Conversational Songs of Bollywood

 

Songs are an integral part of Bollywood, In earlier films, songs used to carry forward the story but some songs are included not just to express feelings but also to have a conversation through it.  Recall the song from Mela(1948) 'Main Bhawra Tu Hain Phool' or ' Haal Kaisa Hai Janab Ka' from 'Chalti Ka Naam Gadi' have a conversation between two persons.

In this blog, I have selected such songs that have a conversation between two or more persons.

Song of Mela 1948

Song of Dulari 1949

Song of Patita 1953

Song of Azad 1955

Song of Chori Chori 1956

Song of NAU DO GYARAH 1957)

Song of Pyaasa 1957)

Song of Phalgun 1958

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Mein Chup Rahungi 1962

Song of Dil Tera Deewana 1962

Song of Bharosa 1963

Song of Sangam 1964

Song of Beti Bete 1964

Song of Mohabbat Isko Kahete Hain 1965 

Song of Teen Deviyan 1966

Song of Aan Milo Sajna 1970

Song of Kal Aaj Aur Kal 1971

Song of Rampur Ka  Lakshman 1972

Song of Raja Rani 1973

Song of Deewar 1975

Song of Qurbani 1980

Song of Ishq 1997

Song of Ghulam 1998

Song of Dil Chahta Hai 2001

N Dutta- From Prabhat Pheri to Bollywood

 

Dutta Naik (12 December 1927 – 30 December 1987), popularly known as N Dutta is a forgotten composer. It's true that he worked in less no of films but he gave quality music. Starting his career as devotional songs singer in Goa. later moved to Mumbai and assisted a Marathi Singer and composer. Later also joined Bollywood composer Ghulam Haider for some time.

He actively participated in Prabhat Pheris and other local festivals and it was during one of these festivals Bollywood composer SD Burman happened to hear Naik sing. When it turned out that the young man had also composed the tune, S D Burman asked Naik to come and meet him. He was one of the music assistants in Bahar(1951), Sazaa(1951), Bazi(1951) and Ek Nazar (1951), Jaal (1952), Jeevan Jyoti (1953) and Angarey (1954).

It was during the making of Guru Dutt’s Baazi (1951), Naik met Raj Khosla who was then assisting Dutt. When Khosla made his debut as a director, N Dutta was taken as an independent composer for Milaap brought on board as the music director. Naik’s break had actually come in 1951 with the Punjabi film Baalo (1951) but it was only with the release of Raj Khosla’s Milap (1955) starring Dev Anand.

The same year his other film Marine Drive as an independent composer got released. The music of both films was very well accepted by people especially Ab Who Karam Karen Ki Sitam (Marine Drive); Yeh Baharaon Ka Sama (Milap) , and 'Jaate Ho To Jao' (Milap). 

The next released film was Chandrakanta, its song Maine Chand Aur Sitaron Ki Tamanna Ki Thi (Chandrakanta, 1956) stand out. In 1957, three of his films were released, the songs of  Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke (1957) and Mr X were hit especially' ''laal laal gaal,jaan ke hain laagu' from Mr X.

. His close association with lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi who was also his close friend ensured that his songs were always blessed by meaningful poetic lyrics. N. Datta also worked very closely with noted lyricists Majrooh Sultanpuri, Jan Nisar Akhtar and others. 

B R Chopra, a big name took him for his film 'Sadhana'(1958) after the grand success of Naya Daur, whose music was given by O P Nayyar, instead of keeping him, he took N Dutta for this film. The songs of this film are still popular, Aurat Ne Janam Diya Mardon Ko by Lata and the duet of Asha and Rafi ' Sambhal Ae Dil Tadapne Aur Tadpane Se Kya Hoga'.Songs of Dhool Ka Phool were very popular especially 'Tere Pyar Ka Asra Chahta Hoon'.

In B R Chopra's next Film Dhool Ka Phool's two songs—Daman mein daag laga baithe & Tu Hindu banega na musalman banega were the best songs penned by Sahir Ludhianvi and are far better composed than other songs of the film. Dharamputra(1961) was another B R Chopra film in which he composed music. Recall the Quwalli of this film.

He gave music for many films but most of his films were unsuccessful in the Box Office. some of his popular songs from later movies like 'Ponch kar ashk apni aankon se', 'Maine pee sharaab, tune kya piya', 'Jaan gayi mein toh jaan gayi' from the Movie Naya Raasta (1970) and 'Tere Is Pyar Ka Shukriya' from the Movie "Aag Aur Daag" are popular too. N. Datta also composed music for a number of Marathi movies. The song "Nimbonichya jhaadaamaage chandra jhopala ga baai" sung by Suman Kalyanpur from the Movie "Bala Gau Kashi Angai (1977)" is still very popular.

N. Datta’s later years were spent fighting ill health and commercial failure. The 1980 film Chehre Pe Chehra was his last Hindi film and on December 30, 1987 he breathed his last.

