Welcome to December 2022 edition of Xth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.
Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –
Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon – Remembering Umadevi – Born in 1926, little Uma would act in Ramleela (perhaps religious plays were permitted) and listen to the radio. She was fascinated by Hindi film songs and tried remembering the names of the singers and music directors. She was selected by Ustad Allah Rakha for a film, called Wamiq Azra. The film was released in 1946. Umadevi was finally a playback singer. Here is her very sweet NFS – Naina Ban Gaye Sawan Bhado – Madhukar Rajasthani– K Murari Sharma
Sharmila Tagore, the original oomph girl who challenged India’s conservative bent: ‘When I showed 2-piece bikini to the photographer…’ – Sampada Sharma – Hindi cinema has seen some graceful, effortless actors in Meena Kumari, Nargis, Waheeda Rehman but it can be safely said the versatility of Sharmila Tagore remains unmatched to this day. Tagore had the rare ability to play any role with complete ease but there was one thing that remained consistent across all her roles, and that was her graceful attitude.
The Assumed ‘Curse’ Of 30: How Gendered Ageism Impacts The Careers Of Indian Women – Gulbahaar Kaur – Most individuals around the country questioned the future of an actress barely past a quarter of her life. Many young actresses of the 80’s and 90’s diminished from the big screen almost overnight due to the ‘curse’ of ageing. Beyond films this phenomenon remained consistent in other fields as well. Nevertheless, the situation seems to be changing gradually….
Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits favourites from the year 1955 in 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar
Shatrughan Sinha was the first ‘angry young man’ but Amitabh Bachchan walked away with that title – Sampada Sharma – On Shatrughan Sinha’s birthday(9th December), here’s looking back at his professional rivalry with Amitabh Bachchan.
25 years of Chachi 420: Kamal Haasan film is a lesson on how not to mock a man playing a woman, and still be funny – Arushi Jain – One of the most endearing things about the film where Haasan plays a middle-aged woman is that the character is never reduced to a caricature. The laughs never comes from misogyny or a perverted gaze. Chachi 420 works as a story, not as a gimmick.
November 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song With The Music Director: 2nd Five-Year Period: Year 1949 – Part II. Our journey began with the 1st Five-Year Period of 1944 to 1948 in the year 2021. We then commenced the 2nd Five-Year Period of 1949-1953 with Part I of the year 1949 in July 2022.
Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.
We now move on to posts on other subjects –
Bollywood’s Saffron-clad Sadhus Are Scheming Criminals Who Deserve Violent Ends – Jayasri Viswanathan – In Bollywood, Sadhu is not an ascetic who has renounced worldly attachments to attain moksha by practices guided by his guru. Onscreen, he is a scheming, lusty, political mastermind in cahoots with the tilak-dhaari antagonist.
When Kundan Shah told Saeed Mirza: ‘I hope I am not doomed to keep doing funny stuff’ – Saeed Mirza’s illustrated memoir – I Know the Psychology of Rats, Tulika Books – recounts his personal and professional bond with the ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ director.
Tempus Fugit Songs integral to the plot, that help the plot to thicken. Some songs show time passing and the attendant changes that occur with time. The present list has songs wherein the time passes and there are attendant changes/developments that are shown.
Thinker’s Songs – thinking is so integral to mankind there are many songs that talk about thinking. Our film songs do not need to delve into philosophy or poetry, they are about problems at hand relating to love, heartbreak etc.
One Lady Sings, The Other Dances – On a few occasions, one of the characters sings while the other dances to its tune. Many songs have a male character singing and a female character dances.
Consecutive Melodies are exceptions where one song is immediately followed by another.
From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:
- ‘King of Romance’ Yash Chopra’s first love story was a tale of polyamory that was accepted by the masses – Yash Chopra’s Daag, starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee, was an unorthodox love story where the man ends up with two women and they all live happily ever after.
- Yaadon Ki Baaraat is not as fun as you remember it to be, feels like a parody of its genre – The 1973 film Yaadon Ki Baaraat is somehow remembered for being a masala Bollywood film but upon rewatching it now, it feels like a parody of its own genre.
We have moved forward with Micro View of Male-Female Duets for 1943, to Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5. SoY has concluded the series with Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 4, whereat Khemchand Prakash is adjudged the Best Music Director of 1943 for Tansen
In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we had instituted a series wherein we listened to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the year 2022.
We pay tribute to Dilip Kumar and Mohammad Rafi with some romantic- happy mood songs:
Preet Jata Ke Meet Bana Ke Bule Na Jana – Hulchal (1951) – with Lata Mangeshkar -Khumar Barabanqvi – Sajjad Hussain
Aashiq Hai Agar Hai Pyare – Insaniyat (1955) – Rajinder Krishna – C Ramchandra
Ishq Diwana Husn Bhi Ghayal Dono Taraf Ek Dard-e-Jigar Hai – Sungursh (1968) – Shakeel Badayuni – Naushad
Peete Peete Kabhi Kabahi Yun Jam Badalate Jaate HaiN – Bairag (1976) – Anand Bakshi – Kalyanji Anandji
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.
Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music wishes its readers a lyrically composed 2023 with happiness, health and progress in great harmony.
The episodes of January 2022 to December 2022 have been compiled as one file @ Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music, Volume X – 2022 and can be read / downloaded by clicking on the hyperlink
The world is too small? or Is it? 