Aaja Nachle with Madhuri Dixit

 

Madhuri Dixit is one of those few actresses who is aging so gracefully that with every passing year, she only ends up looking even more beautiful. She has given us some iconic songs like, Ek Do Teen, Tamma Tamma Loge, Kay Sera Sera that are definitely going to stay with us forever. she is blessed by the Gods of dance and in the industry that heavily relies on its culture of song and dance, she became a goddess.

Madhuri Dixit gave Bollywood some of its biggest hits in the 90s. From Choli Ke Piche Kya Hai To Dhak Dhak to Dola Re Dola, Bollywood's dancing diva had many hits to her name. Today, we take a look at some of her dance hit songs in a career spanning over three decades.

In this blog, I have selected 15 dance songs by Madhuri Dixit.

Song of Tezab (1988)

Song of  Kishen Kanhaiya (1990)

Song of  Sailaab (1990)

Song of  Thanedar (1990)

Song of  Beta (1992)

Song of  Khalnayak (1993)

Song of  Anjam (1994)

Song of Hum Apke hain Kaun (1994)

Song of Raja(1995)

Song of Yarana (1995)

Song of Dil Toh Pagal hai (1997)

Song of Pukar (2000)

Song of Lazza (2001)

Song of Devdas (2002)

Song of Aaja Nachle (2007)

Clever Wordplay in Bollywood Songs

 

Hindi film songs have been an integral part of Hindi films. A song is appreciated or become immortal not only by its tune but also by its orchestration, vocals, audiovisual aspect and its lyrics. Flashy, peppy songs may become an instant hit, but do not have shelf value.

Lyrics of a song play a major role in a song to become immortal. Unfortunately, the songs of this generation lack the lyrical value. Today most of us do not know the lyricist of the currently most popular song. We may not be interested to know the name of the writer of the song. There was a time when the words of the songs were so beautiful that you would like to know the writer of the song.

Clever wordplay has become a thing of past, Almost almost all the lyricist of the Golden Era played with words, I have selected a few of these songs in this blog.

Recall the song 'Deewana Mujh Sa Nahin Iss Ambar Ke Neeche/Aage Hai Qatil Mera Aur Mein Peechhe Peechhe'. Majrooh Sultanpuri played on the word Qatil. Qatil signifying here the sweetheart to whom he can lay down his life.

Hasrat Jaipuri wrote these lines for the song from 'Rajkumar'(1964),' Tumne Kisi Ki Jaan Ko Jaate Hue Dekha Hai/ Woh Dekho Mujh Se Rooth Kar Meri Jaan Ja Rahi Hai'.The play on Jaan as both 'Beloved' and 'Life'. was unique.

Another example is 'Ke Jaan Chali Jaye, Jiya Nahin Jaye/ Jiya Jaye Toh Phir Jiya Nahin Jaye' here Anand Bakshi play Jiya as heart and life. This he wrote for the 1969 film Anjaana.

There is another song from the film 'Saudagar'(1973), ' Sajna Hai Mujhe Sajna Ke Liye' This song was written by Ravindra Jain, here Sajna means to get 'make up' and her beloved.

Song of Teesri Manzil 1967

Song of Rajkumar 1964

Song of Anjaana 1969

Song of Saudagar 1973

Song of Teen Deviyan 1966

Song of Himalya Ki God Mein 1965

'Balma' and 'Sajna' have gone from our Bollywood Songs.

 

The vocabulary of our film songs has been changing from one era to another era. The words 'Balma','Sajna' and 'Preetam' were very common in the songs of the 50s and 60s, but now these words are almost missing.

The urbanization of the audience and their interest in modern stories have rejected the words that have rural roots. Today this is replaced by 'Jaanam', 'Jaanu', 'Babu' or 'Baby'. This does not mean that today the young boys and girls do not fall in love but their fantasies have changed, their emotions and expression have changed.

In this blog, I have selected a few of such 'Balma', 'Sajna' or 'Preetam' songs from every decade.

