Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – January, 2017

Welcome to January, 2017 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We will commence our current episode with the posts on the anniversaries or eulogies.

Which Was the True Voice of Pancham? – It will be 23 years since Pancham (R D Burman) on this day in 1994 left us music lovers with an awful feeling of loss just when we were about to celebrate his huge comeback. Peeyush Sharma recalls the many voices that he sang to us in, trying to really understand which his true voice was. All songs picked in this list had music by R D Burman himself. The voice had become known as a distinct and melodious one which had that ‘ras’ that was so typical of him. Mone poRe Ruby Roy (later reused as Meri bheegi bheegi si in Anamika) and Jete jete pathe holo deri (which had a Hindi reincarnation as the iconic Tere bina zindagi se koi shikwa to nahin in Aandhi) became chart-toppers in the Bengali non-film songs category.

Om Puri certainly deserved profuse eulogies in the print and net media. I have picked up the three representative ones here –

• Om Puri – The Luminance of a Natural Actor  – Amitava Nag – Om Puri passed away on 6 January 2017 after four decades of acting. One of the pioneer faces of the Indian ‘parallel’ cinema movement of the 70s and 80s, Om Puri later on shifted to international cinema and remained a forceful actor till his last.
• The original choice for Ahuja’s role in ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ was… not Om Puri – Pankaj Kapoor was to play the builder Ahuja, but when he was cast in the larger role of Tarneja, Om Puri made his celebrated comic debut.
• Everyman, comedian, sutradhaar: a tribute to Om Puri – It is a bit sad to realise that much of Puri’s best work was done between 25 and 35 years ago, that few roles in the final years did him justice…Much like the man whose hesitant voice and flashing eyes helped make them so memorable, they belong to us all. Or as JBDY’s Ahuja might slur, “Yeh films aap akayle ke nahin hain. Hum sab shareholder hain.”

Urdu Poet, Lyricist Naqsh Lyallpuri Dies at 88  – He first got break in the 1952 film Jaggu with the song Agar Teri Aakhon Se Aakhein Mila Doon (Asha Bhosale, Hansraj Behl).

From Hindi film music to raga-based symphonies, the remarkable journey of Anthony Gonsalves – Naresh Fernandes pays rich tribute to the renowned musician, whose fifth death anniversary is on January 18, merged the Western classical music of his Goan heritage with Hindustani melodies.

Geeta Bali’s Personality Had the Energy of Shammi Kapoor’s Dance – Megha Mathur – This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 21 January 2016. It is being republished to mark Geeta Bali’s death anniversary.

Kamal Amrohi made only four films. Fortunately for us, one of them was ‘Pakeezah’ – On the director’s birth anniversary, here is an excerpt from Vinod Mehta’s biography on Meena Kumari revisits the film’s troubled production.

The January 2017 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs was dedicated to Dilip Dholakia as singer. This was preceded by the guest article Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (11): Dilip Dholakia, which I then had reblogged on 10-1-2017. Here we have looked at back at Dilip Dholakia from the lens of a music director of Hindi films.

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

Noor Jehan with R.D. Burman & Asha Bhosle – Asha Bhosle said that “Badnaam mohabbat kaun kare [Dost, 1944, Sajjad Hussain] is her favorite song by Noor Jehan.

Bharat Bhushan, Meena Kumari at premiere of Baiju Bawra (1952)

From left to right: Bharat Bhushan, Meena Kumari, Meena Kumari’s sister Madhuri and Surendra, who played the role of the musician Tansen in the film.

When Cinema Matched Music Beat by Beat: Nadiya Kinare in Abhimaan  – The challenge of Nadiya kinare in Abhimaan was to create a supremely classical yet rustic song. SD Burman’s music, Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice along with Jaya Bhaduri and Amitabh Bachchan’s performance and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s direction were ably supported by the competent technical crew and musicians. Anand Desai and Antara Nanda Mondal explore how master craftsmen of cinema and music matched every frame to a note in this song which can well be called a textbook in song composition and picturisation!

A snowy winter is the perfect excuse to get cuddly in Hindi film songs – Manish Gaekwad pens this sub-genre of Hindi Film Songs.

Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (10) – Bihag and its family – Subodh Agrawal continues from where he had left off his series, Songs based on classical ragas.

My Favourites: ‘Kaun Aaya?’ Songs – Hindi films are full of rhetorical questions to which everyone, including the people asking those questions, know the answer… One such question is ‘Kaun aaya?’ The answer is obvious, of course (and the characters on screen know who has stolen their heart, resided in their soul, made them laugh…), but they ask (sing) the questions anyway.  The post has some excellent, but not more often heard songs –

• Ye kaun mere zindagi mein aa gaya – Bombay Race Course (1965) – Asha Bhosle – Madan Mohan – Rajinder Krishan
• Kaun aaya mehfil mein – Bambai ka Chor (1962) – Asha – Ravi – Rajinder Krishan

‘Dhoondhta Hoon Jinko Raaton Ko Khayalon Main Mein’ – Shiv Kumar (Pathak) made his debut with Poonam KI Raat (1965). Here is the link to the song in the title of the post – Dhoondhta Hoon Jinko

Flashback 50 Years By Peeyush Sharma  – There is a marked shift in the style of compositions, change in the audience taste and acceptance of new music directors. Among the films that had their music release this year, Shankar Jaikishen, O P Nayyar and Usha Khanna each had 7 films while Madan Mohan and Ravi had five each and Hemant Kumar had three. Laxmikant Pyarelal had 10 releases to their credit – a defining year for their career. RD Burman gave his life’s first massive chart buster hit Teesri Manzil.  There were several others who scored memorable music scores in a single film or two.

• (Part I): Shankar Jaikishan Hits of 1966 – Teesari Kasam, Gaban and Amrapali were the notable films from the point of view of the quality of songs.
• (Part II): OP Nayyar Hits of 1966 – Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi, Sawan Ki Ghata, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi were the notable films from the point of view of the quality of songs.
• (Part III): Madan Mohan Hits of 1966 – Mera Saaya, Neend Hamari Khwab Tumhare, Dulhan Ek Raat Ki were the notable films from the point of view of the quality of songs.

Steam behemoth rides in Bollywood – D P Rangan takes on the nostalgic trip to the younger days of most of the readers who are in 40+ age group.

Ten of my favourite non-romantic male-female duets which do not mention romantic love in any form, not even as part of a bhajan (the Radha-Krishna trope is one that comes to mind). And that the actors should both be adults (because there are far too many songs which have a female playback singer singing for a child onscreen) as in Saanwle-salone aaye din bahaar ke (Ek Hi Raasta, 1956).

Do actors have what it takes to stop lip-synching and start singing their own film songs? – No actor took playback singing as seriously as Premnath when he sang an Indian classical bandish Dagar Chalat Dekho in the little-known film Raja Kaka (1973). It was an enviable accomplishment that went unnoticed.

Odd(itie)s and Ends, Joys of Fusion, and Blogging Restlessness is a post that is a little more scattered and eclectic than usual, which may signal a direction for other posts to come.

Cinema classical: When Parveen Sultana trumped Kishore Kumar in ‘Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna’ – Manish Gaekwad has kick started to showcase the voices of the stalwarts of Indian classical music in popular films with this song from Kudrat. Naushad introduced Parveen Sultana to Hindi moviegoers in Kaun Gali Gayo Shyam in Pakeezah (1972). The thumri was used in the background….Sultana returned to Hindi playback only in 1981 for Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna, composed by RD Burman for the movie Kudrat. The track, in raag bhairavi, was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Parveen Sultana won the 1982 Filmfare trophy for her version of the song.

My Favourites: Songs of Promises – are all love songs, songs of promises between lovers. Not ‘aap ki kasam’ songs, or the breaking of promises but actual promises being asked for, or made. Promises of a future together, of hope that one will have someone with whom to share life’s struggles and happiness, of trust that one’s faith will not be betrayed. For example:

• Humne jab dil tha diya koi vaada tha kiya – Chhoomantar (1956) – Mohammed Rafi, Shamshad Begum – OP Nayyar – Jaan Nissar Akhtar
• Aji aao muhobbat ki kha le kasam – Shehnai (1947) – Chitalkar, Amirbai Karnataki – C Ramchandra – PL Santoshi

Picture the song: Guns and snogs in ‘Mile Mile Do Badan’ from ‘Black Mail’ – Nandini Ramnath narrates why we should trust Vijay Anand to insert a romantic song in the middle of a chase sequence and make it work…..

We end today’s episode with a INTERVIEW of Ahsan Qasim by Sanjeeb Updhyay about GREAT MOHD RAFI SAHAB – Part 1  ǁ Part 2 ǁ Part 3 ǁ Part 4

I trust you will always feel free to proffer your suggestions for making this series of posts more lively and informative….

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – October, 2016

Welcome to October, 2016 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

For the present episode we have posts from Silhouette magazine delves on the on the memories of S D Burman on his birthday on 1^st October (1906) –

• ‘Deewana Mastana Hua Dil’ – Mesmerizing Music of SD Burman-Majrooh (Oct 1 Anniversary Special) – Peeyush Sharma  is celebrating the season of the partnership of Majrooh Sultanpuri with SD Burman through a pick of 20 + 1 songs, like-

Pag thumak chalat balkhaye, haye, Sainyan kaise dhaarun dheer (Sitaron Se Aage, 1958) Lata Mangeshkar

• When Kishore Protested and SD Burman Persisted: The Making of Dukhi Man Mere – SD Burman knew which voice to use for a particular composition. In a backstage meeting Manna Dey had recalled how Kishore Kumar was made to sing Dukhi man mere by SD Burman. Peeyush Sharma remembers Kishore Kumar on his death anniversary with an anecdote about how Dada Burman’s insistence made Kishore agree to sing what has now become an evergreen hit.
• The Tender Musical Tête-à-tête in Chupke Se Mile (Genius of SD Burman) – Anand Desai and Antara Nanda Mondal trace the finer nuances of one of the most delicate romantic songs, that is much more than just a song. It’s a challenge, it’s a game and it’s a conversation.

