Tag: S Mohinder

Fading Memories…. Unforgettable Songs : December 2022

Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song With The Music Director: 2nd Five-Year Period: Year 1949 – Part II

To commemorate the birth and death anniversaries of Mohamad Rafi [B: 24-12-1924 – D: 31-71980], we have commenced a series on Mohammad Rafi’s first duet with a music director.  We take up the Male-Male or Triad as well as a regular Male-Female duet in the present series because our main purpose to revisit maximum possible duets of Mohammad Rafi.

Our journey began with the 1st Five-Year Period of 1944 to 1948 in the year 2021. We then commenced the 2nd Five-Year Period of 1949-1953 with Part I of the year 1949 in July 2022.

Presently we will take up Part II of the year 1949.

1949 had as many as 16 music directors who had Mohammad Rafi for the first time for a duet. We have covered six music directors – Naushad, Husnlal Bhagatram, Shyam Sundar, Hanuman Prasad, and Snehal Bhatkar – in Part I. Vasant Desai is one of the highly respected music directors who has given innumerable songs to remember forever. However, the two Mohammad Rafi- Lata Mangeshkar duets that seem to have been composed by him for the film Narsimha Avatar are not traceable on internet. Similarly, I could not find the song – Na Thehar Sake, Na Tadap Sake (with Zohrabai Ambalewali; Film – Aakhari Paigam) composed by Abid Hussain Khan)

Presently, we will take up the rest of the eight music directors.

Vinod (a.k.a. Eric Roberts) was known for his catchy tunes one end and melodious compositions on the end had had a very wide creative range. For the year 1949, for Ek Thi Ladki, he has used Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar in three duets and two triads(+). Of the triads, Lara Lappa-… Laai Rakhada, Aadi Tappa …. (Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, G M Durrani; Lyrics: Aziz Kashmiri) was an instant raze and continues to remain so even now. The other triad(+) was Hum Chale Door …  Dil Hua Choor (Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Satish Batra; Lyrics: Aziz Kashmiri)

Ab Hal-e-Dil Ya Hal-e-Jigar Na Puchhiye – Ek Thi Ladki – with Lata Mageshkar – Lyrics: Aziz Kashmiri

Rafi and Lata are so at ease in the conversational tone of this romantic duet. Introduction of catchy yodeling in the first interlude is typical of Vinod’s style of mixing catchy part in a serious composition or vice versa

The other two Rafi- Lata duets were:

Mohammad Shafi was a highly talented and musically trained music director. Two noteworthy records that stand on his name are – Suman Kalyanpur (Hemadi, then) sang her maiden Hindi film song, Koi Pukaare Dheere Se Tujhe (Mangu, 1954) and Hemlata debuted either with Main Jaan Ke Badale Mein or  SadiyoN Ki Nishani Main Ankahi Kahani in Iraada (1971) under his baton.

Fariyaad Na Karna Haye Kahin Fariyaad Na Karna – Gharana – with Shyama Bai – Lyrics: Alam Syahaposh

The song so effectively epitomizes Mohammad Shafi’s musical prowess – soothing opening notes, Shyama’s opening in slightly higher scale and then to settle to pathos, rounding up by Mohammad Rafi in soulful climbing up the scale and reverting to the normal scale, and ending the song with Shyama joining Rafi.

Mohammad Shafi goes onto pair Paro Devi with Mohammad Rafi in the second duet – Tu Kahan Hai Baalam Mere Aaja (Lyrics: Bahzad Lakhnavi).

S Mohinder (a.k.a. Bakshi Mohinder Singh Sarna) composed music for some 50 films, but many of his compositions have achieved the status of evergreen classics. Even though he came from a very strong classical background, he was at ease while composing easy songs that the films demanded.

Chanda Ki God Mein TaaroN Ki Chaanv Mein Ruthe Hue Hum Manaye Re – Jeevan Sathi – with Chand Wirk – Lyrics: Hamid Khumar

S Mohinder has presented with such a lilting melody, even when he has used an almost unknown Chand Wirk to pair Mohammad Rafi in this duet.

