Latest news with #WohKaunThi?
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.
News18
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
This Lata Mangeshkar Classic Was Almost Junked. Then Manoj Kumar Stepped In
Director Raj Khosla initially didn't like the track and even planned to drop it from the film. It was only after actor Manoj Kumar intervened that the song was finally included Lata Mangeshkar has been one of India's most legendary and cherished playback singers. Her voice has defined generations, and the list of her unforgettable songs is truly endless. Among them, there is one timeless melody from the 1964 film Woh Kaun Thi? that stands apart — Lag Jaa Gale. You must have heard this hauntingly beautiful blend of romance and melancholy that continues to touch millions of hearts across generations. But did you know this iconic song was almost rejected? Director Raj Khosla initially didn't like the track and even planned to drop it from the film. It was only after actor Manoj Kumar intervened that the song was finally included. The full story behind this near-miss moment is detailed in Raj Khosla: The Authorised Biography, released on May 20, ahead of the filmmaker's 100th birth anniversary. According to the book, music composer Madan Mohan had to seek help from actor Manoj Kumar to convince the director to retain the song. Manoj Kumar's Intervention Manoj Kumar recalled, 'One day I got a call from Madan Mohan. He said — 'Raj Khosla has lost his mind. He's rejecting a beautiful song. Please come and handle it'." At that point, Manoj Kumar hadn't even heard the track and was initially hesitant to intervene. But after listening to it, he was convinced of its brilliance and decided to step in. He spoke to producer NN Sippy, who agreed with Madan Mohan and encouraged Manoj to talk to Raj Khosla. The film's shooting was only days away, and the song hadn't been finalised. The Director's Initial Reaction When Manoj Kumar finally played the song to Raj Khosla, the director still called it 'bad". However, upon listening to it again more carefully, his opinion completely changed. He was reportedly 'shocked" and realised it was one of the finest tunes he had ever heard. In fact, Raj Khosla was so embarrassed by his earlier reaction that he picked up his shoe in frustration and called himself 'a fool", an incident mentioned in the biography. Lata Mangeshkar's Favourite Lag Jaa Gale went on to become one of Lata Mangeshkar's all-time favourite songs. She herself once said that the track was among her top six. With over 277 million views on YouTube, its popularity has stood the test of time. The music, composed by Madan Mohan, touches the soul — and Lata Mangeshkar's heartfelt rendition gave it everlasting life. The book quotes Lata Mangeshkar saying, 'When we recorded the song, everyone was pleased. Raj Khosla liked it very much. We were all satisfied. After the recording, Madan bhaiyya came and hugged me — he was crying. The song made history." First Published:
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.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
When Mahesh Bhatt fell for naysayers, wept buckets and later got Rs 300 for it
NEW DELHI: In the winter of 1969, a tornado named Rajesh Khanna barrelled through India. Two films created Hindi cinema's first superstar: Shakti Samanta's ' Aradhana ', shortly followed by Raj Khosla 's ' Do Raaste '. But the first few days of 'Do Raaste' were uncertain at the box-office. Mahesh Bhatt , a young "production hand" in the film, wept bitterly over the film's grim prognosis, says a forthcoming biography of Raj Khosla, whose 100th birth anniversary falls on May 31. Khosla had already delivered superhits in a variety of genres: thriller 'CID' (1956), suspenseful 'Woh Kaun Thi?' (1964) and romantic drama 'Do Badan' (1966) underlining his ability as an all-rounder. But his previous two ventures, 'Anita' (1967) and 'Chirag (1969)', hadn't fared well. Debtors were at the door. Do Raaste, which he produced and directed, was based on Marathi writer Chandrakant Kakodkar's novel, 'Nilambari'. When the film opened at Bombay's Royal Opera House on Dec 5, 1969, editor Waman Bhonsle and Bhatt were at the theatre. