Latest news with #Sadhana
NDTV
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Raj Khosla At 100 - Meet The Man Behind Sadhana's 'Mystery Woman'
There's a Hindi proverb which translates in English to "Behind every successful man, there's a woman". In the case of Raj Khosla and Sadhana, this saying proved to be true, both ways. In his 30-year career, Raj Khosla made a name for himself as a director with star-studded movies such as Dev Anand's CID; Mera Gaon Mera Desh, starring Dharmendra and Asha Parekh; and Dostana with Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha. Advertisement - Scroll to continue But what made him stand apart from his contemporaries was his mystery trilogy -- Woh Kaun Thi? (1964), Mera Saaya (1966), and Anita (1967) - all three with Sadhana in the centre. While women characters in Raj Khosla's films were hardly just an arm candy or a mute spectator, his collaboration with Sadhana in the genre holds special importance. According to Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography, a book penned by Amborish Roychoudhury in association with the director's daughters Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, these three films were "all primarily love stories neatly wrapped in a thrilling exterior. At the heart of the mysteries were a man and a woman (actually two women - Sadhana had double roles in all three films) in love." Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography Photo Credit: Cover designed by Pia Alizé Hazarika Raj Khosla Kaun The? Born in Punjab in 1925, Raj Khosla was one of the most prominent filmmakers and screenwriters in Hindi film industry between the 1950s to1980s. May 31 (Saturday) marks the birth centenary of the director. He cut his teeth in films as an assistant to master filmmaker Guru Dutt before flying solo. Whether it was experimenting with opening credits, film editing techniques, staying true to genre without compromising on the emotional quotient, or his handling of musical sequences, the filmmaker was a cinematic visionary. He trained in Indian classical music and came to Bombay, erstwhile Mumbai, looking for work as a singer: he was part of the All India Radio's music staff. Sadhana As 'The Hero' And Fashion Icon In Raj Khosla's Films Before embarking on the suspense trilogy, Raj Khosla and Sadhana first collaborated on 1962's Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. The Hindi cinema of the 1960s and 1970s was dominated by the hero, especially in musical romance films. So to take a female actor and make her the driving force of the story, along with internalised acting and all the song-and-dance (Remember Lag Ja Gale from Woh Kaun Thi? and Jhumka Gira Re from Mera Saaya?), in genres such as mystery and suspense thriller, was almost avant-garde. (1966) Raj Khosla and Sadhana during the shoot of song 'Jhumka Gira Re', for film 'Mera Saaya'. — Film History Pics (@FilmHistoryPic) February 20, 2018 Sadhana's status as a fashion icon -- the first Hindi film female actor to have a hairstyle famously named after her -- was also a bonus for Raj Khosla's films. Whether it was the floral saree and pearl jewellery in the haunting Lag Ja Gale or an embroidered powder blue saree against the backdrop of a palace in Udaipur in the love ballad Nainon Mein Badra Chhaye (Mera Saaya), the Raj Khosla and Sadhana duo was a winning sartorial combination too. Raj Khosla, Sadhana And Mystery According to the book, filmmaker and historian Karan Bali highlighted how the late filmmaker worked with his cinematographer KH Kapadia to get just the right low-key lighting to add to "Sadhana's mystery" in Woh Kaun Thi?, also starring Manoj Kumar. "... It adds to the confusion that Manoj Kumar is going through, and the way he Khosla makes Sadhana walk so that her face is always within light..." Raj engaged in an intense conversation with Sadhana, one of his closest friends in the industry. Photo Credit: Personal collection of Raj Khosla's family The book, recently published by Hachette India, also states that Mera Saaya had "a better ending" than Woh Kaun Thi? "While the latter had a series of mysteries and red herrings built into the script, in the end it all boiled down to one explanation: that the heroine had a humshakal, a twin (Bollywood's favourite buzzword till well into the 1990s). However, in Mera Saaya, we already know that there's someone who looks like the heroine. Yet, till the denouement occurs, even seasoned thriller buffs are left scratching their head and wondering what really could have happened. If keeping the audience guessing till the end is a Hitchcockian trait, Raj Khosla was the finest Hitchcockian director India had seen." Raj Khosla and Sadhana collaborated on four films - Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and the mystery woman trilogy. Why we never got another film remains a mystery.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Another cheating case against shooting academy coach after woman alleges fraud and intimidation
