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
Shri Nath Tripathi (14 December 1912 – 28 March 1988) was an Indian composer, whose active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s.Tripathi's multi-faceted work range included being a composer, writer, actor, and director of films. His first film as a composer was Chandan (1942).He continued to compose for films like Janam Janam Ke Phere (1957), where the song "Zara Saamne Toh Aao Chhaliye" became the top Binaca Geetmala song. The famous song "Na Kisi Ki Aankh Ka Noor Hoon" was also composed by him. Tripathi turned to direction in 1957 starting with Rani Roopmati. Two of his films with 7Nirupa Roy and Bharat Bhushan, Rani Roopmati (1959) and Kavi Kalidas (1959), are cited as having "cinematic merit" and "unforgettable music" Here are some of the great songs by this forgotten composer
Holi is a festival of colours. It is an inseparable part of Indian culture and, Bollywood never misses a chance to infuse the ‘Holi factor’ in the form of dance numbers with stars going footloose and crazy.The first song of Holi was from the 1931 film ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’. The Mukhdaa of the song goes like – “Mo Pe Daar Gayo Saari Rang Rang Ki Gaagar, Kaisa Dhokha Diya. . .”. This and many other songs of that era are now lost. When we talk about the songs of the 30s and 40s how can we forget the great K L Sehgal. He was an institution, with no parallel in the entire heritage of Hindi film music.Here I have taken a Non-film song of Sehgal on Holi. It was recorded in 1933.
k.l.saigal..hori ho vraj dulare..geet.1933-34
.I present a song from this very first decade of Hindi films – a song from film ‘Aurat’ from 1940. ‘Aurat’ is a magnum opus by producer-director Mehboob, a much-celebrated film of its era.
Song of Aurat 1940
In the 50s many Holi songs were picturised. Almost all the Top stars of that time wanted one Holi song in his or her film. Nargis sang a Holi song in the 1950 film Jogan, sung by young Geeta Dutt. In this Holi song, Geeta Dutt’s honey and sugar voice ooze masti in full measure. With music by Bulo C Rani, Jogan’s bhajans became the benchmark for decades to come.
Song of Jogan 1950
India’s first technicolour film Aan exploited the colourful festival of Holi to fully utilize its highly expensive use of 16mm Gevacolour. Jai Tilak (Dilip Kumar) plays Holi with Mangala (Nimmi), a simple village girl. As he throws away her scarf in the melee, it mistakenly lands on the tempestuous and arrogant princess Rajshree (Nadira) who is touring the city on her royal elephant, making her assume something else!
Song of Aan (1953)
Another popular song was picturised on Dilip Kumar with Meena Kumari in the 1960 film Kohinoor
Song of Kohinoor 1960
There is no Holi song picturised on Dev Anand but there is one Holi song where Dev Anand was not playing but out looking a Holi dance, The song is from the 1953 film Rahi
Song of Rahi (1953)
This song is from “Maashooka” (1953). This song is sung by Suraiyya, Mukesh and chorus. Shailendra is the lyricist. Music is composed by Roshan.
Only the audio of this song is available. Seeing that Suraiyya and Mukesh had acted in this movie, it is easy to guess that the song was picturised on themselves.
Song of Maashooka” (1953)
Another memorable Holi song of the 50s is this song from 1957 film Mother India. Sung by Shamshad Begum, one of the top most singers of the 50s. The song captures Radha (Nargis) and Shamu (Raaj Kumar) in their happier times
Song of Mother India 1957
A romantic Holi song composed by Hemant Kumar and picturised on the elegant Bina Rai and the princely Pradeep Kumar. Talk about Holi compositions with a touch of the classical and this song from Durgesh Nandini which had some great music will be remembered for sure.
Song of Durgesh Nandini (1956)
Legendary filmmaker V Shantaram cast his wife Sandhya in this unusual role where she plays both the real and the fantasy characters. In the backdrop of Holi, this song has one of the most remarkable solo dance sequences performed by Sandhya, where she role plays both Radha and Shyam.
