Tag: Dada Phalke

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

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

We first pay our tributes to the artists who passed away recently:

Irfan Khan passed away on 29th April 2020. Irfan Khan’s Wife Sutapa Sikdar and sons Ayan and Babil released a statement about Irfan Khan’s untimely death.@ Our life was a masterclass in acting, learnt to see harmony in cacophony. Amitava Nag @ Irfan Khan – A Personal Tribute writes a heartfelt tribute. Anuradha Warrier feels the loss @ And Movies Will Never Be The Same.  Irrfan is a tribute from his follower.

Credit: Business As Usual by E P Unny, April 2020

In a tribute to Rishi Kapoor @ Amitabh is ‘destroyed’, Simi mourns her ‘darling’ & Lata holds on to memories of Chintu note Shubhangi Misra and Yimkumla Longkumer. Anuradha Warrier extends the Hyphen In Between the Rishi Kapoor’s tweeter tag line “Son of a famous father, father of a famous son. I’m the hyphen in between.” by stretching it a little further to note that he was also the hyphen between the superstardom of Rajesh Khanna and the juggernaut that was Amitabh Bachchan. Jai Arjun Singh @ Rishi Kapoor, in memoriam notes that looking back on his work during that time, it’s interesting to consider how often he seems to be a silent or passive presence, or how often we see the character he plays in relation to someone else

That passionate voice of music – Radio Ceylon host Gopal Sharma, known as ‘the first RJ of India passed away at the age of 88 on 22nd May. Sharma’s greeting “Awaaz ki duniya ke doston … ” became synonymous with him.

Deepa also has paid a very intimate tribute @ Gopal Sharma – A Boon Companion from the World of Voice

We can listen to his voice in this video clip:

We pick up other tributes and memories:

Should Phalke, 150, Be Forgotten?  – On May 3, 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra was released commercially. May 3 was finalised as the day the National Film Awards would be given out every year. Ratnottama Sengupta wonders how the Government of the world’s largest filmmaking country had made no plans to mark Phalke’s 150th anniversary this year.

Kaagaz Ke Phool is Guru Dutt’s masterclass in filmmaking and heartbreak – Guru Dutt’s classic, tragic film is brought to life by subtle performances and dialogue, gorgeous camerawork and Kaifi Azmi’s haunting lyrics.

On the B.R. Chopra’s birth anniversary, The Print looks back @ Gumrah, BR Chopra’s tale of a woman’s desire that challenged conventions back in 1963 – Gumrah, said to be inspired by the love story of Dilip Kumar and Kamini Kaushal, was refreshingly bold and managed to stand apart from the many adaptations that followed.

Anokhi Raat – A Unique Look at the Bitter Truths – Asit Sen’s Anokhi Raat, true to its name was a unique film that told the story of an unusual stormy night – the storms being both within and outside. Sundeep Pahwa looks back at this film with some memories, observations and trivia. Monica Kar (in maroon font) ponders on the memorable songs of this film, which was the swan song of music director Roshan.

‘Hansraj Behl – A Forgotten composer’ is a look-back to his songs in Part 1 and Part 2.

Raat Aur Din, directed by Satyen Bose, was the perfect swansong for Nargis – Nargis Dutt’s performance as a woman with an identity disorder in this 1967 film won her the first National Award for Best Actress.

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

In our Manna Dey birth centenary series, after Manna Dey and his contemporary lead actors, and Manna Dey’s Comedy Songs for Mehmood, we are on the first part of the last leg,

SoY too pays tribute to Manna Dey @ Remembering a special singer Manna Dey

May 2020  episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up the less-heard songs of Manna Dey in the series Manna Dey – Chale Ja Rahein Hai…. – 1951 – 1953 . Till now we have his

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

“Quarantine” or “Lockdown” Dances (in other words, more dances in people’s homes) – As the title suggests, this is a quick compilation of videos posted by the classical-home-performers while fighting the boredom of this lockdown period.

Jetha Ramdhanu Othe Heshe: The Smiling Rainbow of Talat Mahmood (Tapan Kumar’s) Bengali Songs – Among the many tributes and special features on the legendary singer Talat Mahmood, few, if any, talk about his remarkable repertoire of superhit Bengali songs he sang in the early part of his career. Under the name of Tapan Kumar, Talat Mahmood began his Calcutta sojourn with his first record of Bengali songs in 1944. Sounak Gupta chronicles that illustrious journey, remembering the velvet-voiced singer.

