Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – March 2020

Welcome to March 2020 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

March was the month when India celebrated its traditional festival of Holi.

The month also celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8.. SoY has scripted Nayika Bhed in songs. The aesthetics classification of women has been an important part of aesthetics in our ancient literature and arts, such as poetry, drama, dance, music, painting and sculpture. The post has listed Hindi films songs on the basis of the eight types of Heroine, based on अवस्था – The state of her being -, are most commonly referred as Nayika Bhed, e.g. Solah singaar sajaaungi, main piya ko rijhaaungi, main waari waari jaaungi by Shanta Apte from Panihari (1946), music SN Tripathi w.r.t. वासकसज्जा (One dressed up for union).

Incidentally, this Shanta Apte song also gives an opportunity to connect to a full-fledged Shanta Apte tribute post – ‘The stormy petrel of the Indian screen’: Shanta Apte – on SoY last month.

Main Chup Nahin Rahoongi: Ten ‘Outspoken Woman’ Songs also is an article on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Lara lappa lara lappa (Ek Thi Ladki, 1949) has strongly advocated gender equality way back in 1949.

We pick up other tributes and memories:

As it happens, we have some excellent posts covering the past epidemics in different parts of world, as captured in Hindi films-

Looking Back at My Old Review of Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani – This was a film about a doctor who goes to China to help cure a plague, which incidentally is now at the root of coronavirus pandemic.

‘No harm in asking him, is there?’ How Rajendra Kumar got Bertrand Russell to be in a Hindi movie – Edited excerpts from the biography ‘Jubilee Kumar’ reveal the story behind the Nobel laureate philosopher’s cameo in the 1967 movie ‘Aman’.

Dharti ke Lal – Earliest Depiction of the Great Bengal Famine – The Great Bengal Famine, a holocaust that obliterated nearly 3 million Bengalis in a span of a year or so is mostly forgotten and undiscussed. The first film to illustrate the tragedy of the famine was Dharti Ke Lal (Children of the Earth, 1946) by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Amitava Nag looks back at this classic.

A Norwegian folk song that is cathartic, sublime and uplifting – Shobha Mudgal – As we seal borders and lock ourselves in fearing for the survival of the human race, this is a voice (singing about Heiemo, a girl who sings with such a perfect voice that even the water-spirit Nykkjen falls in love with her) that I find cathartic, sublime and uplifting.

In the Musical Memory of Meena Kapoor is in fact a second part of comprehensive post on Meena Kapoor on her first death anniversary 23 November 2018 by Shalan Lal.

Nutan’s understated yet powerful performance in Bandini is a masterclass in acting – Set in pre-Independence India, Bandini tells the story of Kalyani (Nutan), a young woman who has been sentenced to life in prison after she murders the wife of her lover, Bikash (Ashok Kumar).

7 Films That Prove Shashi Kapoor Was Way Ahead of His Time – Looking back at a collection of the actor’s and producer’s way-ahead-of-the-times films, when it was still possible to fly over the cuckoo’s nest – Dharmaputra (1961), Sidhdhartha (1972), Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1977), Kalyug (1980), New Delhi Times (1984), Utsav (1984), Sammy and Rosie Got Laid (1994)

Shashi Kapoor in Junoon is a masterclass in how to humanise an unlikeable man – Shyam Benegal’s historical drama based on a Ruskin Bond story, The Flight of Pigeons, brings together the very best of Hindi cinema.

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

In our Manna Dey birth centenary series, after Manna Dey and his contemporary lead actors, we have taken up Manna Dey’s Comedy Songs. covers Manna Dey- In the January 2020 episode we began from the beginning of Mehmood’s acting career, till Ziddi (1964), and in February, 2020 episode, the songs composed by Roshan, Hement Kumar and Chitragupta had been covered . In the present, March 2020 episode we take up Mehmood’s Manna Dey comedy songs composed by R D Burman

March 2020 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up S N Tripathi: Unremembered music director of remembered songs: 1961 – 1968. Prior to this, we have covered S N Tripathi’s unremembered songs

from 1941 to 1950 in 2017,

from 1951 to 1956 in 2018, and,

from 1957 to 1960 in 2019.

