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
For him, the songs were truly not only audio but audio-visual. He saw music as it were; and only when he could how the song could be filmed, did he okay it's recording. His use of elaborate sets, of light and shade to convey sombreness and technicolor to project joy, were all part of his visual perception.
He was very fond of composing tunes, he composed tunes with Ram Ganguli with whom Shankar, Jailishan used to play Harmonium and Tabla. It was there the birth of the Team of Shankar Jaikishan and Raj Kapoor took place, that entertained the music lovers. He had a sharp music sense. Raj Saab was a complete musician. He played the tabla, the harmonium, and the piano. He composed songs and sang them in his own voice before handing them over to professional playback singers.
His music journey started with Papaji (Prithviraj Kapoor) in theatre in Calcutta. When he came to Bombay he learned classical music playing Harmonium, Tabla, and Sitar at Narayan Rao Vijay Academy. He was also with Anil Biswas for some time.
Raj Kapoor's song sittings were very famous, all the stakeholders of the song used to be invited on the sittings, time was no limit, everyone present cold give his suggestion.He loved to listen to tunes, to prune and trim the compositions, to correct the singers. He also sits with the Lyricist to change a particular line or word which is not matching the tune, he perfected the compositions to suit his taste.
Songs in RK films were never just 'there'; they were seamlessly woven into the fabric of the film, used intelligently and sensibly to complement the narrative.
Subodh Mukharjee (away from the nationalist movement and engaged him film making. He started as a continuity assistant and writer He was given the first film as an independent director Munimji (1955). The film was a hit. The song "Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi," sung by Kishore Kumar, became a super hit. The next film he directed was Paying Guest(1957), which was again a hit.
He started his own banner SMP Subodh Mukharjee Productions. The first film of this house was Love Marriage starring Dev Anand and Mala Sinha. This was the third film in a row under his direction All three films were hit. The next film under his direction and production house was Junglee with Shammi Kapoor. The film was a super hit. He was then a leading Filmmaker of Bollywood.
After Junglee he made April Fool in 1964 and Saaj Aur Awaz in 1966, both the films were average in Box Office. In both the films, Saira Banu was the heroine, who was introduced by him in the 1961 film Junglee. In 1967 he produced Shagird, the direction was given to Samir Ganguly. The film stars Joy Mukherjee and Saira Banu in lead roles The film was a super hit. He then made two films simultaneously, Sharmilee(1971) was directed by Sameer Ganguli, and the other film Abhinetri(1970) was directed by him.
In the first two decades of his career, he had a high success percentage, but like so many movie-makers of his generation, he floundered from the seventies and quit in 1985. He produced 8 films and directed 9 films in his career. The last 2 films were Teesri Aankh 1982 and Ulta Seedha in 1985
He died on 21st May 2005,he was suffering from Blood cancer.
Nasir Hussain (16 November 1926 – 13 March 2002), started his career as a story writer in 1948. He remained there till he started his own Nasir Hussain Films and turned producer-director. He made musical hits like Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961),
Vijay Anand was a complete Filmmaker. He was a director, producer, editor, screenplay writer, story writer, dialogue writer, actor, and also knew choreography. In an interview, he told that he even wrote Mukhda of his songs. He was nineteen when he wrote the story of Taxi Driver(1954) along with his sister in law (Chetan Anand's wife). He was in college when he had a full screenplay of Nau Do Gyarah was ready.
His cinematic vision was indeed unique and made him stand apart from other filmmakers. It was his vision to make a movie on a Road Trip. Probably the first Hindi film shot on a road trip from Delhi to Mumbai. He was the first filmmaker who shot a live Film Premiere as a part of his film in Kala Bazar.
Music in his films remained a key feature, he was superb in picturizing of songs. He knew songs are the glue that binds audiences to Hindi films. Close your eyes and you can see Shammi Kapoor with a scarf around his neck, singing “Deewana Mujhsa Nahin” on a colourful hilltop, or instantly recall the smiling faces of Dev Anand and Nutan as they sing “Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukaar” on the inner stairway of the Qutab Minar.
“Hum hain raahi pyaar ke hum se kuchh na boliye.” from Nau Do Gyarha was the first song he picturised. He didn't take any choreographer in that film.At that time he used to think a choreographer ruins songs. They interfere with the characterisation. He felt they impose their own personalities through their dance steps and don’t allow the artists to express themselves in the way they should.
In the Kala Bazar song “Khoya Khoya Chand”, Dev sings as he runs down the hill. He is madly in love and believes his dream is coming true. So let him move his hands— white hands against dark clothes—[as] he makes his way down the hill. It suited the scene, so once in a while, you let him go. In the same movie, there was a scene in a train compartment. Dev Anand is sitting on the lower berth and Waheeda Rehman is lying on the upper berth. The girl’s parents are also in the compartment. Dev saab sings the song: “Apni to har aah ek toofaan hai/ Kya karen woh jaan kar anjaan hai/ Uparwala jaan kar anjaan hai.” Waheeda Rehman is listening to him but she cannot move much because she’s lying on the upper berth. There is a double meaning behind the whole situation, which is beyond choreography.
In Teesri Manzil P L Raj was the choreographer. He used to sit with the choreographer when they were composing the songs. That time all their assistants, including Saroj Khan, who was Sohanlal’s assistant. She would always ask him: “Goldie Saab, what do you want?”