In addition to these, Moti Lalwani has penned Part 1 of his memoir of S D Burman’s experiments, which we shall look at in details along with Part 2, to be published later.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee: In a Humane Genre of His Own By Antara Nanda Mondal  – Most of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films had music that has lasted through the decades and continue to be heard, hummed and cherished till date. SD Burman, Hemant Kumar, Shankar Jaikishen, RD Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vasant Desai – whoever he worked with came up with some of their best tunes for him.

We should not miss Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Giving Cinema a New Definition too – a tribute based on a lengthy interview Shoma A Chatterji had with Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Tribute: Shailendra was the proverbial moth who got burned too quickly – The lyricist has left behind a legacy of exquisite songs that make you cry and think.

Films that are 50:

• ‘Teesri Kasam’ is a rich monochrome about love and loss – Directed by Basu Bhattacharya and produced by lyricist Shailendra, the black-and-white gem is filled with strong performances and fabulous songs.
• ‘Do Badan’ is an overlooked Raj Khosla tragedy – Best known for crime and suspense films, the director worked well across genres, as is evident from the Asha Parekh-Manoj Kumar starrer.

We have a few excellent career-sketches too for the present episode:

Hema Malini by Karan Bali – Acting aside, Hema has dabbled in film production having produced Swami (1977), Sharara (1984), Awaargi (1990) and Marg (1992 but unreleased) besides directing Dil Aashna Hai (1991), Tell Me O Khuda (2011) and Mohini (1994) for Television.

Kersi Lord – by Karan Bali – Ace musician Kersi Lord, not only imported the first synthesizer into India in 1973, but also introduced musical instruments like the ‘glockenspiel’ in Indian cinema for the cigarette lighter effect in Hum Dono (1961). He is also well-known for playing the accordion pieces in the hit songs Roop Tera Mastana from Aradhana (1969) and O Meri Sharmilee from Sharmilee (1971), among many others. it was RD who first introduced the electronic organ in India for the composition O Mere Sona Re in Teesri Manzil (1966) for which I had the privilege of playing the organ.” Kersi Lord retired in 2000 after a career spanning more than 5 decades. He passed away in Mumbai on October 16, 2016. He had been ailing for sometime. The Lords – father  Cawas, Kersi and his brother, Burjor, all musicians, have been featured extensively in a wonderful documentary, The Human Factor (2012), directed by Rudradeep Bhattacharjee.

 Leela Naidu: The Person Behind the Image – “A couple of months ago when I had come across her autobiography, “Leela – a patchwork life” (Penguin India, 2010), written with Jerry Pinto, I was very tempted to read it and at the same time, I was not very sure that it would be a wise thing.
Through experience I have learned that favourite film persons are better seen through the sepia tinted glasses of nostalgia. Knowing them as persons ruins their magic. However, in the end I had not resisted. The book has definitely changed my perception about Leela Naidu, the person behind the image.”

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

This Indian Film Won The Highest Prize In Cannes In 1946, But Still Remains Forgotten – Gautam Chintamani – Even though it won the highest prize at Cannes, Chetan Anand’s ‘Neecha Nagar’ remains largely forgotten today.

From Teesri Manzil to Yaadon Ki Baaraat, Nasir Husain’s cinema is celebrated in a new book – Rohini Nair – In an interview with Firstpost, Akshay Manwani spoke of why he felt compelled to write – in a new book, titled Music, Masti, Modernity — The Cinema of Nasir Husain about the cinema of Nasir Husain, the filmmaker’s legendary collaborations with Shammi Kapoor, Asha Parekh and RD Burman, and what his lasting contribution to Hindi films has been.

Actors Prepare – From Ravan to Mahatma Gandhi  presents some of the images of the theatre actors from India, Italy and some other countries.

Redemption song: ‘Titli Udi’ by Sharda was a beginning and an end by Manish Gaekwad – Once upon a time in the 1960s arose a rare challenger to the Lata-Asha combination – This is quite an interesting, and yet balanced, narrative of Sharda’s Hind film career.

N.B.:  The articles that have appeared in this series in the past can be accessed at Stories in A Song.

‘Jago Hua Savera’ dropped: ‘Mumbai has lost out on watching a classic that is still relevant’ by Anjum Taseer – Jago Hua Savera sees the best talent from East and West Pakistan and India participating in a production under trying circumstances. This is a film that was lost, rediscovered and restored. The new version is a perfect showpiece of the original masterpiece.

Songs of Angana nostalgically recalls the Anagan, the courtyard, a central feature of the then houses of India. Open to the sky, and surrounded on the four sides by verandah and living rooms, this quadrangle is the place where the family lives out its life, does all its mundane chores of daily existence, and also holds all its ceremonies and special occasions.

We have had a post on songs of atariya too on SoY.

Remembering Diwali Songs presents a multi-faceted view of Diwali in Hindi film songs during the decades of ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s.

Vyjayantimala’s Singing Debut for Composer Master Venu  – by Lakshmipriya – The songs referred to in the title of the post are: Dachinanu ravoi neekai and Daricheraga rava priyuda . There is also an interesting refrence to Dekhane Mein Bhola Hai. Waheeda Rahman mentions this anecdote in her many interviews of how she was humming the yeruvaka song on the sets of Solva Saal. S D Burman was very impressed to found out who the composer was and asked Master Venu permission to use it in his song Dekhne Me Bhola for Bambai ka Babu. Master Venu was so delighted that he immediately agreed happily…...

In Micro View of the Best Songs of 1949 @SoY, having covered Male Solo Songs, Other Than Lata Mangeshkar Female Solo Songs, and Solo Songs of Lata Mangeshkar. In the category of Duets, we had covered duets of Mohammad Rafi with Lata Mangeshkar, Suriya and Shamshad Begum and Geeta Roy and other female playback singers  and Duets of Mukesh in the Male-Female Duets sub-category. For the present month, we have continued with duets of Shamshad Begum with other Male singers, Geeta Roy, Lata Mangeshkar and Suraiya with other Male Singers, Other Male Female Duets and then have moved on to Female-Female Duets of Latamangeshkar,  Other Female-Female Duets in the Female- Female duets subcategory.

We end today’s episode with a post on Mohammad Rafi’:

Rafi is Hindi Cinema’s greatest voice – Pankaj Vohra – The findings of the survey were revealed on the Independence Day and Rafi came out as the winner from a formidable field that comprised Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh. In fact, the Survey put Rafi ahead of Lata Mangeskar by nearly 12 percent with Kishore Kumar coming second, with about five percent votes less than those secured by the winner…It was also interesting that Asha and Mukesh polled nearly the same number of votes and if added to those polled by Lata Mangeshkar, they were not enough to catch up with Rafi….Another aspect of Rafi’s voice was that he could replicate his studio recording even in a public function and sang exactly the same way as he done for a film. This was a unique trait since there has been no singer other than him who could sing exactly the same song in a public function as during the recording.

I whole-heartedly wish you and your family a Crackling Happy Diwali, and look forward to receive your inputs for further enriching the contents of the posts…..

More Than Bollywood: Studies in Indian Popular Music

–Guest Article by  Tadatmya Vaishnav^#

I recently had opportunity to read through most of the book titled “More than Bollywood: Studies in Indian Popular Music “. It is a collection of essays on popular, film and non-film, Indian music. The book is edited by musicologists Gregory D. Booth and Bradley Shope. The essays are in a scholarly style and were meant to be a formal study of Indian film music as well as certain non-film music genres, such as pop, rap and rock.

‘More than Bollywood’ includes many of the leading scholars currently working on Indian popular music and culture. The volume offers a wide perspective on contemporary and historical popular music in India, and confronts the inescapable importance of the Indian film song; but it also offers the largest collection to date of research on “non-film” popular music in India. It can be treated as one of the most comprehensive single volume on a subject that is of growing interest to scholars and students in music, ethnomusicology, film studies, popular music studies, and South Asian studies. It is intended to stand on its own as a work of scholarship, but it is also simultaneously intended as a fundamental resource for courses on popular music and music in India.

All the chapters were not, in fact, interesting, as far as I am concerned. So, I take up the three chapters that I did find interesting.

Chapter 1 – A Moment of Historical Conjuncture in Mumbai

In this chapter, Gregory Booth presents an interesting case of how the Hindi film song, as we knew it until 1990 or so, was shaped substantially in the five year period of 1948-52, immediately after Independence. He treats the 1931 – 1947 period as a period of aesthetic and professional transition. Among major changes, he identifies growing sophistication in cinematography of song sequences and a change in the sound of the female voice in film songs. During this period, the film song also got to occupy the role of the most important form of popular song. He has taken a set of three representative music directors – Naushad Ali, Shanker Jaikishan and C Ramchandra- and two arrangers – Antonio Vaz and Sebastian D’Souza and only one full-time playback singer (Lata!) as having played a major complementary role in shaping the Hindi film song. Collectively, they effected sophistication of film song orchestration, explicit engagement with classical Indian and foreign popular music and redefinition of the sound of female playback singing, among others. Destiny seemed to have chosen them as ‘right person in the right place at right time.’

The musical and professional patterns that were established during 1948 and 1952 remained almost unchanged till at least until 1970. For a further 20 years, the rise of a new generation of musicians took over major roles. The shift in the basic structural composition of the film music is seen by examining the proportion of composers who composed more than one film in a year. Only a few, generally two or three, music directors dominated the year in terms of those soundtracks that were ‘most heard’. By 1952, the percentage of music directors with multiple releases had increased to 62%. For the next ten years this figure hovered around 50%, declining back to 30% in in 1967. The corresponding figure for 1932-1947 was seen in the range of 60%. Of the 60 highest net grossing films during 1947 to 1957, 32 % were during 1948-1952. Of these, Naushad, SJ and C Ramchandra had 68% share.

The rise of an oligarchy in the world of playback singers was also equally pronounced. Among male singers it was Mohammad Rafi who ruled the roost before Kishore Kumar took over in 1969. Nevertheless, the number of important male singers was greater as compared to that of female singers. In the case of female singers, the shift was far more dramatic and extreme. 1952 was the year that virtually brought an end to the richly textured and individually timbred voices of the earlier era. Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt collectively recorded slightly over one-third of the songs recorded in 1951. With the fading away of Geeta Dutt, by end of 1950s, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle shared between them more than one-third of all songs. Having given a quantitative background, the author has taken up the examination of more interactive musical, aesthetic and industrial practices in this chapter.

