Mumbai, June 16 (IANS) Actress Alia Bhatt on Sunday wished her ‘nana’ on his birth anniversary by sharing unseen childhood pictures with her ‘grandpa’, expressing that “you and your stories live on in our hearts forever.”

Alia’s grandfather, Narendranath Razdan, who was born on June 16, 1928, passed away at the age of 93 on June 1, 2023.

Remembering her nana, the ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ actress took to Instagram and shared two snaps.

In the first picture, a young Alia is seen wearing a red dress and sitting with her grandfather. The second picture is a solo snap of Alia’s granddad.

The post is captioned: “My favourite storyteller…happy birthday Grandpa, you and your stories live on in our hearts forever.”

On the work front, Alia was last seen in the movie ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’ alongside Ranveer Singh. The romantic comedy, directed by Karan Johar and written by Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan, and Sumit Roy, received positive reviews.

She also featured in the American film ‘Heart of Stone.’

Alia’s upcoming project ‘Jigra,’ which she is also producing, is slated to release in theaters on October 11.

On the personal front, Alia is married to actor Ranbir Kapoor. They tied the knot in April 2022 and have a daughter named Raha.

–IANS

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New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) You should have been named Hemant Kumar because you sing so well, the tetchy heroine of the night-long caper film ‘Solva Saal’ (1958) snaps at the interloping hero after being gratuitously serenaded by him in a Bombay suburban train while she is trying to elope with her beau. This was subtle praise for the singer of ‘Hai apna dil to awara’, Hemant Kumar.

The tribute was well deserved for the singer-composer for his prowess spanned Bengali and Hindi films and whose well-modulated baritone was the voice of superstars of both industries, especially Uttam Kumar and Dev Anand. And then, he became the first Indian invited to compose for a Hollywood film – Conrad Rook’s ‘Siddharta’ (1972), based on Herman Hesse’s novel, and also used two of his Bengali songs in it.

Born on this day (June 16) in 1920 in then Benares in a family of modest means, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay was interested in music from his early years and abandoned his engineering education for music.

A rare combination of a gifted musical composer, who wove in classical strains, and a playback singer, with a gently soothing voice, he recorded his first (Bengali) song in 1940 and the first Hindi song a couple of years later.

But, while well-established in Bengali films in the 1940s, he could not make a simultaneous mark in Hindi films. It was only in the early 1950s that he was called to Bombay to give music for ‘Anand Math’ (1952), and came to national prominence for both his spirited compositions and renditions of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jai Jagdish Hare, Jai Jagdish Hare’ in it.

His next two films flopped, and a disheartened Hemant Kumar, as he had become on the suggestion of veteran filmmaker Sasadhar Mukherjee, was planning to head back to Calcutta but was convinced to stay on.

‘Nagin’ (1954), with its hypnotically compelling music, especially that snake-charmer melody on a ‘been’ – actually rendered on the clavioline by Kalyanji and on the harmonium by Ravi – both his assistants before they went to become prominent music directors in their own right – cemented his place in the Hindi film industry and also fetched a Filmfare Award for music.

But while he went on to give music – and his voice – for several other landmark films, and also went on to remake gothic literary masterpieces like ‘Bees Saal Baad’ (1962), and ‘Kohraa’ (1964), and that stark drama ‘Khamoshi’ (1969), his impact in Bombay started declining in the late 1960s as his brand of music and his genteel voice did not attract the attention it once had. However, he continued to enjoy a flourishing career in Calcutta, especially for his Rabindra Sangeet renditions, apart from films.

Hemant Kumar, who later on started to dye his hair as he contended that youngsters would not appreciate love songs from a grey-haired man, also became known for refusing a Padma Shri in the 1970s and a Padma Bhushan in the 1980s “as too late,” slowed down a bit in the 1980s due to health issues but went on. In fact, he had returned from a concert in Dhaka in September 1989 before suffering a major and fatal heart attack.

A top-notch music composer and a playback singer, like S. D. Burman, Hemant Kumar differed from the senior Burman, whose songs were more situational, more popular and enduring songs.

Take ‘Yaad kiya dil ne kahan ho tum’, picturised on a dapper Dev Anand, in ‘Patita’ (1953), or the exuberant ‘Main gareebon ka dil hoon watan ki zabaan’, from ‘Aab-e-Hayat’ (1955), which seems another of the Arabian Nights-type escapade that were once Bollywood staples, the ethereal duet ‘Nain se nain naahii milao’ in V. Shantaram’s ‘Jhanak Jhanak Paayal Baaje’ (1955), and the peppy and playful ‘Zara nazron se kah do ji nishana chuk na jaye’ (‘Bees Saal Baad’) are proof.