The film had one more duet with Amirbai Karanataki – Main Kaise Keh Doon (Lyrics: Surjeet Sethi) and two with Shamshad Begum – Mil Kar Jaayen Hum Preet Ke Deewane and Muhabbat Rog Bankar Dil Ki Har Dhadkan Mein Rehti Hai (Lyrics: Hamid Khumar)

Krishna Dayal is not a well-known name, but he had composed music for five films. Many keen followers of old films songs may well remember Mukesh and Suraiya duet – Badra Ki Chhaon Tale Nanhi Nanhi BundiyaN (Lekh, 1949) – that was composed by Krishna Dayal.

Kar Le Kisi Se Pyar Jawani Do Din Ki – Lekh – with Asha Bhosle – Qamar Jalalabadi

I have heard this song for the first time. The duet is set to lower scale and is difficult to sing.

We have had a triad – Chhoti Si Ek Banaayenge Naiyya… Khud Hi Banenge Us Ke Khewaiya (with Shamshad Begum, Zohrabai) – composed by Pt. Govindram for the film Hamara Sansar (1945) earlier. For the year 1949, he gives a duet of Mohammad Rafi with Shamshad Begum

Taaron Ka Ye Khazana Ye Chaandani Suhani – Nisbat – with Shamshad Begum – Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri

Here is one more song that I got to listen first time. Govindram has presented both singers in quite different than the normal style we are familiar with.

Khemchand Prakash can be attributed to giving a big push to the opening up the space for the Golden Era to get into the center stage, replacing the vintage era, through Lata Mangeshkar’ Ayega Aanewala (Mahal, 1949). We have seen Khemchand Praksh using Mohammad Rafi first time, in a triad, Aji Maat Poochhco Baat Ki College Albeli, Indrapuri Sakshat Colege Albeli, for Samaj Ko Badal Dalo (1947).

Hawa Tu Unse Jaakar Keh De Ek Deewana Aaya Hai – Rim Jhim – with Ramola – Lyrics: Moti B A

Khemchand Prakash composing such a light-toned song should stand up as more noteworthy part of the song.

1949 had one more Mohammad Rafi duet- with Shamshad Begum- under the baton of Khemchand Prakash – Ae Dil Na Mujhe Yaad Dila Baaten Purani (Sawan Aaya Re; Lyrics: Bharat Vyas) – which was heard often on radio at least till ‘60s, when I had  taken up listening to Hindi Film Songs as a conscious hobby.

Khan Mastana was another highly respected music director as well as playback singer of the 40s period.

Tum Ho Jaao Hamare Hum Ho Jaaye Tumhaare – Roop Lekha – with Surinder Kaur – Lyrics: Khumar Barabanqvi

We have here a path breaking composition from Khan Mastana whom we know as a music director steeped in vintage era style music compositions.

Sudhir Phadke brought in Marathi folk composition styles to Hindi Film Music,

Hari Hari Mere To Shri Hari Naahi Dooja – Sant Janabai – with Lalita Deulkar – Lyrics: Narendra Sharma

Mohammad Rafi is all persona dignified as a committed devotee in the duet.

https://youtu.be/Yma4vmzDVzM

Azeez (Khan) Hindvi has had a few films in ‘40s.

Mehaman Banke Aaye The .. Armaan Ban Gaye – Shoharat – with Hamida Banu – Lyrics: Gulshan Zama / Madhup Sharma

The duet also seems to follow the composition style of the solo version. Both versions can be heard in the clip here.

We will continue with listening to Mohammad Rafi’s First Duet Song With The Music Director for the year 1950 of the 2nd Five-Year Time Period of 1949-1953 in the next episode of the series.

We will continue remembering Unforgettable Songs that seem to Fading away from our Memories every second Sunday of the month next year too……..

Disclaimer: All images are sourced from net. All copyrights of the respective image remain with the original owner of the image.

All episodes of the series Fading Memories …  Unforgettable Songs – Volume VII – 2022 can be read /downloaded by clicking on the hype link.

