Rekha: The tragic courtesan of the Indian screen in Umrao Jaan and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Rekha in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) 

Rekha in and as Umrao Jaan (1981)

 

Rekha as Zohra Bai was fab, Rekha as Umrao as perfection. 

Aishwarya Rai

 

A fake ai created pic of Aishwarya Rai... trending on social media. Can't wait for the complete ban of fake, ai pics... 

Hema Malini: What a doll!

Aishwarya Rai attends Zayed Khan's wedding: The black revenge sari, if not dress

 

Zayed Khan got married in November 2005 - Aishwarya Rai, 32, when she attended the event looking drop dead gorgeous! 

Madhuri Dixit's best ever cover shot for Cine Blitz

Is this Madhuri Dixit's greatest cover shot and photoshoot?! 

Her collaborative efforts with the acclaimed and beloved photographed, the late great Gautam Rajadhyaksha, who, in turn, worked with makeup artist Mickey Contractor - exclusively I think... created some of the most striking visuals in media. The bone structure of MD doing the most here... 

Some might argue their work in MOVIE magazine was a level up- or perhaps even g magazine.... ah, what a happy debate... 

Audio cassettes in the 1990s in Bollywood

Um... why is Divya Bharti on the cover of Khalnayak audio cassette?! 

Isn't this just a ghaghra choli? With a stupid bow in the middle?!

Isn't this just a ghaghra choli? With a stupid bow in the middle?! 

Jayaprada

 

It is Sreedevi, not Sridevi. Is it Jayaprada not Jaya Prada?! Her autograph reveals all...

Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha in Suhaag (1979)

Manmohan Desai’s Suhaag (1979) was a massive blockbuster. It emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of 1979, beating out competitors like Mr. Natwarlal [with the same lead pair!], Noorie, and Krodhi.

Suhaag (1979): A High-Octane Masala Classic

When director Manmohan Desai released Suhaag in November 1979, the multi-starrer formula was at its absolute zenith. Centered on Desai's signature "lost-and-found" narrative, the film followed two twin brothers separated at birth - Amit (Amitabh Bachchan), who grows up to be a charismatic criminal, and Kishan (Shashi Kapoor), an upright police officer.

While the film was packed with high-decibel action, family melodramas, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s chart-topping soundtrack, it was the explosive screen presence of Rekha that gave the film its romantic core. Playing Basanti, a feisty courtesan's daughter turned street dancer, Rekha delivered a performance that seamlessly blended sharp comic timing with vulnerable glamour. Her dynamic with Bachchan was electrifying- evident in iconic dance numbers like "Atharaa Baras Ki Tu" and the devotional anthem "O Sheronwali".

By 1979, Rekha was no longer just a glamorous foil; she was a transformed artist with immense star power. Suhaag solidified her standing as the definitive leading lady of mainstream 1970s commercial cinema, proving that even within the confines of a male-dominated "Angry Young Man" actioner, her charisma could command undivided attention.

Amitabh Bachchan & Rekha: Box Office Success Ratio

Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha starred together as a paired lead couple or major co-stars in 10 full-length feature films between 1976 and 1981.

Of these 10 films, 8 were commercial successes (ranging from Hits to Superhits and Blockbusters), giving their pairing an extraordinary 80% success ratio at the box office—one of the highest hit-rates for any lead pair in Hindi cinema history.

The 10 Lead Collaborations & Box Office Verdicts:

1. Do Anjaane (1976) – Hit

2. Khoon Pasina (1977) – Super Hit

3. Immaan Dharam (1977) – Flop

4. Ganga Ki Saugandh (1978) – Hit

5. Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) – All-Time Blockbuster (2nd highest grosser of 1978)

6. Kasme Vaade (1978) – Semi-Hit / Hit

7. Mr. Natwarlal (1979) – Hit

8. Suhaag (1979) – Blockbuster (1st highest grosser of 1979)

9. Ram Balram (1980) – Hit

10. Silsila (1981) – Average / Moderate Success (Cult classic status achieved later)

Aishwarya Rai as a young model

Mumbai models Ranjeev Mulchandani with Aishwarya Rai 

Josh Audio released party: TBT to April 2000

The Tulu speaking Bunt ladies; Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai. 

