With so little organized info on Subodh Mukherjee and so many "interesting & hit" films from him, I wished to see some info on Subodh Mukherjee.
Finally, saw this detailed article in screen (as the screen article/ web page may not be accessible for long, I'm pasting that article here):
Thanks to "Screen Weekly" for the timely info.
http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.ph ... t_id=10589
SUBODH MUKERJI
In memorium
Rajiv Vijayakar
Posted online: Friday, June 10, 2005 at 0000 hours IST
Subodh Mukerji, who died May 21 of blood cancer at the age of 84, was a faithful disciple of the school of filmmaking that believed that films were all about great storytelling. In the first two decades of his career, Subodh had a high success percentage, but like so many filmmakers of his generation, he floundered from the ’70s and quit filmmaking after Ulta Seedha (1985). Ironically, later filmmakers often usurped the germs of his films’ plotlines, the most prominent being the 1993 Shreemaan Aashique which unsuccessfully tried to recycle the plot of his most successful film, Shagird. Manmohan Desai’s Parvarish had reference points to Munimji, and Basu Chaterjee’s Priyatama to Abhinetri.
As the younger brother of filmmaker, studio baron and mentor-to-so-many-new-talents Sashadhar Mukerji, Subodh had acquired his brother’s flair for cinema that was the right mix of a strong storyline, deft screenplay, fun, emotions and loads of music, and yet he moved out of the shadows of his giant elder brother to make movies that can be counted among the leading entertainers of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Unlike his brother, he introduced only one major talent, Saira Banu, with whom he worked in four films. And interestingly his film Teesri Ankh saw the only film song recorded in the voice of current Numero Uno Rani Mukerji’s mother, Krishna Mukerji.
Let us take a look-back at his most memorable films, beginning with his immensely-successful debut, Munimji, in 1955.
Filmistan’s Munimji/ 1955 (Director)
Music S.D.Burman
Starring Dev Anand, Nalini Jaywant, Pran, Nirupa Roy and Ameeta
The film in a way heralded the advent of the Nasir Husain formula of a one-line plot driving an entertainer. A villain exchanges his newborn son with that of a rich man for obvious reasons. As in all Mukerji movies, the good ones lived happily ever after the knots were untangled.
This blockbuster made waves for the strong confrontation between Dev Anand (whose role had gray shades) and Pran, and for its still-evergreen melodies like ‘Jeevan ke safar mein raahi...’, ‘Dil ki umangein hai jawaan...’ and ‘Aankhen khulte hi...’.
Filmistan’s Paying Guest /1957 (Director)
Music S.D.Burman
Starring Dev Anand, Nutan, Shubha Khote, Jagirdar and Sajjan
Paying Guest began on a comic note and ended as a murder mystery with courtroom drama. Dev played a young man hunting for PG digs in Mumbai who finally had to take recourse to playing an old Muslim to get a rented roof over his head. The daughter of the house (Nutan)falls in love with him after his secret is out. Dev gets a job with a lawyer (Jagirdar) whose wife (Shubha Khote) has married for his money, and soon falls in love with Dev too . After this it is time for blackmail, murder and for the hero to be framed till the true culprit is found.
‘Chhod do aanchal zamana kya kahega...’ (the much-remixed chart-topper), ‘Chand phir nikla...’ and ‘O nigah-e-mastana...’ were among the aces in the music.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Love Marriage /1959 (Prod.-dir.)
Music Shankar-Jaikishan
Starring Dev Anand, Mala Sinha, Pranoti and Abhi Bhattacharya
A cricket-loving young man rents a flat and falls in love with his landlord’s daughter. After initial dislike, the girl reciprocates and they get married. But when they move out and begin living as a couple, differences crop in.
The film was not as successful as Subodh’s first two films, but marked his debut as producer. Subsequently, almost all the filmmaker’s films were co-scripted by him as well. From the music, ‘Dheere dheere chal chand gagan mein...’ and ‘Kahe jhoom jhoom raat yeh suhani...’ were hits.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Junglee/1961 (Prod.-dir.)
Music Shankar Jaikishan
Starring Shammi Kapoor, Saira Banu, Mehmood, Shashikala, Lalita Pawar and Anoop Kumar
A domineering aristocrat forbids both her son and daughter to smile, laugh or enjoy life as she considers such frivolities infradig. To steer her daugher away from an unsuitable romance , she instructs her son to whisk her away to Kashmir, only to face double rebellion as the son too falls in love there with a beautiful girl of humble origins!