One may disagree, as I did, with some of the conclusions – that it was Naushad who “tightened” the concept of a ‘film song’, as distinct from ‘singing in the film’, by way instrumental interludes, tempo, orchestral size, recording techniques and professionalization of the singers. Or, that the style of the male voice in Hindi film songs followed mainly from Saigal’s style while the style of the female voice changed radically with Lata (I agree only with the latter part).

The statistics quoted at various places are useful and some of the points do note important conclusions. The last point about the technology that enabled separation of on-screen voice and playback voice and the emergence of the playback singer as a distinct role, is well-made and pivotal to Hindi film music.

Chapter 2 : Global Masala – Digital Identities and Aesthetic Trajectories in Post-Liberalization Indian Film Music is written by Natalie Sarrazin.

It is a very well-written account of how globalization, as well as new technologies, has influenced the creation of popular music, mainly film music, in India since the 1990s.

The author goes into a very detailed, second-by-second, analysis of the prelude music of the title song of Roja, in order to show how digital recording techniques can marry the audio to the video much more effectively than in the past.

Another good section is the one titled “Aesthetic Decisions”. It shows how the role of the music director has changed and how the sound engineer may be the most influential person behind the final finished song. This change may be revolutionary, but like many revolutions, the outcome may not be anything to be proud of. The author seems to take this major change in her stride, perhaps because she is a Westerner and does not have emotional ties to old music.

In her concluding remarks, the author notes that ‘Hindi film must project carefully crafted identities and desires onto the world stage, embodying Indian values in musical idioms palatable to an international music market and appealing to interesting non-Diaspora audiences. India’s active embrace of and enactment upon the promise of globalization require new Indian sonic agents, ones that portray India’s current energy, as well as image as a suitable global economic partner. Such music, to be successful, must create space for dreams and desires of Resident Indians and NRIs, while offering up musical fantasy escapism to the rest of the world.’

In Chapter 10: Latin American Music in Moving Pictures and Jazzy Cabarets in Mumbai, 1930-1950 Bradley Shope explores the period between mid-1930s and early 1950s when Latin American music in Hollywood films influenced jazzy cabarets that some of the Indian communities like Goans, Anglo – Indians and Parsis. The first half of the chapter traces the popularity of a native Brazilian dance, the Carioca – introduced to the world in the 1933 release Flying Down the Rio[i] in Mumbai and explores the relationship between this film and development of Hindi film songs containing Latin American sounds and images. The second half of the article uncovers the relationship between live cabarets in Mumbai and the development of Hindi films songs containing Latin American sounds and images.

The film Flying Down to Rio (1933) was successfully screened in urban India in 1934. The carioca dance shown in this films attracted vast audiences in Mumbai in nightclubs, restaurants, hotel ballrooms, social clubs and cabarets. Audiences learned the dance by watching the film or through lessons at local dance schools. By the 1940s, many jazz orchestras understood that learning Latin American repertoire could help secure jobs in a larger scope of avenues. It was no coincidence that when C Ramchandra composed Gore Gore O Banke Chhore (Lata Mangeshkar, Amirbai Karnataki, Samadhi, 1949),

he heavily borrowed from Chico Chico from Puerto Rico (Doll Face, 1945).

Latin characteristics were heard as early as in Naushad’s score for 1943 film Kanoon in the song Ek Tu Ho, Ek Main Hoon (Suraiya). The staged cabaret sequence Deewana Yeh Parwana from 1951 film Albela showcased great fusion of the chief arranger of ‘His Music Makers’, Chic Chocolate, and C Ramchandra. Chic Chocolate and his orchestra are dressed in stylized Latin American costumes in this song.

Carmen Miranda’s song sequence of ‘Week-End in Havana’ from 1941 film of the same name bears noticeable similarities to this song. And that includes not only the music, sounds or dance, but even Geeta Bali’s costumes as well.

One can find a similar beat of three+two clave (Dil Dhadake Nazar Sharamaye) or a music sound of rolling piano (Mere Dil Ki Ghadi Kare Tick Tick) in some other song sequences of ‘Albela’. Since the audiences of Hindi films were not typically exposed to these Latin American films or songs. That helped in creating that tantalizing element of fantasy in the Hindi film songs which brought up the entire effect far above real-life limitations of mundane restriction in the Indian society.

To be sure, other thematic, such as Hawaiian, Island, Spanish, Arab, French and the like, also suitably found way into Hindi films songs. Barring a few cases, the credit should also be given to director or music director that these adaptations were seen as highly innovative depictions that completely fused into the Indian cultural environment.

To illustrate each chapter author’s points, and to make available music not easily accessible in North America, the book is ably and vividly supported by Oxford web music companion website of audio and video tracks.

Bibliographic Information:

Print publication date: 2013 ǁ 380 pages ǁ Print ISBN-13: 9780199928835

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2014

Paperback edition: Published: 12 December 2013 | 384 Pages | ISBN: 9780199928859

Other books:

Behind the curtain: making music in Mumbai’s film studios – Gregory Booth

American Popular Music in Britain’s Raj – Bradley G Shope

^# Tadatmya Vaishnav can be contacted @ tavaishnav@gmail.com

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Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – October 2014

Welcome to October, 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We have a discovery to report this month. It is a discovery on two counts – first one being that fact that I landed upon this blog only this month, though ought to have done so a little earlier, and the second one is because the blog itself is Back after a long hiatus!.

So, we will devote our beginning to posts on Songs, Stories, Books and More… Random Musings. However, we would pick up posts for the normal period of this edition and would find opportunities to delve into (relatively) older posts in the future editions of our carnival.

We have two posts on one subject, wherein both the posts have approached the subject from totally different angle. The subject is Lata Mangeshkar’s birthday (on 28^th September). The First one is Happy Birthday, Lata ji,… despite loving Asha Bhosle to the core, there are many Lata songs that I am very fond of…The volume and quality of work she has behind her is unmatched and unparalleled. And this is an Asha fan saying this.. And the Second Post is: The Swar-Saamraagyi and the the Sangeet-Maartand: Best of Lata Mangeshkar by Anil Biswas, as can be expected on any SoY post, doing full justice the selection of the songs from 123 songs that Anil Biswas – LataMangeshkar combination has provided from 30 films.

October sets in… oh yes, Happy Birthday Asha Parekh… has chosen to present songs from Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon. Lakhon Hai Nigah Main, Zindagi Ki Raah Mein obviously draws a parallel with Jawaniyan Yeh Mast Mast Bin Piye  [Tumsa Nahin Dekha]. “Both songs are favourites though (I) prefer to watch the Tumsa Nahin Dekha song and listen to Lakhon Hai Nigah Mein!”

Gungunaoonga Yehi Geet Main Tere Liye – Remembering Sachin Dev Burman and Majrooh Sultanpuri is in memory of 108^th and 95^th birth anniversaries respectively. “Mohd Rafi .. happens to be.. favourite singer and I remember reading somewhere that Dada Burman wanted him to sing this song. He wasn’t in favour of Talat saab because of that tremble in his voice. But luckily for us, Jaidev (his assistant then) convinced Dada Burman to give Talat saab this song. Thank god for that. However much, I adore Rafi, no one could have sung this song better than Talat saab.”

We have a pair of very interesting posts on Asha Bhosle and Geeta Dutt on “Songs…and More”.

The recent one Chali Re Chali Re Main toh Des Parayee (Saranga, 1961) presents a haunting, plaintive number from film Saranga, one of the films that did make a very special space for Sardar Malik as quite an accomplished music director. The second one is w.r.t. Asha Bhosle’s birthday – Thank you for the music and memories, Asha ji! – which has picked up quite a melodious piece of Humming in Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), among other songs.

Geeta Dutt’s song Rut Phire Par Din Hamare was not there Pyasa.(1957), but has found its place here on account of “Thou shalt write a long post on at least one Sahir Ludhianvi song per week” policy. Rut Phire Par din Hamare Phire Na (Pyaasa, 1957) recollects the topic of this song in Nasreen Munni Kabir’s book (Conversations with Waheeda Rehman). According to Waheeda, this song had been filmed with her rowing in a boat and everyone had appreciated the picturisation. However Waheeda Rehman differed with the view and she apparently pointed out that having that song slows the pace of the story and is just boring. Guru Dutt had heard her criticism and after the first screening, had agreed with her observation (seeing people walk out for a bathroom or coffee break), had taken it off. Excerpts from this bok can be glanced at Excerpt | Conversations With Waheeda Rehman. The other one is Na Main Dhan Chahun Na Ratan Chahun (Kala Bazaar, 1960), This duet, by Geeta Dutt and Sudha Malhotra is said to have ben (actually) composed by Jaidev, the then assistant to S D Burman. This seems quite logical since “Jaidev’s bhajans from Hum Dono (1961) are remembered to the day – Allah Tero Naam, and Prabhu Tero Naam.”

Guru Dutt’s 50^th death anniversary brings in San San San Woh Chali Hawa – Kaagaz Ke Phool, 1959 ‘to remember Guru Dutt not as the melancholic, unhappy genius film maker but in happier times with a happy number! He was after all only 39 when he died.’

We have several other anniversary posts in the present episode of the carnival.

Happy 88th Birthday, Madam Noor Jehan! has clips of the entire ‘90s interview on BBC plus all of Noor Jehan birthday posts going back to 2009. A veritable treasure in on Noor Jehan, in one place !

On Begum Akhtar’s birth centenary, a musical tribute at her grave…..One hundred years after she was born, Begum Akhtar is being remembered and celebrated at the place where she was laid to rest.

How Begum Akhtar changed my life: a tribute on the singer’s 100th birth anniversary – Tisha Srivastav

“Now as a woman in my 40s, having lived life a little, the Begum is back in my life, as a modern-day primer to soothe me into understanding the subtext of experiences. Of love, shocks, surprises, loneliness, romancing life itself and laughing at one’s obsessions.”

The Lonely Ghazal Queen: Begum Akhtar , a legend in her lifetime, who achieved enormous fame at a very young age, and gave joy to millions of listeners of many generations, including doyens like Mehdi Hasan, Talat Mahmood, Madan Mohan, Pt. Jasraj and Pt. Ravi Shankar, Begum Akhtar’s own life seems to be full of sorrow, pain, abusive relationships, betrayal by people she loved and a deep melancholy.