The first song in my list is from the film 'Devdas' 1936 sung by K L Saigal

Song of Devdas 1936

This song was originally sung by C H Atma, it was later sung by Geeta Dutt in the 1955 film Me & Mrs 55

Song by C H Atma

This song is from the Movie Kajal(1948), sung by Allaudin Naved and Shamshad Begum composed by Ghulam Mohammed.

Song of Kajal(1948) Audio

Song of Awaara (1951)

Song of Buzdil (1951)

Song of Gharana (1961)

Song of Mera Naam Joker (1970)

Song of Aap Ki Khatir 1977

Sajan or Sajna

Song of Parakh 1960

Song of Bombai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Bandini 1963

Song of Aaye Din Bahaar Ke (1966)

Song of Sajan 1969

Song of Sajan 1969

Song of Aan Milo Sajna 1970

Song of Saudagar 1973

Song of Swami 1977

Song of Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)

Song of Sajan 1991

Song of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge 1995

Preetam

Song of Mr. & Mrs. 55 (1955)

Song of Pocket Maar (1956)

Song of Main Shadi Karne Chala (1963)

Song of Archana (1973)

Once the Club Songs Swayed Bollywood

 

Bollywood songs, along with dance, remained a characteristic motif of Hindi cinema In the 50s and 60s club songs were the flavor of Bollywood lovers. Almost every film had one or two club songs. This became a genre in itself. If we look into those songs, we will see a girl or boy singing in a restaurant or a gambling den along boys and girls wearing skirts.with an orchestra playing western instruments.

The first popular club song was 'Patli Kamar Hai Tirchhi Nazar Hai' from Barsaat (1949) was picturized on Premnath and Cuckoo composed by Shankar Jaikishan. The next 'club' song that started a trend of this genre was from 'Baazi'(1951), 'Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana le' sung by Geeta Dutt and picturized on Geeta Bali. 

In this blog, I have selected a few of such popular Club Songs

Song of Barsat 1949

Song of Baazi 1951

Song of Awara 1951

Song of Taxi Driver 1954

Song of Aar Paar 1954

Song of Shri 420 1955

Song of Mr & Mrs 55 1955

Song of Howrah Bridge 1958

Song of Howrah Bridge 1958

Song of Dilli Ka Thug 1958

Song of Anari 1959

Song of Jaali Note 1960

Song of Chhote Nawab (1961)

Song of China Town 1962

Song of Akeli Mat Jaiyo (1963)

Song of Teesra Kaun 1965 

Vyjaynthimala- The Dancing Queen of Bollywood

 

Vyjayanthimala Bali celebrates her birthday on the 13th of August. She shares this birthday with another Bollywood legend Sridevi who was also a multilingual actress with superior dancing prowess. Both the actresses married Punjabi men who left their first wives.

 Vyjayanthimala performed some superhit song and dance numbers in Hindi films, whether it is Man dole mera tan dole (Nagin) or Chadh gayo paapi bichhua (Madhumati) or Buddha mil gaya (Sangam) or Hothon pe aisi baat (Jewel Thief) and not to forget Indian classical dances of Amrapali(1966)

At the age of seven, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII while her mother was an audience in 1940 at Vatican City. She learned Bharata Natyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic music from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her arangetram at the age of 13 and started performing in Tamil Nadu later.

She made her debut in the Tamil language film Vaazhkai in 1949 on the basis of her dance performance of Bharata Natyam in Chennai's Gokhale Hall. The success of her Tamil film Vazhkai in South India inspired AVM Productions to remake it in Hindi as Bahar in 1951. In their first Hindi venture, they decided to cast Vyjayanthimala again in the lead role with Karan Dewan, The film became a hit and also its music and dances. The next film 'Ladki' released in 1953 was opposite Kishore Kumar and Bharat Bhushan.

In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in the magnum opus film Nagin with Pradeep Kumar. The film got favorable responses from the audience and became the highest-grossing movie of 1954 where it was labeled as a blockbuster. Her performance as the Nagi tribe's chief got Mala favorable reviews from the critics, as in 1955,

Nagin was a precursor to her rise in Hindi cinema as an iconic actor, who combined her talents, performing and dancing, to rule the screen on her terms... biggest recall values of Nagin are Vyjayanthimala". Post Nagin Vyjayanthimala had established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood because of the film's nationwide success.