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – September, 2020

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

We first pay our tributes to S Mohinder and Ashalata Wabgaonkar

S Mohinder: Indian music loses composer of catchy melodies – A popular music composer of the 50s and the 60s, S Mohinder passed away at the age of 94, leaving behind a repertoire of classical music-based songs.

Naushad and S Mohinder. (Photo: S Mohinder’s family)

Last of the doyens: S. Mohinder – Sharad Dutt – Destined for greatness, S Mohinder’s (a.k.a. Mohinder Singh Saran) journey took him from the depths of obscurity to the centre of a booming film industry where his unique compositions cemented his storied legacy

Marathi actor Ashalata Wabgaonklar, who has also worked in popular Hindi films including Shaukeena and Namak Halal, passed way on 22-9-2020

We pick up other tributes and memories:

Asha Sings for Salil Chowdhury is commemoration of Asha Bhosle’s 87th birthday and Salil Choudhary’s 25th death anniversary (5th September 2020)

N Datta: The Third Musketeer for Asha Bhosle – After O P Nayyar and Ravi, N Dutta is the third music directors to use Asha Bhosle’s voice as the main stay of his compositions.

Ijaazat is a strangely poetic take on divorce that was rare in 1980s Hindi films – Naseeruddin Shah and Rekha’s portrayal of a divorced couple in this Gulzar film is more loving and honest than many marriages that do last.

The Many Faces of 9/11 – The multilingual, multicultural film ‘11’09’’01 – September 11’  is a collage of 11 different visualisations, each 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame long, of what September 11, 2001 meant in different contexts.

Teachers and Students: Ten of my favourite songs commemorates the classroom, the bond between taught and teacher, and education itself on the Teachers’ Day. We pick up one rare song as our tribute- Dali Pe Baithi Das Chidiya –  Deep Jalta Rahe (1959) – .Roshan – Shailendra

Music and lyrics: How Shailendra gift-wrapped cosmic truths through his songs – Ganesh Vancheeswaran – Once, Raj Kapoor took him along to meet the story-writer KA Abbas, another of Kapoor’s close collaborators. Abbas is said to have narrated a new story over a couple of hours, all the while ignoring Shailendra. At the end of the narration, Kapoor asked Shailendra what he made of it. The poet replied, “Gardish mein tha, aasman ka taara tha. Awaara tha.” Here is one of Shailendra’s title song –

Chalti Jaye Duniya Ki Dagar – Door Ka Rahi (1971) – Hemnt Kumar – Kishore Kumar – Shailendra

Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Majhli Didi is a family drama driven by strong women – Based on legendary Bengali author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Mejdidi, the movie stars Meena Kumari and Lalita Pawar in a progressive take on adoption.

Bawarchi — the Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic that humanised Bollywood’s first superstar – Rajesh Khanna, who delivered 17 hits in a row & had a fan following which included women who married his photos, was akin to a deity. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Bawarchi made him more relatable.

In continuation of the Hemant Kumar Centenary celebrations, Hemant Kumar’s male playback singers has chosen to stick to basic tenet that a music director knows which voice would do justice to his composition, while selecting the song for the list. Henatayan 2 further explores Hemant Kumar’s career , from 1960s onwards.

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

Chitragupta’s duets for Rafi: Melody Personified continues with the series of well-known music directors, known for his greatest songs: Naushad, SJ, OP Nayyar, SD Burman, Roshan, Madan Mohan and Ravi.

Kishore Kumar and Chitragupt – The Euphonious but Underrated Pair .Kishore Mukar’s songs with Chitragupt may be less in numbers, but was quite profuse in terms of calibre.

Music and lyrics: ‘Thodi Si Bewafaii’ and the magic of one-off collaborations between Khayyam and Gulzar

Khel Khel Mein had Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh at their fresh-faced, adorable best – Ravi Tandon’s 1975 movie was part college romance, part murder mystery. And it had great songs by RD Burman.

September 2020  episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up (Shankar-) Jaikishan and Hasrat Jaipuri’s Songs Fading From the Memory 1960 – 1961

Till now we have covered

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

Female Dance Duets – Part 1 presents dances in royal court and Part 2 lists dances presented as mujra songs.

