Tag: Shakeel Badayuni

Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – September, 2019

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

अमिताभ बच्चनः ‘एंग्री यंग मैन’ से दादा साहेब फ़ाल्के पुरस्कार तक – Mihir Pandya recounts how Amitabh countered negative factors around him to create and created a dominant space for himself that has brought his career to this miles stone.

Why actor-producer Devika Rani was truly the First Lady of Indian cinema – Alaka Sahani – Actor, star, producer, studio boss. Devika Rani walked a path that few women in Indian cinema have managed to. As a new play on the pioneer gets ready to tour, a look back at her journey.

Devika Rani with Najam-ul-Hussain in Jawani Ki Hawa. (Photo: Wirsching Foundation)

We pick up other tributes and memories:

Asha Bhosle and the Five Elements that balance her struggles, and later her career: Earth (Ab Ke Baras Bhej Bhaiya Ko Paarti), Fire (Ye Kya Kar Dala Tune Dil Tera Ho Gaya), Water (Do Boonden Swan Ki, Ek Sagar Ki Chhip Mein Tapake ..), Air (Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu..), Ether (Khaali Haath Shaam Aayi Thi ..)

Hans Jhakhar takes up two vital facets of the Ravi saga on SoY with Ravi and Asha Bhosle: A class combination and Shakeel Badayuni: Revitalising bond with Ravi

Khayyam and Asha Bhosle is the selection of Asha Bhosle’s songs composed by Khayyam. We have taken one song here to get the feel of the songs presented in the post:

Taaron Se Ankhiyaan Milaoon Main – Dhobi Doctor (1954) – Lyrics – Majrooh Sultanpuri

Shailendra’s Teesri Kasam: Sapne Jagaa Ke Tune Kaahe Ko De Di Judaai – Teesri Kasam was made in another age and time. But more than 50 years after it briefly lit up the screen before it was yanked off the majestic Apsara Cinema of Bombay, “the finest human document written on celluloid”— as one viewer describes it— continues to live in the heart of every single viewer. Ratnottama Sengupta pays a tribute to the man behind this ‘love-lyric on celluloid’ – Kaviraj Shailendra, with some untold stories about the making of the classic.

Mukesh: A Different Romance in the Voice – Celebrating the uniqueness that was Mukesh – In this article, Monika Kar does not even attempt to list all of Mukesh’s songs that have made an impression, for there are way too many; it simply celebrates this singer for being who he was with sheer sincerity and goodness resonating in his voice.

वर्ल्ड गिटार डेः गिटार पर सुपरहिट धुन छेड़ने वाले वो सितारे जो गुमनामी में खो जाते हैं – Vandana profiles the unsung masters who played guitars in the Hindi film song and helped create some of the most popular songs.

The legendary actor Balraj Sahni as remembered by his son – Alaka Sahani – In a new biography of actor Balraj Sahni, son Parikshat recounts memories of his father’s off-screen life and the troubled yet loving relationship they shared.

The Maestros Called Laxmikant Pyarelal – The first song for which LP played together in the orchestra was a Marathi song – Tinhi sanja sakhya milaalya!! It was after that they became assistants to legendary composers like S D Burman and Kalyan ji Anand ji.

No, I Did Not Forget Noor Jehan’s Birthday! – For those who do not know about the series on this blog – or those who know but would like to look at it again – may please go to last year’s post, which includes links that will take you to prior Noor Jehan posts (including the post from 2015 that includes links to all the others going back to 2009).

Legendary Hindi film composer Usha Khanna shares her life’s journey through music at an event held on 21-9-2019 at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bengaluru, reports Shilpa Sebastian R

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

The Silent Tributes which became benchmarks in the Hindi film music and no they are not merely copied or inspired, they are tributes in the real sense. E.g.  Bimal Roy filmed a boy sitting on a buffalo while Sadhana sings O Sajana Barakha Bahar Aaye. Gulzar pays tribute Bimal Roy by depicting boy playing flute sitting on the buffalo while the sisters in Namkeen sing – Aaki chali baaki chali

September, 2019 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs takes up (Shankar-) Jaikishan and Hasrat Jaipuri’s Songs Fading From the Memory : 1958 – 1959. This is in continuation to the series from the previous episodes which had listed some of the song from 1949 to 1954 and 1955 to 1957.

