Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XI – May 2023 Edition

Welcome to May 2023 edition of XI^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

LnC-Silhouette commemorates the centenary celebration of Mrinal Sen’s birth anniversary with the series Mrinal Sen@100

Bajooband Khul Khul Jaye – Remembering Mohammad Shafi on his 43rd death anniversary.

How KJ Yesudas cast a spell on Hindi film music – After Jaaneman Jaaneman, Basu Chatterji offered Yesudas another song in his next film Chitchor (1976) – what would become the iconic Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara. ….. Even though he made his Hindi debut in the late 1970s, by the end of the decade, Yesudas had already sung an impressive number of chart-toppers, most of which have become classics. By one estimate, Yesudas has sung at least 207 film songs in Hindi. This number does not quite do justice to the outsized impact he has had on Hindi film music.

Of Incomplete Tales: My Friendship with Guru Dutt in Parts 1 & 2 and Parts 3 & 4. – Translation & Postscript: Ratnottama Sengupta – In his autobiography Eka Naukar Jatri/ Journey of a Lonesome Boat, Nabendu Ghosh wrote about his troubled friendship with the legend Guru Dutt who valued his writing yet wasted his scripts.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1958 – Lata Mangeshkar.

Apni Kahaani Chhod Ja: Leave a Story That Will Be Retold – Apni kahaani chhod ja — a line that personifies the masters who created such unforgettable classics as Do Bigha Zamin. Seventy years after the film was released in 1953, we enjoy and discuss this masterpiece by Bimal Roy and sing its songs, which we know by heart. Shirish Waghmode rewinds the song to explore how relevant it still is.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (4): Kishor Desai – the mandolinist,  is the fourth article in the series on music arrangers and musicians. The previous ones have covered Sebastian D’ Souza and Anthony Gonsalves, and Enoch Daniels

May 2023 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Manna Dey – Chale Ja Rahein Hai…. : 1957 (1). Till now, we have covered Manna Dey’s less popular, less-heard songs for the years –

1942 – 1946 in the year 2018.

1947 – 1950 in the year 2019.

1951 – 1953 in the year 2020

1954-1955 in the year 2021, and

1956 in the year 2022

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Playback Singer’s Cameo is about a playback singer appearing as a singer on the screen.

Yatindra Mishra’s ‘Lata Mangeshkar: A Life in Music’ – Over a period of about four years, from 2010 to 2014, Lata Mangeshkar was interviewed by the biographer Yatindra Mishra, the interviews coming together in the form of a Hindi book, Lata: Sur Gatha. The biography won a National Award and was published in its English translation (Lata Mangeshkar: A Life in Music, translated by Ira Pande) earlier this year.

Birdmen of Delhi – on the lovely documentary All That Breathes – There are many ways of talking about Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes – the warm, life-affirming story of two brothers who rescue injured cheel (black kites) in north Delhi – but the moment that drew the author into the film was an early shot that played like a sight-gag from a silent-movie comedy.

Solo Songs with an unobtrusive listener – Many of us love to undertake certain activities especially singing when we are alone. That perhaps explains the popularity of bathroom singing!!. However, this post is about solo songs where the singer is unaware of the fact that there is an unobtrusive listener who is hearing the song, sung more for self- assurance/self-pity or entertainment. For example  yhe part that Mohammad Rafi Sings in Tere Bin Soone Nain Hamaare (Meri Surat Teri Aankhen (1963) – Lyrics: Shailendra – Music: S.D.Burman.

After Ballads of Love: Ecstacy and Ballads of Love: Agony D P Rangan concludes the trilogy with Ballads of Love: Flippant where the love birds express their mutual love in a light-hearted manner, e.g. Unko Rupaye Mein Solah Aane Humse Nafart Hai Humko Rupaye Mein Do Rupaye Tumse Mohabbat Hai – Pyar Ki Baatein (1951 ) –  G M Durrani, Asha Bhosle – Lyrics Khawar Zaman – Music: Khayyam

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• • • Smita Patil-Naseeruddin Shah’s Bazaar explains how women are pushed into buying society’s misogynistic agenda – Sagar Sarhadi’s Bazaar, starring Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah, makes a larger statement by the stolen looks between characters that say much more than words ever could.
    • Gulzar’s Namkeen was the Jee Le Zaraa of its time that cast three female stalwarts in one film – When Farhan Akhtar announced Jee Le Zaraa with three leading female actors, it was applauded for such films are not made very often. But 41 years ago, Gulzar made a film with three leading women that never got as much recognition.
    • Smita Patil’s Bhumika is the celebrity biopic that should have been the blueprint for The Dirty Picture, Mahanati – Smita Patil starrer Bhumika is the story of a successful film actress whose nightmarish life has left her lonely. But, Shyam Benegal doesn’t tell her story via her profession, but used it only as a backdrop.

Songs of Yore has commenced Best songs of 1942 in the series Best songs of year

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Zara Dekh Idhar Idhar Dekh Dekh – Badshah Salamat (1956) – Lyrics: P L Santoshi – Music: Bulo C Rani

Daudo Ji Chor Chor Bhaga Dil Churake – Chaar Minar (1956) – Lyrics:  Vishwamyra Adil – Music:  Shardul Kwatra

Ye Kaisa Yog Liya Sarkaar – Guru Ghantal (1956)  – Lyrics: Ghaafil Harnaalvi – Music: Lachhi Ram

Ghazab Hua Ram Zulm Hua Ram – Agra Road (1957)  – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan – Roshan

 

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 – Volume XI – April 2023 Edition

Welcome to April 2023 edition of XI^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Tributes pour in for producer-singer Pamela Chopra, wife of Yash Chopra, who passed away on 20^th April – Pam Chopra and Yash Chopra tied the knot in 1970, but they weren’t impressed with each other after their first meeting for a ‘rishta’.

Rakhi, Pamela Chopra, and the late Yash Chopra are seen doting on baby Aditya Chopra.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Lata Mangeshkar sings with Music Directors – nearly all the songs are duets except one – The song may or may not be composed by the same music director.

Shamshad Begum: The voice behind Kabhi Aar Kabhi Paar, Saiyyan Dil Mein left Hindi film music due to rampant politics – Shamshad Begum’s voice was behind some of the biggest hits of the 1940s and 1950s but the singer stepped away from Hindi film music because of the rampant politics.

SN Tripathi Part 1: The Vintage Years – A Multi-faceted Talent is the first part of tribute to SN Tripathi on the 35th Anniversary of his Remembrance Day (14 March 1913-28 March 1988), with his songs in the Vintage Years, the 1930s and 40s.

How films became a bridge to my past and my present – Film scholar Suresh Chabria unpacks the meaning of nostalgia in a digital age, about films that were not seen in the digital formats and carriers now available, but mostly in movie theatres and auditoria where film societies and the cultural institutes in Mumbai screened movies in the 1960s. Often, the print or projection quality was of an indifferent nature. But each film satisfied one’s hunger for emotion and spectacle expressed in moving images and sounds that cinephiles everywhere speak of as ‘the magic of cinema’.

