by Nitin A. Gokhale

Pune city in the early 1980s was a movie-goers delight. Some 37-38 theatres (before multiplexes of cinema halls!) spread across the city offered a rich menu of movies—English, contemporary Hindi films and the Hindi film musicals of the 1950s and 60s.

And if you had the inclination—and money—you could watch three movies in a day!! Which we did on weekends!

Typically, Saturdays started with morning shows featuring Dev Anand or Shammi Kapoor romancing Nutan, Waheeda Rehman or Asha Parekh, progressed into watching a Paul Newman or Robert Redford con act in The Sting and ended with a night show with Amitabh Bachchan bashing Amjad Khan or Ranjeet.Movies became an integral part of my life in Pune and Dev Anand—along with Shammi Kapoor—my favourite star!!

Thirty years have passed since I left college but Dev Anand and the music of his movies continue to remain at the top of my choice and will remain forever. As Sunday morning brought the news of his passing away, all those

by Manu Sharma.

Dearest Dev Saab,

My first memory of you is actually a memory of my father, who'd passed away when I was 6. I remember hot summer nights without electricity in Faridabad ,when we would all sit on the terrace listening to CHHAYA GEET. Remember that famous program on All India Radio playing classic Hindi songs and I think your 'Khoya khoya chand' from KALA BAZAAR was the host's favorite. He would play it so often. It was certainly my father's favorite because he would hum along as I listened intently. Sometimes he would talk about you, your films or just stories about your life. I don't remember much of what he said or who you were, then. But I always remembered the song and especially now.

Yes, we are a very filmy family. We just love all things about films and are heavy watchers. The views on films, actors, music, dances, direction may differ, but perhaps the only thing we agree on in our family, is our love for you. I think it may have something to do with the fact

Kulkul Rahman

Dr Bhupen Hazarika is no more, but his music will live on forever and so will the memories.

Bhupenda, as we all knew him, was a regular visitor to my grandparents' house in Ketekibari, Tezpur. Since his career started there, he did harbor a soft corner for the place and its people. My parents, Late Dr Rabindra Kumar Goswami and Dr Lakshmi Kumari Goswami, were very close friends since the early Sixties.

In 1966, Calcutta, during the shooting of his film Loti Ghoti / Photo courtesy and copyright Kulkul RahmanI first met him in 1966 when I woke up in the middle of the night and heard music and laughter wafting in from our drawing room. I walked in groggily and saw this thin man with a receding hairline singing and playing the harmonium. He stopped and looked up and said, "Oh, who have we here?" He then pulled me by my waist and made me sit near him and sang "Brahmaputrar Dutti par Dolongey log logaley."

There were two other people in the room besides my parents: One was Nirod Choudhury, the writer, and the other was Jayanta Hazarika or Rana Mama, Bhupenda's younger brother. From

What made Dr Bhupen Hazarika special in the post-independence set of folksy greats? Seeing the overwhelming numbers that poured in to see Asom's Jajabor (traveler) one last time at Guwahati, the state government had to postpone the cremation. Who were these people and what does Bhupenda mean to them? Here are some voices from Guwahati, of those who made his many songs their own — without experts, reviews or, often, even the written word.

This is Assam's own heart unplugged.

"Bhupenda had a song for every occasion"

- Gayatri, teacher at Asian Institute of Mass Communication

Einstein had said of Mahatma Gandhi that "generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as he ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." My feelings for Bhupenda are the same. Never had I imagined that he was so deeply embedded in my psyche until he passed away.

I learned to be proud of Assam, right from the days I understood music hearing the