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
Kati Patang was released on 29th Jan 1951.By that time Rajesh Khanna was the Super Star of Bollywood. All of his films were making Jubilees The Rajesh Khanna phenomenon was at its peak. This was the third picture of Shakti Samanta and Rajesh Khanna together and the second film of the trio of Shakti Samanta, Rajesh Khanna and R D Burman.
The film was tragic in nature with a non-glamorous heroine role but became hit because of its music. The film gave us evergreen hits like Yeh Shaam Mastani, Pyar Diwana Hota Hai and Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai. all sung by Kishore Kumar. One song 'Jis Gali Me Tera Ghar Na Ho Sajna' was sung by Mukesh.
The film was based on the novel by Gulshan Nanda, the 1971 film features the story of the double life of Madhavi, played by Asha Parekh, who got her first Filmfare Award of the Best Heroine for this role.
Sharmila Tagore who was a favourite heroine of Shakti Samanta did not get this role because she was pregnant at that time. Asha Parekh who had earlier worked with Samanta was the natural choice for this film. He had cast her in his earlier film, Pagla Kahin Ka.
Rajesh Khanna and Asha Parekh had already been paired in a few films like Aan Milo Sajna, their pairing was also acceptable to the audience. This film too was a hit and was the sixth highest-earning Bollywood film of 1971
Shakti Samanta (13 January 1926 – 9 April 2009) gave us the great films such as Howrah Bridge, China Town, Kashmir Ki Kali, An Evening in Paris, Aradhana, Kati Patang, and Amar Prem. He directed 43 feature films, including 37 Hindi, and 6 Bengali films.
Amar Prem was his 3rd film with Rajesh Khanna. Initially, Rajkumar was the original choice to play the lead hero. When Rajesh Khanna heard it he went to Shakti Samantha's office and asked him how can he cast another actor in this film, this was because they had already given a classic hit like Aradhana 1969 and Kati Patang 1970 was almost ready for release and they both had bonded a good relationship between them.
Another interesting fact of this film is that the immortal song 'Chingari Koi Bhadke' was not shot on the Hooghly river with the Howrah Bridge on the background was shot in a studio in Mumbai. Shakti Samanta in an interview said that the entire film was shot in Bombay and its suburbs, in fact, he told that a great length of shooting happened in a village at Nala Supara, the suburb of Bombay. The song was an additional song, it was added in the film when the film was complete.
The film's story is based on a Bengali short story Nishi Padma by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. , A Bengali film with the same name got released in 1970 starring Uttam Kumar and Sabitri Chatterjee. Bengali writer-director Arvinda Mukherjee wasn't familiar with Hindi so he wrote the script of Amar Prem 1972 in English, writer Ramesh Pant then translated the whole script in Hindi.
Rajesh Khanna reportedly saw Nishipadma 24 times. He suggested changing the character's name from Ananta to Anand to draw a connection to his character in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's critically acclaimed Anand (1971).
One of the highlights of this film was its music composed by R D Burman, the soundtrack was melody-based, which gave Lata Mangeshkar her finest classical solo of the decade, Raina Beti Jaaye, set in an unusual blend of two Ragas, he had heard his father, music composer S. D. Burman sing, Bela Boye Jaye, which he said was on his mind while composing the song. Bakshi's lyrics, created a Meera bhajan-like idiom for the song, employing the Krishna-Radha motif.
Another memorable song 'Yeh Kya Hua Kaise Hua' by Kishore Kumar was a true copy of the Bengali version of Kishore from the film 'Rajkumari' This song was too composed by R D Burman earlier. Another song "Bada Natkhat hai Re Krishna Kanhaiyya" sung by Lata Mangeshkar is another masterpiece from Burmans.It happened when Sachin Da heard the tune of this song, he asked Pancham to redo the tune as per the situation of the song.Thus R.D. Burman made a tune in Raga Khamaj, which Lata Mangeshkar too sang with marked emotional clarity.
Rajesh Khanna's dialogue "Pushpa, I hate tears", which appeared five times in the film has become the most popular dialogue of Rajesh Khanna. He was nominated as the Best Actor for this film but couldn't get.Anand Bakshi, the lyricist and Kishore Kumar were also nominated for their respective fields.
Though 1972 was a year of the big films Pakeezah, Dushman and Beimaan,Amar Prem was eighth amongst Khanna's top releases in the year.The film became a classic and became the most memorable film of Shakti Samanta, R D Burman,Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna.
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.
