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
The songs in the 50s were undoubtedly something great, never before the feeling of love expressed in the most beautiful as this song. This song from the film Patita released in 1953 was penned by the great lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri for Dev Anand for the first time. Think of when a great Romantic songwriter Hasrat Jaipuri writes for the King of Romance Dev Anand, the song would be a treat to watch. Recall the songs of Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Asli Naqli and Tere Ghar Ke Samne. In this blog, I have selected a few such romantic songs of this great lyricist and hero. Hasrat Jaipuri was born on 15th April 1922 at Jaipur. He began writing verses when he was around twenty years old. He started his film career with the immortal song Jiya Beqaraar Hai for the film Barsaat in 1949. It was also the first film of Shankar Jaikishan,That was the beginning of a lifelong association. He gave lyrics for 9 of Dev Anand's films. In almost every film he gave one or two memorable romantic songs. Recall the song Dil Ka Bhanvar Kare Pukar from Tere Ghar Ke Samne or Sau Saal Pehle Mujhe Tumse Pyar Tha from Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai. He worked in 350 films and 2000 recorded songs, his last releases were Saazish with Jatin-Lalit and Sher Khan (with Bappi Lahiri), and at the time of his death, he was working on a few small films and a book of Shaayari. He won innumerable awards, honors, and mementos. Among them were two Filmfare trophies. He died on 17th September 1999. He still remains the King Of Romance.
True to his name "Sahir" which means a magician, he proved to be a magician of words. He painted fascinating images in songs and ghazals, Spellbinding his listeners and readers for decades. For about thirty years, he remained associated with the Hindi film industry. He composed hundreds of songs for Hindi/Urdu films. Most of his songs became hugely popular and are even today sung and hummed by people of all generations. Sahir made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948. but got fame only associating with S D Burman. Two films, released in 1951, had songs that sky-rocketed in popularity and are hummed even today. First was "Thandi Hawaiian Lehraa Ke Aayen" from Naujawan. The second was a landmark film, marking the directorial debut of Guru Dutt - Baazi. Both films, coincidentally, had music by S. D. Burman. S.D. Burman and Sahir Ludhianvi went on to compose music for 18 movies, Some of the well-known films are characteristic of Burman-Ludhianvi team: Devdas, Jeevan Jyoti, Jaal, Society, Armaan and Taxi Driver. The last film Sahir made with Burman was Pyaasa. In Pyaasa, Guru Dutt played a poet named Vijay. After Pyaasa, Sahir and Burman went separate ways due to artistic and contractual differences. Sahir Ludhianvi has written about 700 songs for 30 music composers in his 32 years career as lyrics writer ( 1921 to 1980 ) Sahir won a Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963). He won a second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for his work on Kabhie Kabhie (1976) and he was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. Sahir was considered a *romantic*: personal romance and the resultant disillusionment, followed by universal romance and the resultant frustration with *the way it is*. He never minced the words, did not sublimate emotions. He expressed thoughts clearly and directly. .During the last years of his life, Sahir suffered from alcoholism and underwent a radical personality alteration marked by moodiness and despair. Sahir Ludhianvi passed away at the age of 59 (25 October 1980) from a heart attack. A bungalow named Parchaiyaan in Andheri, Mumbai became Sahir’s abode from the 1970s till his last days. List of Films with S D Burman