And, now commence the posts on other subjects.

A Paen on Piano, like Aap Ki Haseeb Rukh Pe Aaj Naya Noor Hain or Dheere Dheere Machal Aye Dil-e-Bequrar and so on.

Music composer Vanraj Bhatia claims to be penniless, struggles amid hearing and memory loss

Only 29 of 1,338 Indian silent films have survived. One man is doggedly telling the story of the era – Who knows what’s out there, says Virchand Dharamsey, the writer of the authoritative filmography of the Indian silent film period between 1895 and the 1930s.

Khaike Paan Banaras – Don – The Banaras Paan Effect –  Archana Chauhan notes that Tamil remake of ‘Don’, Billa (1980) has Rajnikant taking up the dance steps and the dress to match with that of Amitabh

‘Tawaifs’ of Awadh: The first women of Hindi cinema – Shivani Bhasin  – These highly skilled courtesans sang, danced, wrote poetry, and were the purveyors of all that was considered good taste and high fashion.

Other cinemas, other cineastes: on Namrata Joshi’s Reel India is a very wide-ranging book, chronicling of magnificent obsessions – he obsessions of people who live outside the cinematic mainstream, but engage with films in myriad ways, not seeking monetary benefit but doing things because they are compelled to; because cinema is so central to who they are.

Window Romancing With Dev Anand – Amongst all his ways to win his lady love or sing a song, his most favourite style must have been window romancing. So many of his songs are around the doors, windows or balconies crooning soft lyrics in your ears. The takes a glimpse of few such songs and window romance with Dev Anand, e.g. Aise To Na Dekho Ke Hamse Nasha Ho Jaaye – Teen Deviyan (1965) – S D Burman – Majrooh Sultanpuri

The Romantic Rain Songs lists the rain songs of 1990s.

Nothing but melody presents a playlist of songs from the 50s and 60s that do not have any percussion instrument at all

Following the overview article, Best songs of 1946: And the winners are?, we had taken up micro view of Female Solo Songs for 1946  and have covered Suraiya , Shamshad Begum, Part 1 and  Part II, Amirbai Karanataki, Zohrabai Ambalewali, Mohantara Talpade and Rahkumari, Hamida Banu, Zeenat Begum, Noor Jehan Khursheed and Kanan Devi, Naseem Akhtar and Paro Devi, and other female singers, viz. Dilshad Begum, Kalyani Das,  Meena Kapoor, Neena ( Sitara Kanpuri), Beenapani Mukherjee, Susheela Rani, Jayshree,  Parul Ghosh, Shanta Apte, Saraswati Rane, Lalita Deulkar,  Anima Dasgupta, Shobha, Jyoti, Radharani, Iqbal Bano (Begum?), Snehprabha Pradhan, Baby Anu, Baby Mumtaz, Geeta Roy and Lata Mangeshkar. We have then concluded the Micro View of Female Solo Songs for 1946.

To end the present 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:.

Ye Jhulfein Jadoo Sa Kar Rahi Hai, Tauba Tauba – Unreleased song – with Lata Mangeshkar

Abhi Kamseen Ho Nadaan Ho Jaane Jaana – Aaya Toofan (1964) – Laxmikant Pyarelal – Asad Bhopali

Shola Ulfat Ka Bhadaka De Mere Dil Mein Aag Laga De – Aurat (1967) – with Asha Bhosle – Ravi- Shakeel Badayuni

Jaane Kahan Gaye Tum.. Bechain Hai Nazare  – Aaja Sanam (1975) – Usha Khanna – M K Javed

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.

