Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – November 2019

Welcome  to November 2019 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Theatre and film actor Shaukat Kaifi passes away at the age of 91. Shaukat Kaifi is best known for her work in Umrao Jaan (1981), Baazaar (1982) and Garm Hava (1973). She was last seen in Saathiya (2002).

We pick up other tributes and memories:

In our last episode we had featured Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of Lata with Lesser Known Composers. It’s time now for the fourth part of the series, based on Lata Mangeshkar’s association with lesser known composers.

We also continue with tribute articles on S D Burman-

• • Sachin Karta’s Last Visit to Agartala recalls S D Burman’s visit to pay respects to Prafulla Kumar Dev Burman, his elder brother.
  • The Masters: SD Burman – an ode to the great man himself.

When India’s first international film festival was suspected to be a ‘communist shenanigan’ – When Frank Capra arrived at India’s first international film festival to foil a ‘Soviet conspiracy’ – According to film historian Amrit Gangar, both the superpowers had an eye on newly independent India and IFFI 1952 provided a useful platform to somehow influence the India’s global-political stance.

Seeing Red: Frank Capra with Nargis, Suraiya and others in Bombay. (Photos: Films Division)

The Golden Thread of Bengali Cinema: A Journey Through 100 Years – Coinciding with the Kolkata International Film Festival 2019, the National Museum in collaboration with Shivendra Singh Dungarpur of the Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) and author, film historian and archivist SMM Ausaja unveiled a grand exhibition to celebrate the glorious history of Bengali cinema through rare film memorabilia. The exhibition opened on 8 November, 2019 and will be on display for a month.

“I Was Born Free,” Raakhee Gulzar Speaks Her Heart Out – Rakhee inaugurated the Festival.

Finally, a film about Annapurna Devi that unpacks the legend behind the Hindustani musician – Nirmal Chander Dandriyal’s ‘Guru Maa’ was screened in Mumbai on October 13 and 14, 2019.

Millennial Review: Pati Patni Aur Woh Is About a Pathological Liar– Pati Patni Aur Woh is loaded with normalised patriarchal themes. Sanjeev Kumar’s character, despite its faults, is a subtle reaffirmation of the ‘boys will be boys’ sentiment. The film is still enjoyable because of Sanjeev Kumar’s acting.

The Charismatic Ashok Kumar Upstaged Raj Kapoor At His Own Wedding – This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 10 December 2015 to mark Ashok Kumar’s death anniversary. It is now being republished to mark Dadamoni’s 108th birth anniversary.

Remembering V Shantaram: 76 Years On, a Look at His Iconic Studio – Mumbai’s Rajkamal Kalamandir studio – which has spawned over 2,000 films – still lives on amidst the twisty lanes of the once exclusive industrial belt of the city.

The entrance to the studio. – Photo: Khalid Mohammed

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has posted following memorial tribute posts:

• The Story Behind the Song “Chaudhavin Ka Chand Ho”…
• The Milestone Songs of Salil Chowdhury
• Bollywood’s Love for Darjeeling started with Jab …
• Laxmikant of Laxmikant Pyarelal – A Musical Prodig…
• Shahrukh Khan – A Journey from Dil Dariya to Dilwa…

Documentary ‘Starring Sharmila Tagore’ is an incomplete portrait of a life less ordinary – When Sharmila Tagore was cast in Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar in 1957, she was just 13. She went on to star in some of Ray’s greatest movies, including Devi, Nayak and Aranyer Din Ratri.

In our series Manna Dey and his contemporary lead actors, the November, 2019 episode remembers his songs with Dharmendra, Shahsi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Pran and Joy Mukherjee. We have covered Manna Dey’s songs with main stream lead actors Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Balraj Sahni, David Abraham, Bharat Bhushan and Kishore Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Guru Dutt, Raaj Kumar and Rajendra Kumar, Prem Nath, Pradeep Kumar and Sunil Dutt till now.

Ravi: Booster rocket for Mahendra Kapoor – Mahendra Kapoor’s career dated back to 1953 as a singer in Madmast (1953), composed by V Balsara, in a duet with Ghan Indorewala, Kisi ke zulm ki tasveer hai majdoor ki basti. The biggest boost for him came from Ravi who became a regular for BR Chopra Films, after their initial collaboration with various other music directors

November, 2019 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory – 1956 in continuation to their songs for the years 1953 to 1955 and those of film Awaz last year...

