Madhubala – The world is too small? or Is it?

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – February, 2021

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

We pay tributes to:

Alvida, In Memory: Bollyviewer, with a very heavy heart, to Bollyviewer, who blogged at Old is Gold, and then at Masala Punch, since 2008.

Rajiv Kapoor, actor in ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ and director of ‘Prem Granth’, who passed way at the age of 58. He gave up acting in 1990, to focus on directing the home production Prem Granth in 1996 and producing Aa Ab Laut Chalenin 1999.

We now move on to other tributes and memories:

Kamal Swaroop on Mani Kaul: ‘A visionary and ahead of his time’ – As ‘Ashad Ka Ek Din’ turns 50, it’s time to revisit Mani Kaul’s transcendental cinema and painterly minimalism.

Mani Kaul during the shoot of Ahmaq (Idiot) in the early 1990s. Photo by Lalita Krishna.

The Greats: Pran – More often than not, he was the suave villain, clad in the gentleman’s clothing, the one who schemes to get his hands on the hero’s wealth or the hero’s girlfriend, or both. The post reminisces some of his best performances.

Nutan the poet is not known to many. The soft, sensitive poet called Nutan was far more beautiful. This poet would constantly observe the world with a keen eye. She used to make an effort to capture the life experience in words. In these efforts subconsciously she used to dwell in the spiritual world.

Remembering Madhubala, Bollywood’s Very Own Marilyn Monroe – Khalid Mohamed pays tribute to Madhubala’s incandescent performances and tragic life.

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

February 2021 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Talat Mahmood: Duets with Geeta Dutt: A Rare Blend of Velvety Voice with Mellifluous Tone. To commemorate the memory of Talat Mahmood in the month of his birth runs the theme of his rare duets. Till now, this has been covered-

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, and

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

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

How 22-year-old Vijay Anand dug in his heels to make his first film ‘Nau Do Gyarah’ – Anitaa Padhye – The film paved the way for Dev’s light comedies in the future, with songs taking the story forward. Goldie had become famous with his very first movie.The article is excerpted with permission from Goldie – The Man and His Movies, Anitaa Padhye, translated by Vikrant Pande, Amaryllis.

My Favourites: Songs About Gender Wars – Songs there are aplenty that extol the virtues of a ‘good’ woman. But here are some that fall in the category of nok-jhonk songs that run the gamut of emotions – the flirtatious, the teasing, even fighting to sell their wares – the battle is being waged for better or for verse. For example – Aji biwi ko ghar pe bithlaa ke – Minister (1959) – Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi – C Ramchandra – Rajinder Krishan.

Songs of Stairs is a corollary to post on Terrace songs in two parts. An example of the typical song on the subject is Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana – C.I.D (1956) – Shamshad Begum – O.P.Nayyar- Majrooh Sultanpur. This is a song where the stairs have a completely different role to play. The post also refers to two other interesting articles – F ilm flashback: How the staircase played a starring role in Indian cinema (chronicling the thoughts of the legendary archivist P.K. Nair) and Stairway to Accessibility: the History and Symbolism of Stairs (by The Industrial Historian).

Songs of Raja-Rani are delightful because they are history-neutral and status-neutral.

A Little About Tabla Master Zakir Hussain and His Kathak-Dancing Wife, Antonia Minnecola (who studied with Sitara Devi for three decades) – The post has two rare YT clips: Kathak Dance By Antonia Minnecola Ustad Zakir Hussain Peter Van Gelder (sitar) @ Basant Bahar Concert 1987 Berkeley California and Zakir Hussain – Kathak

Romancing the Stranger – Hindi films have Romancing the ‘Pardesi’ songs. However, one can be ‘ajnabi’ to someone with whom one has lived under the same roof for years. Nay, one can even be ajnabi to oneself

दो सहेलियाँ is a different subset of female duets that were picturised on two actresses, generally friends, one a lead actress and the other her friend, but those were not dance numbers. The list follows the rules – Stage performances, Street performances won’t be part of it. The lyrics should be directly addressed and not suggestive. For example, Dil Le Gaya Ji Koi Dil Le Gaya – Sanam (1950) – Suraiya & Shamshad Begum / Husnalal Bhagatram – Qamar Jalalabadi and Sharmake Zara Ae Mast Ada – Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag (1952) Shamshad Begum & Asha Bhosle – S N Tripathi – Anjum Jaipuri

The lesser heard romantic duets of Manna Dey is the second and final part of the post, featuring lesser known light hearted romantic duets sung by Manna Dey with Suman Kalyanpur, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Sudha Malhotra. The first part dwelt on Manna Dey’s romantic duets with the Mangeshkar sisters – Lata, Asha and Usha

In the Micro View of Songs of 1945 we have carried forward the micro view of duet songs in the form of Duets of Vintage Era (Male+) Singers, Part 1 and Part 2 and Female-Female Duets (+) to sum up with MY TOP duet songs.

All the episodes of Micro View of Duet Songs for 1945 @SoY can be read / downloaded from one file, by clicking on the hyper-link…

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, each one of which basically has a link with the topics discussed in the present post.

Unse Rippi Tippi Ho Gayi.. Yaane Baat Pakki Ho Gayi – Agra Road (1957) – with Geeta Dutt – Roshan – Prem Dhawan

Duniya Ki Nazar Hai Buri Zulfien Na Sawara Karo – Agra Road (1957) – with Geeta Dutt – Roshan – Prem Dhawan

Masti Mein Chhed Ke Taran Koi Pyar Ka – Haqueequat (1964) – Madan Mohan – Kaifi Azmi

O Lakshmi, O Sarsu, O Sheela – Kahin Le Chal (1968) (UR) – Shankar Jaikishan – Shailendra

Doobte Huye Dil Ko Tinke Ka Sahara Bhi Nahi – Kahin Le Chal (1968) (UR) – Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri

Shokh Ankhe … Dekh Kar Surat Pe Pyar Aa Hi Gaya – Kahin Le Chal (1968) (UR) – with Asha Bhosle – Shankar Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri

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 – February 2020

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

The first post that we take celebrates the Republic Day of India. Shri N Venkatraman pays the tribute through ‘Vandya Vande Mataram’: The story of a Song Perennial.

Anand Math is the anti-establishment film to watch and learn from – Madhavi Pothukuchi – While the nature of the actual rebellion is disputed — some historians say it was an all-Hindu uprising, while some say it was simply an anti-imperialist movement, and still others dispute its authenticity — the film and the book show it as an all-Hindu, anti-imperialist, nationalist movement.

Happy Valentine’s Day! has been celebrated on the HFM Weblog world too with Hindi Film Songs, albeit from the post-2000 years.