Sahir(March 8th, 1921- 25th Oct 1980) made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948. The film had four songs written by him. His first song was "Badal Rahie Hai Zindagi". However, it was the year 1951 that would bring him fame and recognition. That year 3 of his films released having the music of S D Burman in all of these three films, Three of his songs that sky-rocketed in popularity and are hummed even today. First was "Thandi Hawaayen Lehraa Ke Aayi" from Naujawan. The second was from a landmark film Baazi."Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana Le" and the third was"Tum Na Jane Kis Jahan Mein Kho Gaye" from Sazaa. This was followed by the chartbuster Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan from Jaal(1952), Sahir took film lyrics to the heights of genuine poetry. Now his pairing with S D Burman was to create many immortal sings. Both of them worked together in 18 films. While 1957 saw the end of Sahir’s partnership with SD Burman., Sahir’s mastery over the Urdu language, immaculate diction, intensity of feelings and emotions and enchanting style of expression made him a lyricist of a different kind — a class apart. In Guru Dutt’s Pyasa, his songs Yeh duniya agar mil bhee jaye to kya hai, Jinhen naaz hai Hind par woh kahan hain, Jane woh kaise log thhey jinke pyar ko pyar mila won him acclaim. After S D Burman, his pairing with O P Nayyar and Ravi also created many immortal songs. It was the songs of Naya Daur and Tumsa Nahin Dekha established the pairing with O P Nayyar and with Ravi from the 1963 film Gumrah. Sahir did work with other composers including,Roshan, Khayyam, and N Dutta, their collaboration produced the score for Milaap (1955), Chandrakanta (1956), Saadhna (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959). In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, its music was given by Khayyam. The song Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi with its minimal background music remains popular. Khayyam collaborated with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul. From about 1950 until his death( 25 October 1980), .Sahir Ludhianvi wrote songs for a total of 122 movies from 1948 up to his death including three unreleased movies, one Punjabi movie and two Pakistani movies. Six movies with his songs were released posthumously. The 50s and 60s were Sahir's most prolific years. He wrote songs for 84 films during these two decades.
Gulzar (Born on 18th August 1934) became popular as a lyricist in the unusually worded song from Khamoshi in 1969 "Humne dekhi hai un aankhon ki mehakti khushboo/Haath sey chhoo ke ise rishtoon ka koi naam na do". .Though he penned his first film song "Mora gora ang laiy ley mohe shaam rang daiye dey/chhup jaoongi raat he mein mohe pee ka sang daiye dey." from Bimal Roy's Bandini released in 1961. Gulzar, who began as an apprentice with Bimal Roy, joined Hrishikesh Mukherjee after his death. He wrote for Kabuliwala, Sannaata, Do Dooni Chaar Biwi Aur Makan etc. With Mere Apne (1971), he turned director.The success of his Mere Apne encouraged Gulzar to experiment with novel subjects. Next in the line came films like Koshish, Parichay, Achanak, Kinara and Aandhi. In Aandhi, Gulzar wove a story of estrangement between a couple (Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen) against the backdrop of politics. Gulzar is at his sublime best in the song "Tere bina zindagi se shiqwa to nahin."The lyrics 3 the agony and regret of the choices made. However, Gulzar's most successful songs as a lyricist were to come out later, of his association with Rahul Dev Burman who he described later as an anchor in his life.Few of his songs with R D Burman are Beeti Na Bitai Raina, Parichay (1972), Tere Bina Zindagi Se, Aandhi (1975), Aaj Kal Paaon, Ghar (1978), Do Naina Aur Ek Kahani, Masoom (1983), Mera Kuch Samaan, Ijaazat (1988).
Majrooh Sultanpuri, a poet who didn't aspire to be a lyricist, became the most sought after versifier of Bollywood. You will be surprised to know that he was a practising Hakim in Sultanpur UP but also interest in writing poetry. He started attending mushairas, and at one such mushaira in 1941, Jigar Moradabadi, the greatest traditional Shayar of Ghazals of the 20th century introduced him to the urban audiences. In 1945, Majrooh accompanied Jigar Saab for a mushaira in Bombay, where producer-director A R Kardar approached him to write songs for his films. Majrooh was reluctant but Jigar Saab insisted he accepts the offer. Majrooh wrote a few songs for the film Shahjehan (1946). And those songs composed by Naushad were sung by the all-time classic actor-singer K L Saigal.