Remembering Talat Mahmood for his happy mood songs,

Songs and contra-songs lists songs of opposing truths. E.g. songs on एक/अनेक (one /many)

Howard Roark’s speech in the courtroom in The Fountainhead (1949)

Ek chidiya anek chidiya (animated short film) by Bhimsain

Madhulika Liddle lists  Ten of my favourite ‘multiple version’ songs – male/female solo versions and Ten of my favourite ‘multiple version songs: one voice, two solo versions

Sadma is an achingly beautiful story about a love that defies labels – Balu Mahendra’s Hindi remake of his Tamil classic, Moondram Pirai, was a milestone in his, Sridevi’s and Kamal Haasan’s careers.

SoY initiates Best songs of 1945: And the winners are? , the 10th episode in the annual series Best songs of year. We will take up Micro View of Songs of 1945 from next month.

We end the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, each one of which basically has a link with the topics discussed in the present post, we have picked up:

Tera Jalwa Jisne Dekha Woh  Diwna Ho Gaya – Laila Majnu (1945)  – with S D Batish – Pt. Govindram – Tanveer Naqvi

(Mohammad Rafi has made maiden on-screen appearance @ 1.17in this song.)

Bulbul Mein Hai Naghmme Tere – Laila Majnu (1953) – with Khan Mastana – Ghulam Mohammad – Shakeel Badayuni

Yeh Duniya – Yahudi (1958) – Shankar Jaikishna – Shaiendra

Tum Jahan Jaoge Mujh Ko Wahin Paoge – Chor Darwja (19650 – Roy Frank – Koifi Azmi

Yeh Diwane Ki Jid Hai – Laila Majnu (1976) – Madan Mohan – Sahir Ludhyanavi

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 – May, 2017

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

Month of May also has brought in two very specific posts:

Singing for a better tomorrow: A Hindi film song helpline for May Day – Ashwini Deshpande

On International Workers’ Day, a reminder of the times when lyricists, in Hindi films. These songs were filled with optimism, hope and dreams of a better life marked by equality.

Month of May also has a most significant milestone for Indian Cinema. DG Phalke’s labour of love ‘Raja Harishchandra’ was released on May 3, 1913. Here is what went into the making of the first Indian feature film – Sruthi Ganapathy Raman  recalls  that it was far from easy to make.

We will now take up the posts on the anniversaries or eulogies:

Passing away of Vinod Khanna did result in a downpour of eulogies, form all and different quarters.

  • Vinod Khanna conquered Hindi cinema by just being there – Mustansir Dalvi – When not playing the villain, Vinod Khanna played straight man to the more garrulous co-stars.
  • Thus Endeth Another Chapter of “a man with sad eyes, self-confident without being arrogant, the quietness of a man who was – finally – at peace with himself. For someone who was so much a man’s man, so ruggedly handsome, what remains with me is the half-smile that quirked his lips in the most endearing way, and the way his eyes lit up when he smiled. That smile made him at once real, and human.”
  • In Tribute: Vinod Khanna (1946-2017) – The deeply nuanced roles that went to actors like Sanjeev Kumar may not have been Vinod Khanna’s, but the roles he played, he played well. He played them convincingly, and he played them with a flair that was very appealing.
  • ‘Where are the available men’ and other tales from the sets of the sexual liberation drama ‘Rihaee’ – Arunaraje Patil faced typical and unforeseen challenges while directing her first solo feature in Gujarat in 1988 – edited excerpts from her autobiography Freedom My Story– “It was during the dubbing of Rihaee, that Vinod, finding me preoccupied, literally cornered me into telling him what the problem was. When he found out what was bothering me, he stepped out of the studio, went to his car and got me thirty thousand rupees. This was exactly what I needed for the first print. When I made a fuss about taking it, he thrust it in my hands and said, ‘Don’t worry, payable when able.’”
  • Remembering (and Re-Introducing) Vinod Khanna – Little wonder then that this strikingly handsome man, who might have made a career out of being a poster boy, letting his sunglasses and open shirts do most of the work for him, participated in a number of relatively offbeat or understated films – starting with Gulzar’s Mere Apne and Achanak and Sunil Dutt’s Reshma aur Shera, and continuing for the next two decades, through Meera, Lekin… , Muzaffar Ali’s uncompleted Zooni, or Patil’s Rihaee

Zohra Sehgal was the mother of all screen grandmothers – Rhea Nath – In movie after movie, the dancer and stage actress played a matriarch as charming as she is crusty.

