Rattan (1944) - Swaran Lata, Karan Dewan, Amir Banu - View the Full Movie

Rattan or Ratan is a 1944 Indian Bollywood film starring Swaran Lata, Karan Dewan and Amir Banu. It was the highest grossing Indian film of 1944 and is cited as an "All Time Blockbuster". The film is noted as the film which made Naushad one of the top contributors to music in Indian films and enabled him to demand a fee of Rs 25000 a film.The heroine of the movie Swaran Lata had said in a live interview with the PTV that the tunes of the songs of Rattan were set by the lyricist Dinanath Madhok himself.
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Director: M. Sadiq
Writers: R.S. Choudhury, D.N. Madhok
Stars: Swaran Lata, Karan Dewan, Amir Banu 
Music: Naushad
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Kismet (1943) - Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti, Shah Nawaz - View the Full Movie

Director: Gyan Mukherjee
Produced by:  Bombay Talkies
Stars: Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti, Shah Nawaz 
Music: Anil Biswas
Lyric: Kavi Pradeep
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Kismet is a 1943 Indian film, written and directed by Gyan Mukherjee and produced by Bombay Talkies during the second world war period, while it was in a succession battle between Devika Rani and Sashadhar Mukherjee after owner Himanshu Rai's death. The film is one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema.
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Jeetendra, Shabana Azmi and Rekha in the Movie - Raaste Pyar Ke - 1982

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Raj Kapoor and Rajesh Khanna - c1970's

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Raja Harishchandra (1913) - First full-length Indian feature film - Watch the Movie

Raja Harishchandra (translation: King Harishchandra) is a 1913 silent Indian film directed and produced by Marathi icon Dadasaheb Phalke, and is the first full-length Indian feature film and marathi feature film. The film was based on the legend of King Harishchandra, recounted in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.


The film revolves around the noble and righteous king, Harishchandra, who first sacrifices his kingdom, followed by his wife and eventually his children to honour his promise to the sage Vishwamitra. Though, in the end, pleased by his high morals, the Gods are pleased and restore his former glory, and further bestow him with divine blessings.

Directed by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke and first screened on April 21, 1913 this is India's first feature-length film. The complete film is no longer available and these are portions of the first and last reels of the original 3700 feet of film.

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Hindi Movie Actress Anju Mahendru - 1967

Various Photographs of Hindi Movie Actress Nargis - 1940-50's

Nargis Dutt (June 1929 – 3 May 1981), born Fatima Rashid but known by her screen name, Nargis, was an Indian film actress. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Hindi cinema. She made her screen debut as a child in Talash-E-Haq in 1935, but her acting career began in 1942 with Tamanna. During a career that spanned from the 1940s to the 60s, Nargis appeared in numerous commercially successful as well as critically appreciated films, many of which featured her alongside actor and filmmaker Raj Kapoor.
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Anokhi Ada (1948) - Naseem Banu, Surendra, Prem Adib - Watch Full Movie

Director: Mehboob Khan 
Writers: Agha Jani Kashmiri (screenplay), Zia Sarhadi (story) 
Stars: Naseem Banu, Surendra, Prem Adib 
Music: Naushad
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Roti (1942) - Chandra Mohan, Sheikh Mukhtar, Sitara Devi, Akhtari Faizabadi, Ashraf Khan - Watch Full Movie

Director: Mehboob Khan
Writer: Wajahat Mirza
Stars: Chandra Mohan, Sheikh Mukhtar, Sitara Devi, Akhtari Faizabadi, Ashraf Khan
Music - Anil Biswas
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Neecha Nagar (1946) - Kamini Kaushal, Uma Anand, Rafiq Anwar - Watch Full Movie

Director: Chetan Anand 
Writer: Hayatulla Ansari (story) 
Stars: Rafiq Anwar, Uma Anand, Kamini Kaushal 
Music: Ravi Shankar
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Neecha Nagar (English: Lowly City) is a 1946 Hindi film directed by Chetan Anand. Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, it was a pioneering effort in social realism in Indian cinema and paved the way for many such 'parallel cinema' films by other directors, many of them written by Abbas. It starred Chetan Anand's wife Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Kamini Kaushal, and Zohra Sehgal.

Neecha Nagar became the first Indian film to gain international recognition, after it shared the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (Best Film) award at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946.
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Geeta Bali Momorial Issue, Filmfare Magazine - Feb 1965

Geeta Bali with her daughter Kanchan (Kajal)

Geeta Bali  is on Diwali in 1957 (left) and with her son Mickey (right)

  Geeta Bali in a Punjabi Film Rano

 Geeta Bali with her Husband Shammi Kapoor

Source: memsaabstory.com

Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala in Sangam - 1964

Sangam (English: Confluence) is a 1964 Hindi movie produced and directed by Raj Kapoor. The film had Vyjayanthimala, Raj Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar in the lead with Iftekhar, Raj Mehra, Nana Palsikar, Lalita Pawar, Achala Sachdev and Hari Shivdasani appearing in supporting role.