BR Chopra dared to make Hindi cinema’s first song-less film in 1960, which won a National Award – On BR Chopra’s birth anniversary, revisiting his 1960 film Kanoon which won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The Ashok Kumar-Rajendra Kumar starrer was the first song-less Hindi film.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (3): Enoch Daniels is the third article in the series on music arrangers and musicians. The previous ones have covered Sebastian D’ Souza and Anthony Gonsalves,

Zohra Sehgal: The grand old lady of Indian cinema who walked in the West so Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai could fly – Arushi Jain – Zohra Sehgal was a multi-hyphenate: an actor, a danseuse, a choreographer, and a stage performer. She defied the barriers of religion, age and gender at every step of her life and was full of life till the very end.

“Ye Raat Phir Na Ayegi, Jawani Beet Jayegi” – Leela Pandey,  who acted in just about a dozen films in eight years, but created her distinct mark. Ye Raat Phir Na Ayegi, Jawani Beet Jayegi (Mahal, 1949 – Rajkumari, Zohrabai Ambalewali – Lyrics: Nakshab Jarchvi – Music: Khemchand Prakash) is one song wherein Leela Pandey shared the screen with Sheela Naik.

Hasrat Jaipuri – The Eternal Romantic – Painting vivid word pictures of the various shades of romance time and time again is no easy task. Yet Hasrat Jaipuri did just that in song after song, leaving us with thousands of verses that express love’s every emotion, writes Anuradha Warrier

April 2023 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Hasrat Jaipuri – Beyond Shankar Jaikishan: 1961 _ Part 1.  Till now, we have covered –

The songs from 1950 to 1953 in 2017,

The songs from 1953 to 1955. In 2018

The songs from 1956 -1957 in 2019,

 The songs for 1958 in 2020,

 The songs f0r 1959 in 2021, and

 The songs for 1960 in 2022.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The Bicycle Saga – Part 4 lists songs that can not be categorised into very narrow definitins.

Ten of my favourite crooner/club songs – One club song was almost a mandatory detail for films in 50s, and even 60s. The song came in different avatars: from a floor show in a club, with the singer/dancer surrounded by people sitting at tables; to a grand party. There were songs with hidden meanings, aimed at alerting the baddies to cops lurking among the patrons (or vice-versa). There were songs that teased, songs that blackmailed, songs of all sorts.

Songs of Spouses, the adjective used for the spouse in some cases was also the keynote of the film. The songs are both solos and duets depending on the context. But both wife and husband feature in the song, even if it is a solo.

After Ballads of Love: Ecstacy – D P Rangan comes up with Ballads of Love: Agony, a the theme of ‘love’ deals with the reverse of the coin. For every successful happy finish, there are very many disappointments with unrequited love that end in the separation of lovers going their way apart. Lyricists and music directors had worked in tandem to produce songs of pure agony laying bare frustrations in the conduct of love, and singers also did their part.

Hindi Film Songs Featuring Tribal Dance & Music – It is difficult to distinguish tribal from folk music in Hindi films, with many using the word ‘tribal’ interchangeably with the word ‘folk’. Songs featuring tribal music in films are somewhat stereotypical. These are generally dance songs. Unless the plot of the story revolves round a tribal clan and its chieftain (kabile ka sardaar), these songs are introduced in the film when the lead couple accidentally lands in a tribal hamlet.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• • Gulzar’s Mausam is more palatable than Yash Chopra’s Lamhe, walks the uncomfortable line between parental and romantic love – Mausam has a sex worker in love with an older man, but she doesn’t realise that he was once in love with her mother.
  • This Sharmila Tagore-Sanjeev Kumar film yanks out the romance out of seemingly successful marriages – Basu Bhattacharya’s Griha Pravesh has Amar and Mansi in a loveless marriage and even after they acknowledge the mundane nature of their relationship, they choose to make it work, despite him cheating on her.
  • This Raj Kapoor-Nargis film jails the woman for being friends with a man, while her husband goes scot-free after an attempted murder – Raj Kapoor, Nargis and Dilip Kumar starrer Andaz casually blames the woman for being friends with a man and eventually jails her for it.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Main Bhi Jawan Hun Tum Bhi Jawan Ho – Do Dulhe (1955) – Lyrics: Pt. Indra – Music: B S Kalla

https://youtu.be/n21wZLjqfbY

Meri Jaan Gair Ko Tum Paan Khilaaya Na Karo – Kundan (1955) – Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni – Music: Ghulam Mohammad

Bachna Zara Ye Zamana Hai Bura – Milaap (1955) – Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi – Music: N Datta

Aisi Nazrein Na Daal Karle Khayaal – Riyaasat (1955) – Lyrics: Prem Dhawan – Music: Avinash Vyas

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 – Volume XI – March 2023 Edition

Welcome to March 2023 edition of XI^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Songs of Yore presents the festival of colors, Holi, with Kleptomania in Bollywood.

Sampada Sharama has a pointed question: Hindi cinema can’t seem to separate Holi from harassment, is it too much to seek consent? – Hindi cinema has been trying to make its case for normalising harassment on Holi acceptable for decades, and no one’s calling them out.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Mausam Aaya Hai Rangeen – Rememberng Sulochana Kadam on her 90^th birthday.

How OP Nayyar was one of the original disruptors of Hindi film music – Ajay Mankotia – ‘Almost all Hindi film songs have beat patterns which are straight and regular. But OP Nayyar had other ideas.’…. the revolution OP Nayyar wrought was bringing on board both the Western and Indian beats to songs. This dual usage gave the song a hitherto unknown texture. One example – ‘Balma Khuli Hawa Mein’ (Kashmir Ki Kali, 1964).

Bollywood Odyssey – The Singing Taxman’s Journey into Film Music, Ajay Mankotia, Readomania

A millennial watches Chashme Buddoor: Farooq Sheikh’s rom-com reminds you of simpler times, but hasn’t aged well – Arushi Jain  – Chashme Buddoor can be watched for its well-meaning performances, not just from Farooq and Deepti, but from every actor and well-intended script.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1957 – Lata Mangeshkar on the occasion of festivals of Gudi Padwa | Ugadi | Pongal.

March 2023 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Ghulam Mohammed and His Singers: 1953. Till now we have covered Ghulam Mohammed’s songs for the year

1943 to 1949 in 2021, and

1950-1952 in 2022.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The Bewitching Artistry of Raat Bhi Hai Kuch Bheegi Bheegi -The intoxicating dance in tune with the rustic, enthralling music of Raat bhi hai kuch bheegi bheegi has a hypnotic effect on Shirish Waghmode.  The song leaves you bewitched and besotted. The white-attired beauty named Waheeda glides across the mirrored floor like a swan, glamorously preening and parading her skills. The music of Jaidev is as rustic and mellifluous as a folk melody can be. Sahir plays with the words, which act like silver anklets, to add rhythm to his lyrics.