Vyjayanthimala's influence on films has been far-reaching. With her, semiclassical dance became an integral part of almost every Hindi film heroine's resume.At her peak, Vyjayanthimala took off to do a series of much-appreciated dance shows in Paris in 1959 besides working for top actors like Dilip Kumar in Paigham (1959) and Raj Kapoor in Nazrana (1961).

Vyjayanthimala has won four awards from five nominations, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Bollywood. She was the first person to decline the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Devdas, as she stated that the roles of Chandramukhi and Paro, played by Vyjayanthimala and Suchitra Sen respectively, were parallel and of equal  importance

In this blog, I am posting a few of her best dance songs.

Song of Bahar 1951

Song of Nagin 1954

Song of Devdas 1955

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Song of Kathputli 1957

Song of Madhumati 1958

Song of Ganga Jamuna 1961

Song of Sangam 1964

Classical Dance of Amrapali 1966

Song of Amrapali 1966

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

Song of Sangharsh 1968

Kaanto Se Kheench Ke Ye Aanchal - An Experimental Song

EVERY song of ‘Guide’ is still fresh in the minds of people who love music. This 3.44-minute song of Lata Mangeshkar is one of her favorite songs  Could you believe that initially, she didn't like this song. This song was recorded in between the shooting of the film. Dev Anand, who was the producer of the film was also not satisfied with the song.
S D Burman experimented in his music in many of the songs of this film. In this song, he started the song with an Antara. Usually, Hindi songs start with a Mukhada but here Dada Burman started with Antara. The Mukada of the song is "Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai" which comes after Antra. Probably a feat no other music director will ever be able to ever repeat
After the recording of this song in Bombay, Dev Anand joined the unit that was shooting at Udaipur in Rajasthan. Vijay Anand who was the director of the film now wanted to shoot the song but Dev Anand who was not satisfied with the song was not interested to shoot, Vijay Anand convinced him to shoot this song if even after he didn't like, they will re-record the song.

The song "was shot at Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan. In fact, the reflection of the heroine on one of the mirrors, during the song, is inspired by the legendary tale of Alauddin Khilji catching a glimpse of Queen Padmini on the same mirror in the main hall.
Composer Sachin Dev Burman fell seriously ill during this film and even requested Dev Anand to engage some other composer for the film. But Dev Anand stood firm to his side and said that he would wait till Dada Burman is fit again. Once cured, the masterpiece compositions started to flow; the first song recorded was the evergreen "Gaata Rahe Mera Dil".

13 October - A Cruel Co incidence in Bollywood

13th Oct is the Birthdate of Dada Muni, Ashok Kumar and unfortunately, it became the last day of Kishore Kumar, who passed away on this day.  Dada Muni was born on 13 Oct 1911. He was an Iconic Actor of the 1940s and 50s. By 1947, he was the most bankable star of Hindi cinema and started producing films for Bombay Talkies. He was the eldest son of the Ganguli family. Kishore Kumar was the youngest among all.
Kishore Kumar who was 18 years younger than Ashok Kumar. He was a lively child who was passionate about singing. He was especially obsessed with legendary singer and composer KL Saigal and learned music by imitating his style.
Kishore had no formal training in music and Ashok Kumar, who was already a film star, discouraged him from taking up a playback career. He felt that Kishore’s voice lacked ‘modulation’, among other things. But Kishore was in no mood to hang up his boots.

