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A Century of Bollywood
15
to hit the Hindi film industry. Khanna follows the success of Aradhana
with fifteen subsequent blockbusters in the romance and social drama
genres, becoming Bollywood’s first superstar.
48. 1970—The publication of the English-language magazine Stardust, by
Nari Hira, featuring bold interviews and scandalous revelations about
stars’ lives and activities, introduces tabloid journalism in India, elevating
magazines to a previously unheard-of popularity. Its cover story on
the reigning star of the day—“Was Rajesh Khanna Secretly Married?”—
shocked readers. While other magazines were priced at Rs. 1, Stardust
launched itself with a pricing of Rs. 2. An estimated twenty-five thousand
copies were sold in the issue’s first three days of publication, necessitating
multiple reprints.
49. 1971—India makes 433 feature films, becoming the world’s biggest film
producer.
50. 1972—Black-and-white films are gradually relegated to the past as more
than 90 percent of films are made in color. In a radical role-reversal,
dancer-actress Helen tries to win her man through cave-woman tactics in
Mere Jeevan Saathi (My Life Companion). In one torrid scene, she ties up
the film’s hero, Rajesh Khanna, and threatens to rape him.
51. 1973—Bobby, featuring an attractive pair of teenage leads, Rishi Kapoor
and Dimple Kapadia, becomes India’s biggest romantic hit thus far, due to
its realistic ode to pubescent love
at a time when other stars—many
now over the age of thirty—were
trying desperately to carry on
as romantic icons. Zanjeer (The
Chain) brought to the national
limelight Amitabh Bachchan, a
brooding young star with thirteen
box-office flops to his credit.
Playing an honest police inspector,
Bachchan’s bottled-up anger
against a corrupt system explodes
onscreen, giving birth to India’s
answer to the “angry young man”
genre. These action films make a
bold statement, with limited, contextual
usage of Bollywood’s traditional
song-and-dance element.
52. 1974—Shyam Benegal, Indian cinema’s
second-most influential arthouse
auteur since Satyajit Ray,
The October 1971 cover of the inaugural issue of
Stardust priced for Rs. 2.
Photo courtesy of Stardust magazine.