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
Showing posts with label playback singer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playback singer. Show all posts
‘Dil jalta hai to jalne de’. was the first major song from Mukesh from ” Pehli Nazar”(1945). It was Anil Biswas who composed this song and wanted him to singin Saigal style The song became so popular that he was branded for the sad songs. He was next to Saigal for such types of songs.Initially, all the composers used Mukesh mainly for such songs.
After this film, however, Anil Biswas helped Mukesh to develop his own distinct style, away from the Saigal effect. Mukesh songs of Anokha Pyaar-48, Lajawab-50 and Aaram-51 are a testimony to this effort becoming a success. Just listen to ‘ Aye Jaan e Jigar’ song and you will agree. The anguish of a failed lover, despondency of a purposeless life, the Heartache-all this is expressed by Mukesh like no other singer.
Naushad also recognized Mukesh's voice, he took him for the first time in the 1948 film 'Anokhi Ada'.Mukesh coming out a winner with his ‘ kabhi dil dil se takrata to hoga’. Mela-48 put a stamp of approval on Mukesh from none other than Dilip Kumar. He sang many songs for him, in fact he was the voice of Dilip Kumar in Andaz(1949) and Rafi was the voice of Raj Kapoor in that film.
Mukesh became the voice of Raj Kapoor after the success of Barsat (1949), he sang almost all the songs for him except a few exceptions. on his death raj Kapoor said that he has lost his voice. In fact, after the demise of Mukesh, Talat, Hemant, and Kishore to a certain extent sang sad songs, but the sentiments of Gloom, sorrow, and despair disappeared from Hindi film songs.
The last song that he recorded was Chanchal Sheetal Nirmal Komal from “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” in June 1976. Soon after recording this song he left for a musical tour of the US. Mukesh had sung 930 songs in 533 films. he gave music to 2 films and acted in 7 films in his early years. Some of his films were, “Aadab Arz” (1943), “Aah” (1953), “Mashuqa” (1953), “Anurag” (1956).
We all remember the song "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" with this song Geeta Dutt became famous That was in 1947 with the release of 'Do Bhai' music was given by S D Burman. 1947-1949 saw Geeta Roy rule as the number one female playback singer in the Hindi film industry as she moved from strength to strength. She married Guru Dutt in 1953 whom she fell in love with during the recording of the songs of' Baazi'(1951).
In 1957 Guru Dutt started a film 'Gauri' in Hindi and Bengali with her as the heroine. This film was supposed to be shot in the new cinemascope technology. It is said that a lot of expensive types of equipment were ordered from abroad and the shooting began with a lot of expectations from Geeta DuttThe shooting of the film began and a few reels were shot. Based on the available information, at least one song sung and acted by Geeta was recorded. To much dismay of Geeta, Guru Dutt decided to scrap the film. It was a case of shattered dreams for Geeta who had pinned her hopes on this film. The words "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" sung by her almost ten years ago had become true.
Geeta Dutt In Gauri
Since the film was supposed to be a musical, it is said that two songs were recorded for the film but were never released on discs. it was the legendary S D Burman (whom Geeta used to call "Kaka" (Uncle) with affection). Geeta Dutt is reported to have recorded a song "BANSHI SHUNE AAR KAJ NAI SE JE DAKATIA BANSHI" for the film Gauri. The record version was probably never published. This is confirmed from a 1958 Bengali magazine article by Colin Paul. Later S.D. Burman himself recorded the song in his own voice at around 1960/1961 and it was a hit. The song has lyrics by Gouri Prasanna Majumdar and music by S D Burman himself. The same tune was later used for Shakti Samanta’s film Anuraag (1972) where Lata Mangeshkar sang the song "Neend Churaye Chain Churaye Daka Dale Teri Bansi" for Moushumi Chatterjee making her debut in Hindi films. The film Gauri got shelved and the original tunes were probably never heard by anyone. The shelving of the film Gauri had a severe impact on Geeta as a person. A truly spirited woman she was, she continued to sing memorable songs as if nothing had happened, but for sure she was hurt deep inside in her heart. Those days Guru Dutt was in love with Waheeda Rehman, their family life was in trouble. Guru Dutt broke with Geeta Dutt for the sake of Waheeda Rehman. Waheeda never reciprocated her love to Guru Dutt since he was a married man with children. Moreover, she respected him as a Great artist and nothing else. At this juncture, it is hard to imagine Guru Dutt’s state of mind. He was caught between two situations. Breaking up with his wife and not getting attention from Waheeda. Finally, Guru Dutt found the easy way out. He apparently committed suicide on October 10th, 1964
After Guru Dutt's untimely death in the year 1964, Geeta Dutt suffered a lot of financial, health related and personal problems. She was practically left with no money (being made insolvent from Guru Dutt Films due to the debacle of the film "Sailaab" earlier) and three children to support. The days of her career as a leading playback singer were over and she was not getting many singing assignments. Between the years 1964 and 1967, she sang less than a couple of dozen songs, mostly in obscure and/or low-budget films. Going by the rule of the film industry, one and all had deserted her. Even those people whom she had helped building their careers had conveniently forgotten her. The composers for whom she sang several hit songs turned back towards her. She was forced to do stage shows and radio jingles and even those were not a great success. It was a sad story to see a top playback singer being treated like this by the film and music fraternity. It is reported that she decided to venture into other areas of films and music. She was to compose the music for a film under the moniker "Pyaasi" and it is said that she even recorded a song in her own voice. We do not have any information if any records of songs she composed were released or not. This was the time, when she decided to try her hand at acting one more time, this time in her mother tongue Bengali.