Bhabhi Songs Part 2: With the Nanad – the first part was Bhabhi songs with Devar

Ballads of Love: Ecstacy – D P Rangan comes with an objectively exhaustive article on one of the most common themes of Bollywood songs.

र and ल in Hindi Film Music – Many indigenous (or देशज) words replace the consonant ल with र. – for example: song where र has been used instead of ल:- Gaya Andhera Hua Ujala

song with lallation: Munna Bada Pyara

song with trilling र : Ek Baat Suni Hai Chachaji Batlaanewaali Hai – Naram Garam (1981)

Ten of my favourite spooky songs, duly presenting a smoke-covered a ghostly figure (invariably female), wandering about in the night and singing a signature spooky song.

My Favourites: Comic Songs are the Hindi films songs that make you smile widely, sometimes even laugh out loudand Kishore Kumar’s Comic Songs where the singer’s vocal calisthenics complement the actor’s clowning.

The Only song that… lists very unusual songs, like The only song that Geeta Dutt & Suraiyaa sang together  – Preet Ka Naata Jodnewaale – Afsar (1950) – Pt.Narendra Sharma – S.D.Burman

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• • Jaya Bachchan’s Kora Kagaz explains why a relationship will never survive if you allow parental interference – Kora Kagaz highlights that one’s relationship will always get influenced by those around them, but it is only up to them to choose what relationships they want to save.
  • This 1970s film romanticises child marriage, positions it as the best thing that could happen to the institution of marriage – Director Tarun Majumdar, who made Balika Badhu in 1976, was living in a bubble when he made a film that showed the practice of child marriage as if it was the best gift that the institution of marriage could ever receive.
  • When Shashi Kapoor played a man who found movie actors talentless and frivolous, right at the cusp of his filmy stardom – In Shakespeare Wallah, Shashi Kapoor plays Sanju, a cheating lover who can’t let go of his movie star girlfriend while he is in love with an English theatre artist.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Chahe Qismat Humko Rulaaye – Neelam Pari (1952) – Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri- Music: Khursheed Anwar

Jeevan Kya Hai Dhalta Suraj – Dana Pani (1953) – Lyrics: Kaif Irfani – Music: Mohan Junior

Sun Sun Sun Sun Zaalima Pyar Humko Tumse Ho Gaya – Aar Paar (1954) – Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri – Music: O P Nayyar

Ek Ladka Ek Ladki, Ek Ladka Ghar Se Nikal Gaya – Khushboo (1954) – Lyrics: G S Nepali – Music: Shankar Lal

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 – Volume XI – February 2023 Edition

Welcome to February 2023 edition of XI^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Remembering Madhubala – Today and Forever – Anuradha Warrier – Madhubala’s porcelain prettiness, dazzling smile and trademark giggle masked a gifted actor with so much more to offer.

Nimmi – ‘The Unkissed Girl of India’ – D P Ranagn pays tribute to Nimmi on her 90th birth anniversary (b. 18 Feb 1933 – d. 25 March 2020).

The Masters: Jan Nisar Akhtar – Of Romance and Hope – Anuradha Warrier – For a poet who was part of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, Jan Nisar Akhtar’s lyrics for Hindi film songs were delicately shaded with the disparate colours of romance.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits Lata Mangeshkar’s songs with lesser known or forgotten male singers.

Lata Mangeshkar: Ten Solos, Ten Composers – Part 4 is the last post in the series of Lata Mangeshkar obituary series, beginning with My Favourite Solos with Ten Composers, followed by the songs the other great music directors for whom Lata sang some exceptional songs and Ten Solos, Ten Composers

Gujara Hua Zamana – 21 Gaan Salute to Lataji!! – a tribute on her first death anniversary.

“The Sculptors of Film Music’ series presents Anthony Gonsalves, one of the pioneering music arrangers of Hind Film Music of Golden Era.

February 2023 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Talat Mahmood – Duets with Asha Bhosle – 1951| 1952 | 1953. Till now, we have explored –

In 2017, an overview of Talat Mahmood’s duets receding from the memory.

In 2018, Talat Mahmood’s duets with rare co-singers,

In 2019, Talat Mahmood’s duets with Mubarak Begum and with Madhubala Jhaveri,

In 2020, Talat Mahmood’s duets with Geeta Dutt, essentially from 1950 to 1952,

In 2021, Talat Mahmood: Duets with Geeta Dutt, from  1954 to 1957, with one duet even in 1972, and

In 2022, Talat Mahmood: Dets with Shamshad Begum.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Yeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai – In Conversation with Yasir Abbasi – Yeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends, selected and translated by Yasir Abbasi and published by Bloomsbury India, brings together an eclectic collection of memoirs written by renowned writers and cine artists and published in Urdu magazines of yore, many of which are now defunct.

Book Review: “चल उड़ जा रे पंछी (संगीतकार चित्रगुप्त: व्यक्ति एवं कृति)” – By: Dr. Narendra Nath Pandey | Kautilya Books, New Delhi: 2022 | ISBN: 978-93-90885-68-8

Book Review: Jerry Pinto’s ‘Helen: The Making of a Bollywood H-Bomb’

A hospitality professional recounts her encounters with film stars and directors – L Aruna Dhir –

Zeenat Aman recalls the time she was ‘earnest’ for her new job at 16: ‘We shot around the Taj in a quest for the perfect image’ – Zeenat Aman quipped that her advertisement, however, was eclipsed by tabla maestro Zakir Hussain’s memorable campaign for the brand.

My Favourites: Women and Chores’ Songs – Some of these songs are absolutely wonderful, and some of the sequences make absolute sense in the context of the film.

Melodies with partly sung mukhda are the songs wherein mukhada precedes humming, or even an anatara.

The Bicycle Saga, commenced last year with Part !, peddles on with Part 2 (A couple on the bicycle) and Part 3 (Solo bicycle songs).

Ten ‘Anti-Love’ Songs – These are not ‘Don’t love me’ songs but are the songs which wonder why people fall in love.

The Gaali Songs are quite light-hearted fun songs even as the lyrics do contain cuss words like Badtameez, Bluffmaster, Junglee, Jaanwar, Loafer and so on

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• • Decades before Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan vowed to save Bharat Mata, Dharmendra played the fan-favourite spy in Ankhen – Dharmendra and Mala Sinha starrer Ankhen, directed by Ramanand Sagar, is the story of a spy who is ready to sacrifice himself for his Bharat Mata.
  • Jaya Bachchan’s Piya Ka Ghar puts focus on female desire when the sasural won’t let the newlyweds be – Jaya Bachchan and Anil Dhawan starrer Piya Ka Ghar, directed by Basu Chatterjee, has the newly weds struggling for some alone time until the woman puts her foot down and decides to move on.
  • Gulzar’s Angoor, the original Cirkus, is the ‘comedy of errors’ that drags a one-line premise for over two hours – The 1982 film Angoor, directed by Gulzar, is way more subtle than Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, but watching it in 2023 feels like an arduous task.