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, December, 2018

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

We will take up posts dedicated to commemorate 112th birthdate of Prthviraj Kapoor.as THE topic for December, 2018.

इस एक्टर को कहा जाता है बॉलीवुड का भीष्म पितामह, एक ही फिल्म में दिखा दी थी 3 पीढ़ी – He acted in a supporting role in India’s first talkie-film Alam Ara in 1931

In an video interview, Sanjana Kapoor on Prithviraj Kapoor and his Theatre Legacy

//players.brightcove.net/5653786008001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5856817461001

Remembering Prithviraj Kapoor on his 111th birth anniversary – was an excellent photo memor by Indian Express

We now move on to other birthday/ death anniversary posts for the month:

It is but expected that Mohammad Rafi is remembered so fondly in the month of his birthday.-

Mohammad Rafi – A God-gifted voice.

Rafi’s best duets by Madan Mohan

Shakeel-Naushad: Classy Confluence, Seamless Flow – 1 – Shakeel Badayuni is considered to be one of the finest romantic poets of the previous century. And Naushad among the monarchs of Hindi film music. When they teamed up, the result was classic! Vijay Kumar pays a tribute to this inimitable confluence with an exploration of the music and poetry they created together.

Remembering my father and the legend Madan Mohan – In response to SoY invitation, Sangeeta Gupta, the eldest daughter of Madan Mohan, joins in contributing a guest article on Madan Mohan’s songs ‘with other singers’ as a touching finale to the tandem series on Roshan and Madan Mohan on SoY.

Happy Birthd  Usha Mangeshkar! And Usha Mangeshkar – II are the posts in tribute to her 83rd birthday. The former lists her Hindi and Marathi solo songs whereas the latter lists her duets.

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

Singer Mohammed Aziz No More , born 2nd July, 1954, Mohammad Aziz’s maiden Hindi Film song was Mard Tangewaala main hoon

Songs ‘sung’ by people with disabilities: my favourites, lists some superb songs ‘sung’ by people with disabilities to observe the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

December, 2018 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs is dedicated to Mohammad Rafi’s First Song with a Music Director’s  3rd Five Year period’s year 1956.. The corresponding post for years 1954 and 1955 was published on 8 July, 2018, and for the solo songs of tears 1957 and 1958 is published on 24 December, 2018. All the three separately posted posts of Mohammad Rafi’s First Solo Song With The Music Director: 1954 -1958 can be accessed at / downloaded by clicking on the hyperlink.

And, now the posts on other subjects:

The ‘Radio Songs’ from Hindi films are the songs that have radio to a major extent. The song can be the one which is being played on radio and is also seen being recorded too.

Chariots of Verse – The older generations rues the Axial Age of our cinema, mainly the middle 1940s to the late 1960s, when cinema and music reached heights of excellence that seem unachievable today. That age was exemplified not just by a wide range of words used, but by the high use of imagery too…Sometimes, songwriters of that time used different words or sentence structures to express essentially the same idea, like he lyrics-writer Anjaan said Teri aankh mein wo kamaal hai (Rafi/Mr India, 1961).. There are many thoughts—more or less of the same kind—that have been offered differently in 3 or more songs, even if it’s sometimes the same poet in two songs. The post engages with such poetic chariots of 3 poems with similar attributes:

The Great Horse Beat Songs of Bollywood resonates in our memories even today thanks to some of the great songs composed on that rhythm.

Musically Yours, 1963: Part 3  – This is Part 3, following up Part 1 and Part 2  in a 4-part series of essays, exploring the Hindi film music of 1963, the year of birth of the writer Monica Kar. In a personal tribute to composers who gave music that makes its presence felt even after 55 years, Monica Kar explores the enduring magic of three composer-duos – Shankar Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji and Laxmikant-Pyarelal.

Ten of my favourite Bharat Vyas songs lists the songs of Bharat Vyas to pay tribute in the centenary year of his birth.

