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INDIAN FILM EVENTS AND THE YEAR 1961

Scene from Bollywood film, "Junglee"(1961)

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Film World Events of 1961

R.D. Burman makes his debut as a music director with the film "Chhote Nawab". This also marks a reconciliation between Lata Mangeshkar and S.D. Burman

RD Burman
Music director Anil Biswas ("Kismet"-1943, "Milan"-1946, "Hum Log"-1984), under personal pressures, and disillusionment with the Bombay film industry, leaves for Delhi. He will do music for only two more films in his life.

Anil Biswas
"Mughal-e-Azam" wins Filmfare Award for "Best Picture".

Mughal-e-Azam
India's first colour cinemascope film is made. This Mahesh Kaul's "Pyar Ki Pyaas". India's first cinemascope film was "Kagaz Ke Phool" and made in black & white a couple of years earlier.
Shankar Jaikishan win Filmfare award for "Best Music Director" for their work in "Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai".
Mohd. Rafi wins the Filmfare Award for "Best Male Playback" for the song Chaudhvin Ka Chand from "Chaudhvin Ka Chand".

Mohd. Rafi
Taru Mukerki produces the first full length movie to have no dialogue since the 1930s; it is the film "Ingeet".
The importation of raw film stock is reduced.
Dilip Kumar wins the "Filmfare Best Actor Award" for his performance of Rajkumar Dhivendra Pratap Bahadur Chandrabhan in "Kohinoor".
Bina Rai wins the "Filmfare Best Actress Award" for her performance of Ghunghat in "Ghunghat".

Bina Rai
Hema Malini makes her film debut in the Telugu film "Pandava Vanavasam"; it is a small dance role.
Filming starts for S.N. Tripathi's "Sangeet Samrat Tansen", the Bollywood biography of the great musician Tansen.

Bharat Bhushan and Anita Guha filming "Sangeet Samrat Tansen"
Future actor/ film-maker Sunil Shetty is born in Karnatika.