By Anupama Nair
Mumbai, April 26
I have heard my grandmother tell me the advent of Cinema in India, and the greatness of actors like K.L Saigal, Surendra and then Ashok Kumar. I had the fortune of watching vintage classic movies like Saigal’s “Devdas”, Surendra’s “Anmol Ghadi” with “Mallika e Tarannum” Noor Jehan and Ashok Kumar’s “Kismet” and “Achoot Kanya”. Though I was born in the 70s the classic Black & White movies were my favorite era. I used to wait for Thursday evening in Doordarshan to watch Black & White movies. Now the Sadabahar Channel is my favorite showing movies of the Bygone era. With great regret I am forced to say “guzra hua zamana kabhi nahi ayega dubara”. The movies of today are just nonsense with no theme, music etc. Compare the voice of KL Saigal, Surendra, Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mehmood, Noor Jehan, Suraiya, Lata Mangeshkar and today’s music, Do I need to say more. Today I am taking you to a journey to the early years of Indian Cinema when Ashok Kumar was the first super star. Be ready to embark on a journey down memory lane.
Although the start of the history of the film is not known, public screening of 10 short films was started by Lumiere Brothers in Paris in 1895. By 1906 some technical improvements were seen in film making. Until 1927, most motion pictures were produced without sound. This period is commonly referred to as the silent era. Charlie Chaplin movies in the silent era are popular even now. To enhance the viewers' experience, silent films were commonly accompanied by live musicians in an orchestra, a theatre organ, and sometime sound effects.
In 1896 it became clear that more money was to be made by showing motion picture films with a projector to a large audience than exhibiting them in Edison’s kinetoscope. Movie making was a huge hit in the United States. Warner Brothers was established then and produced the first talkie, The Jazz Singer. Walt Disney Productions was set up in 1939.The movie Industry never looked behind.
In India, Hindi Film Industry is called Bollywood, based in Bombay. The first film was made in India in 1897 by Professor Stevenson in Calcutta. Dada Saheb Falke’s Raja Harishchandra was the first silent movie made in 1913.The first sound film was Alam Ara in 1931 by Adeshir Irani. The first color film Kisan Kanya was made by Irani in 1937. The decade of the 1940s saw an expansion of the Bollywood's commercial market and its presence in the national Independence movement. The arrival of Indian cinema's first 'blockbuster' in 1943 was the movie Kismet, which grossed in excess of the important barrier of one crore rupees, made on a budget of only two lakh rupees. Kismet tackled contemporary issues, especially those arising from the Indian Independence movement, and went on to become "the longest running hit of Indian cinema", a title it held till the 1970s. Film personalities like Bimal Roy, Sahir Ludhianvi and Prithviraj Kapoor participated in the creation of a national movement against colonial rule in India, while simultaneously leveraging the popular political movement to increase their own visibility and popularity. Themes from the Independence Movement deeply influenced Bollywood directors, screen-play writers, and lyricists, who saw their films in the context of social reform and the problems of the common man.
Let me now start with our hero Ashok Kumar. Born as Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911–10 December 2001, he took the stage name Ashok Kumar. He was fondly known as Dadamoni and achieved iconic status in the Film Industry. He was the first and only mega legend of Indian Cinema. He was born in a Bengali family in Bengal Presidency in Bagalpur, now in the state of Bihar. Most of his brothers were in the film industry—Anoop Kumar and Kishore Kumar. Ashok Kumar was happy working as a laboratory assistant and remained in that position for some five years. His acting career started purely by accident. His first film was Jeevan Naiyya in 1936. His next movie was the blockbuster Achyut Kanya with Devika Rani in the same year. The story was of a Brahmin boy falling in love with a Dalit girl. Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani became a popular pair of that era. They did many films together like Janma Bhoomi, Izzat, Savitri, Vachan. The last movie together was in 1941 after the movie Anjaan flopped in the box office.
Ashok Kumar started acting with Leela Chitnis, another actress who was senior to him in age as well as stature. Back-to-back successes with Kangan (1939), Bandhan (1940), Azad (1940), But the movie Jhoola (1941) made him popular. The blockbuster movie Kismet (1943), where he acted as anti-hero made him a superstar and a household name. It is said “Ashok's popularity grew each passing day. He seldom ventured out, but wherever he was spotted, he was mobbed. Traffic would come to a stop and often the police would have to use lathis to disperse his fans." Ashok Kumar became the most bankable star of the era, delivering a succession of box office successes with movies such as Chal Re Naujawan (1944), Shikari (1946), Sajan (1947), Mahal (1949), Mashaal (1950), Sangram (1950, and Samadhi (1950). The movie Mahal with Madhubala and the song “Ayega Aanewala” is still popular 70 decades later. Ashok Kumar acted another blockbuster movie with Madhubala called Howrah Bridge in 1958. Though younger actors like Raj Kapoor, Yusuf Khan (Dilip Kumar), and Dev Anand entered the scene, Ashok Kumar’s popularity never dwindled. He acted in hits like Afsana (1951), Nau Bahar (1952), Parineeta (1952), Bandish (1955), Ek Hi Rasta (1956), Ek Saal (1957).
By the 1960s, Ashok Kumar switched over to character roles, variously playing the parent, uncle or grandparent, being careful never to be typecast. He acted in landmark movies like Jewel Thief, Ashirwad, Purab aur Paschim, Pakeezah, Mili, Choti si Bath and Khoobsurat. He acted in fewer films in the 1980s and 1990s, and occasionally appeared on television, most famously anchoring the first Indian soap opera Hum Log and later in Ramayana. He was the first superstar of Hindi cinema as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor.
He won the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1988. We lost this great actor in 2001, which was a great loss to the film industry
