This BLOG is about the Past of Hindi Films Specially Black and White Cinema We will refresh your memories by bringing out forgotten or unseen songs and clippings of film scenes We will try to give you as much information as we gather from our research.
This Blog was started as a one-man’s passion for film history but has now become an addiction for many music lovers who are equally passionate about Hindi films
I think that there has been no great ghazal singer who hasn’t sung Ghalib’s work, be it, Mehdi Hasan or Jagjit Singh, most of them have sung his ghazals. He is said to have written his first poem at the age of 11, and by 19, was writing verses that became increasingly incomprehensible to even his contemporaries.
Ghalib's life was the subject of hundreds of plays regularly performed in Northern India and Pakistan. These plays were based on his life and his personal and professional relationships starting from the Parsi Theatre and Hindustani Theatre days. He remains the topmost poet whose poems are used as songs in Hindi films but he was not shown much on screen. The first time a full feature film was made in 1954 by V Shantaram named Mirza Ghalib (1954) in which Bharat Bhushan plays Ghalib and Suraiya plays his courtesan lover, Chaudvin.
Mirza Ghalib (1954) made by Sohrab Modi won the President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film and the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi in the 2nd National Film Awards for 1954. Suraiya's singing (of Mirza Ghalib's ghazals) and her acting was especially applauded by the Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who remarked to her " You have brought back Ghalib to life", in a special screening of the film in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Gulzar's Mirza Ghalib produced by Doordarshan TV was a masterpiece.Naseeruddin Shah, who played the role of the poet in the TV show Mirza Ghalib, considers it his finest performance at par with movies.
Gulzar, who almost seems to consider Ghalib his guru, often using his lines or concepts in his own work, penned a brilliant poem in his honour to begin the show — Ballimaran ke mohalle ki wo pecheeda daleelon ki si galiyaan.
The 2015 film Masaan contains various examples of poetry and Shayari by Ghalib,
Song of Mirza Ghalib(1954)
Song of Mirza Ghalib(1954)
Song of Mirza Ghalib T V Serial by Gulzar
Song of Mirza Ghalib T V Serial by Gulzar
A Scene from Mirza Ghalib
If you liked this blog, you would also appreciate my Youtube Channel Bollywood Unplugged, the link is given below
According to Dharmendra, it was Rafi Sahaab’s voice that gave a boost to his film career. Mohammad Rafi sang 104 songs for Dharmendra. The first song Rafi sang for Dharmendra was 'Jane Kya Dhoondti Rehti Hain Yeh Ankhen Mujhme' for the film 'Shola Aur Shabnam released in 1961. This was Dharmendra's second film. In his first film, no song was picturized on him.
There were 2 songs that were picturized on Dharmendra in Shola Aur Shabnam, this was a duet with Lata Mangeshkar'Jeet Hi Lenge Baazi'. These songs are popular even today.