Unfathomable greatness – Saleem Kidwai

The way [Begum Akhtar] would split words or combine them into musical phrases shows how comfortable she was with Urdu’s poetic idiom. This musical comfort level with the language also marked out some of her younger contemporaries like Mehdi Hasan, Iqbal Bano and Farida Khanum, and is sadly missing from most other singers.

Kishore Kumar’s duets by SD Burman : “With 115 songs, he gave Kishore Kumar more songs than any other (male) singer. Surjit Singh’s site indicates that out of this only 53 were solos, and 51 were Male –Female duets, 8 Male duets and 3 other songs. “.. and even die-hard opinionated person like me would very happily concede that quite a few of these pre-Aradhana duets did creditable justice to S D Burman’s marked preference to Kishore Kumar.

Geet Gaya Paththaron Ne – Rajakamal Studio is very passionate retrospective of films that have created a very respectable distinctive position for V. Shantaram. The post also carries link to a song each from Rajakamal Studio’s films from Shakuntala (1943) to Pinjra (1973).

My Favourites: Songs of Yearning – This ‘someone’ is a very hazy concept. We don’t usually know who, or how or when or where we will meet this particular person; we don’t even know that we will meet that special someone. And we do, perhaps – through choice, through circumstance, through fate. Or the someone we find becomes special. But in the meanwhile, we have our own hopes, dreams and expectations of finding that glorious love

Ten of my favourite string instrument songs, where it’s not an orchestra (Ted Lyons and His Cubs, anyone? Or The Monkees?), but a hero or heroine, not a professional musician, being the one ‘playing’ an instrument?

Radio Playback India has presented Raag Hansdhwani by Hariprasad Chaurasia.. I have especial fascination for Raag Hansdhwani, primarily because of Jaa To Se Nahin Bolun Kanhaiya , A Lata Mangeshakar – Manna Dey Duet from film Parivar(1956) , and then because of this song I landed upon this very famous Taranaa by Pandit Amir Khan Saheb Incidentally one of initial blog post is a compilation [Part I, Part II and Part III] of all that I could gather at that time on internet on Hansdhwani.

In our now a regular visit to Suresh Chandvankar’s articles, we have a topical article – When Bollywood maestros collaborated to put a Gandhi prayer to melody. The film musician Vasant Desai cut a disc of Gandhiji’s poem, sung by Manna Dey and Chorus. Gandhiji is credited as the lyricist .

How a goatherd and Mozart inspired the score for Bimal Roy’s ‘Madhumati’, is an excerpt, from Bimal Roy’s Madhumati: Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes by Rinki Roy Bhattacharya published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd..

Tamilnadus’ (ex)CM J. Jayalalitha was in the news recently. But we recall here ‘Four dance sequences from classic Jayalalithaa movies, of which one is from Hindi film Izzat (1967) – Jaagi Badan Men Jwala, Saiyan Tune Kya Kar Dala.

MANMOHAN KRISHNA SINGS FOR OP NAYYAR is one more post where we have very unique songs. Of the two non-film songs, both penned by Saroj Mohini Nayyar, the first one is Buje Diye Hua Andhera and the second one is Diya To Jala Sab Raat Re Balam. The latter song was also recorded in film Dhake Ki Malamal by C H Atma .

We round off this carnival edition with a post from Songs..Books and More – Sabhi Kuch Lutakar (Singer – Mohd Rafi, Movie Indrani, 1958) is a “wonderful romantic Hindi number was from an old Bengali film It is picturised on an unknown face. This man (a vagabond?) is strumming a guitar and singing this song. He is watched by Kumar and Sen – a just married couple – standing outside in the veranda of their house. Interspersed with Bengali dialogues, the mood of the song is indeed very romantic.”

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – July 2014

Welcome to July, 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

For the period of the current edition of the Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music, we have birth anniversaries of two music directors whose work apparently spans two ends of the spectrum of Golden Period.

We take up the first chronological end – Anil Biswas.

Remembering Anil Biswas, The Singer – A tribute on Anil Biswas’s Birth Centenary (b. 7 July 1914; d. 31 May 2003)

“Songs of Yore heralded 2014 as the Year of Anil Biswas with Inaugural post by his daughter, Shikha Biswas Vohra – Anil Biswas: The Maestro and My Father. We have since had three more posts dedicated to him with his songs for Suraiya, Talat Mahmood, and his sister, Parul Ghosh…… Therefore, in our tribute to the Bhishm Pitamah in his Centenary Year, it is important to remember him as a singer too.”

The Maker of Mukesh: Anil Biswas’s opening paints a very vivid picture of the role of Anil Biswas – a Guru (of those days), in general, and the extent to which he would take pains for his passion – the music. While continuing the Centenary Tributes to Anil Biswas, SoY pays a very special tribute to Mukesh as well on his 91^st birth anniversary (on 22^nd July).

The Masters: Sajjad Hussain quite vividly portrays the nuances of Sajjad’s music. “According to his son, the principled musician had no regrets or bitterness. He had lived life on his own terms, and had been admired as a musician par excellence by his contemporaries. History deals with him kindly as well, recognising the talent that preferred to remain unused but would never compromise. The body of work that he left behind has delighted music connoisseurs for generations, and it will continue to do so for as long as there are people who listen to Hindi film music from the golden age.”

Bulo C Rani – Phoolon Se Hum Shikhenge , Fariyad Na Karana, Ro Lena presents a bouquet of songs by one of the highly meritorious music directors of the Golden Period who could never hit the commercial success. The article is in Gujarati, but that should not come in the way of enjoying the melodies presented therein.

Atul’s Bollywood Song A Day– With Full Lyrics has crossed a great milestones of publishing 10,000 songs. To commemorate the event, several regular guest writers have contributed a post on this occasion. Visiting these posts is a subject by itself, which we would take up separately.

Forgotten Melodies (Part 2) – Sweet Melodies From My Father’s Films.

“When I did my previous post I was more or less sure about the songs that I would select for this post. I decided then that my next post would be a selection of songs that have struck a chord in my heart and songs that I have just liked because of the sweet melody and of course the lyrics.” The first part of the article – Forgotten Melodies (Part 1) – My Favourite Dance Sequences From My Father’s Films – has appeared in June 2014 episode of our Blog Carnival.

Kamal Hai?! Bindiya Songs has five songs but all of them relate to period beyond the extended end of our time scale. But Anu Warrier (Conversations over Chai) has added Khanke Kangnaa Bindiya Hanse , Lata Mangeshkar – S D Burman – Dr Vidya [1962] among others in her comment.

Makeover of the filmi doormats lists of five filmi doormats – Jameela in Chaudavi Ka Chand (1961)[ Badle, badle mere sarkar nazar aate hai]; Simran in Dilwale Dulahaniya Le Jaayendge (1995); Anjali in Kuchch Kuchch Hota Hai (1998); Lalita in Parineeta (1953 ) and (2005) and Chandramukhi in Devdaas (1935 ), (1955 ) and (2002).

Music, fantasy and colour in V Shantaram’s Navrang narrates ‘over-the-top explosions of colour and classical music in Hindi-film history’.

• The opening credits appear over a stationary shot of a door, as a song with the refrain “Rang de de” (“Give colour”) plays alongside.
• An old man singing the stirring patriotic number “Yeh Maati Sabhi ki Kahaani Kahegi”.
• One of Navrang’s liveliest sequences takes the form of an informal sammelan where Diwakar’s friend, himself a composer of lowbrow verses, performs “Kavi Raja Kavita se” (sung, incidentally, by the film’s lyricist Bharat Vyas)
• A visual and aural feast in the duets : “Kaari Kaari Kaari Andhiyari”, “Arre ja re Hat Natkhat” and “Aadha hai Chandrama”

A Song For The Day is “a personal favorite” in as much as “the song stands for a sense of energy that accompanies longing and loneliness and infuses ephemeral pathos which depending on one’s mood may well turn out to be lasting.” The song neing discussed here is: Jab Chali Thandi Hawa, Jab Uthi Kaali Ghata, Mujhko Aye Jaan-e-Wafa Tum Yaad Aaye – Do Badan (1966) – Asha Bhosle – Ravi.

Kyunki Ye Ishq Ishq Hai Ishq ‘discovers’ the quawaali by Mubarak Ali Khan – Na Tu But Kade Ke Talab. Nusrat Ali Hateh Khan has also rendered this quawalli in his very unique style. And now let us listen what we have always loved to listen – Na To Carvaan Ki Talaash Hai

SoY has also commenced Best songs of 1951: Wrap Up 1 – The article goes on to sum up contributions by the readers and then presents – Songs of Yore Award for the best Male Playback Singer of 1951 goes to Talat Mahmood, and the best song is Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana. Mukesh is given Jury’s Special Honour.

To end the current edition we will take up 75^th Birthday (26^th June) tribute articles –

• Happy birthday RD: Asha Bhonsle lists out her five fav Pancham da songs
• Lata Mangeshkar on RD Burman: He died too young, unhappy
• Happy Birthday RD Burman: Some interesting facts about the legend

However, I would like to recall his first two films only:

The Second one ….Bhoot Bangala (1965 )

• Aao Twist Karen – Manna Dey
• Pyar Karata Ja – Manna Dey and R D Burman
• Jaago Sonewalo – Kishore Kumar
• Ek Sawal Hai Tumse Ye Mera – Kishore Kumar
• Mere Pyar Aaaja – Lata Mangeshkar

And the First.. Chhote Nawab (1961)

• Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye – Lata Mangeshkar
• Chura Ke Dil Ban Rahe Ho Bhole – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus
  
• Matwali Aankhonwale O Albale Dilwale – Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
• Aaj Hua Dil Mera Matwala – Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
• Jeenewale Muskura Ke Ji – Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar
• Aam Chum Taam Chum – Mohammed Rafi and Chorus –
• Ilahi Tu Sun Le Meri Dua – Mohammed Rafi

And you guessed it right… these songs are also our tribute to Mohammed Rafi as well…..