This immortal song from Padosan 1968 was the highlight of the film. More than 50 years have passed, it still entertains us. The pivotal role of creating this song goes to Kishore Kumar. He didn't just act or sing in the film, he conducted the proceedings around him. He turned the entire sequence of Meri Pyari Bindu, which was actually a scene into a song. He came up with the tune, polished the words, and even choreographed it on the spot. The plan to use the song in Padosan was of Kishore himself. He told Padosan lyricist Rajinder Krishan to do an extended version of the old song sung by his brother Ashok Kumar in Jhoola (1941), which was then picturized so memorably on Saira Banu, Mehmood, Sunil Dutt and Kishore Kumar. A constant companion of brother Ashok in those days, he had heard the song and the tunes stayed with him. sing for Mehmood and Kishore to sing for Sunil Dutt. When Manna De was approached for this song everybody liked his idea, a situation in the film was created where a music competition to take place between the hero and the music teacher of the heroine. It, being a classical song, Manna De was to by R D Burman with regards to the famous musical face-off number, Manna Dey refused to lose to Kishore, the reality was that he didn't wish to lose to him in the classical song competition since he was a classically trained singer and Kishore wasn't. The task of convincing took by Mehmood. He convinced him that its not a real competition but a reel competition. In films, anything is possible when a skinny hero can beat a strong villain why can't this happen in a song. Ultimately Manna De agreed to sing. Though the old song was a solo here it will be modified and more catchy to be sung a male duet. Mehmood's voice is also in this song. It was destined to be the most hilarious songs of Bollywood. Manna De in an interview told, it took 10 days to compose this song. Everyone who participated in composing this song has contributed. In the final rehearsal of this song, it took 9 hours before they went for a recording. This being a very long song so it was recorded in two parts, later it was merged into one. Manna De further informed that he was surprised when during the recording Kishore Kumar suddenly changed the Sargam and the context by adding his touches like "hmm dhaam.. O Tedhe Seedhe Ho Jaa Re" which took the classical song to a different level. The song has been composed in the form of a combination of Carnatic and Hindustani music. Mahmood begins with the Aalaap in Carnatic music and the song proper while playing the harmonium. Kishore Kumar sings the Hindustani counterpart for Sunil Dutt. Their preparation for the ‘concert’ itself is funny. While Mahmood dances, Sunil Dutt moves back towards Kishore Kumar in sync with the rhythm of the song. Kishore Kumar pushes Sunil Dutt in front and simultaneously sings a Bengali song. Beside Kishore, Mukri, Keshto Mukharjee, and Raj Kishore were also part of this song. Mr. Sadanand Kamath in the book, ” R D Burman – The Man, The Music” by Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal writes, this song was not only inspired by Ashok Kumar song but also from ‘Van Chale Ram Raghurai’ [SANT TULSIDAS (1939)] for the line ‘….Dekhi teri chaturayee’ and from ‘ Chanda re ja re ja re’ [ZIDDI (1948)] for the line ‘… Kaalaa re ja re ja re’. For your reference, I am posting all the three songs
Who can forget the 20-feet-tall Rocky sculpture and the massive "human eye" visual in the "O Haseena Zulfon Wali" song with Helen and Shammi Kapoor? This super hit song from Teesri Manzil has a story behind it. The creator of this song was R D Burman. Four films ahead of him, none of these a hit, looking for a big break was not the first choice of the producer Nasir Hussain and hero Shammi Kapoor. Both of them were keen on Shankar Jailishan or O P Nayyar. It was only the director Vijay Anand and lyricist Mazrooh Sultanpuri who persuaded both the producer and the hero to listen to his tunes then decide.
Pankaj in an interview once said that he had already prepared six tunes for this film and was sure that these will be approved by them. In the first sitting he started with the first two lines of a Nepali tune, which was later remade as ‘Deewana mujhsa nahin’, when Shammi interrupted him, completed the rest of the lines ‘Deotara mattali oina’, Shammi Kapoor told him he knew the full Nepali song and heard it before, he liked the tune since then. After this Pancham played the tunes he had reserved for this occasion. The first tune he presented was O Haseena Zulfon wali, listening to this Shammi Kapoor jumped from his seat. The next tune Pancham played was of the song Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyar Tera. Shammi Kapoor stopped him abruptly and said, ‘I don’t want to hear any more songs.’ He rose and made for the exit. ‘You’ve passed. You are my music director,’ This is a duet of Asha Bhosle and Mohammad Rafi in which Pancham used a big orchestra of more than 80 musiciansof whom close to forty were violinists.Pancham laid out a variety of instruments ranging from the drums and the violins for the main course of dominant sounds, the triangle and the trumpet for the side dishes of supporting sounds, and the acoustic guitar and sax in the Bossa nova-style interludes. . Filmed in multiple crane shots with fleeting close-ups and cuts introduced only when switching between characters, Manohari Singh the right-hand man of RDB said that this song was recorded well before Shammi Kapoor reaching the studio. In the song, the Saxophone was played by Manohari Singh and in the film, Shammi Kapoor plays Saxophone. When Shammi Kapoor heard the recorded version of this song, he said it would set the standard for the portrayal of lively music and dance in Indian cinema.
