Nostalgic Nuggets: 'Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli'

The cinema-centric websites in Indian languages have been felicitating the modern crop of actors and actresses whose birthdays fell on this day – Tamil actor Ajith Kumar who turned 49 and Anushka Sharma, noted Hindi film actress, producer and spouse of Virat Kohli, who is now 32. Yet, for the lovers of classic Hindi films, it would not have gone unnoticed that this day also marks the 101st birth anniversary of famous playback singer Manna Dey (1919-2013) and the 107th of iconic actor Balraj Sahni (1913-1973).

Prabodh Chandra Dey, known popularly as Manna Dey was the oldest among the top group of male crooners of the 1940s and 1950s among whom were Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar. He outlived all of them and was alive till the age of 93 when he passed away in 2013. He was solidly trained in classical music and his renditions in a career of six decades and 4000 songs went beyond Hindi and Bengali films to make a mark also in Malayalam cinema of the 1970s.

Balraj Sahni, the suave, polished artiste, with a progressive theatre background impressed Indian film viewers right through the post-Independence era till the mid-1970s. His connect with the audience and his appeal was unmatched as he was the harbinger of neo-realistic cinema, which carved a niche itself towards the end of 20th century.

May 1 is also the 25th birthday of Radhika Madan who played the ambitious daughter of Irrfan Khan in his last release ' Angrezi Medium' and stood out for her touching role. It is the 31st of Sonnalli Seygal of ' Pyaar Ka Punchnama' fame too.