We have concluded Micro View of Duets for 1943, with MY Top Music Directors.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohammad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Shamma Jalti Hai To Parwane Chale Aate Hain – Bawra (1950) – Ghafil Haranalvi – Krishna Dayal

Chupke Chupke Dil Mein Aane Wale – Haramra Ghar (1950) – Rammurthy Chaturvedi – Chitragupta

Jise Dundte Phirti Hai Meri Nazar – Sheesh Mahal (1950) – Nazim Panipati – Vasant Desai

Panghat Pe Dekho Aayi Milan Ki Bela – Naujawan (1951) – Sahir Ludhianvi – S D Burman

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 – Volume XI – January 2023 Edition

Welcome to January 2023 edition of XI^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Mehfil Mein Meri opens the New Year with A New Beginning………., with a new subject to one’s liking.

So True….. everything is done in full flow when you do it because you like it.

Indeed, a very good thought to begin the New Year.

SoY opens the new year account with ‘Parent’-‘Adult’-‘Child’ in songs has also an implicit message that every ‘adult’ should continue to strive to keep ‘child’ within remain live throughout the life cycle.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Master of the Middle Path By Ratnottama Sengupta – A heartfelt piece as a centenary tribute to master filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee.  – “This is one of the biggest ironies of life you know! That, as we grow in years, we grow more experienced, and richer in thought. But, the more we have to give to the world, the less equal, less capable our body gets…”

An exclusive pen and ink sketch of Hrishikesh Mukherjee by renowned artist Subrata Gangopadhyay

Pyarelal Santoshi: Jack of All Trades? – D P Ranagn pays tribute to polymath  Pyare Lal (P.L.) Santoshi

Films Are Art, Not Commerce was the motto that Khwaja Ahmed (K.A.) Abbas that remains a testament to this man’s dedication, commitment and perseverance.

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits favourites from the year 1956 in 1956 – Lata Mangeshkar

The Masters: Kaifi Azmi b- Born Sayyed Athar Husain Rizvi on in Mijwan (Azamgarh, Eastern Uttar Pradesh) in a zamindar family, Kaifi Azmi demonstrated his poetic skills very early on.

“Hum Ko Mann Ki Shakti Dena Mann Vijay Karein” – Lalita Kumari – Born in Peshawar on July 6, 1938, Lalita Kumari entered the world of Hindi films through Navketan’s AandhiyaN (1952).

Behind the Scenes – A Patchwork Quilt is just that – a patchwork of memories – of Paranjpye’s life, travels, plays, films – and the persons and personalities she met along the way.

November 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Jaidev: Brilliant, But Underrated, Composer:  1976 – 1977. Till now,

In 2018, we listened to his songs from the most successful films phase of 1955 to 1963.

In 2019, we listened to his more remembered songs from his less remembered films for 1964 to 1970,

in 2020, we listened to highly appreciated songs from the films that did not succeed in 1971,

In 2021, we recalled the songs that have faded out because the films flopped in 1972-1973, and

In 2022, we listened to his melodies form relatively not so known films for the years 1974 and 1975

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Contribution of Marathi Composers in Bollywood – Part I focuses on Snehal Bhatkar and  N Dutta, Part II on Dattaram, Sudhir Phadke and Vasant Desai and Part III on C Ramchandra.

Some Favorite Noor Jehan Film Songs Related to Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (and some other Qalandars too), the songs that come from the playback singing that she did in Pakistani films revolving around Lal Shahbaz Qalandar – or, in at least one or two cases, other Qalandars or saints in the Sufi tradition

Chal Ri Sajani Ab Kya Soche – Torn Between Two Worlds – Chal ri sajani ab kya soche is synonymous with the bidaai, the heart-breaking moment of departure when the bride steps across the threshold into an unknown world. Shirish Waghmode revisits this classic created by the SD Burman-Majrooh-Mukesh team and emoted in perfect sync by Suchitra Sen and Dev Anand along with Nasir Hussain (the father) and Achala Sachdev (the mother) for Raj Khosla’s Bombai Ka Babu.

Javed Akhtar on how cinema has changed: ‘Improved on the form though lost out on the context’ – A Book Excerpt – Nasreen Munni Kabir’s conversation book ‘Talking Life’ follows ‘Talking Films’ and ‘Talking Songs’.

Bhabhi Songs Part 1: With the Devar – Some of the songs do not specifically have these kinship terms mentioned in the lyrics but the characters on screen play the role of the devar and bhabhi.

Ten of my favourite ‘two songs in one’, the songs where the two styles of the song alternate

The ‘Fusion Songs’ lists songs that has seamlessly interwoven two different styles of music in the song

Songs of Anger focuses on Hindi films songs with the words the words krodh (क्रोध)/ khafa (ख़फ़ा)/naaraaz (नाराज़)/gussa (ग़ुस्सा)

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

Gulzar’s Parichay is a study of a dysfunctional family, but can we accept that ours is broken? – Gulzar’s Parichay is a humble reminder that love might be the solution to all problems but to actually solve those problems, loving each other is never sufficient.

Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha is India’s version of Modern Family, but with all the problematic tropes – Khatta Meetha might seem like a harmless, innocent film that is designed to appeal to the good-heartedness of a regular middle class family. But the movie casually ignores the tropes that it introduces and turns it into plot points.

Gulzar’s Achanak is what Akshay Kumar’s Rustom would have been if it didn’t take the easy way out – In Gulzar’s 1973 film Achanak, an army officer murders his cheating wife and her lover but then we start questioning how this relationship even disintegrated.

We have moved forward with Micro View of Duets for 1943, with Female-Female Duets⁽⁺⁾ and Triads⁽⁺⁾ to conclude with My Top Duets.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, for the year, it is planned to recall the first duet Mohamad Rafi and Geeta Dutt had with a music director.

