Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – March 2021

Welcome to March 2021 edition of IX^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We pay our special tribute to Sahir Ludhyanvi on his birth centenary:

Sahir Ludhianvi at 100: Why the poet and film lyricist was the original ‘Angry Young Man’ – Akshay Manwani – With his incisive poetry and plainspokenness, Ludhianvi consistently raised uncomfortable questions and expressed bitter truths.

Remembering Sahir Ludhianvi: Privileged to have sung his lyrics, says muse – Bella Jaisinghani – “Do you know, it was Geeta Dutt and I who originally sang ‘Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein’ for a Chetan Anand film in 1959-60. It got shelved and I don’t even have a recording. Khayyam Sahab’s tune was nearly the same as the one that was released later’ says Sudha Malhotra.

No other poet expressed separation in the same manner as Sahirsaab: Gulzar – I remember that he was never allowed to leave the stage without reciting his famous poem on the Taj Mahal — ‘Meri mehboob kahi aur mila kar mujhse’ — it was very, very popular with the people.

Sahir Ka Khayal Aaya: Sahir’s Anti-War Poem in a Unique Play – Antara Nanda Mondal – To commemorate legendary poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi’s 100th Birth Anniversary, Delhi-based theatre group Pierrot’s Troupe’s premiered its unique monologue play Sahir Ka Khayal Aaya on March 7 at LTG Auditorium, New Delhi.

Sahir at 100: The ‘pal do pal ka shayar’ who doesn’t fade even 41 years after his death – Unnati Sharma and Shreyas Sharma – his lyrics and poetry still resonate for their philosophical tinge, symbolism & social consciousness.

We now move on to other tributes and memories:

Remembering Indeevar – Part I and Part II pay the tribute to The lyricist on the occasion of his 24th death anniversary.

50 years of Anand: a tribute – Everyone who loves Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand agrees that it is one of the warmest, most life-affirming of Hindi films. As it turns fifty, the dominant memory is of the terminally ill hero, played by Rajesh Khanna, spreading cheer and inspiration, determined to live a badi zindagi (big life) even if he isn’t fated for a lambi (long) one.

50 years of Anand — Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s timeless classic is an ode to life – Unnati Sharma – If director Hrishikesh Mukherjee had had his way, his 1971 classic Anand would have looked a lot different. One of Bollywood’s first superstars Raj Kapoor would have played the title character, and Bengali star Saumitra Chatterjee would have been Dr Bhaskar Banerjee.

Remembering Ninu Mazumdar – the composer and the singer is a tribute to Ninu Mazumdar on his 21st death anniversary (9 September 1915 – 3 March 2000)

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

• 50 Years of Sharmilee
• 90 Years of India’s First Talkie Film ‘Alam Ara’
• Nasir Hussain- Always Believed in Long Associations
• 50 Years of ‘Anand’
• SAHIR LUDHIANVI- . In his songs he consistently ra…
• Phaili Hui Hai Sapnon Ki Bahen- The Song Takes You…

March 2021 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Ghulam Mohammed and His Singers: 1943 – 1949. In the month of his death anniversary, we commence an annual series that relives his known and less known songs.

Ghulam Mohammad – A Tribute lists popular songs of Ghulam Mohammed, as a follow-up to Ghulam Mohammad’s rarely heard songs.

On Basu Bhattacharya’s Anubhav: Middle Cinema, meet avant-garde, the first film in Bhattacharya’s ‘marriage trilogy’, the other two being Avishkaar and Griha Pravesh

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

Amitabh Bachchan and India’s battle to preserve its film heritage – Soutik Biswas – Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, an award-winning filmmaker, archivist and restorer, of the Film Heritage Foundation has been at the forefront of restoring and preserving Indian films efforts.

A still from the 1958 Bollywood drama Night Club, now preserved in the archive

The Perils of Alcohol: Hindi Films’ Moral Lessons and Tips for Women is a list of ‘drunken women songs’, with following caveats:

• Caveat 1: The woman must be the heroine, not the vamp. That knocked Hoon abhi main jawaan out of the running.
• Caveat 2: She must truly be drinking, not pretend drinking. (That took care of a host of ‘sharabi’ songs..)
• Caveat 3: It has to be alcohol, no other forms of intoxication allowed. NoDum maaro dum or Ye aankhen uff yumma.
• Caveal 4: All songs had to be from pre-80s’ films.

Pick of the list is Aaj ye meri zindagi– Yeh Raaste Hai Pyar Ke (1963) – Asha Bhosle- Ravi- Shakeel Badayuni.

Romancing with ‘Zindagi’ confines the list to the songs in which ‘Zindagi’ is the main subject

Songs that Shun Love – for example Jis Pyaar Mein Yeh Haal Ho – Phir Subah Hogi, 1958 – Md.Rafi and Mukesh – Khayyam; Sahir Ludhianvi

Once Upon A Time – Ye Un Dinon ki Baat Hai is divided into three sections – Pen Portraits, Reminiscences and Perspectives.

On Shadow Craft, a book about the aesthetics of black-and-white Hindi cinema – For anyone who loves black-and-white cinema – and likes the idea of a creative work being encountered in its original form rather than disfigured to meet contemporary tastes – the computer-colourisation of old films is cause for teeth-gnashing.

Songs of the Unsure/Insecure Lover – for example – Main Tumhi Se Poochti Hun – Black Cat, 1959 – Md. Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar – N.Datta – Jan Nisar Akhtar.

In continuation to our tradition of ending 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.

Beta Dar Mat….Aahein Bhar Mat… – Bahi Behan (1959) – N Dutta – Sahir Ludhyanvi

Log Kahte Hain Ke Hum Tum Se Kinara Kar Lein – Bahu Begum (1967) – Roshan – Sahir Ludhyanvi

Qaza Zaalim Sahi..Ye Daawa Aaj Duniya Bhar Se – Laila Majnu (1976) – Jaidev – Sahir Ludhyanvi

Hum Mein Hai Kya Ke Humen Koi Haseena – Nawab Saheb (1978) – C Arjun – Sahir Ludhyanvi

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.