Tag: Sajjad Hussain

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – January 2021

Welcome to January 2021 edition of IXth Volume of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

The year 2021 opened on a very unusual note for Blog World of Hindi Film Music with a post Hans Akela: A song that stood tall amid the ruins on SoY. Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli presents the songs that are only the surviving link to the memory of the film. The song is then “Hans Akela“ which is still floating freely, liberated from the mortal debris of the film.

And of course, a post on 26th January – Republic Day: Reading between the lyrics of five patriotic Hindi film songs – The better and more enduring ones of this gnre, however, make room for other sentiments – celebration with caution, pride tinged with anxiety, a love for the country that is firm but not blind.

We now move on to other tributes and memories:

Boss of Bombay Talkies: How Devika Rani fought innuendo and personal tragedy to get back on her feet – Kishwar Desai presents Edited excerpts from a biography – The Longest Kiss: The Life and Times of Devika Rani, Westland Books – of the movie star and pioneering studio owner.

Mahendra Kapoor: The playback singer who did not need a sound system – Ajay Mankotia – January 9, 2021 was the 86th birth anniversary of the singer who owned the bastion of patriotic and religious songs in Bollywood

Sajjad Husain, the ‘Unsung’ Maestro – Rajan NS – Sajjad Husain was a priceless asset to Hindi film music but could not get the recognition that was his due, despite his prodigious talent.

The Masters: Naushad Ali – After a few forays into working as an instrumentalist in films, Naushad got his first big break when music director Khemchand Prakash took him on as an assistant. It was 1940 before he got his first film as an independent composer – Prem Nagar, for which, Naushad says, he did a lot of research on the folk music of Kutch. Soon, other films followed, but it was with Rattan (1944) that Naushad first tasted success.

The Unlucky Genius N Datta: His songs for ‘other’ singers is a rounding-off article after Hans Jakhar ‘s articles on N Datta’s principal singers, Asha Bhosle and Rafi

The Masters: C Ramchandra – Ramchandra Narhar Chitalkar was born on January 12th 1918 and died on January 5th 1982. His debut in Hindi films, as an independent music director was in Jeevan (1942), on the strength of his bond with Master Bhagwan. While the film only did average business, the music was appreciated, and Ramchandra had his foot in the door in the Hindi film industry as well. Bhagwan and he would collaborate professionally on a further 15 films.

Rafi sings for Chitragupt – Part 1 is the solo songs whereas part II is his duets.

How Guru Dutt became the reluctant hero of his masterpiece ‘Pyaasa’ – Excerpted with permission from Guru Dutt – An Unfinished Story, Yasser Usman, Simon & Schuster India.

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

Ae Nargis e Mastana – Remembering Sadhana on her 5th anniversary on 25th December.

My favourite ‘Rafi-Suman Kalyanpur’ duets is a tribute to Suman Kalyanpur on her 84th birthday. Here is one duet that I have picked up as my choice, and the other one is at then end of this episode –

Zara Thehro Ji Abdul Gafaar – Satta Bazaar (1959) – Kalyanji Anandji – Hasrat Jaipuri

January 2021 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up Jaidev: Brilliant, But Underrated, Composer:  1972-1973 that covers Jaidev’s music in films Bhavna, Maan Jaaiye (both in 1972) and Prem Parbat (1973). We have covered, the years –

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

in the form of our commemorative annual series in the month of Jaidev’s death anniversary month.

We will now take up the articles on other subjects:

Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (14) – The Melodious Trio: Bageshri, Rageshri and Malgunji – Subodh Agrawal – All three ragas are very sweet and pleasant – ideal for shringar rasa. Malgunji is perhaps the sweetest, while Rageshri has a touch of gravity.

Songs of Music (!) explores different facets of music or where music plays a very important role in the song and / or the movie. For example – Manbhaavan Sangeet Suhavan (Chandramukhi, 1960 – Manna Dey – S.N.Tripathi – Bharat Vyas) , a song based on Raag Basant Bahar, is a perfect tribute to music. It refers to the various gods and goddesses who espouse the cause of music,

Heroine introduces herself! follows up on Hero introduces himself!

In the Micro View of Songs of 1945  we have carried forward the micro view of solo songs of Female singers  – now in the form of Naseem (Banu) | Naseem Akhtar | Munnavar Sultana, Other female singers – Part I and Part II and the Summing up post on Female Solo songs – My TOP female solo songs. We, then, commenced the Micro View of the Duets for the year 1945 with Duets (+) of Golden Era (Male +) Singers.

