ANAND BAKSHI - Kuch To Log Kahenge

He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan's film titled, "Bhalaa Aadmi", 1958, acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote 4 songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 Nov 1956. In his own voice.
He first found success in 1962, with Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath, which was produced by (LimeLight), Music Kalyanji & Anandji,In the same year he wrote a quawali for the film "Kaala Samundar" which became hit.the song was "Meri Tasveer Lekar Kya Karoge Tum".
1965 was a great year for him as a lyricist.His all the songs of the film "Himalaya ki God Mein' became very popular.Another film 'Jab Jab Phool Khile"was a musical hit.Next year the music of "Aye Din Bahar Ke" became popular,his association LP was to make magic in 1967 with the super hit film MILAN and the song "Sawan ka Mahina,Pavan Kare Shor' became the song of the year.By this time he became a lyrics writer of immense caliber. He went on to work as a lyricist of over 3500 songs and 638 films in his career.
Anand Bakshi’s was widely associated with music Composers such as Laxmikant Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand-Milind and his songs have been sung by all the top singers .
Wit R D Burman he did 99 movies together and gave memorable songs."Dum Maro Dum" in the movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna(1972).Amar Prem Apna desh,Jawani Diwani,Sita Aur Gita.Heera Panna.Namak Haraam,Aap Ki Kasam,Sholay,Mehbooba,Shaan.Love Storyand many more.
Here are some of the songs with R D Burman

Song of Katie Patang 1970

Song of The Train 1970

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Song of Amar Prem 1971

Song of Jawani Diwani 1972

Song of Namak Haraam 1973

Song of  Aap Ki Kasam 1974

Song of  Sholay 1975

Song of  Mehbooba 1976

Song of  Love Story1981

Jagdeep - When Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru Appreciated his Performance

Jagdeep born on 29th March 1939 started as a child artist from B R Chopra's Afsana in 1951. As a child artist h appeared in films like Ab Dilli Door Nahin, K. A. Abbas's Munna, Guru Dutt's Aar Paar, Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin and AVM's Hum Panchi Ek Dal Ke. After Hum Panchi Ek Dal Ke, he received various accolades and high praise for his roles. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru has gifted his personal scarf to Jagdeep for his stellar performance in Hum Panchi Ek Daal Ke.
He was launched as a leading man by AVM in the films Bhabhi, Barkha and Bindaya, and went on to do a few more films as a leading man. Many hit songs were picturisation on him as a leading actor.Later he switched to comedy and established himself a com median in many films.Today's generation remembers him as Soon a Bhopal of Sholay and Salman Khan's dad in Andaz Apna Apna (1994). 
He is also known for his appearances in many horror movies, especially in projects of the Ramsay Brothers. He appeared in famous hits like Purana Mandir and Saamri.
In this blog I am posting some of the hit songs picturised on him

Song of Bhabhi 1957

Song of Bhabhi 1957

Song of Punarmilan 1964

Song of Punarmilan 1964

Song of  Phir Wohi Raat.

Song of  Baap Bete 1959

Song of  Insaf Ki Awaz 1986

S N TripathI - A Forgotten Music Director

Shri Nath Tripathi (14 December 1912 – 28 March 1988) was an Indian composer, whose active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s. Tripathi's multi-faceted work range included being a composer, writer, actor, and director of films. 
His first film as a composer was Chandan (1942). He continued to compose for films like Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957), where the song "Zara Saamne Toh Aao Chhaliye" became the top Binaca Geetmala song. The famous song "Na Kisi Ki Aankh Ka Noor Hoon" was also composed by him.
Tripathi turned to direction in 1957 starting with Rani Roopmati. Two of his films with 7Nirupa Roy and Bharat Bhushan, Rani Roopmati (1959) and Kavi Kalidas (1959), are cited as having "cinematic merit" and "unforgettable music"
Here are some of the great songs by this forgotten composer

Song of Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957)

Song of Rani Roopmati (1957)

Song of Chandra Mukhi (1960)

Song of Lal Quila (1961)

Song of Lal Quila (1961)

b

Song of Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1962)

Actor Singer Songs of Bollywood

Before the playback singing started in Bolywood ,all most all the hero and heroines used to sing their songs,in fact they were taken on the basis of their singing talent.K L SAIGAL,Noor Jeahan,Ashok Kumar,Devika Rani,Kanan Devi and Suraiya were singing sensation of their time.
The great singers of Golden Era of Hindi Cinema like Mohammad Rafi,Kishorn Kumar,Mukesh and TalatMahmood also acted in many films.There are many playback singers who turned to acting but could not succeed,similarly there were many actors who tried their talent in singing. In this blog I have taken some of these great actors who sang in the films.

