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
Though they both were completely different from each other, came from different backgrounds, and had a considerable age gap, these two legends of the Bollywood music industry, fell in love, in the course of creating memorable and melodious songs for us. Music brought them closer,her voice and his music were just made for each other.They created foot tapping, heart pounding, and even endearing melodies together, which stay in our hearts even now, so many years after their releases. Asha Bhosle first met RD Burman in 1956, she was an experienced playback singer, and R D Burman the teenage son of a legendary composer. Ten years later, they would collaborate on their first film, Teesri Manzil. From this film started a creative and romantic partnership that revolutionised Hindi Film Music. After Teesri Manzil both sang together a song in 1970 film The Train,Meri Jaan Maine Kaha which became hit.Asha Bhosle and R D Burman created nostalgia from Dum Maro Dum from Hare Rama Hare Krishna.The same year released Caravan,it's song Piya Tu Ab To Aaja became a cult song of this Jodi.
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Asha and R.D. tied the knot in the year 1980, and it was much evident, that these two lost souls had finally found the notes to complete their unfinished song of love. Their varying tastes, the criticism of people due to Asha being 6 years elder, nothing mattered to them. The only thing that mattered was their unending love for each other that lasted till the last breath of Pancham Da.
The man, who was acknowledged as a genius by people who understood and appreciated music, was never at the top rung in the hit parades or with the big banners or the big stars.He had very few Hit Films but His Music was always Hit. He had no set method of conjuring a tune. New tunes floated into his head at the most unexpected moments - while going up a lift, driving his car, or sometimes while leaning over the balcony of his Pedder Road flat to watch the traffic below. The famous "Madan Mohan style" was established in the true sense with Adalat (1958) when he composed some outstainding melodies - Jaanaa Tha Hamse Door, Yoon Hasaraton Ke Daagh, Unko Ye shikaayat Hai, Jaa Ja Re Jaa Saajanaa, Zameen Se Hamein Aasmaan Par... so many great melodies in one movie. This was the movie which made Madan Mohan the uncrowned king of ghazals. After this, he composed many ghazals and with each composition, he attained great heights of popularity and fame. A situation came when every producer wanted him to compose at least one ghazal for his film. In Madan Mohan's initial period, the trend of film making was for heroine-oriented subjects which gave him ample scope to improvise upon his talent. Some even called him a "ladies composer". Moreover, he had composed comparatively more catchy tunes for female singers than male. After 1960, hero-oriented films became the trend. But during this period also fortunately the subjects which came by Madan Mohan's way had more scope for female songs than male songs. The year, 1964 witnessed eight releases in a row having Madan Mohan's compositions, including Aap Ki Parchhaiyan (a love story), Ghazal (a musical), Haqeeqat (war film), Jahanara (costume drama), Pooja Ke Phool (family drama), Suhagan (social theme) and Woh Kaun Thi?(mystery). Madan Mohan handled each subject gracefully and came out with many all-time hits for these films. The following years saw the release of Rishte Nate (1965), Dulhan Ek Raat Ki (1966), Mera Saaya (1966) and Naunihal (1967) full of typical Madan Mohan melodies. In the year 1970, Madan Mohan's film Dastak was released. It was like a musical art movie giving full scope to the composer to showcase his talent. The songs Baiyaan Naa Dharo, Mai Ri Main Kaase Kahoon and Ham Hain Mataay-e-Kuchao fetched him the National Award for best music direction for that year. Dastak was followed by Heer Ranjha, a totally unique experiment nobody dared the way Chetan Anand handled it. Lyricist Kaifi Azmi wrote the