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Pammy Varma

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Pammy Varma
Pammy Varma in the 1970s
Born(1952-05-30)30 May 1952
Bombay, India
Died31 October 2015(2015-10-31) (aged 63)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Other namesRajesh Varma
OccupationDirector
Spouse
Sunita Varma
​
(m. 1976)​
ChildrenAman Varma
Kunal Varma
Parent(s)Usha and Munshiram Varma

Pammy Varma (1952 – 2015) was an Indian film director in Bollywood. In a career spanning two decades, he worked as the assistant director/second-unit director of Manmohan Desai, leading director of the 1970s,[1] before making his debut as the co-director of Mard (1985), which was the second highest-grossing film of 1985.[2]

Family background

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Pammy Varma was the son of Usha and Munshiram Varma. He grew up in Bombay, India and graduated from the Don Bosco High School in Matunga, Bombay in 1968. Subsequently, he attended the Ruparel College, also in Matuga, Bombay, but gave up his college-life when he started working as the assistant director/second-unit director of Manmohan Desai, leading director of the 1970s.[3]

Pammy had several affiliations with Bollywood for much of his life. Pammy's father, Munshiram Varma, and his five brothers founded Varma Films, known for box-office hits like Suhaag Raat (1948), Patanga (1949) and Badal (1951). Suhaag Raat was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1948;[4] Patanga was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1949;[5] and finally, Badal was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1951.[6] Munshiram (Pammy's father) was also the producer of four films: Suhaag Raat, Thes (1949), Neki Aur Badi (1949) and Aurat (1953). Pammy's uncle, Bhagwan Das Varma (Munshiram's brother) was producer of Badal and Baghi Sipahi (1958) as well as the director of three films: Aurat,[7] Pooja (1954)[8] and Baghi Sipahi.[9]

Other relatives in the Indian film industry include: Pammy's sister Madhu Makkar née Varma, who played the female lead in Insaaniyat (1974) opposite veteran actor Shashi Kapoor;[10] Surinder Makkar, spouse of Madhu Makkar, who worked as a character actor in Insaaniyat and Pammy's brother, Sunil Varma, who was the executive producer of Insaaniyat. Finally, more relatives in the film industry include film and TV actors Sid Makkar and Giriraj Kabra. Sid Makkar is Pammy's nephew and Giriraj Kabra is the spouse of Pammy's niece, Seher Kabra née Varma.[11]

Film career

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Pammy Varma started his career in Bollywood by working as the assistant director/second-unit director of Manmohan Desai in 1972 with two back-to-back films: Bhai Ho To Aisa (1972) and Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972). Both of these films were commercially successful. Raampur Ka Lakshman was the 10th highest-grossing film of the year, whereas Bhai Ho To Aisa was 11th highest- grossing film of the same year.[12] For the next two years, each of the films for which Pammy worked for Manmohan Desai were also commercially successful. Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973) was the tenth highest-grossing film of the year 1973[13] and Roti (1974) was the seventh highest-grossing film of the year 1974.[14]

The banner year, both for the total number of films released as well as their commercial success, was the year 1977 : Amar Akbar Anthony was the highest-grossing film of the year; Dharam Veer was the second highest-grossing film of the year; Parvarish was the fourth highest-grossing film of the year; finally Chacha Bhatija was the fifth highest-grossing film of the year.[15] All four films were released in 1977 and Pammy was the assistant director/second-unit director of Manmohan Desai for all four of them.

Box-office accomplishment was sustained for each of the four films for which Pammy continued to be Manmohan's assistant from 1979 through 1983. Suhaag (1979) was the highest-grossing film of the year 1979.[16] Naseeb (1981) was the second highest-grossing film of the year 1981.[17] Desh Premee (1982) was the tenth highest-grossing film of the year 1982.[18] Finally, Coolie (1983) was the highest-grossing film of the year 1983.[19]

Eventually, after working for Manmohan Desai for years, Pammy made his debut as the co-director of Mard (1985), which was the eighth highest-grossing film of the 1980s.[20]

Filmography

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Year Movie Name Cast Notes
1972 Bhai Ho To Aisa Jeetendra, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha
Raampur Ka Lakshman Randhir Kapoor, Rekha, Shatrughan Sinha
1973 Aa Gale Lag Jaa Shashi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Shatrughan Sinha
1974 Roti Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Vijay Arora
1977 Parvarish Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Neetu Singh, Shabana Azmi
Dharam Veer Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Jeetendra, Neetu Singh
Chacha Bhatija Dharmendra, Randhir Kapoor, Hema Malini, Yogeeta Bali
Amar Akbar Anthony Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Parveen Babi, Neetu Singh, Shabana Azmi
1979 Suhaag Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Parveen Babi
1981 Naseeb Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Rishi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Reena Roy
1982 Desh Premee Amitabh Bachchan, Shammi Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi
1983 Coolie Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Waheeda Rehman
1985 Mard Amitabh Bachchan, Amrita Singh, Dara Singh Co-Director
1988 Ganga Jamuna Saraswati Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Jaya Prada

References

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  1. ^ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (1994). Encyclopedia of Indian cinema. Taylor & Francis. p. 84. ISBN 9780195635799.
  2. ^ "Top Earners 1985". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  3. ^ Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (1994). Encyclopedia of Indian cinema. Taylor & Francis. p. 84. ISBN 9780195635799.
  4. ^ "Top Earners 1948". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Top Earners 1949". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Top Earners 1951". Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Aurat (1953) Cast - Actor, Actress, Director, Producer, Music Director". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Pooja (1954)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Baghi Sipahi (1958)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Shashi Kapoor Passes away at 79: A pictorial tribute to the Bollywood legend". Indian Express. 5 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Giriraj Kabra: Shooting even on the wedding day!". Times of India. 19 February 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Top Earners 1972". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Top Earners 1973". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Top Earners 1974". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Top Earners 1977". Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Box Office 1979". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Top Earners 1981". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Top Earners 1972". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Top Earners 1983". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Top Earners 1980-1989". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
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