Vyjaynthimala- The Dancing Queen of Bollywood

 

Vyjayanthimala Bali celebrates her birthday on the 13th of August. She shares this birthday with another Bollywood legend Sridevi who was also a multilingual actress with superior dancing prowess. Both the actresses married Punjabi men who left their first wives.

 Vyjayanthimala performed some superhit song and dance numbers in Hindi films, whether it is Man dole mera tan dole (Nagin) or Chadh gayo paapi bichhua (Madhumati) or Buddha mil gaya (Sangam) or Hothon pe aisi baat (Jewel Thief) and not to forget Indian classical dances of Amrapali(1966)

At the age of seven, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII while her mother was an audience in 1940 at Vatican City. She learned Bharata Natyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic music from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her arangetram at the age of 13 and started performing in Tamil Nadu later.

She made her debut in the Tamil language film Vaazhkai in 1949 on the basis of her dance performance of Bharata Natyam in Chennai's Gokhale Hall. The success of her Tamil film Vazhkai in South India inspired AVM Productions to remake it in Hindi as Bahar in 1951. In their first Hindi venture, they decided to cast Vyjayanthimala again in the lead role with Karan Dewan, The film became a hit and also its music and dances. The next film 'Ladki' released in 1953 was opposite Kishore Kumar and Bharat Bhushan.

In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in the magnum opus film Nagin with Pradeep Kumar. The film got favorable responses from the audience and became the highest-grossing movie of 1954 where it was labeled as a blockbuster. Her performance as the Nagi tribe's chief got Mala favorable reviews from the critics, as in 1955,

Nagin was a precursor to her rise in Hindi cinema as an iconic actor, who combined her talents, performing and dancing, to rule the screen on her terms... biggest recall values of Nagin are Vyjayanthimala". Post Nagin Vyjayanthimala had established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood because of the film's nationwide success.

Vyjayanthimala's influence on films has been far-reaching. With her, semiclassical dance became an integral part of almost every Hindi film heroine's resume.At her peak, Vyjayanthimala took off to do a series of much-appreciated dance shows in Paris in 1959 besides working for top actors like Dilip Kumar in Paigham (1959) and Raj Kapoor in Nazrana (1961).

Vyjayanthimala has won four awards from five nominations, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Bollywood. She was the first person to decline the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Devdas, as she stated that the roles of Chandramukhi and Paro, played by Vyjayanthimala and Suchitra Sen respectively, were parallel and of equal  importance

In this blog, I am posting a few of her best dance songs.

Song of Bahar 1951

Song of Nagin 1954

Song of Devdas 1955

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Song of Kathputli 1957

Song of Madhumati 1958

Song of Ganga Jamuna 1961

Song of Sangam 1964

Classical Dance of Amrapali 1966

Song of Amrapali 1966

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

Song of Sangharsh 1968

Manmohan Krishna- The Character Actor of the Golden Era of Bollywood

 

Manmohan Krishna (11 August 1921 – 3 November 1990), a familiar actor of the 50s and 60s.He worked in nearly 250 films, notably Naya Daur (1957), Khandan ( 1965), Sadhana (1958), Waqt (1965) and Hamraaz (1967)^] He won acclaim for his work in Bees Saal Baad (1962) and won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Abdul Rasheed in Dhool Ka Phool (1960), where the song, Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalman Banega, Insaan ki Aulaad Hai, Insaan Banega was picturized on him. He was a favorite for B R Chopra and Yash Chopra. Later in his career, he directed the hit film for Yash Raj Films, Noorie (1980),

He started his career as a professor in Physics and held a master's degree in physics. He anchored radio the show Cadbury's Phulwari, a singing contest. 

 Many people don't know that Manmohan Krishna started as Hero cum singer from the 1947 film Matwala Shair Ramjoshi (1947), he sang all the songs in that film. The next film he appeared was1949 film Apna Desh where he sang a song. his next song, 'Jhat khol de' in Afsar (1950), a Dev Anand film with music by S.D. Burman. He also sang in 1951 film Aaram where he played a comedian. sang the song 'Yeh Zindagi Hai Yo-Yo'. In the 1955 film 'Railway Platform' he sang a few songs.In this blog, i am posting these rare songs either in audio or video.

