Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – Volume XII – April 2024 Edition

Welcome to April 2024 edition of XII^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Recent celebrations to celebrate birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi (B: Dec 24, 1924 | D: Jul 31, 1980).

In the fourth show, on 24^th April 2024, singers and musicians attempt to recreate Immortal Rafi … Immortal Duets

Here is one of the most elaborate April Fool pranks played by a film magazine in the 90s: Anupam Kher on a magazine cover as Sridevi’s sister.

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

Rafi sings for Composers from Bengal – Anil Biswas, Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar were covered in Part 1, S D Burman in Part 2 and R D Burman in Part 3 and now Part 4 focuses on a few well known, a few lesser known or forgotten composers from the 40s and the 50s mainly..

An Actress Par Excellence – There was more to Meena Kumari than being ‘Tragedy Queen’. Anuradha Warrier revisits the incomparable actor’s films that showcase her incredible range and immeasurable talent

The Masters: Shakeel Badayuni is a tribute to one of the finest romantic poets who worked in Hindi cinema on his 54^th anniversary.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (14): Four Shades of the Dusk of the Series covers Bhanu Gupta, Homi Mullan, Kishor Sodha and Ranjit Gazmer in the concluding article of the series on SoY. The previous Arrangers and Musicians covered in the series are Sebastian D’ Souza, Anthony Gonsalves, Enoch Daniels, Kishore Desai  Manohari Singh, S Hazara Singh, V Balsara, Ramlal , Dattaram, Van Shipley,  Goody Seerwai ,“The Lords” and Ramprasad Sharma and Sons.

Wooden/Temple Block Songs – The wooden/Chinese temple blocks are percussion instruments without a membrane. According to music lover, musicologist, historian and archivist Kushal Gopalka, the earliest use of non-traditional percussion was made in Jawani Ki Reet (1939) by R.C.Boral, when he used wooden blocks for the song Chale pawan harsoo

Dilip Naik, the Hindi film industry musician you had heard even before you heard of him – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – Dilip Naik made his debut as a session musician on the songs Chheda Mere Dil Ne and Gori Zara Hans De Tu from the Dev Anand-Sadhana starrer Asli Naqli (1962). In both these songs, Naik was part of a trio of acoustic guitarists in an orchestra consisting of more than 60 musicians. He had so far only played in front of a live audience; this was his introduction to the anonymous nature of a session musician’s work.

April 2024 episode of IX^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Hasrat Jaipuri – Beyond Shankar Jaikishan: 1961 – Part 2. 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 for 1959 in 2021,

The songs for 1960 in 2022, and.

The songs for 1961 Part I in 2023

Celebrating cinema through pictures:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

How Ameen Sayani’s Binaca Geetmala took film songs to listeners in Jhumri Talaiya and beyond – Isabel Huacuja Alonso – For decades, Anil Bhargava, a devoted listener and chronicler of the programme, meticulously recorded the song competition’s results as well as any changes that the programme underwent. Bhargava began in his early teens, continued the work of his father, who recorded Geetmala’s earliest rankings. Based on these handwritten diaries, he published, Binaca Geetmala ka surila safar (Binaca’s melodious journey). This book is one of the finest resources about Geetmala available.

Book Review: DIRECTOR’S CHAIR: Hindi Cinema’s Golden Age by Manek Premchand

Published by: Blue Pencil 2024
ISBN: 978-81-956660-8-9; Pages: 571
Price (Paperback on Amazon): ₹750

The Teller of Middle-Class Tales – Basu Chatterjee is the subject of National Award-winning author, Anirudha Bhattacharjee’s latest book, Basu Chatterjee and Middle-of-the-Road Cinema.

Subsequent to, Characters with Books: In English-language cinema, Hindi film characters with books, Part 2 is a sequel to a post about characters in Hindi cinema shown with book. The article narrates screenshots of Hindi film characters with books; and not just characters with books in the background.

In her latest book ‘Amitabh Bachchan as the Other’, film critic and author Shoma A Chatterji contends that beyond Amitabh Bachchan’s persistent ‘angry young man’ label, his cinematic prowess defies stereotypes, aligning him more closely with the intriguing concept of ‘The Other.’

The Hindi 𝘎𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘦 typically are not the songs that Vividh Bharati or ‘old’ time Radio Ceylon would play; these are the songs that has fast rhythm and random words thrown in, in the name of lyrics are Hindi gaane for the GenX.

