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
Showing posts with label Black & White Era. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black & White Era. Show all posts
NARGIS(1 June 1929 – 3 May 1981), one of the greatest actresses in the history of Hindi cinema. She starred in many popular Hindi films of the late 1940s and 1950s. Many of the iconic and immortal songs were picturized on her including Pyat Hua Ikrar Hua or Aaja Re Ab Mera Dil Pukara and many more. She appeared as a heroine opposite Motilal in the 1943 film Taqdeer. She was only 14 years of age at that time. The song ".O Jaanewale Aaja" sung by Shamshad Begum was her first song as a heroine, Many such unheard songs are collected by me in this blog.
This iconic song from the 1964 film "Woh Kaun Thi" was almost not recorded. Madan Mohan had composed the song with great care for a haunting romantic situation in the film but the Director of the film Raj Khosla didn't like the tune, so he rejected it. Madan Mohan, who was very sure that this song could be one of his immortal songs approached Manoj Kumar, the hero of the film to request Raj Khosla to listen to the tune once again. Manoj Kumar Kumar, who appreciated the tune too felt that this could be a memorable song. When the second time this tune was played, Raj Khosla got bowled over by the composition. He immediately approved it. He wondered, how could he reject this song. This song was written by RajaMehdi Ali Khan sung by Lata Mangeshkar was recorded in 1963. When the film released, this song was not as popular as today. You would be surprised to note that this song was not among the top 32 songs of the 1964 Binaca Geet Mala final. Two other songs(Naina Barse and. Jo Hamne Daastan )of this film were on that list, not this one. There are many songs who are liked and become popular with the passing of time. This song is one such exceptional and inimitable. This song remains one of the favorite songs of Lata Mangeshkar. The song has not only stood the test of time but has time and again been used by Bollywood and other to accentuate an emotional note in several films, in 1966 the tune of this song was kept in a Tamil film Yaar Nee, a remake of Woh Kaun This, this song was picturized on Jatyalalitha sung by Sushila.In the same year the Telugu movie Aame Evaru, it is rendered as "Andala ee reyi". Even contemporary ones like Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil to the new Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3.this song is used, sung by different singers, the tune remains the same. There are many versions of this song now available on Youtube. Very recently a video of this song sung by e years old toddler went Viral over social media,I present all the versions here including the original.
Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1964
Lag Ja Gale | Tamil Version
Lag Ja Gale by 2 years child
Lag Ja Gale (Acoustic) Sanam
Lag Jaa Gale from Sahib Bibi Aur Gangster 3
Lag Jaa Gale from Ai Dil Hai Mushkil
Lag Jaa Gale by Various Artists (Who Sang It Better?)
Shakeel Badayuni started his film career with the 1947 film "Dard". The first song was written by him "Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon" sung by Uma Devi (TUN TUN) became super hit. The music of the film was given by Naushad. Together, he and Naushad became one of the most sought after composer/lyricist duos. They created many immortal songs of Bollywood. Kindly recall the songs of Deedar (1951), Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), and Mughal-e-Azam (1960),Ganga Jamuna (1961), and Mere Mehboob (1963) that stand out. Naushad used Shakeel as the lyricist for his tunes for most of his films for a period of 24 years. Baiju Bawra, which was a milestone in both of their careers, He also collaborated with Ravi and Hemant Kumar as well. His lyrics for the song Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin and Ravi's music score both won Filmfare Awards for the hit film Gharana. His other notable film with Ravi is Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), while Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) is his biggest hit with Hemant Kumar. The title song from Chaudhvin Ka Chand, rendered by Mohammed Rafi, won Badayuni the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1961. He penned songs for around 89 films. In addition, he wrote many popular ghazals sung by Begum Akhtar, and which are still sung by vocalists like Pankaj Udhas and others Shakeel Badayuni succumbed to diabetes complications at the age of fifty-three, on 20 April 1970 at Bombay Hospital
You will be surprised to know that In the late 1940s, the great composer Madan Mohan and Kishore Kumar sang as chorus boys for her songs at the Filmistan Studio. Begum promised at this time that she would sing songs composed by Mohan once he started his career as a music director and would accept a lower fee. She also predicted that Kumar would become a great playback singer. She later recorded duets with Kishore Kumar, including "Gori ke Nainon Mein Nindiya Bhari" from Angarey and "Mere Neendon Me Tum" from Naya Andaz. The credit of discovering Shamshad Begum’s talent, polishing her singing and bringing her to the limelight goes to the music director Gulam Haider. Her first song" Sawan Ke Nazare Hain" from Khajanchi(1941) was a hit. She became a favorite female singer of the composers of that era including Naushad Ali, O. P. Nayyar, C. Ramchandra and S. D. Burman from 1946 to 1960. Shamshad Begum was born on 14 th April 1919 and died on 23 rd April 2013. Hertalent was first spotted by her principal when she was in a primary school in 1924. Impressed by the quality of her voice, she was made head singer of classroom prayer. At 10, she started singing folk-based songs at religious functions and family marriages. She began her singing career from All India Radio (AIR) in Peshawar and Lahore from 1937.It was from here Ghulam Haider was popularly known as the Materji, who was the music director of Xenophone picked her and signed her for 12 songs at Rs 12.50 per song, a big sum that time. She was about 13 then.