Two Dances by Ruby Keeler Influencing Two Dances by Helen (and a little about something that both dancers may have had in common) viz. Ruby Keeler dancing on a giant typewriter n Ready, Willing and Able (1937) vis-à-vis Helen’s “Typewriter Tip Tip Tip” dance in the Merchant Ivory film Bombay Talkie (1970) and Footlight Parade (1933) vis-à-vis Mera Naam Chin Chi Chu  – Howra Bridge (1958) Asha Bhosle – O P Nayyar – Qamar Jalalbadi

On a different wavelength: Why Vanraj Bhatia is the foremost composer of Hindi New Wave cinema – Shwetant Kumar– Bhatia’s work across these films is a testament to both his versatility and his technique.

In the Micro View of Songs of 1945  we have taken up solo song  of Vitage Era Male Singers – Part [1] and Part [2] and those of KL Saigal

In continuation to out 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. Presently, we remember a few Mohammad Rafi songs composed by S Mohinder.

Mil Kar Jayen Hum Preet Ke Diwane – Jeevan Sathi – with Shmashad Begum – S Mohinder – Hameed Khummar

Suno Suni Ek Nayee Kahani – Naata (1955) – S Mohinder – Tanveer Naqvi

Maa Na Mare Kisi Ki Bachpan Mein – Zameen  Ke Taare (1960) – S Mohinder –  Indra Chandra

Mohammad Rafi solo version  –

Duet version with Asha Bhosle –

Itni Si Baat Fasan Na Banao – Ek Ladkee Saat Ladke (1961) – with Asha Bhosle – S Mohinder – Majrooh Sultanpuri

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.

Mohammad Rafi’s Solo Song From The FIRST Film With The Music Director: 1952-1953

We have taken up to celebrate Mohammad Rafi’s anniversaries by publishing a series of articles that enlist the solo song of Mohammad Rafi with the music director for the first time in any film. The first 5-year slot of 1944 to 1948 was covered in Part I and Part II in December, 2016. We have covered 1949  and 1950-1951 of the 2nd five-year-slot of 1949 to 1953.

Presently we will take up years 1952 and 1953 of this 1949-1953 period..

 [For the sake for structured documentation, I will be following the alphabetical sequence of Film names in the post.]

1952

Year 1952 had 80 songs to Mohammad Rafi’s account, of which 32 songs were solos.  Naushad gave a slew of Rafi hits in Aan and Baiju Bawra. For Deewana, Naushad had one of Rafi’s immortal Tasweer Banata Hun Teri Khoon-e-Jigar Se.Ghulam Mohammad had had Rafi in films like Ajeeb Ladki, Amber and Sheesha, C Ramchandra in  Saaqui and Maadn Mohan had him in Anjaam. Chitragupt had Rafi songs in a religious film, Bhakta Puran and a Sinbad series film, Sindbad The Sailor. Rafi gets repeat preference by several other music directors too.

O Moorakh Insaan Apne Ko Pehchan – Annadata  – Mohammad Safi – Anjum Jaipuri

Mohammed Safi was an excellent Sitar player and music arranger. He has provided music independently in about 14 films and was a key assistant to Naushad.

Kit Jaoge  Ghanshyam Murari Jaane Na Doonga – Mordhwaj – Narayan Dutt – Bharat Vyas

The most striking feature of the song is so complex orchestration in support of the song as well as for the interludes.

We find second part of the song on YT.

1953

The last year of the 2nd Five-year period of Mohammad Rafi’s career is quite rich in terms of the ‘first film wherein Rafi had a solo song with the music director’ as well as the films with the music directors who seem to have started giving Mohammad Rafi as lead male playback singer. If we have to select one Mohammad Rafi song from this year that has stood up the tests of time that would easily be Madan Mohan’s composition – Ye Duniya Pagalo Ka Bazaar. For the purpose of records, we note that the year had 31 solos songs of Mohammad Rafi out of a total of 71 songs.

