Ashok Kumar - The Inspirable Personality

Today we are going to tell you about the legendary actor Ashok Kumar. He was born on 13 october 1911. His real name is Kumudlal Ganguly.  He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India and also received the Padma Bhushan the same year in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema. He is considered to be one of India's finest ever actors, playing leading, negative and character roles with equal panache.

He was oldest in his two brothers named  Anoop Kumar and Kishore Kumar and a sister named Sati Devi.

Reverently called Dadamoni (affectionate term for elder brother), Kumudlal Ganguly was born in Bhagalpur and educated at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, Kolkata, where he studied to become a lawyer. However, his heart was not into his law studies. Ganguly was more interested in cinema, in which he dreamt of working as a technician.

It was the lure of cinema and the presence of his brother in Law Sashadhar Mukherjee in a fairly senior position in Bombay Talkies which prompted Kumudlal Ganguly to move to Bombay (Mumbai) in the mid 30s, where he started off as a laboratory assistant in Bombay Talkies, one of the biggest film studios of that era.

He was a homeopathy practitioner and has done so many miracle cures.

These qualities show that he was an all time great personality.

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Rail gaadi Rail gaadi

Ashok Kumar has been the doyen of the male actors of the Hindi film world, with a career that started in the 1930s and lasted to the early 2000s. The one thing that was the most remarkable about him was his presence on the screen, and the fact that he could make the viewers feel that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. There are many actors who are natural, whose performance just blends into the situation without any kinks. One can think of Sanjeev Kumar, Guru Dutt, Geeta Bali, and many more. Their performance always seems so effortless as they work through their roles on the screen. But with Ashok Kumar, there is this added element of having fun, and even conveying to the audience that he is simply enjoying doing the role.

Anuraag (1972) is one of the movies that I saw on the big screen as a child. I have since re visited the movie on disc, but there is a striking memory of one scene from the first time I saw this movie. The song “ram kare babuaa, hamaar phulwaa ko hamri umar lag jaaye ho”, is sung by Rajesh Khanna on screen, as a birthday song in a family gathering. Ashok Kumar is also in the scene and he dances with Rajesh Khanna, with a small drum in his hand. And the thought that struck me as I saw the expression on Ashok Kumar’s face, wow, this man is so thoroughly enjoying himself, and not just performing.

Aashirwaad (1969) directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, is a very poignant movie about a father’s love for his daughter. I have recounted the story briefly in an earlier post ‘Ek Thha Bachpan’ on this blog. Here is another wonderful song from this movie. This is a play song for children, for playing the game of “rail gaadi”. The song is sung by Ashok Kumar himself, in his own inimitable style. The pace of the song and words almost remind me of ‘Breathless’ (Shankar Mahadevan). And guess the lyricist. It is Harindranath Chattopadhyay. Harindranath also had a role in this film, as an old farmer in the same village where Ashok Kumar is the zamindar. Harindranath is also known as a poet, and especially a poet for children. The racy, bullet train composition is by Vasant Desai.

As one views this song, and Ashok Kumar’s performance, the fun element simply stands out. He is not just singing and acting in the movie, he is simply loving doing it. So click on the link, and get ready for a breathless train ride that travels at the speed of sound, literally. :) :)

Song-rail gaadi rail gaadi chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk (Aashirwaad) (1968) Singer-Ashok Kumar, Lyrics-Harindranath Chattopadhyay, MD-Vasant Desai

Lyrics

chhooo chhooo

chhooo chhooo

chhooo chhooo chhooo

rail gaadi

ay rail gaadi

(whistle of the engine)

rail gaadi rail gaadi

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

beech waale station bolen

ruk ruk ruk ruk

ruk ruk ruk ruk

tadak bhadak

lohe ki sadak

tadak bhadak

lohe ki sadak

yahaan se wahaan

wahaan se yahaan

yahaan se wahaan

wahaan se wahaan

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

phulaaye chhaati

paar kar jaati

aloo ret

baaloo ke khet

baajraa dhaan

buddhaa kisaan

haraa maidaan

mandir makaan

chai ki dukaan

pul pagdandi

teeley pe jhandi

paani ka kund

panchhi ka jhhund

jhopdi jhaadi

kheti baadi

baadal dhuaan

mot kuaan

ku’ein ke peechhe

baag bageeche

dhobi ka ghaat

mangal ka haat

gaaon mein mela

bheed jhamelaa

tooti deewaar

tattu sawaar

rail gaadi rail gaadi

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

beech waale station bolen

ruk ruk ruk ruk

ruk ruk ruk ruk

(engine whistle)

brahmpur dharampur

dharampur brahmpur

mangalore bangalore

bangalore mangalore

mandwaa khandwaa

khandwaa mandwaa

raipur jaipur

jaipur raipur

taalegaon maalegaon

maalegaon taalegaon

nellore vellore

vellore nellore

sholapur kolhapur

kolhapur sholapur

kukkal dindigul

dindigul kukkal

machhlipatnam bimblipatnam

bimblipatnam machhlipatnam

oongol nandigol

nandigol oongol

koregaon goregaon

goregoan koregaon

namdabad ahmedabad

ahmedabad namdabad

shautpur jodhpur

jodhpur shautpur

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

beech waale station bolen

ruk ruk ruk ruk

ruk ruk ruk ruk

tadak bhadak

lohe ki sadak

tadak bhadak

lohe ki sadak

yahaan se wahaan

wahaan se yahaan

yahaan se wahaan

wahaan se wahaan

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

chhuk chhuk chhuk chhuk

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Superb Video - Tai Tai Phish

Today, we've came up with our superb musical video, of the Month. You might've heard this amazing song 'Tai Tai Phish', which is here being performed by Saurabh, Gaurav, and various, who're very prominent faces of Swarnima Academy.

So, Watch out this Video, and share your views!

Did you liked the Idea behind the Creation, then Convey it to everyone you know. So, Like it, Share it, and Don't Miss to Subscribe our YouTube Channel!
We will come up with more amazing videos and we hope you will like all. Thanks for watching.

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