked woman’ who became a cult figure, triggering a series of spin-offs in the market, like Hunterwali whips, sticks, belts, shoes and playing cards. Among her most popular films were Hunterwali (1935), Miss Frontier Mail (1936), Hurricane Hansa (1937), Punjab Mail (1939) and Diamond Queen (1940).

Owing to such films, she became known as India’s Original Stunt Queen. Her film career spanned from 1933 to 1970, wherein she did multiple stunt films with the Wadias. It’s interesting to note that J.B.H. Wadia was truly one of the film industry’s most daring pioneers – he not only introduced a foreign woman to the Indian Cinema, but did so in such a way that charmed and captivated the Indian audience – no easy feat at that point of time.

The other major female stars of the decade were Durga Khote, Nadia, Jamuna, Padma Devi and Kanan Devi. The reigning male stars of the era were Prithviraj Kapoor, K.L. Saigal, Ashok Kumar, P.C. Barua and Pahadi Sanyal.

Trivia:

Alam Ara (The Light of the World; 1931), directed by Ardeshir Irani, was the first Indian sound film. Both the movie and its music were widely successful, including the hit song, ‘De de khuda ke naam per’, which was also the first song of Indian cinema. Apparently, the song became a rage among beggars, who sang it on their rounds.

Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir (1911-1988) became the First Talkie Actress of India, as she acted in the first Indian talkie – Alam Ara (1931).

Kisan Kanya was a 1937 Hindi feature film was India’s first indigenously made colour film.

Devika Rani was honoured with the first ever Dada Saheb Phalke Award for her “outstanding contribution to Indian cinema”.

Devika Rani is also accredited for having acted in the longest kissing scene in the movie world with her husband Himanshu Rai in Karma (1933). It was 4 minutes long and very controversial in the then culturally orthodox India.

After the fire at National Archives of India, Pune, in 2003, which destroyed last surviving prints of several classics such as Raja Harishchandra and Achyut Kanya, Alam Ara is no longer available in original format.

We all have our favourites – couples that just make us go “awwwww…”, while others that make us go “ewwwww!!”. In short, they’re movie couples that you just don’t forget.

So here is our Hit List of the worst on-screen couples of 2009. Some of our choices are bound to be controversial, we admit, and we know too that this won’t be the last time that we hear of it. You’ll agree with most, disagree with a few…. But enough said! Back to business. The list is in no particular order, it’s just a compilation of the names of couples who should never work together, not as romantic couples anyway.

Don’t forget to tell us who your least favorite couples are. Let us know who you think should have made our list, but didn’t.

Bipasha Basu and Neil Nitin Mukesh – Aa Dekhen Zara

One is a hottie who raises temperatures on the screen simply by her mere presence, while the other is a gawky young man who is uncertain of what acting really means. Pair ‘em together and you might have expected a tad bit more. But, sadly, this was one Luck By Chance which didn’t pay off.

Govinda and Sushmita Sen – Do Knot Disturb

David Dhawan didn’t learn from Kyunki Main Jooth Nahi Bolta. He went ahead and cast the lead pair in another one of his long list of flops. Sushmita was an eyesore, and it was kinda hard to believe that Govina had two hotties (the other one being Lara) eating out of his hand.

Rather than husband-wife, the lead pair looked more like Laurel and Hardy with the only difference being that the latter was far more endearing and appealing to the masses.

Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan – Tum Mile

An serial kisser paired with an ‘intelligent’ (for no other adjective has been attested to her) actress – sparks were sure to fly, right? But oh, the HORROR!!

Their on-screen chemistry was as exciting as a dead dog. Of course, Soha’s haggard appearance, what with un-combed hair and uneven eyebrows, didn’t help her with our sympathy either.

Salman Khan and Kareena – Main Aur Mrs Khanna

This movie’s let down was not only its weak script. Despite having Bollywood’s leading actrors, Kareena Kapoor and Salman Khan, a top draw for distributors across the globe, the lead couple was completely mismatched. The intensity of the ‘romance’ between Salman and Kareena was completely and utterly wasted, and the poor direction simply added to the disaster.