Yeh Jeevan Hai: Songs on Life and Its Myriad Hues – NS Rajan explores how diversely our poets and lyricists have treated the subject of jeevan or life in all its moods and expressions in Hindi film songs.

Hindi film qawwalis – Part I  presented the qawwalis from ’40s to ’50,Part II those from’60s. Now, Part III covers from the 70s and the 80s and now, the Part IV covers qawwalis from 90s and beyond.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, this year being the celebration of Mohammad Rafi birth centenary, we will take up what others have said about him:

• • Thirty years on, Mohd Rafi remains a favorite – Shammi Kapoor and others

 

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 XII – March 2024 Edition

Welcome to March 2024 edition of XII^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Recent celebrations to celebrate birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi (B: Dec 24, 1924 | D: Jul 31, 1980).

In the third show, on 24^th March 2024, to celebrate Mohammed Rafi Birth Centenary Celebrations, playback singer Javed Ali attempts to recreate magic of Rafi Sahab with memorable solos, and duets supported by popular female singers – Sangeeta Melekar and Preethi Warrier.

Rafi’s Centenary Special: 35 songs from 35 years (1946-1980) – If one compares the voice between the first song in this selection Kah ke bhi na aaye tum (1946) to Maine poochha chand se ki (1980) there is hardly any change.

Mohammad Rafi Birth Centenary: Remembering Some Happy Solo Songs of ‘40s – There would be no doubt that recalling Mohammad Rafi’s happy, romantic, solo songs, for the years 1944 – 1950 should be a very unique experience.

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

March is the month of Holi, festival of colours, across India. In RK Studio holi was played with a lot of grandeur.

SN Tripathi – His Music Still Lives On – Anuradha Warrier presents on his 111^th birth anniversary melodies composed by this maverick music director in no particular order.

Happy birthday to veteran actress Wahida Rehmanji on 3rd February, 2024.

My Favourites: Songs by Ravi on his 12^th death anniversary. Here is a selection of Ravi compositions in no particular order.

Hum Tere Bin Jee Na Sakenge Sanam – Remembering Ganesh on his 24^th death anniversary.

The romantic songs of Shashi Kapoorji is remembered for the lovely songs – Meri Nigah Ne Kya Kam Lajawaab Kiya – Mohabbat Isko Kahate Hai (1965) – Mohammad Rafi – Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri – Music: Khayyam

The Elusive Nanda – Nanda’s sweet innocence made her the nation’s favourite. On her 10^th death anniversary, Anuradha Warrier revisits some of her best performances.

Also, to recall from the archives: Jeevan Ka Matlab To Aana Aur Jaana Hai: Remembering Nanda

Female bonding and their duets is a commemoration of the International Women’s Day with female duets.

The Sculptors of Film Songs (13) Ramprasad Sharma & Sons, the saga of contribution that the four generation of Sharma family. The previous Arrangers and Musicians covered in the series are Sebastian D’ Souza, Anthony Gonsalves, Enoch Daniels, Kishore Desai  Manohari Singh, S Hazara Singh, V Balsara, Ramlal , Dattaram, Van Shipley,  Goody Seerwai and “The Lords”

March 2024 episode of IX^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Ghulam Mohammad and His Singers: 1954. Till now we have covered Ghulam Mohammad’s songs for the year

1943 to 1949 in 2021, and

1950-1952 in 2022.

1953 in 2023

Celebrating cinema through pictures:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Are We Accepting Ourselves Better Now Than Ever? – Audiences have begun embracing mindless entertainment, reflecting a cultural shift towards a slow and steady acceptance of our own true choices and ourselves. This acceptance extends to our past, as seen in the resurgence of 90s music and the acknowledgment of B and C grade cinema. Saumya Baijal critiques this emerging trend.

Characters with Books: In English-language cinema – Six years after a post about characters in Hindi cinema shown with book was published, Dusted Off presents post wherein it is with characters in English-language cinema.

The Qalandariyya (reflections on an excellent video by Filip Holm, which I saw just two weeks after the Urs of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar) from Filip Holm’s show, Let’s Talk Religion, entitled “The Counter-Culture, Lawless Muslim Mystics Who Drank Wine? / The Qalandariyya.”