Song of  Matwala Shair Ramjoshi (1947)

Song of Afsar 1950

Song of Aaram 1951

Song of Railway Platform 1955

Song of Railway Platform 1955

Song of Dhool Ka Phool (1960),

Mukesh- His songs on the Cricket Match inspired Chandrashekhar

Mukesh(22 July 1923- 27 August 1976)  is considered to be one of the most popular and acclaimed playback singers of the Hindi film industry. Among billions of his fans was the great spin & Googly bowler Bhagwat Chandrashekhar.
Mukesh was a favorite of renowned Indian spin-bowler Bhagwat Chandrasekhar. When the sound of a Mukesh song drifted to the pitch, Chandrasekhar's acknowledgment of the tribute would bring a roar from the crowd. Sunil Gavaskar wrote that sometimes he hummed a Mukesh tune on the field to inspire Chandra.
Chandra has had a special fondness for Mukesh's songs since his childhood. He
used to tune into them on Radio Ceylon every night, and often dreamt of actually
hearing him sing live someday. His opportunity came only after he joined the
Indian eleven in the early sixties, and started going to Bombay often for
matches.
He had the ambition to meet his idol once, which he told to his friend in Bombay, a jockey friend M J Raju, who happened to know Mukesh personally. He took a nervous and tongue-tied Chandra to a recording studio to listen to his idol live for the first time.
Mukesh was recording songs for a film called Jyot Jale.

After his first meeting, they became good friends, though Mukesh was quite older to him he respected Chandrashekhar. Mukesh was also not a Cricket crazy unlike Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar but he never showed his dislike for the game.

Chandra spent many quiet evenings dining with Mukesh's family, of whom only
Mukesh's son ever showed any interest in cricket. Sometimes, they would hit some
popular nightspot and dine out together, just the two of them. Then, Mukesh
would insist on driving Chandra back to the hotel. Occasionally, a cricketer
friend would accompany Chandra to meet Mukesh, but Chandra tried to keep his
treasured encounters with his friend as uncrowded as possible.

Chandrashekhar during an interview told "We only talked about his music, very little else,. We did not gossip about people in films or people in cricket. I lacked the knowledge to discuss the technicalities of his music with him, so we would just talk about the mood of a particular song, or what emotions we experienced on hearing it."

He had a great collection of Mukesh songs, almost 800 songs,'Yeh Mera Diwanapan' from Yahudi and the songs of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai are a few of his favorite songs of Mukesh.

Sunil Gavaskar in an interview to Sony TV once said he was playing in a Ranji Match, Chandrashekhar was bowling him and beating him with his Googly a leg break, and following on through to the batsman. Not to sledge him but to ask, "Suna kya?" (Did you hear that?), as a Mukesh song wafted to the pitch from a spectator's transistor. Indians of an earlier generation took transistor radios to first-class matches - and listened to the running commentary. Often they tuned in to popular stations playing Bollywood songs. The volume was turned up when a Mukesh song came on during a match involving Chandra, or a song involving Sharmila Tagore when her husband, Tiger Pataudi, was in action. When players acknowledged the tribute, the crowd roared. It was a way of connecting with the stars in the pre-television and pre-selfie days.

Chandrashekhar was a Kannada speaking and didn't understand Hindi, he couldn't understand the lyrics of Mukesh songs but he liked his voice and tunes. Players of his era tell that Chandra was a quiet person and whenever you go to his room, one can always see him listening only to Mukesh songs.