Indore: Annapurna police on Friday registered another case of cheating against Mohsin Khan , coach and owner of a shooting academy, who is already facing six charges of gang rape, rape, molestation, and cheating involving female and male students at his academy and two other accomplices. "On the complaint of the woman, a case under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 294 (obscene acts and words), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC was registered against Mohsin Khan," said ACP Shivendu Joshi. According to her statement, she first came into contact with Mohsin in June 2020 through a telecalling job offer related to the shooting academy. Mohsin reportedly promised her a flourishing career in shooting, along with setting up her own licenced shooting range. Gaining her trust, he allegedly persuaded her to hand over a total of Rs 4 lakh in cash on two occasions in March 2021. Additionally, she claimed to have paid a credit card bill of Rs 2.5 lakh for Mohsin and covered the salaries of two female employees at his academy for eight months, amounting to Rs 1.68 lakh. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo She alleged that when she showed concern about the large sums of money being spent, Mohsin introduced her to a woman named Sadhana Johri, who claimed to perform occult rituals that could help her attract wealth. She stated that Sadhana showed her a video of a woman covered in currency notes as part of a supposed ritual, which convinced her of its authenticity. She agreed to participate in a ritual where she was taken to an isolated farmhouse by Mohsin and Sadhana. There, she was instructed to dress like a bride and was told she would need to please a 'genie' to receive blessings in the form of money. She said she was then anointed with perfumed oils and exposed to strange, intimidating rituals led by self-proclaimed spiritual men dressed as 'babas.' She claimed to have been subjected to a virginity test before being told by one of the men that she was not suitable for the ritual. Following this, the complainant confronted Mohsin, who then tried to divert her attention by introducing her to Faizan Khan, described as a coach and gym trainer, and encouraged her to develop a close relationship with him. When she refused, Mohsin allegedly threatened her, demanded Rs 13 lakh more, and publicly humiliated her in front of academy students and parents. She further claimed that Mohsin, along with Sadhana, was involved in illegal trade of banned wildlife species and that she had seen snakes, owls, and turtles at their location. She also alleged that Mohsin engaged in inappropriate behaviour with female students at his academy. Although initially hesitant to approach the police due to fear and concern for her father's health, she eventually decided to come forward after reading recent news reports involving Mohsin Khan.
The Print
5 days ago
- The Print
Two girls dead, seven injured as lightning strikes hamlet in UP's Mirzapur
Haliya Inspector Virendra Singh nine-year-old Sadhana and ten-year-old Khushboo, daughters of residents Ajay and Santosh respectively, were playing near a hand pump when they were struck by the lightning. The incident happened at around 3 pm in the Majhgawan hamlet in Nanda village under Haliya police station limits here. Mirzapur (UP), May 28 (PTI) Two girls aged nine and ten years died and seven others were injured when lightning struck during light rainfall in a village here on Wednesday, police said. Meanwhile, under a neem tree nearby, seven people including a three-year-old girl, two teenagers and a woman suffered burn injuries, Singh said. 'All injured are being treated at the Haliya Primary Health Centre,' said Dr Kameshwar Tiwari of the PHC. Sub-divisional magistrate Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, who visited the hospital, directed prompt medical care and announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the deceased and Rs 5,400 each the injured people under the Disaster Relief Fund. Police have sent the bodies for post-mortem. PTI COR KIS RUK RUK This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
India.com
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
'This film will flop': Mahesh Bhatt cried after hearing this, but after release, film ran in theatres for 50 weeks, film is..., lead actor was...
