Handsome Hunks of Bollywood

 There were lots of them in Bollywood. I will begin with Dharmendra. He was also well-built, and carried himself well. But he was very handsome, most will agree.

Dev Anand was a typical romantic hero, his speciality being charming the pants off (not literally-just a term) anyone. Was very good till the seventies at whatever he did. 

Shashi Kapoor was handsome in a suave and polished way, and acted in some Hollywood movies as well, apart from the stage.

Rishi Kapoor was probably the second guy I would choose from the clan. He made so many rom-coms in his twenties or thirties, many successful.

Sanjay Khan was very handsome, though he had very few memorable films. He later turned producer and also made The Sword of Tipu Sultan for TV.

Among non-heroes, I thought Pran and Ajit were quite good-looking, and if they were not playing villains, could pass off for heroes. 

Shashi Kapoor is No More

I liked Shashi Kapoor, though I don't think he was a great actor. But he radiated good vibes and charm in any role he played- I particularly liked his light-hearted roles like the ones in Trishul and Chor Machaye Shor (this was the film with the song Le jayenge, le jayenge dilwaale dulhaniya le jayenge, that inspired the DDLJ title).

He did many unique things in his 79 years. He produced a range of good films, like Junoon, 36 Chowringhee Lane and Utsav. I thought Utsav was aesthetically brilliant, and tackled a subject that we don't hear of too much. Some songs were outstanding too, and Rekha looked great in the movie.

He also preserved Prithvi Theatres, along with Jennifer, his wife. Marrying a foreigner was also not common in those days, but they had met during his theatre days. His early success was a film co-starring Nanda, an established heroine who acted with this newcomer to films.

Unlike some others, he had no compunctions playing the second lead, and that led to many good films with Amitabh Bachchan like Kabhi Kabhi and Trishul, and one of my favourites, Namak Halaal. Sharmeelee was another favourite starring him, though I saw most of his films. Deewar was of course, an outstanding role where he uttered the famous line, "Mere paas maa hai."

Romantic Icons of the 70s

There were quite a few romantic heroes/heroines of the 1970s whom I grew up watching on screen. The music added a lot of charm to many of their films. Some of those were-

Rishi Kapoor, often paired with Neetu Singh, who dazzled with his rom-com roles in Rafoo Chakkar, Khel Khel Mein, Amar Akbar Anthony, Bobby (with Dimple Kapadia), Hum Kisise Kam Nahin (with Kajol aka Sunita Kulkarni). Don't know why Shailendra Singh stopped singing for him and Kishore Kumar took over.

Dev Anand, the 'evergreen' romantic, was in his element in Gambler (Dil aaj shayar hai), Johny Mera Naam, Prem Pujari (Pholon ke rang se, Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye), and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. His teaming with Hema Malini in Shareef Badmash and Chhupa Rustam worked for both. Tere Mere Sapne with Mumtaz (another cute looker) also was a good film.

Rajesh Khanna, of course, was the king of the 70s with Aradhana, Kati Patang, Aan Milo  Sajna (Accha, to hum chalte hain), Aap Ki Kasam, Mere Jeevan Sathi (O mere dil ke chain), Namak Haram (Nadiya se dariya), Amar Prem, Daag, Prem Nagar (Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chhodega).

Shashi Kapoor was also a good-looking dude and managed to hold his own, though none of his solo films were spectacular. Pyar ka Mausam had some excellent music though (Tum bin jaoon kahaan and Nisultana re, pyar ka mausam aaya).

Sing-song Comedians

Singing songs is the preserve of heroes, heroines, and vamps (an endangered species today) - right? Wrong. The comedians do it too. And some have had superhit songs to their credit.

Deven Varma sang Mummy o Mummy, Tu kab saas banegi? in one of his memorable roles.

Johny Walker sang several, including Jangal mein mor naacha kisi ne na dekha, and Sar jo tera chakraye, ya dil dooba jaye.

I recently discovered a song sung by Rajendranath, which goes, Aye haseeno, tumne sadiyon, aashiq ko tadpaaya, .....Meri lottery lag jaane waali hai.

Mehmood sang in Gumnaam, Hum kaale hain to kya hua dilwaale hain, and it became a raging hit. He also sang with Kishore Kumar in Padosan, one of the all-time hits, Ek chatur naar, badi hoshiyaar...

Mehmood also did a Charlie Chaplin act in a movie called Aulad starring Jeetendra and sang a fun song, Jodi hammari, bane na kaise jaani, hum to hain angrezi, tum ladki hindustani, with Aruna Irani. I loved it when I first saw it in the early seventies.

Other instances of non-comic character artistes singing are also known. For example, dad Bharat Bhushan singing the best song in Pyar Ka Mausam - the Kishore Kumar version of Tum bin jaoon kahan. Shashi Kapoor later sings the Mohd. Rafi version, which is not a patch on the first.