Jai Hind Ki Yeh KahaniyaN – Mansarovar (1946) – Deepak/IshwarChandra Kapoor – S N Tripathi

Sambhal Sambhal Ke Jaiyao O Banjare… Dilli Door Hai – Saajan (1947) – with Lalita Deolkar – Rammurti Chaturvedi – C Ramchandra

Phool Ko Le Baitha Khaar, Tera Kanto Se Hai Pyar – Chunariya (1948) – Mulkraj Bhakri – Hansraj Behl

Badla Hua Duniya Mein Ulfat Ka Fasana Hai – Hamari Manzil (1949) – Qamar Jalalabadi – Husnlal Bhagatram

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 – Volume X – December 2022 Edition

Welcome to December 2022 edition of X^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon – Remembering Umadevi – Born in 1926, little Uma would act in Ramleela (perhaps religious plays were permitted) and listen to the radio. She was fascinated by Hindi film songs and tried remembering the names of the singers and music directors. She was selected by Ustad Allah Rakha for a film, called Wamiq Azra. The film was released in 1946. Umadevi was finally a playback singer. Here is her very sweet NFS – Naina Ban Gaye Sawan Bhado – Madhukar Rajasthani– K Murari Sharma

Sharmila Tagore, the original oomph girl who challenged India’s conservative bent: ‘When I showed 2-piece bikini to the photographer…’ – Sampada Sharma – Hindi cinema has seen some graceful, effortless actors in Meena Kumari, Nargis, Waheeda Rehman but it can be safely said the versatility of Sharmila Tagore remains unmatched to this day. Tagore had the rare ability to play any role with complete ease but there was one thing that remained consistent across all her roles, and that was her graceful attitude.

The Assumed ‘Curse’ Of 30: How Gendered Ageism Impacts The Careers Of Indian Women – Gulbahaar Kaur – Most individuals around the country questioned the future of an actress barely past a quarter of her life. Many young actresses of the 80’s and 90’s diminished from the big screen almost overnight due to the ‘curse’ of ageing. Beyond films this phenomenon remained consistent in other fields as well. Nevertheless, the situation seems to be changing gradually….

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits favourites from the year 1955 in 1955 – Lata Mangeshkar

Shatrughan Sinha was the first ‘angry young man’ but Amitabh Bachchan walked away with that title – Sampada Sharma –  On Shatrughan Sinha’s birthday(9^th December), here’s looking back at his professional rivalry with Amitabh Bachchan.

25 years of Chachi 420: Kamal Haasan film is a lesson on how not to mock a man playing a woman, and still be funny – Arushi Jain – One of the most endearing things about the film where Haasan plays a middle-aged woman is that the character is never reduced to a caricature. The laughs never comes from misogyny or a perverted gaze. Chachi 420 works as a story, not as a gimmick.

November 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song With The Music Director: 2^nd Five-Year Period: Year 1949 – Part II. Our journey began with the 1^st Five-Year Period of 1944 to 1948 in the year 2021. We then commenced the 2^nd Five-Year Period of 1949-1953 with Part I of the year 1949 in July 2022.

Shailendra Sharma @ Golden Era of Bollywood has not posted the memorial tribute posts for the month till the writing for the present post.

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Bollywood’s Saffron-clad Sadhus Are Scheming Criminals Who Deserve Violent Ends – Jayasri Viswanathan – In Bollywood, Sadhu is not an ascetic who has renounced worldly attachments to attain moksha by practices guided by his guru. Onscreen, he is a scheming, lusty, political mastermind in cahoots with the tilak-dhaari antagonist.

When Kundan Shah told Saeed Mirza: ‘I hope I am not doomed to keep doing funny stuff’ – Saeed Mirza’s illustrated memoir – I Know the Psychology of Rats, Tulika Books – recounts his personal and professional bond with the ‘Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro’ director.

Tempus Fugit Songs integral to the plot, that help the plot to thicken. Some songs show time passing and the attendant changes that occur with time.  The present list has songs wherein the time passes and there are attendant changes/developments that are shown.

Thinker’s Songs – thinking is so integral to mankind there are many songs that talk about thinking. Our film songs do not need to delve into philosophy or poetry, they are about problems at hand relating to love, heartbreak etc.

One Lady Sings, The Other Dances – On a few occasions, one of the characters sings while the other dances to its tune. Many songs have a male character singing and a female character dances.

Consecutive Melodies are exceptions where one song is immediately followed by another.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• ‘King of Romance’ Yash Chopra’s first love story was a tale of polyamory that was accepted by the masses – Yash Chopra’s Daag, starring Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore and Rakhee, was an unorthodox love story where the man ends up with two women and they all live happily ever after.
• Yaadon Ki Baaraat is not as fun as you remember it to be, feels like a parody of its genre – The 1973 film Yaadon Ki Baaraat is somehow remembered for being a masala Bollywood film but upon rewatching it now, it feels like a parody of its own genre.

We have moved forward with Micro View of Male-Female Duets for 1943, to Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5. SoY has concluded the series with Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 4, whereat Khemchand Prakash is adjudged the Best Music Director of 1943 for Tansen

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we had instituted a series wherein we listened to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the year 2022.

We pay tribute to Dilip Kumar and Mohammad Rafi with some romantic- happy mood songs:

Preet Jata Ke Meet Bana Ke Bule Na Jana – Hulchal (1951) – with Lata Mangeshkar -Khumar Barabanqvi – Sajjad Hussain

Aashiq Hai Agar Hai Pyare – Insaniyat (1955) – Rajinder Krishna – C Ramchandra

Ishq Diwana Husn Bhi Ghayal Dono Taraf Ek Dard-e-Jigar Hai – Sungursh (1968) – Shakeel Badayuni – Naushad

Peete Peete Kabhi Kabahi Yun Jam Badalate Jaate HaiN – Bairag (1976) – Anand Bakshi – Kalyanji Anandji

I look forward to your inputs to enrich the contents of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Disclaimer: This monthly series of posts is my best-effort-based compilation of posts on Hindi film songs that I normally visit regularly. As I record my sincere thanks to all the original creators of these posts, any other posts that I have nor covered herein shows my lack of awareness of existence of such posts and is by no means any disrespect to their work. The copyrights to the posts, images and video clips remain the properties of the original creators.

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music wishes its readers a lyrically composed 2023 with happiness, health and progress in great harmony.

The episodes of January 2022 to December 2022 have been compiled as one file @ Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music, Volume X – 2022 and can be read / downloaded by clicking on the hyperlink

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume X – November 2022 Edition

Welcome to November 2022 edition of X^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Tabassum passes away at 78 due to cardiac arrest – Born as Kiran Bala Sachdev, in 1944, Tabassum had started off as a child artiste.

Her most iconic and popular show was Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan where she used to strike up conversations with celebrities. Tabassum knew how to probe without prying, with conversations that remain, to this day, a pleasure to watch.

One of the most remembered songs of her childhood acting days is Bachpan Ke Din Bhula Na Dena (Deedar, 1953), where she is playing the role of child Nargis , along with Aprikshit Sahni (as child Dilip Kumar). She recalls her role in Bahar (1951) in this clip of her talk sjow Tabassum Talkies:

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ayushmann Khurrana’s choices seem inspired by filmmaker V Shantaram. Here’s why – Sampada Sharma – On actor-filmmaker V Shantaram’s birth anniversary, here’s looking at how the contributions of this famed filmmaker impacted Indian cinema and how traces of those films can still be seen in our movies.