dialogues and lyrics of the film. he composed romantic songs like Milo Na Tum To Hum Ghabaraye and Meri Duniyaa Mein Tum Aayiand on the other hand, soulful songs like Do Dil Toote, Doli Chadhale Hee (traditional Heer moulded in his own style) and Yeh Duniyaa Yeh Mehfil. The song Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil from the film is a unique composition of the maestro. During his last days, he was offered Mausam (1975) and Laila Majnu (1976).Laila Majnuwas a traditional love story for which Madan Mohan composed a very beautiful number Husn Haazir Hai Mohabbat Kee Sazaaa Paane Kosung by Lata Mangeshkar. Mausam was a very soft romantic subject and was handled with equal softness by Gulzar. Madan Mohan understood the mood of the film composed songs like Dil Dhondtaa Hai (in happy and sad version) and Ruke Ruke Se Qadam, which really helped the film to convey its theme effectively. The King of Melodies, who was at the peak of his popularity, died at the age of 51. He died on 14th July 1975
Hemant Kumar once confessed in a Doordarshan interview that it was the efforts of Burman and Dev that made him popular. Burman Dada took Hemant Kumar for the first time for Dev Anand was for the song ‘Aa Gupchup Gupchup Pyar Karen’ in Sazaa. S.D. Burman and the majestic Hemant Kumar created musical and cinematic magic for the song ‘Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni’ in Jaal. 1952. Inspired by Burman’s success, Shankar-Jaikishan opted for Hemant to sing for Dev, along with Lata Mangeshkar, the haunting ‘Yaad Kiya Dil Ne’ in Patita in 1953. Dev Anand and Hemant Kumar together created some of the most memorable songs of Hindi film music.Hemant Kumar once said that the most hit songs of his career were those he sang for Dev Anand. He had a great respect for Dada Burman , Kumar sang only 16 songs as playback for Dada Burman and 10 of those were on Dev Anand and all of them were hits! What a stupendous record! Burman, the musical soul of Dev, kept using Hemant in one hit after another. ‘Teri Duniya Mein’, ‘Chup Hai Dharti’ ( House No. 44), ‘Shivji Bihane Chale’, ‘Dil Ki Umange’ with Geeta Dutt ( Munimji) and ‘Hai Apna Dil To Awara’ ( Solva Saal). In 1955, Hemant Kumar scored music for Hemen Gupta’s Ferry, starring Dev and Geeta Bali. Hemant sang inimitably the background number ‘Naav Badha Le Maajhi’ in Ferry. One of the biggest hits of Dev Anand-Hemant Kumar, the mesmerizing Na tum humein jaano, was the last of their songs together. Haunting and romantic, this duet with Suman Kalyanpur had the audiences falling in love with the number over and over again.
Naushad (26 December 1919 – 5 May 2006 ) began his career in 1940 with Prem Nagar, but took off in 1944 with Ratan, where he created his own style. His greatest contribution was to bring Indian classical music into the film medium. Many of his compositions were inspired by ragas. His association with Mohammad Rafi had marked the most golden combination which galvanized the outstanding music composed during the golden age in Indian music, the 50s and 60s. His composition in the film Dulari, 1947, for Mohammad Rafi titled “Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki” makes a music lover addicted and it has an appeal even after 60 years of its composition. This combination was at its peak in 1952 with the release of Baiju Bawra. Naushad’s composition in Son of India, “dil torneewale”, a duet for Rafi and Lata, shows the effective use of instruments in that age when the recording was not developed to that extent. In Dilip Kumar’s Kohinoor, 1960, Rafi’s songs “Madhuban Mei Radhika Nachere”, “Do Sitaron Ka Zameen par hai Milan Aaj Ki Raat” marks Naushad’s control over bhajans and songs with chorus effects. In Rajender Kumar’s Mere Mehboob, 1963, Naushad had explained the transformation of nasams into ghazals. His songs “Mere Mehboob Tujhe meri Mohabbat ki Kasam”, “tumse izhaar-e-haal kar baithe”, “ai husn zara jag tujhe isq dikhaye” enchanted the listeners. Naushad’s compositions were as outstanding as Shakeel Badayani’s lyrics and