If it’s a Harp, This Could be a Woman – there is a musical instrument that is mostly associated with women, and it’s an ancient instrument too, so for observation’s sake, its history can be studied in some detail. The instrument is called the harp, whose early shape was inspired by the curve of the hunting bow. It now comes in many shapes, but in all of them, it has a charming appearance. The post lists songs featured on women with harp.

Mann Kyun Behka – Utsav – Midnight Musings   Aditi and Vasantsena in Utsav (1985) bonding over their love for Charudutta share their feelings in this duet..

Two of a kind lists humkhayaal thoughts from different minds, which make a subject for a fascinating study, for example:

Jab bhi jee chaahe nayi duniya basa lete hain log
Ek chehre pe kayi chehre laga lete hain log – Lata Mangeshkar – Daag, 1973) – Laxmikant Pyarelal

And, across the border in Pakistan, the wonderfully-voiced Mehdi Hassan had rendered something similar in Saza (1969), to the poetry of Qateel Shifai:

Jab bhi chaahen ik nayi surat bana lete hain log
Ek chehre pe kayi chehre saja lete hain log

Jogi Jab Se Tu Aaya – Bandini – Under The Spell is the song that Love makes its presence felt and before you know it, you are under the spell.

SoY concluded Best songs of 1947: And the winners are? With the concluding piece Best songs of 1947: Final Wrap Up 4 adjudging Naushad and C Ramchandra as joint winners.

Micro View of Best songs of 1947: And the winners are? with the Duets of 1947, All the episodes of The Micro View of Best Songs of 1947 can be read / downloaded from one file, by clicking on the hyper link.

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.

Woh Hum Na The Woh Tum Na The – Cha Cha Cha (1964) – Iqbal Qureshi – Neeraj

Maya Ka Aanchal Jale – Kinare Kinare (1964)– With Usha Mangeshkar, – Jaidev – Nyay Sharma

Baman Ho Ya Jaat – Karigar (1958) – C Ramchandra  -Bharat Vyas

Pihu Pihu Karat Papiha – Baiju Bawra 1952) – Naushad – Shakeel Badayuni

Ankhon Pe Bharosa Mat Kar Duniya Jadoo Ka Khel Hai – Detective (1958) – With Sudha Malhotra – Mukul Roy – Shailendra

I wish that 2019 remains resonant with chimes of success and happiness for you and your family.

P.S.  : All episodes of our blog carnival of articles and posts on Hindi film Songs for the year 2018 can be accessed at  / downloaded from  in single file by clicking Carnival of Blogs on Golden Era of Hindi Film Music – 2018.

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

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

Our focused topic for the month of August, 2018 is Mena Kumari’s 85th birthday on 1st August, 2018.

Google Doodle celebrates tragedienne Meena Kumari’s 85th birthday – The formidable actress in Indian cinema appeared in more than 90 movies during her career that spanned over three decades.

The Life And Death of Meena Kumari | Tabassum Talkies

The Films of Meena Kumari and Dev Anand did together are: Sanam (1951), Tamasha (1952), Baad Baan (1954) and Kinare Kinare (1963). I have selected on song from each of these films

Bedard Shikari Are Bedard Shikari – Sanam – Suraiya, Lata Mangeshkar – Husnlal Bhagatram – Qamar Jalalabadi

Thi Jinse Pal Bhar Ki Pehchan – Tamasha – Asha Bhosle – Khemchand Prakash / Manna Dey – Bharat Vyas

Dekho Chanchal Hai Mora Jiyara – Baadbaan – Asha Bhosle – Timir Baran, S K Pal – Indeevar

Har Ash Ashqbar Hai Har Saans Beqarar Hai – Kinare Kinare – Lata Mangeshkar – Jiadev – Nyay Sharma

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

The Great Sawan Songs of Bollywood – The month of Savan, 5th month in Hindu calendar, normally coincides with August. Hindi films have relished Savan in the songs.