Song of Milap 1955

Song of Marine Drive 1955

Song of Chandrakanta 1956

Song of Mr X 1957

Song of Sadhana 1958

Song of Dhool Ka Phool (1959)

Song of Dharamputra 1961

Song of Dilli Ka Dada 1962

Song of Naya Rasta 1970

The untold Story Behind Rajesh Khanna Film 'Anand'

 

The character Anand made Rajesh Khanna an immortal. He got his second Filmfare Best Actor Award for this character. This role was his favourite character from 180 films he did. He made full use of his strong director-backed role. For this role, he accepted a meagre sum of Rs 7 Lakh. 

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the director got the idea of making the film when his friend and Indian producer Raj Kapoor was suffering from an illness and everyone thought he would die. Mukherjee’s fear of losing his friend inspired him to pen Anand. 

Kishore Kumar was the original choice for the role of Anand, he was ready to do this role too but when on the day he went to sign him, Kishore Kumar’s watchman didn’t allow Hrishikesh Mukharjee in.  Kishore Kumar had apparently asked his watchman to not allow a Bengali man inside and he mistook Mukherjee to be that man. This made Hrishikesh Da angry and decided to drop the idea of taking Kishore for this role.

 Then he thought of taking Uttam Kumar for this role but he refused the film because the shooting dates clashed with his commitments to Bengali cinema., then he approached Shashi Kapoor for this role, he too was reluctant to accept this role because during those he wanted to consolidate himself as a romantic hero after the success of Jab Jab Phool Khile. 

The film and its script was ready but its cast could not be finalized, in the meantime, Hrishikesh Mukharjee was busy with the films like Aashirwad and Satyakam. In 1969 Rajesh Khanna's Aradhana got released, with this film he became a superstar and was the most sought after hero. Every film of his was making Jubilee, producers were after him to sign their film but it was Rajesh Khanna, who wanted to do the role of Anand. He came to know about this role from Gulzar who was the co-writer of this film.

Rajesh Khanna one day went to Hrishikesh Da, asked him to give this role and complete the film but Hrishi Da was hesitant to work with him because the film was a low budget film, Rajesh Khanna was a Super Star, the film can not afford his price for which Rajesh Khanna said that he is ready to accept whatever they pay. Hrishi Da was aware that Rajesh Khanna had a habit of coming late on sets, so he asked him to report on time and give him his dates as per his requirement. Rajesh Khanna accepted all the terms and conditions to do this film. 

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anand 1971

'Balma' and 'Sajna' have gone from our Bollywood Songs.

 

The vocabulary of our film songs has been changing from one era to another era. The words 'Balma','Sajna' and 'Preetam' were very common in the songs of the 50s and 60s, but now these words are almost missing.

The urbanization of the audience and their interest in modern stories have rejected the words that have rural roots. Today this is replaced by 'Jaanam', 'Jaanu', 'Babu' or 'Baby'. This does not mean that today the young boys and girls do not fall in love but their fantasies have changed, their emotions and expression have changed.

In this blog, I have selected a few of such 'Balma', 'Sajna' or 'Preetam' songs from every decade.

The first song in my list is from the film 'Devdas' 1936 sung by K L Saigal

Song of Devdas 1936

This song was originally sung by C H Atma, it was later sung by Geeta Dutt in the 1955 film Me & Mrs 55

Song by C H Atma

This song is from the Movie Kajal(1948), sung by Allaudin Naved and Shamshad Begum composed by Ghulam Mohammed.

Song of Kajal(1948) Audio

Song of Awaara (1951)

Song of Buzdil (1951)

Song of Gharana (1961)

Song of Mera Naam Joker (1970)

Song of Aap Ki Khatir 1977

Sajan or Sajna

Song of Parakh 1960

Song of Bombai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Bandini 1963

Song of Aaye Din Bahaar Ke (1966)

Song of Sajan 1969

Song of Sajan 1969

Song of Aan Milo Sajna 1970

Song of Saudagar 1973

Song of Swami 1977

Song of Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)

Song of Sajan 1991

Song of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge 1995

Preetam

Song of Mr. & Mrs. 55 (1955)

Song of Pocket Maar (1956)

Song of Main Shadi Karne Chala (1963)

Song of Archana (1973)

Salman Khan- Deprived of Filmfare Best Actor Awards

Salman Khan( 27 Dec 1965), who made his debut with a minor role in Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988) but has been in the business for more than 32 years now, he has been nominated nine times for Filmfare Award for Best Actor; that’s right, NINE times, but has never won one.

Before him, Dharmendra was another popular Hero who never got the Filmfare Best Actor Award despite nominated for 6 times. It was in 1997 he was given the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Hindi Cinema. Now let's look into the films for which Salman Khan was nominated.

Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)- 

It was Salman's first film as a hero but couldn't get the best debut award being already made his debut earlier in Biwi Ho To Aisi. He was nominated for Best Actor along with Aamir Khan for Raakh, Rishi Kapoor for Chandini, Anil Kapoor for Eshwar, and Jackie Shroff for Parinda. Jackie Shroff, who took home the Black Lady for Parinda. 

