Biography
Aradhana (Worship) is a 1969 Bollywood film directed by Shakti Samanta and starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. It is a remake of the Hollywood film To Each His Own, a 1946 movie.[1] It was voted best film of the year by the Filmfare Awards. Sharmila Tagore won her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for the same role that won Olivia de Havilland her first Academy Award for Best Actress.[2]
Originally released in Hindi and dubbed in Bengali - Aradhana's huge success gave way to two remakes, both starring Vanisri in Sharmila Tagore's role: the Tamil film Sivakamiyin Selvan (1974)[3] and the Telugu film Kannavari Kalalu (1974).
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Plot
The story opens against the backdrop of idyllic hilly terrain with airforce officer Arun (Rajesh Khanna) crooning "Mere sapno ki rani" atop an open jeep, while Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) demurely sneaks glances at him from a mini train. After a brief romance, they have a secret wedding.
Soon afterwards, Arun dies in an air crash leaving behind a heartbroken and pregnant Vandana. His family refuses to accept the unwed mother-to-be since her marriage with Arun is never formalised. Vandana is finally forced to let a childless couple adopt her newborn son, Suraj. But determined to be a part of his life, she accepts the responsibility of becoming his nanny.
[edit] Cast
Sharmila Tagore ... Vandhana Tripathi
Rajesh Khanna ... Arun / Suraj Prasad Saxena
Sujit Kumar ... Madan Verma
Pahadi Sanyal ... Gopal Tripathi
Anita Dutt ... Mrs. Prasad Saxena
Abhi Bhattacharya... Ram Prasad Saxena
Madan Puri ... Prison Warden
Asit Sen ... Sitaram
Manmohan ... Shyam
Farida Jalal ... Renu
Subhash Ghai ... Prakash
Master Shahid
Dulari ... Lady Doctor
Sodhana Patel
Birbal
1969 Awards
Filmfare Best Movie Award: Shakti Samanta
Filmfare Best Actress Award: Sharmila Tagore
Filmfare Best Male Playback Award: Kishore Kumar for the song Roop tera mastana.
[edit] References
1.^ To Each His Own (1946) - Movie connections
2.^ http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2008/jun/19slide2.htm
3.^ The Sunday Times On The Web - Mirror Magazine
The Aradhna Syndrome
[edit] External links
Aradhana at the Internet Movie Database
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.