We pick up other tributes and memories:

Returning to “Hum Dekhenge” (and a Happy Upcoming Birthday to Faiz Ahmed Faiz!) – Noor Jehan performed “Mujh Se Pehli Si Muhabbat” in defiance of a ban of Faiz by one military ruler of Pakistan – Muhammad Ayub Khan – and Iqbal Bano performed “Hum Dkehenge” in defiance of a ban by another – the notorious Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq

Mehfil celebrates ‘C Ramchandra’ Month! is carried forward with C Ramchandra – 60s & 70s and Marathi songs by C Ramchandra

The Masters: OP Nayyar – Here is a song remembered in the post – Dekho jadoo bhare more nain – Aasmaan (1952) – Geeta Dutt – Lyrics Prem Dhawan

OP Nayyar’s music turned Howrah Bridge from a movie to a whole mood – Madhavi Pothukuchi – Lyricist Qamar Jalalabadi ascended to the height of his career with the lyrics. They were playful, fun, and enticing and went with the mood Nayyar was intending to set with the music.

Savere Ka Suraj – An Invaluable Art Piece – OPN and Kishore Kumar, deliver a composition which was absolutely classical by theory and amazingly melodious in terms of output. Here is a tune which is having disjointed structure.

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

Arth may have been based on Mahesh Bhatt’s life, but Jagjit Singh played a starring role – Samira Sood – Arth was the first movie for which Jagjit Singh and his wife, Chitra, composed the music together, and he sang every song in it. It is, perhaps, the best movie by which to remember him in the week of his birth anniversary.

In our Manna Dey birth centenary series, after Manna Dey and his contemporary lead actors, we have taken up Manna Dey’s Comedy Songs. February, 2020 episode covers Manna Dey- Mehmood combination songs till 1966 starting with Manna Dey’s songs for Mehmood in the January 2020 episode from the beginning of Mehmood’s acting career, till Ziddi (1964)

Madhubala and K Asif’s grandeur is what makes Mughal-e-Azam an epic – Madhavi Pothukuchi – A film with one of the highest production costs and the biggest collections, Mughal-e-Azam’s success can be put down to Madhubala’s grace and beauty.

February 2020 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Part 1 of Talat Mahmood duets with Geeta Dutt. In our series on Talat Mahmood’s rare duets, we have covered –

2017: Some of the Talat Mahmood Duets receding from the memory

2018: Talat Mahmood’s Duet Combinations with Rare Co-singers

2019: Talat Mahmood Duets with Mubarak Begum and Madhubala Jhaveri

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

How Sridevi gave Yash Chopra’s career a fresh lease of life with Chandni – Sridevi – The Eternal Screen Goddess, by author and screenwriter Satyarth Nayak, charts the actress’s five-decade-long journey from a child star to India’s First Female Superstar.

Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (13) – An afternoon with ragas: Bhimpalasi and her Sisters – I have picked up are some of the less known songs based on this raag from Shri Subodh Agarwal’s’ comeback post.

Taqdeer banane wale ne kaisi taqdeer banayi hai – Sheesh Mahal (1950) – Pushpa Hans – Vasant Desai – Bahzad Lakhanavi
More mandir ab lau nahin aaye – Mahatma Kabir (1954) – Asha Bhosle – Anil Biswas – Chandra Shekhar Pandey
Lag gayee ankhiyan – Jeevan Jyoti (1953)- Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi – SD Burman – Sahir Ludhianvi

FFSI Initiates Campaign to Save the Ancestral Houses of Ray, Ghatak and Sen – Buoyed by the human chains formed in Rajsahi, Dhaka and Toronto to demand restoration of the decaying ancestral houses of the legendary filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, the FFSI has decided to initiate an international campaign.

Dinesh Shailendra Narrates Story Behind The Anari Song – Shailendra was woken up… He went out…. As soon as RK saw him, he jumped out of the car and rushed to embrace Shailendra….. RK muttered ” Mainey abhi Anari ka gaana sunaa…. jeeyo mere Pushkin…” !.. Years later, it will be discovered that Shailendra has, in this song, actually predicted the pattern his life will follow…. This song is one that we all identify with at certain times in our lives…It has been quoted in the Indian Parliament by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and incidentally, even in the Pakistan Parliament by Nawaz Sharif !!!

Film Songs From Firmament – songs which were not picturised on any actor, but they still played an important role in either conveying a message to the actors on the screen, or just depicting the situation on the screen for the viewers.

Cinemaazi: Chronicling Indian Film Heritage and Its Unscripted Stories – Cinemaazi, an initiative to chronicle, archive, curate, preserve and exhibit the mammoth cinema heritage of India, by far the world’s biggest and most varied film industry, was launched in New Delhi on January 31.

On Nandita Das’s Manto & I – A single, very particular voice runs through this coffee-table book by Nandita Das, the voice of a reader, writer and director who became deeply interested in Saadat Hasan Manto and eventually realised her dream of making a film about him. An earlier post about Manto the film is here.

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:

Na Tajshahi, Na Badshahi – Shirin Farhad (1956) – S Mohinder – Tanvir Naqvi

Duniya Kya Hai – Sarhad (1960) – C Ramchandra – Majrooh Sutanpuri

Pani Hota To Doob Hi Jaate – Mian Bibi Razi (1960) – with Kamla Sista – S D Burman – Shailendra

Wah Wah Re Teri Chaal – Do Dilon Ki Dastan (1967) – O P Nayyar – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan)

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

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music, February, 2019

Welcome to February, 2019 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

A Google Doodle created by Bangalore-based artist Muhammed Sajid on Madhubala’s 86the birthday tribute

MADHU BALA: The Bewitching Beauty of Bollywood – DP Rangan pays a rich tribute.

‘6 Iconic fashion statements we owe to Madhubala!’ looks back to some of the fashion trends that she made popular.

We also have post to remember Valentine’s Day – Ten of my favourite romantic serenades. It’s a list of romantic serenades, of people singing in praise of the person they’re in love with (or, as in the case of a couple of fraudulent characters in this list, pretending to be in love with).

For the Love of a Goddess – The article first takes through the narrative journey of a music documentary, Music for Goddess (by Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy and Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy), which explores the sacred music, dance and rituals of devidasis and devidasas, women and men dedicated to the goddess Renuka/Yellamma. It then introduces the instrument, the chaundka—also called chaundke, which the followers of the Goddes use mainly in their dancing and singing. The chaundka sounds similar to the damru. Our cinema has used the chaundka in several songs. The article has listed some of these songs.

Suman Kalyanpur – Sweetness Personified – The name conjures memories of lilting sweet songs, solos and duets that have gained immortality and enriched our music heritage. Peeyush Sharma revisits some of her evergreen melodies, enjoyed and cherished by generations of music lovers. Of the two duets she could get to sing with Mohammad Rafi, Din ho ya raat hum rahein tere saath (Miss Bombay, 1957, Hans Raj Behl / Prem Dhawan) is perhaps more known than Duniya Ye Kehati Hai.. Meri Kismat Mein Likhi Wo Jo Mere Peechhe Baithi Hai

In a tribute to Bharat Vyas in his centenary birth year, last month we had touched Bharat Vyas – The Prolific Lyricist – I and Bharat Vyas – The Prolific Lyricist – II . In part III of the series, his songs from ‘70s has been covered.