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – June 2014

Welcome to June, 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We begin our carnival with visits to our regular blogs:

Suraiya’s songs by SD Burman

“Since SD Burman made his debut late, his songs for Suraiya are much less compared to, say, Naushad’s, but as was his wont, he had a talent to create something for every singer, which would easily rank among his/her landmark songs, even if we just count Man more hua matwala and Nain deewane, Suraiya’s songs by SD Burman have a place among her greatest songs.”

Songs of Yore completes four years – With a tribute to Juthika Roy

“Born in 1920, she sang her first song on the radio at the age of 7, which was a Rabindra Sangeet, Aar dekhona, andhaare aamaay dekhate daao. Her first HMV record was of two Bengali songs, which was followed by two Meera bhajans in Hindi in 1935-36. She became synonymous with Meera bhajans and achieved enormous popularity during the 40s through 50s. Kamal Dasgupta composed most of her songs, with whom she also sang a number of duets, including some naats and qawwalis.”

Shri Arunkumar Deshamukh has also guest-written an article on Juthika Roy – Mandir ho har kadam pe pooja ho subah shaam@ atul’s bollywood song a day- with full lyrics. The song presented here is a duet of Juthika Roy with Kamal Dasgupta.

Whilst on the subject of Juthika Roy, let us also enjoy Juthika Roy’s interview on Vividh Bharati, on 25^th February 2009 @ Anmol Fankar.

The incredible brother-sister in music: Anil Biswas’s songs for Parul Ghosh

“Her swan song in films was in Aandolan (1951) – Vande Mataram – with Manna Dey and Sudha Malhotra, composed by Pannalal Ghosh. She sang about 100 songs in all in 25 films. She died on August 13, 1977 after prolonged illness in Bombay. The song list (not exhaustive) at Cineplot shows that she sang for most of the top composers of the time, but her most famous songs are by his brother.”

Ten of my favourite Sunil Dutt songs is the collection of solo songs Sunil Dutt sings on the screen. The list does not contains only song from a given film.

Twin Songsare true back-to-back songs, songs that segue into each other with no dialogues or scenes in between. The compilation presents 14 sets of such songs in one go, which one can be listen here too.

Forgotten Melodies (Part 1) – My Favourite Dance Sequences From My Father’s Filmscaptures some of more favoured dance sequences from films in which Tarun Bose has played a role.

Lively songs from Naushad“is devoted to the multitude of lively songs that Naushad composed through the 1940s, 50s and 60s.Lively here does not “mean only songs that celebrate joy or abandon”. It also includes “songs that have a (relatively) lively and attractive pace when compared to slow, brooding songs. Some of his lively songs may actually be sad situations. But the songs may be lively with a relatively fast tempo or with lyrics, expressions or situations that appear cheerful!.” For an uninterrupted listening, do use this playlist.

We now turn to the archives of the other blogs and articles:

4 June was the birthday of Nutan. We recall Nutan’s Biography, and supplement it with Lady Nutan, wherein very interesting aspects of her life have been presented. The article has sourced a good deal of material from Cineplot.

Jaikishan – The Eternal Prince of Hindi Film Music is an exclusive interview with Bhairavi Jaikishan, daughter of famed Jaikishan of Shanker Jaikishan duo. – “Listen to the soulful Rafi number ‘Yaad Na Jaaye Beete Dinonki” from Dil Ek Mandir. And listen to the Spanish ‘original’ Besame Mucho and one is left awestruck! The feel is similar but to the Indian ear – it is the pathos of the SJ-Rafi rendition which touches the heart! This was a typical Jaikishan characteristic.”

Evolution of the Hindi film song (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6) traces the way Hindi Film Sings evolved. Presented here are some excerpts:

“We saw the late 30s and early 40s responsible for the entry of singers such as GM Durrani, Arun Kumar, Parul Ghosh, Zohra Ambala, Amirbai Karnataki, Rajkumari, Shamshad Begum and Suraiya. Now a newer generation of singers followed them. Among the male singers, Shankar Rao Vyas introduced Manna Dey with Ram Rajya in 1943, Naushad introduced Mohd. Rafi to Hindi films with Pehle Aap in 1944 and Anil Biswas introduced Mukesh in Pehli Nazar in 1945. Of these perhaps the most important talent was undoubtedly Mohd. Rafi.

“While Rafi, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar went on to rule the Hindi Film Industries from the 1950s, there were other male playback singers whose contribution could not be denied – Manna Dey, Talat Mehmood and Hemant Kumar….. Meanwhile the 1940s had also thrown up some of the best female talent in playback singing – Meena Kapoor, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt and of course the one and only Lata Mangeshkar…”

And now, we move over to our regular Mohammad Rafi-related video clips and articles:

Mohammed Rafi – VOA Tribute – Rare interview and his own selection of songs –

The special program is a joint production of the staffers of VOA Urdu Service and the VOA English division. This is based on a rare interview of the legendary Bollywood singer, Mohammad Rafi, recorded during one of his visits to London in 1977 by Subhash Vohra of VOA English, who was then working for the BBC Hindi Service. This program, devoted to the memories of Rafi, also includes his own selection of songs.
You can also listen to very intimate observations of the famed Bollywood personality, Ameen Sayani, who is still adored in South Asia for his masterly music presentation over several decades.

Yasmin Khalid Rafi, daughter-in-law of Mohammed Rafi published her book- Mohammed Rafi – My Abba, A Memoire. In a review of the book on “Outlook”, With A Song on His Lips, Sathya Saran has this to state – “Few sang as Rafi sang, few touched so many as he did. A mellow, melancholy memoir recalls a master we don’t know.”

We have chosen to remain brief and focused in this episode. How would you to react to this style?

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – May 2014

Welcome to May 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

This month many of our regular blogs that we visit seem to have turned on to film reviews. Well, that provides us a good opportunity to test wider oceans.

Husnlal-Bhagatram – The ‘First’ Composer Duo – pens the narrative of the origin and rise of Husnlal – Bhagatram…. The duo is fond of fast pace, actualized mainly through dholak and employment of atonal drums such as matka or idiophones such as ghunghroo, etc.” …Another aspect of their composing style .. is that “they make a musical statement which consists of successive song-lines with a descending and repetitive tonal contours”, which “appears to resolve the melody into completeness and it seems easier to remember” and “very few notes are used in those lines”. …..

One style feature that makes many of Husnlal-Bhagatram’s fast-paced songs catchy and instantly likeable is their tendency to punctuate the melody lines with very short and catchy orchestral phrases as a trigger for repetition of words or line, or by inserting short pauses at the end of a mukhda or antara before the rhythm moves forward. There are many examples to illustrate this point but… here are two songs that .. can be easily identified as Husnlal-Bhagatram creations.

The first example is Suraiya’s popular ‘tere nainon ne chori kiya’ from ‘Pyar Ki Jeet (1948). The pause after ‘tere nainon ne’ is filled with a brief flute piece that becomes such an integral part of the tune that if you try humming the tune, that flute piece would instantly play in your mind. …………The other example is Lata’s ‘tum dil ko tod doge’ from ‘Farmaaish’ (1953). The prelude itself is enough for one to identify it as their creation, but look at the rest of the composition. The first line is broken right at the middle and filled with a music piece, then at the end of the line comes another music piece before the line is repeated in exactly the same manner. In the antaras, a similar approach is followed, although the musical punctuation is used at the end of each line and a lovely pause is introduced at the end of the cross-line.”

We have A lovely Mohammed Rafi – Suraiya duet from Sanam (1951), composed by Husnlal Bhagatram, Mohammed Rafi singing for Dev Anand and Suraiya singing for herself.

KHURSHEED BANO … Barso re .. Tansen.. A Forgotten song – Kursheed and Suraiya were the two singing actresses of Mumbai Film-world who have shared the honours with the renowned singer K.L. Saigal. This talented and famous actress/singer of the thirties and the forty’s, Khurshid Bano rested in peace on 18th April 2001 in Karachi, at the age of 87 years and thus an era of talent in terms of acting/singing in the film industry finally came to an end.

In Melody Makers of Yesteryears (Unforgettable melodies) – part 1, usha manohartakes up “Chitragupt, Sardar Mallik and Narayan Dutta who were not often approached by any of the top movie makers like Bimal Roy, Nasir Hussain, Guru Dutt , Raj Kapoor or Mehboob Khan, but nonetheless they did make an impact, and once in a while did get a chance to work with some top film makers. Whenever they composed music for any film, they came out with some of the most melodious and meaningful compositions .

In Part 2she takes up Dattaram, G S Kohli and Sapan Jagamohan.

In Part 3, Ajit Merchant, Iqbal Quereshi and Bipin Babul have been covered in details.

Fascinating True Story Of A Lata Mangeshkar Song Born in A Los Angeles Music Shop – narrates a very interesting story of a song which later in the same year (1958) Salil Chwdury composed – a classical Bengali song in Raag Khamaj (Carnatic-Hari Kambhoji) using the lovely Sur Bahar Sitar, David Bernard (of that LA music shop) gifted him in Los Angeles.. Sitar is the only musical instrument that is predominantly heard in the orchestration of this entire private song.. Perhaps this is also the only song in the Indian music history today wherein only Sitar is heard throughout a song..This Bengali song, is “..Naa jeo naa rajani ekhono baki..aaro kichhu dite baki.. bole raatjaaga pakhi..” was sung by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar..and its Hindi version “O Sajana barkhaa bahaar aayee..Ras ki phuhaar laayi.. Akhiyon mein pyar laayi..” (Parakh-1959).

Funny Hindi Songs – 20 Best Old Hindi Comedy Songs – “The other day I was watching the weekend show on Times Now which featured some of the best old Hindi comedy songs of yesteryear. Thus was the birth of this hub. They showed around 9 -11 songs as for the time constraint which every program on TV has. Here on the net, we don’t have any such time constraint, so I went ahead to compile a list of best 20 funny Hindi songs…..All these songs are excellently written and in one form or the other will give you a happy feeling. If the lyrics don’t evoke the laughing gases in you then do watch the video and shake a leg with it.”

We take a pause here in our charting of new waters.

