Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – May 2015

Welcome to May, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Shashi Kapoor was physically conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke award on 10^th May.

Ten of my favourite Shashi Kapoor songs and a huge additions from the readers celebrate giving away of Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The list becomes more interesting because the songs are solos.

Remembering Sunil Dutt ….. with a song list! From which we pick up the songs that we do not get to listen often:

• Jab dekh liya unhein dhoondh hi lenge – Chirag (1969) ,Mohammad Rafi, Madan Mohan
• Ye Wadiyan Ye Fizaen Bula Rahee Hai Tumhen – Aj Aur Kal (1963) – Mohammad Rafi – Ravi

……Whilst on the subject, we may add a few from our side:

• Tirchchi Nazar Se Na Dekh – Ek Fool Char Kante (1960) – Mohammad Rafi – Shanker Jaikishan
• Nainowali Tere Nain Jaadu Kar Gaye – Beti Bete (1964) – Mohammad Rafi – Shanker Jaikishan
• Main Kaun Hoon Main Kahan Hoon – Main Chup Rahungi (1962) – Mohammad Rafi – Chitragupt –
• Zindagi Ke Safar Mein Akele The Hum – Nartakee (1963) – Mohammad Rafi – Ravi

We move on to regular posts:

Ten of my favourite percussion instrument songs continues with an on-and-off series of song lists featuring—in the picturisation—various types of musical instruments. This began with my post on women pianists, followed much later by a post on male pianists, and then a post on songs that featured string instruments. It’s time, … to try and compile a list of good songs that feature another important category of musical instruments: percussion instruments.

Raju Bharatan’s ‘Naushadnama’ continues with the tributes to Naushad.

A Few Favorite Cabaret Dances From Lollywood adds the variety to the blog’s, and our blog carnival’s, content.

raat bhi hai kuchh bheegi bheegi .. LATA MANGESHKAR .. A New Look – that can hardly ever do justice to the earthy visuals of the original song

“Pehle To Ho Gai Namaste Namaste” – Mohana recaptures the life story of one more dancer-actress- Mohana, who belongs to Goa’s Konkani speaking tribe of artists. She entered Hindi films towards the end of 1940 decade. In a short career of around 10 years, she acted and danced in almost a dozen films. She is said to have been first seen on screen with actor Vishwa Mehra in Aag (1948) in a song ‘raat ko ji chamake taare’ (Mukesh, Shamshad Begum – Ram Ganguly).

Best songs of 1950: And the winners are? – SoY continues with year-wise review of best songs. The previous ones were: 1955, 1953 and 1951. We will also match this by way of posting a separate post, in due course, for the different aspects of the highly debated discussions of the key issues of the post.

Istanbul Girls Orchestra / Ugur Hagan / Unknown buskers, Toronto / Chinese Karoke Version / Avare (Ahmet Koc) – Awara Hoon from Turkey to Toronto: five versions of the classic Raj Kapoor song by Nate Rabe . These can be accessed on YT channel.

We had missed visiting Gaddeswarup’s blog last month. ….that has reaped in a very large harvest this for the present edition of the blog carnival:

Songs from Mr and Mrs 55, some with subtitles – in Upperstall – As in any Guru Dutt film, music was always one of the high points of the film.. And Mr and Mrs 55 with its scintillating score by OP Nayyar was no exception. Here we go through the songs of the film, each one a masterpiece! Add to it Guru Dutt’s incredible song picturization skills and you have some of the most memorable musical moments of Hindi cinema!

Mr and Mrs 55: The Stills…from the film, courtesy Guru Dutt’s son, the late Arun Dutt…

‘How A Buffalo Changed Waheeda Rehman’s Destiny!’ narrates quite an interesting story.. The end of the post makes it it even more interesting and memorable: “Missamma (Missiamma in Tamil) was remade later in Hindi as Miss Mary (1957) with Meena Kumari and Gemini Ganesan, proving to be extremely successful at the box-office. Oh, and what about the song that Guru Dutt and Abrar Alvi saw from Rojulu Marayi? Here it is! Leave alone being Waheeda Rehman’s stepping stone to stardom, it also proved to be the inspiration for SD Burman’s hit composition Dekhne Mein Bhola Hai Dil Ka Salona from the film Bambai Ka Babu (1960)! [That should link us to the same songs linkage that we had covered in the post Happy Birthday, Waheeda ji, in February 2015 edition of our blog carnival.]

A Shamshad Begum song from Namoona 1949.Dancer? – is on the look out for the dance in the song Tam Tam Se Jhanko Na Raniji — Namoona-1949 – Shamshad Begum –C Ramchandra . The film had Kishore Shahu, Kamini Kaushal, and Dev Ananad in the lead roles.

Class struggle in Bollywood films – Here is quick background of the film
The full film is available on YouTube @  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4vJQC-QJU. Minai has written about Zohra Segal’s Shankar-Style Choreography in Neecha Nagar (Hindi, 1946). The two dances posted by Minai are around 3 and 14:40 minutes and look clearer to me in the film. From a review by Dustedoff, it seems Satyajit Ray saw the film and wanted to be an assistant director to Chetan Anand… Surprisingly it is omitted from ‘a listing of ten top Hindi films on class struggle, workers’ rights and unions’ in the article ‘Lal Salaam On Screen’ ” .