And, now commence the posts on other subjects.

I Never Questioned My Father Kishore Kumar About His 4 Marriages: Amit Kumar – Amit Kumar reminisces about his father.

Image Source: learning and creativity

By the Sea Shore – 2 is a follow though article of pre-1970 song list picturised on a seashore. The present list presents songs of the 1980s and the 1990s.

Ten of my favourite Songs of Nature are the songs that celebrate nature, songs that appreciate the beauty of nature, e.g. Pighla hai sona door gagan pe (Jaal, 1952)

How Vijay Anand’s classic film ‘Guide’ tackles the delicate subject of adultery, but two years earlier, in the 1963 film, Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke, the married woman’s lover was demonised and killed.

 

Journey of a Song from Karbala to Guide, immortalised by Dada Burman is a collection of various versions of the original song adopted by Burman Da from a Bengali folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed’s song.

It’s Lakshmibai Mania! – After the 1953 film, there was not another movie made about Lakshmibai for a long, long time. But now that situation has completely changed. By the end of the present year, 2019, we will have had two highly visible and much-anticipated films about the Queen of Jhansi released on the international market. On top of that, we find two substantial novels on the subject that came out within the past dozen years, and one can also notice that on YouTube a Lakshmibai serial and Lakshmibai cartoons and all kinds of documentary works. The post is a review of the scenario…

In the second concluding article, Best songs of 1946: Wrap Up 2, of the on-going series of Best songs of 1946: And the winners are?, Noor Jehan is adjudged Jawan Hai Muhabbat Hasen Hai Jamana. In the meanwhile we have concluded The Micro View of Duets with My Top Duets and that of music directors with My Top Music Directors. All the episodes of The Micro View of Best Songs of 1946 can be read / downloaded from one file, by clicking on the hyper link.

We end the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, each one of which basically has a link with the topics discussed in the present post, we have picked up:.

Gajab Hua Ram Sitam Hua Ram – Agra Road (1957) – with Geeta Dutt – Roshan – Prem Dhawan

Ja Ja Tujhe Ham Jaan Gaye – Sehra (1963) – with Lata Mangeshkar – Ramlal – Hasrat Jaipuri

Kaisi Haseen Aaj Baharon Ki Raat Hai – Aadmi (1968) – with Mahendra Kapoor – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni

Mera Man Tera Pyasa – Gambler (1971) – S D Burman – Neeraj

I earnestly solicit your inputs for further broad-basing our cache for the content for our carnival of blogs on the Golden Era of Hindi film music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – November, 2019

Welcome to November, 2019 edition of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

Our core subject of Quality Management – Road Ahead to Digital Transformation during the year 2019, we have covered The Basics of Digitization, Digitalization and Digital Transformation, The foundation of the Digital Quality Management, Quality 4.0 and Industry 4.0 technologies Big Data Analytics, Cloud computing, Robotics, Augmented Reality, Simulation, Additive Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things..

We will now take up eighth of the nine disruptive technologies of Industry 4.0 – Horizontal and Vertical System Integration –

The phrases “horizontal integration” and “vertical integration” are well known from a number of contexts. From the operational perspective, a horizontally integrated company focuses its techniques around its core competencies and establishes partnerships to build out an end-to-end value chain. A vertically integrated company, on the other hand, keeps as much of its value chain in-house as it can—from product development to manufacturing, marketing, sales, and distribution.

When it is about production, horizontal integration has come to refer to well-integrated processes at the production-floor level equally, while vertical integration means that the production floor is tightly coordinated with higher-level business processes such as procurement and quality control.

When it comes to horizontal integration, Industry 4.0 envisions connected networks of cyber-physical and enterprise systems that teach unrivaled levels of automation, flexibility, and operating effectiveness into production processes – on the shop floor, by connecting machines and production units as an object with well-defined properties within the production network;  across multiple production facilities, by sharing the production facility data seamlessly all over the whole enterprise and  across the entire value chain, by data transparency and high levels of automated collaboration over the upstream supply and logistics chain that provisions the production processes themselves in addition to the downstream chain that gives the finished products to market.