It was in 1945 when Kishore Kumar was in Bombay living with Ashok Kumar, who that time shooting for Shikari gave him a small role in that film. However, Kishore disliked acting. His first few films flopped and then he decided to act so badly that nobody will cast him. Kishore’s decision to perform badly became his calling card and the audience’s started loving him for it. It was the 1951 release of Andolan, however, that propelled him to stardom as a singer-actor and ultimately freed him from the shadow of his brother Ashok.
He was given break for singing by Khemchand Prakash for the 1948 film Ziddi, the song was  “Marne ki duayen kyon mangu”  The song was a hit but he didn't get many offers for singing.It was S D Burman who advised him not to imitate KL Saigal, sing in your own style.
 It was music director SD Burman who gave Kishore opportunities to sing in one movie after another beginning with Dev Anand’s hit films -- Munimji and Taxi Driver (1954), House No. 44 (1955), Funtoosh (1956), Nau Do Gyarah and Paying Guest (1957) and many more. Not only these movies became big hits but their songs too soared in popularity charts. Dev Anand’s own popularity scaled higher peaks while Kishore Kumar began to be recognized as Dev Anand’s voice.
Kishore Kumar and Ashok Kumar acted together in many films.the first time they acted together in Bhai Bhai released in 1956. Ashok Kumar, who played the lead role and Kishore Kumar (real-life brothers) as the two brothers, with the film being referred to as one of Kishore Kumar's prominent films. In this film sang one song for himself "Mera Naam Abdul Rehman"

Both of them are considered to be one of India’s finest artists who have successfully entertained us. Talking about Ashok Kumar, he was an actor who ruled the silver screen whereas, Kishore Kumar’s melodious voice remains etched in our hearts to date, and maybe forever.

Both the brothers were going great when destiny played a cruel game and one’s happy occasion, unfortunately, turned sad and unhappy for the other one. Kishore Kumar died on the birthday of Ashok Kumar in 1987, which shattered Ashok Kumar, he decided that he will never celebrate his birthday now and onwards. Ashok Kumar died 14 years later in 2001.
Here are 5 Prominent films of both brothers working together
Bhai Bhai 1956

Song of Bhai Bhai 1956

The story is of two brothers, with the younger brother running away from home at an early age. The older brother gets entangled with another woman, leaving his wife and child at home. This situation leads to the meeting of the brothers, with the older one mending his errant ways.


Bandi (1957)

Song of Bandi (1957)

This is a 1957 film directed by Satyen Bose and had all three brothers Ashok, Kishore and Anoop coming together for the first time. Ashok Kumar as his educated elder brother has negative shades to his character. while Kishore played a simpleton. The confrontation scenes between Ashok Kumar and Kishore Kumar are superb especially in the end when they meet after 16 years.


Raagini  (1958)

Song of Ragini 1958

It is a 1958 Bollywood film starring Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar, and Padmini. Kishore sings "Main Bangali Chhokra" The film was an average.at Box office


Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)-

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)

 The film featured the 3 brothers once again and Madhubala. The music was given by SD Burman and the Kishore sang most of the sings along with Asha Bhosle. The film was a huge success.

Door Ka Rahi (1971)

Song of Door Ka Rahi (1971)

 The film was directed by Kishore Kumar himself who also wrote the film and featured Tanuja, Ashok Kumar and himself in major roles. The film strives to deliver a very strong message of humanity using the simplest possible language. 

Bollywood Songs songs that do not have tabla, dholak or any other percussion instrument

Last night I was listening the song "Jalte Hain Jis ke Liye" sung  by Talat Mahmood from the film Sujata. One interesting point I noted  that this song has no sound of Tabla, Dholak or any other percussion instrument.This made me curious to research those songs which do not have any rhythmic instruments.
However, you may be surprised to learn that some of the most popular songs of the Golden era (mostly 50s and 60s) do not have any percussion instrument. Yes, you read that right. There are no percussion instruments in some of the most popular songs. 
We all know that Melody and Rhythm are two essential elements of any Hindi film song.  Melody is mostly identified with the vocals or the singable part and rhythm is identified with accompanying percussion instruments like Tabla or Bongo or Drums. 
You may say that the songs that do not have percussion must be sad or slow songs. But it was not like that.There are some bright, cheerful songs as well that have Nothing but melody.
It is possible to create the rhythm for a song without using percussion instruments. Most composers created rhythm by using guitars, banjo or some other stringed instrument like a Double Bass or a Piano. In film songs, guitar can be played in three ways – as a lead guitar, bass guitar or rhythm guitar.
In the above mentioned song the composer of the song SD Burman  usesd Piano to provide rhythm.Similarly SD Burman’s another masterpiece song from Pyaasa – Jaane woh kaise log in which piano supplements guitars and double bass for rhythm.
Hemant Kumar too seems to have a penchant for composing songs without percussion. His lively Bekarar karke from Bees Saal Baad, surprisingly does not have any percussion instruments, very unusual for the situation in the movie.
Here are few songs where the rhythm is provided by a variety of stringed instruments like Double Bass, Guitars and so on. I hope you enjoy these extremely popular Nothing but melody songs.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi 1958

