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
This song remains one of the most popular songs of Madhumati, released in 1958. The Madhumati soundtrack features eleven songs composed by Salil Chowdhry. Shailendra wrote the lyrics The soundtrack of Madhumati became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of 1958. This remains one of the personal favorite songs of Mukesh. Suhana Safar Aur Ye Mausam Haseen is one of Hindi cinema’s greatest musical scores. An anthem in praise of natural beauty. Mukesh’s inimitable voice emanates the joy with a fantastic echo effect. Salil Chowdhury utilized this quality so adeptly in this composition that listening to it one feels like none but Mukesh could have rendered this song. Charming its way into people’s hearts and rightly securing his position in the league of legends. It is said that Dilip Kumar, the hero of the film wanted this song to be sung by Talat Mahmood but Talat himself declined to sing saying Mukesh needed that break much more than him, Mukesh was not getting songs during those years and that he was hard up for money. There is another story behind this song, that Shailendrawho was the lyricist for this songcouldn’t find a suitable line to follow this particular one “Ye Gori Nadiyon Ka Chalna Uchhal Kar”. So the song was kept on hold for quite some time till one day, he happened to chance upon a little girl who was crossing a lane and singing to herself. This inspired him to write the next line “Ki Jaise Alhad Chale Pee Se Mil Kar”. He immediately went to Salil Da's home and completed the full song. Shailendra has used words like ‘Alhar’, which is seldom used in film songs and it is north Indian rooted word, generally used by village and small-town folks. Along with the composition of the song and its picturization; the lyrics were unique. Describing the movement of rivers, Unlike other films, shot indoors, Roy decided to shoot Madhumati outdoors and at a hill station. It had a six-week schedule in Ranikhet, Nainital. Some scenes were shot in Ghorakhal, near Nainital. In those days there were no monitors, so when the negatives were developed, it was found that most of the footage was foggy. Since a reshoot in far-away Uttarakhand wasn't possible, sets were created near Vaitarna Dam, Igatpuri, near Nashik. Art direction team, led by Sudhendu Roy, created fake pine trees, which were planted to matched the location in Nainital.
This song was written by Majrooh Sultanpuri and composed by S D Burman, was picturised on Sunil Dutt and Nutan for the film Sujata 1959. It is a “phone” song, where Sunil Dutt rings up Nutan and sings this song on phone. Well, there were very few phones in 1959 ( exactly sixty years ago) and singing a song on phone was not good for one’s telephone bills those days unless one was doing it for very important reasons. Bimal Roy, the producer-director of the film wanted this song to be sung by Mohammad Rafi but Burman Da was not in favour, then the name of Manna Dey was suggested but Burman Da was looking for someone else. SD Burman was always very particular about the voice of his singer to be matched with his composition. For this song, he asked Rafi, Manna Dey to sing back the tune to him over the phone. He was not satisfied with the texture he wanted for this song. It is said that it was Jaidev who was his assistant in that film suggested the name of Talat Mahmood for this song. Burman Da agreed and asked Talat to sing the tune over the Telephone. On listening to the tune on the phone Burman da immediately decided that this song will be sung by Talat only. And indeed, the soft silken voice of Talat sounds so wonderful in this song that made the song immortal The beauty of this song is not only: its music, its words but also its picturization, Talat’s incomparable singing, Nutan’s acting—and, though often overlooked, also Sunil Dutt’s acting. Watch in the first verse, for instance, the earnestness in his face as he sings: as if he’s trying to be absolutely word-perfect, not one note out of place, focusing on his song and yet also addressing that girl he loves, who’s listening at the other end of the line. Then, as the song progresses, he begins to relax—not just physically stretching out, but also smiling more easily, letting himself feel more comfortable, more confident that she’s liking his song…
Bimal Roy who made Devdas in 1955 with the same star lead was looking for a hit. His 1955 film Devdas was commercially unsuccessful, jeopardising his company Bimal Roy Productions; he needed a commercial success to survive. The film opened at the Roxy theatre near Opera House Bombay.“It was a fabulous evening, glamorous and glittering, just like the film premieres on screen.” Like all great movies, this one too inspired a genre of its own, the re-incarnation genre.