Similar songs different music directors – Manasyna – Jayasimha – NTR – Savitri – Showkar Janaki. The Hindi remake of the film has Man Soona Tere Bin Hoye Re– JAI SINGH(1959) – Lata- Usha Mangeshkar – Ramesh Naidu

Aziz Mian Sings Qawwali- Mira Bhajan – Aziz Mian sings Ae Ri Main To Premdiwani Mera Dard Na Jaane Koi in devotional Qawwali style.

Namrata Joshi in her article The Plough & The Gun notes that ‘not many films have focused on the 1965 war. Upkar has more than made up for that lapse. ‘ ….What we have, besides Upkar, is an odd mention. Like in J. Om Prakash’s Aakraman (1975). The film was a romance set during the 1971 war, a father—Ashok Kumar—recollecting the death of his son in the 1965 war. Prem Pujari (1970) starts “near Khem Karan sector”, then goes all over the world and finally settles there again in the end. A “The finale of Prem Pujari has some tank battles (the hallmark of the 1965 war) as they happened in and around the Khem Karan sector but clever editing couldn’t still mask the fact that in fact Indian tanks had been disguised as Pakistani ones. Yes I can differentiate a Centurion from a Sherman from a Patton,” With India having fought a war recently and another looming large ahead, the message of “peace” certainly didn’t go down well with the audience even though Prem Pujari had some brilliant music by S.D. Burman and lyrics by Neeraj. …Beyond the films, there has been a serial of the late 1980s, Param Veer Chakra, produced and directed by Chetan Anand, that had two episodes on the PVC winners of the 1965 war. The 1965 war had only two PVC winners–both posthumous. – Lt Col A.B. Tarapore died while leading his Poona Horse Regiment in tank battles while Company Havaldar Major Abdul Hamid knocked out tanks with his RCL gun before being blown up by Pakistani tanks. Hamid was portrayed by Naseeruddin Shah and Aslam Khan played Lt Col Tarapore in the serial.

Before we take up songs referred to by our fiends this month, we take up:

Multiple Versions Songs (21): Male solo and Duet or Chorus (Part II) – Multiple Versions Songs (20): Male Solo and Duet or Chorus’ received an overwhelming feedback from the SoY fraternity. This (guest) article is a sequel to that post, arising out of the comments and responses of the readers to his last article.

Now we move over songs remembered by our friends in this month –

Samir Dholakia

• Duniya Mein Nahin Koi Yaar – Amber (1952) – Ghulam Mohammad Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi

• Tharaiye Hosh Me Aaalu To Chale Jaiyega – Mohabbat Isko Kehte Hain “Mohammad Rafi & Ssuamn Kalyanpura – :Khayyam-” [and…. Along wit the song he also remembers the days of 1970s, when had just graduated to purchasing the record-player, and were at records buying spree.]

• Main hansoo ke ispe roun hai ajeeb ye nazaara , wherein Sadanand Kamath presents one of Chitragupta’s rare sad songs in Kishore Kumar’s voice from an incomplete film MAA (1960s)

• Sadanana Kamath presents Chupke chupke raat din aansoo bahaana yaad hai on the occasion of the 64th death anniversary of Maulana Hasrat Mohani,. The version selected here is not the one rendered by Ghulam Ali but the one composed and sung by Jagjit Singh which is not as popular as that of Ghulam Ali version. The pathos in the ghazal has been well captured in a song sequence picturised on Farooque Shaikh (in the role of Hasarat Mohani) and Dipti Naval (in the role of his beloved and later his wife) as a background song in the TV serial ‘Kahakashan’ (1992). Here is an alternate audio .

Bhagvan Thavrani

• Tumhi Ne Dil Mera – Air Mail (1960) – Mohammad Rafi , Suman Kalyanpur – Sardul Kwatra / Anand Bakshi – it’s almost a replica of O P NAYYAR….The film name itself sounds so anonymous!

• Dard Ki Aye Raat Guzar Jaa – Baghi – Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan. – A rare Lata – Madan Mohan immortal gem…only mandolin in the interludes…and marvellous words…

In the end we take up (our customary) very special songs / articles on Mohammad Rafi –

• Rafi’s Peppy Songs: dil meN chhupaa ke pyaar kaa toofaan le chale… – Aan – Naushad

• Rafi’s Peppy Songs: Voh aaye baiThe khaaye peeye khiske… – Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati (1969) –  Kalyanji Anandji

Dil Deke Dekho (1959) may have many things to remember for different people . We pick up three of Mohammad Rafi songs, said to have been inspired from western songs. Well, be that as it may, the songs have an air – tanks to music director – Usha Kahanna- and the singer – Mohammad Rafi n- Pyar ki Kasam hai, – from : Ivory Joe Hunter’s 1956 hit ‘Since I met you baby‘!; Dil Deke Dekho – from ‘Sugar in the morning‘ by The McGuire Sisters and such a lilting O Meri Neeta from Paul Anka’s “Diana” .

We continue our pursuit of the golden period of Hindi Film Music …….