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Rajshri's 60 Years |
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| 1947: The Birth of Rajshri. |
On 15th August 1947, at the dawn of India's Independence, Tarachand Barjatya established Rajshri Pictures (P) Ltd., the film distribution division of RAJSHRI. |
1950s: Establishing an all-India presence. |
RAJSHRI emerged as India's largest and only all-India film distribution organisation, successfully distributing a number of super hit films in Hindi and other regional languages. |
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| 1960s: Making Films -- The Rajshri way |
Rajshri Productions (P) Ltd., the film production division of RAJSHRI, was set up in 1962. Its first release Aarti was critically acclaimed and was screened at international film festivals. This was followed by Dosti, a non star-cast film which went on to become a mega success at the box-office. Dosti was presented the National Award for the Best Hindi Film of the Year (1964) and also won 6 Filmfare Awards. |
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| 1970s: A String of Family Hits |
1970's saw RAJSHRI grow from strength to strength. Jeevan Mrityu was followed by Uphaar, which gave Jaya Bhaduri a Filmfare Special Award. Tapasya was applauded by the press and public and was awarded the `Golden Lotus', the National Award for the best feature film with mass appeal, wholesome entertainment and aesthetic values. Rakhee won the Filmfare Award for the Best Actress for this film. Geet Gaata Chal, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se, Chitchor, and Dulhan Wahi Jo Piya Man Bhaaye all revolved around providing lilting melodies and wholesome family entertainment. |
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| 1980s: The `Sun' Rises |
RAJSHRI's film making continued with movies like the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated film Saaransh. At the end of the 80's, when the entire film industry was in the doldrums with the advent of video,
RAJSHRI gave a break to its in-house talent Sooraj R. Barjatya who directed Maine Pyar Kiya, a musical teenage romance, which went on to become one of Indian cinema's biggest grossers. The film bagged six Filmfare awards including awards for the Best Film and the Most Sensational Debut of the Year for 24-year-old Sooraj. |
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| 1990s: Three-in-a-row... |
Sooraj moved from strength to strength and followed up the success of MPK with blockbusters Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Hum Saath-Saath Hain. HAHK remains the biggest hit in the history of Indian cinema, a film which instilled a new lease of life in the ailing film industry by bringing viewers back to cinema halls. It ran for over 25 weeks in 150 cinemas, for over 50 weeks in 52 cinemas and crossed the magical 100th week mark in 4 cinemas in India. The film won the National Award for being the most popular film providing wholesome entertainment and also bagged 5 Filmfare Awards and 6 Screen Awards, including awards for the Best Film, Best Actress and Best Director. This was the first Hindi film to run in mainscreen cinemas in U.S.A., U.K. and other parts of the world and creating records unheard of before. It ran for over 50 weeks in Bellevue Cinema, London and at Albion Cinema, Toronto- the first Hindi film to do so. This film takes the credit for reviving the theatrical release of Hindi films abroad. With this film Rajshri also gave a boost to film merchandising, which was till then at a nascent stage in India. Sooraj R. Barjatya's third film Hum Saath-Saath Hain was the biggest grosser of 1999.
Rajshri Music produced quality non-film music albums Yeh Hai Prem, Gaarva (Marathi), Valentine's Day, College Ke Din, Pyar Ke Geet and Tum Ho Mere Paas. Rajshri has also many other firsts to its credit. In December 1996, Rajshri became the first Indian entertainment company to establish its presence on the Internet by launching its own website. |
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| 2000 and beyond... |
Early 2000s saw the release of the Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan starrer Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya.Rajshri's regional films, Shaashu Ghara Chaalijibi in Oriya and Shubhodrishti in Bengali language released in 2005 were not only commercially successful ventures but also won several awards. The T.V. Division of Rajshri was also relaunched by the young and enterprising Kavita K. Barjatya who looks into the serials' creative aspects & controls its daily operations. Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki has enjoyed a sucessful run for three years on Sahara One and has single handedly raised the channel's GRPs. Pyaar Ke Do Naam Ek Raadha Ek Shyaam on Star Plus was greatly appreciated. Rajshri’s latest serial Main Teri Parchhain Hoon has proved to be a primetime favourite on NDTV Imagine. Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki and Main Teri Parchhain Hoon have won several awards in various categories and have been loved by the television audiences. |
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Vivah Sooraj R. Barjatya's latest film starring Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao proved to be one of the biggest grossers of 2006, having celebrated a silver jubilee run at 25 theatres across India.
Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi, Rajshri's forthcoming film, is a poetic romance and an intense love story. Directed by Kaushik Ghatak, the film stars Eesha Koppikhar and Sonu Sood and is scheduled for release on November 7, 2008. |
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| Rajshri: Six decades of contribution... |
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All along its production activities, RAJSHRI has always encouraged and backed up new artists in practically all departments of film-making including actors, actresses, directors, story-screenplay-dialogue writers, music directors, lyricists, playback singers, cinematographers, editors, audiographers, choreographers, fight composers, etc. |
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| Amongst the new talents that RAJSHRI has promoted are Mithun Chakraborty, Ranjeeta, Raakhee, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Sarika, Arun Govil, Raj Babbar, Sachin, Suresh Oberoi, Rameshwari, Anupam Kher, Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan and Bhagyashree. |
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| Amongst the prominent directors promoted by RAJSHRI are Satyen Bose, Prashant Nanda, Hiren Nag, Basu Chatterjee, Lekh Tandon, Govind Moonis, Sudhendu Roy and Mahesh Bhatt. |
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| Laxmikant Pyarelal, Ravindra Jain, Bappi Lahiri, Rajkamal, Usha Khanna and Raamlaxman are amongst the music directors who tasted success with RAJSHRI 's films. |
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| Amongst the playback singers promoted by RAJSHRI are Yesudas, Hemlata, Suresh Wadkar, Alka Yagnik and SP Balasubrahmanyam. |
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The RAJSHRI group's philosophies of producing wholesome musical entertainers and promoting new talent in every sphere of film-making were founded by Tarachand Barjatya. His sons Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Rajkumar Barjatya and Ajit Kumar Barjatya (above) have upheld this tradition and have also abided by his guiding principles of honesty and fair play while doing business, a reputation RAJSHRI is still widely known for and which has helped it stay in the forefront of the Indian film trade. |
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