Song of Shola Aur Shabnam 1961
Song of Shola Aur Shabnam 1961
The next song Rafi Saab sang for Dharmendra was a duet from the 1964 film 'Pooja Ke Phool', in the same year Rafi sang 4 songs for Dharmendra inAap Ki Parchaiyan, recall the song 'Main Nigahen Tere'
Song of Aap Ki Parchaiyan 1964
Rafi Sahaab did have a typical style while singing for Dharmendra too so that one always identified the performer and the singing voice as one. He always sang for him in a very soft voice
In an interview in the seventies when asked for his favorite song sang for Dharmendra, he mentioned 'Kahin se maut ko laao ke gham ki raatkate '(Film: Mera Qusoor Kya Hai, Lyrics: Rajendra Krishna, Music: Chitragupt Srivastav, 1964). He also mentioned that there were quite a few songs that were close to his heart like “Mujhe dard-e-dil ka pata na tha” (Akashdeep, 1965, Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri and music: Chitragupt),
What a strange that Rafi Saab's last recorded song was for Dharmendra for the 1981 film 'Aas Paas'
Song of Akashdeep 1965
Song of Aas Paas 1981 Rafi's last recorded song
If you liked this blog, you would also appreciate my Youtube Channel , the link is given below
Ameen Sayani is one of the most imitated announcers even today. His style of addressing the crowd with "Behno Aur Bhaiyo" is still treated as an announcement with a melodious touch. He started at a time when Radio set was unaffordable to most Indians. People used to collect at Paan shops or restaurants or gather every Wednesday evening 8-9pm on the Community Radio in their little village or towns to listen Binaca Geetmala
In this blog,I am going to talk about the songs broadcasted on the first final or annual program of Binaca Geetmala. The first program of Binaca Geetmala was broadcast for the first time on 3rd December 1952. There were 5 programs during the 5 Wednesdays and the final program was broadcast on 31st December 1952
There were 9 songs in the final program of 1952
No. 9 - Main pagal mora manwa pagal – Film - Ashiana
No. 8- Tasveer banata hoon teri- Film-Deewana
Song of Deewana 1952
No. 7- Dekho Jaadu bhare more nain- Film-Asmaan
Song of Aasman 1952
No. 6- Mohabbat hi na samjhe wo zalim-Film- Parchhai
Song of Parchhai 1952
No. 5- Main dil hoon ek arman bhara- Film- Anhonee
Song of Anhonee 1952
No. 4- Ye hawa ye raat ye chandani- Film Sangdil
Song of Sangdil 1952
No. 3- Dil mein chupakepyar ka- Film- Aan
Song of Aan 1952
No. 2- Aye mere dil kahi aur chal- Film-Daag
Song of Daag 1952
No. 1- Tu ganga ki mauj main- Film Baiju Bawra
Song of Baiju Bawra 1952
If you liked this blog, you would also appreciate my Youtube Channel Bollywood Unplugged
Being a big dreamer doesn’t mean that you walk around with your head in the clouds. It means that you’re seeking a purpose for your life. Raj Kapoor was the person who dreamt big and went after them, At the age of 24, he was a director and a studio owner His first film Aag was released in 1948
As a filmmaker, Raj Kapoor produced 16 films and directed 9 of them under his R.K. banner. Most of his films were successful films and received appreciation from critics and the audience. Mera Naam Joker was his biggest dream project He made it but the film was a failure at the box office putting Raj Kapoor into a big financial crisis.
He didn't stop dreaming, he came up with an idea to get out of this debt. He released the film 'Bobby' in the year 1973. With this film, he launched his 18-year-old son Rishi Kapoor. This trick proved to be really effective and Bobby proved to be a blockbuster hit of that era. After this, along with Raj Kapoor, the days of the whole family and family went back. The film had Dimple Kapadia in the lead role along with Rishi Kapoor.
He had a dream to make a film Henna, for nearly two decades, the showman carried around Henna as an idea, like a dream. In fact, when Raj Kapoor died in 1987, only the title, the story, and two songs: chitti and mai der karta nahin hoon, der ho jati hai. were ready
His dream lived on when his sons decided to complete the film and got it released on 28th June 1991. This film for the brothers Kapoor was a tribute to Raj Kapoor. It took them 3 years to fulfill the dream of their father. IT wasn't easy. The Cassandras of the film industry labeled the film a non-starter but the sons had the genes of Raj Kapoor of not backing out.
Raj Kapoor had another film on his wishlist, the title of the film was 'Rishwat' the story was ready and was working on its screenplay. Another dream project was a film on Ajanta caves.
Dilip Kumar was not only one of the earliest superstars of Hindi cinema, but also one of the few legendary artists India has seen. Dilip Kumar's resume contains many of Indian cinema's landmark, genre-defining roles. His performances as the drunken, doomed lover in Devdas and the rebellious royal son in Mughal-e-Azam have been endlessly referenced by his successors on-screen. In Madhumati, he set the trend for reincarnation films. In Ram Aur Shyam, he established the twins-separated-at-birth formula. He became the first-ever winner of the Filmfare Best Actor award for Daag in 1954 and went on to win the award another seven times.