Ash's face and Shilpa's body, that would be an ideal woman for Bollywood! 

Aishwarya Rai's first ever Cine Blitz cover shoot with Sanjay Dutt!

 

Outtakes from a cover shoot Aishwarya Rai, 19, did with Sanjay Dutt, 34, back in November 1993! This was four years before cinema fame - when she was a top model in Mumbai and the famous Sanju - Pepsi girl. Hence one Sanju met another for Cine Blitz's cover shoot. 

In November 1993 - the month Aishwarya Rai and Sanjay Dutt famously posed together for their iconic CineBlitz magazine shoot - Aishwarya was 19 when she shot with the great phtographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha, and she turned 20 years old when the magazine came out (Rai was born November 1, 1973) while Sanjay Dutt was 34 years old (born July 29, 1959). 

This was exactly a year before Aishwarya Rai's world change - because a year later, on November 19, 1994, in South Africa, she was crowned Miss World.  

Key Details & Collaborations

• Age Gap: 14 years and 3 months.

• Total Films Together: 2 feature films.

• Hits: None. Neither of their on-screen pairings succeeded commercially at the box office.

• Flops:

  • Hum Kisise Kum Nahin (2002) – Directed by David Dhawan and co-starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn, this action-comedy underperformed significantly relative to its high budget. A terrible film by all accounts - a pointless plot with a decidedly unfunny script. The music was loud and awful - and the lyrics even worse. Yeh kya ho raha hai? - the question is repeated 25 times in one song. Lazy much?! 

  • Shabd (2005) – Directed by Leena Yadav, this psychological drama featured Sanjay as a struggling author and Aishwarya as his wife. It was a critical and commercial disaster at the box office.

• Last Collaboration: Shabd (2005), released on February 4, 2005.

Jaya Prada in jeans

Jaya Prada is the quintessential south Indian beauty. Satyajit Ray famously stated that she had the most perfect face. 

She looked great in traditional Indian attire, saris and her famed dance costumes. Rarely did we see a young, hip Jaya as the tiny lady - she's so short unlike her famous competitor Sridevi - in jeans and modern Western attire was a rare event. So these pics are so rare. 

An era before designers and stylists, this is what the stars actually wore back then. 

Aishwarya Rai: 90s centrefold

 Aishwarya Rai as a centrefold for Cine Blitz magazine. 

 

 She was a superstar from the get-go. While other actors and newcomers struggle to get their first cover - Aishwarya Rai made a clean sweep and was prominently featured in every single publication. The most photogenic woman on the planet in the 1990s, it was an easy sell. In fact, Aishwarya Rai probably sold more magazines than any other star of her time. 

Bhagyashree and Salman Khan: The young cast and crew of Maine Pyar Kiya

When Maine Pyar Kiya released at the end of 1989, it really was a youth-quake. The cast and crew were so young - and not pretending to be young. They got allllll the ingredients right. 

Wikipedia has demystyfied the age of actors and the cast and crew. This is a reminder that a young team getting together can and do create magic. 

The film wasn't just a movie - it was a movement. It captured a young zeitgeist. The Barjatya brilliance shone through. 

Maine Pyar Kiya was filmed primarily between 1988 and 1989 before its release on December 29, 1989.

Lead Cast

• Salman Khan (Prem Choudhary): Born December 27, 1965.

  • Age during shooting: 22 to 23 years old (he turned 24 two days before the film released).

• Bhagyashree (Suman): Born February 23, 1969.

  • Age during shooting: 19 to 20 years old.

Supporting Cast

• Mohnish Bahl (Jeevan): Born August 14, 1961.

  • Age during shooting: 26 to 27 years old.

• Pervaiz Sahani / Pervien Dastur (Seema): Born 1968.

  • Age during shooting: 20 to 21 years old.

• Alok Nath (Karan, Suman's father): Born July 10, 1956.

  • Age during shooting: 31 to 32 years old.

• Reema Lagoo (Kaushalya Choudhary, Prem's mother): Born June 21, 1958.

  • Age during shooting: 29 to 30 years old (playing Salman's mother while being only 7 years older than him).