Born in New Delhi on 30th Nov 1936( There is a confusion on her date of birth in one video 30th Jan is mentioned), she was discovered as a child artiste by Master Ghulam Haider (a prominent music director of the 1940s). Her first break came with Mil gaye nain,composed by Anil Biswas, for the film Arzoo. Salaam-e-Hasrat Qubool Karlo and Kashti ka Khamosh Safar hai a duet with Kishore Kumar is the other songs she is often remembered for. Upon the recommendation of music composers Husnlal-Bhagatram, she took classical singing lessons from Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan and began singing playback with the film Arzoo (1950). She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a playback singer, worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 1960s, like Arzoo, Dhool Ka Phool, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Girl Friend, Barsat Ki Raat, Didi, Kala Pani, Prem Rog and Dekh Kabira Roya. There is another interesting little-known aspect of her life. She is one of the rare female singers to have sung a self-composed song. Sudha has not only given the music for Tum mujhe bhool bhee jao from film Didi, but also sung it with Mukesh.
She sang ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ first with Geeta Dutt composed by Khayyam for a Chetan Anand film. The film was never made but it was eventually reused for the Yash Chopra film. The most saddening part of her career was that by singing more of children songs and motherly numbers in movies like Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja, Jeevan Saathi and Masoom, Sudha was labelled as a "typed singer". But determined Sudha proved everybody wrong. Her bhajan in Kala Pani 'Na Main Dhan Chahun..' became immensely popular. She sang the famous qawwali 'Ishq Ishq..' in the film Barsat Ki Raat. This song was recorded for a period of twenty-nine continuous hours. She was awarded the Kala Bhushan award by Gyani Zail Singh, the then president of India. She was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2013 She has sung 264 songs in 155 films.She was last heard in Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog (1982) in the song "Yeh Pyar tha ya kuch aur tha".Apart from Hindi songs, Sudha sang many popular Marathi songs (Bhavgeet) with Arun Date. The poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi was said to be infatuated with Sudha Malhotra, 15 years his junior, when they first began working on Bhai Behen (1959). Malhotra’s dulcet voice brought alive many of Ludhianvi’s songs in film, and ‘Salaam-E-Hasrat Qubool Kar Lo’ was no exception. Composed by Roshan in the raga Yaman, the song was picturised on actresses Shubha Khote and Azra in the Muslim social, Babar (1960).
Song of Babar 1960
Her first song was composed by Anil Biswas for Shaheed Latif’s Arzoo (1950). The film was written by Latif’s wife Ismat Chughtai and hero Dilip Kumar. The melodious song, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, was picturised on an equally young Shashikala.
Song of Arzoo 1950
Another unforgettable number is the prayer song ‘Darshan Do Ghanshyam’ that Sudha Malhotra sung along with Hemant Kumar and Manna Dey. Composed by music composer Ravi
Song of Narsi Bhagat (1957)
It was the only time Sudha Malhotra composed a song in her career on request. ‘Tum Mujhe Bhool Bhi Jao’, written by Sahir Ludhianvi, is a duet sweetly sung by Malhotra and Mukesh.
Song of Didi (1959)
In 1960's Girl Friend, Sudha Malhotra got to sing a beautiful duet with Kishore Kumar for music composer Hemant Kumar.
Song of Girl Friend (1960)
SD Burman compiled a wide array of singers from Mohammed Rafi to Asha Bhosle to Manna Dey. In this bhajan written by Shailendra, SD Burman chose the voices of Geeta Dutt and Sudha Malhotra. Their voices complemented each other perfectly.
Song of Kala Bazar (1960)
The famous qawwali was sung by Sudha Malhotra, Manna Dey, and Asha Bhosle from PL Santoshi’s Barsat Ki Rat (1960), ‘Na To Karwan Ki Talaash Hai’, penned by Sahir Ludhianvi, was masterfully composed by Roshan
Song of Barsat Ki Rat (1960)
She was persuaded to return to playback singing for Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog (1982) with the duet ‘Yeh Pyar Tha Ya Kuch Aur Tha’ with the singer Anwar. This remains her last song.