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.

Sambhal Sambhal Kar Jaiyo O Banjare.. Dilhi Door Hai – Saajan (1947) – with Lalita Deulkar, Gereta Roy – C Ramchandra – Ram Murti Chaturvedi

Tum Ho Jaao Hamare, Hum Ho Jaaye Tumhare – Roop Lekha (1949) – with Surinder Kaur – Sajjad Hussain – Khumar Barabankvi

Chhin Ke Pher Li Aankhein Jaan Gaye Ham Jaan Gaye – Chandani Raat (1949) – with Shamsahd Begum –  Naushad Ali – Shakel Badayuni

Ghata Mein Chhup Kar….Jo Dil Ki Baat Hai..Nazar Tak AAyee Jaati Hai – Baaz (1953) – with Geeta dutt – O P Nayyar – Majrooh Sultanpuri

Sambahl Ke Baitho Jhara, ChhaoN Mein BaharoN Ki,,,,Chand Hai Taare Bhi Aur Ye Tanhai Bhi – Roop Lekha (1962) – with Suman Kalyanpur – Nashad – Farooq Qaiser

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 – July, 2018

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

The month of July will now onwards go in records as the month of passing away of (Gopaldas Saxena) ‘Neeraj’.

In Neeraj (1925-2018): ‘I grew so infamous in my time, it will take centuries for me to be forgotten’, Annie Zaidi recalls different aspects of his poetry.

Neeraj-The great Poet and Lyricist called himself an unfortunate poet which led to his stopping himself from writing film songs and restricting himself to just writing and getting his poems published. The reason that he gave for this was that at least two or three prominent music directors of the Hindi Film Industry for whom he wrote very successful and popular songs, had expired.

Remembering Gopaldas ‘Neeraj’ through songs like ‘Tum Nacho Ras Barase‘ from Sati Nari (1965, Mahendra Kapoor; ), – In 1970 -71, around 14 films were released with Neeraj as a Lyricist and it can be considered as a peak of his career.

RS TV had done an excellent feature on his life, in 2012 – Gopaldas “Neeraj” in Unki Nazar Unka Shahar

And, now, we take up the tributes in July, 2018:

On Gauhar Jaan’s 145th birth anniversary, Google’s endearing doodle

V Balsara, the music director who did not want to remain confined to a studio – On Balsara’s 96th birth anniversary (he was born on 22 June 1922), renowned tabla player Dipankar Acharya and noted music arranger Durbadal Chatterjee speak about working with the multi-faceted musician in Bengali cinema.

Sajjad Hussain, Bollywood’s Loss – D P Rangan pays tribute to Sajjad Hussain on his 23rd death anniversary (15 June 1917 – 21 July 1995)

Mukesh-who wanted to be like K L Saigal – Many critics derided him as an imperfect singer who had a nasal twang and who would often miss a note or a beat and many a time they had a valid point. His limited vocal range also made high-pitched songs difficult for him. Mukesh proved them wrong.

75 Years(19th July 1943) ago Dev Anand landed Bombay to become Hero in Bollywood – It was in 1945 he got the role in the film Hum Ek Hain which was made in 1946 but released in 1947 after independence.

Chetan Anand: Exploring the Unconventional to Make Landmark Films – Twenty one years ago, on July 7, 1997, Chetan Anand bid farewell. For Silhouette, Peeyush Sharma  pays tribute to the great film maker, the director, writer, producer, actor who dared to explore unconventional subjects that turned into landmark cinema.

Roshan & Madan Mohan: Twin Towers of Rhapsody – In a joint tribute to Roshan on his 101st birth anniversary (14 July 1917 – 16 November 1967) and to Madan Mohan on his 43rd death anniversary (25 June 1924 – 14 July 1975). D P Rangan. With annotations by Subodh Agrawal, explores the similarities in the essentially different musical styles.

G S Kohli – A Tribute – His first film was Lambe Haath (1960) – O Deewane Chhokare Raah Meri Na Rok Re’ (Asha Bhosle, Mohammad Rafi); followedby.Mr. India (1961) – ‘Dekha Na Jaye’ (Geeta Dutt). He had great hits – Faulad and Shikari – 1963, form big banners. However he could not sustain that magic in his later films.

