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
SD Burman started working as a radio singer on Calcutta Radio Station in the late '20s when his work as a singer-composer was based on Bengali folk and light Hindustani classical music. Consequently, his compositions were mainly influenced by his huge repertoire of folk-tunes from present Bangladesh and later other parts of India and around the world. His first record was also released in 1932 Not many of us know that he sang for other music directors also. He made his film debut singing in Yahudi ki Ladki (1933) but the songs were scrapped and re-sung by Pahari Sanyal.Then in 1934, he recorded some songs for the film ‘Seeta’ produced by the East India Film Co., under the music direction of KC Dey but the recording is not available.As early as 1941, he had rendered a song for a Hindi film under the music direction of Madhulal Damodar Master. This song happened to be his debut song for Hindi films. The song is ‘Prem ki pyaari nishaani’ from TAJ MAHAL (1941). The film was produced under the banner of Mohan Pictures and directed by Nanabhai Vakil. S D Burman has rendered this song in slow tempo emphasising on phonetics of some words in keeping with the mood of the song. The song does not have any musical interlude.
Song of TAJ MAHAL (1941)
Dakley Kokil Roj Bihaney--Sachin Dev Burman (1932)
In 1944, Burman moved to Mumbai, at the request of Sasadhar Mukherjee of Filmistan, who asked him to give a score for two Ashok Kumar starrers, Shikari (1946) and Aath Din. Staying close to KL Saigal, KN Singh and Manna Dey in Bombay, he would sing at private get-togethers with friends. And then on their suggestion, the song “Dheere Se Jaana Bagiyan Mein” was recorded and found immense success with the listening public.
Dheere Se jaana bagiyan mein by S D Burman
Jhan Jhan Jhan Manjira - Classical Song by SD Burman
S.D.Burman sings for Anil Biswas
S D Burman-Ummeed Bhara Panchi(Aath Din)-1946
SD Burman Bengali Folk Song - Bandar Chharo 1943
Biroho Boro Bhalo Lage
Zindagi aye zindagi tere hain do roop
The Original of Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare from Kala Pani
Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) had an immortal, melodious voice. He was trained in classical music and had an unparalleled range. Rafi conveyed different shades of emotions through his songs whether romantic, sad, classical, devotional, ghazals or bhajans. He could sing every kind of song with an ease and perfection that made him the uncrowned king of Indian playback singing.
He was born on December 24, 1924, and was fond of singing from childhood. As singing was not considered respectful in those days, he ran away from home to Lahore, where he got training under maestros such as Bade Gulam Ali Khan and Ustaad Abdul Waheed Khan. Rafi sang on All-India Radio before he entered the cinema. Sham Sunder was the first music director who recognized the artiste in Rafi and gave him a break in a Punjabi movie, Gulbloch, in which Rafi sang Soniye, Hiriye nee.
Mohammad Rafi's first big break came late in 1946. Shooting for a Dilip Kumar, Noorjehan starred blockbuster film Jugnu which was started in 1946.He sang a duet with Noorjehan"Yahan badla wafa ka be wafayi ke siwa kya hai"When the film was released in 1947, this very duet became the best selling song. This gave the necessary break to Mohammad Rafi and from then on he never looked back and went from strength to strength. He also acted in this film.
By the middle of 1947, Mohamad Rafi had become a household name in Hindi speaking North India. His flexible, sweet, and velvety voice suited most young actors including the brilliant rising star Dilip Kumar. Most of the finest music directors, spearheaded by the duo of Pandit Husnalal Bhagatram, were showing interest in grooming his raw talent further into the art of film playback singing. Pandit Husnalal Bhagatram gave Mohammad Rafi an immortal song "Is Dil Ke Tukde Hazar Huye, Koi Yahan Gira koi Wahan Gira, Behte Huye Aansoo Ruk Na Sake koi Yahan Gira koi Wahan girl".Mohammad Rafi gave his emotion-filled voice to this song. This song became an instant hit. In 1948 another song by Rafi "Watan ki raah mein watan ke naujwan shaheed ho" from Shaheed, which became the signature tune for the movie, became overnight a nationwide hit. The music director Shyam Sunder's tunes rendered by Mohammad Rafi for film Bazaar(1949) including a duet with Lata Mangeshkar entitled "Apni nazar se door voh, unki nazar se door hum, tum hi batao kya Karen, majboor tum majboor hum" caught the imagination of entire Hindi knowing India.