Then, his own composed and sung ‘Na tum hamen jaano’ from ‘Baat Ek Raat Ki’ (1962), where Dev Anand softly croons a piece of the ‘antara’, rather than the ‘mukhda’ over a sleeping Waheeda Rehman, before beginning the song.

And there was his penchant for the telling pause and change of tone – the nearly indiscernible break before ‘Bichhad gaya har saathi dekar/Pal do pal kaa saath/Kisko fursat hai jo thame deewaanon ka haath’.. and the slight change of tone for ‘Hamko apna saaya tak aqsar bezar mila…’ in ‘Jaane woh kaise log the..’ from Guru Dutt’s ‘Pyaasa’ (1957) and the voice shift in the transition from ‘… jaagte rahenge aur kitni raat ham…’ to ‘Muktsar si baat hai..’. from his Bollywood swan song ‘Tum pukaar lo, tumhara intezaar hai’ in ‘Khamoshi’.

It is no wonder why Lata Mangeshkar and Salil Choudhary dubbed him “Voice of God.”

(Vikas Datta can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

–IANS

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New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) On Father’s Day, actors Chiranjeevi and Allu Arjun shared heartwarming messages for their fathers, accompanied by unseen pictures.

Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi posted a throwback picture with his father, Konidela Venkat Rao.

The actor shared the post on X with the caption: “Father is the First Hero, to Every Child! Happy Father’s Day to All! #FathersDay.”

National Award-winning actor Allu Arjun shared a black-and-white picture with his father, Allu Aravind.

He posted it with the caption: “Happy Father’s Day… to every father in the world.”

On the professional front, Chiranjeevi will next appear in ‘Vishwambhara’, while Allu Arjun will be seen in the now-delayed ‘Pushpa: The Rule’, directed by Sukumar.

–IANS

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Mumbai, June 16 (IANS) Actor Varun Dhawan, who is currently embracing fatherhood, on Sunday shared an adorable first glimpse of his baby girl along with a picture of his furry friend, Joey, on Father’s Day.

On June 3, Varun and his wife, Natasha Dalal, welcomed their daughter.

The ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ actor took to Instagram and shared two pictures.

In one, he is seen holding his daughter’s tiny hand while wearing a white kurta. In the other photo, Varun is holding the paw of his pet dog, Joey.

The post is captioned: “Happy Father’s Day. My father taught me that the best way to celebrate this day is by going out there and working for your family, so I’ll be doing just that. Couldn’t be happier to be a girl dad.”

The post left the internet in awe of Varun’s love for his newborn daughter.

A fan commented: “Awww… she’s the luckiest little girl, our choti princess.”

Another user said: “We are so happy for you.” A fan added: “I melted at the first slide and then I swiped and lost it.”

Varun and Natasha got married in January 2021 in Alibaug.

On the acting front, Varun last appeared in the romantic drama ‘Bawaal’, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, starring Janhvi Kapoor. He also had a cameo in the horror comedy ‘Munjya’.

He is set to play the lead in ‘Baby John’, an action drama directed by Kalees and produced by Jio Studios, featuring Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Jackie Shroff, and Sanya Malhotra.

Varun also has ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’ and ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’ in his upcoming projects.

–IANS

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Kolkata, June 16 (IANS) On the occasion of Father’s Day, singer-songwriter Nikhita Gandhi revealed how her ‘papa’ joined her on stage at a recent event in Kolkata and sang the cult song ‘Kolkata’ with her.

Nikhita, who is known for tracks like ‘Qaafirana’, ‘Ullu Ka Pattha’, and ‘Jugnu’, shared: “Papa sang the cult song ‘Kolkata’ by Anupam Roy and Shreya Ghoshal with me on stage. He is a maxillofacial prosthodontist. He loves music and is a natural.”

“He used to sing Kishore Kumar songs in his college days, and all my love for music comes from him. He still sings for recreation and performs on occasion (Kolkata has many musical events), and his love for music is definitely a huge part of my journey as a musician,” added Nikhita, who hails from Kolkata.

Nikhita was born into a Bengali and Punjabi family in Kolkata. She pursued a degree in dentistry in Chennai.

The 32-year-old is also a former student of A.R. Rahman’s K. M. College of Music and Technology. Her first association with Rahman was during an Indo-German exchange, where she was part of a choir that performed with the German orchestra.

The singer is also known for her songs like ‘Raabta Title Song’, ‘Ghar’, ‘Tan Tan’, ‘Qafirana’, ‘Main Deewana Tera’, and Bengali songs like ‘Raagi Raja’, ‘Bolo Dugga Maiki’, ‘Baare Baare’, ‘Tui Bolbo Na Tumi’, ‘Tara Khosa Raat’, ‘Janina Bhalolaga’, among others.

–IANS

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