The first ever Indian to be called a superstar in Bollywood was no one else but Rajesh Khanna. Fondly called Kaka by his fans and loved ones, Rajesh Khanna made his debut in the 1966 film Aakhri Khat, which was India's first official Academy Awards entry in 1967. With his first film, Rajesh made a name for himself in the industry. However, in 1969, there came a film that was announced to be a flop. It featured Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz in the lead role. However, while everyone thought that the film was a flop, it did completely the opposite. The film ran on the big screens for 50 weeks. If you are wondering which film we are talking about, then the movie in discussion is Do Raaste. Directed and produced by Raj Khosla, the film Do Raaste was based on Marathi writer Chandrakant Kakodkar's novel Nilambar. The movie Do Raaste clashed with Rajesh Khanna's other film Aaradhana. When both the films were on the big screen, Vaman Bhosle and Mahesh Bhatt were at Bombay's Royal Opera House. A report by Times of India reveals that the writer of the biography Amborish Roy Chowdhury writes in the book, 'A manager named Desai came to Bhatt and Bhonsle and told them that Aaradhana is housefull whereas Do Raaste had no audience and probability is there that the movie will be a flop.' Upon listening to this, Mahesh, who was in his 20s, was left devastated and turned emotional, as he was extremely attached to the movie. The crisply-written book titled Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography also reveals that the film originally ended with some 'touching lines about the mother-son relationship,' which did not go well with the audience. After this, Raj approached actress Sadhana, with whom he did four films. 'Over the years, she had become a confidante and a sounding board. He showed her his films, and she told him what she felt,' writes Roy Chowdhury. Sadhana suggested ending the film with a clip of the song 'Bindiya Chamkegi,' which later became the No. 1 track on the radio countdown show Binaca Geetmala in 1971. Do Raaste 'ran for more than 50 weeks at the same Opera House where the staff had written the film off.'
Scroll.in
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
Book excerpt: The seduction of Raj Khosla's ‘Woh Kaun Thi?' begins with its opening scene
Unlike his Guru, Raj was quite obsessed with pre-credit sequences. C.I.D has one-and-a-half minute of intrigue before the title sequence begins rolling. Bombai ka Babu has shots of our (anti?) hero ambling out of jail, being picked up by his pal and followed by the police, interspersed with exterior shots of Bombay roads (quite unusual for Hindi films of the period). This continues for a good minute and 16 seconds before the title appears. Even for a romance like Solva Saal, the pre-credit sequence takes two-and-a-half minutes to set up the family that Laaj (Waheeda) is going to abandon. From this, Raj goes up to almost nine minutes – including an entire song – in Anita, and surpasses that in Nehle peh Dehlaa, which, in the tradition of 1970s revenge dramas, sets up the killing of a patriarch and separation of brothers before the title shows up. Yet, it is quite possible that the pre-credit sequence of Woh Kaun Thi? might just be the most iconic opening scene not only in Raj Khosla's oeuvre, but in all of Hindi cinema. A car is braving its way through heavy rains on a country road. We find ourselves inside the car, the screeching of wipers loud and clear. Potholes and ditches are visible through the bumpy ride. Beyond the windshield, a white silhouette comes into view. It's a woman, draped in white. The driver slams on his brakes. He honks away, but she refuses to budge. The driver peeks out of window and says in the most velvety Manoj Kumar voice possible: 'Sunaai nahi deta? Raaste se hato. Kaun ho tum? Can't you hear? Move out of the way. Who are you?' The woman in white (Sadhana), says she is no one. He asks again, 'Kahan jaana hai? Where do you want to go?' Nowhere, she says. After a cryptic conversation, Kumar gives Sadhana a lift with the promise of no more questions. Kumar can't see a thing through the sheets of water, but she can. He notices blood oozing out of her finger. 