Rajesh Khanna - The True Superstar of Indian Cinema

Jatin Khanna, rose to stardom as Rajesh Khanna, only to reign the Indian Hindi film industry for more than a decade. Recognized as the first superstar of film industry, he boasted the largest and maddest fan following, especially thousands of girls. With his trademark style of acting and dialogue delivery, Khanna was and is a favorite of mimicry artists.

Being an acting enthusiast, Khanna participated in the All India Talent Contest and won the same among more than ten thousand contestants. His performance in his debut film Aakhri Khat and his next movie Raaz won him the All-India United Producers' Talent Competition. His contract with the United Producers landed him in movies like Aurat, Baharon Ke Sapne and Aradhana. Rajesh Khanna was particularly applauded for his role in Aradhana, which also saw the reappearance of the famous Kishore Kumar as a playback singer.

The other genre of films such as Anand, Namak Haram, Bawarchi and others saw an entirely different Rajesh Khanna on screen. He shared the best on-screen chemistry with Mumtaz. The hit pair went on to act in eight successful films. Sharmila Tagore was also another actress with whom he went on to give out smashing hits. He was paired with almost all the exclusive actresses of the era such as Tina Munim, Shabana Azmi, Poonam Dhillon, Asha Parekh and Hema Malini. He was also known to be very friendly with his associates and colleagues.

He married the actress Dimple Kapadia, who along with his close friends, called him Kaka. So much was the magnetism of the actor that fans mobbed him during public appearances. His car was covered with lipstick marks; female fans sent him letters in blood and married his photo. An essay 'The Charisma Of Rajesh Khanna' was included in a Bombay University textbook. This was the magic he has created on his fans. He still holds an unbroken record for giving 15 consecutive hits between 1969 to 1972. He is truly the superstar of Indian cinema.

After a brief downfall, Rajesh Khanna rose again with movies such as Avtaar, Agar Tum Na Hote, Hum Dono and others. He stopped acting while serving as a Member of the Parliament of the New Delhi Constituency. He later came back with movies such as As Ab Laut Chalen and Kyaa Dil Ne Kaha. Though his appearance in movies after 2000 has reduced, fans can get to see him make a comeback in television serials.

World Cinema Classics: Rebecca (1940)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson

Plot: A beautiful young woman marries a rich widower. Only to find out his mind is still quite occupied with memories of his charming dead wife.

Rebecca is wholesome cinematic education. Even after so many years it is an unparalleled experience in terms of shrewd direction. Alfred Hitchcock's trademark suspense is there as always. The subtle representation of characters is backbone of the movie.

From the beginning till almost the end Mr. de Winter (Laurence Oliver) maintains an eccentric and somewhat unpredictable persona - which has been credited to the death of his beloved, well bred, sophisticated and perfect wife Rebecca. But there is so much more to it. Nearing the end you get to see some never thought of twists. This was the class of Hitchcock. You don't even dream there will be any unforeseen developments now-only some hidden secret about a particular character will be revealed. So you aren't involved in any guess work and suddenly there is the bolt from the blue. Watch the movie and you will struck too!
The evil aura around Mrs.Danvers is what Maestro wants the audience to focus at and they do. She completely adores Rebecca and a slight lesbianism can't be denied. Her fling with Rebecca's cousin makes it even more interesting. You become a detective and Hitchcock laughs! What a genius!

The best thing about the movie is character of 2nd Mrs. de Winter and its perfect representation. This is something you do associate Hitchcock with. His movies always study the female characters in-depth.

Joan Fontaine's (2nd Mrs. de Winter) portrayal of character is perfection-personified. She plays a middle class girl who suddenly gets married to a rich man and has to move into the huge Manderley mansion. Her awkwardness is so real-while transiting from middle class living to a high society. Fontaine's body language makes you wonder whether it's acting or actually happening with hidden cameras fitted around!

The Director's strength has always been his implicit narration, at times it is too much and seems baseless (like it was in case of The Birds).

Here this implicit representation is accurate and very abstract. For Example, 2nd Mrs. de Winter's name isn't even used once in the whole movie. All such background details have been left to the audience's discretion.

World Cinema won't be complete without this masterpiece.

8.8/10

Varied Genres in Israeli Cinema

The interesting aspect of a discussion on genres in Israeli cinema is that one can immediately guess what they may be. Therefore, it is adequate to simply mention the heads and elaborate on the work pertaining to that particular genre to explain Israeli films and their content.

? Silent films

This genre was prevalent in Palestine, before the establishment of Israel as a state in 1948. Most of them were made with the concept of documentaries on various issues relevant to the political atmosphere of the time. They were mainly showcased in cafes and warehouses.

Bourekas films

One of the most popular genres of Israeli films Bourekas films dealt with German Jews (Ashkenazi) and traditional Jews (Mizrahi) who were at loggerheads with each other constantly. The 1960's and 70's marked the period of this genre of film making in Israel. Here, the Mizrahi Jew assumed the role of the poverty-stricken hero while the Ashkenazi was usually cast in the negative role.

? New Sensitivity films

Some of the notable films of this genre include I love you Rosa and The House of Chelouche Street, both of which were nominated for Academy Awards in the Foreign Film category. These movies were more modern than the Bourekas and concentrated on getting the aesthetic aspect of film making right.

? Docudrama

Following the new sensitivity films came the docudrama which amalgamated documentaries which were once popular during the pre-1948 days and drama which is universally relevant at all times. These films concentrated on social and political issues and portrayed the Israeli people's opinions in the form of traditional documentaries. Scripts of most of these docudramas were taken from historical documents already existing in Hebrew.

War and Military films

Since war and military issues were prominent subjects in Israeli history, many a films were based on these topics and shot as docudramas, comedy and even romance. These movies depicted the obstacles faced by Israelis in their fight to gain establishment as an independent state in the world.

? Holocaust

Being probably the most significant and sensitive incident in the history of the Israeli people, many an Israeli film has been made on the Holocaust, its victims and survivors. Some of the significant works in this genre include Tel Aviv-Berlin, HaMartef and Me'Ever Layem. Despite such works, Israeli cinema is known to have avoided making movies on the Holocaust, mainly to uphold the Zionist ideology of the negation of exile and the consciousness of Diaspora.