INDEEWAR- " Mere Geet Amar Kar Do"

 

With the song of Malhar(1951) "Bade Armano Se Rakkha Hai Balam Teri Kasam", the underrated lyricist of Bollywood became Indeewar. His original name was Shyam Lal Babu Rai. He made his debut as a lyricist from the 1946 film Double Face as 'Azad'. This was his name in the literary circle. With this name, he wrote many songs for films from 1946 to 1951.

 He wrote over a thousand songs in over 300 films in a career spanning over four decades, he gave us many immortal songs like 'Zindagi ka Safar' (Safar),' Koi jab Tumhara Hriday Tod De (Purab Aur Paschim), 'Kasme Waade Pyar Wafa' (Upkaar), Hothon Se Chhoo lo tum (Prem Geet) and also the song like ' Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagi Mein' (Kurbani)

He worked with various film composers but his association with Kalyanji Anandji produced many great songs such as 'Chandan Sa Badan' (Sarswati Chandra, 1968),  'Zindagi Ka Safar Hai Yeh Kaisa Safar' (Safar, 1970), 'Dil Aisa Kisi Ne Mera Toda' (Amanush, 1975), and 'Dushman Na Kare' (Akhir Kyon, 1985).

He was nominated as Best Lyricist for the first time for the song "Ek Tu Na Mila" (Himalaya Ki God Mein) next for "Samjhauta Ghamon Se Kar Lo" (Samjhauta) in 1974 and finally won it for "Dil Aisa Kisi Ne Mera Toda" (Amanush) 1976'.

 In the 1980s, there was a drastic shift in the musical taste of the masses. During this time, Indeevar wrote many hit songs for Bappi Lahiri - 'Naino Main Sapna' from Himmatwala (1983), and 'Tohfa Tohfa Laaya Laaya' from Tohfa (1984).

He died on February 27 in 1999 during a journey. His last projects include Rajesh Roshan's films Karan Arjun in 1995 and Koyla in 1997. 

Here are a few of the memorable songs written by Indivar

Song of Malhar 1951

Song of  Dulha Dulhan 1964

Song of  Punarmilan 1964

Song of  Saheli 1965

Song of Himalaya Ki God Mein 1965

Song of  Upkaar1967

Song of Anokhi Raat 1968

Song of Saraswati Chandra 1968

Song of Purab Aur Paschim 1970

Song of Safar 1971

Song of Samjauta 1973

Song of Amanush 1975

Song of Prem Geet 1981

Danny Denzongpa - The name Danny was given by Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan

 

His original name is Tshering Phintso Denzongpa became famous as Danny from Bollywood. He was born on 25th Feb 1948 in Sikkim. He got admission to Armed Force Medical College Pune and went there to study Medicine but his interest was in Art. When he came to know about Pune Film & Television Institute, he shifted to an acting course.

Jaya Bhaduri was his classmate, who suggested him to change his name to 'Danny'.He also became a good friend of Amitabh Bachchan, they used to play tennis together in the early 70s. He got his first role in Zaroorat(1972) but got his major break in Gulzar's Mere Apne (1971), where he had a positive role. He had his first played an antagonist in B.R.Chopra's Dhundh (1973), where he played the role of a crippled and frustrated husband.

He is also a good singer, he was first given a chance to sing, 'Mera Naam Aao' by S.D. Burman in the film Yeh Gulistan Hamara in 1972. later he sang in a few films. He has sung with Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. 

With Asha Bhosle, he sang a duet "Suno Suno Kasam Se" in the Hindi film Kala Sona in 1975 picturized on him, became a hit, He also sang with Mohammad Rafi "Mujhe Doston Tum Gale Lagaa Lo" from Naya Daur 1978, in the same film he sang a duet with Kishore Kumar "Botal Khaali Hone To Do"

He has sung a Nepali duet with Asha Bhosle, "Aage aage topai ko gola pachhi pachhi machinegun barara" in 1976. This song was shown by Danny to Rajesh Khanna who liked the song tremendously. Then Rajesh Khanna requested R.D. Burman to compose the song – "Sang Mere Nikle The Sajan" from the 1981 film Phir Wohi Raat, which was directed by Danny himself 

His most applauded negative characters are in Bandish (1980) as Kapil Kumar, Phir Wahi Raat as "Ashok", Dharm Aur Qanoon (1984), as SP "Kader", Kanoon Kya Karega (1984), as "Raghuvir Singh", Andar Baahar (1984), as "Shera", Oonche Log (1985), as "Thakur Maan Singh", Aandhi Toofan (1986), as "Balbir" Bhagwaan Dada (1986), as "Gangwaa", Agneepath (1990), as "Kancha Cheena", Hum (1991), as "Bakhtawar", Ghatak: Lethal, as "Kaatya", Krantiveer (1994), as "Chatur Singh", Pukar, (2000) as "Abhrush" and Indian, as "Shankar Singhania". He was pitted against Pran in the film Sanam Bewafa, Paap Ki Duniya, Gurudev and 1942: A Love Story. His command over the Urdu language came in handy in films such as Sawan Kumar's Sanam Bewafa and Mukul Anand's Khuda Gawah.

In recent years he appeared in Jai Ho (2014), co-starring Salman Khan and Bang Bang (2014), co-starring Hrithik Roshan.

He was nominated 5 times as the Best Villain and 5 times as Best Supporting actor and won it twice in Sanam Bewafa(1992) and Khuda Gawah(1993). He was also given Padamshri by Govt of India.