Asides:

This should go on records as the only year where Mohammad Rafi has played back in the films which had the three Kapoor brothers.

Ghata Mein Chup Kar..Jo Dil Ki Baat Hoti Hai – Baaz – O P Nayyar – Majrooh Sultanpuri

O P Nayyar gets to toe in the narrow space through this Guru Dutt film which went on create a crescendo in the years to come. Guru Dutt also comes up in this directorial venture for the first time as a n actor too. The present song is cast in quawalli style. Interestingly, OPN has chosen Talat Mahmood for Mujhe Dekho Hasrat Ki Tasveer Hun Main

Koi Ameer Hai Koi Gareeb Hai – Dana Pani – Madan Junior – Kaif Irfani

The film credit has Shashi Kapoor to as one of the actors, who would have been 14 then.

Ajab Tori Duniya Ho More Rama – Do Bigha Jameen – Salil Chowdhury – Shailendra

Here is the song that can be said to be one more defining step in Mohammad Rafi’s career.

Jal Jal Ke Shama Ki Tarah Fariyad – Fariyadi – Baldev Nath Baali –  Muzaffar Orakhzai

The song is cast in what we know as Mohammad Rafi’s signature style for the songs of sad mood.

Mohabbat Aur Wafa Ki….Chanda Ka Dil Toot Gaya Hai Roney Lage Hai Sitaare – Khoj – Nissar Bazmi – Raja Mahendi Ali Khan

The film has Shammi Kapoor in the lead role. It is said that Mohammad Rafi had charged only Rs. 1.00 to sing this Nissar Bazmi song.

Sulag Rahi Hein Husn Ki Sigdi Aaja Pakaye Prem Ki Khichadi – Madmast – V Balsara – Madhukar Rajasthani

Deft use of mandolin in the prelude and interlude has the distinct imprint of V Balsara. It seems Rafi was mandated to deliver this light-toned song with a dead-pan expression.

Chudiyan Lelo Gori, Pehan Le Chudi – Paapi – S Mohinder – Raja Mahendi Ali Khan

The record-worthy feature of the film is that this is the only film wherein Raj Kapoor was seen in a double role. And of course, we can count one more film where Rafi has playedback for Raj Kapoor.The film had another solo too – Tera Kaam Hai Jalna O Parawane – which had gained immense popularity.

Naram Naram Yeh Garam Garam  Yeh Chane Gagan Ke Tare – Rangeela – Jamal Sen – S H Bihari

We have picked up this song over two other solos – Nadaan Na Ban E Matwale..Kuchh Haath Nahin and Sun Sun Meri Kahani Mushkil Hai Jaan Bachani – because it is similar genre as that of the earlier song. That genre is small-tradespersons-selling-their-wares-by-singing-on-the-streets songs.

To conclude the statistics the music directors with whom Mohammad Rafi sang his first solo song for the 2nd Five-Year-period of Mohammad Rafi’s career, we have had 10 films in 1949,  5 each in 1950 and 1951, 2 in 1952 and 8 films in 1953.

At this stage, Rafi has had established fairly wide base of association with music directors – of the vintage as well as golden era. Also, now more and more of his songs with repeat-music directors are getting high popularity. That sets a very interesting tone for the next 5-Year period.

The Micro View of the Songs of 1948 @ SoY : Setting The Stage

Wait for the curtains to go up for a review of songs for the particular year @ Songs of Yore is more than an eager wait. It is preganat with more unknown songs now.  Having covered songs of 1955, 1953, 1951, 1950 and 1949 in the previous years, SoY has now crossed the threshold well into the Vintage Era as it now ventures into ‘Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?’

As noted in the overview turnkey article, we now enter the period which has two quite distinct characteristics:

One, Lata Mangeshkar did sing over 40 songs of which you can count about ten memorable and a couple of all-time great songs, yet she was not the sole pole star, as she became from 1949 onwards. Therefore, dividing the female playback singers as Lata Mangehkar and ‘others’ as (has been) done for 1949, 1950 and 1951 would not be a true reflection of reality.

