HOME





Kele Handa
''Kele Handa'' is a 1953 Sri Lankan romantic musical starring Rukmani Devi, Stanley Perera, Eddie Jayamanne, Rita Ratnayake and Mabel Blythe. It is based on a popular Sinhala novel by W. A. Silva. The adaption was successful due to the book being widely read in school as part of the curriculum and schools brought in students on buses to see the film. It is technically poor and was shot inside a studio though the story pertained to village life. Plot summary Love story of Malini, a village girl who goes to town to see the Vel festival and falls in love with a rich gentleman John Jayapala who pretends to be of low class. Cast * Rukmani Devi as Malini * Stanley Perera as John Jayapala * Rita Ratnayake as Daisy Attanayake * Eddie Jayamanne as Aanda * Mabel Blythe as Missy * B. A. W. Jayamanne * Peter Peries * Wimala Kumari * Udula Dabare as Mourner Songs *"Ho Manamalaya" – Eddie Jayamanne and Mabel Blythe *"Aley Rahasame" – Eddie Jayamanne and Mabel Blythe *"Mawil ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Rukmani Devi
Daisy Rasammah Daniels, known popularly as Rukmani Devi (15 January 1923 – 28 October 1978: ) was a Sri Lankan film actress and singer who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silver screen via the stage and had acted in close to 100 films at the time of her death. Having an equal passion for singing as well as a melodious voice, she was Sri Lanka's foremost female singer in the gramophone era. After her death, she was awarded the Sarasaviya 'Rana Thisara'- Life Time Achievement Award at the 1979 Sarasaviya Awards Festival. Personal life Rukmani Devi was born as Daisy Rasammah Daniels to a Tamil Colombo Chetty Christian family on January 15, 1923, at Ramboda in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. Second, in a family of five, her father, John Daniel, worked on a plantation, and her mother, Helen Rose, was a teacher. She grew up in Colombo and had her early education at St. Matthew's School and then moved on to St. Clare's School, Wellawatte. She w ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The industry, producing films in the Hindi language, is a part of the larger Indian cinema industry, which also includes Cinema of South India, South Indian cinema and other smaller Cinema of India#Cinema by language, film industries. The term 'Bollywood', often mistakenly used to refer to Indian cinema as a whole, only refers to Hindi-language films, with Indian cinema being an umbrella term that includes all the Cinema of India#Cinema by language, film industries in the country, each offering films in diverse languages and styles. In 2017, Indian cinema produced 1,986 feature films, of which the largest number, 364, have been in Hindi. In 2022, Hindi cinema represented 33% of box office revenue, followed by Telugu cinema, Telugu and Tamil cine ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1950s Romantic Musical Films
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annex the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establishes his headquarters and the colonies th ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sri Lankan Romance Films
Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Assamese, Meitei ( Manipuri), Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Sinhalese, Thai, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, Assamese, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Nepali, Malayalam, Kannada, Sanskrit, Pali, Khmer, and also among Philippine languages. It is usually transliterated as ''Sri'', ''Sree'', ''Shri'', ''Shiri'', ''Shree'', ''Si'', or ''Seri'' based on the local convention for transliteration. In Tamil it evolved to Tiru. The term is used in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia as a polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language. "Shri" is also used as a title of veneration for deities or as honorific title for individuals. "Shri" is also an epithet for Hindu goddess Lakshmi, while a ''yantra'' or a mystical d ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


1953 Films
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1953 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events *January 16 – A new Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is incorporated following a Consent Judgment to divest their Stanley Warner Theaters. *February 5 – Walt Disney's production of J.M. Barrie's ''Peter Pan'', starring Bobby Driscoll and Kathryn Beaumont, premieres to astounding acclaim from critics and audiences and quickly becomes one of the most beloved Disney films. This is the last Disney animated movie released in partnership with RKO Pictures, becoming the last ever smash hit movie of the later company before it bankrupted in 1959. *February 25 – Jacques Tati's film '' Les Vacances de M. Hulot'' is released in France, introducing the ''gauche'' character of Monsieur Hulot. *July 1 – '' Stalag 17'', directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, premieres and is considered by the cr ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jaal (1952 Film)
Jaal () is a 1952 Hindi crime film, crime Film noir, noir film directed by Guru Dutt. The film stars Dev Anand, Geeta Bali in lead roles. The film was successful at box office and was the List of Bollywood films of 1952, third-highest-grossing film of the year in India. Its music became popular, especially the song "Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan". ''Jaal'' is considered a noir classic for its grey shade characters which were among the first of its type in Indian cinema. Filmfare listed it in Best Bollywood Noir Films of '50s. ''Jaal'' was one of the first film made in India that portrayed an Anti-Hero character in the lead. It established the idea of Anti-Hero with "''no qualms about bending moral codes''" in Hindi cinema. Plot After losing his vision during a storm, Carlos (K.N. Singh) lives with his sister, Maria (Geeta Bali), on the Indian coast in a fishing village. One day a mysterious young woman, Lisa, enters their lives, followed by a mysterious man, Tony Fernandes (D ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Geeta Dutt
Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian Indian classical music, classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema (India), Bengali cinema and is considered as one of the best playback singers of all time in Hindi films. She also sang many modern Music of Bengal, Bengali songs in the non-film genre. Early life Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri was one of 10 children born to a wealthy zamindar family in a village named Idilpur, Madaripur District, Madaripur Subdivision under Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur district in Bengal Presidency, Bengal, British India presently under Gosairhat Upazila of Shariatpur District, Bangladesh. Her family moved to Calcutta and Assam in the early 1940s, leaving behind their land and properties. In 1942, her parents moved to an apartment in Bombay. Geeta was twelve and continued her schooling at the Bengali High School. Singing career K ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern Indian music. Kumar was one of the most popular singers in the Indian subcontinent, notable for his yodelling and ability to sing songs in different voices. He used to sing in different genres but some of his rare compositions, considered classics, were lost in time. In 2013, Kumar was voted "The Most Popular Male Playback Singer" in a poll conducted by the Filmfare, Filmfare magazine. Besides Hindi, he sang in many other Indian languages, including Bengali language, Bengali, Marathi language, Marathi, Assamese language, Assamese, Gujarati language, Gujarati, Kannada, Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Odia language, Odia and Urdu. He also released a few non-film albums in multiple languages, especially in Bengali, which are noted as al ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Talat Mehmood
Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) was an Indian playback singer who is considered as one of the greatest and most popular Indian male film song and ghazal singers. Although he tried his luck as a film actor, he did not succeed a great deal in acting. Talat Mahmood received the Padma Bhushan award in 1992, in recognition of his artistic contributions in the spheres of cinematic and ghazal music. He was particularly famous for singing soft and sombre ghazals in his quivering and silky voice. Romantic and tragic were the moods he liked most and it was he who helped a great deal in shaping the style and method of modern ghazal singing in India during the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Talat Mahmood (; ) was born in Lucknow to Manzoor Mahmood. Talat showed his musical leanings from a very young age and would enjoy sitting through all-night music concerts. Coming from a conservative Muslim background, singing was not encouraged. Talat had to choose between working in f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shamshad Begum
Shamshad Begum (Urdu: شمشاد بیگم, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and range, she sang over 6,000 songs in Hindustani, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Punjabi languages, among which 1287 were Hindi film songs. She worked with renowned composers of the time, such as Ghulam Haider who first discovered her. She also worked with Naushad Ali and O. P. Nayyar, for whom she was one of their favorites. Her songs from the 1940s to the early 1970s remain popular and continue to be remixed. Awards and recognition * Padma Bhushan Award (2009) * O. P. Nayyar Award (2009) Personal life Shamshad Begum was born in Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan) on 14 April 1919 the day after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in nearby Amritsar. She was one of eight children, five sons and three daughters, born ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Rita Ratnayake
Rita Philomina Ratnayake (18 February 1934 – 6 November 2006 රීටා රත්නායක) was an actress in Sri Lankan cinema. She became very popular in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s early Sinhala cinema particularly with the role 'Daisy Attanayake' in the blockbuster ''Kele Handa'' in 1953. Personal life She was born in 1934 in Matale, Sri Lanka. Her father Emil Ratnayake was a famous violinist. She grew up in her mother's hometown of Matale and studied at St. Agnes' College, Matale (currently known as St. Thomas' Girls' College). During school period, she played the role 'Queen Pramila' in the stage play ''Daskon''. Also known as a school singer, she was famous among Matale students for singing the song ''Ko Mama Nandage Male''. Rita also worked for the Sri Lanka Hotel Corporation for some time. Rita married W.A. Wilfred Silva on February 18, 1960. Wilfred is best known as a songwriter, storyteller and film director. The couple had a daughter and a son named Sadhan ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mohammed Rafi
Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice; his songs varied from fast peppy numbers to patriotic songs, sad numbers to highly romantic songs, qawwalis to ghazals and bhajans to classical songs. He was known for his ability to mould his voice to the persona and style of the actor lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He received six Filmfare Awards and one National Film Award. In 1967, he was honored with the Padma Shri award by the Government of India. In 2001, Rafi was honoured with the "Best Singer of the Millennium" title by Hero Honda and Stardust magazine. In 2013, Rafi was voted for the Greatest Voice in Hindi Cinema in the CNN-IBN's poll. He recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and in many Indian languages as well as some foreign languages, though ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]