Rafi’s golden voice. Naushad had used folk songs to a great extent where the subjects in the films required them. For example, in the film, Ganga Jumna, 1961, his composition for Rafi including “nain lar jaihe” was created with Bhojpuri effect, and Rafi had succeeded in pronouncing it in the manner expected from him. Rafi’s songs in Rajender Kumar’s Palki, Ganwar, composed by Naushad were also outstanding. It is tragic that the film industry, could not utilise Naushad’s talent in the 1970s and 80s, He gave 35 silver jubilee hits, 12 golden jubilees and 3 diamond jubilee mega-successes. Naushad was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1982 and 1992 respectively for his contribution to the Bollywood film industry. Some of the Immortal songs of Naushad and Rafi
C. Arjun( Born on September 1, 1933, Died on 30th April 1992) is among one of the most talented film music composers in the Hindi film industry.He gave music to 17 Hindi films, besides films in Gujarati, Sindhi and Haryanvi languages. Some of his films were, Main Aur Mera Bhai, Punarmilan, Ek Saal Pehle, Jai Santoshi Maa, Ustad Pedro and Mangu Dada. His film Susheela-1966, which was incomplete, was completed and released as Subah Zaroor Aayegi in 1977 in which ‘Bemurawwat Bewafa’ song sung by Mubarak Begum and ‘Gham Ki Andheri Raat Mein sang by Talat and Rafi became very popular. One song of his – Paas baitho tabiyat bahal jayegi sung by Rafi is enough to give him immortality. He will always be remembered for the songs of Jai Santoshi Maa He inherited his musical talent from his father who was a singer. He became assistant to another Sindhi music director Bulo C Rani. He started his career with composing for a Sindhi film Abana. His first Hindi film was Road no 303 (1960). Off and on he got films under nondescript banners with B/C grade cast. That he created memorable music nevertheless did not do much to change his fortunes. His teaming with the lyricist Jaan Nisar Akhtar would rank at par with the best of Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s composed by SD Burman or Roshan. He also composed a number of non-film songs. He died at a relatively young age of 59 of a heart attack he suffered at a recording studio.
Shankar Jaikishan were associated with Raj Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor but they also composed for Dev Anand in 8 films with 63 scores. The first film they worked together was the 1953 film Patita. But when producers and directors approached Shankar Jaikishan for composing music in Dev Anand’s film, he took Hemant Kumar for Dev Anand. The song Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahan Ho Tum was super hit. Another song for Dev Anand was Talat Mahmood. The combination of SJ and Dev Anand stormed Bollywood from the time he used Rafi for almost all the songs in the film Love Marriage in 1959.Rafi’s songs included “kahan ja rahe the“, “dheere dheere chal“, This combination created storms in the film Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai. Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai was a musical film with Asha Parekh and all the songs became super hit in the early 60s. Some of them included “jiya ho, jiya ho jiya kuch bol do“, “sau saal pehele hume tumse pyar tha“, “yeh aankhe uff yummma“, “teri zulfonki“, to name a few. The success of the film Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai was followed up in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Asli Nakli. All the songs of this film were hit especially “tera mera pyara amar“, “tujhe jeevan ki dor se bandh liya hai“, “ek buth banayunga“, “asli nakli chehera“ After this released Dev Anand Saira Bano starrer Pyar Mohabbat in 1966. The songs in the film Pyar Mohabbat, like “dil ki awaaz khuda khair Karen“, “pyar muhobbat” and duet songs with Sharda like “sun sun, sun re balam, dil tujhko pukare” were hits. After this film SJ did 2 films with Dev Saab both released in 1968,Duniya and Kahin Aur Chal The songs of Duniya were popular in this film SJ used Kishore Kumar for Dev Anand.
