Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – July, 2017

Welcome to July, 2017 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We will first take up the posts on the anniversaries or eulogies:

One hundred years of Sarat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’ being published as a book (on 30^th June 1917).

More on Sarat and Devdas : In The mortals of Devdas by J.N.Sinha: Its admirers have tracked many a character in Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s life and his novels….On a closer look, Devdas is none other than the author himself, and Paro a young vivacious girl of the same town.”

Roshan at 100: The ultimate playlist, plus the story of the three lives of a single song – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – The legendary music composer had a golden run during the 1960s, but the foundation was set in the previous decade. – One of Roshan’s most memorable songs from the 1960s is Rahein Na Rahein Hum (Mamta, 1966). It was a reworking of another Lata Mangeshkar song Thandi Hawayein, composed by SD Burman for the film Naujawan (1951). This is fascinating because of various reasons: one, RD Burman himself reworked the tune for one of his famous songs (Sagar Kinare); two, SD Burman himself is said to have been inspired by a tune he had heard being played on the piano in a Juhu hotel; three, Roshan used the tune way back in 1954 in a little-known film called Chandni Chowk in Tera Dil Kahaan Hai.

OP Nayyar-Geeta Dutt: A peerless combination – Ravindra Kelkar pays tribute to Geeta Dutt on her 45th death anniversary (23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972)

On this occasion, we will also take a retrospective look at articles on Geet Dutt @ Silhouette Magazine :

• 10 Most Loved Duets of Geeta Dutt
• Geeta Dutt – The Skylark Who Sang From The Heart
• Eternal Wait: The Story Of The Dark Girl By The Meghna (Geeta Dutt)
• The Language Versatility of Geeta Dutt – A Rare Depth of Feeling
• Four Aces and A Queen
• The Mesmerizing Moods of Jaane Kya Tune Kahi (Pyaasa)
• The Tender Musical Tête-à-tête in Chupke Se Mile (Genius of SD Burman)
• Geeta Dutt – The Singer with the Golden Heart
• Moments with ‘Geetu Pishi’ – Remembering Geeta Dutt
• The Queen of Bhaav Gayaki – Geeta Dutt

The Masters: Madan Mohan commemorates what would have been 93^rd birthday of the music director….He once said that “…the foremost requirement of a song is only one thing;  it should be capable of capturing the interest of the listeners in a short period and sustaining it in the years to follow.” He needn’t have worried; his legacy endures, as timeless as his soul-stirring compositions.

The foregoing post has studiedly avoided Lata – MM songs because the author had already done an exclusive post: An Afternoon Tryst with Madan Mohan and Lata Mangeshkar

The music man and his treasure bag: songs in Aashirwad – a song-sequence series post that remembers Sumita Sanyal on her passing away. [Here’s an earlier piece about the Aashirwad song “Saaf Karo Insaaf Karo”]

Jalaa do yeh duniya: poets and merchants in Pyaasa and Navrang – “when I think of the Pyaasa scene, I also think of a very different sort of scene from a film made two years later – another song that touches on the dilemmas facing a pure artist in a material world, but does it with splendid lightness of touch. That Song is “Kavi Raja”, sung by the film’s lyricist Bharat Vyas, begins with a group of friends – poets as well as poet manqués – coming together for an impromptu little sammelan”.

[Earlier Mint Lounge columns on songs-sequence articles here]

Even in the darkness, he dreamed of lights: A tribute to renowned cinematographer KK Mahajan – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – On the death anniversary of Kewal Krishan Mahajan, or KK as his friends called him, a look back at his unmatched legacy.

The July 2017 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs was dedicated to Mohammad Rafi’s Solo Song From The FIRST Film With The Music Director: 1949

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

The first duo Husnlal-Bhagatram (1): Their songs for Suraiya, Lata Mangeshkar and Rafi – Having done series on Anil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramchandra, SD Burman and Shankar-Jaikishan, SoY now has taken up the lesser, but no less talented star-duo of Husnlal Bhagatram.

Gaddeswarup’s blog expands the on Husnlal Bhagatram by recalling Satish Chopra’s article ‘The diamond cutters!’, and that famous song Chup Chup Khade Ho from Badi Bahen. Here is the Tamil version of the song Enni Enni Parkka Manam, that was filmed on debutant Vyjayantimala in the film ‘Vaazhkai’ (1949). The film was re-made in Hindi as Bahaar, for which S D Burman had composed the music.

In ‘Ninaithen Vandaai’, MGR and Jayalalithaa are Antony and Cleopatra – Archana Nathan – In ‘Kavalkaaran’, Jayalalithaa’s character revisits the stories of star-crossed lovers and decides her own love story deserves a happy ending.

Is ‘Aapki Yaad Aati Rahi’ from ‘Gaman’ the ultimate separation song? – Nandini Ramnath – In Muzaffar Ali’s debut film, Farooque Shaikh drives a taxi in Mumbai while Smita Patil waits interminably for him. The song is a version of Makhdoom Mohiuddin’s ghazal Aapki Yaad Aati Rahi. Chhaya Ganguli’s masterful rendition of a song that speaks of the pain of a prolonged separation wafts over some of the quietest visuals in the movie. In Gaman, Jaidev’s brilliant soundtrack has one of the greatest laments about life in Mumbai. Seene Me Jalan is the mournful flipside of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil from CID (1956).

Mehfil Mein Meri is a new addition to our blogroll. The blog opens its books with Voice of Dev Anand which has listed some of the songs of Dev Anand by various playback singers

Ten songs picturized in famous gardens, with a rider that song from the same garden would not be included in this post.

Favorite Scenes Showing Kathak Footwork (danced by Gopi Krishna, Sitara Devi, and Roshan Kumari) – I have picked up two songs that are not heard often and one from A Satyajit Ray film:

• Sautan Ke Ghar Na Jaiyo.. – Sitara Devi – Aabroo (1943)
• Aye Bandi Tum Begum Bani – Gopi Kishan and Roshan Kumari – Parineeta (1953)
• Roshan Kumari in Satyajit Ray’s Jalsaghar

K.N. Singh – My Memorable Roles (1963) –“Every actor knows that doing a long stretch of walking in front of the cameras is the worst possible ordeal for a newcomer. The camera is a harsh, relentless observer—a one-eyed monster all eyes for the smallest gaucherie. And why only an actor? Off-camera, how many men can walk manfully, unself-consciously, in the full gaze of a roomful of watchful people?”

Baghban” directed by A.R. Kardar, is the film Singh rates highest. He played a villain in it “but the violence was not physical but subtly mental.” To this role and film, Singh ascribes his “continuance” in films.

In our series Micro View of Best Songs 1948 @SoY of Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?, we have added the detailed posts on Male Solo songs with those of G M Durrani, Surendra and Other Male Singers.

To end the today’s post with an article on Mohammed Rafi, I have picked up a two Madan Mohan’s (relatively) unheard songs and a video clip of a public performance.

Tribute to Rafi Saheb and Madan Mohan – Singer Khalid Baig

Oonche Oonche Melahonwale – Jagir (1959) – Lyrics: Raja Mehdi Ali Khan

Har Sapna Ek Din Toote Is Duniya Mein – an unreleased song

I trust you will always feel free to proffer your suggestions for making this series of posts more lively and informative….