Cover of Badhu Baran's Booklet
Geeta Dutt got a role in a Bengali film titled Badhu Baran in the year 1967. The film was directed by Dilip Naag. The film introduced Rakhee (who later became Rakhee Gulzar and went on to become a popular actress in Hindi films) to the film world. The film was made by D.S. Productions
The film had an impressive star cast in Pradeep Kumar paired with Geeta Dutt. Based on the available information, the film did not do too well at the box office. A good amount of interest was among the music and film lovers who watched this film to see their favorite singer Geeta Roy acting in a film. The film ran for about 5 or 6 weeks or so in Kolkata.
Elegant Geeta ji in Badhu Baran
The music of the film was composed by the legendary and brilliant composer Kamal Dasgupta. It is a pity that the composer chose to have Geeta sing just one song for this film. The song she sang is "Amar alor o shishu o andhar ja"This turned out to be Geeta Dutt's last recording in a Bengali film
Song of Badhu Baran 1967
She tried to resume her singing career. But Asha Bhonsle had already overtaken her. Geeta Dutt started drowning her woes in alcohol. Her health kept failing as she drank more and more alcoholic drinks..ultimately she died on July 20th 1972 due to cirrhosis of the liver at the tender age of 42. Geeta Dutt was a brilliant playback singer of Hindi films, strikingly beautiful with dreamy almond eyes, who left us nearly 50 years ago. Despite possessing a rich voice, her career was heavily marred by bad luck and an unhappy marriage.
The last recorded song of Geeta Dutt was a duet with Talat Mahmood in the 1972 film Midnight which went unnoticed. In this film she sang a solo also.
In the early 50s, Dev Saab didn’t believe in making one singer his ‘voice’ and juggled between Mohd. Rafi, Talat Mehmood, Hemant Kumar, and Kishore Kumar. The super hit combination of Dev with Hemant Kumar under the music direction of Dada Burman gave many Immortal Romantic Songs. He became the romantic voice of Dev Anand. He sang only 16 songs as playback for Dada Burman and 10 of those were on Dev Anand and all of them were hits. What a stupendous record.
Hemant Da in an interview said that it was S D Burman who understood the potential of his voice.The romantic pairing of my voice with his (Dev Anand’s) screen image was created by Sachin Babu (SD Burman). People simply loved it. The first song of this combination was 'from Sazaa (1951) with 'Aa Gup Chhup Gup Chhup Pyar Karen'and then the massive hit next year in Jaal,(1952) 'Yeh Raat Yeh Chandani Phir Kahan, Sun Jaa Dil ki Dastan'.
Though he sang for Dev Anand under the composition of other Music Directors also but here we are talking about the songs of this great trio.
Shamshad Begum’s debut in Hindi films came in 1941 in Khazanchi, a year before Noorjehan’s in Hindi films in Khandan (1942), both under Ghulam Haider. The song 'Sawan Ke Nazare Hain' made her instant famous and became favourite of every household. In the next year the song Duniya mein garibon ko aaram nahi milta from Zameendar (1942), and Gaaadiwale dupatta uda liya jaye re from Poonji (1943) made all the successful music directors of that era to approach her to sing their compositions
Naushad acknowledged in an interview that he was indebted to Shamshas Begum in reaching the top.It was Begum's solo and duet songs sung for Naushad in the late 1940s and early 1950s which made Naushad famous. Naushad was floored on the clarity of her tone, She sang 60 songs under his direction. She was the lead singer in Anokhi Ada, Mela (1948) and Chaandni Raat (1949).
Two of the most iconic songs of our films – Ana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday and Mere piya gaye Rangoon – are C Ramchandra-Shamshad Begum creation, She sang nearly 60 songs for C Ramchandra. He used her voice for the first time in a film Safar, 1946, in a duet with him. Sheis credited with singing one of the first Westernised songs, "Meri jaan...Sunday ke Sunday", this made her the most sellable female voice. She kept getting more offers to sing songs and was the highest-paid female singer from 1940 to 1955 and again post-Mother India in 1957 to 1964.
