There are certain people who create myths. Prakash Mehra was one of them. The showman who created the legendary myth of The Angry Young Man.
Born on July 13, 1939 in Bijnaur (U.P.), a small town by all means, he rose to the podium of Indian Cinema as a director. In his first attempt, he directed Haseena Maan Jayegi with Shashi Kapoor in lead. But his first big blockbuster was Zanjeer (1973) that carved a star out of Amitabh Bachchan. In Zanjeer, he created the myth of The Angry Young Man that was taken to a higher level by Saleem-Javed duo in Deewar.
Bachchan did seven more movies with him. The list included some timeless classics like Muqaddar Ka Sikander and Sharaabi. Laawaris and Namak Halaal were two other great movies of this Actor-Director team. As a team, Jaadugar was their last venture. As director, Bal Brahmachari was his last movie that was launching pad of Puru Raaj Kumar, son of Raaj Kumar who refused to play a role in Zanjeer. Amitabh Bachchan later essayed the dream role.
In Cinema, he is known as a great showman. He was not only a great director but also a fine critic. His cinema portrayed stories in a simple way. He always believed in the power of script and maintained that the power of leis in paper and not in camera’s artistic movements. He was also a musician in his own realm and the music in his movies had a lot from him only.
On 17th May, 2009, he left the materialistic world for ever. The connoisseurs of Cinema would never forget his contribution.
For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh
Born on July 13, 1939 in Bijnaur (U.P.), a small town by all means, he rose to the podium of Indian Cinema as a director. In his first attempt, he directed Haseena Maan Jayegi with Shashi Kapoor in lead. But his first big blockbuster was Zanjeer (1973) that carved a star out of Amitabh Bachchan. In Zanjeer, he created the myth of The Angry Young Man that was taken to a higher level by Saleem-Javed duo in Deewar.
Bachchan did seven more movies with him. The list included some timeless classics like Muqaddar Ka Sikander and Sharaabi. Laawaris and Namak Halaal were two other great movies of this Actor-Director team. As a team, Jaadugar was their last venture. As director, Bal Brahmachari was his last movie that was launching pad of Puru Raaj Kumar, son of Raaj Kumar who refused to play a role in Zanjeer. Amitabh Bachchan later essayed the dream role.
In Cinema, he is known as a great showman. He was not only a great director but also a fine critic. His cinema portrayed stories in a simple way. He always believed in the power of script and maintained that the power of leis in paper and not in camera’s artistic movements. He was also a musician in his own realm and the music in his movies had a lot from him only.
On 17th May, 2009, he left the materialistic world for ever. The connoisseurs of Cinema would never forget his contribution.
For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh
