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
Vasant Desai (9 June1912–22 Dec 1975) used to say“I don’t care. I don’t make songs for Binaca Geetmala [or] for sales or popularity. I make it for my character and that particular situation in my film as conceived by my director. People will remember my songs because it will become part of their life."
He was groomed by V Shantaram. At the age of 16, he wanted to be an actor, so he came to Kolhapur and one of hisuncles took him to Shantaram at Prabhat.Studio. He was kept as an office boy. Young Vasant's job was to take chits in for Shantaram. For about eight months, he worked without pay. He was given a few acting roles in Marathi films. He also sang a few songs in the films and gave the background music in many Marathi films. V Shantaram gave him 'Shakuntala'(1943) as an independent music director. His compositions likeAe Malik Tere Bande Ham from Do Aankhen Barah Haath and Hum Ko Mun Ki Shakti Dena from Guddi(1971) have become permanent prayer in schools
Hissongs enjoy a cult status in Maharashtra with “Ghanshyam Sundaraa” occupying the top slot. Amey opines, “Desai’s smooth transitions from mukhdas (openings) to antras (stanzas) and the use of the chorus is an absolute delight.” Listen to his evergreen Rafi-Lata duet “Sabko Pyar Ki Pyaas” (“Pyar ki Pyaas”) or Hemant-Lata’s “Nain so Nain Nahee Milaao” (“Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje”)
Devoted to V. Shantaram from his Prabhat days, Desai went along with the maestro when he broke away from Prabhat to form his own Rajkamal Studios. Scoring music for a majority of Shantaram’s films, Vasant’s career suffered a major blow when their relations soured in the late 1950s. Yet it is to his credit that even though they split after the recording of “Aadha Hai Chandrama” (later re-done by C. Ramchandra), he never ever spoke ill about “Anna” till his dying day.
Going through his long and enviable list of songs would be difficult but suffice to say that his memorable songs are valuable gems of musical heritage.
Vinod(May 28, 1922) born as Eric Robert was a music director of the golden era but fell short of reaching the pinnacle of commercial success in an era dominated by prominent composers like Shankar Jaikishan, S D Burman, O P Nayyar and C Ramchandra
He became a household name.with the song Lara Lappa Lara lappa Layee Rakhda from the 1949 film 'Ek Thi Ladki'. It was a big musical hit of 1949 like Mahboob's Andaz and Raj Kapoor's Barsat.
The next two films in which Vinod composed were Kamini and Nagin. In 1950, Vinod came back with superb music in Anmol Ratan directed by M Sadiq, starring Meena and Karan Deewan. One could see the versatility in his compositions. Talat Mehmood and Lata sang their all-time great duets, Shikwa tera main gaun and Yaad aane wale phir yaad aa rahein hain, set in Kehrawa Tall with soft notes of flute. Another rare gem was Talat's Jab kisi ke rukh pe zulfein aake lehrane lagi set in Raag Bhairv. Nirmala Arun (Govinda's mother) also sang a thumri, Lakhon mein ek hamare saiyan haye. Vinod composed music in 32 Hindi films and also has half a dozen Punjabi films to his credit. Ladla, Oot Patang, Haa Haa Hee Hee Hoo Hoo, Shri Nakad Narayan Makkhi Choos, Seikh Chilly and Garma Garam
Naushad started as an independent music director from the 1940 film Prem Nagar. He made Hindi songs popular by mixing UP and Bihar folk music with Indian classical music.He first got noticed with A.R. Kardar's film Sharda (1942) wherein 13-year-old Suraiya debuted with the song "Panchhi Ja" for the playback for heroine Mehtab. It was Rattan (1944) that took Naushad right to the top
It was in 1946 he got superstar status with the two immortal songs from the film Anmol Ghadi.. In the same year, K L Saigal gave one of his immortal songs "Jab Dil Hi Toot Gaya" under his composition in Shahjehan (1946) in Raag Bhairavi. His favorite ragas were raga Pahadi, Aiman, Darbari, Kafi or Des along with Raga Bhairavi. He also composed songs in unconventional and difficult ragassuch as Jaijaiwanti, Kedara, Brindabani Sarang, Bihag, Durga, Kirwani and Kalavati.
In this blog, we take a journey of his raga-based songs in Bollywood.
In the 1944 film Rattan, he composed 10 songs and the music by Naushad was such a phenomenal hit that the company earned Rs 3 lakhs in royalties from Gramophone sales in the first year. You would be surprised to note that the producer Kardar spent 75,000 rupees on the production of this film.
The Song based on Raga Pahadi
Song of Rattan 1944
Raga Bharavi
Song of Shahjahan 1946
Raga Kafi
Song of Shahjahan 1946
Raga Pahadi
Song of Anmol Ghadi 1946
His most durable composition Suhani raat dhal chuki was shaped in Pahadi and was from film Dulari made in 1949 that became legendary and is still considered an integral part of any singer’s repertoire in any musical gathering.
Raga Pahadi
Song of Dulari 1949
Raga Pahadi
Song of Andaz 1949
Raga Jaijalvanti
Song of Andaz 1949
Raga Bhimpalasi
Song of Babul 1950
His classical genius was the 1952 film Baiju Bawra in which he used the voices if the great Ustad Amir Khan and D V Palusjar. The climactic contest between Tansen and Baiju Bawra in the royal court of Mughal emperor Akbar demanded music of the highest finesse to exemplify the capabilities of these historical legends. Naushad introduced classical music with deft handling, making it melodious for mass appeal and yet retaining enough artistry as the situation demanded. There could not have been a better composer than Naushad Ali to make this film an unforgettable feature of Indian cinema. The music in “Baiju Bawra” is divine! It is, in fact, the soul of the film. There are many moments in “Baiju Bawra” when the contribution of Naushad emerges the strongest point of the movie. Mohammad Rafi, lyricist Shakeel Badayuni and Naushad leave you in a trance with the all-time great number “Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj”. Rafi had reportedly confessed to this being one of the toughest songs of his career as a demanding Naushad sought perfection from the legendary singer.