Remembering Poet & Lyricist ‘Jan Nisar Akhtar’, whose maiden Hindi film song was Aa Jaane Wafa ( Anarkali, 1953, Geeta Dutt, Basant Prakash), but had first major commercial success was Yasmin (1955, C Ramchandra).

KHEM CHAND PRAKASH – The creator of musical gems, and the mentor of stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Manna Dey and Bulo C Rani

Neel gagan ki chhaon mein – Deepa Buty relives the song from Amrapali on Vyjayanthimala’s birthday on 13 August 2018

[N.B. Deepa Buty is the founder of the site SongPedia, which has a tagline “For Music Lovers, By Muisc Lovers’. The site spots tags like Legends , Song Sketch, Collections, Startups, People, Songs, We will commence our detailed visit to this site from our next issue.]

Most Memorable Films of Vyjayantimala – Born on August 13, 1933, she was a natural performer who danced for the pope at the age of four. She started in films under MV Raman’s direction at AVM with Vazhkai/Jeevitham (1949), a bilingual film in Tamil and Telugu. The immensely popular film was later adapted as Bahar (1951).

My Favourites by Shakeel Badayuni  – the only lyricist to have scored a hat trick of Filmfare awards:

1961 – Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho – Chaudhvin Ka Chand
1962 – Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin – Gharana
1963 – Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil – Bees Saal Baad

Two faces of Haribhai, a.k.a. Sanjeev Kumar is an effort to say some vaguely nice things about SK, by the author who is generally skeptical about the histrionics abilities of Sanjeev Kumar.

Interestingly, but certainly not having any link to the previous article, Dusted Off has chosen Nishan (1965), one of the early, B-grade Sanjeev Kumar films, for a full-fledged review this month.

The Songs of Gulzar shadow over his other roles as (originally assistant director) director and film script and dialogue writer.

in Part II, Monica Kar follows up, Musically Yours, 1963 (Part I) to pay a personal tribute to 12 music directors who created note-worthy compositions in 1963.

The Unforgettable Tunes of JAIDEV – unfortunately many of his best compositions are lost in unfinished films and albums.

The Master of Qawwali Roshan and some hidden qawwalis of Madan Mohan – In a career which had many parallels, as Roshan carved a niche in qawwaalis, Madan Mohan was known to specialize in composing the ghazals. The present post, lists the well-known Roshan qawwalis and some not so-known Madan Mohan qawwaalis.

The Great Yodeling Songs of Kishore kumar on his 89th birthday on 3rd August.

The world’s first South Indian Pathan? Why Sridevi’s accent in her Hindi films has never mattered – Edited excerpts from an upcoming biography of the actress, who would have been 55 on 13th August this year, by Lalita Iyer.  Shridevi had turned her language handicap into a quirk. Throughout her Hindi film career, she spoke Hindi with a thick, sing-song Tamil accent, and depending on whether one is a Shridevi fan or not, this could be grating or cute.

Shammi Kapoor – Who Sang his Songs from his Heart, whether they were serious pre-Tumsa Nahn Dekha songs or peppy post-Tumsa Nahin Dekha songs.

August, 2018 episode of Fading Memories, Unforgettable Songs is dedicated to Shailendra’s songs composed by Roshan.

And, now the posts on other subjects:

The Great Bollywood Songs based on Folk Music – The leading composers of Bollywood films had used the folk songs in successful films and popularized them.

Musical Rhythms of the Running Train – Trains have been integral to the lives of people ever since the first train ran in 1853 in India. In Indian cinema, there are lots of songs which are picturized either on the running train or in the backdrop of the moving locomotive, snaking through the hills and the fields. Kunal Desai observes how composers have created the basic rhythm for songs which were picturized on a train or with the train as the subject. It is the story and the scene sequences, which influence the sound arrangement of any song.

Hindi Songs with ‘Anokhe Bol’ is akin to the songs that Radio Ceylonbroadcasted in it’s the tehn popular program Anokhe Bol

On the World Photography Day, The Hindi Films where Hero plays a photographer.

