BollYWooD Movies Of 1950's....

Awara(1951)

It was the famous Raj-Nargis pairing. Whenever Raj Kapoor and Nargis came together on screen, sparks flew. Their chemistry was electrifying and it crackles with raw passion in Raj Kapoor’s ‘Awara’. Nargis’s wild and carefree sensuality pulsates and Raj Kapoor’s scruffy hair-rebellious persona only adds fuel to the fire. The film was a runaway success not just in India but also in the erstwhile USSR and China. Raj Kapoor plays Raju an aimless youth turned into a criminal living in the slums who is loved by a respectable lawyer played by Nargis. The film established Raj Kapoor as the Chaplin-like ‘tramp’ of Hindi cinema. The music of the film was on the lips of not just Indians but people from all over the world especially Russians. The songs specially “ Awaara hoon”, “Ghar aaya mera pardesi" and “ Dum bhar jo udhar muhn phere" are remembered even today. The first ever dream sequence to be filmed in Hindi cinema where a gorgeous Nargis wafts through the clouds in search of her lover, Raj Kapoor took three months to shoot. It is a symbolic picturisation of the turbulence in the mind of the hero, he escapes the hell that the villain has created and climbs up to the angelic heroine. This song was a big attraction in its time and it spawned numerous dream-sequences in the future films.

scene from Awara(1951)

the gist of movie awara(1951)

Source

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2264/2249436418_f62b49c27c_z.jpg?zz=1, http://loveisalwaysnew.blogspot.com/2009/07/1950s-golden-era-of-classics.html, http://www.outlookindia.com/images/awara_1951_20030512.jpg, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizRXsF-OfD1iAmH3xlgY8PAM8svcb0pRa0Egq3ctw-sVacq0dcJUVzOxt_Xt1xSjDh_Hrp0g1lMtjRz20qySCrTtzAg0kg_XYLwlHmbGYCEVE-6tctPt3xb5DHfyBMOBbEegrE-lzb8pE/s1600/2.jpg

Devdas (1955)

Based on a novel by Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, this has been made numerous times in the history in different Indian languages, with the latest modern versions in Dev D (Abhay Deol) and Devdas (Shah Rukh Khan). But in this Bimal Roy directed classic, Dilip Kumar played the title role, and is arguably the best performance among all the other lead actors in different versions till date. It is tragic tale of lost love and a complex mish-mash of human relationships, it made you wonder what's so enigmatic about this character that it is been made so many times, after all it is a story of a looser ! But, then sad stories always work better than happy ending stories, they are remembered more and they are more relatable.His drunken scenes are understated and that coupled with his inimitable style of dialogue delivery is a deadly combo. Its dialogue " Kaun kambakht bardasht karne ke liye peeta hai ?” was often repeated by Dilip Kumar fans. Vyjayanthimala as Chandramukhi and Suchitra Sen as Paro gave sensitive performances. Motilal as Chunnibabu is a treat to watch. If you didn't liked the two latest modern versions, go for this one!

Devdas(1955)

this is hand painted poster for the movie

The scene from the movie Devdas(1955)

Sources

http://loveisalwaysnew.blogspot.com/2009/07/1950s-golden-era-of-classics.html

http://www.host-images.com/u/files/2azndwpfipwuf94i1ep1.jpg

http://www.bollywood-stars.net/images/devdas.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Devdas_1955_film_poster.jpg/220px-Devdas_1955_film_poster.jpg

Mother India (1957)

Mother India’ is basically a tribute to spirit of the Indian woman! The only film before ‘Lagaan’ to get a nomination in the Best Foreign Film Category at the Oscars, ‘Mother India’ is an epic. Nargis as Radha, a ‘Mother Courage’ like character was spectacular in the film. It was a performance of a lifetime, a role to die for. The film is emotionally charged as Radha represents millions of women across the country struggling to preserve their dignity while bringing up their children single-handedly. She works like a beast to feed her children and pay off the moneylender. Her sons played by Rajendra Kumar and Sunil Dutt help her in getting back their land from the vile clutches of the local moneylender. Sunil Dutt as the rebel son whom she shoots in the end is brilliant. While shooting for the film Sunil Dutt had rescued Nargis from a fire that had broken out on the sets. The two later married spinning a romantic folklore around the film.