The soundtrack of Madhumati became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of 1958. Salil Chowdhury won his first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director.Suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen is one of the most popular songs by recording artist Mukesh and is regularly played at dandiya functions. The Madhumati soundtrack features eleven songs composed by Salil Chowdhury. Shailendra wrote the lyrics and Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, Mubarak Begum, Asha Bhosle, Sabita Chowdhury, Ghulam Mohammed and Dwijen Mukhopadhyay provided the vocals. It is one of the greatest Hindi movies ever made. It’s top notch in terms of cinematography, directing, music, acting and dancing. I rank it among Top 10 Hindi films.Bimal Roy's classics like Sujata, Bandini, Do Bigha Zameen or Devdas, still bears the mark of a master craftsman. And it’s good entertainment value. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. They are unable to have a relationship during their lifetimes and are reincarnated. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. They are unable to have a relationship during their lifetimes and are reincarnated. The film begins on a dark and stormy night (a recurring motif in the film: all the most dramatic events occur on stormy nights). Two friends – an engineer, Devendra (Dilip Kumar) and a doctor (Tarun Bose) are travelling by car along a mountain road when a fallen tree forces a halt. The driver advises the two men to take shelter in the nearby mansion while he goes off to find help. Devendra and his friend go off to the mansion, which turns out to be a spooky place, dusty and seemingly deserted.
The film was shot at a hill station. It had a six-week schedule at a location in Ranikhet, Nainital. Some scenes were filmed in Ghorakhal near Nainital.When the negatives were developed, most of the footage was found to be fogged. Since a reshoot in far-away Uttarakhand was not possible, sets were created near Vaitarna Dam, Igatpuri. The art direction team, led by Sudhendu Roy, created fake pine trees, which were planted to match the location in Nainital.A large part of the film was filmed in Aarey Milk Colony, a small forested area in Mumbai. A scene in which Dilip Kumar looks for Vyjayanthimala in the woods was filmed in Igatpuri. The foggy effect was recreated using gas bombs. Commercially it was the biggest hit of Bimal Roys's career. It wiped out his losses of Devdas released in 1955.The fact that it scored over movies like Kala Pani, Sadhana, Phir Subah Hogi, all released the same year, speaks for its power to captivate the audience and hold its attention for long. More than anything, Madhumati, forever, will be remembered for its music.
Think of gems like ‘Suhana Safar Aur Ye Mausam Hasin’, ‘Dil Tadap Tadap Ke Keh Raha Hai’, ‘Aaja Re Mai To Kabse Khadi Is Paar’, ‘Chadh Gayo Paapi Bichua’, ‘Zulmi Sang Aankh Ladi’, ‘Toote Hue Khwabon Ne’ and ‘Ghadi Ghadi Mera Dil Dhadke’, and you know instantly what melody stood for.
Madhumati' is primarily an entertainer but one doesn't think of it as a masala film, and there's a lot to like about it. Wonderful visuals and songs, very good performances, a nicely developed romance, and it's strong on atmospherics as well. It fully delivers on its promise and is quite a charming film.
Bimal Roy who gave Bollywood some of the iconic films like Do Bigha Zameen, Devdas, Madhumati, Bandini Sujata and more.He alsogave Indian Cinema many great filmmakers and writers such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Gulzar, Nabendu Ghosh, Salil Chowdhury and Basu Bhattacharya He was born on 12 July 1909, to a Bengali Baidyazamindar family in Suapur, Dhaka, which was then part of the Eastern Bengal and Assam province of British India and is now part of Bangladesh.He moved to Calcutta and entered the field of cinema as a camera assistant with New Theatres Pvt. Ltd.. During this time, he assisted director P.C. Barua as Publicity Photographer, on the hit 1935 film Devdas, starring K.L. Saigal. Bimal Roy’s debut feature film Udayer Pathe was made in Bengali in 1944.which was made in hindi as Hamrahi in 1945 by New Theatres Calcutta.Our National Anthem Jana Gana Mann before it was made the National Anthem was introduced in this film. Maa in 1952 was his first Bollywood film for Bombay Talkies. A year later, his own production company came into being with ``Do Bigha Zamin'' about a farmer struggling to survive the industrial revolution. His another film Parineeta was also released in the same year. The immortal ``Devdas'' in 1955 based on Sarat Chandra's classic, has been fodder for several films over the years.Unlike film-makers of today, directors of that era made sure to not get stuck in a groove. So after the heartbreaking ``Devdas,'' Bimal Roy made a frothy musical, ``Madhumati'', probably the first film on re-incarnation. He believed that there was no medium like cinema to promote the idea of human struggle. Noted for his realistic and socialistic films - Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta and Biraj Bahu - legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy is a celebrated institution in Hindi Cinema and has inspired many a movie maverick from Shyam Benegal to Hansal Mehta. He was a very silent person,he spoke through his films.His works stand out for their photography. He took great care to reveal the light source and introduced a sense of time. More importantly, it connected one to reality. You could tell what time of the day a situation was taking place. He is the only director who got Filmfare Best Director Award continuously for 3 years twice.