Ajay Devgan and Asin – London Dreams

London Dreams was a flop. Salman Khan stole the show, and if that wasn’t enough, adding injury to insult was the fact that Ajay barely acted (for lack of a more suitable word) in the entire movie, leave alone his awkward pairing with Asin, which received a lot of brickbats from the audience and film critics alike.

What can we say, Ajay? Not everybody’s an Aamir.

Kangana Ranaut and Adhayan Suman – Raaz–The Mystery Continues

Don’t get us wrong. Kangana is a good actress, while Adhayan showed improvement from his last debacle, Haal-E-Dil, but this was yet again a case of a real life couple failing to make any splash on screen.

We’ve seen dead fish having better chemistry between them.

Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone – Chandni Chowk To China

One is sexiness personified, while the other is…umm…just Deepika. The absurdity of the film was said to be the reason for its failure. We say that the leading couple’s chemistry (which gave ice cubes a run for their money), didn’t help the movie much, either.

While Deepika was in the movie for the sake of being in it, it was Akshay who came across as a huge disappointment. Seems like being #1 at the box office does not, after all, seal the well being of one’s movies.

So, there you have it our list of the couples that definitely did not set the screen on fire! We wish them better luck next time!

Vijay Harshvardhan Mallik (Amitabh Bachchan)is a conscientious owner of a Hindi news channel, India 24/7, who believes in delivering news to his audiences without any mirch or masala (something that has become a staple diet for other news channels), even at the cost of its TRPs. Jai Mallik (Sudeep) is his debt ridden son who desperately wants India 24/7 to be the number one news channel in India, leaving its competitor Amreesh Kakkad’s (Mohnish Behl) news channel to bite the dust.

Jai’s desperation leads him to Mohan Pandey (Paresh Rawal), a wily and conniving politician, who uses Mallik Jr. as a means to become the PM of the country. These two, together with Harshvardhan’s power-hungry son-in-law Naveen (Rajat Kapoor) malign the image of the current PM in an expose that is made via India 24/7. Purab Shastri (Riteish Deshmukh), a newbie in the India 24/ office, is the anti-Mohan Pandey. He is someone who lives by the ideals of Harshvardhan Mallik, still believes in the high ethos of journalism, and his character is the one who uncovers the truth about Pandey and his army of sophisticated goons.

Yes, the story has nothing new to offer.

But!

You have to hand it to Varma to come up with a gripping enough narrative for his audience, despite the obvious direction where the story is headed. The movie’s USP are its crisp narrative and its stellar performances by the entire cast; not to mention the superb cinematography by Amit Roy, who plays beautifully with the light in the entire film.
For once, despite being the protagonist of the movie, the audience does not get an overdose of Bachchan. Instead, Varma has very masterfully given each and every character enough and nigh equal footage to prove their mettle, and none of them disappointed.

Bachchan’s sublte acting was top notch, as was Rajat Kapoor’s and Riteish Deshmukh’s. Rawal’s portrayal of an out and out villainous character was refreshing from his usual over-the-top comic characters, but the surprise package of the lot was Sudeep. Sudeep managed to get into the skin of his character, almost as if Jai Mallik was him, even though one could see glimpses of Kay-Kay Menon like acting in his performance. It was a pleasure to see Mohnish Behl do justice to the role of the hungry media honcho. He was in top form, and here’s hoping that the versatile actor gets many more such roles which do justice to his calibre.

The movie was not without its goof-ups, though. Why was Riteish’s character shown to be wearing a sleeveless sweater throughout the movie, when the rest of the characters were wearing clothes appropriate for summer-time? Also, if only Varma would have detailed Riteish’s investigation a bit more. And who ever did Gul Panag’s dubbing didn’t do a very good job of it.

Barring these minor bumps in the road, Rann is one of those rare movies which carries forth its message without being too preachy or pointing its fingers at anybody. This movie is not for people who go to theatres expecting naach-gaana and such tamaasha from it, and since very unfortunately, such people form the majority of the people who decide the fate of a movie, Rann won’t be doing wonders at the BO (even as we hope otherwise).