The first song on my list is from the 1947 film  Dil Ki Rani sung by Raj Kapoor

Song of Dil Ki Rani 1947

Here is a rare song sung by Dilip Kumar,a duet with Lata Mangeshkar in 1957 film Musafir

Song of Musafir 1957

We all know that Mena Kumari was a poet but beside this she was a good singer also,she sang many songs in her films like Duniya Ek Sarai 

                         Piya Ghar Aaja, Bichhade Bala and Pinjre Ke Panchhi

Song Duniya Ek Sarai

Amitabh  Bachchan is another actor who sang many songs in his films.The first time he sang in Mr Natwar Lal and later in many films like Lawaris ,Silsila and many more.

Song of Lawaris

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Nutan was also a good singer, she sang in the 1960 film Chhabili

Song of Chhabili 1960

Amir Khan

Amir Khan sang Aati Kya Khandala in Ghulam^,,Bum Bum Bole in Taare Zameen Par, I Hate You in Delhi Belly and Dhaakad in Dangal.

Song of Ghulam 1998

Farhan Akhtar sang all the songs of movie Rock on, one song in movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, "Dil Dhadakne Do" title song and many more.

Song of Rock On 2008

Salmon Khan though not a good singer sang in few films like Bodyguard, Kick and Hero

Song of Bodyguard 

Shraddha Kapoor sang "Galliyan Unplugged" in Ek Villain, "Do Jahaan" in Haider, "Bezubaan Phir Se" in ABCD 2 and "Sab Tera" in Baaghi.

Song of Ek Villain 

Shahrukh Khan sang "Apun Bola" in Josh, "Jab Tak Hai Jaan Poem" in Jab Tak Hai Jaan and "Happy New Year".

Song of Josh 

Johny Mera Naam, the film that influenced future Hindi films for decades.

The 1950s and 1960s were the eras of Family dramas but with the release of this film Action and Thriller genre began. This Golden Jubilee thriller was the first Indian film to cross a commercial milestone—it did Rs. 50 lakh business per territory when tickets were priced at a maximum Rs 2.50?

Johny Mera Naam remains the career-biggest hit of brothers Dev Anand and writer-director-editor Vijay Anand, together and separately? It also is Vijay Anand’s last hit as a filmmaker.

The year 1970 was the beginning of a decade that was to give Indian cinema an amazing thrust. The films came in a wide range to suit the interests of all sections. Romance remained paramount but crime thrillers and offbeat subjects dominated the world of Hindi cinema. It was hardly surprising that Dev Anand chose to take the lead with “Johny Mera Naam”, a huge hit with catchy scores from Kalyanji-Anandji and one of the raunchiest numbers ever with bold lyrics and a bolder dance by Padma Khanna.

The movie, a thriller all the way, had the stamp of quality from director Vijay ‘Goldie’ Anand. He and Dev Anand had begun their association with “Nau Do Gyarah” in 1957 and went a long way to give Indian cinema classics like “Guide”, “Kala Bazaar” and “Tere Ghar Ke Samne”.

The film was full of entertainment with lots of twist and turns. The music of the film was very popular. Kalyanji-Anandji provided the music. The cabaret, Husn ke lakhon rang, Nafrat karne walon ke and O mere raja are the other popular tunes from the film.Song picturisation was Goldie’s forte and Pal bhar ke liye koi hame pyar kar le, where Dev serenades the dream girl through windows of all shapes and sizes, remains a masterpiece even today. 

When the film released Dev Anand was nearing 50, formed a dazzling pair with fresh as a dewdrop Hema Malini. This was the first of the nine movies including where Dev Anand and Hema Malini worked together followed by Tere Mere Sapne, Shareef Badmash, Joshila, Chhupa Rustam till Censor in 2001. 

The Great Thumris of Bollywood

Thumri is a com­mon style of light classical music.  The text is romantic and devotional in nature, and us­ually revolves around a girl's love for Krishna.  The language is a dialect of Hindi called Brij bhasha. It arose in pop­ular­ity du­ring the 19th cen­tury. It was made popular among the common people by Hindi films.
Thumris have been used in films right from the very early days of talkies. Rajkumari had sung a number of Thumris in the 30s. K L Saigal had sung a popular thumri, piya bina nahi aawat, way back in 1935, in Devdas. And who can forget, Saigal’s Baabul Mora Naihar, in 1938 movie Street Singer. 
Thumri is basically sung in a slow tempo, later a fast version of Thumri emerged called Lucknowi Thumri and another form Punjabi Thumri also emerged in Hindi films. There were many songs and singers in the 40s and 50s where Thumri became popular.
One name that truly epitomizes the Hindustani classical music of the 20thcentury is that of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Often touted as Tansen of the 20thcentury, this musical genius blended the best of classical music and created a unique style of his own. Some of the famous Thumri are ‘Yaad Piya Ki Aaye’, ‘Aaye Na Balam’ and ‘Prem Ke Phande Men’.
Begum Akhtar was another great singer who was known as the Queen of Ghazal but was also a great Thumri performer.
Here I am giving a few of the Thumris from the Hindi films:

Song of Street Singer 1934

Song of Devdas 1935

Song of Bharthari 1944

Nirmala Devi

Song of Shabab 1954

Song of Naubahar 1954

Song of Musafir 1957

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Rani Roopmati 1959

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

Song of Dil Hi To Hai 1963

Song of Dooj Ka Chand 1964

Song of Pakeezah 1971

Song of Amar Prem 1972

Song of Swami 1977

Song of Mein Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki 1978

Song of Kudrat 1981

History behind the historical -MUGHAL_E_AZAM

K.Asif first launched this film in 1944 with financier Shiraz Ali, casting Sapru, Chandramohan and Nargis in the roles later done by Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. But Shiraz's migration to Pakistan after Partition, the communally-sensitive atmosphere after Independence and finally Chandramohan's death in 1949 made him drop the project.
K Asif wanted to start the project once again in 1951 but no financier was interested in this film. It was Shapoorji Pallonji, the construction magnate, came on board in 1951. K Asif was interested to make this film in colour but the financier refused to finance further. Ultimately he did so in the song Pyar kiya to darna kya and the climax. The film was finally completed at a cost of about Rs 1.5 crore in 1960. 
Asif had planned to make Mughal-e-Azam in three languages - Hindi, Tamil and English. While the Hindi version became a super hit, the Tamil-dubbed version came a cropper at the box-office and he subsequently dropped the idea of dubbing it in English in the voices of British actors.
For the picturization of the song, Pyar kiya to darna kya a grand set of Sheesh Mahal was constructed. The grandeur was incomparable: the mirrors for the dance sequence on the Sheesh Mahal set were coated with a thin, transparent wax layer to prevent reflection from studio lights. The set was 80 feet wide and 150 feet long - and 35 feet high. And cinematographer R.D.Mathur would sometimes take up to eight hours to light a single shot! Sometimes, 14 cameras were used when the norm then was just one or two, and unlike the normal 60 to 125 shooting days, MEA thus needed 500, with more than a million feet of negative being used.

The song Pyar kiya to darna kya costed Rs 10 lakh to shoot, which was equal to the production cost of a big film! This Lata chartbuster's graph was perfected by Naushad and Shakeel in a marathon session from four in the evening to daybreak the following day on the terrace of Naushad's bungalow. Neither ate food during this period.
Music director Naushad composed many more than the 12 songs finally seen in the film, and Lata Mangeshkar sang eight solos and the duet Teri mehfil mein with Shamshad Begum. The hits were led by Mohe panghat pe and Mohabbat ki jhoothi kahani.
For Rafi's song Ae mohabbat zindabad a chorus of 100 singers were used.K Asif wanted 2 songs to be sung by Bade Ghulam Ali khan. Since Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan did not want to sing for films and quoted an exorbitant sum to discourage Naushad and Asif, they agreed to the sum (in multiples of the topmost playback singer's fees) and the maestro had no choice but to render Shubh din aayo and Prem jogan banke as he had no excuse left!

The war sequences used 2000 camels, 4000 horses and 8000 men, most of the latter being real soldiers from the Army. Prithviraj wore real armour, real weapons were crafted and real jewellery used. The best tailors, embroiders, jewellers, shoemakers and other craftsmen from across the country were employed. The chains worn by Madhubala in prison were also real. Even the statue of Lord Krishna was in real gold.
Tailors were brought from Delhi to stitch the costumes, specialists from Surat were hired to do the embroidery, goldsmiths from Hyderabad designed jewellery, craftsmen from Kolhapur worked on the crowns, ironsmiths from Rajasthan made the weaponry and shoemakers from Agra produced the royal footwear.
When completed, Asif is said to have got Rs 17 lakh per territory for the film when the going rate was Rs 3-4 lakh. The premiere invite was written in Urdu on red velvet and "stamped" with the seal of Akbar's royal court.

The premiere of Mughal-e-Azam was held at the then new,1,100-capacity Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai, The day before bookings for the film opened, a reported crowd of 100,000 gathered outside the Maratha Mandir to buy tickets. The tickets, the most expensive for a Bollywood film at that time, were dockets containing text, photographs and trivia about the film, and are now considered collector's items

This premiere was shown as a live event in Navketan's film Kala Bazar where Dev Anand does black marketing of the premiere shows tickets.
 The film ran for 100 weeks, was the biggest grosser of the 1960s and was finally beaten by the 1975 Sholay.
There had been three screen versions of the same story earlier also. Two starred one of Indian cinema’s top female stars, Sulochana, as Anarkali – in 1928 as a silent feature and then in 1935 as a talkie.