Sickle Songs? Has listed three songs:

Aai Sawan Rut Ai – Mela (9148) – Mukesh, Shamshad Begum – Naushad

Naache Re Dharati Ke Pyaare – Heera Moti (1959) – Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar – Salil Chudhary [This is the only song composed by Salil Chaudhary, all others were composed by Roshan)

Aaj Meri Man Men Sakhi – Aan (1952) – Lata Mangeshkar and Chorus – Naushad

Does anyone have any more of the songs to add on to this subject?

Multiple Version Songs (16): Rabindra Sangeet and Pankaj Mullickis a very tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) and Pankaj Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) by guest author N Venkataraman.

SoY has also released one more of Multiple Version Songs post — Multiple Versions Songs (17): Haunting Melodies in Different Moods And Settings — guest written by yours truly.

We have a very interesting two part article by Shrikant Guatam, in his regular weekly (Gujarati) column “RangRaag” in ‘Madhuvan’   supplement of Janmabhoomi Pravasi. The article has listed Exceptional Partnerships – that of a music director and a lyricist – in the world of Hindi Film Music and have provided songs such partnerships have germinated. Since recording each of the song in the article here would entail copying the whole article, I have listed here the Partnership and the film(s) in which they have collaborated:

Hemant Kumar	Sahir Ludhianvi	Girl Friend	1960
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ek Hi Rasta	1956
	Gulzar	Khamoshi	1969
S D Burman	Gulzar	Bandini	1963
[just one song – Mora Gora Ang Lai Le – Lata Mangeshkar; beginning the long innings that Gulzar played donning lyricist cap, among several others]
Madan Mohan	Gulzar	Mausam	1975
	Sahir Ludhianvi	Railway Platform	1955
		Ghazal	1964
(jointly with Jai Dev)		Laila Majnu	1976
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Aakhari Dao	1958
Naushad	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Shajahan	1946
		Andaz	1949
		Saathi	1968
Roshan	Neeraj	Nai Umar Ki Nai Fasl	1965
Laxmikant Pyarelal	Hasrat Jaipuri	Chhaila Babu	1967
Kalyanji Anandji	Sahir Ludhianvi	Nanha Farishta	1969
	Gulzar	Purnima	1965
	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Ishara	1964
	Hasrat Jaipuri	Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani	1970

Both parts of the article, in Gujarati, can be read here and here.

This spurred me to re-look at an article on Shailendra’s filmography. Shailendra’s is a classic 80-20 Pareto Principle case – his great bulk of the work is with Shaker Jaikishan, followed by work with S D Burman and Salil Chaudhary and to fair extent with Roshan. Interestingly he has an equally impressive list of ‘exceptional partnerships’. Here are these gems:

Basant Prakash	Badnaam	1952
Sapan Jagmohan	Begana	1963
Ninu Majumdar	Bhai Saaheb	1954
Robin Banerjee	Massom	1960
Shailesh Mukherjee	Savera	1958
Shivram Narayan	Naya Kadam	1958
Chitragupta	Kal Hamara Hai	1959
R D Burman	Chhote Nawab	1961
Manohar	Chingari	1955
Sudhir Kar	Kaanch Ki Gudiya	1961
Shardul Kwatra	Piple Saheb	1954
	Tees Maar Khaan	1955
Kalyanji Anandji	Satta Bazar	1959
Kishore Kumar	Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Men	1964
	Hum Do Daku	1967
	Door Ka Raahi	1971
Anil Biswas	Sautela Bhai	1962
	Chhoti Chhoti Baaten	1965
C. Ramchandra	Chhatrapati Shivaji	1952
	Anarkali	1953
Ravi	Dilli Ka Thug	1958
	Jawani Ki Hawa	1959
	Nai Raahen	1959
Mukul Roy	Shailab	1956
	Detective	1958
Pandit Ravi Shankar	Anuradha	1960

Our friend Bhagwan Thavrani remembers: Tum Na Aaye Sanam Shama Jalti Rahi – Bhootnath (1963) – Vedpal – Lata mangeshkar – wherein he especially takes note of “Meri Awaz Ko Jaane Kyaa Ho Gaya, Main Baharon Men Gaati Rahi Jogiya.

We now take up regular take on Mohammad Rafi :

• Mohammad Rafi – A documentary

• Mohammad Rafi- A short film on his life and songs – Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3 of film on the songs and life of legendary singer Mohammad Rafi, with inputs of Vinod Viplav, who has written his first biography-Meri Awaz Suno. This short film was produced and aired by CNBC News and Entertainment TV Channel.

• Rare Unreleased Romantic Songs By Mohammed Rafi , composed by Madan Mohan

• Meri Awaaz Suno – Part 1 – Memories of Madan Mohan through his timeless melodies sung by Mohammad Rafi – Features introduction by Madanji, new nostalgic comments by Madanji and tributes by Mala Sinha, Khayyam and Jagjit Singh. It also features snippets of songs from Aakhari Dao (1958), Ghazal (1964), Suhagan (1964), Sharabi (1964), Haqueequat (1964) and Mera Saaya (1966).

Meri Awaaz Suno – Part 2 – Memories of Madan Mohan through his timeless melodies sung by Mohammad Rafi – Features tributes by Lataji, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Jaidev, Majrooh Sultanpuri and Jatin-Lalit. It also features snippets of songs from Aap Ki Parchhaiyan (1964), Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1966), Heer Ranjha (1970), Naunihal (1967), Chirag (1969), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Laila Majnu (1976) and Tere Bagair (2009).

Each of our episodes is able to scratch the surface of all the great work done by a vast number of fans, lovers and knowledgeable people on the web, i.e. leaving out even a greater amount of documentation done on the print media. Let us salute these great work and join in bring up more and more of such work in our reach…….

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – April 2014

Welcome to April 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Welcome, spring!with a few songs for the spring.

Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (9): Lachhiram -A very awkward and unfamiliar name, and not among the mainstream composers, it is so great a coincidence that even as this Blog Carnival’s March 2014 edition was on net, SoY had published this post. Lachchiram Tomar appears to have given music for around 20 films, but even in these hyper-active internet days, one does not find pre-1950 songs on internet!

Arunkumar Deshmukh, in his comment @ 13states: Aye Dil Machal Machal Ke Yoon, Rota Hai Zaar Zaar Kya “ solo of Lata from film Main Suhagan Hoon is the ONLY song of Lata, Lachhiram ever composed. He was the ‘one film-one song’ composer of Lata.” This aspect was also strongly mentioned in Shri Ashok Dave’s post on Main Suhagan Hoon, wherein it is categorically stated that Lachhiram had rather a strong preference for Asha Bhosle. Obviously, the reasons for such a pattern are not evidenced.

We have one more post relating to Forgotten composers – Celebrating the Uncelebrated: Ten of my favourite songs by lesser-known composers.

Most satisfying aspect of the subject of ‘Forgotten’ Creators of “Unforgettable” Melodies is that there are still fairly large number of knowledgeable persons who keep on with their active contributions of these ‘geniuses’ on internet and do a great service of creating an unforgettable documentation of this vital aspect of Indian Cinema.

The haunting music of Hemant Kumar– i.e. haunting songs that for some reason remain etched in your mind and you keep humming or visualizing the song often. Or, when a song conveys deep emotions that are unforgettable or which leave an impact even when you are not listening to the song. Enjoy 22 of these songs on the player here.

Lata Mangeshkar Sings for Laxmikant Pyarelal –Part 1talks about Lata – LP collaboration in 60s andPart 2talks about period from 1970 till 1996.

Found: Vyjayanthimala’s Other Bharatanatyam Dance in Chittor Rani Padmini (1963, Tamil)! – Cinema Nritya Gharana had presenteda beautiful Bharatanatyam dance of Vyjayanthimala’s in the 1963 Tamil film Chittor Rani Padmini in the first post on V.S. Muthuswami Pillai, but lamented that the second dance at the end of the movie she was said to have performed for the king could not be located . [This article was covered in August 2013 edition of this Blog Carnival.] Well! The dance has now been located, at the rich treasure house of Kandasamy Sekkarakudi Subbiah Pillai’s YouTube channel, and it is fantastic!

There are two dances that feature performers who are not yet identified (but definitely would like to know more about) and there is one song for which the identity of some of the singers seems to be a subject of hot debate. So, for the first post devoted to Khazanchi (there will probably be more here), let’s delve into these… Some Mystery Singers and Dancers in Khazanchi (1941).

The Mystery of the Missing Songs– a list of the songs (I knew were) filmed and deleted for one reason or the other.

‘Ten of my favourite ‘classic poem’ songs’ lists ten songs that are, in whole or part, written by classic poets.

My Favourites: Ghoda-Gaadi Songs –Here are these songs, “in the memory of an animal-drawn vehicle that gave us some wonderful melodies. But with some caveats.

• The songs can encompass any sort of horse-drawn vehicle – carriages, phaetons, Victorias, carts.
• The whole song had to be picturised on the vehicle. (That took care of two of my favourite songs, Ye kya kar dala tune from Howrah Bridge and Sun bairi balam from Bawre Nain.)
• It had to include the hero and  the heroine, even if only one of them were singing. (I originally titled this post Ghoda, Ghodi and Ghoda-Gaadi.) That deleted two other songs from my list: Chhoti si ye zindagani re from Aah, and Jhoome re neela ambar jhoomefrom Ek Gaaon ki Kahani.”

And as can be expected, there is at least one more of aTen of my favourite ghoda-gaadi songs “from pre-70s films that I’ve seen. Other than that, my requisites for the selected songs were:
1. That the person singing (on screen, that is) remains in the ghoda-gaadi through at least 80% of the song (which is whyAe dil hai mushkildoesn’t feature in this list).
2. Horse-drawn vehicles of all types qualify: tongas, Victorias, phaetons, even chariots. Horseback is out.
3. And, no two songs from the same film are allowed.”

SoY continues the great series on S D Burman and his songs with the leading playback singers, on the first death anniversary of Shamshad Begum with East meets West: Shamshad Begum’s songs by SD Burman.

We have some excellent material on one of most known ‘back-room’ face of Hindi Film Music – Manohari Singh.

In The Reed ManManohari Singh talks about his life and experiences, his colleagues and what it was like in the halcyon days of the Hindi film music world. [The post is penned byAshwin Panemangalore, who is primarily an electrical engineer, put in a long stint at L & T’s group of companies in software and instrumentation. After retiring in 2008 he is indulging in his passion for jazz.]