Shamshad Begum’s debut in Hindi films came in 1941 in Khazanchi, a year before Noorjehan’s in Hindi films in Khandan (1942), both under Ghulam Haider. In the next year the song Duniya mein garibon ko aaram nahi milta from Zameendar (1942), and Gaaadiwale dupatta uda liya jaye re from Poonji (1943). Mehboob Khan liked her voice since Khajanchi so Khan used Begum's voice in Taqdeer (1943), where he introduced Nargis as the heroine. Begum was soon singing for other composers including Rafiq Ghaznavi, Ameer Ali, Pt. Gobindram, Pt. Amarnath, Bulo C. Rani, Rashid Atre and M. A. Mukhtar, in the pre-independence era.
Readers would be surprised to know that this popular song of Pakeezah was originally sung by Shamshad Begum way back in 1941 film Himmat, composed by Pt. Gobindram and written by Aziz Kashmiri.
Naushad acknowledged in an interview that he was indebted to Begum in reaching the top.It was Begum's solo and duet songs sung for Naushad in the late 1940s and early 1950s which made Naushad famous. Naushad was floored on the clarity of her tone, She sang 60 songs under his direction. She was the lead singer in Anokhi Ada, Mela (1948) and Chaandni Raat (1949). After using Lata Mangeshkar as the lead singer in Andaaz (1949), Naushad came back to Shamshad Begum with a bang in Baabul (1950) and Jadoo (1951). Her last song for him was the iconic qawwali-muqaabala – Teri mehfil mein kismet aazma kar hum bhi dekhenge (Mughal-e-Azam , 1960).
Two of the most iconic songs of our films – Ana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday and Mere piya gaye Rangoon – are C Ramchandra-Shamshad Begum creation, She sang nearly 60 songs for C Ramchandra. He used her voice for the first time in a film Safar, 1946, in a duet with him. Sheis credited with singing one of the first Westernised songs, "Meri jaan...Sunday ke Sunday", this made her the most sellable female voice. She kept getting more offers to sing songs and was the highest-paid female singer from 1940 to 1955 and again post-Mother India in 1957 to 1964.
In 1946, S D Burman asked Shamshad Begum to sing in his debut Hindi film as music director, Shikari (1946), with the song, "Kuch Rang Badal Rahi". In 1949, came Shabnam, in which Burman asked her to sing duets named "Pyar Main Tumne" and "Kismat Bhi Bhichadna" with Mukesh, which became popular. Shabnam was Burman's biggest hit to that date with Filmistan,
In 1954, when Nayyar got a break as a composer, he approached Begum to record songs for Mangu. Nayyar described her voice as resembling a "temple bell" for its clarity of tone. He worked with her until the late 1960s and gave her many hit songs, including "Ab To Jee Hone Laga" from Mr. & Mrs. '55, "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar", "Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana", "Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re" – CID (1956); "Main Jaan Gayi Tujhe" from Howrah Bridge, "Zara Pyar Karle" from Mangu, "Saiyan Teri Ankhon Mein" from 12' O Clock, "Thodasa Dil Lagana" from Musafirkhana, and many others.