Song of Dilli Ka Thug 1958

Song of Sujata 1959

Song of Kagaz ke phool 1959

Song of Lal Qila 1960

Song of Jhumroo 1961

Song of Bees Saal Baad 1962

Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1964

Song of Waqt 1965

Song of Anupama 1966

Song of Khamoshi 1969

Shamm Kapoor- Music and Rythum running in his veins.

When you think of Shammi Kapoor, music cannot be far behind. All his films had  songs and dance that were loud and energetic, joyous and boisterous, soft and romantic. In this blog on Shammi Kapoor,I have worked on the music interest of of Shammi Kapoor.
Few people know that Shammi Kapoor learnt classical music for five years along with his elder brother Raj Kapoor.Shammi  Kapoor became Pandit Jagannath Prasad's pupil. Later, as part of Prithvi Theatres, his music lessons continued. 
He entered the cinema world in 1948, as a junior artiste, at a salary of Rs. 50 per month, stayed with Prithvi Theatres for the next four years and collected his last pay check of Rs. 300, in 1952. He made his debut in Hindi Films in the year 1953, when the film Jeevan Jyoti was released. It was directed by Mahesh Kaul and Chand Usmani was Kapoor’s first heroine. 
He worked closely with the music directors and singers and musicians, and often sat in on recordings. He choreographed his own songs, his loose-limbed grace and innate sense of rhythm shaking every canon of 'dance' that Hindi films had hitherto seen on screen. And his obsession with music meant that, quite often, he often had an instrument with him. 
Shammi Kapoor once said in an interview that at recordings with Shankar-Jaikishen, he would observe the musicians performing, and get (music director) Jaikishen, a close friend, to teach him the nuances of each instrument.
Beside learning Indian Classical music he was also and  admirer of Western Music,Ramba, Samba, Western Classical, Gypsy Music, Jazz....He was a fan of Elvis Presley and later called as Elvis Presley of Bollywood. 
Shammi Kapoor played many instruments in various songs on screen, here I am posting few of those songs in which he is shown as playing the instrument.
Shammi Kapoor (21 October 1931– 14 August 2011) gave us hits like hits like Tumsa Nahin Dekha, Dil Deke Dekho, Singapore, Junglee, College Girl, Professor, China Town, Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Kashmir Ki Kali, Janwar, Teesri Manzil, An Evening in Paris, Bramhachari, Andaz and Sachaai. Shortly before his death, he made his last film appearance in Imtiaz Ali's 2011 directorial venture Rockstar co-starring his grand-nephew Ranbir Kapoor, the grandson of his brother Raj Kapoor. He died on 14 August 2011, 05:15 am IST, of chronic renal failure, aged 79.
Shammi Kapoor starred in over 50 films as lead actor, and over 20 films in supporting roles. He has won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor once, for his performance in the film Brahmachari (1968) and then in 1982 for Vidhaata. 

The first song in my list is from the film Hum Sab Chor Hain (1956).Here in this song Shammi is trying his best to impress Vimala (Nalini Jaywant). He is a theatre manager, she is hoping to be the lead actress.  But since he cannot sing or play any instrument, his assistant manager (Ram Avatar) is doing both from behind the door.

Song of Hum Sab Chor Hain 1956

The next song in the list is from the film Dil Deke Dekho, in this song Shammi Kapoor is playing drums.

Song of Dil Deke Dekho  1959

Song of China Town 1962

Song of Bluff Master1963

Song of Kashmir Ki Kali1964

Song of Teesri Manzil 1966

Song of Brahamchari 1968

Song of Brahamchari 1968

Song of  Jaane Anjane1971