Karan Arjun (1995)-

 Salman was nominated once again for the prestigious award along with Aamir Khan for Rangeela, Govinda for Coolie No 1, Ajay Devgan for Naajayaz, and the award went to Shahrukh Khan for DDLJ.

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (1998)- 

He was nominated for the third time for this film but lost out to Shah Rukh Khan, who won the Best Actor award for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The other nomination was Aamir Khan for Ghulam, Ajay Devgan for Zakhm and Govinda for Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam(1999)- 

This was his fourth nomination for this film. Ajay Devgan was also nominated for this film, Aamir Khan for Sarfarosh, Manoj Vajpayee for Shool and Sanjay Dutt got the award for Vaastav.

Tere Naam(2003)- 

The role that Khan played in this romantic tragedy was very different from his earlier films. He was nominated for this role along with Shahrukh Khan for Kal Ho Na Ho, Amitabh Bachchan for Baghban, Ajay Devgan for Ganga Jal and the award went to Hritik Roshan for Koi Mil Gaya.

Dabangg (2010)-

 Everyone was expecting him the award this time but once again he lost the award to Shahrukh Khan (for playing Rizwan Khan in My Name Is Khan). Other nominees were Hritik Roshan for Guzarish, Ajay Devgan for Once Upon A Time In Mumbai

Bodyguard(2011)- 

Along with him, Shahrukh Khan for Don2, Ajay Devgan for Singham, Hritik for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, but the award was taken by Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar

Dabangg-2 (2012)-

Three consecutive nominations must have given Khan enough joy to compensate for the fact that he again lost it to Ranbir Kapoor, who won the award for playing the deaf and mute lover boy in Barfi!

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)- 

This is considered to be one of the best movies that Khan has done in his career, he was nominated but once again deprived of the award this time too. The award went to Ranvir Singh for Bajirao Mastani. The other nomination was Amitabh Bachchan for Piku

NAUSHAD- Creations that have withstood the test of time

 

Naushad (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006 ) started as an independent music director from the 1940 film Prem Nagar. After just a few years in films, he went to rule the Hindi cinema music world for around two decades, beginning with the landmark Rattan (1944). It was in 1946 he got the superstar status with the two immortal songs from the film Anmol Ghadi. The simple melody in Raag Pahari in the voice of Noorjehan " Jawan Hai Mohabbat" and the duet of Noorjehan and Surendra"Awaz Do Kahan Ho" mesmerized the music lovers. In the same year, K L Saigal gave one of his immortal songs "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya" under his composition in Shahjehan (1946) in Raag Bhairavi.

He did 65 films during his lifetime, 26 of those films celebrated Silver jubilees (25 weeks run) – 8 celebrated golden jubilees (50 weeks run) and 4 celebrated diamond jubilee. Many of which are musical milestones such as Andaz (1949), Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960).

His classical genius was the 1952 film 'Baiju Bawra' in which he used the voices if the great Ustad Amir Khan and D V Paluskar. The music in “Baiju Bawra” was divine! It was, in fact, the soul of the film.There are many moments in “Baiju Bawra” when the contribution of Naushad emerges the strongest point of the movie. Mohammad Rafi, lyricist Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad leave you in a trance with the all-time great number “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj”

These were many Raag based songs that made Naushad Classical Genius. Naushad introduced classical music with deft handling, making it melodious for mass appeal and yet retaining enough artistry as the situation demanded.  Right from composing 'Rimjhim barse badarwa' in raga Pahadi in film Rattan effortlessly rendered by Zohrabai Amabalewali, Naushad emphasized the durable value of Indian classical music. 

His most durable composition Suhani raat dhal chuki was shaped in Pahadi and was from film Dulari made in 1949 that became legendary and is still considered an integral part of any singer’s repertoire in any musical gathering. His other popular number in Pahadi was Tod diya dil mera composed for film Andaz in 1949 and rendered by Lata Mangeshkar.  Another of his milestone songs was Toote na dil toote na picturised on Dilip Kumar in Andaz in 1949 and sung by Mukesh,

Prominent immortal songs composed by Naushad are from  Mela, Deedar, Amar, Uran Khatola, Mother India, Kohinoor, Gunga Jumna, Mere Mehboob, Leader, Dil Diya Dard Liya and Ram Aur Shyam.

Song of Rattan 1944

Song of Shahjehan 1946

Song of Shahjehan 1946

Song of Anmol Ghadi 1946

Song of Anmol Ghadi 1946

Song of Dard 1947

Song of Dulari 1949

Song of Andaz 1949

Song of Deedar 1951

Song of Baiju Bawra 1952

Song of Uran Khatola 1955

Song of Mother India 1957

Song of Mughal e Azam 1960

ong of Gunga Jamuna 1961

Song of Mere Mehboob 1963