Her songs from the 1940s to the early 1970s remain popular and continue to be remixed. She sang over 6,000 songs in Hindi and Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Punjabi languages and of the 1287 songs were Hindi film songs.
Shamshad Begum died at her Mumbai residence on the night of 23 April 2013 after a prolonged illness. She was 94 that time. Her melodious voice with powerful lyrics gave us songs that have remained popular even today.
K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, A drop out of school and started earning money by working as a railway timekeeper. Later he worked as a typewriter salesman; this later occupation gave him the opportunity to travel widely in India. He used to sing in gatherings with friends and met many people. On one occasion he met Meharchand Jain; he would become one of Saigal's early friends and supporters. In his travels, he also met B.N. Sircar the founder of New Theatres. It is said that it was Sircar, who persuaded Saigal to go to Calcutta. In Calcutta, he briefly worked in a hotel as a manager but his interest was in music grew day by day. Though he didn't receive formal training, he learned it listening to other classical singers of that era. He was a frequent participant in mehfils. He also recorded a number of discs of songs written and arranged by Harishchandra Bali. These were released through the Indian Gramophone Company. His reputation as a singer was growing. While in Calcutta, Saigal was introduced to R.C. Boral. It was Boral who signed Saigal to a contract with New Theatres. Those were the days when actors and actresses sang their own songs, and musical ability was considered an important prerequisite for a successful film career. His first film was an Urdu film "Mohabbat Ke Ansoo" (1932). Thereafter he had roles in "Subah Ke Sitare", and "Zinda Laash". These were released in 1932 but were not successful. During this period Saigal continued to work in films and continued to sing private songs. Out of many private disks, of which Jhulana jhulao attracted much attention from the public. In 1934 one of his films "Chandidas" made him famous as an actor.
The next year in 1935 Devdas was released. After the phenomenal success of "Devdas", there was no doubt that Saigal was a formidable entity in the film industry. His songs in the film Devdas (1935), "Balam Aaye Baso Moray Man Mein" and "Dukh Ke Ab Din Beetat Naahi", became popular throughout the country While in Calcutta, Saigal became proficient in Bengali. This allowed him to sing and act in a number of Bengali films. He even had the distinction of being the first non-Bengali that Rabindranath Tagore would allow recording his work. His association with New Theatres continued to bear fruit in the successful films Didi (Bengali), President (Hindi) in 1937, Desher Mati (Bengali), Dharti Mata (Hindi) in 1938, Saathi (Bengali), Street Singer (Hindi) in 1938, Dushman (1939), Jiban Maran (1939) and Zindagi in 1940, with Saigal in the lead. There are a number of songs of this era which form the rich heritage of film music in India. Also, in Street Singer, Saigal rendered the song "Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye"
He moved to Bombay in December of 1941, and there began to work with the Ranjit Movietone Company. There he did films such as "Bhakta Surdas", "Tansen", "Kurukshetra", "Omar Khayyam", "Tadbeer", "Shahjahan" and "Parwana". In a career of fifteen years, Saigal acted in 36 feature films – 28 in Hindi, seven in Bengali, and one in Tamil. In addition, he acted in a short comedy Hindi film, Dulari Bibi (three reels), released in 1933., Saigal rendered 185 songs throughout his career which includes 142 film songs and 43 non-film songs. Of the film songs, there are 110 in Hindi, 30 in Bengali and two in Tamil. There are 37 non-film songs in Hindi, and two each in Bengali, Pashto, Punjabi and Persian. His non-film songs comprise bhajans, ghazals, and Lori. He has rendered the creations of poets such as Ghalib, Zauq, and Seemab. Saigal lived a short life. He died at the age of 42 years.It is said that in the years before his death, he was unable to sing or perform without first having a drink. This was affecting both his health as well as his work. He developed cirrhosis of the liver. He passed away on January 18th, 1947 in Jalandhar. Before his death, he was able to churn out three more hits under the baton of Naushad Ali for the film Shahjehan (1946). These are "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani", "Ae Dil-e-Beqaraar Jhoom" and "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya". Parwana (1947) was his last film, released after his death, Immortal Songs of K L Saigal