Mohammad Rafi's utmost devotion to his profession and hard work under the music direction of Pandit Husnalal Bhagatram paid great dividends and he became India 's leading duet singer in the company of Lata Mangeshkar. Some of his pre-1950 duets with Lata Mangeshkar are acclaimed as some of the finest in the history of film singing. After 1950 most of the great music directors of Indiaconsidered Mohammad Rafi a force in film music. When Naushad composed his masterly tunes for films like Dulari (1949) and Deedar (1951), Mohammad Rafi became the star that no one could afford to ignore. Film Deedar song "Huye hum jin ke liye barbad became an all-time hit. Later on, his high pitched numbers sung for films, Amar and Baiju Bawra put him up at a very high pedestal. Mohammad Rafi was honest to the core, never greedy and success did not make him arrogant.
S D Burman also used Rafi's voice for Dev Anand and Guru Dutt beautifully.Rafi worked with Burman in 37 movies, including Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Kala Bazar, Nau Do Gyaran, Kala Pani , Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963), Guide (1965), Aradhana (1969), and Abhimaan (1973).
Rafi's partnership with Shankar Jaikishan was among the most famous and successful in the Hindi film industry. Under Shankar-Jaikishan, Rafi produced some of his songs for actors like Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar. Out of six Filmfare awards, Rafi won three for S-J songs – "Teri Pyari Pyari Surat Ko", "Baharon Phool Barsao" and "Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein". The song "Yahoo! Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe" was sung by Rafi, only to be matched a fast-paced orchestra and a composition by Shankar Jaikishan. S-J had Rafi give playback for Kishore Kumar in the film Shararat ("Ajab hai daastan teri yeh zindagi"). Rafi sang a total of 341 numbers (216 solo) for Shankar-Jaikishan. Among the films of this combination are Basant Bahar, Professor, Junglee, Suraj, Brahmachari, An Evening in Paris, Dil Tera Deewana, Yakeen, Prince, Love in Tokyo, Beti Bete, Dil Ek Mandir, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Gaban and Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai. The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal (L-P) patronized Rafi as one of their singers, right from their very first song by him from the film Parasmani (1963). Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Awards for the song "Chahoonga Main Tujhe Saanjh Savere" from Dosti (1964). Rafi rendered the highest number of songs for the music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal: 369 numbers (186 solo) for L-P. Rafi sang for many famous music directors during the 50s and 60s. He sang Naushadâ's composition Man tarpat Hari darshan ko, with the same perfection he sang O.P. Nayyar's light composition Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan. He also sang S.D. Burman's Khoya-khoya chand – Kala Bazar, Shankar Jai Kishan's Ehsaan tera hoga mujhpar – Junglee, Roshan's Zindagi bhar nahin bhoolegi – Barsaat ki Raat, Madan Mohan's Main nigahen tere chehre se – Aap ki Parchhaiyan, Salil Chowdury's Koi sone ke dilwala – Maya and Ravi's Sau baar janam lenge – Ustaadon ke Ustaad. Rafi was truly a singer for the masses and not for any particular class. His voice appealed to all, the old, young, rich, poor, men and women. Rafi brought cheers and smiles to millions of his fans through his songs. In his songs like Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, Rafi tried to inspire the dejected and give hope to those who had lost faith in life and God. On July 31, 1980, a massive heart attack silenced this peerless singer forever. But his songs keep him alive. The First Song of Mohammad Rafi
Rafi Sahab's first Hindi Film Song
Song from Pehle Aap 1944
The Song that gave fame to Mohammad Rafi-first duet with Noorjehan