Secondly, the Vintage Era also means entering a period of more unknown than known, therefore, the year-wise review would now be more a discovery trip.

The post under consideration – Best songs of 1948: And the winners are?  – has presented quite an  encompassing overview in an established template: –

Musical landmarks: Like a golden Jubilee (Mela) and a silver Jubileen (Anokhi Ada) under the belt Naushad hasestablished his morchical position. His nearest rival C ramchandra has Nadiya Ke Paar and Kidkiin the year under review. Ghulam Hiader has presened his swan song on now the Indian soil – Shaheed. Raj Kapoor directs his maiden film Aag with Ram Ganguly as music director. Lata Mangeshkar has hardly any presence in these films.

Other important musical compositions are no less noteworthy nor have lost their charm. We will enlist them here –

Anil Biswas:

Gajre

Door papia bola – Suraiya
Baras baras badly bhi bikhar gayi – Lata Mangeshkar

Veena

Wo teekhi nazron se mere dil par – Mukes

Husnlal Bhagatram

Tere Naino Ne Chori Kiya – Suraiya

O Door Jaanewale – Suraiya

Khemchand Prakash

Marne Ki Duaen Kyon ManguN– Kisore Kumar’s maiden solo song – Ziddi

Chanda Re..Ja Re Ja Re – Lata Mangeshkar – Ziddi

Ghulam Haider

Grihasthi

Tere naaz uthane ko ji chahta hai – Mukesh & Shamshad Begum

Pugree

Ek teer chalanewale ne dil loot liya – Mukesh & Sitara (Kanpuri)

S D Burman

Vidya

Laayi khushi ki duniya – Mukesh & Suraiya

Bahe na kabhi nain se neer – Mukesh

Debut

Asha Bhosle – Only a line Bahana Khush Ho Ke Sangam Manaye – in a chorus in the song Sawaan Aya Re – Chunariya

Kishore Kumar’s first duet with Lata Mangeshkar – Ye Kaun Aya Re – Ziddi

Prem Dhawan – Chanda Re..Ja Re Ja Re – Ziddi

RK Films – Aag

Geeta Dutt – Lata Mangeshkar’s maiden duet – Har Shai Pe Jawani Hai – Majboor

Mukesh – Lata Mangeshkar duet – Ab Darne Ki Koi Baat Nahin – Majboor

Ab Yaad Na Kar – Ankoha Pyar

Khayyam (as Sharmaji & (Rehman) Vermaji with Aziz Khan) – Dil Dil Yun YuN Karata Hai – Geeta Dutt, Aziz Hindi – Heer Ranja

Lata Mangeshkar first song with Shamshad Begum and Mohantara – Khushiyan Manayen Na Kyun Ham.. Kismat Hamare Saath Hai.. Jalanewale Jala Karen – Khidki

Surinder Kaur – Itne Door Hain Huzoor Kaise – Pyar Ki Jeet

Padmini as dancer-actor in Uday Shankar’s Kalpana

S Mohinder – as music director in film Sehra and as a singer Ae dil Uda Ke – Sehra

Jaan Nissar Akhtar – as lyricist in Shikayat

Sahir Ludyanavi – as a lyricist for Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi – Azadi Ki Rah Par

Snehal Bhatkar – as a music director in Suhaag Raat

Bharat Bhushna and Geeta Bali – as actors in Suhag Raat

Fact file and Trivia notes that five songs of Meena Kapoor for Anokha Pyar were recorded on Lata Mangeshkar; Leela Chitnis played mother for first time in Shaheed; Mohammad Rafi holds a falg pole in Watan Ki Rah Mein Watan Naujawan Shaheed Ho; Ameerbai Karnataki composed music for Shahnaz, once only in her career; Vidya Nath Seth sang firve songs for Rooplelka of which he composed one song too.

List Of Memorable Songs is a fairly representative list of films, music directors and known as well as less-known songs that were released in the year. I have re-compiled this list, under the title Memorable Songs of 1948, by adding the relevant link to YT file.