Song of Yeh Gulistan Hamara 1972

Song of  Kala Sona 1975

Song of Naya Daur 1978

Song of Naya Daur 1978

50 Years of Gambler

 

In the 70s Dev Anand was launching new faces, picking himself to play lead roles against actresses half his age. This film too had Zaheeda, the niece of actress Nargis as his heroine. Though Zaheeda first appeared in Prem Pujari, she was not his heroine. To compensate for that role, she was taken as his heroine for this film. Same was with Shatrughan Sinha who was introduced by Dev Anand in a very small role, was given a parallel role in this film. This film was released on 19th Feb 1971 after the grand success of Johny Mera Naam 

The film opened with mad euphoria of Dev Anand, all the shows were full all over India for a few weeks. Though the film did Jubilee but was not a great hit. . It was Dev Anand who carried the movie. He was at his best in the courtroom scenes with Sahu in splendid form as the public prosecutor.  Shatrughan Sinha, still trying to establish himself, came up with a nice cameo of a gangster having a change of heart.

 The movie, however, fell far below the standards that Dev Anand had set during the first two decades of his career but his fans still love his role as Raja.  the man who is taught how to gamble while playing cards, but whose life takes a turn when he finds himself accused of murder. Jeevan is decent in his supporting role as Master, the criminal who cheats whilst participating in cards in order to win the cash.

The music of the film was composed by S D Burman It had 5 tracks and all of them were popular.

#	Title	Singer(s)	Duration
1	"Apne Honthon Ki Bansi"	Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar	03:54
2	"Choodi Nahin Ye Mera Dil"	Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar	04:27
3	"Dil Aaj Shayar Hai"	Kishore Kumar	03:33
4	'"Mera Man Tera Pyasa"	Mohammed Rafi	04:14
5	"Kaisa Hai Mere Dil Tu Khiladi"	Kishore Kumar	03:23

Overall, Gambler was an enjoyable thriller, thanks to the very good and central performance from Dev Anand, along with the excellent direction, script, technical aspects and tense atmosphere

Song of Gambler 1971

Song of Gambler 1971

Song of Gambler 1971

Song of Gambler 1971

Song of Gambler 1971

Nalini Jaywant - The Dimpled Beauty Heroine of the 40s & 50s

 

Nalini Jaywant  (18 February 1926 – 22 December 2010) was an Indian film actress who appeared in Hindi films in the 1940s and 1950s. She was the heroine of Ashok Kumar and also the heroine of  Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand 

She made her debut in the 1941 film Radhika she was only 14 at that time. . Her first big role as an actress, not a child artiste, came with Anokha Pyar (1948) where she starred with A-list co-stars in Dilip Kumar and Nargis.  She became a top star with her performances opposite Ashok Kumar in Samadhi and Sangram in 1950. She made a winning pair with Ashok Kumar; they acted together in 10 films during their careers. In fact, in 1950 her other film Aankhe opposite Bharat Bhushan was also a hit.

She was the heroine of Dev Anand in the 1952 film Rahi and later she was again the heroine of Dev Anand in Munimji(1955). She worked with Dev Anand in Kala Pani(1958, not as his heroine but played a courtesan Kishori who holds the key to free an innocent man falsely accused of murder, Nalini Jaywant picked up the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

She was the heroine of Ajit, who later got fame as a villain in the 1954 hit film Nastik. Even though she and Ashok Kumar had great chemistry onscreen and starred in a number of hits and blockbusters, her biggest hit was opposite the actor Ajit with Nastik (1954). 

Nalini Jaywant was also a singer, in those days it was mandatory for hero or heroines to have a singing ability. She sang more than 40 songs in films. Here are a few rare songs sung by Nalini Jaywant 

Song of Behan 1941

Song of Nirdosh1941   Audio

Song of  Gunjan 1948  Audio

Song of  Hindustan Hamara 1950  Audio

Songs Picturized on Nalini Jaywant sung by other singer

Song of Samadhi (1950)

Song of Naujawan(1951)

Song of Shikast 1953

Song of Nastik 1954

Song of Munimji 1955

Song of Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956)

Song of Kala Pani (1958)

Basant Songs of Bollywood

 

Today on the occasion of Basant Panchmi, I write this blog to worship the Goddess Saraswati,  the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. One of the most famous festivals associated with Goddess Saraswati is the Hindu festival of Vasant Panchami.  On this day, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped in schools, colleges, educational institutes as well as in institutes associated with music and dance.

The first film on this season was released in 1942 'Basant' starring Mumtaz Shanti and Ulhas. Madhubala also acted in this film as a child artist( Baby Mumtaz).  It was major box office success and the highest-grossing film of 1942. Fourteen years later another film 'Basant Bahar' was released, starring Bharat Bhushan and Nimmi. The highlight of this film was its music, scored by Shankar Jaikishan.

Basant is also called Rituraj, the king of all seasons and in Urdu is called Jashn-E-Baharaan or in short Bahaar. Many lyricists have used 'Bahaar' for this season. Let's look into a few of these songs. The first song I have selected from the 1942 film Basant

Song of Basant 1942

Song of Sindoor 1947

Song of Meharbani (1950)

Song of  Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955)

Shehnai by Bismilla Khan in Raga Basant

Song of Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1961)

Song of Shaheed 1965

Song of Upkaar, 1967 

Song of Sindoor (1987)

Piya Basanti Re

Song of Kayda Kanoon (1993)