Anarkali was a Musical Milestone for C Ramchandra

 

 C. Ramchandra's biggest success as a music composer was the 1953 movie Anarkali, though he had already tasted success with  Shehnai (1947), Sargam(1950), Samadhi(1950) and Albela(1951). The film was a Musical Hit and went on to celebrate Golden Jubilee. It was the highest-grossing film of 1953 and again ranks 2nd in the top 25 Best Musical Films of all times according to IMDb.

The Music direction of this film was given to the composer Vasant Prakash, who was the younger brother of famous composer Khemchan Prakash. He even composed a song “Aa jaane wafa aa” penned by Jan Nisar Akhtar and sung by Geeta Dutt. Basant Prakash had major health problems after having recorded this one song with Geeta Dutt. C. Ramchandra took over as the composer. The film had a total of 11 songs, with 10 composed by C Ramchandra and 1 by Basant Prakash.

This film was a musical hit. The first-ever 'Binaca Geetmala' Annual Program of 1953 - saw  "Ye Zindagi usiki hai" catapulted to  the No. 1 position. This song came in parts in the film. The first two stanzas were when the lovers happy in each others company. The 3 rd stanza - jo dil yahan na mil sake signalled their despair and separation, while the last 2 were of unrequited love when Anarkali was being cemented into a wall on all sides. Lata Mangeshkar gave her soul in singing this song.

Out of 11 songs, only one song was a duet "Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar.  Hemant Da had 2 solos in this film , recall the song "Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi Hoti Hai'.There were other beautiful songs too other than the above . 1. Aaja ab to aaja [Lata Mangeshkar- lyricist  Shaillendra]; 2. Mohabbat aisi dhadkan hai [Lata Mangeshkar] 3. Muzse mat puch mere ishq mein kya rakkha hai [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 4. Muhabbat mein aise kadam dagmagaye [Lata Mangeshkar] ; 5. Dua kar ghame dil khuda se dua kar [Lata Mangeshkar].

Track #	Song	Singer(s)	Lyricist	Music Composer
1	"Aa Jaan e Wafaa"[3]	Geeta Dutt	Jan Nissar Akhtar	Vasant Prakash
2	"Aaja Ab To Aaja"[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Shailendra	C. Ramchandra
3	"Mujhse Mat Poochh"	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
4	"Dua Kar Gham-E-Dil"	Lata Mangeshkar	Shailendra	C. Ramchandra
5	"Jaag Dard-E-Ishq Jaag"[3]	Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
6	"Mohabbat Aisi Dhadkan Hai"[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Hasrat Jaipuri	C. Ramchandra
7	"Zindagi Pyar Ki Do Char Ghadi"[3]	Hemant Kumar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
8	"O Aasman Wale Shikwa Hai Zindagi Ka"	Lata Mangeshkar	Hasrat Jaipuri	C. Ramchandra
9	"Yeh Zindagi Usiki Hai"[3]	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan	C. Ramchandra
10	"Ae Baad E Saba Zara Ahista Chal"	Hemant Kumar
11	"Mohabbat Mein Aise Kadam Dagamagae"	Lata Mangeshkar	Rajendra Krishan

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Song of Anarkali 1953

Piya Tu Ab To Aja- One of the Gems of R D Burman

 

Music and Song sequences can make a film hit and memorable. This song from the 1971 film from Caravan is one such example. This song was written by Mazrooh Sultanpuri, composed by R D Burman and sung by Asha Bhonsle. The song was performed by Helen, who is known for doing item numbers in Bollywood .

 Music scholar Nilanjana Bhattacharjya identified "Piya Tu Ab To Aja" as one of the culturally important Hindi film songs. The song has also been called "the catalyst" that made "Asha  Bhonsle the queen of cabaret numbers". R D Burman was nominated for the Filmfare Best Music Director and Asha Bhonsle was awarded the Best Female Playback Singer for this song.

The picturisation of this song is typical of the item numbers of the era portraying a "vamp" character who dances seductively for a nightclub audience. The audience used to get crazy when this dance number starts. I was a teenager when this film was released was also mesmerized with this song and dance number. Almost 50 years have passed, this song still makes people dance.

In Aug 2020, A video of two elderly women dancing to the tunes of Asha Bhosle’s hit 1971 song Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja, from the film Caravan, has gone viral on social media. The saree-clad women launched a dance party in the middle of a street. Watch this viral video here.

Two elderly women dancing 

This song boosted the career of Asha Bhonsle, getting the maximum number of cabaret or item songs. This song also stamped the 'Jodi' of R D Burman and Asha Bhosle. They gave us many peppy and immortal songs after this.

