EPISODE 4 (05/02/2006)

In Kashmir Ki Kali, Shakti Samanta had introduced Sharmila Tagore. He
had seen her photograph in a Bengali magazine and he liked her. He
called her father and fixed an appointment for story narration. Her
father assured that if the story is good, he would allow her to work.
Shakti, with 3 distributors, went to meet Sharmila. The distributors
did not like Sharmila much but Shakti was confident in his choice.

Dialogues from Kashmir Ki Kali (Sharmila Tagore & Shammi Kapoor)

On the very first day of shooting, a god rappo was established
between Sharmila and Shammi Kapoor. The entire team went to Kashmir.
7/8 house boats were rented and rooms in a near-by small hotel were
booked for the unit members. Shooting was help up for 15 days due to
continuous rains. They passed these days catching fish :)

The Bhangra dancers used in the songs were called from Jalandhar
while the other dancers were brought from Mumbai.

Song: Haaye re haaye yeh tere haath mein (Kashmir Ki Kali)

The shooting of Amanush was done in the famous mangrove
forest 'Sundarban' that houses the famous Royal Bengal Tigers. It was
an unforgettable experience for the entire crew. There was only place
where tigers could not enter. It was a plot of land surrounded by
water on all four sides. Tents and boats were used to accommodate a
crew of nearly 150. There were small sharks in the waters, so
instruction was given to the unit not to venture into the waters.
Also, it was instructed not to lean out hands through the boat window
at night as tigers generally hide in the water waiting for a piece of
flesh in the form of a 'human hand'.

During the initial days of Amanush, Samanta used to make frequent
visits to Uttam Kumar's house (Uttam Kumar was the hero of the film).
It was at his place where Samanta met Shyamal Mitra and requested him
to compose the songs of this film. Mitra agreed on the condition that
the lyrics should be good enough.

Song: Dil aisa kisi ne mera toDaa (Amanush)

Shakti Samanta became a fan of Indeevar after he wrote the
extraordinary songs of Amanush. However, the Indeevar song "Kaise koi
jeeye" from Baadbaan was one of Samanta's favourites.

Song: Kaise koi jeeye zeher hai zindegi (Baadbaan)

It was a surprising decision to cast Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila
Tagore in an offbeat film like Amar Prem when the two actors were at
the height of popularity. Motivated by a Bengali film, Samanta went
to its writer and requested that he wanted to make this film in Hindi
with certain changes and asked for the price. The writer listened to
the changes Samanta wanted to make and got agreed. The writer got the
Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay. Before getting started with the
film, Samanta collected a print of the Bengali film and asked
Sharmila to watch it and give her comments in 1 week. The very next
day Sharmila met Samanta and asked, "kab shuru karenge, bataaiye!"

Dialogues from Amar Prem (Sharmila Tagore & Rajesh Khanna)

Shakti Samanta is fan of Sarat Chandra's writings. He points out that
whenever a film has been made out of his novel, it has become a
superhit. Whatever times Devdas was made, each time it has been a
blockbuster. Samanta, however, maintains that it is very difficult to
make a film based on a Bankim Chandra's novel. He still keeps on
reading 'Bankim Rachanavali'.

Song: Raina beeti jaaye (Amar Prem)

As the story and plot suggests, the music of An Evening in Paris was
required to be westernized. Samanta selected the city of Paris as it
was very popular destination in those days. Samanta agrees that there
was nothing special in the story of this film. The dancers were hired
from Paris itself. When a French producer saw this film, he asked
Samanta if he can put few scenes of the film in his film and asked
for the price.

Song: Raat ke humsafar thak ke ghar ko chale (An Evening in Paris)

Samanta says that he got the most satisfaction in those films that
has touched the audience emotionally, like Anuraag. Another
significant film with a morale was Anand Ashram.

Song: Saara pyar tumhara maine baandh liya hai aanchal mein (Anand
Ashram)

END OF EPISODE 4