Majrooh worked with all the ace producer-directors, Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Dev Anand, Vijay Anand, Nasir Hussain, and leading composers as well, Naushad, O P Nayyar, Khayyam, S D Burman, R D Burman, Roshan and Madan Mohan. His associations with SD Burman and RD Burman stand out, particularly his work with the latter in the frothy Nasir Hussain musicals like Teesri Manzil (1966), Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973) and Hum Kissi Se Kum Nahin (1977). With SD Burman, his work in films like Paying Guest (1957), Nau Do Gyarah(1957), Kala Pani (1958), Solva Saal (1958), Sujata (1959), Bambai ka Babu (1960), Jewel Thief (1967) and Abhiman is unforgettable! The list of hit songs he has written is huge as all these films had some extremely finely composed songs set to his writing. Few could match Majrooh Saab and SD Burman in frothy light chhed-chhad playful romantic songs like Chhod Do Anchal, Aankhon Mein Kya Ji, Achha Ji Main Hari Chalo Maan Jaao Na and Deewana Mastana Hua Dil. Majrooh Sultanpuri and Dada Burman were both born October 1, 13 years apart. Dada was born in 1906 and Majrooh in 1919. Destined to come together and create magic for music lovers in Hindi cinema, they partnered in 20 films from 1957 to 1976, leaving behind unforgettable gems that continue to shine brighter as the years pass by. Majrooh did 74 films with RD Burman and the duo gave great hits like Kitna pyara vada, Chadti jawani meri chaal mastani (Lata-Rafi) in Caarvan, Piya tu ab to aaja, Monica, O my darling (Asha-RD Burman); in Buddha Mil Gaya, Raat kali ek khawab mein aayi; in Yadon Ki Baraat (1974), Chura liya hai tumne (Asha-Rafi), and Lekar hum deewana dil, Aap ke kamre mein koi rehta hai (Asha-Kishore).
Qamar Jalalabadi(9 March 1917 – 9 January 2003)was born as Om Prakash Bhandari in a Punjabi family in the Jalalabad town near Amritsar. Right from the age of seven he starting writing poetry in Urdu. He wrote more than 700 songs for nearly 160 films, from 1940 to 1980. Besides songs, hewrote either the script or dialogues of "Shaheed"(1948), “Munimji” (1955), “Phagun” (1958), “Ujala” (1959), “Maya” (1961) and “Taj Mahal” (1963). His other notable songs include “Ik Dil Ke Tukde Hazaar Hue” (Pyar Ki Jeet, 1948), “Ik Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya” (Phagun, 1958), “Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu” (Howrah Bridge, 1958), “Dum Dum Diga Diga” (Chhalia, 1960) and “Main To Ik Khwaab Hoon Is Khwaab Se Tu Pyaar Na Kar” (Himalay Ki God Mein,1965). He worked with S D Burman in 1946 in the film “Eight Days” where the comic song “O Babu Babu Re” became quite popular. He went on to work with music director Sardar Malik on many films. One of their hits was “Sunti Nahi Duniya” (“Renuka”, 1947). . In 1942, he wrote lyrics for his first film Zamindar which was a Pancholi Pictures production and the songs of this film were very well received, especially the song sung by Shamshad Begum "Duniya me garibonko aaraam nahi milta", which also had a line or two written by writer and poet Behzad Lucknawi. As a lyricist, Qamar Jalalabadi was very versatile. On one hand, he wrote mesmeric duets like "sun meri saanwari mujhko kahin tum bhool na jana…" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mohd. Rafi (film: Aansoo 1953) and on the other hand he penned comic relief songs like "khush hai zamana aaj pehli tarikh hai" endured with full throttle gusto by Kishore Kumar (film: Pehli Tarikh-1954). This song turned into a veritable anthem and was played on Radio Ceylon on the first of every month for decades, and it probably still is.His brush with comedy was seen next in Aansoo Aur Muskan with, " Guni jano, Bhakt jano…" sung by Kishore Kumar as an actor in the movie. In his long career span he worked for several Film Companies like; Prabhat Film Company, Pancholi Pictures, Filmistan Ltd., Famous Pictures, Minerva Movietone, Prakash Pictures, Wadia Films Ltd., Filmkar Ltd., Sippy Films, N.C Sippy Films, Shri Shakti Films, Mitra Productions and many more.He composed the title track of the popular television serial Vikram aur Betaal. He was an acclaimed Adabi Shayar and graced many Urdu recitals all over the nation. Apart from that, he was the founder and member of the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) and the Film Writers Association in India.
