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The relationship between films and Holi is 94 years old. In 1932, the black and white song of Holi theme ‘Hori mujhe khelne ko tesu manga de..’ was shown for the first time in the film Gulru Zarina. However, it did not gain popularity. After this, Mehboob Khan composed two songs showing the beauty of Holi in the film Aurat (1940). Holi was definitely seen with colours, but colors were not seen in the black and white era.
Even though the first Holi was black and white, when the era of colored films came, Mehboob Khan’s film Aan (1952) also got the credit for showing colorful Holi on screen. There are many stories related to Holi songs and the way celebs celebrate Holi. Raj Kapoor, known as the showman of Bollywood, used to celebrate Holi on a grand scale. Raj Kapoor used to invite eunuchs to his party. He used to make him sing the songs of his upcoming film. If eunuchs did not like a song then they did not keep it in the film.
At Amitabh Bachchan’s Holi party, guests were thrown into a pool full of colours. Bhang was given and there was a lot of dancing and singing. At a time when Amitabh’s career was going through a difficult phase, a Holi song got him a film.
Today, on the special occasion of Holi, read some special stories related to Holi shown in films and Holi celebrations at the homes of stars-
The first Holi of the big screen was seen, but not the colors.
Although the first film to show Holi was Gulru Zarina, the credit for starting the trend of Holi is given to Mehboob Khan. Director Mehboob Khan had two Holi songs in the 1940 black and white film Aurat. Surendra, Sardar Akhtar and Yakub were in important roles in the film. Holi was shown on the screen, but the colors were not visible since it was black and white.
When the era of color films came, Mehboob Khan made the same film again with the title Mother India. This film was released in 1958. India’s first film to even receive an Oscar nomination. The song “Holi Aayi Re Kanhai” filmed on Holi in the film became a huge hit, which was sung by Shamshad Begum. At that time, Mother India was the most expensive film of Hindi cinema which was made for around Rs 60 lakh. Which also earned the highest amount of Rs 8 crore.
Raj Kapoor used to play Holi with eunuchs
Raj Kapoor used to invite eunuchs to his every Holi party and celebrate Holi with them. Raj trusted the eunuchs so much that after applying color and gulal, he used to make them sing the songs of his upcoming film without any hesitation. Only when the green signal was given from his side, that song was taken in the film. When Raj Kapoor played songs from his upcoming film Ram Teri Ganga Maili to the eunuchs in a Holi party, the eunuchs did not like one song.
Raj Kapoor dancing with Kathak queen Sitara Devi at RK Studio’s Holi party.
Raj had such unwavering faith in him that he immediately called composer Ravindra Jain and asked him to change it. In replacement of this song, the song ‘Sun Sahiba Sun’ was prepared. When this song was played to the eunuchs, the response was that this song will be remembered for decades. It happened exactly the same. The song Sun Sahiba Sun was a chartbuster, which is still on people’s lips. Composer Ravindra Jain also received the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director for this film.
There was a celebration worth seeing in Raj Kapoor’s party.
In the 60s, Raj Kapoor was the first celebrity in Hindi cinema who started hosting parties at RK Studio for Holi celebrations. In his party, two big containers were filled with water and all kinds of colors were mixed in them. The guests attending the party were first put in these containers and only after coloring they would join the party inside. Every big and small artist of that era was invited to this party. Many people even called it Bhang and Food Festival.
After the death of Raj Kapoor in 1988, Holi party was never celebrated again at RK Studios.
Two Holi songs written by father were filmed on Amitabh
The two evergreen Holi songs ‘Rang Barse’ and ‘Hori Khelein’ filmed on Amitabh Bachchan were written by his father poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh had been listening to both these songs from his father many years before they were filmed. The song Rang Barse in the 1981 film Silsila is also the result of a coincidence.
This song was filmed on Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Jaya Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar.
Actually, this song is inspired by a bhajan composed on Meera, whose lyrics are inspired by “Rang barse o meeran, bhavan mein rang barse”. Amitabh, who had been listening to this bhajan from his father since childhood, used to hum this bhajan often. When Yash Chopra heard it at Raj Kapoor’s Holi party, he liked it so much that he decided to take it in the film.