We all have heard this famous song of K L Sehgal.After close to nearly 80 years of it being released (for the 1938 movie, Street Singer), this still remains a favorite of the discerning listener of vintage Indian film music. This is being one of my favorites of K l Sehgal songs. A thought came in my mind why not write a blog on this Immortal song.Very few would know that this Bhairavi thumri, was composed by Wajid Ali Shah,when he was expelled to Calcutta, he wrote the parting song Babul Mora,picturing the mind of a heart broken man.He expressed his pain of parting in the lyrics of ‘Babul mora naihar chhuto jaye’, It has been one of the favorite thumris of many a singers over generations—from Ustad Faiyaz Khan—the most well-known singer of Agra Gharana and arguably one of the best voices on record—to Alisha Chinoy. The most famous version of Wajid Ali Khan’s Babul Mora was sung by Kundan Lal Saigal in the movie Street Singer in 1938. The music was composed by Rai Chand Boral, who is considered as a father figure among cine-music composers. The list of luminaries who sang ‘Babul Mora’ includes- Bhim Sen Joshi, Kesarbai Kerkar, Siddheshwari Devi, Rasoolan Bai, Khadim Hussain Khan, Mushatq Hussain Khan, Girija Devi, Kishori Amonkar, Jagmohan, Padma Talwalkar, Shanti Vaidyanathan Sharma, Mahender Chopra (son-in-law of K.L.Saigal) and none other than Ghazal queen Begum Akhtar. Thumri arose in popularity during the 19th century in the Lucknow court of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. At that time it used to be a sung by courtesans accompanied by dance. It is said that Thumri is a short piece of semi-classical rendition usually sung at the conclusion of a classical music concert. The Saigal version is set in Raag Bhairavi – Bhairavi had traditionally been performed in the early morning hours. However, due to the fact that performances lasted all night, it has now become common to consider Bhairavi to be the finale. To my readers I have taken the videos of various version of this immortal song sung by the great singers of their time In fact the latest version with modern instruments by Rajesh Panwar at New Jersey in 2015.
Before Bollywood came the term "Tollywood".The name that was used to refer to the cinema of West Bengal. Dating back to 1932, "Tollywood" was the earliest Hollywood-inspired name, referring to the Bengali film industry based in Tollygunge, Calcutta. The term "Bollywood" itself has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer. Credit for the term has been claimed by several different people, including the lyricist, filmmaker and scholar Amit Khanna, and the journalist Bevinda Collaco.
Here's a shocking fact--Bollywood was born 11 years before Hollywood! Bollywood’s first production was an 1899 short film, whereas Hollywood’s first film came out in 1910. Initially the cinema industry was still considered a low profession in the 40s, music director Naushad was introduced by his parents to his bride as a tailor. And ironically, the music that played in his ‘baraat’ was from ‘Rattan’ (1944) – that had been composed by him.
We all Know that Colour era in Indian Cinema (Hindi and Tamil) started in the mid 1950s but Kisan Kanya (year 1937) was known as India's first colour film,before that attempts to shoot the first Indian colour film(1933) failed when the negative for Sairhandri, directed by Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram, was ruined during processing in Germany. The colour era started with Aan(1953), a Dilip Kumar- Nimmi starrer by Mehboob Khan, was the first Indian film, the prints of which were in Technicolor, the most expensive colour format of that era, or ever. It was shot in 16 mm and later blown up to 35 mm. It was a landmark success.
The masala film was pioneered in the early 1970s by filmmaker Nasir Hussain, along with screenwriter duo Salim-Javed, consisting of Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar.Yaadon Ki Baarat (1973), directed by Hussain and written by Salim-Javed, has been identified as the first masala film and the "first" quintessentially "Bollywood" film.Masala films launched Amitabh Bachchan into the biggest Bollywood movie star of the 1970s and 1980s. The "Curry Western" trend that began with Sholay (1975), written by Salim-Javed, also falls under the masala film genre.
