Veteran
film-maker
Hrishikesh
Mukherjee
was
admitted
at
Leelavati
Hospital
in
Mumbai
today.
He
had
been
in
poor
health
for
quite
a
while
now
and
has
reportedly
become
critical.
He
has
been
put
on
ventilator
and
is
under
observation.
Last
week,
we
spoke
to
his
daughter
Neelu
who
said
that
his
health
was
bad
since
long
and
that
he
was
on
dialysis,
four
times
a
week.
Hrishikesh
Mukherjee,
the
legend
of
the
Indian
cinema,
began
his
career
as
an
editor
and
assistant
director
to
Bimal
Roy
way
back
in
1951.
His
first
directorial
venture
was
Musafir
in
1957.
In
1959,
Raj
Kapoor
recommended
Mukherjee
to
be
the
director
of
Anari
which
starred
Raj
himself
and
Nutan.
The
movie
turned
out
to
be
very
successful,
both
critically
and
commercially.
He
then
went
on
to
make
many
classics
like
Anand
(1970),
a
complex
emotional
story
of
a
terminally
ill
man,
starring
Rajesh
Khanna
and
Amitabh
Bachchan.
He
had
a
series
of
hits
with
Amitabh
Bachchan
which
included
movies
like
Abhimaan
and
Namak
Haram.
Jaya
Bachchan's
biggest
hits
like
Guddi
and
Mili
were
also
with
Hrishida.
Besides,
these
intense
films,
he
made
comedies
which
include
the
classic
Chupke
Chupke
(1975)
starring
Dharmendra,
Om
Prakash
and
Amitabh
Bachchan.
His
favourite
hero
was
Amol
Palekar
with
whom
he
made
a
series
of
comedy
films
which
includes
the
famous
Golmaal.
His
last
film
was
Jhooth
Bole
Kauwa
Kaate
(1998)
starring
Anil
Kapoor,
Juhi
Chawla
and
Amrish
Puri.
In
his
career
he
has
also
directed
TV
serials
like
Talaash
and
Hum
Hindustani.