Latent Duets are not distant duets. Both singers have at least one antara each to register their presence. But the second singer enters the fray only after the first antara.

Hindi film qawwalis – Part I  presented the qawwalis from ’40s to ’50 and Part II those from’60s. Now, Part III covers from the 70s and the 80s.

It’s what you wear: Ten songs about attire, songs that make a mention of a particular garment, beyond a list on dupattas/chunaris/odhnis.

Through the Lens, Brightly: Women in Cinema, Women at Work, authored by Shoma A Chatterji, unearths how the ‘working woman’ has been presented in films directed by women. The book is divided into three parts. Part I, which serves as a general introduction to the theme. Part II and Part III of the book analyses nine significant films made by women directors where the author combines scholarly research and critical acumen to contextualize individual directors and the complexity of separating the feminine from the professional.

Here are Bollywood Rewind articles of Samapda Sharma in Indian Express:

• • Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a key figure in the making of India’s first talkie film Alam Ara. – Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the founder of Pakistan, but he was also the lawyer who actually made it possible for Alam Ara to become the first talkie film of India 93 years ago.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, this year being the celebration of Mohammad Rafi birth centenary, we will take up what others have said about him:

Pyarelal on Mohammad Rafi

Laxmikant on Mohammad Rafi

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 XII – February 2024 Edition

Welcome to February 2024 edition of XII^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

Recent celebrations to celebrate birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi (B: Dec 24, 1924 | D: Jul 31, 1980).

Rafi Legacy Continues

The Story of Main Pyaar Ka Raahi Hoon – Anyone who listens to lyrics of songs intently, will surely find something amiss here. The lyrics of the two antaras sung by Asha have been interchanged while singing. As a result of this, in the antaras, there is no link between Rafi’s lines and those of Asha. How the lines got mixed up and who was responsible for the slipup is not clear. Moreover, no one noticed this gaffe till the song was to be picturized. But by then it was too late as the film had to be released. Thus, the song could not make it to the film.

We also pay our respects to Ameen Sayani (21 Dec, 1932 – 20 Feb, 2024). Ameen Sayani was not a native speaker of Hindi, Urdu, or Hindustani. He grew up in a Gujarati-speaking Muslim household and attended an English-language boarding school….The fact that Sayani was not a native speaker of Hindi, however, seems to have ultimately worked in his favour. On the air, Sayani consciously adopted a simple manner of speech that non-native speakers of Hindi, including his own family members, could easily understand.

Ameen Sayani, for a change, is being interviewed by Neeti Jain for Hello DD program:

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

Continuing the series, the year-wise review of Lata Mangeshkar’s career, on Lata Mangeshkar, Mehfil Mein Teri revisits 1961 – Lata Mangeshkar.

“Aa Ke Dard Jawan Hai, Sajna, Raat Ka Ishara Hai” – Ahmed Wasi – This song, composed by O P Nayyar for Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1973), is the point of entry for Ahmed Wasi as the lyricist. (YT version of the article: Ahmed Wasi – The Only Lyricist Introduced By O.P.Nayyar – Rare Bollywood Trivia – Rare Nostalgia

February 2024 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Talat Mahmood – Duets with Asha Bhosle – 1954| 1955. 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

In 2022, Talat Mahmood: Duets with Shamshad Begum, and

In 2023, Talat Mahmood’s: Duets with Asha Bhosle: 1951 | 1952 | 1953

Celebrating cinema through pictures:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion (2) contains 20 sets of same name artists. The first part of the book contains similar pen portraits of some 34 artists from the early era.

Author: Arunkumar Deshmukh (Copyright) | Publisher: Professor Toofanii Publishers, Lansing, MI USA (2023) | Editor: Professor Surjit Singh | Price: ₹450 plus postage (Paperback) at pothi.com.

Hindi film qawwalis – Part I  presents the qawwalis from ’40s to ’50 and Part II those from’60s.

(Note: Cinema Qawwali Archive, curated by Yousuf Saeed, has so far archived over 800 songs dating from 1939 to 2022.