Mukesh named his son Nitin, like him, he also named his son Nitin. Here are a few of Chandra's favorite Mukesh songs

Song of Yahudi 1958

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai 1961

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai 1961

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai 1961

Song of Mela 1948

Song of Andaz 1949

Song of Andaz 1949

Song of Andaz 1949

Song of Saranga 1961

Song of Barsaat 1949

Song of Teesri Kasam 1966

R D Burman - The Musical Legacy And Creativity

He was a child prodigy. He inherited music from his mother and father. His father S D Burman inherited it from his mother and father, who was a Sitar player and proficient Dhrupad singer.
 Initially, he was nicknamed Tublu by his maternal grandmother but later changed to Pancham. There were many stories about naming his name. It is believed that actor Ashok Kumar gave him this name because once he heard him crying, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa),  He immediately suggested the name 'Pancham' to Dada Burman. Another story says that the baby was nicknamed Pancham because he could cry in five different notes. 
S D Burman saw that Pancham had a little interest in studies, he initiated his son to music. The first instrument he learned was Tabla under a blind Tabla ustad Brajen Biswas in the early days. His training of Tabla continued almost lifelong. After Tabla he was enrolled to learn Sarod at Ali Akbar Khan's school in Calcutta. Pancham spent a lot of time watching Jugalbandi between Ali Akbar Khan and renowned Sitar player Pt. Ravi Shankar. This created his interest in Indian Classical Music.
In the late 40s, his father was a busy Music director in Hindi Films. Pancham got introduced to film music  When he was nine years old, R. D. Burman composed his first film tune which was used after many years by his father in the Navketan film 'Funtoosh' 1956 in the song, 'Aye meri topi palat ke aa'. Another of his tune was used in the song 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraye' of the film Pyasa 1957. 
In Bombay, Burman was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla). He also considered Salil Chowdhury his guru. He served as an assistant to his father and often played harmonica in his orchestras. In the song, 'Hai Apna Dil To Awara' he played harmonica which became very popular.
Pancham was very impatient about music, he wanted to learn more numbers of instruments. He had an inclination for Western music particularly the Jazz and Cuban Big Band Music.
Kersi Lord who was a musician with S D Burman was instrumental in Pancham's interest towards Jazz. Kersi Lord had a large collection of Long-Playing Records of Jazz, Latin American, European, and Middle Eastern Music.
It was in 1951that Pancham met Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar in a studio. He met Lat once again during the recording of the song 'Thandi Hawayen" of the 1951 film Naujawan. 
According.to the Film Historian Raju Bhartan during that time once he questioned his father when he was composing a song for Jaal using Tagore's tune in the interlude of the song to be picturized in Goa. This reflects his understanding of film music at that age. He was not even in his teens.
Pancham was living with his grandmother in Calcutta, he used to visit Bombay only during his school vacations. In Calcutta, he made many friends and formed his Band called Melody Chimes. He started smoking and he was lured into the pot. This perturbed Dada, in 1955, he brought him to Bombay to live with him. This shift gave his life a 180-degree turn.  He was now with the music all the time. he started assisting father in films. 
Pancham played Sarod in the famous Bengali song sung by Dada Burman 'Ghum Bhulechi Nijhum' composed by Dada itself. This tune was later taken in Kaala Pani song 'Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare Chale Gaye'
Guru Dutt who knew the potential of this genius offered him a film 'Raaz' an independent composer in 1959, Unfortunately, this film got shelved. During the making of Raaz in 1959. Manohari Singh and Pancham decide to make a team but the idea fell through.