Bollywood films are mostly musicals and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script. Indrasabha released in 1932 has world record for maximum no of songs. It has over 70 songs.
Raja Harishchandra (1913), by Dadasaheb Phalke, is known as the first silent feature film made in India.
The first kissing scene in Bollywood was shot 84 years back and it was in the film Karma. Today, actor Emraan Hashmi is considered as the kiss symbol of Bollywood.Karma was released in 1933 and Bollywood actors Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani had shot the first kissing scene in front of the camera. The 4-minute long kissing scene was not part of any romantic scene or lovemaking scene but the heroine was trying to recover hero from unconsciousness by kissing him.
Today Sequel in Bollywood are very common butHunter Walifilm series was the movie series to have a sequel. First movie was released in 1935 and its sequel in 1943.This was an action movie with Fearless Nadia as lead role. This movie is one of the earliest female-lead movies.
Leela Chitnis, who passed away recently, had her first role as a leading lady was in Master Vinayak's Hindi melodrama Chhaya in 1936. She became the first Indian actress to model for Lux, which till then used only foreign models. Chitnis did her first Lux campaign in 1934. Since then Lux has continued the tradition of using film stars to promote the soap.
Mughal-e-Azam' was a multilingual movie - with all scenes shot thrice in Hindi, Tamil & English. When the Tamil one flopped miserably, the English language one was aborted almost immediately!
Ashok Kumar was a lab assistant in Bombay Talkies before he became an actor in 1936.His film Kismet released in 1943 The film is one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema. The movie was the first native blockbuster movie in India.It ran for 187 continuous weeks at Roxy Cinema in Calcutta, a record that stood for 32 years.
Indians buy 2.7 billion movie tickets annually, the highest in the world. But our average ticket price is among the lowest in the world, so revenues are a fraction compared to Hollywood!
Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was the first Hindi movie to have not one but two intervals!It is the lengthiest film.
Waheeda Rahman has played both mother and lover to Amitabh Bachchan. She played his love interest in ‘Adalat’ (1976) and mother in ‘Trishul’ (1978).
Sunil Dutt initially used to be an RJ for Radio Ceylon and wanted to interview his favorite actress Nargis. But he could not say a single word in front of her & the interview had to be cancelled. Years later, when he finally got a chance to work with her in ‘Mother India’ (1957), they fell in love and got married.
‘Kaho Naa.. Pyar Hai’ was added to the Guinness Book of World Records 2002 edition for winning the most number of awards for a movie. The movie won a total of 92 awards!
The song ‘Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyon’ in the film by the same name is the longest Hindi film song. The length of this iconic song is 20 minutes and the song is featured in 3 installments in the film.
Our Mr. Perfectionist, Aamir Khan comes from the pedigree of a very famous revolutionary& eminent writer, none other than, Maulana Abul Kalam Azaad.
Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin's great-grandfather Maurice Koechlin, was the Chief engineer for the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and also the iconic Statue of Liberty.
In the film ‘Heroine,’ Kareena Kapoor wore over 130 different dresses by top fashion designers from all over the world. It has been reported that Kareena’s wardrobe for the film was one of the most expensive out of all the Bollywood movies ever created!
Dimple was only sixteen years old when Raj Kapoor introduced her in ‘Bobby’ (1973). She also got married to Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna at the age of 16. Despite the enormous success of ‘Bobby’, she then took a sabbatical from acting to raise her children.
Amitabh Bachchan is so punctual that many a times he used to open the gates of Filmistan Studios himself for he used to reach the place before the watchman or gatekeeper.
Rare Songs
Gauhar Jaan, the very first Indian recording (1904)
Lata Mangeshkar's first song sung in the year 1942 for the movie Pahili Mangalagaur
Lata's First Hit Song 1949
Prem Nagar Me (K.L.Saigal)
. ek baat batton..from Jhula.1942
Pankaj mullick..prem ka nata tuta. from nartaki.1939
Heer Ranjha 1948 : Kahe Ko Biyahi Bides : Lata Mangeshkar : Md Aziz Khan