Chitragupt and Lata Mangeshkar – Magicians of Melodies – Part 2 is a follow through of Part 1

Master Ghulam Haider: A Trailblazer – DP Rangan pays a tribute to Ghulam Haider on his 69th Remembrance Day (1908 – 9 November 1953

“Hai Duniya Usi Ki Zamana Usi Ka” – Bir Sakhuja – Born in 1924, Bir Sakhuja made his entry into Bollywood via Gunah (1953) and has done around 16 films.

Zeenat Aman-Dev Anand’s Hare Rama Hare Krishna looked down upon rule-breakers, gave Hindi cinema its ‘boldest’ star – Sampada Sharma –  On Zeenat Aman’s birthday, here’s looking back at her debut film Hare Rama Hare Krishna that was passed on by many mainstream female actors because no one wanted to play Dev Anand’s sister.

November 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory: Char Diwari (1961). Till now we have covered the years

1953-1955 in 2018,

1956 in 2019, and

1957 in 2020

1958 to 1960 in 2021

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

• 50 Years of Seeta Aur Geeta
• 50 Years of Raja Jani

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Prithviraj Kapoor to Kiara Advani—Delhi’s Delite Cinema remains a Bollywood favourite – NUTAN MANMOHAN – While many other single screen theatres have packed up due to new market pressures, Delite Cinema continues to draw crowds from old Delhi.

Romancing other miscellaneous balmas recollects the songs that would not find the popular versions anadi balma, pardesi balma, ajnabi balma, bedardi balma and jaadugar balma.

The Worldly Songs, devoted to songs which analyse the world as it is with no reference to the maker of the world – i.e. God or duniyabananewala. There is no attempt to seek refuge at the altar of god or rhetorically invoke God in any of the songs. These are songs which suggest that the world is as we make it, e.g., Matlab Ki Is Duniya – Halla Gulla, (1954) – Mohammad. Rafi & Asha Bhosle – Saba Afghani – Nisar Bazmi.

Songs Addressed to Animals / Birds, with one animal or bird having one song each.

The ‘Not-Naachnewaali’ Gaanewaali: Ten Songs – There is the occasional naachne-gaanewaali who doesn’t dance, she only sits, or, at the most, stands up a bit and languidly moves about. e.g., Badi Mushkil Se Hum Samjhe – Shamshad Begum, Asha – Zindagi Ya Toofan (1958, Lyrics: Nakshab Zarachvi; Music: Nashad)

Part 1 of the Bicycle Saga focuses on songs with bicycles in a group.

Songs of good and ill wishes, which have blessings as well as those that are proponents of the theory of retributive action.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

What Sooraj Barjatya wanted to do with Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, Basu Chatterjee had achieved in Chitchor – Revisiting Chitchor recently was a strong reminder of how a filmmaker like Sooraj Barjatya, who believed in going big even before it was considered a sure shot formula for success in Bollywood, made a simple story by Subodh Ghosh into an extravagant film that felt more dated than its 1970s version.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Satyakam has Dharmendra giving his most actualised performance, shows how an honest person is a danger to himself – Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1969 film Satyakam, starring Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, explored the idea if living an honest and ideal life is actually worth it.

Amol Palekar-Tina Ambani’s Baton Baton Mein explains why relationships without labels aren’t always the best idea – Baton Baton Mein is set in the 1970s but the complicated nature of romantic relationships it tries to portray makes it obvious that we might have a more varied vocabulary today for explaining the status of our relationships but the status overall, is pretty much the same.

We have moved forward with Solo songs of Madhuri, Jahanara Kajjan, Ram Dulari,  Jayshree, Baby Madhuri, Vishni Lal, Vasanti, Gauhar Sultana, and Other Singers before concluding the Micro View of Female Solo Songs for 1943 with MY Top Female Solo Songs. We have now taken up Micro View of Male-Female Duets for 1943, beginning with Part 1.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we will institute a series wherein we continue to listen to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the rest of the 2022 –

Ek Daal Par Tota Bole Ek Daal Par Maina – Chor Machaye Shor (1974) – Indra Jeet Singh Tulsi – Ravindra Jain

https://youtu.be/v7-Mysg2StI

Kahun Kya Tumse Apni Dastaan – Jimmy Aur Johney (1976) – Majrooh Sultanpuri – Rajesh Roshan

Janam Janam Ka Saath Hai Hamara Tumhara – Bheegi Palkein (1982) – M G Hasmat – Jugal Kishore-Tilak Raj

Shole Shole Meri Jawani – Locket (1984) – Gauhar Kanpuri – Bappi Lahiri

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 – Volume X – October 2022 Edition

Welcome to October 2022 edition of X^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Vidushi Zarin Daruwala Sharma – String It On – an outstanding Sarod player, she was a skilled classical musician but what set her apart from the rest of her counterparts is that she also played Sarod on the tracks of several Hindi film songs.

Vasant Desai: When Classical Music, Dance Themes and Bhajans Gained Mass Popularity – Vasant Desai created music that stayed true to the classical roots and yet gained mass popularity. Working with leading filmmakers like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Vijay Bhatt and others, Desai created iconic songs. NS Rajan explores the oeuvre of the legendary maestro.

Vasant Desai Part 3 (post-50s): His best songs for Lata Mangeshkar a follow-up post to Vasant Desai Part 1 and Part 2 pertaining to the vintage years (1930s and 40s),

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1953 – Lata Mangeshkar

Like Father, Like Daughter…Ashok Kumar and Bharati Jaffrey – It is indeed most befitting to describe Bharati Jaffrey as the daughter of the legendary actor Ashok Kumar. Ratnottama Sengupta pays a heartfelt tribute to her ‘Didi’, the talented actress who left her indelible mark in her underplayed film roles and in various other capacities.

October 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Shankar (Jaikishan) and Shailendra’s Songs Fading From the Memory: 1956 (Part II). Till now, we have covered the years

1949 – 1953 in 2018

1953 (Continued) in 2019.

1954 in 2020

1955 and 1956 (Part I) in 2021

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

• 50 Years of Parichay

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Special Duets are the duets where the couple though not together, was within reach of each other. They could hear each other, and at times could see each other. Or at least one of them could see the other one. They might occupy two adjacent rooms as in a few of the songs on today’s list, or they were wandering in fields or jungle.

Kahaan Ja Raha Hai Tu Aye Jaanewaale – Shirish Waghmode revisits this powerful song from Seema.

हे भगवान्‌ ! (Hey Bhagwan!) has two opposite meanings. One is the straightforward surrender before Him, and the other is of surprise at the world of vigilantes of gods.

My Favourite ‘Quartets & More’ are the songs which has four or more than four singers,

Songs with non-musical sound effects i.e., sounds such as water filling, glass breaking, the oars striking the water creating ripples and so on. In the present list, the focus is not the sounds of improvised musical instruments but the atypical ones.