As a director, he was very particular about its music.When he was working on Jewel Thief, he discussed with the composer. he told SD Burman: “Dada, this song is for Vyjayanthimala. I am going to use her talents as a dancer.” The dance sequences of Vyajayantimala were shot in a single shot.Honthon Mein Aisi Baat” (brilliantly choreographed by Master Sohanlal), as the camera follows Vyjayanthimala, he uses the circular tracks, dynamic angles and cuts to build up the tension to a crescendo. Here is an example of how Western technique could merge with Indian art. Even as you enjoy the aesthetics of dance.
The picturization of the song 'Pal bhar ke liye koi hame pyar kar le' from the 1970 blockbuster'Johny Mera Naam', where Dev serenades the dream girl through windows of all shapes and sizes, remains a masterpiece even today.
He was a star of the Golden Era Of Bollywood. He was one of the few comedians who managed to deliver box-office hits with some films riding solely on his shoulders. His specialty was that he cracked a lot of impromptu jokes and that brought the audiences closer to him.
He was the only actor for whom the audience came to the theatre before the movie started. His huge fan following spoke of his dedication and talent. He was a superstar, his name helped producers sell their film in advance and his picture on the poster ensured that the crowd turned up at the theatres. Many heroes of his time were insecure about sharing screen space with him.
A time came when he was so much “in demand” that producers approached him, offering him full-length comedy films. He teamed up with Shubha Khote, I S Johar, and Kishore Kumar gave us some great comedy films.
He began acting as a (reluctant) child actor.After he grew up, he pursued several odd jobs -- including that of a car driver. For a short while, he was a chauffeur for director P.L. Santoshi. As an adult actor, he first appeared in Guru Dutt’s suspense thriller – CID. After that, Guru Dutt gave him a small part in Pyaasa. After that, he got his first noticeable “break” in Parvarish (1958), in which he landed a role as the brother of the hero, Raj Kapoor.His first breakthrough film as a comedian was Sasural, a melodramatic mega-success. The movie also created one of the most successful comedy pairings of the sixties – Mehmood and Shubha Khote. Both did more than 15 films together and gave many hit songs. The most famous films are Saural 1961,Dil Tera Diwana (1962),Hamrahi (1963) ,Grihasti (1963) ,Ziddi (1964),Love In Tokyo (1966), and Pockit Maar (1974). Mehmood and Shubha Khote gave fans endless hours of a laugh riot,
He also produced and directed films. He gave RD Burman his first break with Chhote Nawab (1961)and worked with him regularly down the years until a misunderstanding with Burman in the 70s saw him introduce Rajesh Roshan with Kunwara Baap (1974). He is also responsible in a way for Amitabh Bachchan’s rise to fame as it is after seeing him in Mehmood’s Bombay to Goa (1972), Salim-Javed found in him the perfect angry young man for their stories!
In the late 1970s, Mehmood's popularity began to decline as other comedy actors like Jagdeep, Asrani, Paintal, Deven Verma and Kader Khan shot to prominence. Between 1989 and 1999, he made a handful of movies, but most of them were either shelved or made no impression. He acted as Johnny in Rajkumar Santoshi's Andaz Apna Apna (1994)– his last known film as an actor.
In the 90s his health did not allow him to work. He died in his sleep on 23 July 2004 in the American state of Pennsylvania, where he had gone for treatment of cardiovascular heart disease after suffering from poor health over several years.
Prakash Mehra(13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) was a true entertainer. He changed mainstream Hindi cinema with his sense of drama, Indian emotion, and above all his ear for great music. His songs are still thriving, despite being decades-old. He started off his career with Haseena Maan Jayegi starring Shashi Kapoor and Babita, followed by Mela, and Samadhi which were the perfect formula for a commercial hit. With Zanjeer, he started his own banner. His combination with Amitabh Bachchan proved lethal at the box office. After Zanzeer seven films of this combination ruled the Box office. He seemed to know the magic of Amitabh the actor which he successfully used in films like 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Laawaaris', 'Namak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi', all of them major hits, one bigger than the other. Amitabh Bachchan once told that he was a dreamer and was never afraid of taking risks. He wanted to make big things in life. He had a film in his mind to cast the boxing legend, Mohammad Ali, with him. He even scheduled a meeting with him and Ali, at the sports icon's US home in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He was the first filmmaker to name Amitabh as Vijay in 'Zanjeer'. Amitabh was Vijay in more than twenty films, some of them made by Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra. Music was the strong point of all his films. He always had the veteran music directors Kalyanji- Anandji to score the music for his films but had Bappi Lahiri in two of his most successful films 'Namaak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi' He himself used to write poems, In fact in many of the songs of his films, he wrote the first few lines which formed the themes of the songs and left the rest of the lines to be written by Anjaan, In his first film Haseena Maan Jayegi, he wrote the hit song"O Dilbar Janiye" sung by Mohammad Rafi. Prakash Mehra also directed & produced Zindagi Ek Jua with actor Anil Kapoor in 1991, which was not a commercial success. In 1996, he introduced veteran actor Raaj Kumar's son Puru Raajkumar in Bal Bramhachari which was also unsuccessful. This was the last film he directed. He died on 17 May 2009 in Mumbai of pneumonia and multiple organ failure.