Waqt Ne Kiya – The Introspective Songs of Kaifi Azmi – Peeyush Sharma – We have picked up one rare song here and one – one of the finest – at the end of our episode:

Aaj ki kaali ghata  – Uski Kahani, 1966 – Geeta Dutt – Kanu Roy

Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana: Shankar Jaikishan’s Melodies of 1971 – 18 Films, 104 Songs – Peeyush Sharma – Shankar, bade goodbye to this world on 26 April 1987. Jaikishan departed on 12th September, 1971. SJ (Shankar-Jaikishan) had 18 Hindi and one Telugu film releases this year. They had also now started working with a variety of lyricists; Hasrat was the regular as always, they added Rajendra Krishan, S H Bihari, Neeraj, Shaili Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, Varma Mallik, Indeevar and even Gulzar. Jaikishan had earlier appeared on screen way back performing on the Mukesh song, Ae pyase dil bezubaan, tujhko le jaaun kahan, in Begunaah in 1957. This year he made an appearance as Jaikishan himself, working on a balancing machine while recording the Kishore song Naach Meri Jaan Fatafat. The song went on Mehmood.

We have picked up three songs form the Telugu film Jeevitha Chakram:

Kallallo Kallupetti

Kanti Choopu (Female)

And its male version

Shankar-Jaikishan’s duets (1): Mukesh/Rafi with female singers and Shankar Jaikishan’s duets (2) is the continuum of singerwise posts for Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh, Rafi, Manna Dey, ‘Other singers’ and two posts on their dance songs – for Lata Mangeshkar and female dance duets.

The May 2017 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs was dedicated to Snehal Bhatkar. Snehal Bhatkar composed songs for 27 Hindi films and 12 Marathi films. His contribution in Marathi NFS is also highly respected.

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

Returning to the songs of Ningalenne Communistakki (but still looking for subtitles) presents songs from a classic Malayalam film Ningalenne Communistakki.

Ashwin Bhandrakar debuts with guest post Beena madhur madhur kacchu bol in unpretentious style peppered with a dash of humour on bees and honey.

‘Pakeezah’ resonates to the sound of Meena Kumari’s anklets – Manish Gaekwad – The soundtrack of the 1972 classic was by Ghulam Mohammed, who used the foot ornaments to startling effect.

Lovers burn up the phone wires in ‘Jalte Hai Jiske Liye’– Nandini Ramnath – The song from Bimal Roy’s 1959 classic ‘Sujata’ is one of the most quietly raging love songs out there.

‘Dil Dhoondta Hai’ and the heart that never stops searching – Bubla Basu -Gulzar’s ‘Mausam’ features two versions of a love. From the first words “Dil dhoondta hai” (the heart is searching), we slip into the nostalgic, compelling mood of the film. Someone, somewhere, somehow is searching for someone. The solo is an echo of a love that is lost but not forgotten…. Madan Mohan’s haunting music and Gulzar’s evocative lyrics ensure that we recognise the song later in the film when Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore render a longer and livelier duet.

The original ‘Meri Pyari Bindu’ from ‘Padosan’ is more than just a comical tune – The popular song by Kishore Kumar from the 1968 comedy mixes traditional Baul music with elements of the qawwali and the love ballad.

Two Mukesh duets buzzing me today: Yeh Duniya Hai… Yahan Dil Ka Lagana Kis Ko Aata Hai (Shair,1949, Ghulam Mohammad) and   Khayalon Mein Kisi Ke Is Tarah Aaya Nahin Karate (Banware Nain, 1950, Roshan).

When the bhajan ‘Om Jai Jagdish Hare’ inspired a Pakistani love song – Karan Bali – ‘Phirni Aan Main Labdi’, from the 1957 movie ‘Nooran’, features Pakistani singing sensation Noor Jehan. – Written by Hazin Qadri, Phirni Aan Main Labdi is among several wonderful tunes by composer Safdar Hussain for Nooran.

We could not make any progress in annual Micro View of Best Songs 1948 @SoY.

We end our present episode with Kafi Azmi’s the song that just sweeps you away: Tum jo mil gaye ho (Hanste Zakhm, 1973, Madan Mohan). It has got the rhythm of the crashing waves and pouring rain in every note. It rises and falls like the tidal sea waves, races like the wind and then slows down to a gentle pitter-patter only to pick up the pace again at a frenetic speed. What an amazing song, composition and rendition by the trio of Kaifi Azmi-Madan Mohan-Rafi.

Tum bhi the khoye khoye, main bhi bujhaa-bujhaa
Thaa ajnabi zamaanaa apnaa koi na thha
Dil ko jo mil gayaa hai teraa sahaaraa

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