Songs with echo and reverberation – Echo and reverberation are both time-based audio effects resulting from the reflection of sound on hard surfaces. The difference between reverb and echo lies in time.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram pretends to question society’s beauty standards while it uses its leading woman to titillate the audience – Satyam Shivam Sundaram tries to pretend that it is the story of a woman who is perceived as ‘not-so-beautiful’ by the society due to an accident that scarred her face, while it constantly sexualises the same woman. The gaze of the filmmaker comes across as extremely disingenuous as the camera uncomfortably lingers on Zeenat’s body.
• Rajesh Khanna’s Anand and Jaya Bachchan’s Mili are exactly the same movie. Here’s how – The ethos and the style of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film is pretty distinct but in the case of Anand and Mili, the plots are very similar too.
• Rekha and Umrao Jaan: The story of women who learn to live with broken hearts Watching Umrao Jaan with the knowledge of whatever was being written about Rekha during those years presents her character in an almost semi-biographical light.

We have moved forward to Female Solo Songs in Micro View of  1943 with Solo songs of Sardar Akhtar, Parul Ghosh, Leela Sawant; Noor Jehan, Suraiya, Khursheed; ;Shamshad Begum;  and Snehprabha Pradhn, Nirmala, Radharani. SoY has in the meantime presented Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 3 for the best duet. After a very thorough and comprehensive summary analysis, has presented 10 Special songs and then has presented 10 best duets

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we will institute a series wherein we continue to listen to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the rest of the 2022 –

I seem to inadvertently have missed:

Zaalim Teri Ada Mere Dil Mein Utar Gayi – Bombai Ki Billi (1960) – Hasrat Jaipuri – Khayyam

And now to the main track:

Tum Akele To Kabhi Baag Mein Jaaya Na Karo – Aao Pyar Karein (1964) – Rajendra Krishna – Usha Khanna

Meri Raaton Ka Mahtaab..Sun Liya Na Aana Tu Hi – Smuggler (1966) – Asad Bhopali – Ganesh

Suno Suno Ek Baat Kahun – Memsaab (1972) – Verma Mallik – Sonik Omi

https://youtu.be/EYpM6DtJ8Dc

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 – Volume X – September 2022 Edition

Welcome to September 2022 edition of X^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

The Musical Geniuses Who Have Ruled Hindi Film Industry Since Independence – From Naushad to Arijit Singh, here’s a list of 75 melody makers who have ruled the roost in Bollywood since 1947:

75 Bollywood Actresses Who Ruled The Silver Screen With Grace, Beauty And Talent

75 Actors Who Conquered Hearts Of The Millions Since 1947

75 Years Of Indian Cinema: The Platinum Magic On The Silver Screen

While celebrating 89^th birthday of Asha Bhosle here are the chosen Asha Bhosle’s ‘Overshadowed Songs’ which have been overshadowed by other popular songs of that particular movie, but the songs are excellent. Mostly the songs stand out because of Asha Bhosle’s Midas touch.

Asha Bhosle and the Seven Wonders takes us to the tour of 7 solo music directors whose repertoire is filled with Lata Mangeshkar songs and have a scattered graph of Asha numbers.

After Khayyam at the Mountain Peak (1): Songs on Pahadi, we now have  Khayyam at the Mountain Peak (2): Songs sans Pahadi as  a tribute to Khayyam (18.2.1927–19.8.2019) on his third Remembrance Day

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri takes a look at her career in the year 1952

Bengali Cinema During the Freedom Struggle – Throughout the 1930s and 1940s Bengali cinema produced socially aware films, which seldom attacked the British imperialism and oppression. Silhouette editor Amitava Nag explores the trends and patterns of Bengali cinema during the struggle for independence.

Did You Know Vyjayanthimala Refused a Filmfare Award for ‘Devdas’? – Khalid Mohamed – On Vyjayanthimala’s birthday, here’s a (belated) special tribute to the veteran actor.

This article is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 13 August 2016. It is now being republished to mark Vyjayanthimala Bali’s birthday)

HT spotlight: a short piece about Hindi cinema 1977-92 –  The Hindustan Times has this good-looking package which divides the Hindi cinema of the past 75 years into five eras, with separate essays on each. Here is a piece onJaane Bhi Do YaaroN, incidentally on its anniversary of release.

September 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up (Shankar-) Jaikishan and Hasrat Jaipuri’s Songs Fading From the Memory: 1963. After we launched the series in 2017, we have covered the years

1949 -1954 in 2017

1955 – 1957 in 2018

1958 – 1959 in 2019,

1960 -1961 in 2020, and

1962 in 2021.

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

• 50 Years of Shor (1972)
• Asha Bhonsle- The World’s Most Recorded Artist.

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

After a short break,  Mehfil Mein Teri presents (Part 8) of Boat Songs

Book Review: ‘Hindi Cine Raag Encyclopaedia’ Vol. 3, 4 & 5 – Whereas volumes 1 & 2 addressed the question, i.e which are the underlying raags in a particular song, whereas Volumes 3,4 & 5 answer the reverse question: Which are the famous songs based on a particular raag, say Asavari?

Book Review: P.K.Nair’s Yesterday’s Films For Tomorrow, published in 2017 by the Film Heritage Foundation after P.K.Nair’s death, is a collection of his writings – personal diaries, detailed notes, articles, letters – deftly edited by Rajesh Devraj.

The Two Worlds of Jalte Hain Jiske Liye – When Adheer offers his first song of love to Sujata, little does he know that while he is dreaming of a world with her where love is as fragile as delicate glass, Sujata’s world is imploding. Shirish Waghmode looks at the two worlds on either side of Jalte hain jiske liye.

Songs of wishes, desires and expectations– fulfilled and unfulfilled – The words used in film songs typically are – चाह, तमन्ना, आरज़ू, माँग. Many of the songs of course are melancholic and thus speak of unfulfilled desires. There are some which also speak of fulfilment. The playlist below has songs that capture both shades.

Bollywood, Masala Movies and Family Values – As ideas of family and love change, so do the films.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• Rajesh Khanna passed the baton to Amitabh Bachchan with Namak Haraam: ‘I knew my time was up’ – Namak Haraam signifies that transitional moment where Amitabh Bachchan announced that his time had begun, and even Rajesh Khanna took note.
• Way before Ranbir Kapoor’s coming-of-age movies, Jaya Bachchan truly embodied the carpe diem spirit in Uphaar – Ranbir Kapoor’s movies like Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani, Tamasha had him playing the man who breaks the norm and does what he wants and in Jaya Bachchan’s Uphaar, we are given a similar message, but with a caveat.
• Gulzar’s Mere Apne talks about the epidemic of loneliness that swallows people of all ages – n the last five decades, a lot of discourse around Mere Apne has discussed the film’s political stance. But the film also spoke about the epidemic that has swallowed our society and everyone living in it — loneliness.
• Amol Palekar-Zarina Wahab’s Gharaonda explains why love doesn’t always win against money – Amol Palekar and Zarina Wahab starrer Gharaonda closely examines the endurance of a romantic relationship in the face of the biggest real-world problem – money.