Here’s to the Birth or Death Anniversaries of Three Classic Hindi Film Artists Who Certainly Should Not Have Died In Poverty – The article refers to Cuckoo, Meena Shorey and Rajkumari. [I have searched a song in which each one is associated in a duet with Mohammad Rafi. The songs are at the end of the present article.]

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

The flashback series has why you should watch Waqt (1965), because it’s a near-perfect summary of the “masala” film before the term was commonly used and why you should watch Mem Didi (1961) for the beautiful chemistry between three elderly character actors.

Waheeda Rehman 2.0 – The Grand Diva Of Hindi Cinema – Staying relevant is one of the most crucial elements of Hindi film industry and Waheeda Rehman is a living legend who has stayed relevant in every era since her debut in 1955 in Telugu and Tamil cinema.

Zameen Kha Gayi Aasman Kaise Kaise – Some Non-picturised Songs Of R D Burman – Part 1 and Part 2 – the songs that either recorded but not filmed at all or filmed, but subsequently removed.

February, 2019 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Talat Mahmood’s duets with Mubarak Begum and Madhubala Jhaveri, in continuation to the previous articles . Some of the Talat Mahmood Duets receding from the memory and Talat Mahmood’s Duet Combinations with Rare Co-singers.

And, now the posts on other subjects:

Romancing the Pardesi is a varied collection of beautiful Pardesi songs of separation, longing, betrayal and hope.

What Time It Is? is a theme-based list that has songs mentioning the actual time in the opening line.

With Claps As Percussion – Songs With A Difference, which has several over-riding conditions, one of which it is that it should not be an O P Nayyar composition. Here is one song that comes up as result:

Nacho Jhoom Jhoom Ke – Sarhad (1960) – Chitalkar – C Ramchandra – Majrooh Sultanpuri

By the Sea Shore remembers the songs from the films of 50s-60s and 70s, picturized on a seashore or a beach.

Reluctant Singer? Take a Boat Ride – Transformation happens to many people when they are on a boat that has left the shores some time ago. The songs listed herein are the ones that were sung by such “What, me sing?” folks when on the land. This is a celebration of people who themselves manage to move a sea vessel from one place to another.

Tujhe chaand ke ‘bahaane’ dekhun ki ‘chhat’ par aa ja goriye is a rich collection of songs in which an excuse to go to the terrace is linked up.

‘The Guide’ in English: The story of Dev Anand’s abortive attempt to storm Hollywood – Based on RK Narayan’s novel of the same name, the film was directed by Tad Danielewski. But reviewers thought it was ‘clumsy and artless’.

Mose Chhal Kiye Jaaye – Kya Se Kya Ho Gaya – Guide – The Twofold Stunner -The Writer / Director, Vijay Anand, wants his songs to take his story forward. He opts for two different songs…back to back and Burman da composes those two songs. Both songs have the same notes!!!! Whereas Lata Mangeshkar song is an accusation of the feeling of cheating, Mohammad Rafi’s song is a romantic plea for the sake of his love.

Songs of दास्तान- ए – हाल – ए -दिल weave anguish or agitation, and some time happiness, or sheer romance, when a person comes up to tell his / her heart-felt feelings.

We are bit late in documenting ‘Songs in the Snow: Ten of my favourites’. The songs should feature some amount of snow; it need not necessarily be all against a backdrop of snow. And the snow, even if it’s not real should at least not look patently fake.

In our tradition of ending our post with article on Mohammad Rafi or a topical song of his, I have picked up a few songs, each one of which basically has a link with the topics discussed in the present post.

Akhiyan Mail Ke Jara Baat Karo Ji – Pardes (1950) – with Lata Mangeshkar – Ghulam Mohammad – ShakeelBadayuni

Aao Chale Manwa More Door Chale Kahin Re – Amar Prem (1948) – with Rajkumari – Dutt Thakur – Mohan Mishra

Tumhein Chupke Se Dil Mein Liya – Ek Do teen (1953) – with Asha Bhosle – Vinod – Aziz Kashmiri

Chowpati Par Kal Jo Tujhse – Afsana (1951) – with Shmashad Begum – Husnlal Bhagatram – Chander Oberoi

Kehdo Kehdo Jahan Se Kehdo Ishq Par Jor Nahin – April Fool (1964) – with Suman Kalyanpur – Shanker Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri

Auraton Ke Dibbe Mein Mard Aa Gaya – Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh (1962) – With Suman Kalyanpur – Hansraj Behl – Prem Dhawan

Tere Peechhe Phirte Phirte Ho Gaya Pura Sal – Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh (1962) – With Suman Kalyanpur – Hansraj Behl – Prem Dhawan

I earnestly solicit your inputs for further broad-basing our cache for the content for our carnival of blogs on the Golden Era of Hindi film music.

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – February, 2018

Welcome to February, 2018 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

We begin our February, 2018 episode with Bharat Darshan – Bharat Darshan in Songs (1): Small towns followed by Bharat Darshan in Songs (2): Metros. Once we tour India, how can we be satisfied without having a look Around the World in Songs.

Knowing fully well that a mere mention of the these tours will not suffice, I have selected one song from each post to taste the potentials of these tours

Tum Dilli Main Agra Mere Dil Se Nikle Haaye – Pahle Aap (1944) – Shyam Kumar and Mohammad Rafi – Naushad – DN Madhok

Bombay Purani Kalkatta Purana – Umar Qaid (1961) Mohammad Rafi and Kamal Barot – Iqbal Qureshi – Hasrat Jaipuri

Ek Din Lahore Ki Thandi Sadak Par Shaam Ko Ja Rahe The – Sagai (1951) – Chitalkar, Rafi and Shamshad Begum – C Ramchandra – Rajendra Krishna

Around the World in Ten Songs also is an off-shoot of the aforementioned Bharat Darshan posts. There are songs—the ones shot abroad—merit a separate post, because so many of them (Akele-akele kahaan jaa rahe ho, O mere shahekhubaan, Raat ke humsafar, Aye meri zindagi tu ajnabi toh nahin, etc) have little to do with the place itself. The present list is limited to the songs that actually name a city or town, whether or not the song itself is shot there, e.g. Bade Bhaiya Laaye Hain London Se Chhori – Ek Hi Raasta, (1956) – Asha Bhosle – Hemant Kumar – Majrooh Sutanpuri

And, now, we take up the tributes in January (post-our January, 2018 issue) / February, 2018:

The first five posts are w.r.t. the Valentine Day.

Valentine’s Day! – Some songs describe the emotions after he/she realizes they are falling in love with someone special! He/She just dance around cheerfully, singing and humming or they confess it to their friend…In some of the songs the hero declares his love in public to tease her.
Ten from the heart is a list of love songs for Valentine’s Day..
Lessons on unrequited love from Hindi masala movies from the films/songs/actors that illustrate the longing of unrequited love.
Some love stories last. . . forever is the list of the author’s most favourite love stories from Bollywood.
25 Beautiful Bollywood songs that you can dedicate to your partner in order to express love that look certain to last for a long, long time, perhaps even forever.

