Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – October, 2016

Welcome to October, 2016 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

For the present episode we have posts from Silhouette magazine delves on the on the memories of S D Burman on his birthday on 1^st October (1906) –

• ‘Deewana Mastana Hua Dil’ – Mesmerizing Music of SD Burman-Majrooh (Oct 1 Anniversary Special) – Peeyush Sharma  is celebrating the season of the partnership of Majrooh Sultanpuri with SD Burman through a pick of 20 + 1 songs, like-

Pag thumak chalat balkhaye, haye, Sainyan kaise dhaarun dheer (Sitaron Se Aage, 1958) Lata Mangeshkar

• When Kishore Protested and SD Burman Persisted: The Making of Dukhi Man Mere – SD Burman knew which voice to use for a particular composition. In a backstage meeting Manna Dey had recalled how Kishore Kumar was made to sing Dukhi man mere by SD Burman. Peeyush Sharma remembers Kishore Kumar on his death anniversary with an anecdote about how Dada Burman’s insistence made Kishore agree to sing what has now become an evergreen hit.
• The Tender Musical Tête-à-tête in Chupke Se Mile (Genius of SD Burman) – Anand Desai and Antara Nanda Mondal trace the finer nuances of one of the most delicate romantic songs, that is much more than just a song. It’s a challenge, it’s a game and it’s a conversation.

In addition to these, Moti Lalwani has penned Part 1 of his memoir of S D Burman’s experiments, which we shall look at in details along with Part 2, to be published later.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee: In a Humane Genre of His Own By Antara Nanda Mondal  – Most of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films had music that has lasted through the decades and continue to be heard, hummed and cherished till date. SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, Shankar Jaikishen, RD Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vasant Desai – whoever he worked with came up with some of their best tunes for him.

We should not miss Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Giving Cinema a New Definition too – a tribute based on a lengthy interview Shoma A Chatterji had with Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Tribute: Shailendra was the proverbial moth who got burned too quickly – The lyricist has left behind a legacy of exquisite songs that make you cry and think.

Films that are 50:

• ‘Teesri Kasam’ is a rich monochrome about love and loss – Directed by Basu Bhattacharya and produced by lyricist Shailendra, the black-and-white gem is filled with strong performances and fabulous songs.
• ‘Do Badan’ is an overlooked Raj Khosla tragedy – Best known for crime and suspense films, the director worked well across genres, as is evident from the Asha Parekh-Manoj Kumar starrer.

We have a few excellent career-sketches too for the present episode:

Hema Malini by Karan Bali – Acting aside, Hema has dabbled in film production having produced Swami (1977), Sharara (1984), Awaargi (1990) and Marg (1992 but unreleased) besides directing Dil Aashna Hai (1991), Tell Me O Khuda (2011) and Mohini (1994) for Television.

Kersi Lord – by Karan Bali – Ace musician Kersi Lord, not only imported the first synthesizer into India in 1973, but also introduced musical instruments like the ‘glockenspiel’ in Indian cinema for the cigarette lighter effect in Hum Dono (1961). He is also well-known for playing the accordion pieces in the hit songs Roop Tera Mastana from Aradhana (1969) and O Meri Sharmilee from Sharmilee (1971), among many others. it was RD who first introduced the electronic organ in India for the composition O Mere Sona Re in Teesri Manzil (1966) for which I had the privilege of playing the organ.” Kersi Lord retired in 2000 after a career spanning more than 5 decades. He passed away in Mumbai on October 16, 2016. He had been ailing for sometime. The Lords – father  Cawas, Kersi and his brother, Burjor, all musicians, have been featured extensively in a wonderful documentary, The Human Factor (2012), directed by Rudradeep Bhattacharjee.

 Leela Naidu: The Person Behind the Image – “A couple of months ago when I had come across her autobiography, “Leela – a patchwork life” (Penguin India, 2010), written with Jerry Pinto, I was very tempted to read it and at the same time, I was not very sure that it would be a wise thing.
Through experience I have learned that favourite film persons are better seen through the sepia tinted glasses of nostalgia. Knowing them as persons ruins their magic. However, in the end I had not resisted. The book has definitely changed my perception about Leela Naidu, the person behind the image.”