After a gap of one year comedian Mehmood gave him his first film as a producer 'Chhote Nawab'. The film was released in 1961, the film was a flop but Pancham left a mark in Bollywood that he will be a Music Director of class. In this film, he displayed his skill both in Indian classical and western tunes. The song 'Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra' sung by Lata Mangeshkar.  This song is based on a lesser-known Raag called Raag Malgunji which is a mixture of Raag Bageshree and Raageshree. This Raaga was very unusual for Hindi Films, most of the composers used to make songs on Bhairavi, Malkaus, Yaman or Darbari. When the song was recorded even Lata Mangeshkar admired Pancham’s talent. 
His versatility was visible in the song 'Matwali Ankhon Wale' sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. In this song, he used Resso Resso in the interlude for the first time. This instrument is one of the favorite instruments of R D B. We can hear the sound of Resso Resso in many of the hit songs of RDB. Another highlight of this song is the prelude of the song by Mohd Rafi the way he adjusts his voice to suit Mehmood.The Genious of a would-be world-class music director us visible in his first movie. The film was not successful so RDB was not offered films. The music was appreciated but he had to wait for 4 years to get the second assignment.
In the meantime Pancham continued to assist his father in Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Benazir, Meri Surat Teri Aankhe, Ziddi, Guide, and Teen Deviyan.
In 1964 Mehmood decided to produce & direct Bhoot Bangla, he once again invited Pancham to compose the music of this film. This was the first time Kishore Kumar sang for R D Burman, Jago Sone Walon' The music of Bhoot Bangla was a hit but critics were against it. This is the film in which Pancham introduced his voice in a song Kahaan Aa Kar La Hum Dono Ko' sung by him and Mehmood.
In 1965, the third film 'Teesra Kaun' released. This film brought Pancham and Asha Bhosle together. Versatility, greatness, intensity, and supremacy of RDBurman reflect in his 3rd film. In the song 'O Dilruba' sung by Asha Bhosle had a sharp skid from B flat to F note., a new experiment, never attempted before, beautifully handled by Asha. This was the beginning of Asha and R D B magic. There was another song by Asha 'Achha Sanam Kar Le Sitam' is a fast-paced, hummable composition.
The hit song of the film was 'Pyar Ka FasanDil Diwana' was sung by· Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh. A point to note in this song that the rhythm pattern in the interlude of this song was maintained by Bongo, coupled with the damped strokes on the guitar. This he did in many of his future songs.
Pati Patni (1966) was his fourth film release. In the song 'Maar Dalega Dard e Zigar sung by Asha Bhosle, for the first time, he introduced the Brazillian Bossa Nova rhythm. Asha Bhosle in an interview once said that this song made her wakeup to a thoroughly new rhythm and metre. Interestingly Pancham not used those beets as it is but Indianized to a beautiful melody as well as western fragrance. This bossa nova base Rd Burman used in his next venture Teesri Manzil in the famous song, 'O Hasina Zulfowali Jane Jaha' and'. Aaja Aaja Meini Hu Pyar Tera',
Teesri Manzil was the fifth film of Pancham We all know how hit the music of this film was? It changed the definition of Hindi Film music. There was so much of freshness and innovation in this music. Even the versatile singers Rafi- Asha was astounded by the way they were made to sing and who later on was showering praise on Pancham for his originality and concepts. And Shammi had made it a point to be present at each recording as he was thrilled with the thought of how he would be dancing and singing those numbers on the screen.
Everywhere there was a talk of his music, a new Emperor had emerged in the musical arena of Bollywood.The trend was set RD Burman has arrived and later followed by the music of Baharon Ke Sapne, Padosan, Pyar Ka Mausam, Caravan, and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. 