Valentine Day also is the birth date of Madhubala.

The Many Moods of Madhubala – On her 85^th birth anniversary on 14^th February, 2018 – Her obvious beauty blinded people to her talent, and her ill-health didn’t allow her much of a chance to explore roles that might have rewarded her latent talent.

Barsat Ki Raat Part 1: A Musical Romance – On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, and the birthday of Hindi films’ Venus, Madhubala, Monica Kar revisits the classic musical Barsat Ki Raat 1960, exploring the evergreen memorable songs and scenes of this delightful romantic story. [We will include the Part II of the article in our next episode.]

Happy Birthday Suman Ji! presents her representative solo songs on her 81^st birthday on 28^th January, 2018. This is followed up with Suman Kalyanpur – Duets. I have picked up a duet with Mohammad Rafi from her one of the first films just after her marriage:

Jara Thahero Abhdul Gaffar Rumal Mere Leke Jaana – Satta Bazar (1959) – Kalyanji Anandji – Gulshan Bawra – The tune is composed on Gujarati Garba folk song tune.

The Many Moods of Waheeda Rehman – a ‘song’ tribute to Waheeda Rehman on her 80^th birthday (3^rd February, 2018), songs that she sang on screen presenting her in a different mood and/or emotion.

OP Nayyar — Music Alchemist – In a tribute to the legendary music director OP Nayyar, Silhouette presents a unique collection of essays curated by noted musicologist and author Manek Premchand, admin of the RTS group. The group draws its name from Manek’s book ‘Romancing the Song’, an in-depth encyclopedic lyrical journey through the history of the Hindi film song.

Khayyam: The Poets’ Musician – The earnestness, the depth and the genius of Khayyam led to the creation of masterpiece ghazals, songs and nazms that are among the most beautiful melodies in Hindi film music. Vijay Kumar explores a few of Khayyam’s everlastings songs on the music maker’s birthday on 18^th February, 2018.

Pankaj Mallik-The Singer,Composer Admired By Rabindranath Tagore – The credit of taking Tagore’s songs and music, which have come to be known as ‘Rabindra Sangeet’, to the masses goes to ‘Mukti’.

Zindagi Bhar Nahin Bhoolegi: Bharat Bhushan’s Unforgettable Singer-Poet Musicals – By Peeyush Sharma – Bharat Bhushan’s educated, decent, quiet and humble personality made him excel in unforgettable musicals as historical singer-poet or romantic shayar.

February, 2018 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs is dedicated to: Talat Mahmood’s Duet Combinations with Rare Co-singers. I plan to follow the practice of following-up one artist every month every year. E.g. Our present episode is follow-on post to the February, 2017 episode: ‘Some of the Talat Mahmood Duets receding from the memory’.

And, now the posts on other subjects:

The mesmerizing Qawwaalis from Hindi movies – Listening to a good Qawwaali may take you into a state of trance. Bollywood movies have carried the Qawwaali tradition a long way through several memorable Qawwaalis.

Bombay Returned is Manek Premchand’s maiden article as far as this blog carnival is concerned. The post looks at many actors, singers, composers or filmmakers who came to Bombay to try their fortunes in Hindi films, only to go back to where they were known better through the prism of lens of their Hindi Film Songs.

Great Theme Music of Bollywood – Theme music is a piece that is often played during the intro, opening credits and/or ending credits. This music is a Signature Music of a Film. For example – Alaap at the end of a musical piece from ‘Pakeeza’. In the early years of radio and television, celebrities often had a signature song associated with them that became their theme.

‘Bandini’ is about crossings real and imagined, literal and metaphorical – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – Gulzar made his debut as a lyricist with the 1963 Bimal Roy classic, starring Nutan, Ashok Kumar and Dharmendra and scored by SD Burman…Mora Gora Ang Lai Le is the only song Gulzar wrote for Bandini. By then Burman and Shailendra had made their peace, and the latter wrote the remaining songs. [A concerned Bimal Roy then asked Gulzar to join in on his next production, which was being directed by Hemen Gupta. Kabuliwala, for which Gulzar wrote Ganga Aaye Kahaan Se, went on to release earlier than Bandini.].This song also is the first after SDB and Lata’ feud was patched up.

25 All Time Great Whistling Songs Of Bollywood – Whistling is an old art used in songs started in 1930s and 40s. A whistle can be used to express happiness or woo a beloved. Many a times whistling is a part of hero’s introduction song, where he is shown to whistle happily, either walking or riding a bicycle, or driving a car.

‘Gharonda’ remains one of the most resonant films about Mumbai’s housing woes – Nandini Ramnath – House-hunting leads to heartbreak in Bhimsain’s 1977 morality tale, starring Amol Palekar, Zarina Wahab and Shreeram Lagoo.

Devika Rani is a free-spirited bird in ‘Main Ban Ki Chidiya’ – Archana Nathan – The famous song from Franz Osten’s ‘Achhut Kanya’ is a perfect ode to Devika Rani.

Zara Dekhiye Meri Saadgi’ – Dara Singh – His first real acting film was Bhaktraj (1960). But he came in a hero in Faulad (1963), and then went to act in 80 films in the lead role. The song that the article title refers to is from Nasihat(1967) – rendered by Mahendra Kapoor and composed by O P Nayyar.

We concluded our series Micro View of Best Songs 1948 @SoY of Best songs of 1948: And the winners are? with the final post that presents my views on the Top Music Directors for 1948. If we recall, SoY had concluded the series with Best songs of 1948: Final Wrap Up 4. All the posts of the Micro View of Best Songs of 1948 can be accessed @ The Songs of 1948 @SoY.

In our tradition of ending our post with article or topical song, I have picked up one duet with Suman Kalyanpur and one rarely heard composition of O P Nayyar and Roshan each, in continuation to leads that we have had earlier in this episode::

Aankade Ka Dhandha Ek Din Teji – Satta Bazar (1959) – Kalyanji Anandji – Gulshan Bawra

Sharab Ka Sahara Leke Bahal Saka Na Mera Dil – Commecrical Pilot Officer (1963) – Roshan- Anand Bakshi

Bana De Bana De Prabhuji Tu Bigdadi Bana De Prabhuji – Phaagun (1958) – With Asha Bhosle – O P Nayyar – Qamar Jalalabadi

Madhubala and Bharat Bhushan lip sing the song on the screen.

I earnestly seek your suggestions / inputs / criticisms so as to make our Film Blog Festival more interesting and live.