Vertical integration in Industry 4.0 endeavors to tie together all logical layers inside the organization from the field layer (i.e., the production floor) up through R&D, quality assurance, product management, IT, sales and marketing, et cetera. Data flows freely and transparently up and down these layers to ensure both strategic and tactical decisions can be data-driven.[1]

Vertical and horizontal integration under Industry 4.0 (graphic by [VDI-Wissensforum]

Given the increasing complexity of operations, many companies find Lean techniques are not enough to address competitive pressure. By deploying the right combination of industry 4.0 technologies, manufacturers can boost speed, efficiency, and coordination and even facilitate self-managing factory operations.[2]

We will now turn to our regular sections:

For the present episode we have picked up article, Every Leader Has to Start Somewhere! by Marshall Goldsmith. on Things Manager Should Know column of Management Matters Network …. “Every leader has to start somewhere. This is just the fact of the matter. And, another fact? Not every leader, even some of the greatest leaders of our time, start off with flying colors.[3]”

We now watch ASQ TV, wherein we look at a few recent videos:

• • Customer Expectations: Quality and Technology – In this episode of ASQTV looks at us, the customer. However, the discussions have full alignment w.r.t. meeting customer expectations. The discussion is applicable cases of all types customers, too.

Arun Hariharan Interview – HERE

Jim Duarte Interview – HERE

Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems posting for October, 2019 is:

• • Mentor Effectively – It takes toughness to be effective- I’ve worked with managers who were reluctant to tell people they managed the tough but much needed advice that they were not doing well and that they needed to address their weaknesses. This reluctance to deliver “bad news” can be so pervasive that it has essentially become part of the culture.,,, The issue is two-fold—avoid correcting mistakes for fear of being seen as critical and may even avoid entire areas of development because the apprehension that it may lead to “negative” conversations… The result is an abundance of careers that are unsustainable—just waiting for the knockout punch of reality. That punch, maybe not foreseeable in the short-term, always comes!,, The ability to persevere and dedicate effort and passion to a task often outperforms pure talent. It is perseverance than unveils talent. What may look like a weakness may just be talent that is underdeveloped.
  • Thought Power – Henry Ford hit the target when he said “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” …The person that you are acts steadily and powerfully in accordance with your most genuine thoughts. When you think it, there is a part of you that immediately begins to make it happen.. Your thoughts control and direct the dynamic energy that is your life. In each moment, in each situation and in response to each challenge, you can choose the thoughts that serve you best… Your thoughts are actually paving the road for your life’s journey…. Mike Dooley, entrepreneur and best-selling author, says “Choose Them wisely: Thoughts Become Things.” This is called Thought Power.

I look forward to receiving your inputs / suggestions that can further enrich our discussions on the subject of Digitalization in the Quality Management

Note: The images depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images.

[1] Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Industry 4.0

[2] The new lean: how lean manufacturing meets industry 4.0

[3] A Conversation with Marshall Goldsmith and Sam Shriver

The Micro View of Best Songs of 1946 @ SoY – MY Top Music Director(s)

As the Journey of Micro-Viewing the songs of a given year has progressed, backwards  in terms of the chronology of the years, the task of selecting TOP music director has become an exercise that is getting severely affected by MY limited exposure to the pre-1950 songs. Music directors with whose work I am more acquainted were making initial tentative strides in the years before 1949. Some of the otherwise familiar music directors, like Naushad or Anil Biswas, had not yet fully graduated to post-1950 styles. The Hindi Film Music field of post-1950 years was to so dramatically changed that criteria like number of films in year, or number popular songs in year seem carrying no purpose.

As such, therefore this exercise essentially remains MY micro-summary View of the songs from rests mainly on one of dimension, that of songs of the music director(s) that I liked most. However, I have included two other parameters too in this Micro View. Nonetheless, this review does not male any claim to be a review of overall impact a music director has made in that year.

So, here we go into MY mico-view of the Top Music Director(s) for the year 1946:

The review parameters that form the base of discussin are:

• Music directors of the films appearing in the heading image of the overview post Best songs of 1946: And the winners are?’,
• Top Box-oofice grossers for the year and
• The quantitative summary of Music directors whose songs appear in MY TOP micro-view of other three dimensions, viz. of Solo songs of Male Playnack Singers, Solo songs of Female Playback Singers and the Duets.

A] SoY over-view post banner

The banners of SoY over view posts fairly faithfully reflect the most noted films of the given year from the view of the songs and music of the films in that year.

For 1946, we have Anmol Ghadi and Shajehan (Music Director: Naushad Ali), Eight Days (Music Director: S D Burman), and Safar (Music Director: C Ramchandra).