The music of Pakeezah by the late Ghulam Mohammed was a benchmark score. Arriving bang in the midst of the peak era of R. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar, He died on 17 March 1968, four years before his magnum opus, Pakeezah (1972) was released. The film was started in 1958 but got delayed and finally released after 14 years. When Pakeezah was resumed in 1969, many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi to change the music according to the then famous trend and style. To this, Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still breathing alive. But, now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his unexpected and untimely death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing times. Ghulam Mohammad composed 9 songs of this film by the time the film shooting started in 1960. In fact, the first song "Inhi Logo Ne Le Liya Dupatta Mera" was picturised. Earlier the film was planned in Black & White but due to the delay and change of trend, the film shot in colour. The black & white versionof the song was never used, but many of the shots are extremely similar to the final version. Notice how different young Lata’s voice sounds in this song compared to parts of the soundtrack recorded years later. Even more, interestingly, Inhi Logon Ne was originally taken from the film Himmat (1941) in a version sung by none other than Shamshad Begum! The movie Pakeezah itself is pure cinematic magic–Kamal Amrohi was notorious for his artistry and attention to detail. Pakeezah’s breath-taking production design, Ghulam Muhammed’s haunting semi-classical thumris, Did you know the beautiful Mohammed Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar duet, Chalo Dildar Chalo (raga Pahadi), was actually also recorded as a female solo? Intended for use as a dancing number, the fascinating solo version was cut from both the film and record releases, One index of Ghulam Mohammed’s creativity is the melodic variety within his songs. Given the brevity of a film song, it is quite usual for every antaraa to have the same tune. But this base case is extremely unusual for Ghulam Mohammed. His songs rarely have a repeated melody throughout. If there are three antaraas, one of them is usually different from the other two; occasionally, all three are different from each other. “Dhadakate Dil ki Tamanna ho” from Shama (1961) has three antaraas with two tunes among them; Pakeezah’s “Mausam Hai Aashiqaanaa” has four antaraas with three different tunes among them.
One of the most talented but underrated music directors of the Indian film industry was Ravi Shankar Sharma, popularly known as Ravi, who has an immortal, unique and amazing relationship with the personal life of every Indian or lover of Hindi cinema living all over the world. No Indian wedding is completed without playing these three cult songs.'Aaj Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' from the film 'Aadmi Sadak Ka' (1977), 'Babul Ki Duayen Leti Ja' from the film 'Neel Kamal' (1968) and .'Aye Meri Zohrazabin, Tujhe Maloom Nahin' from the film 'Waqt' (1965), A song that is played or sung at every Sangeet ceremony. In addition, there are many more creations which nine out of ten times come to our mind whenever we try to express the following human emotions through a film song such as 'Chaudhvin Ka Chaand Ho' from the film 'Chaudhvin Ka Chaand' (1961), 'Garibon Ki Suno, Woh Tumhari Sunega' from the movie 'Dus Lakh' (1966) and 'Chanda Mama Door Ke' from film 'Vachan' (1955), the most famous and widely sung Lori (Lullaby) by mothers. Ravi Shankar Sharma (3 March 1926 – 7 March 2012), often referred to synonymously as Ravi was discovered by Hemant Kumar who hired him to sing backing vocals in Vande Mataram from the film Anand Math. He became his assistant for a few years and became independent composer with the 1955 film Albeli. He became popular with the song " C A T Cat Cat Mane Billi" from Dilli Ka Thug.in 1958. He gave several hit songs and received Filmfare nominations for these films: Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Do Badan (1966), Hamraaz (1967),Do Kaliyan, Bharosa, Ankhen (1968), and Nikaah (1982). He won Filmfare awards for Gharana(1961) and Khandan (1965). His other successful films include Waqt, Neel Kamal and Gumraah. After a successful career in Hindi films during the 1950s and 1960s, he took a long break after 1970 till 1982. In 1982, he gave music for the Hindi film Nikaah, and one of the film's songs Dil ke armaan aansooyon main beh gaye sung by Salma Agha won her the Filmfare Best Female Playback Award. He died on 7 March 2012 in Mumbai at the age of 86.