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

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

We will commence our present episode with My Favorites: Songs of Spring. The only restrictions placed in the selection of the songs were that the lyrics should actually mention the word ‘Spring’ in any of its synonyms – Bahaar. Basant. Vasant- and that the picturisation should show some signs of the season, even if it only means that the song is picturised outside. This is why Aaya basant hai aaya from Subhadraharan (1964) or Dekho mausam kya bahaar hai from Opera House (1961) do not make it to the list. It’s also why Ketki gulaab juhi (Basant Bahar / 1956) is missing from this list, even though the lyrics describe the season so well. Here are some of the less heard songs from this list –

Bahaar aayi khili kaliyan – Alif Laila (1953) – Lata Mangeshkar – Shyam Sundar – Sahir Ludhianvi
Aayi bahaar hai – Hamari Shaan (1951) -Kishore Kumar, Shamshad Begum – Chitragupt – Raja Mehdi Ali Khan
Din suhane mausam bahaar ka – Poonam (1952) – Lata Mangeshkar – Shankar Jaikishan – Shailendra
Shaam-e-bahaar aayi – Shama Parwana (1954) – Mohammed Rafi, Suraiya – Husnlal Bhagatram – Majrooh Sultanpuri
Aayi jhoomti bahaar – Insaniyat (1955) – Lata Mangeshkar, Talat Mehmood – C Ramchandra

I have also added one from my side –

Bahar Ban K e Who Muskaraye, Kali Ghata Tu Na Chaaye To Kya, Baag-e-Shabad Tu Na Aaye To kya – Apne Huye Paraye (1964) – Lata Mangeshkar – Shanker Jaikishan

We now move over to our regular Anniversaries section.

Lalita Pawar: The Dominating Matriarch And Scheming Manthara – A tribute to the prolific Indian actress, with some interesting anecdotes on her life and times By Niilesh A Raje on her 100^th birthday .

Lalita Pawar - in 1940s

Before she met with a freak accident in 1942, Lalita Pawar- born Amba Laxman Rao Sagun on 18 April 1916 – used to play the lead roles.

We have one song from a 1938 film. The clip does not have the original soundtrack with video, but the video uploader, Shalin Bhatt has filled in the gap with some rare images of Lalita Pawar

Sakhi Prem Sudhaa Bharne Aayi – Duniya Kya Hai (1938) – Music: Anna Saheb Mainkar .

Big FM had a Lalita Pawar Birthday Special

The Swar Kokila Kanan Devi – A tribute to Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 to 17 July 1992) on her birth centenary – Here is pip into her well-known and not-so-well-known songs –

Tum Manmohan Tum Sakhiyan Sang – Haar Jeet (1940) – RC Boral
Zara Nainon Se Naina Milaye Jao Re – Hospital (1943) -Kamal Dasgupta – Pt Bhushan
Lachhmi Moorat Daras Dikhaye –Street Singer (1938) -RC Boral – Arzoo Lakhanavi
Ye Duniya Toofan Mail – Jawab (1942) – Kamal Dasgupta and its Bangla version

On Mac Mohan’s Birthday, Remembering Sholay’s Forgotten Villain – Khalid Mohamed completes the whole picture of Mac Mohan’s persona.

Shamshad Begum’s songs by OP Nayyar is a tribute to Shamshad Begum (14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) on her 97th birth anniversary. The back-to-back posts on Shamshad Begum’s songs by Naushad and C Ramchandra last year there was inevitably a reference to OP Nayyar as he is the third member of the trinity which made the greatest contribution to her. To this list we can expect Hansraj Behl in the future who has77 Hindi songs (solos and duets), and 50 songs from Punjabi films. Shamshad Begum’s songs by SD Burman had been presented under the title East meets West. Here are some of the less heard ones –

Bach Ke Balam Kahan Jaaoge – Naya Andaaz (1956) – Jan Nisar Akhtar
Mohabbat Se Tujhe Inkaar… Tu Laage Mora Baalma – Shrimati 420 (1956) -Majrooh Sultanpuri

‘Jo Bhi Ho Tum Khuda Ki Kasam, Lajawab Ho’: Remembering Shakeel Badayuni By Peeyush Sharma – One rare feat (for those times) that gets associated with Shakeel is his hat-trick of Filmfare Best Lyricist Awards in the years 1961, 1962 and 1963. Forty six years ago, on 20^th April, lyricist, poet, shayar, Shakeel Badayuni breathed his last owing to diabetes related complexes. He was just 53 years old

Two of his great ghazals, rendered by Begum Akhtar

Silsila Khatm Na Hoga Mere Afsaane Ka: Shakeel Badayuni, a Tribute – Pavan Jha – He sang his own song in Paak Daman (1957)

We now take a look at posts on other subjects –

Simple melodies of Ravi would normally have dominance of santoor and flute in their orchestration. In most of the cases, the lyrics came first and the tune later. Please enjoy 24 of his lovely songs from LINK TO SIMPLE MELODIES OF RAVI.

Ten of my favourite funny songs is a list of ten songs that are actually funny, funny because of the lyrics, the rendition, the picturization—whatever (in some stellar instances, all of the above). These may not be songs that make one laugh out loud, but they are songs that always make you smile rather more widely than usual.

We have picked up a couple of less heard songs

Lipstick lagaanewaale – Shrimatiji, 1952 – Shamshad Begum – Jimmy
Aa thha jab janam liya thha – Biwi aur Makaan, 1966 – Mukesh, Hemant Kumar . Manna Dey – Hemant Kumar

How Bhupinder Singh blends the ghazal with the guitar – Bhupinder had a tough call to take: should he be behind the microphone or strum a guitar? Having both wasn’t going to be easy. Some of Rahul Dev Burman’s greatest songs, including “Dum Maro Dum” (Hare Rama Hare Krishna, 1971), “Chura Liya Hai Tumne” (Yaadon Ki Baaraat, 1973) and “Mehbooba Mehbooba” (Sholay, 1975) were backed by Singh’s musical fingers. Singh has a formidable body of work in film music, having sung for over 50 films. “Dil Dhoondta Hai” (Mausam, 1975), “Naam Gum Jayega” (Kinara, 1977), “Karoge Yaad Toh” (Bazaar, 1982), “Kisi Nazar Ko Tera Intizaar”(Aitbaar, 1986), “Baadalon Se Kaat Kaat Ke” (Satya, 1998) are just a few of his most popular songs, but the ones that need to rediscovered, like the man himself.

‘In Aradhana, Sachin Karta Gave Me My Life’s Biggest Hit’: In Conversation with Shakti Samanta By Peeyush Sharma -In this never-published-before interview, Shakti Samanta recalls the superlative and everlasting music that became the hallmark of his films.. Shakti Samanta made four films each with O P Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishen and S D Burman. With R D Burman, he did the maximum number of films – 11 in Hindi plus four more in Bengali. Three of his films were with the famous Bengali singer-composer Shyamal Mitra and two each with Ravi and Ravindra Jain.

The post has several very-well songs. I have located one which is not much heard.