Asha Bhosle recorded a new version in 2003 for the Kronos Quartet album You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman's Bollywood.  It also appears on the compilation album The Very Best of Asha Bhosle, The Queen of Bollywood. Composer Lesle Lewis released a remix of the song on his 2003 album Special Appointment Club Hits. This number is also referenced briefly during the song "Dhoom Tanaa" from Om Shanti Om when Deepika Padukone, dressed in a gold bikini ensemble, dances in a cage.

Song of Caravan 1971

BAPPI LAHIRI- The Gold Man of Bollywood

 

Bappi has his own unmatched personal style. He is the perfect blend of East and West, and his wardrobe ranges from the traditional Indian kurta and sherwani to the western sweatshirts and blazers. He is fond of wearing pieces of jewellery that represent significant symbols in his life. Bappi is famous throughout India for his trademark gold ornaments and sunglasses.

Talking about his love for the yellow metal, Bappi Da said in an interview, “I have everything in gold, right from my glasses, rings to my watches and all my ornaments. Mere jaisa ornaments aaj tak koi bhi nahin pehenta hai. Main gold ko lucky manta hoon. I believe that whatever work I have done in the last 50 years and I am still doing, is because of the grace of the Goddess Lakshmi.”

Bappi Lahiri was born in Calcutta, West Bengal on 27th Nov1952 into a family with a rich tradition in classical music. He began to play the tabla at the tender age of three. Even at that tender age, Bappi showed signs of greatness as he played the tabla with the proficiency of an experienced professional.

His father, Aparesh Lahiri was a famous Bengali singer and his mother, Bansari Lahiri was a musician and a singer who was well-versed in classical music and Shyama Sangeet. His parents trained him in every aspect of music. Kishore Kumar was his maternal uncle.

Bappi as Child

Bappi as Teenager

At the age of 19, he became an independent composer in a Bengali film. His first Hindi film as a composer was 'Nanna Shikari' released in 1973 but  the film which established him in Bollywood was Tahir Husain's Hindi film, Zakhmee (1975),

He shot to fame in the 80s and 90s with foot-tapping disco numbers. He introduced Vijay Benedict and Sharon Prabhakar to the Bollywood and paved the path to fame for Alisha Chinai and Usha Uthup through his compositions.He is also known for soundtracks like Wardat, Disco Dancer, Namak Halaal, Dance Dance, Commando, Gang Leader, Sailaab and Sharaabi 

Along with Biddu, Bappi popularized the use of synthesized disco music in Indian cinema with an Indian flavour. Most of his songs werer rendered by singers such as Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle  In 2011, he sang the song Ooo la la Ooo la lain the movie The Dirty Picture for Vishal-Shekhar. In late 2016, Bappi Lahiri lent his voice to the character of Tamatoa in the Hindi-dubbed version of Disney's 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film Moana; he himself also composed and sang a song in the film 

Song of Zakhmee 1975

Song of Chalte Chalte 1976

Song of Aap Ke Khatir (1977)

Song of Suraksha 1979

Song of Pyaara Dushman (1980)

Song of Wardaat (1981)

Song of Namak Halaal (1982)

Song of Disco Dancer (1983)

ong of Sharaabi (1984)

Song of Thanedaar (1990)

Song of Dirty Picture 2011

Main hoon jhum jhum jhum jhum Jhumroo- One Man Show

This song from the 1961 film'Jhumroo' was written, composed, and sung by Kishore Kumar. He was the producer, editor, story writer, and hero of this film. This song is a title song played with the opening credit titles of the film. The film starts with this song, Kishore Kumar is nowhere in the scene. The picturization shows a toy train finding its way on the picturesque terrain of Darjeeling hills while this song gets played in the background. Madhubala is one of the passengers traveling on this train.
Jhumroo was Kishore Kumar's first released film as a composer, before that two of his films as a composer was shelved. Both were to be directed by Phani Mazumdar. Both films couldn't see the light of the day.
 Kishore Kumar is at his absolute best as a singer in this song. This song has Kishore Kumar at his yodeling best  There were 11 songs in the film  Most of the songs were recorded well before the shooting of the film stated. There was no situation for this song, everybody was appreciating this song and wanting to retain this song, so it was kept in the beginning as a background song with the credit titles.
Since Kishore Kumar had no musicians, orchestra, and music arranger so the help of S D Burman's team was taken. Basu Chakravarti who was Burman Dada's arranger helped Kishore Kumar to complete songs.
The song starts with the rhythm of a guitar matching the sound of a steam engine followed by the yodeling of Kishore Kumar Before yodeling starts Kishore creates the sound of the whistle of the engine. There is no differentiation between Mukhda and Antra in this song, in fact, each Antra has the Mukhda in it. Between the Antra Kishore Kumar's high pitched laughter and yodeling is kept as an interlude. The words are simple and minimum use of musical instruments mainly guitar and accordion are the main instruments.

Song of Jhumroo 1961