Over and above Anmol Ghadi and Shajehan, Naushad indeed continues to remain a heavy-wieght player in the year with the third film Keemat this year. Naushad has three excellent singers –Noor Jehan, Surendra and Suraiya – for Anmol Ghadi, K L Saigal – for his three wel-known, loved and remembered even now solos – in Shahjehan. In comparision, Keemat does not have ‘star singers’, but Naushad has done all the justsice to main sigers Amirbai Karanataki and NAseem Akhtar in the songs for the film.

Along with Eight Days and Shikari, S D Burman’s debut with Hindi films remains noteworthy. He has commandeerd the musical resource, in terms of playback singers, well enough to successfully create songs that seem to lend fresh breath with the vintage era environment.

C Ramchandra ‘s Safar is indeed a trail-balzing one, both from the point of view of his own career as well as for some deifinitive trends in the Hindi Film Music. Before, Safar, he had done 10 C grade films and just 5 social films and his name had not yet become famous. The success of Safar’s music changed that scene for ever. If his duet with Beenapani Mukhrjee, Kanhi Yaad Kar Ke, Gali Paar Kar Ke, Chali Aana Hamare Angana, set his very distinctive western-music influenced peppy songs, his two solos for Mohammad Rafi, Ab Wo Hamare Ho Gaye, Iqrar Karen Ya Na Karein  and Kah Ke Bhi Na Aaye Tum, Ab Chuupane Lage Taare helped Rafi in not firmly setting his foot on the scene but also helped evolve his own style.

B] Top Five box-office grossers for 1946

The popularity of the songs has remained one major factor that influenced the success of a film at the box office.

For the year 1946, the Top Five box-office grosser films and the corresponding music directos are:

• • • • Anmol Ghadi – Naushad Ali
      • Shahjehan- Naushad Ali
      • Phoolwari – Hansraj Behl
      • Omar Khaiyyam – Lal Mohammad
      • 1857 – Sajjad Hussain

We have had a fairly detailed look at the songs form these films in our Male Solos, Female Solos and Duets sections. Aprt from the songs from the two wel-known films, two solos Surendra – Wo Paheli Mulaqat Hi Bas Pyar Ban Gayi – 1857, K L Saigal – Hare Bhare Baag Ke Phoolo Pe Riza Khayyam – Omar Khaiyyam – have found place in MY Top (Male Solo) songs too.  Of course, appearance of a song, or otherwise, does not have any reflection on either the merits of the song or its then then popularity, as these are driven by my own limted range of choice of songs for these years.

C] Quantitative add-on view of other three dimensions, viz. My Top Solo songs of Male Playnack Singers, Solo songs of Female Playback Singers and the Duets –

Since I have bent towards a wide range of singers, as well as not-sofamiliar=to-me songs while selecting the songs in these three categories, the numbers in the present analysis, in all probabilities, expectedly should emerge the music director(s) whose songs I liked for 1946. It is likely that casting the net wider over all the songs that have appeared in the micro-review of the respective category may have yielded a different pattern. But in a year where most of the songs are heard first time, such an exercise would not have helped to identify the music director who has bearing on the songs that I liked.

We have two sets of data – music directors who has only song in any one of these categories and the music directors who have either one song in more than one categories or more than one song in one or more categories.

Lal Mohammad, Sajjad Hussain, S N Tripathi, Gulshan Sufi, K C Dey and Rasheed Atre have one song in MY top Male Solos, Shankar Rao Vyas,  Shantikumar, Hafeez Khan, Vinod, Sushant Banerjee, Shyam Sundar and Prem Nath have song each in MY Top Female Solos and Narayan Rao has one song in MY Top Duets.

The music directors whose one or more songs have appeared in one or more of the categories are.

Music Director	Male Solos	Female solos	Duets	Total
C Ramchandra	2	1		3
S D Burman	1	1	1	3
Bulo C Rani	1	1	1	3
Naushad Ali		3	2	5
Hansraj Behl		1	3	4
Vasant Desai		2		2
Anil Biswas		2		2
Kamal Dasgupta		2		2
Qadir Faridi		2		2
H P Das		1	1	2

These analyses would yield Naushad Ali as the MOST Liked Music Director for 1946, without in any way diminishing my LIKEs of the songs of all other music directors.

How would have you analysed the Songs of 1946?