Dekho Dekho Jee Balam – Bahu (1955) – Geeta Dutt, Talat Mahmood – Hemant Kumar – S H Bihari

Kite (Patang) Songs is a result of several factors that happened in the background. To us what matters is the outcome –

Meri Pyari Patang – Dillagi (1949) – Shamshad Begum, Uma Devi – Naushad
Main Ban Patang Ud Jaoon Re – Dupatta (1952) – Noorjehan – Firoze Nizami
Piya Main Hoon Patang Tu Dor – Raagni (1958) – Asha Bhosle, Mohammad Rafi – O P Nayyar – Jaan Nissar Akhtar
Lak Patala Patang Uton Gora Gora Rang – Yakke Wali (1957) – Zubaida Khanum, Zareef, Azra Sultana – G A Chisti

Hindi film songs in Swahili – Manish Gaekwad – Taarab, a fusion of Indian, Arabic, and African sounds popular on the Swahili coast of Southeast Africa, has a special place for Hindi film music. Traditionally sung in the Swahili language at weddings and social gatherings, Taarab songs weave several themes into the lyrics, including romance and politics…… There are over two dozen of these songs on YouTube – yet another instance of the phenomenal popularity impact of Hindi film music beyond its traditional markets.

Nutan on the sets of Laila Majnu (November, 1953)

Costumed as Laila, the youthful Nutan signs autographs for fans who visited the “Laila Majnu” set

Madhubala Goes Chinese (January, 1957) – Members of the Chinese Women’s Delegation dropped in on madhu bala-chinese the sets of Om Prakash’s – whom most of us know as a veteran comedian and character actor – “Gateway of India” the day they arrived in Bombay. Madhubala welcomed them cordially and is seen chatting with two of the members.

Om Prakash entertained the Delegation to the screening of a special Chinese song-and-dance number filmed for “Gateway of India”. – Chal Mere Dil Ke Udan Khatole Udata Ja Tu Hole Hole – Mohammad Rafi – Madan Mohan- Here Madhubala, Bhagwan and a party of Chinese children dance together.

Madhubala – The Biggest Star in the World – by David Cort for Theatre Arts – August, 1952 – The actress, born Mumtaz Ataullah in Delhi in 1933, with the greatest following, in numbers and devotion, is not to be found in Hollywood, but on the opposite side of the planet — in Bombay, India.

Poster of 1951 film 'Badal', based on Robin Hood theme — Poster of 1951 film ‘Badal’, based on Robin Hood theme

‘Badal’ was quite successful. Most of the songs of the film also had done well. We will take up one of those for the records

Do Din Ke Liye Maheman Yahan – Badal (1951) – Lata Mangeshkar – Shanker Jaikishan

Two Timir Baran songs –

Mat Bhool Musafir Tujhe Jana Hi Padega – Devdas (1935) – K C Dey
Kaise Koi Jiye…Zehar Hai Zindagi – Baadbaan (1954) – Geeta Dutt, followed by Hemant Kumar in a twin version

We end our present episode with a posts/ articles that cover Mohammed Rafi, from a wide-ranging point of views –

When Dev Anand lent his voice to a Mohammad Rafi song –This is an article that was published on 4-12-2011 – ‘Hurray Hurray’ @0.08 in the song Pyar Mohabbat Ke Siwa Ye Zindagi Kya Zindagi,(Pyar Mohabbat –1966 – Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle – Shanker Jaikishan)is recorded in Dev Anand’s voice. According to some reports, Dev Anand had also lent his voice to another Rafi song from Kala Bazar (1960) – Sooraj Ki Jaise Golayi– S D Burman – by adding ‘Om dhan hai namah’ and ‘Hari dhan hari dhan’ @4.52.

Philatelic Tribute to Great Legend – Mohd Rafi

Rafi 30001

An Open Letter to Rafi Demeanors – J.K. Bhagchandani – The post is a point-to-point rejoinder to the contention that Mohammed Rafi did not have natural pain in his voice for sad songs and he has to bring in sobbing effect to infuse the right impact. The author of the post strongly states that it is not only sad songs that he has provided us with different shades/ sub-genres but almost all genres of songs sung by him have that diversity factor

I look forward to receive your inputs for further enriching the contents of the posts…..

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

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

We will begin our present issue with a tributes that were originally published in December, 2015. However, ours being a curative post, we will need to take such topical posts into our stride as a natural hazard for such curative exercises.

Week starting on 20^th December is A Very Significant Week for Birth and Death Anniversaries. This post, though, has decided to include numbers that are less likely to appear on people’s greatest hits list – Nalini Jaywant (20 December), Vasant Desai (22 December), Noor Jehan (23 December), Mohammad Rafi (24 December), Naushad (25 December).

Naushad’s Priceless Moment: ‘Anmol Ghadi’ (1946) – Anmol Ghadi is the only link that connects up three greats. Naushad, Rafi and Noorjehan are also linked in an incredibly eerie way –Noorjehan’s death anniversary falls on December 23 (2000), Rafi was born on 24 December (1924) and Naushad’s birth anniversary falls on December 25 (1919).

Bimal Roy: The Eastern Mystic Who Made Films – Vijay Kumar explores the deeper existential layers of thoughts, views, emotions and relationships in Bimal Roy’s iconic films.. At the point of his death, he was working on two projects: Mahabharat and Maha Kumbh. In his death, the country missed out, on celluloid, what would have been the most authentic deconstruction and interpretation of the greatest epic, namely Mahabharat, and an understanding and exposition of the largest human congregation on the face of Earth, namely Maha Kumbh..

Bimal Roy’s Madhumati – Untold Stories from Behind the Scenes By Sathya Saran – Rinki Roy Bhattachaya, Bim Back cover of the book with a comment from Amitabh Bachchan al Roy’s daughter has written this book as almost an offering to her father’s memory. Not party to any more of the actual work on Madhumati, Rinki’s book is an account of her search for stories about the film to know how it was made and the elements that went into making it one of the masterpieces of Indian cinema.

In his comment, MN Sardana has hoped that the book may throw light on the non-inclusion of two songs, recorded for Madhumati. First is Tan Jale Man Jalta Rahe ,sung by Dwijen Mukherjee & chorus and the second being Kancha Le Kanchi Lai Lajo Rut Matwali, Naye Paise Ko Leke Aaya Hai Naya Saal sung by Ghulam Mohammad , Asha Bhonsle, Sabita Banerjee & Chorus.

Last Month, Sadhana drew curtains to her life. She was well remembered in the offerings of rich Sadhna in 'Abana' obituaries. One of the most telling obit came in from (I think that was from) Sanjay Leela Bhanshali – she was queen of mellow drama and not the melodrama.

Sadhana was learning acting in “Filmalay acting school” and she got an opportunity to debut as heroine in “Love in Simla”. Sadhana had earlier played the second lead in a Sindhi film “Abana” that had released in 1958. Sheila Ramani played the lead in this Sindhi film.

Going back in time with Sadhana – “I want my fans to remember me as the Sadhana of Love In Simla, Mere Mehboob, Woh Kaun Thi and Arzoo.” – first published on Rediff.com in December 2012.