Mother India(1957)

A scene from Mother India

Source

http://iifablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/mother_india_poster.jpg, https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQcz74YNPtRnc0JcppcAfOoLlCCp5QvO1iZT6L-1EZnRDNpmhWNKJHOsj41muFzfU4SIfIlLgSD8bBffoLYtcMxw4I0c1qT4N2NOc5WCuKDFBqiCsxIskWg_g2F8kqgjkWv666VJ14PVQZ/s1600/vlcsnap64940fj3.png

http://loveisalwaysnew.blogspot.com/2009/07/1950s-golden-era-of-classics.html

BollyWooD in 1950's : The golden Era

Following India's independence, the period from the late 1950s to the 1960s are regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. Some of the most critically-acclaimed Hindi films of all time were produced during this period. Examples include the Guru Dutt films Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and the Raj Kapoor filmsAwaara (1951) and Shree 420 (1955). These films expressed social themes mainly dealing with working-class urban life in India; Awaara presented the city as both a nightmare and a dream, while Pyaasa critiqued the unreality of city life. Some of the most famous epic films of Hindi cinema were also produced at the time, including Mehboob Khan'sMother India (1957), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and K. Asif'sMughal-e-Azam (1960). Madhumati (1958), directed by Bimal Roy and written by Ritwik Ghatak, popularized the theme of reincarnation in Western popular culture. Other acclaimed mainstream Hindi filmmakers at the time includedKamal Amrohi and Vijay Bhatt. Successful actors at the time included Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt, while successful actresses included Nargis, Meena Kumari, Nutan, Madhubala, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha.While commercial Hindi cinema was thriving, the 1950s also saw the emergence of a new Parallel Cinema movement. Though the movement was mainly led by Bengali cinema, it also began gaining prominence in Hindi cinema. Early examples of Hindi films in this movement includeChetan Anand's Neecha Nagar (1946) and Bimal Roy's Two Acres of Land (1953). Their critical acclaim, as well as the latter's commercial success, paved the way for Indian neorealismand the Indian New Wave. Some of the internationally-acclaimed Hindi filmmakers involved in the movement includedMani Kaul, Kumar Shahani, Ketan Mehta, Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal and Vijaya Mehta. Ever since the social realist film Neecha Nagar won the Grand Prize at the first Cannes Film Festival,[21] Hindi films were frequently in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, with some of them winning major prizes at the festival.Guru Dutt, while overlooked in his own lifetime, had belatedly generated international recognition much later in the 1980s. Dutt is now regarded as one of the greatest Asian filmmakers of all time, alongside the more famous Indian Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The 2002 Sight & Soundcritics' and directors' poll of greatest filmmakers ranked Dutt at #73 on the list.[26] Some of his films are now included among the greatest films of all time, with Pyaasa (1957) being featured in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list, and with both Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) tied at #160 in the 2002 Sight & Sound critics' and directors' poll of all-time greatest films. Several other Hindi films from this era were also ranked in the Sight & Soundpoll, including Raj Kapoor's Awaara (1951), Vijay Bhatt's Baiju Bawra (1952), Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957) andK. Asif's Mughal-e-Azam (1960) all tied at #346 on the list.

Nargis and Raj Kapoor in Awaara(1951), also directed and produced by Kapoor. It was nominated for the Grand Prize of the 1951 Cannes Film Festival.

Scene from Movie BABUL

BollywooD SonG and DancE

While most actors, especially today, are excellent dancers, few are also singers. Songs are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers with actors lip-synching the words, often while dancing. One notable exception was Kishore Kumar who starred in several major films in the 1950s while also having a stellar career as a playback singer. K. L. Saigal, Suraiyya and Noor Jehan were also known as both singers and actors. Of late, a few actors have again tried singing for themselves. Amitabh Bachchan, who started the trend of non-singing stars at the mike with the runaway hit "Mere Angane Mein" in "Lawaaris" in the mid-80's, continued his toe-dipping in singing with turns in "Silsila", "Mahaan" "Toofan" and more recently in the movies Baghban and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, as well as doing a duet with Adnan Sami in the song Kabhi Nahi (Never). Aamir Khan took a turn singing "Kya Bolti Tu" in Ghulam but only because "the character had attitude that only Aamir could do justice to", according to director Vikram Bhatt. These forays, while well-received at the time, have not led to real singing careers for either actor.

Playback singers are prominently featured in the opening credits and have their own fans who will go to an otherwise lackluster movie just to hear their favorites. The composers of film music, known as music directors, are also well-known. Their songs can make or break a film and usually do.

The dancing in Bollywood films, especially older ones, is primarily modeled on Indian dance: classical dance styles, dances of historic northern Indian courtesans (tawaif), or folk dances. In modern films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles (as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is not unusual to see Western pop and pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. The hero or heroine will often perform with a troupe of supporting dancers, usually of the same sex. If the hero and heroine dance and sing a pas-de-deux (a dance and ballet term, meaning "dance of two"), it is often staged in beautiful natural surroundings or architecturally grand settings.

WhaT is BollYWooD?

Bollywood is the name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. When combined with other Indian film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada), it is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced, and maybe also the number of tickets sold.

The term Bollywood was created by conflating Bombay (the city now called Mumbai) and Hollywood (the famous center of the United States film industry).

Bollywood films are usually musicals. Few movies are made without at least one song-and-dance number. Indian audiences expect full value for their money; they want songs and dances, love interest, comedy and dare-devil thrills, all mixed up in a three hour long extravaganza with intermission. Such movies are called masala movies, after the spice mixture masala. Like masala, these movies have everything.