He died of cancer on 8 January 1966 at the age of 56. He was survived by four children,Just before his death Roy was working on one of his most ambitious project, a bi-lingual film titled Amrit Kumbh Ki Khoj Mein based on Samaresh Basu’s novel. He had shot one schedule with his unit during an actual kumbh mela in Allahabad in the early 60s.
The 50s and 60s was the Golden Period of Bollywood.It was the period that saw the Hindi cinema with melodious socials and melodramas with melodious & immortal songs.The films made during that time not only gave entertainment but also social & moral message..this period saw the production of some of India’s most critically acclaimed directors, actors and actresses,Music Directors,Lyricist and films of all time. V SHANTARAM -
In 1929, he founded the Prabhat Film Company along with Vishnupant Damle, K.R. Dhaiber, S. Fatelal and S.B. Kulkarni, which made Ayodhyecha Raja, the first Marathi language film in 1932 under his direction.He left Prabhat co. in 1942 to form "Rajkamal Kalamandir" in Mumbai. In time, "Rajkamal" became one of the most sophisticated studios of the country.Through his 66-year-old career, was known to use cinema as an instrument to effect social change, advocate humanism and expose bigotry and injustice. He was also interested in music and actively participated in the music creation and production of his films. He was also remembered to have ‘ghost-written’ music for many of his music directors.He is most known for films such as Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), BIMAL ROY
- He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta,Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Golden Era of Hindi cinema.He was a filmmaker of great and in-depth understanding of human strengths and weaknesses.He introduced the genius composer Salil Chowdhury to Hindi Cinema with Do Beegha Zameen , but also utilised his writing skills in at least three films. Do Beegha was based on a story Rikshawala written by him back in the ’40s. Parakh was also based on his story and Salil da wrote the screenplay of Prem Patra . MEHBOOB KHAN -
The maker of bold saga Aurat (1940),Anmol Ghadi (1946), the romantic drama Andaz (1949), the swashbuckling musical Aan (1951) and the grand social epic Mother India (1957).He set up his production company – Mehboob Productions, and later a film studio – Mehboob Studios in Bandra, Mumbai in 1954. K ASIF -
Afilm director, film producer and screenwriter who is famous for his work on the Hindi epic motion picture, Mughal-e-Azam (1960)..His directorial debut, Phool (1945), did very well at the box-office due to the casting of and portrayals by famous actors and actresses of the time such as Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote and Suraiya. He became a successful director due to his perfectionism in weaving his imagination into an art form and gave birth to Mughal-e-Azam, a legendary film in the Indian Film Industry. He died at age 48. Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in the history of cinema.[5] He was the winner of several accoladesincluding 3 National Film Awards and 11 Filmfare Awards in India. He was a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954).He established R K Studio in 1948 and became the youngest film director of his time making his directorial debut with Aag starring himself, He went on to produce and star in several hit films made under his R. K. Banner including Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Jagte Raho (1956) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960) B R CHOPRA-
He was one of the architects of golden era,Best known for making Hindi films like Naya Daur (1957), Sadhna (1958), Kanoon (1961), Gumrah (1963) and Humraaz (1967).His first film as a director, Afsana, was released in 1951 and featured Ashok Kumar in a double role – the film was a hit and established his name in Bollywood. Chopra made Chandni Chowk, with Meena Kumari as a lead, in 1954. In 1955, B.R. formed his own production house, B.R Films. His first movie for this production house was the highly successful Naya Daur (1957) starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala Bali, the film became a golden jubilee hit. He was instrumental in developing the career of singer Mahendra Kapoor, GURU DUTT -
Also known as Goldie Anand, was afilmmaker, producer, screenwriter, editor and actor, who is known for acclaimed films such as Guide (1965) and Johny Mera Naam (1970). He made most of his films for the in-house banner Navketan Films.He was also the director of Teesri Manzil(1966).He gave us the films like Nau Do Gyarah(1957), Kala Bazar (1960),Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963),Jewel Thief (1967),Tere Mere Sapne (1971). Actors of Golden Era The three most popular male Indian actors of the 1950s and 1960s were Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, and Dev Anand, each with their own unique acting style.Other actors were Ashok Kumar. Balraj Sahni,Guru Dutt,Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar,Johny Walker and Mehmood while successful actresses included Nargis, Suraiya, Vyjayanthimala, Meena Kumari, Nutan, Madhubala, Sadhana, Waheeda Rehman and Mala Sinha. Music Directors Of Golden Era Naushd,S D Burman,Shankar Jaikishan,O P Nayyar.Madan Mohan,C Ramchandra.Hemant Kumar and Roshan were few of the great composer of that time. Singers of Golden Era Lata,Geeta Dutt,Asha Bhosle,Suriya among the female Rafi,Talat Manna De Mukesh and Kishore Kumar were among the male singers.
