As Indian Cinema completes 100 years, MensXP brings to you 50 most interesting facts about Bollywood that you had not heard of before.
phir Hera Pheri
In the original Hera Pheri, Shyam, Raju and Baburao get Rs 40 lakhs, but in the sequel, director Neeraj Vohra has shown that they stay in a bungalow worth Rs 50 lakhs and yet manage to save a sum of Rs 10 Lakhs each. Now that's what I call real hera pheri.
The first motion picture in India was ‘The Wrestlers’ screened in 1899 a portrait photographer called Harischandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar.
Ashok Kumar was a lab assistant in Bombay Talkies before he became an actor in 1936.
Taxi No. 9211
1, Nana Patekar is shown in a financial mess, as he doesn't even have money to pay for the electricity bill or his son's school fees. But he manages to pay for a cell phone and a landline. How come?
2, The police seize Nana Patekar's taxi and they have obviously taken away his license too. Later in the film, after a short time lapse, he's shown driving another taxi. How can anybody lend him another taxi without checking his license?
3, When Sonali Kulkarni buys tickets for Nasik she asks for two tickets for the 9 pm t rain but later when Nana Patekar is in John Abraham's house he says my wife is going to Nasik by the 11:30 pm train. Time time ki baat hai jaani?
Director Subhash Ghai made a cameo appearance in ‘Aradhana’ (1969), which he anyway does for all his films.
Raj Thackeray wanted to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan in 2005.
Sunil Dutt was much more than the suave hero, he was quite the Bollywood baddie! The actor played the role of a dacoit in 20 movies in his career.
Waheeda Rahman played both mother and lover to Amitabh Bachchan. She played the love interest of Big B in ‘Adalat’ (1976) and mother in ‘Trishul’ (1978).
Fanaa
1, When the hero places a roti in her thali, Kajol slides it into place. Hello! Isn't she blind?
2, Rishi Kapoor is fully drunk and can't walk or talk properly. Kajol walks him to his bed. But when Captain Ranvir Singh reveals to Kajol that he is Rehan, Rishi Kapoor comes out of the bedroom, is fully in his senses and scolds Ranvir severely. Kya nasha itni jaldi utar gaya?
Dimple was only sixteen years old when Raj Kapoor introduced her in ‘Bobby’ (1973). She also got married to Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna at the age of 16. Despite the enormous success of ‘Bobby’, she then took a sabbatical from acting to raise her children.
‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) was a trilingual – with all scenes shot thrice in Hindi, Tamil and English. When the Tamil one flopped miserably, the English language one was aborted.
Raj Kapoor was superstitious and went off drinking as well as eating non-vegetarian food before the release of ‘Satyam Shivan Sundaram’ (1978).
Chup Chup Ke
1, Shahid goes to his village in a Toyota Corola. But during his return journey it changes into a Hyundai Getz.
2, After rescuing Shahid from drowning, Rajpal Yadav finds a printed list in his pocket that is completely dry. How come? Was it printed on waterproof paper?
Dilip Kumar was offered a lead role in the international project ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962) by director David Lean. However for reasons unknown, the actor declined the offer. The role subsequently went to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif.
Lata Mangeshkar's song ‘Ae Malik Tere Bande Hum’ from ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957) which was an original composition by Vasant Desai, was adapted by a Pakistani school as the school anthem.
Style diva Rekha wears only crimson or chocolate colored lipstick when making public appearances.
Actor Amjad Khan was almost dropped from ‘Sholay’ (1975) because scriptwriter Javed Akhtar found his voice weak for Gabbar Singh's role. Danny Denzogpa was approached for that role initially.
Amitabh Bachchan is so punctual that many a times he used to open the gates of Filmistan Studios himself for he used to reach the place before the watchman or gatekeeper.
‘Silsila’ (1981) is the only movie in which Shashi played an elder brother to Amitabh. In all the other movies starring the duo, Amitabh has essayed the role of the elder sibling. The films include hits like ‘Deewar’, ‘Suhaag’, ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ and ‘Namak Halaal’.
In his youth, actor Dharmendra was such a big fan of actress Suraiya that he walked miles to watch her film ‘Dillagi’ (1949) over 40 times.
Krishh
1, Rohit (Hrithik Roshan) is in Malaysia for two years working on a secret project. At the end of the second year his mother (Rekha) calls him up to say that his wife (Preity Zinta) has given birth to a baby boy. Considering the fact that he was away from home for two years, how did Hrithik impregnate his wife? Any answers Jadoo?
2, Priyanka is on a seven-day adventure camp with her friends in Manali and she just has a small bag with her. Yet during her one-week stay outdoors, she manages to change into colour-coordinated designer outfits three times a day with matching accessories and even sports different hairstyles. Jadoo at work again?
3, Priyanka and her friend decide to call super boy Krishna to Singapore to save their floundering jobs and the next day he is actually in Singapore. How did they arrange the passport and visa in a single day?
4, It takes Hrithik his entire superman-like strength to chase Naseer to the island where the computer is. Yet Naseer manages to import Priyanka and Sharat Saxena to the island in just five minutes!
5, Priyanka's belt does the disappearing act for a moment when she runs towards Rekha as the kids gang up with Hrithik to pull her leg.
6, When Priyanka watches the video of Krishna fishing with his bare hands, the scene suddenly shifts to him wearing the mask. But what happened to the Dil na diya… dance which she was shooting with her video camera?
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Because the cinema industry was still considered a low profession in the 40s, music director Naushad was introduced by his parents to his bride as a tailor. And ironically, the music that played in his ‘baraat’ was from ‘Rattan’ (1944) – that had been composed by him.