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

This Indian Film Won The Highest Prize In Cannes In 1946, But Still Remains Forgotten – Gautam Chintamani – Even though it won the highest prize at Cannes, Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’ remains largely forgotten today.

From Teesri Manzil to Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Nasir Husain’s cinema is celebrated in a new book – Rohini Nair – In an interview with Firstpost, Akshay Manwani spoke of why he felt compelled to write – in a new book, titled Music, Masti, Modernity — The Cinema of Nasir Husain about the cinema of Nasir Husain, the filmmaker’s legendary collaborations with Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh and RD Burman, and what his lasting contribution to Hindi films has been.

Actors Prepare – From Ravan to Mahatma Gandhi  presents some of the images of the theatre actors from India, Italy and some other countries.

Redemption song: ‘Titli Udi’ by Sharda was a beginning and an end by Manish Gaekwad – Once upon a time in the 1960s arose a rare challenger to the Lata-Asha combination – This is quite an interesting, and yet balanced, narrative of Sharda’s Hind film career.

N.B.:  The articles that have appeared in this series in the past can be accessed at Stories in A Song.

‘Jago Hua Savera’ dropped: ‘Mumbai has lost out on watching a classic that is still relevant’ by Anjum Taseer – Jago Hua Savera sees the best talent from East and West Pakistan and India participating in a production under trying circumstances. This is a film that was lost, rediscovered and restored. The new version is a perfect showpiece of the original masterpiece.

Songs of Angana nostalgically recalls the Anagan, the courtyard, a central feature of the then houses of India. Open to the sky, and surrounded on the four sides by verandah and living rooms, this quadrangle is the place where the family lives out its life, does all its mundane chores of daily existence, and also holds all its ceremonies and special occasions.

We have had a post on songs of atariya too on SoY.

Remembering Diwali Songs presents a multi-faceted view of Diwali in Hindi film songs during the decades of ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

Vyjayantimala’s Singing Debut for Composer Master Venu  – by Lakshmipriya – The songs referred to in the title of the post are: Dachinanu ravoi neekai and Daricheraga rava priyuda . There is also an interesting refrence to Dekhane Mein Bhola Hai. Waheeda Rahman mentions this anecdote in her many interviews of how she was humming the yeruvaka song on the sets of Solva Saal. S D Burman was very impressed to found out who the composer was and asked Master Venu permission to use it in his song Dekhne Me Bhola for Bambai ka Babu. Master Venu was so delighted that he immediately agreed happily…...

In Micro View of the Best Songs of 1949 @SoY, having covered Male Solo Songs, Other Than Lata Mangeshkar Female Solo Songs, and Solo Songs of Lata Mangeshkar. In the category of Duets, we had covered duets of Mohammad Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar, Suriya and Shamshad Begum and Geeta Roy and other female playback singers  and Duets of Mukesh in the Male-Female Duets sub-category. For the present month, we have continued with duets of Shamshad Begum with other Male singers, Geeta Roy, Lata Mangeshkar and Suraiya with other Male Singers, Other Male Female Duets and then have moved on to Female-Female Duets of Latamangeshkar,  Other Female-Female Duets in the Female- Female duets subcategory.

We end today’s episode with a post on Mohammad Rafi’:

Rafi is Hindi Cinema’s greatest voice – Pankaj Vohra – The findings of the survey were revealed on the Independence Day and Rafi came out as the winner from a formidable field that comprised Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh. In fact, the Survey put Rafi ahead of Lata Mangeskar by nearly 12 percent with Kishore Kumar coming second, with about five percent votes less than those secured by the winner…It was also interesting that Asha and Mukesh polled nearly the same number of votes and if added to those polled by Lata Mangeshkar, they were not enough to catch up with Rafi….Another aspect of Rafi’s voice was that he could replicate his studio recording even in a public function and sang exactly the same way as he done for a film. This was a unique trait since there has been no singer other than him who could sing exactly the same song in a public function as during the recording.

I whole-heartedly wish you and your family a Crackling Happy Diwali, and look forward to receive your inputs for further enriching the contents of the posts…..