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เทรด Bitcoin และ Ethereum - ไม่ต้องใช้กระเป๋าเงิน! IC Markets เริ่มต้นตอนนี้ Undo Biographer Amborish Roychoudhury writes in the book, "A manager by the name of Desai, came to Bhatt and Bhonsle and said, "Saamne woh Shakti ki picture chal rahi hai 'Aradhana', woh advance mein housefull hai. Yahan par log nahin aate. Picture doobegi." (Shakti's film 'Aradhana', playing across the road, is running to full house in advance booking. No one is coming here. This film will flop.) "When he heard this, Bhatt broke down. Bhonsle had seen it all before, but the young Bhatt, all of 20, was emotionally attached to the film," says the book, co-authored by Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, both director's daughters. The book titled, "Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography," also says that the film originally ended with some "touching lines about mother-son relationship" which wasn't working too well with the audience. Khosla reached out to heroine Sadhana, with whom he had worked in 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 Roychoudhury. Sadhana suggested ending the film with a clip of the track, 'Bindiya Chamkegi', which was to become radio countdown show, Binaca Geetmala's No 1 song of 1971. Khosla carried out the change. 'Do Raaste' "ran for more than 50 weeks at the same Opera House where the staff had written the film off." Debtors were paid. Khosla announced a bonus for some staff members. Bhatt's bonus was Rs 300, equivalent to a month's wage. "He gave me 300 bucks extra to me for shedding tears!," the biography quotes Bhatt as saying. Khosla passed away in 1991. In the foreword, Bhatt describes him as "My mentor. My master."
Time of India
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Why Mahesh Bhatt wept bitterly after the release of Do Raaste
NEW DELHI: In the winter of 1969, a tornado named barrelled through India. Two films created Hindi cinema's first superstar: Shakti Samanta's Aradhana , shortly followed by 's Do Raaste . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now But the first few days of Do Raaste were uncertain at the box-office. , a young 'production hand' in the film, wept bitterly over the film's grim prognosis, says a forthcoming biography of Raj Khosla, whose 100 birth anniversary falls on May 31. Khosla had already delivered superhits in a variety of genres: thriller CID (1956), suspenseful Woh Kaun Thi? (1964) and romantic drama Do Badan (1966) underlining his ability as an all-rounder. But his last two ventures, Anita (1967) and Chirag (1969), hadn't fared well. Debtors were at the door. Do Raaste, which he produced and directed, was based on Marathi writer Chandrakant Kakodkar's novel, Nilambari. When the film opened at Bombay's Royal Opera House on Dec 5, 1969, editor Waman Bhonsle and Bhatt were at the theatre. Biographer Amborish Roychoudhury writes in the book, 'A manager by the name of Desai, came to Bhatt and Bhonsle and said, 'Saamne woh Shakti ki picture chal rahi hai Aradhana, woh advance mein housefull hai. Yahan par log nahin aate. Picture doobegi.' (Shakti's film Aradhana, playing across the road, is running to full house in advance booking. No one is coming here. This film will flop.) 'When he heard this, Bhatt broke down. Bhonsle had seen it all before, but the young Bhatt, all of 20, was emotionally attached to the film,' says the book, co-authored by Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur, both director's daughters. The crisply-written book titled, "Raj Khosla: The Authorized Biography,' also says that the film originally ended with some 'touching lines about mother-son relationship' which wasn't working too well with the audience. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Khosla reached out to heroine Sadhana, with whom he had worked in 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 Roychoudhury. Sadhana suggested ending the film with a clip of the track, 'Bindiya Chamkegi', which was to become radio countdown show, Binaca Geetmala's No 1 song of 1971. Khosla carried out the change. Do Raaste 'ran for more than 50 weeks at the same Opera House where the staff had written the film off.' Debtors were paid. Khosla announced a bonus for some staff members. Bhatt's bonus was Rs 300, equivalent to a month's wage. 'He gave me 300 bucks extra to me for shedding tears!,' the biography quotes Bhatt as saying. Khosla passed away in 1991. In the foreword, Bhatt describes him as 'My mentor. My master.'