We have inched forward to Female Solo Songs in Micro View of  1943 with Solo songs of Husn Bano, Sitara (Devi), Vatsala Kumthekar, and Rajkumari, Kaushalya, Nalini Jaywant, SoY has in the meantime presented Best songs of 1943: Wrap Up 2. After a very thorough and comprehensive summary analysis, SoY has awarded ‘The Award for the Best Female Singer of the year’ to Amirbai Karnataki.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we will institute a series wherein we continue to listen to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the rest of the 2022 –

Woh Jab Yaad Aaye Bahut Yaad Aaye – Parasmani (1963) – Asad Bhopali – Laxmikant Pyarelal

Ja Ja Jaare Tujhe Hum Jaan Gaye – Sehra (1963) – Hasrat Jaipuri – Ramlal

Agar Main Puchhun Jawab Doge – Shikari (163) – Farooq Qaiser – G S Kohli

While taking a slight detour, we take note of Dilip Dholakia’s first Mohammad Rafi- Lata Mangeshkar duet(s), from a Gujarati film:

O Naaho Liyaare…..O Roop Raseeli – Satyavan Savitri (1963) – Bhaskar Vora – Dilip Dholakia

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 – Volume X – August 2022 Edition

Welcome to August 2022 edition of X^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We once again recall loss of Bhupinder Singh with The Multifaceted Bhupinder Singh

Presently we move on to our section on tributes and celebrations for the month –

Fifteen Years! of many changes happening in the life and hence on the blog content. But the good part is that Richard S. but is not ready to call it just quits in so far as Dances on Footpath is concerned. We too take the opportunity for the blog to continue its rich, conceitful journey for many more years…..

K.N.Singh – Bollywood Gentleman Villain With A Unique Mannerism – Rare Bollywood Nostalgia – Trivia – K N Singh acted in over 250 films in 60 years career. He was an excellent athlete as well. He had almost been selected for shot put and javelin throe for 1936 Olympics.

Aayega Aanewala – Remembering Khemchand Prakash on his 72^nd death anniversary.

Khayyam at the Mountain Peak (1): Songs on Pahadi – A tribute to Khayyam (18.2.1927–19.8.2019) on his third Remembrance Day

Ek Din Hum Ko Yaad Karoge – Remembering Raja Mehdi Ali Khan on his 46^th death anniversary.

The National Museum of Indian Cinema A delight for the senses is located at the Films Division Complex, Pedder Road, Mumbai

Abhas versus Kishore — An Existential Reality: (Part 1) and (Part 2) – Abhas turned Kishore midway. Abhas is a felt intangibility, a suggestion from within – something not material.  Kishore is one who is young, energetic, exuberant, visible, impactful.  Vijay Kumar explores the phenomenon that was Kishore Kumar

More to read

Kishore Kumar The Actor: A Legend’s Journey Down the Years Part 1

Kishore Kumar, The Master of his Craft – Amit Kumar Remembers his ‘Baba’

Kishore kumar with his mother Gouri Devi and Amit Kumar (Pic: Twitter)

August 2022 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Shailendra’s Songs Composed by Kishore Kumar. We started taking a look at Shailendra’s songs with “other” music directors form the year 2017. Till now we have covered Shailendra’s Songs with

Roshan in 2018,

Hemant Kumar, Ravi and Kalyanji-Anandji in 2019

S N Tripathi, Anil Biswas and C Ramchandra in 2020

Shardul Kwatra and Mukul Roy in 2021

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

• Kishore Kumar- It’s A Mad Mad World

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The poignancy and power of ‘Usne Kaha Tha’ don’t make it to the screen – Nirupama Kotru – Book versus movie – Usne Kaha Tha was published in 1915, in the same year that the story is set. The screen version deviated majorly from the story in portraying its protagonists as Hindus rather than Sikhs. Somewhat contrived exploration of young love, with an eye on the box office, is the film’s undoing. The original story is a far more powerful tale of love – innocent, pure and powerful – as well as a tribute to the character, bravery and fortitude of Sikhs.

The Two Worlds of Jalte Hain Jiske Liye – When Adheer offers his first song of love to Sujata, little does he know that while he is dreaming of a world with her where love is as fragile as delicate glass, Sujata’s world is imploding. Shirish Waghmode looks at the two worlds on either side of Jalte hain jiske liye.

Songs of Youth rejoices the International Youth Day (August12).

Songs of Sarcasm – If the world only comprised narcissists at one extreme, and the most polite and courteous who profusely praise others at the other end, it would be a very boring place.

Canorous Eyesores – There are many songs which are a pleasure to not just hear but also see because they are delightfully picturized. Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla and Vijay Anand belong that club of songs picturization specialists.

From Bollywood Rewind – Sampada Sharma – Indian Express’s weekly column:

• Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker celebrates toxic work culture to the point that it’s painful to watch – Mera Naam Joker’s core thought of being sacrificial might have come from a place of magnanimity, but watching it now makes you think that not prioritising self-care is probably the unhealthiest trait that we have inherited.
• Rajesh Khanna and Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Bawarchi caters to the biggest fantasy of the Indian audience – a family that gets along – In 2022, Bawarchi is 50 years old and it still caters to the same fantasy – of living with a family that’s perfectly cohesive, that has risen above its domestic disputes, and where love conquers all.
• Chhoti Si Baat isn’t the feel-good Amol Palekar film you remember, it proudly flaunts that stalking is the way to a woman’s heart – The men and women of ‘realistic films’ like Chhoti Si Baat travel in buses and gossip during lunch breaks, so the idea of stalking a woman here becomes even more threatening because it isn’t shielded by cinema’s fictional grandeur.

We have inched forward to Female Solo Songs in Micro View of  1943 with Solo songs of Amirbai Karnataki

Rafi’s songs with some unrecognised composers by Sivanandam Palamadai as a tribute to Rafi on his 42nd Remembrance Day (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980)

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi that are relevant to the topics covered in the present episode, we will institute a series wherein we continue to listen to Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar’s duet with a music director for the first time in a Hindi film, every month for the rest of the 2022 –

First a correction of the music director that was missed earlier:

Sun To Lo Mera Afsana Chahe Pyar Karo Ya Na Karo  – Raat Ki Raani (1949) – A Shah Shikar Puri – Hans Raj Bahal

And now back to the regular sequence:

Piya Kaise MiluN Tujhse Mer Paano Padi Zanzir – Saranga (1960)  – Bharat Vyas – Sardar Malik

Aaj Hua Mera Dil Matwala.. Ho Matwala – Chhote Nawab (1961) – Shailendra – R D Burman

Saaz-e-Dil Chhed De Kya Haseen Rat Hai – Passport (1961) – Farooq Kaiser – Kalyanji Anandji

Jaane Teri NazroN Ne Kya Kar Diya – Grahasthi (1963) – Shakeel Badayuni – Ravi

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.