It is for the intelligentsia, and they are the ones who will truly be able to appreciate the movie for what it truly is – a movie with its heart in the right place.

How many times have we heard of this run-of-the-mill story before? Hmm… Let’s see now – Notting Hill, Shrek, I Love You, Beth Cooper, and of course, the Disney classic, Beauty and the Beast, to name just a few. So what makes Pyaar Impossible any different from these movies? Sadly, nothing.

The story begins with the protagonists in college, where Alisha Merchant (Priyanka Chopra) fails to acknowledge the presence of Abhay Sharma (Uday Chopra), despite his saving her life. Dismayed, he resigns to his fate with a sigh and a dialogue – “Kuch Pyaar impossible hote hain.” Seven years down the line, Abhay is shown to have invented a software program which is stolen by the suave Siddharth (Dino Morea), who has plans of passing it off as his own creation. Abhay’s pursuit of ‘Siddhu’ lands him in Singapore, where, surprise of surprises, he finds his long lost love, Alisha. He follows her to her house, and she mistakes him for her child’s nanny (she’s a divorcee), and hires him. Enter Varun (Morea’s actual identity in the movie), a smart alec who manages to impress Alisha and sell ‘his’ software to her company with equal ease. So, it’s finally up to the geeky Abhay to get the credit that he deserves for his software, clear his name and confess his love to the gorgeous Alisha.

The biggest drawback of the movie is its script, penned by Uday Chopra. Yeah, that’s right. Uday Chopra. He’s written the dialogues of the movie as well. Anyway, getting back to the point, it is hard to believe that Abhay is ‘in love’ with the college hottie, Alisha, with whom he’s never exchanged even a single word. So, basically, the audience is made to understand that he loves her for her looks, and her looks alone (for no other explanation is given in the movie). He confesses to still being ‘in love’ with her after seven years (even as his dad, played by Anupam Kher, classifies it correctly as an obsession).

The movie wants the audience to believe that love transcends the boundaries of physical beauty. Alright, so maybe it does. But then, what explains the scene where Abhay explains Alisha how people falling only for good-looking people is a “duniya ka neeyam“? Isn’t that pretty ironic, considering the fact that Abhay himself is a part of that vicious neeyam, having fallen for the bold and beautiful Alisha? Also, it is extremely hard to digest the fact that Alisha was naive enough to actually believe that guys do not show any interest in unattractive girls, exclaiming in extreme shock, “I can’t believe ki log itne shallow ho sakte hain.” Reality check, babe. You don’t exactly live in Wonderland, you know.

Unfathomable is Ms. Alisha’s stupidity in trusting her 6 year old daughter, Tania (Advika Yadav) to a male nanny whom she has just met, as is her reaction when Abhay’s ‘intentions’ are exposed to her by the conniving Varun. She doesn’t give Abhay a chance to explain his position, and ironically, in the very next sentence she claims tearfully,” Maine tum par trust kiya tha Abhay. Ab samjhaane ke liye kuch bacha hai?”

What’s noteworthy in the movie, though, is the stellar performances by both the Chopras. While Miss Chopra fits the role of a divorced, smart and sassy working mother to the T, it is actually Mr. Chopra who turns out to be the real scene stealer. His enactment of the ugly, underrated and bespectacled nerd, Abhay Sharma, is a far cry from his previous debacle, Neil and Nicky, and was a major improvement. The scenes where he continuously calls up his father for advice, and where he shyly confesses to Alisha,”Main koi prince charming toh hun nahin,” are extremely endearing, something which gives the audience enough reason to take an instant liking to him. His bonding with little Tania is completely believable; nothing sudden or miraculous. Kudos to director Jugal Hansraj for handling the scenes between both the Chopras with delicate care, which is what makes it so much easier for the audience to believe and relate to how Alisha starts falling for the ugly geek. Hansraj adds to the upcoming and extremely talented crop of directors (read: Kunal Deshmukh, Ishaan Trivedi, Ayaan Mukherji, etc.) who know how to connect with the youth.

The film’s cinematography (courtesy, Santosh Thundiyil) could have been rated as first class, had it not been failure on Thundiyil’s to capture Singapore’s real beauty. Buildings are not the only aspect of Singapore, Mr. Thundiyil.