Song of Chhote Nawab 1961

Song of Chhote Nawab 1961

Song of Bhoot Bangla 1965

Song of Bhoot Bangla 1965

Song of Teesra Kaun 1965

Song of Teesra Kaun 1965

Song of Pati Patni 1966

Song of Teesri Manzil 1966

Song of Baharon Ke Sapne 1967

Song of Pyar Ka Mausam 1969

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Madan Mohan - Unreleased and Unheard Songs

Madan Mohan is the only composer whose compositions were used after two decades of his death. It was in the 2004 film Veer Zara his compositions were used. Once an assistant to S D Burman, he made few tunes for him but those were not used.
S. D. Burman used a tune very late in 1956. This was the song 'Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya' (Do Bhai)originally composed by Madan Mohan. It is also believed that the song 'Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi' (Munimji) was a Madan Mohan composition as he was an assistant for Munimji.
He was so creative that he composed different tunes for antras in the same song very often. Recall the song 'Tum jo mil gaye ho' and 'Betaab dil ki tamanna' (Hanste Zakhm) or Ek haseem shaam ko'l' (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki) and almost all songs from Heer Ranjha... 'Do Dil Toote', 'Tere kolache Mein', 'Milo na tum to' and 'Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil'. 

In the film "Chandan", the song "Ye Khule Khule Se Gesoo, Ye Udee Udee Si Rangat... Log Kahe Mere Nain Baaware", has all the three stanzas composed in different tunes. There are three heroines in this film viz. Nutan, Shyama, and Mala Sinha. Possibly, each stanza is picturized on a different actress.

Madan Mohan & Lata Mangeshkar

Madan Mohan & Rafi

The first film of Madan Mohan

Madan Mohan had a habit of making many tunes well in advance, one of such tune of the hit song, Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil was composed by Madanji in the 50s, but found a place in a film only when it was recorded for Chetan Anand's HEER RANJHA (released in 1970). another tune of "Naina Barse" was made in 1952.It was used in Woh Kaun Thi
Madan Mohan was also a good singer. He had a fascination for K L Saigal. He gave playback for a few films in his films. Aankhen 1950 was his first film as an independent composer, he sang a duet with Shamshad Begum " Humse Na Dil Ko Lagana".

There is an official site of Madan Mohan Ji https://www.madanmohan.in/ in this site  2 categories of unreleased songs are mentioned. We can visit this site and listen to these rare songs.

In this blog, I am posting a few such songs.

                                                  Kaise Kategi Zindagi Tere Bagair

Har Sapna Ek Din Toote

Mere Dilse Aake Lipat Gayi

Mere Ashqon Ka Gham

Tum Juda Hokar

Kishore Kumar song from Unreleased film

Aaj mujhe Jal Jane Do

A Rare Song

Ek DO Teen- The Song that Shot Madhuri Dixit to Fame

"Ek Do Teen" featured in 1988 film Tezaab which proved to be Madhuri’s first claim to fame. The song was choreographed by Saroj Khan, sung by Alka Yagnik and composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. 
Before the release of the film, the song became a super hit, Looking to its popularity a male version of this song was included in the film after the release of the film. The song was driving people crazy. Ek Do. Teen...they hum from the shower to the office. From the office to the bedroom. And everywhere else in between. The film was released on 11th Nov 1988 and all the cinema halls all over India witnessed a huge crowd. It ran in theatres for more than 50 weeks, becoming a golden jubilee, and it was the highest blockbuster at the box office for the year 1988 The film's soundtrack album sold more than 8 million units, becoming the second best-selling Bollywood music album of 1988.
The iconic hook step by Madhuri Dixit in this song was the creation of the choreography genius Saroj Khan. She was the first recipient of the Filmfare Best Choreography Award. Filmfare instituted this award after watching the excellent choreography and audience response to Khan's song "Ek Do Teen" from Tezaab. 
This song and dance were unique in itself, till that time in Indian cinema it had never happened that dance is being performed on stage, but the audience isn’t sitting, they are standing the way the crowd stands on Pop concerts in the west. The director of the film N Chandra wanted Saroj to have such an atmosphere that the crowd going wild and tearing their clothes with excitement.
For this song, Madhuri Dixit had to rehearse for15 days  This song was finally shot in front of a real crowd of 1000 people, everybody connected with this song was very proud that an iconic dance is in making.
In a recent tweet, Madhuri Dixit remembered the dance number and said, “The hook step became so popular at that time. I was shocked to know that people used to demand the song to be replayed in the theatres before the movie could continue & fling money on the screens. Everyone had started calling me Mohini.
This song was inspired by the opening bars of an old popular song "Chanda mama door ke" composed by the famous yesteryears music composer Ravi for the film Vachan.
It is almost 32 years completed of this song and its popularity is still there among the young generation. This song was recreated in the 2018 film Baghi 2.Now Jacqueline, dressed similarly in a pink and yellow skirt danced to the new version of the song.
Very recently Tiktok Users started a #EkDoTeenChallenge. Madhuri Dixit also joined TikTok to celebrate the momentous occasion with her fans, taking up the challenge herself to groove on her popular track with the community of over 200 million users. The #EkDoTeenChallenge clocked a phenomenal over 140 million views in just two days!

