Hi Guys,

This is Dr.Mandar V. Bichu- your web-master for this site. Right since childhood, I have been fascinated by the sound of music and sights of cinema. Growing up in the seventies in a quaint little industrial township called N.R.C. Colony (situated in Maharashtra's Thane District), I was fortunate to be in an environment where movies and music were accepted passions of people and the Colony cinema hall used to show one movie every week, since much before the advent of television.

I began writing about films and film- music, during my Paediatric residency days in Lokmanya Tilak Medical College, Sion, Mumbai. Starting with a newspaper article- series on Lata Mangeshkar in the Marathi newspaper Saamna and also contributing occasional articles in Marathi magazines like Chanderi and Ruchi, I went on to write three Marathi books- Gaaye Lata Gaaye Lata (a composer-wise analysis of Lata Mangeshkar's Hindi film music career), Doctorki (a fact-fiction flashback- style medical college stories) and Suur Manaatale (a book analyzing impact of 4 legendary singers- Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar, Mohd. Rafi and Mukesh on film-music).

Internet came into my life in 1997 and from then on, I switched to writing in English. On the newsgroup of RMIM, I discovered a new way of looking at film-music-a much more mature and dispassionate analytical way. Making regular article- contributions on the net and getting positive feedback gave me the confidence to go to the next level and thus, I became a freelance film- music journalist. The journalistic journey began in August 1998 and is still continuing. From 1998 to 2001, I wrote regular weekly columns for Khaleej Times - a major news-paper in UAE and Gulf.

From December 2001 onwards, I have been regularly contributing articles, interviews and reviews for Entertainment Plus magazine published every Wednesday by Gulf News, which is the premier newspaper in the UAE and Gulf region. Occasionally I have also contributed articles to Tabloid and Friday Magazine- both again belonging to Gulf News- group. The confidence and encouragement offered by the editorial board of Gulf News has been the major reason, I have been able to write so many film and music-related articles covering so many interesting topics over the last few years. Also this writing has given me an opportunity to meet Who's Who in Hindi Films and Film Music.

During the course of my journalistic journey, I realized that the kind of content I have contributed through my articles is quite exclusive and extensive and that it needs to be properly archived on the net- not only for my own benefit but also to make it available on-line to millions of movie- and music- fans spread across the globe. That realization sparked off a dream inside my mind and this web- site is the culmination of that dream!

By now you must have guessed that I am a Paediatrician by profession. Yes, that's true. I practice in my own clinic- Dr.Mandar Medical Clinic in Sharjah, UAE. A local FM radio-station executive- by her own admission a regular reader of my articles, once called me to invite as an expert panelist for a radio- discussion on the revival of black- and- white movies. During her phone call she paid me perhaps the biggest compliment. Astonished by a noisy crying child- patient's voice in the background, she said, Oh, so you are a real doctor! I always thought you were a literary doctor! I replied calmly, Yes, ma'am, I am not a literary doctor but literally a doctor!

As far as passion of movies and music is concerned my wife- Dr. Shubhada and my two daughters- Pallavi and Apoorvaa have been my partners in crime. All of us enjoy watching movies and listening to music and most of the background information is thus acquired first- hand through hours and hours of dedicated movie-watching and music- listening sessions!

I sincerely hope that you would appreciate the thought and effort that has gone into this web- venture and would help me to improve its scope and quality through your valuable suggestions and articles!

For the hard- core critics, I would just like to say that I have tried to take all the precautions about the correctness and authenticity of information but still considering the width and depth of this subject and lack of reliable historic material, errors are going to be there. For the typos and data- errors, please don't blow your top- just send me the corrected details and they will be incorporated! After all, your wish is my command!

Yours truly,

Dr.Mandar V. Bichu

PS:
In this section you can see some Articles about me and also enjoy a trip to my photogallery.

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