Born as Yusuf Khan in Peshawar on December 11, 1922, it’s said that it was Devika Rani who spotted him at Pune’s military canteen. She told him to come to Mumbai and offered him his first film Jwar Bhata (1944). Since then in 6 decades he appeared in 65 films. His span across a staggering 50 + years, was full of some classics and utterly dedicated performances. He won as many as 8 Filmfare Awards for Best Actor (Daag, Azaad, Devdas, Naya Daur, Kohinoor, Leader, Ram Aur Shyam, Shakti) Let's look into the performance of Dilip Kumar in these films
Daag 1952
Dilip Kumar won the first-ever Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category for his performance in this film. The Awards were instituted in 1954. The film fared well at the box office and was declared a hit. Dilip Kumar played the character of Shankar . Who was addicted to alcohol? He is attracted to Parvati (Nimmi), who also lives a poor lifestyle. Shankar wanted to marry her but being a drunkard her stepbrother Jagat Narayan refused.In a dramatic turn of events, Jagat Narayan agrees to marry Parvati with Shankar, Shankar quits alcohol and the film finally finishes with a happy ending. Azaad (1955)
It was the top-grossing Hindi film in the year of its release, and one of the biggest Hindi films hits in the decade. After so many films Dilip Kumar played alight-hearted role and the result was this swashbuckling adventure. The tragic hero was transformed into a Robin Hood character who is also a master of disguises. He uses guile and charm to outwit the villain and woo the heroine played by Meena Kumari who too seemed glad to be out of her three handkerchief roles.
Devdas 1955
The film had Dilip Kumar in the title role and Vyjayanthimala in her first dramatic role where she played as Chandramukhi, a hooker with a heart of gold and Suchitra Sen in her Bollywood debut as Parvati in the lead. Motilal, Nazir Hussain, Murad, Pratima Devi, Iftekhar and Shivraj were playing other significant roles with Pran and Johnny Walker in extended cameo appearances. Dilip Kumar played a man driven by unrequited love into being a drunkard to perfection. His eyes are hazy throughout the film and his silences are eloquent. He got so much under the skin of the character that it’s said he had to go to London and consult Harley Street psychiatrists to overcome depression. Naya Daur 1957
For this film, Dilip Kumar won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the third time in a row, being his fourth overall. Man Vs Machine was the theme of this pioneering film which made you question the price of progress. Director BR Chopra’s socialist strand was ever-present in this humanist drama. Dilip played the rustic Tangewala to perfection, flirting outrageously with his firebrand heroine Vyjayanthimala.
Kohinoor cast Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari to play a prince and princess of different kingdoms and was full of sword fights, songs and dances. This film is also notable for some rare comical and funny scenes by Meena Kumari, who is otherwise known as the tragedy queen. Its tone was light and it lacked the intense characterizations of their earlier films. It was a major hit of the year.It had great music by Naushad. Gems like Madhuban mein Radhika naache re (Dilip Kumar reportedly learned to play the guitar to lend authenticity to the song) and Do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan regale us even today. Mughal-e-Azam 1960
Released on 5 August 1960, it broke box office records in India and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, a distinction it held for 15 years.Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between MughalPrince Salim (who went on to become Emperor Jahangir) and Anarkali, a court dancer. Salim's father, Emperor Akbar, disapproves of the relationship, which leads to a war between father and son. Ganga Jamuna1961
This was perhaps Dilip Kumar’s last big hit as a solo star and what can be more fitting than the fact that he played a double role in the film? It’s to his credit that he was able to infuse two different personalities into the roles. Dilip Kumar’s capability isn’t limited to performing serious roles. He can play a light-hearted or comical character in a commercial film too with equal ease.
If you liked this blog, you would also appreciate my Youtube channel Bollywood Unplugged, the link is given below