Akhtaribaipopularly known as Begum Akhtar was born on 7th Oct 1914 at Bada Darwaza, Town Bhadarsa, Bharatkund, District Faizabad U P.She showed interest in music at a very young age and was sent to train under the great sarangi player, Ustad Imdad Khan. Later, she learnt classical music from great exponents of this field like Mohammad Khan, Abdul Waheed Khan and Ustad Jhande Khan Saheb. Her first public performance was at the age of fifteen. Her first recording was done by the Megaphone Record Company at the age of Fifteen. The famous poet Sarojini Naidu appreciated her singing during a concert which was organised in the aid of victims of the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. This encouraged her to continue singing ghazals with more enthusiasm. Begum Akhtar was very beautiful and her sensitive voice made her an ideal candidate for a film career in her early years. Those days only those actors were chosen who can sing also. Begum Akhtar was also approached by many people from Bombay to work in films. So she acted in a few Hindi films She was signed by East India Film Company as a singing actor. Her first film was East India Film Company’s ‘Ek Din Ka Baadshah’ (1933). This was followed by ‘Nal Damyanti’ (1933), ‘Mumtaz Begum’ (1934), ‘Roop Kumari’ (1934), ‘Ameena’ (1934), ‘Jawani Ka Nasha’ (1935), ‘Naseeb Ka Chakkar’ (1936) etc.. In all these films, she sang all her songs herself. After staying at Bombay for a few years she came back to Lucknow, where she was approached by the famous producer-director Mehboob Khan, to act in Roti which was released in 1942 and whose music was composed by the maestro Anil Biswas. In 1945, Akhtari Bai married a Lucknow-based barrister, Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, and became known as Begum Akhtar. However, after marriage, due to her husband's restrictions, she could not sing for almost five years. In 1949 she returned back to the recording studios.She became a regular singer in Akashvani Lucknow Radio station. Begum Akhtar was persuaded by Madan Mohan, a famous music director to sing in two movies "Daana Paani" (1953) and "Ehsaan" (1954). The songs "Aye Ishq Mujhe Aur to Kuch Yaad" and "Hamein Dil Mein Basa Bhi Lo" were absolutely melodious and were liked by one and all. Her last movie stint was that of a classical singer in Satyajit Ray's film "Jalsa Ghar". Begum Akhtar was a refined Ghazal singer and was called as Mallika-e-Ghazal or the Queen of Ghazals. She received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music and was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan(posthumously) by Govt. of India. She was given the title of Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals).
Begum Akhtar performed last in a concert in Ahmedabad. That day she felt that her voice was not up to the mark and raised her pitch. This put much stress on her and her health deteriorated. The situation became critical and she had to be rushed to the hospital. She breathed her last on 30th October 1974, leaving many fans disappointed and heartbroken
It is to Mehboob’s credit that from his humble beginnings as a spot boy, he went on to acting, writing, directing and producing films and owner of Mehboob Studio. Mehboob Khan got several roles as an extra and even went on to being cast as a junior artist and then in a supporting role. In fact, Ardeshir Irani almost took him as the hero of Alam Ara,India’s first talkie.He realised that destiny is not in favor of making him a hero,there was something else he could do.So he decided to write a script and pitch it to a few studios.His script was rejected by various studios,he decided to produce and direct his own script.He went on to direct milestones such as the bold saga Aurat (1940), the romantic drama Andaz (1949), the swashbuckling musical Aan (1951) and the grand social epic Mother India (1957). Hewas born Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan in Bilimora in Gandevi Taluka of Baroda State (now Gujarat) on 9 September 1907. He started as an assistant in the Silent Film era and as an extra in the studios of the Imperial Film Company of Ardeshir Irani, before directing his first film Al Hilal a.k.a. Judgement of Allah (1935), when he started directing films for the Sagar Film Company.Notable films he directed include Deccan Queen (1936), Ek Hi Raasta (1939) and Alibaba (1940). Directorial features such as Aurat (1940) followed, with the studios Sagar Movietone and National Studios. In 1945, Khan set up his own production house – Mehboob Productions. In 1946 he directed the musical hit Anmol Ghadi, which featured singing stars Surendra, Noorjehan and Suraiya in leading roles. He introduced and helped establish the careers of many actors and actresses who went on to become big stars in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s such as Surendra, Arun Kumar Ahuja, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Nargis, Nimmi and Nadira. He died in 1964 at the age of 57 and was buried at Badakabarastan in Marine Lines, Mumbai. His death occurred the day after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India. His last film as a director was 1962's Son of India.