Music director Madan Mohan, who was a very good cook, bribed Manna Dey with bhindi meat to make him sing one of his composition, ‘Kaun Aaya Mere Mann Dware’ in ‘Dekh Kabir Roya’ (1957).
Mohammad Rafi, who loved watching boxing, requested the organisers on his tour to Chicago to get him an appointment with Mohammad Ali. Otherwise a busy man, Ali proceeded to Rafi’s hotel room when he found out that the legendary Indian singer wanted to meet him.
Joy Mukherji learnt the dance to ‘Duniya Pagal Hai Ya Phir Main Deewana’ in ‘Shagird’ (1967) from a dancer in a Hong Kong nightclub. On his way to the shooting of ‘Love In Tokyo’, he visited the club and was very inspired by an energetic dancer in the club – he went up to her and asked her to teach him the steps.
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Dharmendra’s fee when he debuted in 1960 in the movie ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’ was a meager 51 rupees.
Sunil Dutt initially used to be an RJ for Radio Ceylon and wanted to interview his favorite actress Nargis, but it had to be cancelled when he could not say a single word to her. Later, when he worked with her in ‘Mother India’ (1957), they fell in love and got married.
Jeetendra’s first film was ‘Navrang’ (1959), where he played Sandhya’s body double.
Meena Kumari was a poetess, and refused to show her works to her own poet husband, Kamaal Amrohi.
Devika Rani was the first actress with a degree in film-making.
In the film ‘Heroine’ Kareena Kapoor wore over 130 different dresses provided from top designers from all over the world. It has been reported that Kareena’s wardrobe for the film was one of the most expensive out of all the Bollywood movies ever created.
Saif Ali Khan was the original choice for Shahrukh Khan’s role in ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’. Even Tom Cruise was considered for the role of Raj Malhotra (SRK’s role in the film).
‘Rockstar’ was shot in reverse order, with the climax being shot first. Reason: The makers did not want to disturb the continuity of Ranbir Kapoor’s hairstyle.
Anil Kapoor’s family lived in Raj Kapoor’s garage when they first moved to Mumbai. Later they shifted to a room in one of Mumbai’s middle-class suburbs.
When Sridevi was only 13, she played Rajinikanth’s stepmom in a Tamil film called ‘Moondru Mudichu’.
Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was the first Hindi movie to have two intervals.
Dev Anand picked up his movie titles and story lines from newspaper headlines and stories.
Hrithik Roshan once ordered 50 books online on ‘How to Stop Smoking’ and then gave them to all his friends.
HUMKO DEEWANA KAR GAYE
1, Akshay Kumar was supposed to represent Toyota in the cross-country rally, but in the film he's seen driving a Subaru car. A case of mistaken car seva, what?
2, Why did Akshay Kumar need to walk Katrina Kaif back to her hotel when he had a car?
The longest film in the world is also a Bollywood film. ‘LOC: Kargil’ is 4 hours and 25 minutes long and if you plan to catch this war saga, we recommend you’re sitting comfortably.
Shah Rukh Khan’s least favourite school subject was Hindi. To encourage SRK with his learning, his mother offered to take him to see a Hindi film if he improved.
The film ‘Lagaan’ by Aamir Khan has the most number of British actors playing a significant role in the entire history of Bollywood cinema.
Shekhar Kapur was originally engaged to be married to Shabana Azmi but then he realized that was a bad idea.
The ‘Khalnayak’ song ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ was protested by as many as 42 political parties
Salman Khan likes to collect soaps. In his bathroom, there is a collection of all kinds of handmade and herbal soaps. His favourites are soaps made from natural fruit and vegetable extracts.
Indians buy 2.7 billion movie tickets annually, the highest in the world. But average ticket prices are among the lowest in the world so revenues are a fraction compared to Hollywood.
For a country that is obsessed with films, there are still very few cinema screens. India has fewer than 13,000 screens compared with nearly 40,000 screens in the US.
The first foreigner to attain cult status in Bollywood was Australian-born Nadia, also known as the ‘Fearless Nadia’ or ‘The Hunterwali’ (the woman with the whip).
SHAADI SE PEHLE
In the climax, when Ayesha Takia is in the car, she's wearing a nose ring. As soon as she comes out and hugs Akshaye Khanna, the ring vanishes! Who took it? The lord of the rings?
The only time in the history of any Indian award, when the best female playback singer award was shared was between Ila Arun and Alka Yagnik for ‘Choli Ke Peeche’ in ‘Khalnayak’.
Akshay Kumar is superstitious. He will never write anything on a page unless he first heads it with an ‘Om’.
‘Kaho Naa.. Pyar Hai’ was added to the Guinness Book of World Records 2002 edition for winning the most number of awards for a movie. The movie won a total of 92 awards.
During the making of ‘Sholay’, Dharmendra paid the light boys to make mistakes during shots, so that he could embrace Hema Malini again and again.
Dilip Kumar has won the most awards as the Best Actor with 8 awards spanning over 3 decades.
The song ‘Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon’ in the film by the same name is the longest Hindi film song. The length of this iconic song is 20 minutes and the song is featured in three installments in the film.
RANG DE BASANTI
We first hear that the Defence Minister has been shot at 7.58 am and then we see the same flashed as 'Breaking News' on a TV channel but the time on the TV screen is 7.46 am. Did the channel staff have a premonition about the event? Future shock, kya?
For Bollywood fans, these tidbits of trivia might come as a surprise - offering interesting insight into the million-dollar industry as we know it.
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