Sahir(born on March 8th, 1921) made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948. The film had four songs written by him. His first song was "badal rahii hai zindagii". However, it was the year 1951 that would bring him fame and recognition. Two films, released in 1951, had songs that sky-rocketed in popularity and are hummed even today. First was "Thandi Hawaayen Lehraa Ke Aayi" from Naujawan. The second was a landmark film, marking the directorial debut of Guru Dutt - Baazi. Both films, coincidentally, had music by S. D. Burman. This was followed by the chartbuster Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahan for Jaal. Sahir took film lyrics to the heights of genuine poetry. The songs of Dharamputra rewrote history as the genius of B.R. Chopra and the enthusiasm of Sahir coalesced to yield timeless numbers like Main jab bhee akeli hoti hoon, Bhool sakta hai bhala kaun yeh pyari aankhein, Mere dilbar mujhse khaffa na ho. The popularity of songs of Naujawan, Baazi, Jaal and Dharamputra fine-tuned Sahir’s working relationship with Dev Anand, S.D. Burman, Guru Dutt and B.R. Chopra to form formidable combinations that dominated the film scene for several decades. Sahir’s mastery over the Urdu language, immaculate diction, intensity of feelings and emotions and enchanting style of expression made him a lyricist of a different kind — a class apart. In Guru Dutt’s Pyasa, his songs Yeh duniya agar mil bhee jaye to kya hai, Jinhen naaz hai Hind par woh kahan hain, Jane woh kaise log thhey jinke pyar ko pyar mila won him acclaim.
But so long as Sahir and Burman were together, theirs was a matchless combination. For both of them we call out in their joint contribution from film ‘Saza’ : ‘Tum najaanekisjahanmeinkhogae’.While 1957 saw the end of Sahir’s partnership with SD, it saw the beginning of his partnership with OP Nayyar in Naya Daur and Tumsa Nahi Dekha.
Sahir did work with other composers including Ravi, Roshan, Khayyam and Datta Naik. Datta Naik also credited as N. Datta, a Goan, admired Sahir's poetry and their collaboration produced the score for Milaap (1955), Chandrakanta (1956), Saadhna (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959). In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, its music was given by Khayyam. The song Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegiwith its minimal background music remains popular. Khayyam collaborated with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie and Trishul. From about 1950 until his death( 25 October 1980), Sahir collaborated with Baldev Raj Chopra (1914 - 2008), a film producer and director. Sahir's last work for Chopra was for Insaaf Ka Tarazu. Yash Chopra, an independent director and producer, also engaged Sahir for his film Daag.
In Yash Chopra’s Daag, he came down heavily on the feudalistic and chauvinistic attitudes of society in the song Jab bhee jee chahe nayee duniya basa lete hain log/ Ek chehre pe kayee chehrey laga lete hain log. In Zara Hind ke rehbron ko bulao yeh koochey ye galiyaan yeh manzar dikhao, he highlighted the condition of the downtrodden. In Rehne ko ghar nahin hai sara jahan hamara, he expressioned his disillusionment with Nehru’s socialism. To those who fanned the fires of hatred and communalism during Partition, he counselled sanity, saying Malik ne to insaan ko insaan banaya/ Hum ne use Hindu ya musalmaan banaya. Even his light-hearted numbers like Insaan ka nahin kahin naam-o-nishan.. Yeh hai Bombay meri jaan, were satirical.
Be it a patriotic number like Yeh desh hai veer jawano ka... or a bhajan like Alla tero naam Eshwar tero naamor a captivating qawwali like Na to karvaan ki talash hai na to hamsafar ki talash hai or a lullaby like Tere bachpan ko jawani ki dua deti hoon aur dua de ke parishaan si ho jati hoon — his songs were always suffused with a rare passion.
For Kabhi Kabhie, Sahir wrote Kal aur aayengey naghmon ki khilti kaliyaan chunnewale/ Mujh se behtar kehnewale tum se behtar sunnewale.. Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon.. he did not foresee that his lyrics would win for him a place in the immortals of Indian cinema.
Sahir won a Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963). He won a second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for his work on Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. On 8 March 2013, the ninety-second anniversary of Sahir's birth, a commemorative stamp was issued in his honour.