I look forward to you to join me to take up a similar detailed Micro View when SoY takes up futher more challenging year of 1945 next in this Best songs of year series.

 

P.S. : All the episodes of The Micro View of Best Songs of 1946 can be read / downloaded from one file, by clicking on the hyper link.

P.P.S  – In the final wrap-up article, Best songs of 1946: Final Wrap Up 4, the SoY Award for the Best Music Director of 1946 goes to Naushad.  And, special mention is made of Ghulam Haider and Hansraj Bahal for their outstanding music in the year.

Fading Memories…. Unforgettable Songs: November, 2019

Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory – 1956

Salil Chowdhury (B: 19 -11-1925 / D: 5-9-1995) and Shailendra (B: 30-8-1923/ D: 14-12-1966), both very creative in their own fields had their own originality. Moreover Shailendra was easily able maintain his own style even he was given a tune first, for a given situation. Shailendra had an additional advantage of good knowledge of Bangla language. Resultantly, Shailendra could add life to the beautiful, melodious content that Salil Chowdhury conceived. It is perhaps no coincidence that Shailendra first shot to fame with Utha hai toofan zamana badal raha (set to music by Salil Chowdhury) for IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association), the cultural arm of the Communist Party of India.[1]

We have commenced an annual series on Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory w.e.f. November, 2018. We listened to their songs for the years 1953 to 1955 and those of film Awaz last year.. For the present episode we will cover their two more films for the year 1956. Both these films have Bengali background.

Parivaar (1956):-

The two duets from the film – Ja Tose Nahin Bolun Kanhaiya (Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar) and Jhir Jhir Badarwa Barse Ho Kare Kare (Hemant Kumar, Lata  Mangeshkar) – are two of the most memorable duets of the Hindi Films. The other songs from the film also present a much needed variety to the Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra combination.

Baawali Bana Ke Chhoda  – Asha Bhosle

This is one of the rarest gem of an Asha Bhosle songs.

Ek Do Teen Chaar Paanch  – Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle, chorus)

As noted on World of Salil Chowdhury, Salil Chowdhury shows his love and respect to one of his mentors, Beethoven in this song. Here one can hear how he used a small part from Beethoven’s “Pastoral” 6th Symphony.

Kuven Mein Dub Ke Mar Jaana Yaar Tum Shaadi Mat Karna – Kishore Kumar

Kishore Kumar has used at least five different voices and that too flawlessly. On the whole, the song has been a classic vintage Kishore Kumar gem.

Jaagte Raho (1956):-

Jaagte Raho was brilliantly transformed into a Bengali version Ek Din Ratre. Most of the songs have been used in the same situation.

Zindagi Khwab Hai (Mukesh) has been filmed as Ei Duniyay Bhai Shob Hi Hoy in Ek Din Ratre – Manna Dey – (Lyrics: Salil Chowdhury)

The song is filmed on Chhabi Biswas. The perfect synchronization of lyricisists in both version provides us ample testimony of the bonding of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra.

Manna Dey has as well recorded a cover version of the Hindi version of the song, in line with very popular practice of those days.

Thandi Thandi Sawan Ki Phuhar – Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle is so natural in this song that the pathos of the song roots deeply in our mind. Sandhya Mukherjee’s portrayal of the song in the Bengali version is as melancholic too, even as both compositions are totally different.

Lo She Vai Vai  Maine Jo Li Angadai – Sandhya Mukherjee, chorus

The song has been used as it is in Ek Din Ratre.

Jago Mohan Pyaare Jago  (Lata Mangeshkar, chorus) remains the centerpiece in both versions, and the Bengali version of the song remains equally well-crafted piece.

We do not have any directly related song of Mohammad Rafi for our present episode. So I have veered slightly away, and have picked up –

Teki Mein Jhooth BoliyaN – Jagte Raho (1956) – Lyrics Prem Dhawan – Mohammad Rafi with S Balbir

Bengali version – Ek Din Ratre- has retained the song as it is..

In one of the interviews Salil Chowdhury gave all credit to Prem Dhawan for this song.

This song also helps in the beginning of the end of our episode, in continuing with our tradition of listening to Mohammad Rafi song(s) relevant to the subject.

As we do not have any more directly related song of Mohammad Rafi, I have gone back in to the previous years of Salil Chowdhury’s filmography and have found two songs written by Prem Dhawan.:

Suno Ki Seeta Ki Kahani – Biraj Bahu (1954) – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan .

