Prakash Mehra passed away early this morning. An entire era of cinema and my association with him passed away with him.

Amitabh Bachchan’s blog on Prakash Mehra

A long fruitful and incredible period of his remarkable films that he did with me, flashed past. His first meeting with me at Rajkamal studio where he had come to cast me in Zanzeer in 1971 right through to the mid ’80s, year after year of unbelievable successes — Zanzeer, Hera Pheri, Khoon Paseena, Lawaris, Muquaddar ka Sikander, Sharabi, Namak Hallal. What a huge bank of amazing films, right down to his last with me, Jaadugar. The only one that did not work.

I still remember his phone call to me in Bangalore after the release. ‘Lalla’, as he endearingly called me ‘gadbad ho gayee hai!’ he said. Things have gone wrong. Honest and straight. He had always maintained that the day I cannot make a successful film with you I shall stop working with you. He never did anything after Jaadugar.

A simple man who had the capacity to narrate great stories through the medium of cinema in the most simple manner. No fuss, no calisthenics. Just very ordinary camera placements and extraordinary content. A writer, a lyricist, a musician, he added all these qualities to his creativity behind the camera and gave me some of my most challenging roles. Never rewarded by any institution. And never sought one either. His films have lived out longer than him. A true mark of excellence.

The music he gave to his films still ring in the hearts and ears of each generation that came after him. The performances he extracted from his artists were never ever considered for any recognition. It never bothered him. Critics panned his films and the greater the criticism the longer became their duration, at the box office. ‘Unko likhne do woh, jo bhi likh rahe hain, aur jahan bhi likh rahe hain. Main jaanta hun main unhe kahan likh raha hoon!’, he would often retort.

A friend and a colleague, gone forever.

(Reproduced from www. bigb.bigadda.com, with the spellings that the author has used).

Producer-director Prakash Mehra died on Sunday morning. t2 picks a few films that defined the maker who defined the angry young man

From Rote huey aate hai sab to Salaam-e-ishq and from Dil toh hai dil to saathi re, Kalyanji-Anandji outdid themselves in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar. A huge hit.

Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1968): A human drama starring Shashi Kapoor in a dual role opposite Babita marked Mehra’s directorial debut at age 29. A hit, the film will best be remembered for the Kalyanji-Anandji numbers Chale thhey saath milkar and Bekhudi mein sanam.

Mela (1971): Set in rural India and highlighting the vagaries of the caste system, it brought together the Khan brothers — Feroz and Sanjay — with Mumtaz as the female lead. Mela had some memorable music by RD Burman (Rut hai milan ki, Gori ke haathon, Ek baar rakh de kadam)

Samadhi (1972): More than just the average romantic-action film, this Dharmendra-Asha Parekh-Jaya Bhaduri starrer established Mehra as a filmmaker adept at handling drama.

Zanjeer (1973): The film that gave the world the angry young man. Mehra went solo as a producer with Zanjeer and offered a gawky new actor the role of an angry cop. One of the biggest hits of his career, Zanjeer marked the beginning of the Mehra-Bachchan hit yaari and jodi.

Haath Ki Safaai (1974): Mehra’s first film with another favourite Vinod Khanna, the breezy drama found favour with the audiences. Kalyanji-Anandji’s musical scorewas good but it is best remembered for the line, “Bachche jis school mein tum padte ho, hum wahan ke headmaster reh chuke hain”.

Hera Pheri (1976): The Amitabh Bachchan-Vinod Khanna blockbuster combination notched up a hit for Mehra with Kalyanji-Anandji coming up with yet another winner of a musical score.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978): Mehra managed a casting coup getting Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rekha and Rakhee together in this romantic family drama.

Jwalamukhi (1980): One of Mehra’s rare films without Amitabh Bachchan, this tale of love and revenge paired Shatrughan Sinha and Reena Roy.

Laawaris (1981): Another blockbuster from the Mehra-Bachchan combination, now known as the Mere angane mein film. Mehra doubled as a lyric writer in this film.

Namak Halaal (1982): Coming at a time when the Prakash Mehra-Amitabh Bachchan jodi was ruling the box office, Namak Halaal turned out to be one of the biggest hits of that year. Bachchan’s comic turn (‘I can walk English, I can talk English?’) after serious roles in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar and Laawaris found favour with the audiences. Parveen Babi and Smita Patil sizzled and Bappi Lahiri struck gold with Raat baaki, Jawaani jaaneman, Aaj rapat jaaye, Thodi si jo pee lee hai and of course the Kishore Kumar winner Pag ghungroo.

Sharaabi (1984): Loosely inspired from Dudley Moore’s 1981 film Arthur, this box-office winner had Bachchan in the role of a poor little rich boy who drowns his sorrows in drink and then Jaya Prada’s aanchal. Bappi Lahiri did it again with De de pyaar de, Mujhe naulakha manga de, Inteha ho gayi and Manzilein apni jagah ruling the charts for years. Mehra’s last big hit.

Mohabbat Ke Dushman (1988): Mehra’s first attempt at a period film boasted a stellar cast comprising Raaj Kumar, Hema Malini, Sanjay Dutt and Farah. The film failed.

Jaadugar (1989): Prakash Mehra’s last film with Amitabh Bachchan was an ambitious project, combining comedy and fantasy, but got a two thumbs down from the audience. The two never worked together again.

Zindagi Ek Juaa (1992): A broken man after the Jaadugar debacle, Mehra tried to revive his sinking box-office fortunes with Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, the most sought after pair of the time. Despite a novel plot and Bappi Lahiri’s foot-tapping music, it came a cropper at the box office.

Bal Brahmachari (1996): Mehra’s last film as director, Bal Brahmachari launched Raaj Kumar’s son Puru opposite an already successful Karisma Kapoor. The predictable plot and lacklustre performances proved that the once-hit filmmaker had lost his touch.

P.S. Mehra also produced a few films, the most notable among them being the Shashi Kapoor-Waheeda Rehman-Smita Patel 1983 starrer Ghungroo and the 1993 Mithun Chakraborty superhit Dalaal.