It is believed that Jagjit Singh was the singer, who popularized ghazal, an Indian classical art among masses. He is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of critical acclaim and commercial success.
Jagjit Singh came to Mumbai in 1965 to become a playback singer in Hindi films. Those days Mohammad Rafi was in his peak, there was Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh already established singers, there was no chance for him at that point of time. He had to struggle for a song in films. He obtained work initially as a singer of advertising jingles. He got the first break in the 1973 film Avishkar when music director Kanu Roy asked him and Chitra Singh to sing 'Babul Mora Naihar Chhoto Jaye'
His first album "The Unforgettable" in 1976 made him and Chitra Singh star. The album is notable for one exceptional ghazal, Raat Bhi Neend Bhi, based on a Firaq Gorakhpuri poem. Another Ghazal by Kafeel Aazar ' Baat Niklegi To Bahut Door Tak Jayegi' was sung by him. The album was released by The Gramophone Company of India Ltd.
The popularity of the couple attracted the Hindi film Industry. He was offered to compose music for the film 'Premgeet' released in 1981, he sang a ghazal"Hothon Se Chhu Lo Tum" in this film which was a hit among masses. After the success of this film, he got 2 films, Saath Saath and Arth. The song "Tum Ko Dekha To Yeh Khayal Aaya" and"Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe Ho" were very popular. His compositions for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib (based on the life of the poet Mirza Ghalib), remain extremely popular among ghazal aficionados.
In this blog, I have selected a few of his songs from Hindi films
His songs had a unique freshness, a rare robust beat, a flowing style similar to what you feel when you dip your hand in a running stream, blending Punjabi folk music with a rare Western-style orchestration, never heard before or since. His variety of rhythm patterns baffles the film industry, even today.
He was not only a great Composer but alsosinger-songwriter, music producer, and musician. He wrote, "Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawaanonkaa" (featuring Dilip Kumar and Ajit) for Naya Daur (1957). He won the 1958 Filmfare Award for Best Music Director(for Naya Daur). Nayyar worked extensively with singers Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi later Mahendra Kapoor gave us many memorable songs.
O. P. Nayyar (16 January 1926 – 28 January 2007 ) started his career as a movie music composer by composing the background score for the movies, Kaneez (1949) and made debut as an independent composer from Aasmaan (1952). He became famous with the music of Aar Paar released in 1954 and CID released in 1956. All the songs of CID were super hit especially "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar" and "Aye Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahaan"
In the late 1960s, Nayyar fell out with his favourite Mohammad Rafi but managed to conjure memorable songs even with Mukesh (Chal akela), Mahendra Kapoor (Lakhon hai yahan dilwale) and Kishore Kumar (Tu auron ki kyon ho gayee).
A major blow was Nayyar's split with Asha Bhosle after the pair had reached a crescendo with the Filmfare Award winning Chein se humko kabhie in Pran Jaaye Par Vachan Na Jaaye (1974). Nayyar tried recreating the magic with new singers but musical trends had bypassed him by then He worked till the 1990s but his music was not appealing to the young generation. On the later stage of his life, he was living with his friend. He left his family members even asked none of his family to be present on his funeral.He died on 28 January 2007.
C. Ramchandra's biggest success as a music composer was the 1953 movie Anarkali, though he had already tasted success with Shehnai (1947), Sargam(1950), Samadhi(1950) and Albela(1951). The film was a Musical Hit and went on to celebrate Golden Jubilee. It was the highest-grossing film of 1953 and again ranks 2nd in the top 25 Best Musical Films of all times according to IMDb.
The Music direction of this film was given to the composer Vasant Prakash, who was the younger brother of famous composer Khemchan Prakash. He even composed a song “Aa jaane wafa aa” penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar and sung by Geeta Dutt. Basant Prakash had major health problems after having recorded this one song with Geeta Dutt. C. Ramchandra took over as the composer. The film had a total of 11 songs, with 10 composed by C Ramchandra and 1 by Basant Prakash.
This film was a musical hit. The first-ever 'Binaca Geetmala' Annual Program of 1953 - saw "Ye Zindagi usiki hai" catapulted to the No. 1 position. This song came in parts in the film. The first two stanzas were when the lovers happy in each others company. The 3 rd stanza - jo dil yahan na mil sake signalled their despair and separation, while the last 2 were of unrequited love when Anarkali was being cemented into a wall on all sides. Lata Mangeshkar gave her soul in singing this song.
Out of 11 songs, only one song was a duet "Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar. Hemant Da had 2 solos in this film , recall the song "Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi Hoti Hai'.There were other beautiful songs too other than the above . 1. Aaja ab to aaja [Lata Mangeshkar- lyricist Shaillendra]; 2. Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai [Lata Mangeshkar] 3. Muzse mat puch mere ishq mein kya rakkha hai [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 4. Muhabbat mein aise kadam dagmagaye [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 5. Dua kar ghame dil khuda se dua kar [Lata Mangeshkar].