Abhi Na Jao Chhodkar… notes that it ought to be most appropriate to remember ‘one of my favourite actresses’ is to remember her ‘- frozen on screen, in all her beauty and grace, for all time’. We have picked up one of the less heard song –Ab aur na kuch bhi yaad raha – Prem Patra (1962) – Lata Mangeshkar – Salil Choudhary – Rajinder Krishan

My contribution to such songs is Aaye Re Din Sawan Ke – Gaban (1966) – Lata Mangeshakar – Shanker Jaikishan.

Peeyush Sharma in his tribute – Adieu Sadhana – recollects some of the most enchanting, lilting, melodious, memorable songs that are associated intrinsically with the gorgeous style icon Sadhana.

In Tribute: Sadhana (1941-2015) Madulika Liddle looks back to “The schemer? The victim? The innocent soul? The glamour girl? The girl next door? Each of those. And more” roles of Sadhana. We have picked up Meri nazrein haseen hai ki tum ho haseen (Ek Musafir Ek Haseena, 1962, Asha Bhosle, O P Nayyar ) from My Favourite Songs of Sadhana

In Sadhana: What movies! What songs!, Dinesh Raheja remembers Sadhana’s memorable movies and songs.

Subir Sen passed away in Kolkata on December 29(,2015) at a private hospital. In one of the very fitting tributes, Aah Dil Mein Hai Nayan Mein Neer Hai, skapur01 recollects that ‘in all, he sang for less than 25 (plus one unreleased) Hindi films, and the number of songs is less than 30. He also composed music for a Hindi film that apparently was released only in England, in 1970 or thereabout. The film had songs sung by Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, besides himself. Presently, the post has presented a very rare solo song, composed by S N Tripathi, from an unreleased film, ‘Rani Chandrawati’ from the 1960s’ – Aah Dil Mein Hai Nayan Mein Neer Hai .

We also recall an earlier post form Songs of Yore – Subir Sen: The involuntary Hemant Kumar clone.

We have picked up a couple of less heard songs from, Best songs of the most unloved singer Mahendra Kapoor, a tribute to Mahendra Kapoor on his what would have been 82^nd birth anniversary (9 January 1934 – 27 December 2008)

Husn aur ishq ke takraae ki raat ayi hai – Sagaai (1966) – lyrics Rajendra Krishna, – music Ravi
Duniya bananewale ne jab chaand banaya – Tasveer (1966), lyrics DN Madhok, music C Ramchandra – a recital song.

The interview in Beete Hue Din contains some interesting information about the Metro-Murphy Competition and Mahendra Kapoor’s career.

In Ye duniya rahe na rahe kyaa pataa, Sadanand Kamath fondly recollects some of the events in the life of O P Nayyar on his 90^th birthday on 16^th January, 2016. ….. One of his box office hit films – ‘Phagun’ (1958) had 11 songs. When Ustad Ameer Khan asked him as to why he had composed almost all the songs in Raag Piloo, O P Nayyar told him that he did not have the knowledge of classical raagas. It was just a coincidence that his compositions matched with Raag Piloo. In the later years, Ustad Ameer Khan told him that in “akeli hoon main piyaa aa” from ‘Sambandh’ (1969), he had used about 16 different raagas…….The blogpost also further recounts a few examples of songs where he had nicely blended the playing of the musical instruments with that of the mood of the songs.

Posts that remember Suchitra Sen : Forever Suchitra Sen – A Silhouette tribute – By Amitava Nag – This article has been edited from Uttam Kumar and ‘Mrs Sen’: The Magical and Hypnotic Uttam-Suchitra Years ǁ Rahe Na Rahe Hum: ‘Mahanayika’ Suchitra Sen’s Aura Lingers On… ǁ Romance In Cinema – Uttam Kumar And Suchitra Sen – A Case Study

“Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon” – Joy Mukerjee – As a hero, Joy Mukerjee appeared only in 32 films. In his last two outings – “Kahaani Phoolwati ki” and “Insaf Main Karoonga”, Joy took up the role of the villain.

Joy Mukherjee, in second lead, and Helen, in a rare break away from her ‘cabaret dancer’ roles, in Hum Hindustani (1960)

In a tribute to Raj Kapoor, we have picked up a rare photograph of the sons with the father, from Rediff archives:

Shashi Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Prithviraj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor. Photograph: Rediff Archives

We now move over to other regular posts.

26 Rare Photos of Madhubala to Remind You Why She Was Such a Goddess – Vandita Kapoor has presented photos from a 1951 shoot for Life magazine by photographer James Burke may just help her keep this title forever. By turns sultry and sweet, serious and childlike, enigmatic and completely accessible — in these photos Madhubala is thoroughly magnificent.

Madhubala - a 1951 shoot for LIFE by photographer James Burke - 2

Helen Remixed 3 presents a nice mix of rare Helen videos and upgrades in 1080p High Definition.

Shammi Kapoor’s connection with the ‘Silsila’ hit ‘Neela Aasman So Gaya’ – The 1960s star had composed the song, which he gifted to Amitabh Bachchan for Yash Chopra’s ‘Silsila.’

My Favourites: ‘What’s Life?’ Songs seeks some of the ‘answers’ to that deepest of existential angst.

My Favourites: Songs of Hope and Encouragement

“This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays.”

पन्छी : An aviary of Songs is a Bird-watch guest article by Shalan Lal in Songs of Yore.

Bollywood’s love affair with Horse – From the list of songs chosen in the guest article by D P Rangan, we have picked up one less heard song –Humkadam humsafar humnasheen humzuban by Manna Dey, Mahendra Kapur and Usha Khanna –Nishan (1965), lyrics Javed Anwar, music Usha Khanna

The Three Mumtazes in Basant (1942) – Pramila with Mumtaz Ali in Balam Dhire Bol Koi ǁ Mumtaz Ali with Mumtaz Shanti in Gori Mose Ganga ǁ Mumtaz Shanti lip singing Parul Ghosh’s playback voice in Mere Chhote Se Man Mein. ǁ The third Mumtaz, a.k.a. Madhubala, when this toddler grows up, sings Tumko Mubarak Ho.

A dubbed film and a song : In Prema Lekhalu 1953 A. M. Rajah, in the telugu version, starts the duet. In the Hindi version, (Aah, 1953) Lata Mangeshkar starts the song Aja Re Ab Mera Dil Pukara. The Tamil version is similar to the Telugu one, both sung by A.M.Rajah and Jikki.

Music in the house: Can you hear Noor Jehan? – by Devyani Onial – On the crowded shelves of this small room at the New Gramophone House in Chandni Chowk, perhaps the only vinyl record shop in Delhi, fading record sleeves hold gems from the past. Anuj Rajpal has an enviable stock of around 2,00,000 EP and LP vinyls and 78-RPM shellac recods.