Some thoughts upon the death of Zarina Begum (and a few other notes updating past posts) – Zarina Begum, the last disciple of ‘Mallika-e-ghazal’ Begum Akhtar, and the only torch-bearer of Baithak Gana, died of a chronic kidney disease at a private city hospital at around 8 am on 12-5-2018….She ived at Hatha Khuda Baksh area in Old Fatehganj in Lucknow. An old harmonium, a tabla and some old pages and diaries with lyrics in Urdu were her companions in her final days.

Rajesh Khanna-The heartthrob of the young generation of 1970s,  During his career, Khanna played the lead in 74 films that were shown in cinemas for more than 50 continuous weeks (Golden Jubilee Hits) which includes 48 films which ran for 75 weeks (Platinum Jubilee hits) and 22 films that were shown for more than 25(Silver Jubilee hits), but less than 50 weeks.

Musically Yours, 1963 (Part I) – Monica Karpays a personal tribute to 12 music directors who created note-worthy compositions in 1963, the year she was born, and have definitely had a hand in keeping her music-crazy for the past 55 years. As many as 22 music directors gave quality music in that year and many of those creations went on to become immortal in the hearts of music lovers – including this writer.

The earlier Years of Mehmood peeps back into the early struggles of Mehmmod and rise to stardom.

Anand Bakshi – The Juggler of Words got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan film titled Bhalaa Aadmi (1958). His first song in this film was “Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal.

Mehfil celebrates ‘First Anniversary’ by selecting songs of some rare combinations of singers and composers. For this purpose, the criteria applied are: Both of them should be contemporary; the number of songs for the pair should not exceed five OR The singer has sung only for a single film with that particular composer. Of the resultant output, we take one example: Dear O Dear – Nagina (1951) – Shamshad Begum – Shanker Jaikishna

July, 2018 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs is dedicated to Mohammad Rafi’s Solo Song From The FIRST Film With The Music Director: 1954 -1955

And, now the posts on other subjects:

The song Khoya Khoya Chaand was written on a piece of cigarette pack foil – What Vijay Anand achieves is a feat which is very rare. Most directors shy away from shooting and showing us more than two verses of a song. Here, his shooting, along with Burmanda’s music and Shailendra’s words, is so perfect that we go through FOUR verses of this song just glued to our seats !!!! That is why Vijay Anand is adored by film-goers and film-makers all over India.

In the Wink of an Eye – A particular film has often achieved an iconic status in which the lead of the film has used her/his eyes, for instance Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, or our every Om Puri in Ardh Satya. Eyes, indeed, convey a gamut of emotions that move beyond the coyness of just doe eyed stars. This essay explores the different ways in which films have used an actor’s eyes. The history of fascinating display on the screen is long and the authors, Amitava Nag and Shiladitya Sarkar, try to articulate what it means to say it all through the eyes.

Songs of ‘Tanhai’ – The loneliness was a very popular theme for Hindi Films up to 60s. The moods of the song ranged from sad to romantic to seductive.

Ornamented for Style – Wearing jewelry is universal and predates recorded history. Even our gods wear ornaments, as is evident from their images. Within India, with its diverse culture, we have so many regional variations and styles of wearing jewelry. Not all ornaments have found a mention in our songs, but many have. The post goes on list the songs,

My Favourite Piano Songs, selected on the basis of 1: The character, who sings the song, should not play the piano. 2: The one who’s playing the piano should be a character from the movie, just a musician won’t fit the bill and 3:  It  should be a solo

Pets and Beyond – Hindi cinema has had so much fun with such creatures too, even some wild ones like elephants and lions. A special mention must be made of an animal that is a rarity in terms of ownership for protection. That honour goes to a mongoose in the film Kohinoor (1960), the animal’s protective nature highlighted at the end of the song Madhuban mein Radhika naache re, when the mongoose lashes out to destroy a snake let loose to kill his owner, Dilip Kumar. The post goes on list some songs that featured a diverse range of creatures. Pets or otherwise, on our screen

In Mythological Frames – Interestingly, it turns out that when it comes to mythological films, songs found in them tend to be so much fun to hear on a repeat basis. Without in any way meaning disrespect to any faith, and looking at the genre just academically, the post lists a few songs from mythologicals, even if not all of them are religious.

Post-drenchings: Ten Songs where getting wet (almost always in pouring, roaring thunderstorms that come out of a clear blue sky) is invariably a precursor to bursting into song. For various reasons.

The reviews of Nargis films continue with Jogan (1950), filmed by Kidar Sharma in just 29 days, with only a one-line idea, inspired  by an English film in which a man falls in love with a nun.

