Life and death in Bollywood

As it’s time to wrap up 2011, one can’t but notice how Bollywood stood united — over arrivals and departures. There’s no doubt that this has been quite a killer year and just when everyone thought the list of casualties has ended — names kept getting added to it. On the other hand, the industry also joined hands in welcoming its next generation with open arms and wide smiles.

Noted actor Dev Anand passed away suddenly early in December in London. The man’s sense of style and charisma will always remain unmatchable. No different would be actor Shammi Kapoor. One of the most entertaining performers the industry ever got, he succumbed to renal failure in August. Singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika might not have been involved on a daily basis with Bollywood, but one can’t overlook the haunting melodies of the Kalpana Lajmi film, Rudaali or Daman when talking about Hindi film music. Film-maker Jagmohan Mundhra of Bawandar fame passed away in September, the same month that also saw the demise of producer Surinder Kapoor, father of Boney, Anil and Sanjay Kapoor.

Gautam Rajadhayksha, one of the industry’s leading photographers, passed away three days before his 61st birthday of an apparent heart attack in September again. Noted ghazal singer Jagjit Singh passed away in October while sarangi player of international fame Ustad Sultan Khan, whose unforgettable music album, Piya Basanti or the classical bit in Albela Sajan Aayo Re from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam passed away in November, on his way to the hospital. Noted art director and production designer Samir Chanda, credited for films like Guru, Omkara, Krissh and Saat Khoon Maaf, died in August. September also snatched actors Saif Ali and Soha Ali Khan’s father, former cricketer Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, And finally on Christmas, the sudden demise of theatreperson Satyadev Dubey, who won the National Award for screenplay for Shyam Benegal’s Bhumika.

Of course, interspersed between the memorial meets, came the news of some awaited arrivals — all through the social networking site, Twitter. The grandest of them all was the arrival of Beti B in the Bachchan household — be it the godhbharai of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan or the visits of well-wishers from the film fraternity to see the ‘little one’- as her grandfather, Amitabh Bachchan addresses her. Actors Ranvir Shorey and Konkona Sen Sharma had a baby boy, Haroon, in March while Ava Nayla was born to actors Manoj Bajpai and Neha in February.

Actress Lara Dutta and husband, tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi, who are expecting their first child early next year, had a grand baby shower some time back for close friends from the industry. Even actress Celina Jaitly is expecting twins with her husband, Dubai-based Austrian businessman Peter Haag in April 2012.

Not long back, actress Shilpa Shetty and husband Raj Kundra too informed the world about her first pregnancy on the social networking site.

It is also rumoured that former actress Antara Mali, married to GQ magazine editor, Che Kurrien, is also expecting their first child.

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