This a classic background song.

Tere Naino Ne Jadoo Daala – Taangewali (1955) – With Lata Mangeshkar – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan

We have a quintessential Punjabi folk tune-based song.

We will continue our journey of Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs in our next episode of November, 2020.

We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month……..

Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.

[1] The Most Popular Lyricist – Partha Chatterjee

 

The Micro View of Best Songs of 1946 @ SoY – Duets – MY Top Duet Songs

For the purpose of summing up the duets,  I have picked up the ones that I liked  on the first hearing.

So, here is the list, in no particular order:

Mohammad Rafi, Hamida Banu – Rukhi Sukhi Main Kha Luhgi Paas Bula Lo Mere Raja – Insaaf – H P Das – D N Madhok

I fully concur with Shri AKji’s views: Even though Rafi follows Hamida Bano, the famous voice modulation we became familiar with is present in this song.

Mohammad Rafi, Shamashad Begum – Ye Nayan KyuN Sharma Rahe Hai – Rasili –Hanuman Prasad – Gafil Haranyanvi

It is such a pleasure to listen to Moahammad Rafi in such a youthful voice.

Mohammad Rafi, Amirbai Karanataki – Man Ki Suni Nagariya Suhani Bani – Sona Chandi –Tufail Faruqui – Khawar JamaN

Here too I fully endorse Shri AKji’s views for the song: Amirbai Karanataki seems to overpower him with her natural high pitch over Rafi coming in lower scale. I contrasted with ‘Ansoo thi meri zindagi’ five years down the line in ‘Bikhare Moti’ (1951, Music: Ghulam Mohammad; Lyrics: Aktar Ul Imman) in which too she leads, but by then Rafi was in his full flow.

Mukesh, Hamida Banu – Ja Parwane Ja Kahi Shama Jal Rahi Hai – Rajputani –Bulo C Rani – Pt. Indra

Hamida Banu is in her vintage era singing elements and yet so smoothly modulates the song that song appeals the listeners from the very beginning.

Ashok Kumar, Amirbai Karnataki – Har Din Hai Naya, Har Raat Nirali Hai – Shikari – S D Burman – G S Nepali

Ashok Kumar fully matches Amirbai Karanataki through the song, even at the higher octave scales.

Surendra, Noor Jehan –  Awaz De Kahan Hai, Duniya Mera Jwan Hai -Anmol Ghadi –Naushad Ali – Tanvir Naqvi

The song is one of the very popular duet that always remained active in terms of listeners choice at all phases of public / private listening media.

Revashankar, Johrabhai Ambalewali– Hamari Gali Aana Hamse Akhiya Milana – Maharana Pratap – Ram Ganguli – Swami Ramanand

A quintessential vintage composition, and yet so sweeto to listen to.

Firoz Dastoor, Amirbai Karnataki – Naino Ki Nagari Mein Aa Ke Chale Janaa Na Kar Ke Bahana – Pujari – Hansraj Behl – Wali Sahab

The song retains melody even when set to a relatively stronger bass rhythm.

A R Oza, Amirbai Karnataki – Patanga Chala Hai Dipak Ki Aur, Man Mein Le Kar Prem Ki Aasha – Pujari – Hansraj Behl – Wali Sahab

The delivery of the song has remained quite clear even though the song is seto relatively higher octave scale., and then song moves to a slower rhythm in the second stanza.

Yashvant Bhatt, Husn Banu – Aye Phool Bata Kaisa Hoga Mera Piyaa Sajan Pyara – Royal Mail – Narayan Rao – Mustafa N Usmani

An excellent composition, set to lower scales.

Zohrabai Ambalewali, Shamshad Begum – Udan Khatole Pe Ud Jaoon, Tere Haath Na AauN – Anmol Ghadi – Naushad Ali – Tanvir Naqvi

One of the most familiar song in the category of ‘duets’ this year.

Mohantara Talpade, Hameeda Bano – Oonchi Haveli Bana Do Munimji, Haweli Ko Sheeshe Laga Do Muimji – Phoolwari – Hansraj Behl – Pt. Indra

The list of things to be fitted in the palace makes the song an interesting one to listen to.

S D Burman, S L Puri – Baabu.. Re Dil Ko Bachana, Tere Dil Ko Bachana – Eight Days- S D Burman

During the course several articles on S D Burman for our blog, I got the opportunity to listen to this duet. That familiarity has played the role in the selection of this song here.