Manohari Singh – The Charming Pied Piper– Music lovers, both connoisseurs and common listeners, throng to listen to the mere sound of his instrument playing……Be it the Saxophone, Western (Key) Flute, the Clarinet or the Mandolin, there is a magical charm in the way he plays those instruments. There is unanimous agreement about the man’s extra special expressions, amazing breath control and inimitable tone of instrument playing.

Memories of Manohari Singh (1931 – 2010)is an anthological video clip capturing Manohari Singh’s work.

We also have two excellent posts presenting some important facets of legacies of two of the great (background) singers of Hindi Film Music world.

Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar Gramophone Record Museum : A National Heritage Made by Shri Suman Chaurasiya has more than 28000 records., of which records of Lata Mangeshkar’ s song number over 6000.

@ Beete Hue Din, Shishir Krishna Sharma’s article‘Tere Pyar Ka Aasra Chahta Hoon’ – Mahendra Kapoorremembers Mahendra Kapoor’s debut song,a duet ‘Kisi Ke Zulm Ki Tasweer Hai Mazdoor Ki Basti’ with Dhan Indorewala from the 1953 release movie ‘Madmast’. [ An interesting trivia – Music Director of this film – Madmast- V. Balsara and Dhan Indorewala went to marry later on.] Another song which Mahendra Kapoor sang for this movie was a qawwali with S.D.Batish, ‘Unhe Dekhein To Wo Munh Pher…Hamey Ankhein Dikhaate Hain’. …..

We also have some additional inputs by Shishir Krishna Sharma @ Mahendra Kapoor’s First Film Song He sang his first solo, “Kisko Daani Kahen … Tere Dar Ki Bhikmangi Hai Daata Duniya Saari” for Snehal Bhatkar’s Diwali Ki Raat in 1956.

The next song which he had sung was a Heer for the punjabi movie, Heer which had music by Anil Biswas. In addition to the above songs, He is also known to have recorded the following before participating in the competition:-

1. A few lines for the song “Ek Taraf Joru Ne Hai Nikaala” for composer Bulo C Rani in the movie Madhur Milan(1955). This song had been sung by Mohd Rafi, Geeta Dutt and A.R. Ojha and penned by Raja Mehdi Ali Khan.

2. A duet with Sabita Banerjee for composer Shanmukh Babu, “Oh Bedardi Jaane Ke Na kar Bahaane” for the movie Lalkaar(1956).

We eulogise passing away of V K Murthy, one of the most outstanding cinematographer, and Nanda, the beautiful and versatile actress of the Golden Era of Hindi Films.

The Masters : V K Murthy– Venkatrama Pandit Krishnamurthy’s journey to becoming VK Murthy, the eminent technician who was known as ‘Guru Dutt’s eyes’ is the stuff films are made of – a rags to riches story that began in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore in 1923.

No post on VK Murthy can be complete without the story behind the fantastic beamshot, for the song Waqt ne kiya,even though it’s been repeated in every tribute that has ever been written about the director, the film, or now, the cinematographer.

Here are a few of the video clips on V K Murthy:

• V K Murthy

• Sangeeta Katti presents Nakshatra Manthana : V.K. Murthy special episode

Ten of my favourite Nanda songs“to celebrate Nanda’s life and career—and to wish her farewell—a selection of ten of her songs that I particularly like. These are all from pre-70s films that I’ve seen, and in each song, Nanda’s character does some—if not all—of the singing…… RIP, Nanda. You will be missed. Your sunny smiles and laughing eyes, your dignity, your ability to make your characters so believable—all will be remembered.”

Here are some more tributes to Nanda from You Tube:

• Tribute… Nanda ji ki Yaad Mein.

• Tribute To Nanda – Ek Pyar Ka Nagma Hai

During the period for the present edition, our friend Bhagwan Thavrani has remembered Pyar Ki Dastan Tum Suno To Kahen – Lata Mangeshkar (Music Director: Hemant Kumar) from Farar (1965). That reminded me to look for Dil-E-Nadaan Ko Sambhalun To from the same film, which shows Lata Mangeshkar as singer in the credits, but is believed to have been rendered by Suman Kalyanpur. In any case, Hemant Kuamr was at his melodious self, in the film. Here are the rest of the songs from the film:

• Title Music and Screen Credits
• Log Peete Hain : Hemant Kumar
• Yeh Din Dayal :Bela Mukherjee
• Mera Qatil : Ranu Mukherjee

Songs of Yore has presented Best songs of 1951: And the winners are?– After reviewing the best songs of 1955 and 1953, which were gap years in the Filmfare Awards (Baiju Bawra,1952 was the first film to get the Filmfare Awards for the best music, but in the later years no films of 1953 and 1955 won these awards, SoY now comes to the pre-Filmfare era with 1951. 1951 seems to have more than 110 films and 1000 songs. Without any doubt, all discussions are going to be as live as any discussions on SoY or the previous 1955 and 1953 posts have been.

One of the most iconic song from the year 1951 is Thandi Hawayein Laharati Aayen – Naujawan – Lata Mangeshkar, S D Burman. In Thandi Hawayein Legacy – Charles Bayer crooned “C’est la vie” in Algiers(1938) without even realizing what a big chain of inspirations he had set for the next generation of Indian music makers.

Old Is Gold has presented two part interview with Ghalib Khan , son of famous Hindi Film lyricist Asad Bhopali. Thefirst part of the interviewends with an outstanding song from Film Afasana (1951)’s Kismat Bigdi Duniya Badli – Mukesh (Husnalal Bhagatram).

Thesecond part of the interviewtakes us to our usual section on Mohammad Rafi with Miss Bombay (1949) song – Zindagi Bhar Gham Judaai Ka Hamen Tadpaayega First Version and Second Version (Hansraj Behl) and “Ek Naari Do Roop” song Dil Ka Soona Saaz Tarana Dhoondhega(Ganesh).

Here are three posts on Mohammad Rafi for the present edition of this Blog Carnival:

• Pyarelal of Laxmikant Pyarelal speaks on Mohammad Rafi

• Tasveer Banata Hun Teri Khoon-e-Jigar SeMohammad.Rafi – Film: Deewana (1952) – Naushad Ali and its equally famous another version by Habib Wali Mohd.

• Mohd Rafi- Association with Bengali Composerspresents fairly even analysis of Mohammad Rafi’s association (or lack of association [! ?]) with music directors who hailed from East .

I am sure you will enjoy the present edition of our Blog Carnival and look forward to additions / inputs to enrich it further…….

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – March 2014

Welcome to March 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

For the period under review, we have two excellent compilations w.r.t. Talat Mahamood birth anniversary on 24^th February, 2014, from none other than Songs Of Yore.

• The first of the articles – The Mentor and the Protégé: Talat Mahmood songs by Anil Biswas – commemorates Talat Mahamood’s 90^th birth day. While Anil Biswas was not the most prolific  with Talat Mahmood as compared to C Ramchandra, Ghulam Mohammad and Madan Mohan, he remains the most important composer for him, so much so that you mention Talat Mahmood and Anil Biswas comes to mind.
• The article that follows on SoY, is also about an equally rare combination of Talat Mahmmod’s Hindi Songs career – with S D Burman : Talat Mahmood’s songs by SD Burman. Talat Mahmood had only about 15 songs with S D Burman, a fraction of the songs SDB has with Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. But his impact was way beyond his numbers, and SD Burman created several immortal songs with him, as he did with Mukesh with about the same number of songs, as can be seen in this article and comments thereto.

These two articles lead us to search for a retrospective on similar articles on Talat Mahmood. Surprisingly, during the searches, one comes up either to vanilla Talat Mahamood songs catalogues or vanilla playlists, but not very incisive analyses that looks at Talat Mahmood’s career with different music directors at different phases / periods of the Golden Era of the Hindi Film Music.

• In Remembering Talat Mahmood, Avijit Ghosh reminisces mass hysteria when he arrived in Trinidad in West Indies on a concert tour in 1968. Fans thronged the roads from the airport to the city. The local group, West Indies Steel Band, composed a Calypso track in his honour. They sang, “Talat Mahmood we are proud and glad, to have a personality like you here in Trinidad”.
• Shammi Kapoor Clears A Misconception! Talat Mahmood Was My First Hit Singer (not Mohd Rafi !!!) in the TV documentary “SHAMMI KAPOOR UNPLUGGED – Episode – 52” ( in that ) his first hit singer was actually ‘KING OF GHAZALS’ TALAT MAHMOOD throughout the 50’s who gave him a host of hit songs in his movies like “THOKAR”, “MEMSAHIB”, “NAQAAB”, “SIPAH SALAR”, “MEHBOOBA”, “CHOR BAZAAR”,”LAILA MAJNU” and “MOHAR”.
• Shri L.K. ADVANI ji’ s daughter PRATIBHA ADVANI who is a huge fan of TALAT MAHMOOD produces and comperes this lovely video documentary –“YAADEN” – TALAT MAHMOOD!.”
• Shri L.K. Advani ji’s brother-in-law MANEK PREMCHAND brings out the best of ‘KING OF GHAZALS’ TALAT MAHMOOD in an exclusive 2 hour interview with his singer son KHALID !
  In an excerpt – The Discordant Notes, The Telegraph, October 17, 2010 – from A Journey Down Memory Lane, famed Hindi Film journalist Raju Bharatan states that Anil Biswas had prevailed upon music DAAG (1952) director duo of Shanker Jaikishan to make way for Talat Mamood as THE playback singer for the film’s hero – Dilip Kumar.
• From amongst, several Talat Mahmood video songs-clips, here is one that is rare and one of the very last in Talat Mahmood’s Hindi Film song career: Tap Tup Tap Tup Boonde Barse – from a 1982 bilingual film ARTAP.
• Dusted Off presents us two different windows on Talat Mahamood.

The first one is a post written 4 years before, on Talat Mahmood’s 86^th birthday – Ten of my favourite Talat Mahmood songs.

The second one is a review of Nakli Nawab(1962), in terms of an observation that films’s music Director, Babul, has used three playback singers for the hero – Manoj Kumar – in the film.

