Bollywood Masala Mix
Actress and a playback singer Sulakshana Pandit was born on July 12th July 1954 in Chattisgarh, India and was sought out for her acting from the mid 70s to the late 80s. She was privileged to work with the superstars of the Indian cinema at the time, like Sanjeev Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Rakesh Roshan and Raj Babbar.
Her father, Pratap Narain Pandit was the brother of famous vocalists Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Maniram. She has six siblings including three sisters - Vijayta Pandit (Bollywood actress), Maya Pandit, Sandhya Pandit - and three brothers - Lalit, Mandheer and Jatin. Well-known singer and music composer Aadesh Shrivastava was her brother-in-law by sister Vijayta.
She made her acting career debut in 1975 with the suspense thriller Uljhan starring opposite Sanjeev Kumar. Since then she has acted in over 50 and sung in over 21 movies in a career that spanned more than 20 years from 1967.
Some of her movies included Hera Pheri, Apnapan, Bundal Baaz, Khandaan, Waqt Ki Deewar, Madadgaar and Do Waqt Ki Roti in 1987 which was her last appearance as an actress.
Sulakshana was also a renowned singer who started her singing career much earlier than her acting career in 1967 with the famous song “Saat Samundar Paar Se” alongside her idol Lata Mangeshkar. She sang duets with illustrious singers like Muhammad Rafi, Shailendra Singh, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Udit Narayan, among others.
She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati.
She sang under music directors like Hemant Kumar, Shankar Jaikishan , Laxmikant Pyarelal , Kalyanji Anandji , Kanu Roy, Bappi Lahiri, Usha Khanna, Rajesh Roshan, Khayyam, Rajkamal and several others.
Some of her more popular songs are 'Bekare Dil Tu Gaaye Ja, Khushiyon Se Bhare Woh Tarane' (Door Ka Rahi); 'Bandhi Re Kahey Preet, Piya Ke Sang, Anjaane Mein' (Sankoch); 'Mausam Mausam Lovely Mausam, Kasak Anjaani, Madhyam Madhyam' (Thodisi Bewafai); and the award-winning 'Tu Hi Sagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara, Dundta Hai Tu Kiska Sahara' from Sankalp, 1975.
In 1986 Sulakshana was one of the singers to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the "Festival of Indian Music" Concert along with acclaimed Music Directors Laxmikant Pyarelal and singers Manhar, Shabbir Kumar, Nitin Mukesh and Anuradha Paudwal.
Her voice was last heard in an alaap in the song "Saagar kinare bhi do dil" from the movie Khamoshi (1996) which was composed by her brothers Jatin and Lalit.
She received the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award in 1975 for the 1975 song "Tu Hi Saagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara" from Sankalp.
For this song she also won the Miyan Tansen Award.
Things were anything but easy for Sulakshana, the eldest of all the siblings, especially when her father left, making her the bread-winner for the entire family.
She met and fell in love with Harihar Zariwala, more popularly known as Bollywood actor Sanjeev Kumar, who was so smitten by actress Hema Malini, that he turned her down. Heartbroken, Sulakshana never married.
She fell into hard times after she stopped getting acting assignments, especially when she insisted on singing and acting simultaneously. She ended up living in a dilapidated flat that was unfurnished, and badly in need of repairs, so much so that she could not find a buyer for it.
In 2005 things changed for the better, when actor Jeetendra convinced his brother-in-law to buy her flat, while Vijayta and Aadesh stepped in to assist Sulakshana get back to her feet. With the disposition of her apartment, she was able to pay off her debts, as well as invest the left-over funds in three other flats which ultimately continue to provide for her needs.
Sulakshana broke her hip bone falling in the bathroom and even after four surgeries, she is still unable to walk properly, dependent on painkillers. She confines herself to a room in her sister's house and has a full-time domestic help to look after her.
Her father, Pratap Narain Pandit was the brother of famous vocalists Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Maniram. She has six siblings including three sisters - Vijayta Pandit (Bollywood actress), Maya Pandit, Sandhya Pandit - and three brothers - Lalit, Mandheer and Jatin. Well-known singer and music composer Aadesh Shrivastava was her brother-in-law by sister Vijayta.
