This was a year of marriages in Bollywood. Nargis and Sunil Dutt tied the knot on March 11 and Shashi Kapoor and Jennifer Kendall got married on July 2, 1958.
On the flip side, the founder of Kohinoor Studio8217;s Dwarkadas N Sampat passed away. Character artiste Yakub also died in the same year.
Bimal Roy had his first commercial success this year with Madhumati. Casting Vyjayantimala in the title role worked wonders. Aa jaa re pardesi8217;, sung by Lata Mangeshkar proved that the singer could also carry a haunting melody 8212; extending her versatility. The film also gave a new lease of life to Mukesh. After Suhana safar8217; he is once again restablished as the voice of Dilip Kumar. An interesting fact about the film is that the original version had Vyjayantimala assuming four different ghost forms. But Roy finally scaled it down to three. Madhumati has an out-of-this-world music score by Salil Chouwdhury 8212; it gets the composer his first Filmfare award.
The Ganguli brothers 8212; Ashok, Kishoreand Anoop 8212; get together to provide side-splitting comdey in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi. A rollicking musical, the film8217;s heroine, Madhubala was already Mrs Kishore Kumar. He wooed and wed her on the rebound 8212; his first wife Ruma today, Ruma Guha Thakurta has run away to Calcutta with Rs seven lakh, leaving behind in her wake a desolate Kishore and their son Amit Kumar a singer in his own right, now. Ruma returned several years later to attend the first birthday of Kumar8217;s son, Sumeet, with Leena Chandavarkar.
The long-awaited pairing of Vyjayantimala and Dev Anand 8212; something filmgoers wanted to compare and contrast with the pairing of Madhubala and Dev Anand 8212; comes about in the Madras-made Amar Deep. The public verdict: quot;If Madhubala brooks no equality, Vyjayanthimala admits no superiority!quot; Still, Amar Deep fails to turn the Vyjayanthimala-Dev Anand team into a hit pair.
It was a calamitious year for the Southern siren as she was imbroilled in a feud with Padmini for the spot of numberone dancer. They are pitted against each other in Gemini8217;s Raj Tilak. Also known as Rekha8217;s wouldn8217;t-be- father, Gemini Ganesan 8212; sandwiched between the two 8212; sees the movie collapse within a week, at the box office.
Meanwhile, there was a silver lining to the dark clouds threatening Vyjayantimala8217;s horizon. Two years ago, she had refused to accept the Best Supporting Actress award Filmfare for her role as Chandramukhi in Devdas. Her patience paid off. In 1958, she walked on to the stage to receive the Best Actress award for a similar role 8212; as a dancing girl 8212; in B R Chopra8217;s Sadhna.
Coming in the the wake of Ek Hi Rasta and Naya Daur, Sadhna made Chopra financially the most-viable banner. Now, top heroes and heroines were prepared to work with him at half their asking price for the box-office cushioning his banners offered.
Stars of 1958
Raj Kapoor Phir Subah Hogi, Dilip Kumar Madhumati, Yahudi, Dev Anand Amar Deep, Kala Pani, Kishore Kumar Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, AshokKumar Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Howrah Bridge, Sunil Dutt Post Box 999.
Vyjayanthimala Amar Deep, Madhumati, Raj Tilak, Sadhna, Meena Kumari Yahudi, Madhubala Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Kala Pani, Howrah Bridge, Nutan Sone Ki Chidiya, Mala Sinha Phir Subah Hogi, Padmini Raj Tilak, Nalini Jaywant Kala Pani.
All archival material and pictures courtesy Subhash Chheda
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