In 1946, S D Burman asked Shamshad Begum to sing in his debut Hindi film as music director, Shikari (1946), with the song, "Kuch Rang Badal Rahi". In 1949, came Shabnam, in which Burman asked her to sing duets named "Pyar Main Tumne" and "Kismat Bhi Bhichadna" with Mukesh, which became popular. Shabnam was Burman's biggest hit to that date with Filmistan, In 1954, when Nayyar got a break as a composer, he approached Begum to record songs for Mangu. Nayyar described her voice as resembling a "temple bell" for its clarity of tone. He worked with her until the late 1960s and gave her many hit songs, including "Ab To Jee Hone Laga" from Mr. & Mrs. '55, "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar", "Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana", "Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re" – CID (1956); "Main Jaan Gayi Tujhe" from Howrah Bridge, "Zara Pyar Karle" from Mangu, "Saiyan Teri Ankhon Mein" from 12' O Clock, "Thodasa Dil Lagana" from Musafirkhana, and many others.
She stopped recording her songs in the year 1955 after her husband's death, the songs released between 1955 and early 1957 including songs from films such as CID, Naya Andaz, Baradari, Mr. & Mrs. '55 and other hits continued to be popular. At this juncture, Mehboob Khan approached her in 1957 and said he wanted a full-throated voice for Nargis in Mother India. The first song she sang after returning to her career was "Pee ke ghar aaj pyari dulhaniya chali" for Mother India. She made a successful comeback and subsequently recorded many notable songs for films such as Howrah Bridge, Jaali Note, Love in Simla, Bewaqoof, Mughal-e-Azam, Bluff Master, Gharana and Rustom-E-Hind.
You would be surprised to know that Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar were part of a chorus in a few songs of Shamshad Begum. From 1949 to 1960, beginning with the song "Dar Na Mohabbat Karle" from Andaz, Mangeshkar and Begum have sung many duets together, with the most famous being "Pyar Ke Jahan Ki" from the 1949 film Patanga, "Bachpan Ke Din" from 1951's Deedar; their last song together was Mughal-e-Azam's song "Teri Mehfil Mein Qismat" in 1960
She sang over 6,000 songs in Hindi and Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Punjabi languages and of the 1287 songs were Hindi film songs.
Shamshad Begum died at her Mumbai residence on the night of 23 April 2013 after a prolonged illness. She was 94 that time. Her melodious voice with powerful lyrics gave us songs that have remained popular even today.
Mohammad Rafi, who delighted us for over three decades by his golden voice rendered to almost every actor of his time. Singing more than 30 thousand songs were not restricted only in cinema halls but was a household name all over the country. It is unbelievable that there was no one who did not sing or hum his songs. That was the magic of his voice.
His voice could be heard in cities, towns or the countryside. His voice could be heard in temples or mosques, in a 'Mela' or in a garden, in a social gathering or a Govt. function, the festival of Holi- Diwali or Eid. He was the voice of all occasion and seasons. He was at ease in all genre, Bhajan or Sufi, Classical or western, sad song or romantic song,
His songs captured the maximum space of Radio broadcasting. Every hero of that era wanted to have his voice for his songs on the screen. He was the voice of Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Joy Mukharjee, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajendra Kumar and Dev Anand.
Mohammad Rafi had a unique quality of replicating with the style and mannerism of the hero for whom he is singing. One could close his eye and can guess who is singing this song on the screen. Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Biswajeet and Pradeep Kumar were the heroes of that era insisted producers take Mohammad Rafi as their playback singer.
Rafi sang for a whole bunch of stars, character actors and comedians from the late 1940s right up to the time of his death. In this blog. I am including one song of every actor sung by Mohammad Rafi.
Dilip Kumar
Rafi sang 75 songs for Dilip Kumar.The first song Rafi sang for Dilip Kumar was a duet with Noorjehan from the 1947 film Jugnu. The song was composed by Naushad, with this song Mohammad Rafi was noticed.The next song was from 'Shaheed', 'Watan Ki Rah Hame Watan'. In 1951 film Deedar, Rafi sang 7 songs for Dilip Kumar, all the songs were hit from here Rafi became the voice of Dilip Mumar. Recall the solo songs 'Hue Hum Jin Ke Liye Barbad' and ' Meri Kahani Bhoolne Wale' from Deedar. The last time Rafi gave voice in a song from 'Kranti'
Song of Jugnu 1947
Raj Kapoor
Rafi sang 32 songs for Raj Kapoor. Mohammad Rafi sang for FRaj Kapoor in the 1947 film Dil Ki Rani after that he sang for him in 1949 film Andaz, interestingly in this film Mukesh sang for Dilip Kumar and Mohammad Rafi sang for Raj Kapoor. He again sang for Raj Kapoor in the 1950 film Sargam, in this film Rafi sang 2 songs for him. In 1952 released two film 'Amber' and 'Dastaan' Rafi sang 3 songs for him in each film.