Balaji Vittal and Anirudha Bhattacharjee are Keeping Score : Was the Sixties the defining sound of Hindi film music? – for which the foundation was collectively laid by the likes of Naushad, C Ramchandra, Shanker Jaikishan, S D Burman, Salil Chaudhary.

Matinee idols – Between 2003 and 2005 – photographer Shahid Datawala received a grant from Sarai for a project on cinema and cinema-going culture in Delhi. Thus began his journey to several of the city’s decrepit single-screen theatres. –

Before the silence: Rhythm House a haven for music lovers – by Paroma Mukherjee – In the fast-changing lives of Mumbaikars, Rhythm House stood as a haven for music lovers looking to discover new genres and seek out some solitude. With its closure, the city will lose not just an institution, but also a way of life.

In our, by now a ritual, closure we revisit the recent tributes to Mohammad Rafi:

Remembering Rafi Sahab on his birth anniversary – Souvik Chatterjee
Lata Mangeshkar pays tribute to Mohammed Rafi on birth anniversary
Mohammed Rafi’s biography, by Sujata Dev, launched on 91st birth anniversary
Now, a film on Mohammed Rafi’s life
‘Do you want me to sing or stop breathing?’ is excerpted from Mohammed Rafi My Abba — A Memoir by Yasmin K Rafi, published by Westland Books and Tranquebar Press.
‘If anyone has the voice of god, it is Mohammed Rafi’ – Shahid Rafi, Mohammed Rafi’s youngest son, remembers the singing legend in this interview with Patcy N/Rediff.com
My numerous daily cups of tea and Rafi Sahab – Achal Rangaswamy

I look forward to receive your inputs for further enriching the contents of the posts…..

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – February, 2015 edition

Welcome to February, 2015 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

As has become a set pattern, we begin with articles form or regular blogs, commemorating anniversaries:

Kavi Pradeep: The singer of Message Songs – As tribute on the centenary of Kavi Pradeep (6 February 1915 – 11 December 1998) – the article goes on to present some songs sung by him, because he is in the class of singers who could not sing anything which was less than captivating.

Happy Birthday, Waheeda ji, from where we have picked up these two songs:

Jaane kya tune kahi (Pyaasa, 1957, Geeta Dutt, S DBurman) so as to bring up its original Bengali version Mono Dilo Na Bandhu sung and composed by S D Burman

Haaye gazab kahin taara toota (Teesri Kasam, 1966. Asha Bhosle, Shankar-Jaikishen). We will add Mubarak Begum’s piece – Hai Muhobbat Bahut – to this list. Just as a bonus, here is her dance number (Yaeru pooti poovaye from Kaalam Maari Poochu (remade into Telugu as Rojulu Marayi). This tune was adapted to in Hindi for the film Bambai Ka Babu, as Dekhane Mein Bhola Hai, some years down the line.

My Favourite Geeta Bali songs – January 21, 2015 was the 50^th anniversary. Our pick of the songs is : Yeh Din Hai Khushi Ke – Jab Se Tumhen Dekha Hai (1963) – Manna Dey and Suman Kalyanpur

My favourite songs of Madhubala , from which we have picked up – Aye bhola bhala man (Jhumroo, 1961, Asha Bhosle and Kishore Kumar, Kishore Kumar)

The Masters: Khayyam spans the career that spanned more than six decades, with long stretches in between where Khayyam did not compose for films at all. In all, he composed for 54 films (and 17 other unreleased ones) and totalled up 626 songs (including those for TV serials and other non-film albums including those for Begum Akhtar and Mohammed Rafi).

And now onto some of the other – regular- offerings:

UttarMegh and Dekh Kabira Roya is also the inspired by the Meghadutam, which has been a source of inspiration of many an artist. ‘While PurvaMegh describes the scenic beauty that the cloud messenger would pass by on his way to Alaka nagari, as narrated by a certain Yaksha who is separated from his wife on account of negligence of duty and hence cursed by Kubera to be exiled for a year, UttarMegh is full of virah-bhava. ..The great painter Nana Joshi has created nine visualisations of the verses of UttarMegh…. That UttarMegh was a possible inspiration for the great lyricist Rajinder Krishan when he penned the lyrics for Dekh Kabira Roya – Meri Veena Tum Bin Roye and Ashqon se teri hamne [It is also interesting to note that the two songs are back to back in the movie] as well as Bairan Ho Gyai Raina – or even Amiya Chakraborty, the director of the movie, is what this post sets out to explore.

Some Favorite (Relatively) Contemporary Versions of Classic Hindi Film Songs is the result of the urge to throw together some of my favorite contemporary versions of old Hindi film songs. The songs included here – Hai Apna Dil To Awara, Chin Chin Choo, Piya Tu Ab To Aaja– also come from a slightly wider range than the area that the blog usually focuses on these days, stretching in one case all the way into the early 1970s. But all of these songs were composed by music directors who produced many classics during the Golden Age, and all of them were originally sung by artists who became prominent during the Golden Age or the Vintage Era.

Different versions of ‘Tum Bhulaye Na Gaye’ by Feroza Begam… This is one of the loveliest songs that one cannot get tired of listening it again and again. There is something special about it. Firoza Begum in her unique and beautiful voice has infused agony and angst into this engrossing composition of Kamal Dasgupta…. original version , subsequent version and the one when she was almost 70 .

A few random musings:

Salil Chaudhury – A narrative documentary movie on Salil Chowdhury directed by Jagadish Banerjee and produced by Films Division…..

Cinema Cinema – Director Shah Krishna compiled this compelling documentary of Indian cinema after spending two years searching through film archives from all over the world. Included are films from the turn of the 20th century through the 1970s to illustrate various schools of filmmaking and the historical progression of the art form.

Our friends Samir Dholakia and Bhgawan Thavrani have remembered

Dhuwen ki gaadi udaaye liye jaaye
Ae dil bahak na jaana
Yahaan To Katey Mauj Se Zindagi
Meri Aur Unki Preet Puraani Chal Chal Jaaun Ya Mumbai Laa
Khushi Do Ghadi Ki – Kishore Kumar -DOOR KA RAHI (1970

Naresh Mankad also chips in with

Whilst on Pankaj Mullik, we also recall that Samir Dholakia has sent

Tu Dhundhata hai jisako – Yatrik by Anulekha Gupta Mullick, the daughter of Pankaj Mullik. Here is the original song.

And now over to exclusive articles on Mohammad Rafi…

Mohammad Rafi Timeline showcases his endless collections.

Mohammed Rafi: An Antique voice of showman Raj Kapoor – An Accolade to Raj Kapoor and Mohammed Rafi on their 90th Birthday By Biman Baruah – Mohammad Rafi has sung second highest songs for Raj Kapoor, after Mukesh, in films like Barsaat (1949), Andaz (1949), Dastan (1950), Sargam (1950), Amber (1952), Paapi (1953), Do Ustad (1959), Chhalia (1960), Nazrana (1961), Ek Dil Sau Afsane (1963) and Mera Naam Joker (1970).