The music directors of the song ‘Rang Barse’ were Shiv-Hari (Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia).
Exactly the same happened with Baghban’s song Hori Khele Raghubira. Harivansh Rai Bachchan also often used to hum these folk songs, which Amitabh had heard many times. When Aadesh Srivastava, the music director of the film Baghban, asked Amitabh to suggest a Holi song for the film, he suggested this song. Together they finalized it and recorded the song in one night.
Bhang was given to guests at Amitabh’s Holi party
Amitabh Bachchan also used to throw a big Holi party in his bungalow. Bhang is served to the guests in his bungalow. In 2004, the party held at Big B’s bungalow Jalsa was in the news because here the years-long fight between Shahrukh Khan and Amar Singh ended with a hug.
Amitabh Bachchan playing Holi with son Abhishek Bachchan sitting on his shoulders. Jaya Bachchan helping.
Stories from Amitabh Bachchan’s Holi party-
Amitabh Bachchan’s Holi party is the reason why popular filmmaker Karan Johar is still afraid of Holi. Actually, 10 year old Karan Johar had gone to the Holi party at Big B’s house with his father Hiroo Johar. Karan hated getting colored since childhood. He was going to tell this to everyone in the party, but before that, little Abhishek Bachchan, while playing pranks on his friends, threw Karan into a pool full of colours. Karan was so scared by this that he never played Holi in his life.
Abhishek had fun with Arjun Kapoor in childhood
Arjun Kapoor has always had no special interest in playing with colors. One reason is that Arjun is allergic to colors. Once in his childhood, Arjun had attended Amitabh Bachchan’s Holi party. In this party, Abhishek Bachchan and Kirron Kher’s son Sikandar Kher pushed her into a pool full of colors. Since then he never played Holi.
To show a happy atmosphere, a real party was held on the set.
Shooting the song Ang Se Ang Lagana from the film Darr was also challenging for Yash Chopra. The shooting took place in Lonavala, which was choreographed by South’s popular choreographer Tarun Kumar. When Yash Chopra saw the dance rehearsal, he told the choreographer that the steps were quite serious.
The steps were changed on Yash’s request. Some relatives of Honey Irani, Dimple Kapadia, Yash Chopra’s wife Pamela and Juhi Chawla also reached Lonavala to watch the shooting of the song. To maintain a fun-filled atmosphere on the set, everyone used to play word puzzles and Yash used to prepare delicious food for everyone, so that a real party atmosphere could be seen on the set.
People saw a miracle during the shooting of the song Do Me a Favor
The song Do Me a Favor from the film Waqt is a wonderful song of its kind. This song made on Holi theme was played a lot and was also liked. During the shooting of this song, the people present on the set saw a miracle. Actually Vipul Shah wanted him to get a song to compete with Rang Barse.
After discussing with music director Anu Malik, within 3 months he prepared the song Do Me a Favor and played it to Vipul. Anu sang Do Me a Favor Let’s Play Holi so beautifully that Vipul insisted her to lend voice to the song. During the shooting, Vipul Shah wanted the song to be shot in Badli, but there was no rain. A set was prepared for the song, in which a huge pond was also built.
When the shooting of the song started, it became cloudy and remained cloudy as long as the shooting continued, which does not usually happen. As soon as the shooting of the song was completed and the director called pack-up, it started raining heavily, due to which the entire set was destroyed.
Prank happened with Deepika during the shooting of Balam Pichkari song
In the new era, Balam Pichkari is considered to be the most favorite song of Holi theme. During the shooting of this song, directors Ayan Mukherjee and Ranbir Kapoor pranked Deepika. A colorful pool was prepared on the set, about which only Ayaan and Ranbir knew. As soon as Deepika and Kalki reached the set ready, both of them picked her up and threw her into the pool. At this time the camera was rolling. Only the real expressions from this prank were used in the song.
Finally, also see these old pictures of Holi celebration-
Amitabh Bachchan holding his wife Jaya Bachchan in Pratiksha bungalow.
Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia at RK Studio’s Holi
Rishi Kapoor gets colored after playing Holi.