For the year under review, Special songs also cover the songs which open a path of discovery on their own well as they have thir own personality. In this case too, I have brought these songs on the same page with List of Memorable Songs of 1948.

The stage is now set to commence our journey into the Micro View of the Songs of 1948. As the List of Memorable Songs and Special Songs have covered most of the well-known songs for the year, we will restrict our micro-view to in-depth listening of not-so-well-known songs. We will then combine our impressions of these songs with that we already have for the well-known ones to present our point of view in so far as

Best male playback singer
Best ‘other’ female playback singer
Best songs of Lata Mangeshkar
Best duets
Best music director

are concerned for the year 1948.

All the posts that will appear on this subject here have been tagged as Songs of 1948 @ SoY.

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

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

We begin our recall of the anniversaries with Fearless Nadia (?)singing a romantic song 1943, apparently sung by Rajkumari and Mansoor), from Hunterwale Ki Beti , composed by Chhannalal Naik – Chanchal Dhara Nadi Kinara AND An Evening With Nadia – Karan Bali – Fearless Nadia films, produced by Wadia Movietone, were a genre unto themselves, a certain draw to many more visits to Movies at the Museum…

Another important memory is rekindled in “Guzra Hua Zamana Aata Nahin Dobara” – S. Mohinder. The interview presented herein no doubt is worth reading. But I have not been able to resist temptation of reproducing here the songs presented in the article. The songs pan S. Mohinder’s career.

Some more songs are also available @ S.MOHINDER SONGS.

Quite interestingly, Samir Dholakia also has remembered Sudhir Kapoor’s article – Kyun Chamke Bijuriya Saawan Ki posted on the birthday of S Mohinder and Asha Bhosle. This gem of a song is from film Bekhabar (1965). The article also leads us to Phool Muskuraye Kyon, Chand Jagmagaye Kyon. . . which is a duet by Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle from ‘Sarfarosh’ (1964).

Asha Bhosle with reluctant Naushad and C Ramchandra: Part 1 (solos) : The two dominant composers of the era, Naushad and C Ramchandra, gave a look-up to Asha Bhosle very sparingly in the early years. From the array of songs presented in the article, we have picked up some of the songs that may be fading up from the memory –

Asha Bhosle with reluctant Naushad and C Ramchandra: Part 2 (duets) : Asha Bhosle’s duets, too, composed by them are no less memorable. Therefore, to have a complete picture of the songs that Naushad and CR composed for Asha Bhosle, we have been presented with her duets made by the two reluctant Masters.

Happy 89th Birthday, Madam Noor Jehan! 21st September was Noor Jehan’s 89th birthday. Here is the list of previous posts: 83rd Birthday (2009) || 84th Birthday (2010) || 85th Birthday (2011) || September 2012 – Noor Jehan and Lata, with a clip of one fine song from each. || 87th Birthday (2013) || 88th Birthday (2014) .

India’s loss, Pakistan’s gain: The journey of singing great Noor Jehan after 1947 – Karan Bali – It took Noor Jehan until 1951 to appear in a movie in Pakistan. We have picked those songs from the article that represent her (second) acting career.

Shailendra was the proverbial moth who got burned too quickly – The lyricist died 49 years ago, leaving behind a legacy of exquisite songs that make you cry and think.- Akshay Manwani [Akshay Manwani is the author of Sahir Ludhianvi: The People’s Poet (HarperCollins India 2013)]– Shailendra would have been 92 on August 30. In Ganesh Anantharaman’s National Award-winning book Bollywood Melodies: A History of the Hindi Film Song, eminent lyricist and filmmaker Gulzar said about Shailendra: “In my view he was the lyricist, who understood films as a medium distinct from poetry and theatre perfectly, and adapted to it beautifully. For his ability to know the medium, understand the situation, get into the characters, and writing in a language suiting the character, he was without peer… I’d go as far as to say that among all the lyricists of Hindi cinema, only Shailendra became a part of the film medium, expertly and successfully. All others remained poets who wrote for films.”