Mat ro maata, by Monica Kar – Why is this song in this movie? To act as a filler? To sway public opinion and emotion? Possibly to tie in the importance of the era in which the movie is shot. Every emotion that is embedded in the song is done with minimal fuss and maximum simplicity. And yet, its effect persists even now.. and will every time we listen to the song.

“The world is being run in brutish ways” – Saeed Mirza on memory in the age of amnesia : “We are so obsessed with our short-term interests that larger contexts get lost. And this is true for both individuals and nations.”

Cineplot has several posts this month. We have picked up two relating to Madhubala. We will, appropriately, cover other posts in our future editions.

Madhubala on the sets of Do Ustad (1959)

The Alarm That Failed (1957)

We continue Micro View of Best songs of 1947: And the winners are? with female solo songs, wherein after having covered solo songs of Suraiya and Geeta Roy, we have covered Shamshad Begum. Rajkumari, Amirbai Karnataki (Part I and Part II) Zohrabai Ambalewali (Part I). SoY has released Best songs of 1947: Wrap Up 2 that sums of the analyses of all other readers relating to female solo songs. Suraiya is adjudged the best female singer for 1947.

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

Mat Puchh Mera Hai Kaun Watan – Mr India (1961) – G S Kohli – Anjaan

Isko Bhi Apanata Chal – Nai Umr Ki Nai Fasal (1965) – Roshna – Neeraj

Kuchh Aisi Pyari Shakl Mere Dilruba Ki Hai – Naya Kanoon (1965) – Madan Mohan – Hasrat Jaipuri

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 – June, 2017

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

It is a great pleasure to open the curtains of June 2017 post of blog carnival series with Songs of Yore completes seven years that presents what has by now been a well-established tradition of presenting some quite unusual songs and songs of some unique personality form the world of music on the occasion of celebration of the birth anniversary of this blog. Master Madan is the case in point this year.

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

‘Not very beautiful but vivacious’: How Nargis was cast in her breakthrough movie ‘Taqdeer’ – Kishwar Desai –  June 1 marks the birth anniversary of Nargis, one of Indian cinema’s greatest actresses. Nargis had appeared in a few films in small roles before Taqdeer, which was directed by Mehboob Khan. She was 14 at the time, and was paired with Motilal.

The Spontaneity of Nutan That Rose Above ‘Acting’ – Antara Nanda Mondal pays a tribute to the legendary actress Nutan with a brief journey through some of her immortal songs – in which she essayed an amazing variety of roles. Her spontaneity and versatility made her rise above the accepted norms of ‘acting’ in mainstream cinema.

Nutan speaks about Bimal Roy is recently added by the Youtube channel WildfilmsIndia which features many videos of a geographical, historical and cultural nature.

KA Abbas, ‘biggest bulk buyer of tickets’ of his own films and eternal dreamer – Juhi Saklani– The medium was always the message for Khwaja Ahmed Abbas (June 7, 1914-June 1, 1987), the celebrated writer, filmmaker and columnist.

Chaar Rahein – K A Abbas at the junction between tradition and progress – is one of the most structurally interesting Hindi films of its time, with separate stories coming together through the device of the crossroads and the personal journeys of the characters passing it. Two years earlier, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s debut film Musafir had used a house and its landlord to link three discrete narratives. If the “makaan” in that film represents a society made up of many types of people, Char Dil Char Rahein is about the tradition-modernity conflict facing a nation; it is, literally and otherwise, set at the intersection between old roads and a new one.

Sajjad Hussain, the composer whose music has endured ‘with a tenacity that defies reason’ – Rudradeep Bhattacharjee – June 15 marks the birth centenary of the multi-instrumentalist and legendary composer of the movies ‘Sangdil’ and ‘Rustam Sohrab’. …Hussain’s work in the film, a historical titled Daiwayogaya (1959) (a Sinhala film), has largely escaped our attention. This, among other things, means that most of us have been bereft of the pleasure of listening to the spellbinding Adarayai Karunawai.

Sudhir, in his tribute post on Atul’s Songs a Day remembers Sajjad Hussain  thru’  Chali Pawan Purvaai, Chali Pawan (Dharam, 1945; Singers – Naseem Banu, Ratanbai).