A golden jubilee hit, this film was famous for S-J’s cult music like ‘Chahe koi mujhe junglee kahe...’ (with its immortal refrain ‘Yahoo!’ decades before its Internet connotation!), ‘Aiyiya karoon main kya...’, ‘Ehsaan tera hoga mujh par...’, ‘Jaa jaa jaa mere bachpan...’, ‘Kashmir ki kali hoon main...’ and ‘Nain tumhare mazedaar...’. This was the film that consolidated the Shammi-Rafi-S-J quartet as a deadly musical combo, and of course introduced Saira Banu.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ April Fool/1964 (Prod.-dir.)
Music Shankar Jaikishan
Starring Biswajeet, Saira Banu, Jayant, Sajjan and Nazima
The hero is a prankster who has no aims in life, though coming from a wealthy family. He is in love with a girl who is enamoured of his pranks, till one of them lands them in big trouble - with an international gang of criminals.
Though not a very successful film, April Fool boasted of some good fun and drama, and hit songs like ‘Mera naam Rita Christina...’, ‘April Fool banaya...’ and ‘Aa gale lag jaa...’.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Shagird/1967 (Producer)
Director Samir Ganguly
Music Laxmikant Pyarelal
Starring Joy Mukerji, Saira Banu and I.S.Johar
This hilarious romantic saga told of a misogynist professor whose disciple falls in love with his friend’s daughter in the village. At first the professor is upset - and then he falls for the girl himself, and becomes his student’s disciple (shagird) in the art of wooing her!
The film was Mukerji’s second golden jubilee and Saira Banu and I.S.Johar gave their careers’ most memorable performances in the film, with Saira’s mini-saree proving to be a trendsetter. The film had was its all-hit music score by the then fast-rising Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Led by the cult song ‘Dil vil pyar vaar...’, it also had hits like ‘Woh hai zaraa khafaa khafaa...’, ‘Bade miya diwane...’, ‘Udte pawan ke sang chalungi...’, ‘Kanha Kanha aan padi main tere dwaar...’ and ‘Duniya pagal hai...’.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Abhinetri/1970 (Prod.-dir.)
Music Laxmikant Pyarelal
Starring Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Nazima, Nazir Hussein, Nirupa Roy and Asit Sen
An actress and danseuse falls in love with a scientist, quits her profession and settles down in domesticity. But when her husband becomes more and more engrossed in work, the neglected housewife returns to work, only to find her husband furious about this. The marital discord worsens, and reaches a climax when his mother (who lives in the village on her own but has approved the match) comes visiting. So the two have to present a false picture of wedded bliss.
Though successful only in pockets of the country, the film saw strong performances from Hema Malini (cast in a role near to her own persona), Shashi Kapoor and Nazima as the loyal friend. The film had a hit music score, with the chartbuster ‘Sa re ga ma pa...’ leading a list that included ‘Khinche humse saanware...’, ‘O ghata saanwari...’, ‘Sajna o sajna...’, ‘Milte hi rahenge hum...’ and ‘Dhadkan har dil ki...’.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Sharmeelee/ 1971 (Producer)
Director Samir Ganguly
Starring Shashi Kapoor, Raakhee, Ranjeet, Nasir Husain, Iftekhar and Narendranath.
An army officer returning from a mission meets a girl at a party and falls for her charms. When he reaches home, his guardian, a church priest, informs him that he would like him to marry a girl he has chosen. The officer is overjoyed to find that it is the same girl. But the girl he had met is actually her twin, and temperamentally the two are complete opposites. Soon, the officer is confronted with the shocking news that one of the two sisters is an enemy spy.
A major hit in 1971 despite some truly stiff competition that year, this thriller has been personally rated by Raakhee as one of her very few creatively fulfilling films as a top heroine. It also had a brillian music score that comprised of ‘Khilte hain gul yahaan...’, ‘O meri sharmeelee...’, ‘Kaise kahen hum...’, ‘Megha chhaye aadhi raat...’ and ‘Aaj madhosh hua jaaye re...’.
Subodh Mukerji Productions’ Ulta Seedha/1985 (Prod.-dir.)
Music Rajesh Roshan
Starring Raj Babbar, Rati Agnihotri and Utpal Dutt
This film was Subodh Mukerji’s last as a filmmaker, and he attempted a mix of his own style and that of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film saw a judge, a man of strict principles who believes in hard work and tradition, finding his daughter falling in love with a young man who has no respect for traditional values. Just when the young man gets a job and almost wins him over, a woman with a child comes and claims him as her husband who has abandoned them.
The film, despite the presence of stalwarts like Utpal Dutt, Deven Verma, Agha and Madan Puri, and a comic approach to the drama, failed to succeed, and Mukerji, who had returned to direction after son Subhash’s unsuccessful attempts, quit films.
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