'Mujhe khoon achha lagta hai. I like blood,' she says. Eventually, she asks him to pull over next to a graveyard. As he wonders what business she could possibly have there, she reminds him of his promise. When she leaves the car, the wipers screech back into life. Kumar realizes that all this while, with the mysterious woman inside the car, the wipers had stopped moving. Sadhana casually walks into the graveyard, as the gate creaks open by itself. There is a bloodcurdling scream, followed by the song 'Naina barse rim jhim rim jhim', and the title, Woh Kaun Thi?, splashes across the screen. This opening sequence is one of the most effective buildups seen in mainstream Hindi films, giving the viewer a taste of what's to come. It's eerie and delivers just the right dose of chills without underscoring the theatrics. There is something unique about the pace. It's not hurried, yet there is a sense of urgency, as if the events are unfolding at a rapid pace. It's not easy to place your finger on it. It finally clicked for me when Manoj Kumar explained. According to him, Woh Kaun Thi? was the first Hindi film that was 'cut to cut'. 'There were no fade-outs or fade-ins, no dissolves or wipes. Likhi hi aise gayi thi. It was written like that,' the actor told me. It was Raj Khosla's adroit sense of filmmaking and inventive editing that gave Woh Kaun Thi? its feverish feel. He was helped by editor Dattaram Pai, an alumnus of Filmistan and Filmalaya. The editor was shadowed by a 32-year-old who was already being noticed for his skills in cutting film: Waman Bhonsle. Waman and Raj later collaborated on a number of films. From the outset, Raj was certain that this film needed a specific atmosphere. To establish the chilling, sinister feel, he decided to film it in Shimla. This was the early 1960s and the hill station was yet to become the darling of filmmakers. Despite this, the idea was stuck in his head. It wasn't cheap either, especially for a producer like N.N. Sippy, who was making his first film with A-list stars. 'N.N. Sippy was making small, stunt films then,' recalled Raj later, 'and couldn't afford to shoot in Shimla. Somehow, I persuaded him to raise funds, and we shot in the snows. This was very important to give that cold, eerie atmosphere to the film.' Raj shot the film in one fell swoop, without any unnecessary retakes or reshoots. They couldn't afford any. Early on in Woh Kaun Thi?, Dr Anand receives a call to see a patient in a dilapidated mansion near Versova post office. As he approaches the house, the doors swing open, allowing the camera to roll in and expand our view of the interiors. Cobwebs are aplenty and you can distinctly hear – and eventually see – a bat. It is suggested that the good doctor pick up a candle and light it. The man quietly complies and climbs up the rickety stairs to the patient's room. To his horror, this patient is the same woman he had driven to the graveyard the other night. But this woman is dead. While on his way back from the misadventure, Dr Anand is waylaid by two cops who claim that the house he has just been to is in fact abandoned. The doctor protests and leads them back into the mansion, only to find it truly abandoned. The only things in common with his last visit are the cobwebs. Raj littered the film with such spooks. Not only do you have bats, cobwebs, screeching doors and repeated shots of a grotesque man holding flowers, Raj found a way of emphasizing the unearthly ambience with the help of the filmmaking devices at his disposal. After the somewhat shocking and untimely death of his girlfriend (Helen), Dr Anand's mother compels him into a marriage of convenience. Bizarrely, the heartbroken doctor, still mourning the loss of his beloved, discovers on his wedding night that his bride (whom he hasn't seen before) is the same mysterious woman he had dropped to the graveyard and also found dead in the abandoned mansion. To add to his woes, his new wife keeps breaking into the same song the woman in white sang as she disappeared into the graveyard: 'Naina barse rim jhim rim jhim'. As Dr Anand spies on his bride through a window, she begins to hum those lines. They sound faint at first, as if coming from a distance. As the camera – and the viewer – goes past the window and halts at the doorframe, the singing gets louder. In another instance, Dr Anand walks out of his office into the hallway to investigate a noise. It is pitch dark and the camera follows him in a sluggish tracking shot as he ambles through the hallway, turning the lights on one by one. First. Second. Third. Fourth. As his hand inches to flick the fifth switch, a woman's voice rips through the silence, asking him not to turn this last one on. Almost instantly, a Venus de Milo appears in the frame. Dr Anand freezes, staring at it in disbelief as his wife emerges from behind the statue. Khosla employed such techniques throughout Woh Kaun Thi?, constantly inspiring the feel of a thriller.
