Shakti Samanta
Ace filmmaker Shakti Samant passed away at 6pm on Thursday at his bungalow in Santacruz. A glorious chapter of Indian cinema has been ended. He belonged to an era when romance ruled the Bollywood. Shakti Samant was was way ahead of his time when his heroine Sharmila Tagore donned a swimsuit and hero Shammi Kapoor appeared in bathrobe on a helicopter for the film ‘An Evening in Paris’ in 1967.
He launched the career of Sharmila Tagore with film, ‘Kashmir Ki Kali.’ He directed films like Kashmir Ki Kali, Aradhana, An Evening in Paris, Amanush, Amar Prem, Anurodh,Anuraag, Ajnabee and Kati Patang. He directed Rajesh Khanna in films like ARADHANA, KATI PATANG, AMAR PREM and ANURAAG. These films helped Rajesh Khanna achieve super-stardom.
But three hours after Shakti Samanta passed away in his bungalow in Santacruz, his house was teeming with family members and a few close friends and no superstars of yesteryears. These are the ways of Bollywood to say goodbye to its great directors.
His son Aushim was quiet composed and accepted condolences. He recalled how his father spent the last few days listening to the music of greats like K L Saigal and Pankaj Mullick.
Producer Boney Kapoor who was an assistant to Shakti Samanta for the films like Anurodh and Mehbooba said, “I was a novice when I joined him in the 80s. Yet, when I made a suggestion on a certain scene or shot, Shaktida would hear me out. He’s a filmmaker who never let his legendary status come in the way of his filmmaking. He was always ready to listen.’’
Sharmila Tagore was his leading lady in many films. She says, ‘I loved even our unsuccessful films like ‘Charitraheen’. But if you ask me to choose my favourite film with Shaktida, it would have to be ‘Amar Prem‘. What lovely songs, music and what an era that was! God, I will miss Shaktida so much!’
But the audience are still listening to those magical melodies. Currently we are still groping in the dark to create more melodious and better sounding songs than those era. But everyone knows hoe successful we have been…
Image Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