She made her acting career debut in 1975 with the suspense thriller Uljhan starring opposite Sanjeev Kumar. Since then she has acted in over 50 and sung in over 21 movies in a career that spanned more than 20 years from 1967.
Some of her movies included Hera Pheri, Apnapan, Bundal Baaz, Khandaan, Waqt Ki Deewar, Madadgaar and Do Waqt Ki Roti in 1987 which was her last appearance as an actress.
Sulakshana was also a renowned singer who started her singing career much earlier than her acting career in 1967 with the famous song “Saat Samundar Paar Se” alongside her idol Lata Mangeshkar. She sang duets with illustrious singers like Muhammad Rafi, Shailendra Singh, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar and Udit Narayan, among others.
She sang in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya and Gujarati.
She sang under music directors like Hemant Kumar, Shankar Jaikishan , Laxmikant Pyarelal , Kalyanji Anandji , Kanu Roy, Bappi Lahiri, Usha Khanna, Rajesh Roshan, Khayyam, Rajkamal and several others.
Some of her more popular songs are 'Bekare Dil Tu Gaaye Ja, Khushiyon Se Bhare Woh Tarane' (Door Ka Rahi); 'Bandhi Re Kahey Preet, Piya Ke Sang, Anjaane Mein' (Sankoch); 'Mausam Mausam Lovely Mausam, Kasak Anjaani, Madhyam Madhyam' (Thodisi Bewafai); and the award-winning 'Tu Hi Sagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara, Dundta Hai Tu Kiska Sahara' from Sankalp, 1975.
In 1986 Sulakshana was one of the singers to perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the "Festival of Indian Music" Concert along with acclaimed Music Directors Laxmikant Pyarelal and singers Manhar, Shabbir Kumar, Nitin Mukesh and Anuradha Paudwal.
Her voice was last heard in an alaap in the song "Saagar kinare bhi do dil" from the movie Khamoshi (1996) which was composed by her brothers Jatin and Lalit.
She received the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award in 1975 for the 1975 song "Tu Hi Saagar Hai Tu Hi Kinara" from Sankalp.
For this song she also won the Miyan Tansen Award.
Things were anything but easy for Sulakshana, the eldest of all the siblings, especially when her father left, making her the bread-winner for the entire family.
She met and fell in love with Harihar Zariwala, more popularly known as Bollywood actor Sanjeev Kumar, who was so smitten by actress Hema Malini, that he turned her down. Heartbroken, Sulakshana never married.
She fell into hard times after she stopped getting acting assignments, especially when she insisted on singing and acting simultaneously. She ended up living in a dilapidated flat that was unfurnished, and badly in need of repairs, so much so that she could not find a buyer for it.
In 2005 things changed for the better, when actor Jeetendra convinced his brother-in-law to buy her flat, while Vijayta and Aadesh stepped in to assist Sulakshana get back to her feet. With the disposition of her apartment, she was able to pay off her debts, as well as invest the left-over funds in three other flats which ultimately continue to provide for her needs.
Sulakshana broke her hip bone falling in the bathroom and even after four surgeries, she is still unable to walk properly, dependent on painkillers. She confines herself to a room in her sister's house and has a full-time domestic help to look after her.
for Bollywood?
Bollywood box office king Rajkumar Hirani believes a new golden age is dawning for the Indian movie industry as film-makers look outside the box to tell more varied stories.
“Before there was a belief that you had to have songs,” said Hirani, the man behind a string of hits including the global sensation 3 Idiots. “Now people are completely experimenting with the subject matter.”
Even those directors who continue to include songs are also exploring “much darker themes” and still enjoying massive box office success, he added. A case in point is 55-year-old Hirani’s latest offering, Sanju, which the director has brought to this year’s 23rd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, the largest of its kind in Asia.
Based on the rise and fall of superstar Sanjay Dutt, Hirani admitted the project was a risk given the often grim nature of the story, which includes gritty scenes of drug taking and its lead character’s descent into depression.
