Dream Purveyor!

Last week I was writing about an extra-ordinary dream Merchant Nora Ephron and never thought I have to come back with another dream purveyor. If one go by the two terms then you will find that both the words are same as per English dictionary. I was never been a big fan of him, his rise and my obsession to the Hindi cinema almost happened in the same time. The time was better described as  golden years of Rajesh Khanna. As I said that I was never obsessed by him like others in my days yet it is impossible to ignore Rajesh Khanna. In my college going days I saw many boys sporting a pant and a Kurta was known as guru Kurta that was made famous by Khanna. They often walked like him and tried every bit to imitate him. Even last twenty years he was nowhere and he was the one to blame for it but his contribution to the Indian cinema cannot be overlooked. Last one week once again we are going through everything about him and I, too decided to come up with a summarize page on him.

Rajesh Khanna

Born 29 December 1942 as Jatin Arora in Amritsar Pakistan. Khanna was adopted and raised by foster parents - Chunni Lal Khanna and Leela Wati Khanna, who were relatives of his biological parents. In Mumbai, Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon and attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School there, along with his friend Ravi Kapoor, who later took the stage name Jeetendra. It said that,  Khanna became a rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car to get work in theatre and films in the early sixties. He later studied in K. C. College, Mumbai. Rajesh Khanna also fondly called as Kaka.

Rajesh Khanna was one of eight finalists in the 1965 All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare from more than ten thousand contestants. Subsequently Khanna won the contest. He made his film debut in the 1966 film Aakhri Khat directed by Chetan Anand, followed by Raaz directed by Ravindra Dave both of which were a part of his predetermined prize for winning the All-India United Producers’ Talent Competition. G.P. Sippy and Nasir Hussain were the first to sign Rajesh Khanna after he won the contest.  Being under contract with United Producers, he got projects like Aurat, Doli and Ittefaq. However 'Aradhana' directed by Shakti Samanta and co-starring Sharmila Tagore was the movie which made him an instant star.

He was the only star who has given record fifteen hits on the trot. During late sixties and mid seventies all film released starring Rajesh Khanna was turned out to be supper hit and subsequently he was named as Indian first superstar.

He dated four beautiful woman but married to one, that was Dimple Kapadia who was then fifteen years younger than him. However, they separated in 1984 but never divorced. He have two daughters from his marriage to Dimple.

After a long battle with cancer, Khanna died on 18 July 2012.

Some of his Memorable Films, listing consists the hit or critically acclaimed movies only.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director
1966	Aakhri Khat	Chetan Anand
1969	Aradhana	Shakti Samanta
1969	Ittefaq	Yash Chopra
1969	Doli	Adurthi Subba Rao
1969	Bandhan	Narendra Bedi
1969	Do Raaste	Raj Khosla
1970	Khamoshi	Asit Sen
1970	The Train	Ravikant Nagaich
1970	Sachaa Jhutha	Manmohan Desai
1970	Safar	Asit Sen
1971	Kati Patang	Shakti Samanta
1971	Anand	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
1971	Aan Milo Sajna	Mukul Dutt
1971	Andaz	Ramesh Sippy
1971	Maryada	Aravind Sen
1971	Chhoti Bahu	K. B. Tilak
1971	Haathi Mere Saathi	M. A. Thirumugham
1971	Mehboob Ki Mehndi	Harnam Singh Rawail
1972	Dushman	Dulal Guha
1972	Amar Prem	Shakti Samanta
1972	Apna Desh	Jambu
1972	Bawarchi	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
1972	Joroo Ka Ghulam	A. Bhimsingh
1972	Mere Jeevan Sathi	Ravikant Nagaich
1972	Anuraag	Shakti Samanta
1973	Raja Rani	Sachin Bhowmick
1973	Daag: A Poem of Love	Yash Chopra
1973	Namak Haraam	Hrishikesh Mukherjee
1973	Avishkaar	Basu Bhattacharya
1974	Aap Ki Kasam	J. Om Prakash
1974	Prem Nagar	K.S. Prakash Rao
1974	Ajnabee	Shakti Samanta
1974	Roti	Manmohan Desai
1975	Prem Kahani	Raj Khosla
1976	Mehbooba	Shakti Samanta
1977	Anurodh	Shakti Samanta
1977	Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka	J. Om Prakash
1979	Janata Havaldar	Mehmood
1980	Thodisi Bewafaii	Esmayeel Shroff
1980	Red Rose	Bharathiraja
1982	Ashanti	Umesh Mehra
1982	Rajput	Vijay Anand
1983	Souten	Saawan Kumar Tak
1983	Avtaar	Mohan Kumar
1983	Agar Tum Na Hote	Lekh Tandon
1984	Aaj Ka M.L.A. Ram Avtar	Dasari Narayana Rao
1985	Alag Alag	Shakti Samanta

during this week we also lost two prominent figure,  Mrinal Gore and Laxmi Sahgal.

!!!Death is a never ending dreamless sleep, we're born, we live and we will die so why to lament for it.!!!

The Dream Merchant!

Dreams having different colour and different shape, with the ages the colour and shape of dream changes constantly. Often we live in a world which completely surrounded by the illusion and obviously too far from reality. At the end of the day we found ourselves in a unknown alley yet we always try to make a life which a cocktail of dream and reality and forced ourselves to believe in it. That’s why we end up with a shattered dream. There was time when we like to live in a world made by Mills and Boons knowing it is shear nonsense and often by the rom-coms.  However, honestly, at my age I too have to give up to a intense desire to sit with a bucketful of popcorn and watch some of the best rom-coms. This blog is a tribute to Nora Ephron   who made some memorable stuff but it will be very unwise to say that we only remember Nora Ephron  for a few rom-coms. She was a multi-facet genius, journalist, writer, script writer, producer and director who given us some stupendous movies as well as some stunning rom-coms.

Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron was born in the New York City on May 19, 1941. She was the daughter of Phoebe and Henry Ephron. Her parents were both screenwriters. When she was four years old, the family moved to Beverly Hills, California. She remained there until she graduated from Beverly Hills High and moved back east to attend Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Ephron's sisters Delia and Amy are also screenwriters, while her sister Hallie Ephron is a journalist, book reviewer, and novelist who writes crime fiction. Ephron's parents based Sandra Dee's character in the play and the Jimmy Stewart film Take Her, She's Mine on their 22-year-old daughter Nora and her letters to them from college.

Ephron is best known for her romantic comedies and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay): for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail. She won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘When Harry Met Sally’. She sometimes wrote with her sister Delia Ephron. Her last film was Julie & Julia. She also co-authored the Drama Desk Award-winning theatrical production Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Screenwriter	Producer
1983	Silkwood		Y
1986	Heartburn		Y
1989	When Harry Met Sally...		Y	Y
	Cookie		Y	Y
1990	My Blue Heaven		Y	Y
1992	This Is My Life	Y	Y
1993	Sleepless in Seattle	Y	Y
1994	Mixed Nuts	Y	Y
1996	Michael	Y	Y	Y
1998	All I Wanna Do			Y
	You've Got Mail	Y	Y	Y
2000	Hanging Up		Y	Y
	Lucky Numbers	Y		Y
2005	Bewitched	Y	Y	Y
2009	Julie & Julia	Y	Y	Y

!!!R.I.P. Nora Ephron, a multi-facet genius who successfully infiltrated into the men’s bastion!!!