Song of Andaz 1949
Dev Anand
Dev Anand’s films were best known for their great musical richness and melodious songs. It is a myth that Kishore Kumar was the voice of him but this is a fact many melodious songs of Dev Anand were sung by Mohammad Rafi. In fact, Mohammad Rafi sang for Dev a year before Kishore sang for him. It was in Dev Anand's second film 'Aage Badho' released in 1947, Rafi sang for the first time. This song was penned by Amar Verma, composed by Sudhir Phadke and sung by Mohammed Rafi and Khursheed. After that, he sang in Birha Ki Raat 1950 and Sanam 1951. It was the song 'Aankho Hi Aankho Mei' from CID(1956), Md Rafi sang a hit song for him. S D Burman used his voice for the first time in Nau Do Gyarah (1957), 'Aankhon Mein Kya Jee' became the first super hit song of Rafi.Rafi sang 97 songs for Dev Anand
Song of Hum Dono 1961
Shammi Kapoor
When Mohammad Rafi died, Shammi Kapoor said that I have lost my voice of screen. There was a magic of Rafi and Shammi combination. Do you know that he became his voice only after Tumsa Nahin Dekha, though Rafi sang two songs for him in his first film 'Rail Ka Dibba', after that Talat Mahmood gave playback for him in many films. In the 60s Mohammad Rafi became his permanent voice.Rafi sang 180 songs for him. The last time he sang was in Shalimar (1978)
Song of Teesri Manzil 1967
Joy Mukharjee
Rafi sang 80 songs for Joy Mukharjee. Mohammad Rafi and Joy Mukharjee's association starts from his first film Love In Simla released in 1960. He sang all the songs for him, the film and its music was hit, after that this combination gave one hit song after another. The prominent films of this combination are Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon, Ziddi, Love In Tokyo, Shagird, and Humsaya
Song of Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon 1963
Rajendra Kumar
Rafi was also the playback voice of Rajendra Kumar He sang 124 songs for him including duets, the first song he sang for Rajendra Kumar a duet in the 1957 film 'Duniya Rang Rangilee;.The first solo hit song for him was from the 1959 film 'Goonj Uthi Shehnai'.The next super hit solo song was 'Teri Pyaari Pyaari Surat Ko' from 'Sasural' and another solo song 'Husn Wale Tera Jawab Nahin' from Gharana(1961), another super hit songs from Dil Ek Mandir(1963). Rafi sang 6 songs in Hamrahi. In 1964 he sang the immortal 'Yeh Mera Prem Patra' from Sangam, the same year he had 5 songs in Mere Mehboob, all were hit. Aarzoo(1965), and Suraj(1966) were important films.
Song of Dil Ek Mandir(1963)
Shashi Kapoor
The golden combination starts with the film 'Holiday In Bombay'(1963), though the film went unnoticed,its songs were hit. After the release of 'Jaj Jab Phool Khile' 1965, this combination gave us many memorable songs. Rafi sang 121 songs for Shashi Kapoor
Song of Jaj Jab Phool Khile' 1965
Dharmendra
Rafi sang 104 songs for Dharmendra. The first time he gave playback for him was the 1960 film 'Shola Aur Shabnam'. In this film he sang 2 songs for him, one solo 'Jaane Kya Dhoondti' and another a duet with Lata 'Jeet Hi Lenge'. After that Rafi sang many songs in Aap Ki Parchhaiyan (1964) . Mamta (1966) , Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (1966), Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi (1966), Aaye Din Bahar Ke (1966) , Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968) .and Pratigya (1975). The last recorded song was in Mera Karam Mera Dharam released in 1987
Song of Pratigya (1975)
Jeetendra
Mohammad Rafi sang 104 songs for Jeetendra. The first time he sang for Jeetendra was in 1967 film 'Farz', all the song of this film were hit. ' Baar Baar Din Yeh Aaye' has become an immortal Birthday song. After this he sang 2 hit solo songs in Mere Huzoor(1968).In 1969 film Jeene Ki Rah Rafi sang all the songs for him. All the 6 songs were hit. The last song for him was in the 1987 film 'Madadgar'
Song of Caravan 1971
Johnny Walker
Rafi was also the voice of Johnny Walker, he sang 145 songs for him, many of his songs were hit. The first song Rafi sang for him was a duet from 1954 film 'Aar Paar'. The first super hit song was ' Jane Kahan Mera' from 1955 film Mr & Mrs 55. After this, another super hit songs were from CID(1956) 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil', 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraye' from Pyaasa(1957) and 'Laal Laal Gaal' from Mr X(1957). The last song on Johnny Walker was in Sanjog(1972)
Song of Pyaasa(1957)
A Tribute to Mohammad Rafi on his Death Anniversary
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