Song of Tezab 1988

Song of Tezab 1988 male version

Song of Baghi 2 (2018)

Waheeda Rehman - Beauty with Talent

In an interview, Waheeda Rehman said, "I never considered myself beautiful in my younger years. I only considered myself to be photogenic. I looked beautiful mainly because of the good lighting and makeup. I never considered myself beautiful."
The reality is that  Waheeda Rehman was known for her classic combination of Islamic beauty and extraordinary grace, talent and an appeal that ranked her among the top of Bollywood's elite actresses. 
Her sophistication remains unparalleled to date and who is considered to be one of the most beautiful women that Indian cinema.
She was born on 3rd Feb 1938 into a Muslim family in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
  Her father was a district commissioner who died in 1948 when Waheeda was only 10 years old. Her dream was to become a doctor but, due to circumstances of illness of her mother, she abandoned this goal. Instead helped by her supportive parents, she hit the silver screen with Telugu films Rojulu Marayi (1955), followed by Jayasimha (1955) and Tamil film K.aalam Maari Pochu (1956). 
In the success party of Rojulu Maaraayi, Guru Dutt noticed her and decided to groom her and have her act in Hindi films. Waheeda considered Guru Dutt as her mentor. Dutt brought her to Bombay and cast as a vamp in his production CID (1956), directed by Raj Khosla.. After the success of C.I.D., Dutt gave her a leading role in Pyaasa (1957). Their next venture together was Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), 
Waheeda's successful films are Pyaasa (1957), 12 O'Clock (1958), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1961). Her other notable works include Solva Saal (1958), Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962), Kohra (1964), Bees Sal Baad (1962), Guide (1965), Teesri Kasam, Mujhe Jeene Do (1966), Neel Kamal and Khamoshi (1969).

Waheeda Rehman established a great working relationship with Dev Anand, and together as a pair had number of successful films to their credit. The box office hits of the pair include CID (1956), Solva Saal (1958), Kala Bazar (1960), Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962) and Guide (1965); box office duds were Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1961) and Prem Pujari (1970). 
Besides Dev Anand she delivered hits opposite Dilip Kumar in three successive years; Dil Diyaa Dard Liyaa in 1966, Ram Aur Shyam in 1967 and Aadmi in 1968.

 She reached her peak with Guide (1965) and was much in demand. Her career continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for her roles in Guide (1965), and Neel Kamal (1968), but despite excellent offbeat roles in subsequent films, including a National Award-winning performance in Reshma Aur Shera (1971), some of the films failed at the box office. Seeing her films being successful, Waheeda decided to experiment with roles at this stage of career. She accepted Reshma Aur Shera, opposite her old co-star Sunil Dutt, with whom she had previously in the sixties had hits like Ek Phool Char Kaante, Mujhe Jeene Do, Meri Bhabhi and Darpan.
She played pivotal roles  Kabhi Kabhie (1976),Trishul (1978), Jwalamukhi (1980), Namkeen and Namak Halaal (1982),Mashaal (1984), Chandni(1989), Rang De Basanti(2006). She played the central character in the Mahesh Bhatt directed film Swayam that starred Akash Khurana and Anupam Kher. 
After her marriage to Shashi Rekhi (screen name Kamaljeet whom she paired in 1964 film Shagoon )on 27 April 1974, she shifted to a farmhouse in Bangalore. She has two children named Sohail and Kashvi, who are writers. On 21 November 2000, her husband died following a prolonged illness. She moved back to her ocean view bungalow in Bandra, Mumbai where she currently lives.
In recent years she made a comeback playing elderly mother and grandmother roles in Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Water (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006), 15, Park Avenue, Delhi 6 (2009), Love in Bombay (2013) and Vishwarupam (2015) which were all critically acclaimed.
She has received a Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality, a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, a National Film Award for Best Actress and two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress.

Song from CID 1956

Song from Pyasaa 1957

Song from Kaagaz Ke Phool 1959

Song from Kala Bazar 1960

Song from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962

Song from Bees Saal Baad 1962

Song from Guide 1965

Song from Teesri Kasam 1966