Born in 1913 at Bettiah Bihar, Gopal Singh Nepali was one of the most renowned Hindi poets of all time. His poems evoke patriotism, love for nature and humane values. He also wrote lyrics of a few Hindi films. His association with Bollywood spanned around two decades, beginning in 1944 and ended with his death in 1963.During the 1962 Indo-China war, Nepali lifted the spirits of Indian citizens and Indian soldiers via his Patriotic Poems and Songs and he went to the border in order to recite them. The patriotic songs and poems include Savan, Kalpana, Neelima, Naveen Kalpana Karo,etc. In 1944 he was hired by Filmistan for 4 years at the salary of Rs 200 per month.The first film he wrote lyrics was Majdoor. He wrote nearly 400 songs in 60 films.He also gave music for few of his songs.He also made few films Nazrana(1949),Sansani(1951)and Khushbu(1955).
Nakul Singh Nepali, son of Gopal Singh Nepali, has filed a suit at the Bombay High Court against the makers of Slumdog Millionaire, saying that Danny Boyle they wrongly credited poet Surdas for writing the song Darshan Do Ghanashyam. According to the suit, Nepali says his father, a poet, wrote the song.He died on 17 th April 1963 after attending a Kavi Sammelan.
Kedar Sharma the well known Film Maker was born on 12 th April 1910 in Narowal in what was then the Punjab region of India.He wasinterested in philosophy, poetry, painting and photography since his childhood. He ran away from home to pursue a career in cinema in Mumbai but was unsuccessful in gaining employment. He returned to Amritsar and attended the Hindu Sabha College where he founded a College Dramatic Society which would later give him his first break in film. He is often most remembered for starting the acting careers of Bollywood greats Geeta Bali, Madhubala, Raj Kapoor, Mala Sinha, Bharat Bhushan and Tanuja.He was a multi talented man.He was a director, producer, screenwriter, and Lyricist of many Hindi films.He made many children films India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, offered Kidar the headship of the Children's Film Society. His 1956 children's film, Kidar's Jaldeep (The Lighthouse), won an award at the Venice Film Festival. He made more than 50 films and even played a lead role in Neki Aur Badi (Goodness And Evil, 1949). His lyrics delved deep into India's cultural ethos and mixed earthy appeal with poignant romanticism.
Born into a middle-class family in Narowal (now in Pakistan), Kidar was inspired by the films of Debaki Bose, and started work as a painter in New Theatres, a Calcutta-based film company. Realizing his potential, Debaki Bose asked him to write the lyrics for Inquilab (After The Earthquake, 1935) and Vidyapati (1937). Kidar became established as a dialogue writer and lyricist by PC Barua's Devdas (1935), which became a classic.
Song from Devdas 1935
Song from Baawre Nain 1950
An outstanding poet, Sharma wrote some of the most memorable songs including Balam aayo baso more man mein, Dukh kay ab din beetat nahi, Khayalon Mein Kisike (Bawre Nain), Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Bhi (Hamari Yaad Aayegi) and Teri duniya mein dil lagta nahi. Kidar would continue to contribute as a lyricist and to write and direct films through the 1990s. Ironically, many Indian film critics and historians argued that he deserved the highest cinema award from the government of India but he died a day before he was to receive the Raj Kapoor Award, named in honour of the actor he helped make a success.He died on 29 April 1999.