But the strong box office returns have convinced him that audiences want a wider range of options from Indian films. “It’s very much a human interest story about battling your demons,” stated Hirani. “It’s a very different kind of film than I have done before. While I was making it everybody thought it was a mistake.”
But Hirani said he was more confident the film might succeed after seeing the reaction of Dutt, who was released from jail in 2016, at a preview screening. “He saw it three days before its release and I was watching him,” mentioned Hirani. “He was crying and after that he sat at home and drank for three days, so I knew it had worked.”
Experts say Bollywood is on track for record earnings in 2018, after surpassing last year’s $2.1 billion mark by the end of the first quarter. Across all languages, India now produces more than 1,000 movies a year – several hundred more than come out of Hollywood. Increasingly these films are finding a global audience. Hirani’s 3 Idiots – the tale of three friends struggling with the pressures of getting an education – was a ground-breaker in terms of international box office success, with around $30 million in international takings.
Hirani said Bollywood film-makers are expanding their own horizons as their audience grows, both domestically and globally. But he stressed he had found no magic wand for making great cinema.
“I don’t think there’s ever a formula for success in film,” said Hirani. “If there was, everyone would share it. I’ve been fortunate. You can’t judge what the world will like. If you laugh at the jokes you are writing and if you can cry at the emotional scenes, then hopefully the audience will too.”
“Before there was a belief that you had to have songs,” said Hirani, the man behind a string of hits including the global sensation 3 Idiots. “Now people are completely experimenting with the subject matter.”
Even those directors who continue to include songs are also exploring “much darker themes” and still enjoying massive box office success, he added. A case in point is 55-year-old Hirani’s latest offering, Sanju, which the director has brought to this year’s 23rd Busan International Film Festival in South Korea, the largest of its kind in Asia.
Based on the rise and fall of superstar Sanjay Dutt, Hirani admitted the project was a risk given the often grim nature of the story, which includes gritty scenes of drug taking and its lead character’s descent into depression.
But the strong box office returns have convinced him that audiences want a wider range of options from Indian films. “It’s very much a human interest story about battling your demons,” stated Hirani. “It’s a very different kind of film than I have done before. While I was making it everybody thought it was a mistake.”
But Hirani said he was more confident the film might succeed after seeing the reaction of Dutt, who was released from jail in 2016, at a preview screening. “He saw it three days before its release and I was watching him,” mentioned Hirani. “He was crying and after that he sat at home and drank for three days, so I knew it had worked.”
Experts say Bollywood is on track for record earnings in 2018, after surpassing last year’s $2.1 billion mark by the end of the first quarter. Across all languages, India now produces more than 1,000 movies a year – several hundred more than come out of Hollywood. Increasingly these films are finding a global audience. Hirani’s 3 Idiots – the tale of three friends struggling with the pressures of getting an education – was a ground-breaker in terms of international box office success, with around $30 million in international takings.
Hirani said Bollywood film-makers are expanding their own horizons as their audience grows, both domestically and globally. But he stressed he had found no magic wand for making great cinema.
“I don’t think there’s ever a formula for success in film,” said Hirani. “If there was, everyone would share it. I’ve been fortunate. You can’t judge what the world will like. If you laugh at the jokes you are writing and if you can cry at the emotional scenes, then hopefully the audience will too.”
From working in Indian films for over three decades to achieving global fame with several international projects, veteran actor Anupam Kher, who is currently in the US shooting for his new American series New Amsterdam, says he can never overlook Indian cinema for foreign projects. "It feels good when I get recognition for my international movies and shows, but for me, my own (Indian) cinema is very much important. When I am in some foreign country, I always introduce myself as 'I am an international actor from India'.
"Being an Indian actor, I cannot overlook our cinema. And I feel there is no dearth of South Asian actors in world cinema because it completely depends upon the person whether he/she wants to act in international projects or not. Our Indian cinema is self-sufficient in its own way," Anupam said.
After playing pivotal roles in Oscar-nominated Hollywood movies like Silver Linings Playbook and The Big Sick, the 63-year-old is currently working in the medical drama New Amsterdam. According to Anupam, he has "reinvented" himself by essaying the role of Vijay Kapoor in the show.
