Showing posts with label ghulam mohammad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ghulam mohammad. Show all posts

Saturday 13 June 2020

Story Behind the Song "Chalo Dildar Chalo"


This immortal song from Pakeezah(1972) was originally a solo sung by Lata Mangeshkar, intended for use as a dancing number, the fascinating solo version was cut from both the film and record released, later a romantic version, a duet was recorded. You may have noticed it or not, Rafi sab has sung but just a single line in it which is the Mukhda. Amazing how a single line sung by Rafi sab had made it an immortal Rafi song.
This was the only song in this film having a male voice. All the other songs were female solo. The music of this film was given by Ghulam Mohammad. He composed a total of 15 songs for the film out of which only six were used. The remaining songs were released in 1977 in an album called "Pakeezah Rang Barang". This album was released exclusively by Saregama in 1977.
This film took 16 years to complete. The mahurat of the film happened on July 16, 1956, and the film got released in Feb 1972. The music of the film was recorded by the end of 1959. Kamal Amrohi wanted this film to be a musical so 15 songs were recorded earlier.
The shooting of the film was halted in 1964 due to mutual differences between lead heroine Meena Kumari and her director-husband Amrohi. In 1968, the composer of the film passed away. So, when the film was revived in 1969, Naushad was roped in to complete the background music for the film. Many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi change the music according to the then-popular trend and style. To this Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still alive but now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing trend.
In 1969 the shooting of the film resumed after a gap of five years. By this time Meena Kumari's health got deteriorated. She was suffering from Liver Cirrhosis. Few songs were yet to be picturized. Her condition became so bad that during the filming of the grueling emotional Mujraa “Teer-e Nazar,” Meena Kumari collapsed.  Keeping in mind her medical condition, a body double was brought. Actress Padma Khanna played her body double in this song as she was an adept Kathak dancer which was an urgent requirement of the song. Meena Kumari personally trained her for the scene, and the song was filmed with the majority of the dancing done under a veil in order to hide her face. 
Similarly in this song too Padma Khanna acted as Meena Kumari. Her face was actually never shown in the song.
Song of Pakeezah 1972




                    Chalo Dildar Chalo - Lata Solo version not in the film


Sunday 17 March 2019

Ghulam Mohammed’ - The man who gave the Immortal Music of Pakeezah


 The music of Pakeezah by the late Ghulam Mohammed was a benchmark score. Arriving bang in the midst of the peak era of R. D. Burman and Kishore Kumar, He died on 17 March 1968, four years before his magnum opus, Pakeezah (1972) was released. The film was started in 1958 but got delayed and finally released after 14 years.
When Pakeezah was resumed in 1969, many exhibitors suggested Kamal Amrohi to change the music according to the then famous trend and style. To this, Amrohi said that he would have readily done this if only Ghulam Mohammed was still breathing alive. But, now he cannot betray a man, who gave him such melodious songs, after his unexpected and untimely death. So he kept his music intact but used fewer songs as planned to keep up with the fast-changing times.
Ghulam Mohammad composed 9 songs of this film by the time the film shooting started in 1960. In fact, the first song "Inhi Logo Ne Le Liya Dupatta Mera" was picturised. Earlier the film was planned in Black & White but due to the delay and change of trend, the film shot in colour. The black & white version of the song was never used, but many of the shots are extremely similar to the final version. Notice how different young Lata’s voice sounds in this song compared to parts of the soundtrack recorded years later. Even more, interestingly, Inhi Logon Ne was originally taken from the film Himmat (1941) in a version sung by none other than Shamshad Begum!
The movie Pakeezah itself is pure cinematic magic–Kamal Amrohi was notorious for his artistry and attention to detail. Pakeezah’s breath-taking production design, Ghulam Muhammed’s haunting semi-classical thumris
Did you know the beautiful Mohammed Rafi-Lata Mangeshkar duet, Chalo Dildar Chalo (raga Pahadi), was actually also recorded as a female solo? Intended for use as a dancing number, the fascinating solo version was cut from both the film and record releases, 
One index of Ghulam Mohammed’s creativity is the melodic variety within his songs. Given the brevity of a film song, it is quite usual for every antaraa to have the same tune. But this base case is extremely unusual for Ghulam Mohammed. His songs rarely have a repeated melody throughout. If there are three antaraas, one of them is usually different from the other two; occasionally, all three are different from each other. “Dhadakate Dil ki Tamanna ho” from Shama (1961) has three antaraas with two tunes among them; Pakeezah’s “Mausam Hai Aashiqaanaa” has four antaraas with three different tunes among them.
Song of Pakeezah 1972


Song of Pakeezah 1972


Song of Pakeezah 1972


Song of Pakeezah 1972


Song of Pakeezah 1972


Song of Pakeezah 1972




Thursday 10 January 2019

Shayar 1949 film Review


Shayar is a 1949 film. It is a triangle love story between Dev Anand, Suriya and Kamini Kaushal. In the same year, another triangle love story film Andaz was released but the difference was the triangle was between two heroes and a heroine.
The film was written & directed by M S Chawla and produced under the banner of Jagat Pictures. Dev Anand plays a poet who is caught between his childhood sweetheart and a girl from the city who sings his poems on the radio. spends an inordinate amount of time with light comedy in-between by Agha, contrived even by the standards of missed identity farce. would probably rate this higher, just in light of the charming cast and very good music. There are 10 songs in this film, all composed by Ghulam Mohammad and written by Shakeel Badyuni.


 There is a duet sung by Mukesh for Dev Anand.and Lata for Kamini Kaushal