Street Dancers of Bollywood sing the songs that were key for taking the story forward. Often these songs became the high point of the film and achieved everlasting popularity

Songs with Homonyms – Homonym is a word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word. One finds repetition of a single word to convey two different meanings in some songs. This play on words demonstrates the calibre and intelligence of the lyricist who can use homonyms to convey a multi-layered message succinctly. he homonym could be in any part of the song – prelude, mukhda or antara. E.g. Bhoole Se Kabhi Yaad Kar Ae Bhoolne Waale – Ek Roz (1947) – Naseem Akhtar – Lyrics: Sarshar Sailaani – Music: Shyam Sundar

Here are Bollywood Rewind articles of Samapda Sharma in Indian Express:

• • DevD vs Devdas: Anurag Kashyap’s adaptation respected Paro and Chandramukhi in a way that Sanjay Leela Bhansali completely missed – 15 years of Dev.D: Anurag Kashyap’s adaptation of Devdas puts Dev in his place and celebrates the women who happen to fall in love with him despite his bad attitude.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, this year being the celebration of Mohammad Rafi birth centenary, we will take up what others have said about him:

Burjor Lord talks Rafi Sahab

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 XII – January 2024 Edition

Welcome to January 2024 edition of XII^th Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

This the year which has birth centenary of Mohammad Rafi (B: Dec 24, 1924 | D: Jul 31, 1980).

Woh Jab Yaad Aaye – Inaugural Programme for Mohammed Rafi Birth Centenary Celebrations

Rafi’s Birth Centenary Year begins with his Hindi film songs from the years 1944 and 1945.

SoY opens the celebrations with Mohammad Rafi from A to Z to which Hans has added his own curated list.

Md. Rafi – A Singer Who Seldom Spoke – Try looking for interviews where his voice can be heard in conversation with someone and you will not find more than two or three. Ameen Sayani, the great radio compere who has interviewed the who’s who of the film industry never succeeded in doing an interview with Rafi. When Rafi did finally accede to his request of doing an interview and that too on his own terms – of answering every question through a song of his – it was perhaps too late, for he left for his heavenly abode before this could happen. This was how reticent Rafi was.

Sanjeev Ramabhadran – Remembering the Rafi-Naushad Duo : Can we recollect the songs after listening to these alaaps:

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

Mahefil Mein Teri celebrated the installation of Eam idol (प्राण प्रतिष्ठापना) with a devotional song list dedicated to Lord Ram @ II Jai Shree Ram II.

Qamar Jalalabadi: The Unforgettable Lyricist – D P Rangan presents a thorough view of one of the most eminent lyricist, Qamar Jalabadi, who is remembered for wide range of timless songs he penned for Husnlal-Bhagatram, Kalyanji-Anandji, OP Nayyar and others.

Rafi sings for Composers from Bengal – After part I covered Mohammad Rafi’s songs with Anil Biswas, Salil Chowdhury and Hemant Kumar, and Part II covered those of S D Burman, Part III recalls Rafi’s association with R D Burman marking the latter’s 30th death anniversary .

The Sculptors of Film Songs (11) Goody Seerwai: Goody Seerwai pioneered the popularity of piano accordion in Hindi film songs. The previous Arrangers and Musicians covered in the series are Sebastian D’ Souza, Anthony Gonsalves, Enoch Daniels, Kishore Desai  Manohari Singh, S Hazara Singh, V Balsara, Ramlal , Dattaram and Van Shipley

January 2024 episode of VIII^th volume of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Jaidev: Brilliant, But Underrated, Composer:  1978. 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,

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

In 2023 listened to rejuvenating Jaidev in Laila Majnu, Aalap and Gharaonda for the years 1976 & 1977.

Celebrating cinema through pictures:

We now move on to posts on other subjects –

The Postlude Songs – The postlude thus is a piece of music that appears at the end of a song, after the singer has finished his job. The songs with a postlude are in a minority. In the context of Hindi film songs, one finds that several music directors have used the postlude.

Here are Bollywood Rewind articles of Samapda Sharma in Indian Express:

• • This actress was the star of India’s first ever sequel made in 1940s, did her own action decades before Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn  – On Fearless Nadia’s 116th birth anniversary, here’s looking back at the original franchise queen who starred in India’s first sequel. The first film to have a sequel was the 1935 film Hunterwali, starring the original stunt queen Fearless Nadia and the sequel, which came almost a decade later, revived her career.

In continuation to our tradition of ending the post with a few songs of Mohammad Rafi, this year being the celebration of Mohammad Rafi birth centenary, we will take up what others have said about him:

Classic Legends Mohammad Rafi – Javed Akhtar

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.