"Through New Amsterdam, one of the main things I have learnt is the relationship between doctors and patients. For this show, we are shooting in a real hospital, so I often get a chance to meet patients and doctors. Interacting with the patients made me understand the real value of relations and emotions.
"Now I know what families go through if their loved ones are battling with some illness. I am evolving as a person with this project." As the show is already on air and is garnering a great response from viewers, Anupam considers this project a "huge achievement".
Like Anupam always says, Kucch bhi ho sakta hai (anything can happen)", he wonders how God has forever been kind to him. Be it his negative role in Dushmani or his comic avatar in Haseena Maan Jayegi, the actor has been entertaining people with his performances for over 30 years. He has also been feted with civilian honours like the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
"A young boy from Shimla who dreamt of becoming an actor successfully paved a path in Bollywood and is now working in Hollywood. What else could I have asked for? I feel blessed that God has always been kind to me. This project has given me a different kind of achievement. I always wanted to do something different and now I have reinvented and explored my new side with New Amsterdam," he added.
Apart from his international projects, Anupam is also preparing for his next Hindi film The Accidental Prime Minister, a biopic based on the life of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Anupam, who plays Manmohan Singh in the film, underwent transformation to get into the role. He says it is one of the most challenging roles he has ever done.
The actor said: "It took 4-5 months to make my body language similar to Manmohanji and a complete month for having control over my voice. It was not like 'Go inside (the make-up room) and come out (dressed) as Manmohan Singh'. The character demanded huge hard work and I tried my best to play the role with sincerity and conviction.
"Portraying Dr Manmohan Singh's life on-screen was like a scientist working on his/her discoveries and theories because it is not easy to represent someone who is known by the world. Manmohan Singh is a politician and leader of this generation. People know everything about him. I hope I have done justice to his character."
"Being an Indian actor, I cannot overlook our cinema. And I feel there is no dearth of South Asian actors in world cinema because it completely depends upon the person whether he/she wants to act in international projects or not. Our Indian cinema is self-sufficient in its own way," Anupam said.
After playing pivotal roles in Oscar-nominated Hollywood movies like Silver Linings Playbook and The Big Sick, the 63-year-old is currently working in the medical drama New Amsterdam. According to Anupam, he has "reinvented" himself by essaying the role of Vijay Kapoor in the show.
"Through New Amsterdam, one of the main things I have learnt is the relationship between doctors and patients. For this show, we are shooting in a real hospital, so I often get a chance to meet patients and doctors. Interacting with the patients made me understand the real value of relations and emotions.
"Now I know what families go through if their loved ones are battling with some illness. I am evolving as a person with this project." As the show is already on air and is garnering a great response from viewers, Anupam considers this project a "huge achievement".
Like Anupam always says, Kucch bhi ho sakta hai (anything can happen)", he wonders how God has forever been kind to him. Be it his negative role in Dushmani or his comic avatar in Haseena Maan Jayegi, the actor has been entertaining people with his performances for over 30 years. He has also been feted with civilian honours like the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
"A young boy from Shimla who dreamt of becoming an actor successfully paved a path in Bollywood and is now working in Hollywood. What else could I have asked for? I feel blessed that God has always been kind to me. This project has given me a different kind of achievement. I always wanted to do something different and now I have reinvented and explored my new side with New Amsterdam," he added.
Apart from his international projects, Anupam is also preparing for his next Hindi film The Accidental Prime Minister, a biopic based on the life of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Anupam, who plays Manmohan Singh in the film, underwent transformation to get into the role. He says it is one of the most challenging roles he has ever done.
The actor said: "It took 4-5 months to make my body language similar to Manmohanji and a complete month for having control over my voice. It was not like 'Go inside (the make-up room) and come out (dressed) as Manmohan Singh'. The character demanded huge hard work and I tried my best to play the role with sincerity and conviction.
"Portraying Dr Manmohan Singh's life on-screen was like a scientist working on his/her discoveries and theories because it is not easy to represent someone who is known by the world. Manmohan Singh is a politician and leader of this generation. People know everything about him. I hope I have done justice to his character."