Welcome to June 2020 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.
We first pay our tributes to Basu Chatterjee who passed away recently:
Basu Chatterjee (1927-2020): A pictorial tribute to ace filmmaker – Basu Chatterjee made his directorial debut with Sara Akash in 1969. He went on to helm films like Us Paar, Chhoti Si Baat, Chitchor, Rajnigandha, Piya Ka Ghar, Khatta Meetha , Chakravyuha, Baton Baton Mein, Priyatama, Man Pasand, Hamari Bahu Alka, Shaukeen and Chameli Ki Shaadi among more.
The star and the everyman in Basu Chatterjje’s film – Nildeep Paul – ‘Na Jaane Kyun Hota Hai Ye Zindagi ke Saath wonderfully encapsulates the new idiom of stardom that Basu Chatterjee introduced in the Hindi cinema.
In Basu Chatterjee’s films, from Rajnigandha to Swami, female characters were written with agency and choice – Ragini Daliya – They were opinionated, romantically liberated, dreamers, worriers and empowered – all brought to vivid, wondrous life
The Masters: Basu Chatterjee – Basu Chatterjee joined films as Basu Bhattacharya’s assistant on Teesri Kasam. It took another two years and another film as assistant director (Govind Saraiya’s Saraswatichandra) before Chatterjee decided to take the plunge into direction himself.
We also do take note of Sabiha Khanum, the First Lady of Pakistani Cinema, Passes Away – Khanum dominated the screen in the formative years of the country’s industry in the 1950s and ‘60s
We pick up other tributes and memories:
Silhouette Magazine has been running a special series of articles @ Ray@100, to commemorate the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray.
Hemantayan – Part I is the first part of the tribute to Hemant Kumar on his birth centenary, covering the period of 1920 through 1960, quite painstakingly detailed by Shri N Vankatraman. Dusted Off recalls Ten of my favourite Hemant songs – as a composer . The Song Pedia has lined up Hemant Kumar – The Century-Old Musical Legend and Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar – A Contrasting yet Complementary Combo.
Raj Kapoor’s Awara is all the more relevant in the context of India’s migrant crisis – Raj Kapoor was the original showman not only for the style and flair with which he made movies, but because that under that showmanship, he showed us what India really was.
On Raj Kapoor’s 32nd death anniversary, Manoj Kumar talks about working with the showman in Mera Naam Joker – By Roshmila Bhattacharya – Manjoj Muar reminisces of this dialogue
Remembering Sunil Dutt on his 91st birth anniversary
Sunil Dutt’s one-actor movie Yaadein is an oddly apt watch in these isolated times – Yaadein was a movie about a man who returns home from work one day to find that his wife has walked out on him and taken the children with her. The rest of the film is a soliloquy on marriage, parenting, rage, sadness, remorse that even earned a Guinness World Record for fewest actors in a narrative film — one, himself.
The Masters: Yogesh – Unlike contemporaries like Gulzar and writer-lyricists like Javed Akhtar who came after him, Yogesh was relatively low-key. He lived – and died – with dignity. Leaving behind a legacy of verses crafted with great simplicity.
Mehfil Mein Meri has been running a series on Anil Biswas @ Anil Biswas – The maestro – Part 1, Part 2,and Part 3.
‘Jab Jab Bahar Aayee Aur Phool Muskuraye – Usha Timothy – Usha Timothy’s debuted in 1962 in Durgapuja’ wherein she recited a 60-line hymn.
Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has posted following memorial tribute posts:
- Rehman – An Actor Par Excellance
- Piya Tose Naina Lage Re- An Iconic Dance
- 50 Years of Heer Ranjha
- Great Songs Picturized on Motilal
- Hemant Kumar- Aap Ko Hamari Kasam Laut Aiye
- Bollywood Needs Film like Suicide Company PvtLtd
- Bollywood Films Based on Tenants and Landlords
- Story Behind the Song “Chalo Dildar Chalo”
- 50 Years of Sawan Bhadon
- Tarzans of Bollywood
- Shyama- One of the Busiest Actresses of the Golden…
- Bollywood’s Love for Bicycle
- 50 Years of Jeevan Mrityu
- Raj Kapoor had a great ear for music
- Bollywood Songs Picturized in Foreign Location
We conclude Manna Dey birth centenary series with Manna Dey’s Comedy Songs for Other Actors [2].
All episodes relating Manna Dey’s centenary celebrations series can be read / downloaded by clicking on the respective hyperlink.:
Manna Dey and Contemporary Lead Actors
Manna Dey’s comedy Songs for Mehmood
Manna Dey’s comedy songs for Other Actors
June 2020 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up the songs from Neeli Anken (162) and Jab Se Tumhe Dekha Hai (1963) in Dattaram – Ham Aap Ki Mehfil Mein Bhule Se Chale Aaye. . Till now we have Dattaram’s songs from 1957 to 1959 in June,2018, and Those from 1960 and 1961 in June, 2019.
We will now take up the articles on other subjects:
Mirza Ghalib: The movie was the perfect marriage of the poet’s words with Suraiya’s voice – At a special screening, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru told Suraiya, “Tumne Ghalib ki rooh ko zinda kar diya” (You have brought Ghalib’s soul back to life). He wasn’t exaggerating.
Ten of my favourite Bharat Bhushan songs – Bharat Bhushan had acted against top leading ladies of his time and always got songs that went to become rage.
Salaam Bombay! is a haunting exploration of child labour in India– The proceeds from the movie were used to set up Salaam Baalak Trust, an- NGO that works for the welfare of street children.
Pyarelal interview: ‘Music is collaborative’ with no room for ‘I, me, myself’ – Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s soundtracks had an unbelievable range, spread across many genres, moods, styles and situations.
In ‘Mohan Joshi Haazir Ho!’, a crumbling house, a greedy landlord and vexed tenants -Saeed Mirza’s classic from 1984 is a satire about housing and delays in the judicial system.
Lagaan: The Fairy Tale of a Barren Land! – Lagaan is arguably the best fairly tale made on celluloid without recoursing to mythology, or to the absurd or bizarre as happens in a majority of Hindi films…one will not mind believing that this film is a page of history.
Quarantine Qawwali – Dances on the Footpath explores qawwalis in the times of qurantine
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:
Le Lo Chhori Le Lo Gori – Paapi (1953) – S Mohinder – Hasrat Jaipuri
Teri Mehfil Tera Jalwa Dekhk Li – Sohni Mahiwal (1957) – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni
Taaz Tere Liye Ek Mazar-e-Ulfat Hi Sahi….. Mere Maheboob Kahi Aur Mila Kar Mujhko – Ghazal (1964) – Madan Mohan – Sahir Ludhyanavi
Meri Jaan Tumse Mohabbat Hai Magar Kaise Kahun – Mera Salaam (1980) – Usha Timothy & Mohammed Rafi – Raj Kamal – Kulwant Jan
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.
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