Of these, I would rate (Mukesh, Hamida Banu ) Ja Parwane Ja Kahi Shama Jal Rahi Hai – Rajputani –Bulo C Rani – Pt. Indra as my MOST liked Duet for 1946.

We will take up MY Top Music Directors for the year 1946 in the next episode.

P.S. : All the episodes of The Micro View of Best Songs of 1946: Duets can be read / downloaded from one file, by clicking on the hyper link.

SoY has published its concluding piece on duets of 1946 – Best songs of 1946: Wrap Up 3and adjudged,  Aawaz de kahan hai – Surendra and Noorjehan (Anmol Ghadi, Naushad), and Ek yaad kisi ki yaad rahi – GM Durrani and Shamshad Begum (Shama, Ghulam Haider)jointly as the Best Duets for 1946.

Manna Dey and Contemporary Lead Actors – 6

We have covered Manna Dey’s songs with main stream lead actors Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar, Balraj Sahni, David Abraham, Bharat Bhushan and Kishore Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Guru Dutt, Raaj Kumar and Rajendra Kumar, Prem Nath, Pradeep Kumar and Sunil Dutt  in the present series till now.

We begin the present episode of our Journey with Manna Dey in his quest for THE big association with the Lead Hero of the film with an indirect association which becomes more pronounced in the later part of carriers of Manna Dey as well as That of that actor.

With Dharmendra

Manna Dey’s first – indirect- association happened with Shola Aur Shabnam (1962). The film had Mohammad Rafi playing back for Dharmendra for two of the most iconic songs – Jaane Kya Dhoondhati Raheti Hai and Jeet Hi Lege Baazi Ham Tum. Khayyam has chosen Manna Dey for the songs filmed on other characters of the film, of which two songs relate to Dharmendra’s character in the film.

Agar Dil Dil Se Takaraye – Shola Aur Shabnam (1962) – with Mohammad Rafi, Geeta Dutt – Khayyam – Kaifi AzmiThe song typically puts in the words from the main protagonists’ mind onto the lips of the actors performing the song on the screen. Dharmendra does sing a few lines @2.0 to 2.18 and @3.06 to 3.36 in Mohammad Rafi’s voice, wherein the third character of the love triangle chips in Manna Dey’s voice in response…

Phir Nahi Aanewali Pyare Aisi Milan Ki Raat – Shola Aur Shabnam (1962) –  with Asha Bhosle – Khayyam – Kaifi Azmi

This time is the song follows the same style of putting the words on singers; lips, nut the song is shaped as public folk song performance.

Hamne Jalwa Dikhaya To Jal Jaoge – Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (1966) – with Asha Bhosle – Sonik Omi – G L Rawail

In this film too major songs on Dharmendra have been played back by Mohammad Rafi, but Dharmendra and Nutan are masquerading in a disguise, so the playback singer also gets a change. Manna Dey and Asha Bhosle have perfectly teamed up to deliver a qawwali-flavoured light-mood song.

Are Zindagj Hai Khel Koi Pas Koi Fel, Khiladi Hai Koi Anadi Hai Koi–  Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)– with Asha Bhosle R D Burman – Anand Bakshi

The second pair of Hema Malini’s double role plays the couple perfoming on the street for living. As was the practice, the song has high dose of common philosophy flowing from the lips of common, street performers.

Abhi To Haath Mein Jaam Hai, Tauba Kitna Kaam Hai – Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) – R D Burman – Anand Bakshi

Manna Dey doubles up to voice the philosophy in the state of drunkenness.

Bandhu Re Ye Man Dole Bole Kya Re Koi Jane, Jal Bhara Megh Ye Dil Ke Pyasa Ye Man Suna – Anokha Milan (1972) – Salil Chowdhury – Jackie Hameed

Here is the film wherein Dharmendra is successfully seen in a so called ‘serious’ role, away from his usual dhishum dhishum commercial lead roles.  Manna Dey is on his familiar turf of a boatman song, composed by Salil Chowdhury in a typical Bengali boatman folk style.

Dharati Ambar Neend Se Jaage – Chaitali (1975) – with Lata Mangeshkar – Laxmikant Pyarelal – Anand Bakshi

Dharmendra’s transformation to serious, meaningful roles can be credited to Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Here is one such fil, a remake of a Benagli film of the same name.