Ten Songs from ‘One-Song-Wonder’ Films is a list of songs that were the one major hit song in a film otherwise characterized by forgettable songs. E.g. Tum jo aao toh pyaar aa jaaye from Sakhi Robin,

Seen But Not Observed  the instrument Double Bass like Michael Caine, who got his fame “as being seen, but not being observed”. Check out Mera naam Chin Chin Choo from Howrah Bridge, 1958, and also Teen canastar peet-peet kar gala phaad kar chillaana from Love Marriage, 1959). The interesting thing is that while most significant instruments have been played by at least one major Hindi film actor on the screen, the Double Bass has the dubious distinction of never having been played by a significant actor, except for a few seconds by Kishore Kumar in Gaana na aaya.

The Great FRIENDSHIP Songs of Bollywood – Friendships have remained a popular genre in Hindi Film songs.

Live Music While You Eat – Many restaurants offer music to add to the dining experience; ghazals, popular film songs or pop, jazz, country western, etc. A book by Charles Spence of Oxford University, Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, announces that music can make our food taste better. The posts lists songs where a person was seen singing in a restaurant. Not dancing and singing, because that becomes a story of song and dance. If the patrons themselves dance, that’s ok J

‘Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion’ – While introducing the maiden book – Forgotten Artists of Early Cinema and The Same Name Confusion’  –  published by Shri Arunkumar Deshmukh , co-authored by Surjeet Singh, the post has listed a few songs that link up with the subject of the book. Here is one such song:

Hath Chakra Trishul Sadashiv Alakh Jagaate Nagari Mein – Abhram Bhagat (NFS bhajan, 1940)

Book Review: Anil Zankar’s ‘Mughal-e-Azam: Legend as Epic’ (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2013; 200 pages; Rs 250) – The author,among a good many other interesting details,  mentions that of the fifteen songs originally written for the film, only twelve were finally used, he doesn’t mention that one song—Husn ki baaraat chali—was actually shot, though eventually not used in the film.

Behind the Human Curtain – As for our poetry, we put all cloaks under the simplistic umbrellas of ghunghat, parda and naqaab. While by parda we also mean a curtain separating the women from the men, the result being the same. And in this collective simplification can be found several songs from Hindi cinema.

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,  Shamshad Begum. Rajkumari, Amirbai Karnataki (Part I and Part II) Zohrabai Ambalewali (Part I and Part II), we have now covered Khursheed, Noor Jehan & Kanan Devi, Meena Kumar, Naseem Akhtar and Zeenat Begum in ‘other’ female singers.

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

Rafi’s best songs by Madan Mohan – Madan Mohan has composed nearly 168 Mohammad Rafi songs, of which quite a few have everlasting fame. I have also picked up a very rarely heard, but famously enjoyable, song from the list:

Duniya Ke Saare Ghamon Se Begana, Ho Main Hun Mastana – Mastana (1954) – Madan Mohan – Rajendra Krishna

Yeh To Kaho Kaun Ho Tum – Akeli Mat Jaiyo (1963) – with Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan – Majrooh Sultanpuri

Yahan Koi Nahi Tera Mere Siwa – Dil Ek Mandir (1963 – Shanker Jaikishan – Hasrat Jaipuri

Sanjeev Kumar Speaks on Mohammed Rafi

Haye Tabassum Tera – Nishan (1965) – Usha Khanna – Javed Anwar

Chalte Chale Chalo Chalta Hua Saahil Hai Zindagi – Insaan Aur Shaitan (1970) – Usha Khanna – Asad Bhopali

Teen Taal Par Naach Budhape Bachpan Aur Jawani Ka – Ek Bul Bula Paani Ka (1970 – Jaidev – Kaifi Azmi

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 –

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 100th 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 –

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 –

‘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 20th 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

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 –

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
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-chinesethe 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 –

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…..