Music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman manage to come up with a decent score for the movie, with the feather on their cap being the upbeat (and instant hit) “Alisha”.

Uday Chopra did a near excellent job with the dialogues – they were very real, very contemporary, something that today’s youth can completely relate to. There were of course, moments when one felt that the some of the “in” expressions were very forced; it’s high time that we realised that everything American isn’t always hip. We’re still a long time away from actually using certain terms and mannerisms, and yes, Priyanka’s fake accent did tend to get on one’s nerves time and again.

On the whole, though, Pyaar Impossible has nothing which hasn’t already been tried and tested. It’s like an old wine in a new bottle, except that the new bottle has nothing really new to offer. Go watch it only if you’re a Chopra fan.

“In no way is this a discrimination on the basis of one’s nationality or religion. The thing is. We’ve got enormous music talent in our own country, and there is no need to peep in the neighbouring country (Pakistan) for artists.” Srivastava said.

He added that despite his being a big fan of Pakistani singers like Ghulam Ali, he nursed a grudge against them for not reacting to the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. “I am deeply saddened that NO Pakistani artist reacted to the dastardly attacks in Mumbai, and I can never forget this,” he said.

And Srivastava is not alone. He’s found support in playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who has been very vocal about his discontent against Pakistani artists in India. “India is entertaining people who are taking from you without ever giving back anything in return. They (Pakistanis) have never promoted Indian singer.” he said.

Even as the industry people hold such views, there are others like Pritam, who feel that “they’re singers, and not Pakistanis or Indians.”

Actors Aditi Rao, Arunoday Singh and child actor Yuktavya were seen shooting in a thick fog. Mishra said, “We’ll be shooting in Delhi and the NCR for the next 28-30 days. I chose Delhi because I wanted to show the chilly winters and foggy mornings in my movie.”

The crew shot at Kashmiri Gate last Saturday. After wrapping up their work in Delhi, the team will move to Narkanda in February.

According to an inside source, the reason behind such a fat fee for PC is the fact that Jugal Hansraj has no credibility as a director, and that Uday Chopra isn’t exactly hot at the BO these days. Add to it the fact that Yash Raj films hasn’t given an out and out blockbuster of late, and Priyanka’s the one laughing all the way to the bank.

Madhur Bhandarkar said, “If they’re really paying her such a huge amount, I’m sure they must have done it after gauging her market standing.”

Priyanka has left her contemporaries far behind. While Kareena charges anywhere between 3-5 crores, Katrina takes home a package of 3-4 crores. Why, even Deepika Padukone has upped her market price to 2 crores after her hit, Love Aaj Kal.

When contacted about this bit of news, Priyanka said, “I can’t talk about my remuneration. I never will.”

Informs a YRF source, “A few months ago, Chopra ji had offered a certain price to Johar for the distribution rights for one of his films, a price which couldn’t even make Johar smile, leave alone a contented grin. Dissatisfied, Johar went ahead and signed a two-movie deal with UTV.”

However, with this show of solidarity, Johar seems to be hinting at a patch up between the two families. The source added, “Come on. Johar has literally grown up with Aditya Chopra, and he has complete respect for Chopra ji. He will never let professional issues mar his personal equation with the Chopras.”

The stadium is rumoured not only to be for cricket matches, but track and field events as well. A source informs, “The ground will have all necessary facilities to host international matches, along with other sporting events once it becomes operational. SRK is showing his philanthropic side as he wants to provide assistance for needy and under privileged players who cannot bear the expenses of formal trainings in cricket.”

Seems like an especially inexpensive way of learning the finer nuances of cricket. Barring, of course, the visa troubles, not to mention the ever-increasing flight rates for poor Indian cricketing aspirants. Way to go, SRK!

Abraham and Madhavan spent a couple of days in the country building houses for the charity. Says Madhavan, “Jet Li is an extremely intelligent and well read person, and I cannot begin to describe how fantastic the experience has been for us. Li feels very responsible when it comes to charity, and he goes out of his way to do so.”