Sangam was Raj Kapoor's first color film, distinguished by its technicolor and epic length (even by Bollywood standards). It became a hit in India and is considered a classic today. One of the features of the film that became widely used later on in Bollywood is the use of foreign locales for on-location shooting, such as Venice, Paris, and Switzerland. This started the Bollywood trend of shooting songs sequences abroad (primarily in Switzerland), against the background of "exotic" landscapes.

Director Dasari Narayana Rao remade the film in Telugu and Kannada languages as Swapna.
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Photograhs of Hindi Movie Actress Waheeda Rehman - 1950-60's

 With Guru Dutt

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Dilip Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in Ram Aur Shyam - 1967

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Hindi Movie Actress Mandakini - c1980's

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Portrait of Hindi Movie Actress Parveen Babi - 1970's or Early 80's

Parveen Babi (4 April 1949 – 20 January 2005) was an Indian actress, who is most remembered for her glamorous roles alongside top heroes of the 1970s and early 1980s in blockbusters like Deewar, Namak Halaal, Amar Akbar Anthony and Shaan. She is often cited as one of the most beautiful actresses to have ever appeared in Indian cinema.
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Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman in Chaudhvin Ka Chand - 1960

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Mala Sinha on Filmfare Magazine Cover - August 1958

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Shyama on Filmfare Magazine Cover - December 1956

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Kishore Kumar on Filmfare Magazine Cover - May 1957

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Hindi Movie Actor Dev Anand Enjoying a Cigarette

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Dev Anand and Guru Dutt - c1950's

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Bollywood Film Music Director Madan Mohan with Wife

Madan Mohan Kohli (25 June 1924 - 14 July 1975), better known as Madan Mohan, was a famed Bollywood film music director of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is particularly remembered for the ghazals he composed for the film industry, mainly using the voice of Lata Mangeshkar and Talat Mahmood and Mohammed Rafi.
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Rishi Kapoor on the Cover of Cine Blitz Magazine - June 1975

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Boy standing in front of row of prayer wheels - Sikkim (c1965-71)

Photographer: Alice Kandell
Source: Library of Congress

Randhir Kapoor, Raj Kapoor and Rekha - c1970's

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Amitabh Bachchan and Family - c1970's

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Rajendra Kumar and Hema Malini - Early 1970's

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Purana Qila (Old Fort) - Delhi 1880's

Source: columbia.edu

Purana Qila (Old Fort) - Delhi Early 1900s

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Purana Qila (Old Fort) - Delhi c1937

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The main gate in the north wall of Purana Qila (Old Fort) - Delhi c1950s

Purana Qila, is not only the oldest fort among all forts in Delhi, but the oldest known structure of any type in Delhi. Located at the site of legendary city of Indraprastha, the fort was founded by Pandavas on the banks of perineal river Yamuna, which is revered by Hindus since ages. Fort is more than 5000 years old, and was constructed before the 'Mahabharata' took place. Consequently the fort is considered to be 'the first city of Delhi'. Researchers now confirm that uptill 1913, a village called Indrapat existed with in the fort walls. Excavations carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Purana Quila in 1954-55 (trial trenches) and again 1969 to 1973 by its Director, B B Lal have unearthed Painted Grey Ware dating 1000 B.C., confirming the antiquity of the fort.
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Mahatma Gandhi on the Cover of Newsweek Magazine - 1948

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Raja Birbal's Palace in Fatehpur Sikri - Agra 1860's

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Satti Chaura Ghat or Massacre Ghat on the bank of River Ganges in Kanpur - c1890s

Sati Chaura Ghat has been an important maritime boarding point for the river route from Kanpur to Allahabad from pre colonial period. In recent years, after the acquisition of the surrounding areas by Cantonment Board and private industrialists, it has receded in its traditional historical importance as the center of urban life in the old city of Kanpur.
During the beginning of the colonial annexation of Awadh, the ghat had earlier been nicknamed as Massacre Ghat, by the East India Company officials after the historical events of the 1857 Indian Mutiny at Cawnpore.
It was at this location that the initial momentous events of Indian Rebellion of 1857, named as Siege of Cawnpore in British colonial records, took place.
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Laxmi Narayan Temple or Birla Temple - Delhi c1940's

The Laxminarayan Temple (also known as the Birla Mandir) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Laxminarayan in Delhi, India. Laxminarayan usually refers to Vishnu, Preserver in the Trimurti, also known as Narayan, when he is with his consort Lakshmi. The temple, inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi, was made built by B. R. Birla and Jugal Kishore Birla from 1933 and 1939. The side temples are dedicated to Shiva, Krishna and Buddha.
The temple spread over 7.5 acres, is adorned with many shrines, fountains, and a large garden, and also houses Geeta Bhawan for discources. The temple is one of the major attractions of Delhi and attracts thousands of devotees on the Hindu festivals of Janmashtami and Diwali.
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Nagpur Museum - Maharashtra c1870's

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Photo of Dancing Women From Mandla - c1870's

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