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

Humour and fantasy in Arvind Desai and Chhoti si Baat is about two scenes from Hindi films of the 1970s, about the use of soft weapons against privilege

Mr India may have been played by Anil Kapoor but Sridevi was the best thing about it – the movie’s most iconic line, said to perfection by a wonderfully creepy Amrish Puri, reportedly wasn’t even going to make the final cut, but Javed Akhtar, who had written the film with his long-time writing partner Salim Khan before they split, insisted on it. And thank god for that, because what even is Mr India without “Mogambo…khush hua”?

Sahir Ludhianvi biopic to be adapted for the screen = The treatment will be based on Akshay Manwani’s biography ‘Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet’.

Also read:

‘I have lit fires with songs of rebellion’: Memories of Sahir Ludhianvi’s college years

Remembering Nehru, Gandhi, Ghalib: Four poems by Sahir Ludhianvi

The unspoken passion of Sahir Ludhianvi and Amrita Pritam

Sahir Ludhianvi’s hard-hitting, haunting words make ‘Phir Subah Hogi’ relevant even today – The 1958 Raj Kapoor and Mala Sinha-starrer was all about criticising the government, talking about cruel realities and helping the disadvantaged. BJP leader L.K. Advani revealed that he and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who would go on to be prime minister, had once sought comfort in this film after an election loss in 1958.

A podcast about Gol Maal and other Hindi-film comedies – It centres on Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Gol Maal, and such other themes of masquerade and self-discovery, the contributions of Utpal Dutt and Rahi Masoom Raza, and the spectrum of comedy in Hrishi-da’s films (from Deven Varma’s deadpan “shabd-phenk” to the broad slapstick Biwi aur Makaan).

Rajendra ‘Jubilee’ Kumar’s lonely years: ‘I helped all those I could. Where are they today?’– In Jubilee Kumar, Seema Sonik Alimchand writes about the life of one of Bollywood’s biggest superstars and the year he almost had no films.

Nasir Husain’s Hum Kisise Kum Naheen is all about the music = R.D. Burman, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Mohd Rafi — this 1977 superhit was powered by its all-star music team.

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:

Jis Pyar Mein Ye Haal Ho – Phir Subah Hogi (1958) – with Mukesh – Khayyam – Sahir Ludhyanavi

Jiyo To Aise Jiyo Jaise Sab Tumhara Hai – Bahu Beti (1965) – Ravi – Sahir Ludhyanavi

Kya Hua Tera Wada – Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahi (1977) – R D Burman – Majrooh Sultanpuri

Ishq Ne Sar Par Todi Quayamat – Junoon (1978) – Vanraj Bhatia – Jigar Morarabadi

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on 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.

Author: ASHOK M VAISHNAV

In July 2011, I opted to retire from my active career as a practicing management professional. In the 38 years that I pursued this career, I had opportunity to work in diverse capacities, in small-to-medium-to-large engineering companies. Whether I was setting up Greenfield projects or Brownfield projects, nurturing the new start-ups or accelerating the stabilized unit to a next phase growth, I had many more occasions to take the paths uncharted. The life then was so challenging! One of the biggest casualty in that phase was my disregards towards my hobbies - Be with The Family, Enjoy Music form Films of 1940s to mid-1970s period, write on whatever I liked to read, pursue amateur photography and indulge in solving the chess problems. So I commenced my Second Innings to focus on this area of my life as the primary occupation. At the end of four years, I am now quite a regular blogger. I have been able to build a few very strong pen-relationships. I maintain contact with 38-years of my First Innings as freelance trainer and process facilitator. And yet, The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. View all posts by ASHOK M VAISHNAV