• Rajeev Verma (Kishan Kumar Choudhary, Prem's father): Born June 28, 1949.

  • Age during shooting: 38 to 39 years old.

• Laxmikant Berde (Manohar): Born October 26, 1954.

  • Age during shooting: 33 to 34 years old.

Director Sooraj Barjatya (born February 22, 1965) was also only 23 to 24 years old while directing the film.

The colour and attainable wardrobe of Maine Pyar Kiya.

Madhuri Dixit in the 1980s in Bollywood

The stylist edit: Madhuri Dixit in the 1980s in Bollywood - Sridevi too. Look at the pattern of their blouse - it must have been trending!! 

Manisha Koirala

When Manisha Koirala arrived with a bang in Bollywood, she was so staggeringly beautiful. A great actress... an ok dancer. She somehow had hit songs but she's more thespian than gizelle...

Bollywood's Ultimate Pair: Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan

 I read this about them in MOVIE magazine; "He gave her class, she gave him sex appeal; the magic of Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan on the big-screen. 

Aishwarya Rai in her first Hindi film: Aur Pyar Ho Gaya

Released on 15 August 1997, ie 29 years ago, Ash entered Bollywood with a musical bang, though it was a critical and commercial... whimper! 

Aishwarya Rai in the 90s was unbeatable (cough cough Sushmita at Miss India was... an aberration, albeit a splendidly eloquent one), as a popular model from her teens to topping the pageant world, Rai was accustomed to being looked at and fawned over from an early age. She also took the barbs and brickbats on her sharply honed chin and hid her hurt well, occasionally revealing in tell-all interviews when the criticism got to her -- reached peak volume during her second Cannes outing - more on that later.   

Her launch in Hindi films had all the right ingredients as she's never looked better on the big screen - which is saying something considering her Miss World credentials. She hit Bollywood with great expectations, all of 23, post her Miss World world tour, she had Neeta Lulla working on her clothes, Manmohan Singh lighting her like the dream she is in the movie (he famously made Sridevi look ethereal in Chandni years before), and the biggest flex of all, Ash's look, wardrobe, makeup, hair etc  was entirely styled by the great Mickey Contractor - if you don't know him, go down a Google search rabbit hole, and be amazed at his hand-craft skills.

Aur Pyar Ho Gaya is remembered today mainly as Aishwarya Rai's Bollywood entry point rather than for its box office success or critical acclaim. The music by the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and lyrics by Javed Akthar are impeccable. So many songs stand the test of time - and all so gloriously picturised on the telegenic pair. For her first film, Aishwarya's not bad but people expected her to be Madhuri from day one. Which was unfair to the (albeit confident) newcomer. As a rom com its.. fine. Its fine.

As a time capsule for contemporary fashion in the 90s, its textbook. Skip through most of the film, and just watch Ash. Totally worth it. 

Rekha in her career defining year: Khoobsurat

Released in January 1980, Rekha was the undisputed queen of Bollywood at the time. A career-defining year for Re as she absolutely stunned in Khoobsurat, Kalyug, Basera, Umrao Jaan and Silsila, all which came back-to-back. 

When you see her filmography in the early 1980s, she appeared in nearly a dozen movies each year. Sadly the quality of the films themselves was all over the place. Either she was exquisite or erratic. 

As a beauty, actor and dancer, Rekha is peerless - topped with a flawless voice and husky dialogue delivery where her Hindi and Urdu is perfection. 

In her vast filmography, many like to state that Umrao Jaan is her career-defining performance. A valid thesis can be made of that.

I propose the flawless, Khoobsurat. Legend has it Hrisihikesh Mukherjee made the film just for Re - and is closest character to the actress herself. 

I've seen the film... 148 times. It is glorious. Every single actor in the movie is so natural and wonderful. Particularly Ashok Kumar and his magical jugulabandi with Dina Pathak. 

 

Birth Anniversary of Sridevi: Indian Icon

 

Bless Sridevi - wherever she is. She would have turned 63 today, 13 August. 

See this Sridevi page - Sridevi

The largest website dedicated to the actress with daily updates. Yes, even now, 8 years after...