Dolls and puppets, child-like(?) dances, sprightly singing by Lata, Shankar Jaikishan… A series of songs that come to mind because of a number of associations, all described in the title here… The last is quite different from the first, but it’s interesting how the songs actually progress from the first to the last – while being in chronological order, too!

We now move over to other posts from our regular blogs.

Ten of My Favorite Background Songs is an interesting compilation of a very popular genre of background songs. Excluded here are the songs that appear in the credit titles of the film. The readers have further enriched the collection.

R.D. Burman – The Man, The Music is a follow up of the review of reading Gaata Rahe Mera Dil .

Basant (1960) : While not one of OPN’s best and popular score, it has some very fine tunes. And we would certainly enjoy – Chori Chori ik ishaara ho gaya hai, Naino mein suraj ki kiranein, Raaste mein ik haseen.

Bells and Whistles – “Bells and Whistles” is a popular English idiom. It means extra or fancy add-ons. However, when you hear bells or whistles in some Hindi film songs, they seem very much an integral part of the song and not something fancy or extra.  There are literally hundreds of songs that feature bells and whistles. We have here a playlist of 15 lively and popular songs with bells and whistles. These songs have been picked from movies from the mid 1960s to the mid 2000s.

From back-up to the front row: Reintroducing Bollywood dancer Edwina Lyons – Nandini Ramnath – Surjit Singh’s book ‘Edwina An Unsung Dancer of the Bollywood Era‘ focuses attention on a minor Anglo-Indian dancer who shimmied across the screen between the 1950s and the ’70s.

Before we pay visit to MUSINGS, we have Nigahen Milane Ko Ji Chahta Hai – The combination of Roshan’s admirable music, Sahir Ludhianvi’s beautiful words, Asha’s flawless rendition, Nutan’s lovely expressive face and the Qawwali style makes this quite irresistible. Here is the song:

rAz kI bAt hai mehfil mE.n kahE.n yA na kahE.n
bas gayA hai kOI is dil mE.n kahE.n yA na kahE.n

nigAhE.n milAnE kO jI chAhtA hai
dil-O-jA.n luTAnE kO jI chAhtA hai

While we went visiting other sections of the blog, MUSINGS has added the film reviews – Laat Saheb (1967), Grahan (1972), Anjaam (1978) and Kasturi (1978).

Now we move over songs remembered by our friends in this month –

Bhagvan Thavrani

[Asides: Here is one of a very rich list of songs on Raag Bhimpalasi].

  • Kanha Bole Na – Sangat(1976) – Manna Dey, Lata – Salil Choudhary – Janisar Akhtar

Samir Dholakia has referred songs wherein the actor has also rendered the song or the singer has acted in the film. This should pertain the period after vintage era, when playback singing by specialist singers had become the rule. This can be a very long list, which we will take up separately in due course:

Sumant (Dadu) Vashi form Chicago (U S A) had sent in these songs

We have been posting a series of posts on the widely discussed and participated exercise of annual review of songs of a particular year – Best songs of 1950: And the winners are?. We have covered up documentation of the further micro-review of the songs C Ramchandra, Husnlal Bhagatram and Ghulam Mohammad, Anil Biswas and other Music directors’ Lata Mangeshakar’s songs, as well as those of Suraiya and Shamshad Begum in June 2015 and Rajkumari, Geeta Roy and Other female Singers in July 2015.. We had then continued to explore Male Solo Songs of Mukesh, Talat Mahamood, Mohammad Rafi, G M Durrani and Chitalkar, Manna Dey, Arun Kumar, Manmohan Krishna and Others as well as Songs by several other playback singers for Raj Kapoor in July 2015. For August-, 2015, we covered Male Female Duets of Mukesh, Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood, G M Durrani, and those of Chitalkar and other Male Singers.

Our onwards journey had:

We have concluded the series with.…

I have also prepared an edited compilation of all the posts @ The Songs of 1950 @ SoY

SoY has also published Best songs of 1950: Wrap Up 2, covering ‘Other’ Female Singers

In the end, we have (our customary) very special songs of Mohammad Rafi taken out from the songs.

We continue our pursuit of the golden period of Hindi Film Music …….