Herman Benjamin

Herman Benjamin, also known as Harman, was a renowned choreographer of Bollywood dance numbers. He was born in the Bene Israeli(a community of Jews in India) community in the Umer Khadi area of Mumbai. He married Sheba and had a son. He entered Bollywood by working as a choreographer in the popular Madhubala starring film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi in 1958. After that, he worked with Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor: - 'Elvis Presley' of India. >> Read More... in the super-successful film, Dil Deke Dekho Dil Deke Dekho is a refreshing and unique Indian H >> Read More... (1959), which marked the first association of Herman with Shammi Kapoor, whom the former consistently worked with for a long time, while being the choreographer of most of the foot tapping dance numbers.

During the time of the making of Dil Deke Dekho, Shammi was still a struggling actor, but his emergence as a dancer in the dance sequences of the movie and its incredible success led to his popularity and the growth of Herman’s career. After this, Herman worked with Shammi in films such as Teesri Manzil(1966) for the choreography of the iconic songs Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera and O Haseena Zulfowale, Brahmachari(1968, as a dance director), for songs Aaj Kal Tere Mere and Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein, Prince(1969), for the song Badan Pe Sitare. The movie Pagla Kahin Ka(1970) was released after his death.

Apart from these his well known works are Jhumroo(1961), Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai(1961), Gumnaam(1965), Mere Sanam(1965), Janwar(1965), Do Badan(1966), Upkar(1967), Raaz(1967), Izzat(1968) and Pyar Hi Pyar(1969). Herman either assisted other choreographers or got his own songs to choreograph in the movies. He was also sometimes seen dancing in the song sequences choreographed by him.

A significantly famous work of his was the dance number Jaan Pehechan Ho from the movie Gumnaam(1965), in which he performed as the main singer on screen with Mohammed Rafi’s voice. The song wasn’t much of a chartbuster at the time of its release, but it was revived after 36 years and gained international popularity when the American filmmaker Terry Zwigoff used it in the opening scene of his movie Ghost World(2001). It was then again popularly used in a Heineken commercial in 2011. 

Herman died in 1968, and numerous movies he had worked on continued to be released until 1971. His family received an award from the Indian Film Dance Directors Association (IFDDA) on his behalf on January 9, 2012, for his contribution to the field of choreography.