Gaddeswarup Blog adds Sajjad Hussain: A biography and his perhaps most popular song…

Ye Hawa Ye Chandani Teri Ek Nazar Ka Khumar Hai – Sangdil (1952) – Talat Mahmood

The June 2017 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs was dedicated to V Balsara, known probably more for his mastery in playing different musical instruments.

Here are posts on other subjects as well:

Documentary retraces the journey of the woman from Faizabad who became Begum Akhtar – Nandini Ramnath – Nirmal Chander’s visually sumptuous (documentary) ‘Zikr Us Parivash Ka’ is a cradle-to-grave account of one of India’s most celebrated classical music artist.

Two snake dances from S.D. Burmam and one from Naushad

O Pardesiya..Pyar Ki Bahar Leke, Dil Ka Qarar Leke… – Bahar (1951) – Shamshad Begum – S D Burman

Serpent Dance – Guide (1965) – S D Burman

Snake Dance – Dastan (1950) – Naushad

Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (12) – A morning with Asavari/Jaunpuri in which the guest author Subodh Agrawal decodes the similar ragas Asavari, Jaunpuri and Dev Gandhar with his characteristic clarity.

‘Roop Tera Mastana’ simply refuses to grow old – Arun Fulara  – ‘Aradhana’ director Shakti Samanta filmed the song in a single audacious take.

My Favourites: Memorable Scenes From Hindi Films, depicting many moods; scenes that, if you tell the name of the film, are the ones one will immediately recollect.

Before ‘Tubelight’, ‘Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ dreamt of Hindi-Chini bhai bhai – Nandini Ramnath – V Shantaram’s 1946 movie retraces the journey of Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis from Sholapur to the Chinese battlefield.

Homes and Houses: Ten songs – Hindi cinema has done ample justice to the concept of ‘home’ and ‘house’, from songs like Ek bangla bane nyaara to films like Dastak, Biwi aur Makaan, Hamaara Ghar, Gharaunda and Tere Ghar ke Saamne. The author has picked pre-1970 songs of Homes that are envisioned, homes that are hoped for, homes that light up with joy because of the coming of a festival or the arrival of a loved one, homes destroyed. Here are a couple picks form the list:

Cycle trails of Bollywood – After taking us through horses, tongas and steam engine, DP Rangan now logically takes us on a joy-ride of cycle songs. Along the way, he also writes a dissertation on its history.

Nain se nain from generation to generation

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan of Patiala – Raag Darbari

Raag Darbari fusion with rock music – composed by his nephews Wali hamid ali khan & Kamran Akhtar

Shah Rukh Khan’s Doodle Among Stunning Rare Film Collectibles, Stills, Artwork in Osian’s Auction –  Antara Nanda Mondal– Among the rare collectibles in the auction are a bunch of original artworks by renowned filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Mani Kaul. Besides there are original publicity-material art for Andaz (1949), Anari (1959), Guide (1965), Deewaar (1975) and others. A huge collection of rare posters, showcards, lobby cards, photographic stills from the golden 1950’s period to the era of Amitabh Bachchan to the current trinity of Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan go under the hammer at the prestigious auction on 22 June, 2017.

SIKENDER. 1941 starring Prithviraj Kapoor in title role
Sepia toned Photographic Stills Mounted on Lobby Cards, probably used for early re-release publicity ({Pic: Osians)

In our series Micro View of Best Songs 1948 @SoY, we have commenced the detailed posts on Male Solo songs with those of Mohammad Rafi and Mukesh.

To end the today’s post with an article on Mohammed Rafi, I have zeroed upon an old post – Seven of My Favorite Rafi Songs– from Dances on Footpath. The author also has noted that these seven songs are not appreciated as Rafi songs go. Well, of the seven songs mentioned therein YT link 4 links have become dysfunctional. At least two songs do certainly would not be qualified as “unappreciated” So here are just two songs that stand out:

Nazron Ke Teera Maare Kas Kas – Do Ustaad (1959) – with Asha Bhosle – O P Nayyar – Qamar Jalalabadi

My Dearo Dearo Mummy Nahin – Nagina (1951) – with Shmashad Begum – Shanker Jaikishan

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

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – July 2014

Welcome to July, 2014 edition of Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music.

For the period of the current edition of the Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music, we have birth anniversaries of two music directors whose work apparently spans two ends of the spectrum of Golden Period.

We take up the first chronological end – Anil Biswas.