Anandji the younger brother of Kalyanji grew up in an atmosphere rich in culture, stalwarts like V Shantaram and Durga Khote being their neighbours. His introduction to the world of music happened when an 11-year-old Anandji and his classmates were taken to be part of the chorus in Devika Rani’s Meghdoot (1944). He along with his elder brother Kalyanji started an orchestral group called Kalyanji Virji and Party and held musical shows. They participated in the Sarvajanik Utsav, Navratri and Ganpati celebrations. he’d play the tabla. Kalyanji, who introduced a new electronic instrument called the clavioline. With this instrument, they played the been (the music to entice snakes) for a snake sequence in Nag Panchami (1953), the music of which was scored by Chitragupt. People came to watch the film just to listen to this music,” they earmark their debut in film music. Hemant Kumar heard their tune and decided to use this in the most popular song "Man Dole Mera Tan Dole"Soon their Nagin tune was being played in Mandirs, Navratri and even Shaadis. Samrat Chandragupta (1959) was their first film as Kalyanji Virji Shah. Songs like "Chahe Paas Ho" (Lata–Rafi) that are remembered to this day were what made the movie a commercial success. This was followed by his composing music scores for more films like Post Box 999 before Anandji who was assisting him, joined him officially to form the Kalyanji Anandji duo in Satta Bazar and Madari (1959). Chalia (1961) was their earliest major hit. In 1965, two decisive scores, Himalaya Ki God Mein and Jab Jab Phool Khile, established them as composers to reckon with. Anandji is a multitalented personality. He not only mastered in many musical instruments but also be known for introducing Jaz in Hindi films. He used to do mimicry of many artists of his time. He also knows astrology and face reading. It was the music of Saraswatichandra (1968) that endorsed the genius of the brothers, more so because the classical tunes came soon after their modern Rhapsody in Haseena Man Jayegi.The songs "Chandan sa badan, Phool tumhe bheja hai, Chod de sari duniya, Hamne apna sab kuch khoya... were instant hits. Kalyanji-Anandji were dubbed ‘lucky’ for first-timers. They worked with debutant directors including Manmohan Desai (Chalia), Prakash Mehra (Hasina Maan Jayegi), Manoj Kumar (Upkar), Sultan Ahmed (Heera,), Feroz Khan (Apradh), Subhash Ghai (Kalicharan) and Chandra Barot (Don, 1978). They also played mentors to singers like Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Sadhna Sargam, Sapna Mukherjee and Sunidhi Chauhan. “They gave the name Kumar Sanu to Kedranath Bhattachraya and Sadhana Sargam to Sadhna Ganekar. Both Kalyanji and Anandji worked as music composers for over 250 films, 17 of which were golden jubilees and 39 silver. They organised many charitable concerts for NGOs and several charitable institutions in India and abroad with some of the biggest names in Bollywood, like Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Vinod Khanna, Rekha and Sridevi. From composing desi beats for Manoj Kumar the duo hit a contrasting octave when they composed for the ‘Texas cowboy’ Feroz Khan in films right from Apradh, Dharmatma, Qurbani and Jaanbaz till the ’80s. “Ferozji liked a Western and Arabian touch in his songs. The composers composed some popular songs rendered by Kishore Kumar such as "Jeevan se bhari teri aankhe", "Zindagi ka safar hai ye kaisa Safar", "Pal Pal dilke paas", "Neele Neele Ambar Par" "Zindagi ka safar" from Safar (1970), "O Saathi Re" from Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978), "mera jeevan kora kagaz" from Kora Kagaz (1974), Jeevan se bhari teri aankhe " from Safar (1970), "pal pal dil ke paas" from Blackmail (1974), "neele neele ambar par " from Kalakaar(1985), "samzauta gamon se kar lo" from Samjhauta (1973), "apne jeevan ki ulzan ko" from Ulzan (1975).. Their composition called "Pal bharke liye" was used in an episode of The Simpsons. Remixed version of the song "Apni Toh Jaise Taise," originally from the 1981 film Laawaris was used in 2010 Bollywood film Housefull. They got the following Awards
Cine Music Directors Award – 1965 – Himalay Ki God Mein
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