Talat Mahmood, in a duet with Asha Bhosle – Mast Aankhen Hai Ke Paimaane

Mukesh in Phoolon Se Rangeen Zameen Hai

And two of Mohammad Rafi classics – Tum Poochhati Ho Ishq Bhala Hai Nahin and Chheda Jo Dil Ka Fasana

Well, now that we have jumped over to Mohammad Rafi track, let us continue our present journey on that track and fathom what we have in store this month in so far as Mohammad Rafi is concerned.

Jabberwock returns to an infrequent series about old song sequences (some earlier entries Aashirwad, “Rail Gaadi” and the vitality of the well-done song sequence; the pleasures of “Saaf Karo Insaaf Karo and Cold water for Devdas – song sequences in Biwi aur Makaan) with thoughts on “Tere Mere Sapne” from Guide , in the article “Tere Mere Sapne”, a visual treat.

“Hindi cinema has a long history of the song sequence as a declaration of love or commitment, but rarely has it been done as well as it is here. This sequence lasts more than four minutes, but it is made up of only three shots, which increase progressively in length – in other words, there are only two cuts in the whole scene. While the song in itself is one of the loveliest we have ever had, the visualisation shows Vijay Anand’s talent for using the long, unbroken take to add dramatic intensity and continuity to a given situation.”

Shri Ashok Dave has presented one more of a rare combination of Mohammad Rafi with a music director who did not get due that his talent deserved – Lachhiram (Tamar) , through songs of Main Suhagan Hoon (1964) :

• Tu Shaukh Kali Main Mast Pawan (solo)
• Sab Jawan Sab Haseen Koi Tum Sa Nahin

Two duets with Asha Bosle

• Gori Tore Nain Nainwa, Kajal Bin Kajaraare
• Tu Shaukh Kali, Main Mast Pawan, Tu Sham-e-wafa, Main Parawana (duet)

Interestingly in such a Mohammad Rafi dominated film we have a Talat Mahmood solo – Ye Kis Manzil Pe Le Aayee Meri Badkismati Mujhko.

And of course, the film has a very pleasant Lata Mangeshkar number – Aye Dil Machal Machal Ke Yoon, Rota Hai Zaar Zaar Kya.

From now on, we will also document here songs that our friend, Bhagwan Thavraniforwards via his emails or SMSes. This month we have:

• Chandrama Ja Unse Keh Do – Bharat Milap – Lata Mangeshkar, Mahender Kapoor
•  Tumhi Ne Dil Mera – Air Mail (1960) – Mohammad Rafi, Suman Kalyanpur – Music Director – Sardul Quatra.
•  Interestingly here too, we have a Mohammad Rafi solo Jo Aaj Tak Hua Na – Gule Bakawali 1963 – Music Director – Hansraj Behl, as well as a Talat Mahmood solo JIYUNGA JAB TALAK– CHINGARI(1955) – Music Director Manohar

We now go back to our regular track of playlists featuring Hindi Films songs with a focused subject.

• My Favourites: Songs in Disguise –“would have only disguised heroes, not heroines (who could be disguised or not, if they were part of the duets), and b) the hero had to be singing, not just remain a spectator. And, oh, just for me, because I like making things difficult for myself – only one song per hero.”
• Ten of my favourite wind songs – “There have been songs addressed to the wind, songs about the wind. Here are ten of my favourites, in no particular order. The only restrictions I’ve imposed on myself are: (a) As always, the song should be from a film I’ve seen, from before the 1970s And (b) the song should have a word synonymous with wind (hawa, saba, pawan, etc) in the first line of the song.”
• SoY had done a very interesting article Suman Kalyanpur outshines Lata Mangeshkar on October 4, 2010. The purpose of recalling this article is one of the recent comments by Rakesh Srivastava as well as discussions linked to that comment. These discussions provide us a wealth of Suman Kalayanpur songs. The comment by AM has meticulously listed Suman Kalyanpur’s songs composed by Shanker Jaikishan.
• In Magic of Raj Kapoor and Shanker Jaikishen, rsbaab has presented an interesting analysis, certainly predominant in RK-SJ films, but nonetheless went on become hallmark of SJ’s style elsewhere too. SJ’s extensive use of preludes, blend of harmony + tempo in the orchestration, descending notes of mukhda line in the higher notes and gradually make each line of the mukhda end on a lower note , very heart tugging lyrics, use of rich and full-bodied tone instrumentsand appealing (folk) dances .
• Bollyviewer @ Old Is Gold has now moved to a new address – Masala Punch. We take that opportunity to visit an earlier post My favorite piano-songs, where in at least one character is actually playing the piano.

March is the month of Holi- which is not only the festival of colours by also of spoofs- somewhat alike what West does on 1^st of April.

SoY has taken the opportunity to sprinkle a dash of A ‘serious’ review of Sangam (1964) in its Golden Jubilee Year and seriously analyses how ‘Raj Kapoor overturns Bollywood triangle to convey profound social messages’.

Dances on Footpath has added two wonderful images to celebrate the spirit of Holi.

We sign off the current edition of the blog carnival while Dusted Off explores some known advantages of blogging before diving deep into The funny side of blogging.

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – February 2014

Welcome to February 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We commence the present edition with three consecutive posts on Mukesh @ Conversations Over Chai –

• The Legends: Mukesh – presents author’s favourite Mukesh solos that he sang for many others (than Raj Kapoor), and successfully, at that.

• The Legends: Mukesh – Part 2 –  the duets that the author likes “just at present”.

• My Favourites: Mukesh Sings For Raj Kapoor –  author’s  “favourite Mukesh melodies picturised on Raj Kapoor. Actor and singer. Face and voice. Body and soul.”

These articles also prod us to take a retrospective look at article son Mukesh on the blogs tha we regularly visit on these pages:

• Dusted Off explores Ten of my favourite Mukesh songs.

• Cineplot’s Mukesh remembers the first song, a ghazal, composed by Ashok Ghosh for the film Nirdosh where he co-starred with Nalini Jaywant- Dil bujha to phasl-e-bahaar kya.

• @ Songs of Yore:

My favourite happy songs of Mukesh – songs that differ from Mukesh stereotyped image of THE singer of sad songs.

Mukesh’s best happy duets – “ a peppy song becomes peppier in a duet, especially if the male singer is one whose natural instinct favours soulful, slow emotional songs” as can be heard in these Mukesh duets.

Mukesh and his romance with ‘Dil’  – There was something special about Mukesh and ‘dil’, not only his romantic heart but his romancing the heart- dil songs of incredible beauty.

Songs of Yore continues to blaze the 2014 trail with:

Door Papiha Bola: Suraiya by Anil Biswas – presents Suaraiya’s songs under the baton of Anil Bisaws, reaffirming an  otherwise what is considered as an underrated bond of the two legends, in comparison to Suraiya’s  songs under other music directors like Naushad, Hushnalal Bhagatram , Ghulam Mohammad  or Anil Biswas’s songs with other playback singers like  Lata Mangeshkar, Meena Kapoor.

Songs of Atariya – With a tribute to Begum Akhtar in her Centenary Year – watch atariya in these settings to realize the intrinsic beauty in the lore associated with this word.

We also take a retrospective tour to some other articles on Suraiya:

• Nivedita Ramakrishnan wrote One day I discovered Suraiya – when Suraiya passed away, for India Abroad, March 12, 2004. The article was reproduced @ Cinema Corridor on the occasion of her ninth death anniversary.

• Cineplot’s Suraiya (1929-2004) is a short archived brief.

• indiavideodotorg has presented Waris (1954) in the 95^th episode of 100 years of Bollywood

• Anmol Fankar’s Suraiya on LP Records also brings the days of chronicler of this carnival where vinyl records used to be his major source of access to the songs of Golden Era of HFM. These records still continue to reminisce those moments when we used to listen these records from his erstwhile painstakingly built collection.

• 100 Years Of Bollywood : Suraiya : The First Melody Queen

Dances on Footpath presents third Cuckoo’s birthday post – Happy Birthday, Cuckoo Moray!. The one was an equally substantial post in 2011, and the second was a small one, with her song from Mirza Sahiban, posted in 2013.

Conversations Over Chai presents  “One of my favourite actresses of the period, as much for beauty and screen presence as for her acting skills, here are my pick of what I think are her [Ten]  best roles” in The Divas: Sadhana.

The article on the Suraiya – Anil Biswas combination @ Songs of Yore has an interesting participant in the discussions – Lavnaya Shah, daughter of  a noted HFM lyricist and poet  Pandit Narendra Sharma. She also has written Daughter remembers: ‘ Jyoti ~ Kalash’ – the daughter’s tribute to the poem (and one of the most iconic songs)  Jyoti Kalash Chhalake . The discussions also provides us link to an abridged version of Life and Career of Pandit Narendra Sharma.

Valentine’s Day has given us two posts – both seem to be grudging contributions to the spirit of romance.

Dusted Off has presented Songs of romantic love – in ten moods –  “with a twist: not necessarily a serenade to a loved one, and not necessarily two lovers billing and cooing to each other. Instead, romantic love in its different forms and shapes and tones and hues. All of these songs are about romantic love (not maternal/fraternal/patriotic/devotional or other forms of the sentiment), and they’re all from pre-70s films that I’ve seen. And they’re each in a distinct mood that shows some aspect of romantic love.”

Conversations over Chai has presented “some beautiful songs that make you feel that romance is still alive, that if ‘love’ exists, this is how it should be/feel like, songs that make you feel all mushy for a while” in My Favourites : Love Songs.

For this edition’s Mohammad Rafi articles we have:

• Javed Akhtar’s  Classic Legends : For U Rafi Sahab  :

• Amitabh Bachchan : Mohhamed Rafi was a rare singer : “Rafi sang great songs without technological support”

• Tribute To Rafi Saheb – Radio Ceylon Morning (31-07-2012)

• Sonu Nigam talking about his idol Mohd. Rafi on Radio Mirchi.

• Meri Awaz Suno (www.mohdrafi.com)  has Dr. Souvik Chaterjee’s Rafi and Madanmohan combination created artistic songs, fondly recounts some of the finest ghazals that this combination has presented.

Till we meet again next month…. I look forward to your inputs for enriching the carnival…