Remembering Anil Biswas, The Singer – A tribute on Anil Biswas’s Birth Centenary (b. 7 July 1914; d. 31 May 2003)

“Songs of Yore heralded 2014 as the Year of Anil Biswas with Inaugural post by his daughter, Shikha Biswas Vohra – Anil Biswas: The Maestro and My Father. We have since had three more posts dedicated to him with his songs for Suraiya, Talat Mahmood, and his sister, Parul Ghosh…… Therefore, in our tribute to the Bhishm Pitamah in his Centenary Year, it is important to remember him as a singer too.”

The Maker of Mukesh: Anil Biswas’s opening paints a very vivid picture of the role of Anil Biswas – a Guru (of those days), in general, and the extent to which he would take pains for his passion – the music. While continuing the Centenary Tributes to Anil Biswas, SoY pays a very special tribute to Mukesh as well on his 91st birth anniversary (on 22nd July).

The Masters: Sajjad Hussain quite vividly portrays the nuances of Sajjad’s music. “According to his son, the principled musician had no regrets or bitterness. He had lived life on his own terms, and had been admired as a musician par excellence by his contemporaries. History deals with him kindly as well, recognising the talent that preferred to remain unused but would never compromise. The body of work that he left behind has delighted music connoisseurs for generations, and it will continue to do so for as long as there are people who listen to Hindi film music from the golden age.”

Bulo C Rani – Phoolon Se Hum Shikhenge , Fariyad Na Karana, Ro Lena presents a bouquet of songs by one of the highly meritorious music directors of the Golden Period who could never hit the commercial success. The article is in Gujarati, but that should not come in the way of enjoying the melodies presented therein.

Atul’s Bollywood Song A Day– With Full Lyrics has crossed a great milestones of publishing 10,000 songs. To commemorate the event, several regular guest writers have contributed a post on this occasion. Visiting these posts is a subject by itself, which we would take up separately.

Forgotten Melodies (Part 2) – Sweet Melodies From My Father’s Films.

“When I did my previous post I was more or less sure about the songs that I would select for this post. I decided then that my next post would be a selection of songs that have struck a chord in my heart and songs that I have just liked because of the sweet melody and of course the lyrics.” The first part of the article – Forgotten Melodies (Part 1) – My Favourite Dance Sequences From My Father’s Films – has appeared in June 2014 episode of our Blog Carnival.

Kamal Hai?! Bindiya Songs has five songs but all of them relate to period beyond the extended end of our time scale. But Anu Warrier (Conversations over Chai) has added Khanke Kangnaa Bindiya Hanse , Lata Mangeshkar – S D Burman – Dr Vidya [1962] among others in her comment.

Makeover of the filmi doormats lists of five filmi doormats – Jameela in Chaudavi Ka Chand (1961)[ Badle, badle mere sarkar nazar aate hai]; Simran in Dilwale Dulahaniya Le Jaayendge (1995); Anjali in Kuchch Kuchch Hota Hai (1998); Lalita in Parineeta (1953 ) and (2005) and Chandramukhi in Devdaas (1935 ), (1955 ) and (2002).

Music, fantasy and colour in V Shantaram’s Navrang narrates ‘over-the-top explosions of colour and classical music in Hindi-film history’.

A Song For The Day is “a personal favorite” in as much as “the song stands for a sense of energy that accompanies longing and loneliness and infuses ephemeral pathos which depending on one’s mood may well turn out to be lasting.” The song neing discussed here is: Jab Chali Thandi Hawa, Jab Uthi Kaali Ghata, Mujhko Aye Jaan-e-Wafa Tum Yaad Aaye – Do Badan (1966) – Asha Bhosle – Ravi.

Kyunki Ye Ishq Ishq Hai Ishq ‘discovers’ the quawaali by Mubarak Ali Khan – Na Tu But Kade Ke Talab. Nusrat Ali Hateh Khan has also rendered this quawalli in his very unique style. And now let us listen what we have always loved to listen – Na To Carvaan Ki Talaash Hai

SoY has also commenced Best songs of 1951: Wrap Up 1 – The article goes on to sum up contributions by the readers and then presents – Songs of Yore Award for the best Male Playback Singer of 1951 goes to Talat Mahmood, and the best song is Meri yaad mein tum na aansoo bahana. Mukesh is given Jury’s Special Honour.

To end the current edition we will take up 75th Birthday (26th June) tribute articles –

However, I would like to recall his first two films only:

The Second one ….Bhoot Bangala (1965 )

And the First.. Chhote Nawab (1961)

And you guessed it right… these songs are also our tribute to Mohammed Rafi as well…..