Yeh Dosti Ham Nahi Todenge – Sholey (1975) – with Kishore Kumar – R D Burman – Anand Bakshi

‘Sholey’ has many records of success to its credit. This friendship-genre duet is one of those records.

With Shashi Kapoor

Manna Dey has played back for Shashi Kapoor, in all that I know, only once.

Aaya Aaya Abdulaa Hey Abdulla– Juari (1968) – with Lata Mangeshkar – Kalyandji Anandji – Anand Baksh

Two other songs filmed on Shashi Kapoor – Hamsafar Ab Ye Safar Kat Jayega and Jaaneman Allah Khabar– respectively a pathos and light romantic mood ones are played back by Mukesh and Mahendra Kapoor. In this song Shashi Kapoor is stage-playing a disguised role, hence probably Manna Dey has been chosen as his playback.

With Manoj Kumar

With Manoj Kumar too, I have only one duet wherein Manna Dey play back from him, from his very early film.

Zulfon Ki Ghata Lekar Sawan Ki Pari Aayi – Reshmi Rumal (1961) – With Asha Bhosle – Babul – Raja Mahendi Ali Khan

We have one more case of an now obscure film, a very talented but not-so-successful music director, but a duet that always remain live at  the back of our memory.

More important aspect of Manna Dey- Manoj Kumar association is the song that Manna Dey was to sing for a film produced by Manoj Kumar. The film established Manoj Kumar as ‘Mr. Bharat’, the song cemented the place of Pran as character actor in his second innings.

With Pran

Kasame Vaade Pyar Vafaa Sab Baatein Hai Baaton Ka Kya – Upkar (1967) – Kalyanji Anandji – Indeevar

The song and the character of Malang Baba played by Pran have so become iconic landmarks, that with forgoing prologue, only this song will come up in our memory.

Kya Maar Sakegi Maut Use, Auro Ke Liye Jo Jita Hai – Sanyasi (1975) – Shankar Jaikishan – Indeevar

Pran is in one more of his second innings role, with Manoj Kumar as the focus of the message of the song. Shankar is also in his second innings, without the usual company of Jaikishan and Shailendra.

Pran got to sing songs on a more regular pattern in his second innings.Quite a few of them were played back by Manna Dey too. We have picked up just twoof such songs here.

Raam Raam Raam Krodh Lobh Maya Mai Taj Ke – Krodhi (1981)  Laxmikant Pyarelal – Anand Bakshi

We have picked up  this song because the message of the song is for Dharmendra, who we have covered earlier in the episode.

Yaari Hai Imaan Mera Yaar Meri Zindagi – Zanzeer (1973) – Kalayanji Anandji – Gulshan Bawra

This is one more song which has to come up for a mandatory reference, whenever the matter of Pran’s second inning comes up for discussion.

With Joy Mukherjee

Joy Mukherjee has had almost an exclusive playback of Mohammad Rafi. So, this is a very unusual exception. We may assign the cause to, probably, the presence of Johnny Walker in the song. Jhonny Walker, and even Mehmood, commanded a very high respect – be it in price, footage, song allocation etc., in their films. He might have opted Mohammad Rafi as his first choice. So, it is Manna Dey for Joy Mukherjee.

Hum Bhi Agar Bachche Hot Naam Hamar Hota Babaloo Gabaloo – Door Ki Awaz (1964) – with Asha Bosle, Mohammad Rafi – Ravi  – Shakeel Badayuni

We have an archtypical, light, lilting birthday song. Manna Dey so effortlessly fuses with Joy Mukherjee that some time we wonder was it really him, or was it Mahammad Rafi, singing the lines filmed on Joy Mukerjee?

We will end this episode with a Manna Dey song for Prem Nath, that I had missed out in the earlier episode where we had covered Manna Dey’s songs for Prem Nath.

Jeevan Chalane Ka Naam Chalate Raho Subah Shaam – Shor (1972) – with Mahendra Kapoor, Shyama Chittar – Laxmikant Pyarelal – Inderjeet Singh Tulsi

Manoj Kumar presented Prem Nath in his one of the major second innings role in this film. The song had attained avery wide-spread populairity, because the song sequence is one which is so well konwon the rural-semi urban areas – a non-stop cycling, mainly as bread-earning street performance.

In our next episode, we will now switch over to the third generation actors, for whom Manna Dey once gain plays back in their early phase of the career.