He was a child prodigy. He inherited music from his mother and father. His father S D Burman inherited it from his mother and father, who was a Sitar player and proficient Dhrupad singer. Initially, he was nicknamed Tublu by his maternal grandmother but later changed to Pancham. There were many stories about naming his name. It is believed that actor Ashok Kumar gave him this name because once he heard him crying, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa), He immediately suggested the name 'Pancham' to Dada Burman. Another story says that the baby was nicknamed Pancham because he could cry in five different notes. S D Burman saw that Pancham had a little interest in studies, he initiated his son to music. The first instrument he learned was Tabla under a blind Tabla ustad Brajen Biswas in the early days. His training of Tabla continued almost lifelong. After Tabla he was enrolled to learn Sarod at Ali Akbar Khan's school in Calcutta. Pancham spent a lot of time watching Jugalbandi between Ali Akbar Khan and renowned Sitar player Pt. Ravi Shankar. This created his interest in Indian Classical Music. In the late 40s, his father was a busy Music director in Hindi Films. Pancham got introduced to film music When he was nine years old, R. D. Burman composed his first film tune which was used after many years by his father in the Navketan film 'Funtoosh' 1956 in the song, 'Aye meri topi palat ke aa'. Another of his tune was used in the song 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraye' of the film Pyasa 1957. In Bombay, Burman was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla). He also considered Salil Chowdhury his guru. He served as an assistant to his father and often played harmonica in his orchestras. In the song, 'Hai Apna Dil To Awara' he played harmonica which became very popular. Pancham was very impatient about music, he wanted to learn more numbers of instruments. He had an inclination for Western music particularly the Jazz and Cuban Big Band Music. Kersi Lord who was a musician with S D Burman was instrumental in Pancham's interest towards Jazz. Kersi Lord had a large collection of Long-Playing Records of Jazz, Latin American, European, and Middle Eastern Music. It was in 1951that Pancham met Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar in a studio. He met Lat once again during the recording of the song 'Thandi Hawayen" of the 1951 film Naujawan. According.to the Film Historian Raju Bhartan during that time once he questioned his father when he was composing a song for Jaal using Tagore's tune in the interlude of the song to be picturized in Goa. This reflects his understanding of film music at that age. He was not even in his teens. Pancham was living with his grandmother in Calcutta, he used to visit Bombay only during his school vacations. In Calcutta, he made many friends and formed his Band called Melody Chimes. He started smoking and he was lured into the pot. This perturbed Dada, in 1955, he brought him to Bombay to live with him. This shift gave his life a 180-degree turn. He was now with the music all the time. he started assisting father in films. Pancham played Sarod in the famous Bengali song sung by Dada Burman 'Ghum Bhulechi Nijhum' composed by Dada itself. This tune was later taken in Kaala Pani song 'Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare Chale Gaye' Guru Dutt who knew the potential of this genius offered him a film 'Raaz' an independent composer in 1959, Unfortunately, this film got shelved. During the making of Raaz in 1959. Manohari Singh and Pancham decide to make a team but the idea fell through. After a gap of one year comedian Mehmood gave him his first film as a producer 'Chhote Nawab'. The film was released in 1961, the film was a flop but Pancham left a mark in Bollywood that he will be a Music Director of class. In this film, he displayed his skill both in Indian classical and western tunes. The song 'Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra' sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This song is based on a lesser-known Raag called Raag Malgunji which is a mixture of Raag Bageshree and Raageshree. This Raaga was very unusual for Hindi Films, most of the composers used to make songs on Bhairavi, Malkaus, Yaman or Darbari. When the song was recorded even Lata Mangeshkar admired Pancham’s talent. His versatility was visible in the song 'Matwali Ankhon Wale' sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. In this song, he used Resso Resso in the interlude for the first time. This instrument is one of the favorite instruments of R D B. We can hear the sound of Resso Resso in many of the hit songs of RDB. Another highlight of this song is the prelude of the song by Mohd Rafi the way he adjusts his voice to suit Mehmood.The Genious of a would-be world-class music director us visible in his first movie. The film was not successful so RDB was not offered films. The music was appreciated but he had to wait for 4 years to get the second assignment. In the meantime Pancham continued to assist his father in Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Benazir, Meri Surat Teri Aankhe, Ziddi, Guide, and Teen Deviyan. In 1964 Mehmood decided to produce & direct Bhoot Bangla, he once again invited Pancham to compose the music of this film. This was the first time Kishore Kumar sang for R D Burman, Jago Sone Walon' The music of Bhoot Bangla was a hit but critics were against it. This is the film in which Pancham introduced his voice in a song Kahaan Aa Kar La Hum Dono Ko' sung by him and Mehmood. In 1965, the third film 'Teesra Kaun' released. This film brought Pancham and Asha Bhosle together. Versatility, greatness, intensity, and supremacy of RDBurman reflect in his 3rd film. In the song 'O Dilruba' sung by Asha Bhosle had a sharp skid from B flat to F note., a new experiment, never attempted before, beautifully handled by Asha. This was the beginning of Asha and R D B magic. There was another song by Asha 'Achha Sanam Kar Le Sitam' is a fast-paced, hummable composition. The hit song of the film was 'Pyar Ka FasanDil Diwana' was sung by· Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh. A point to note in this song that the rhythm pattern in the interlude of this song was maintained by Bongo, coupled with the damped strokes on the guitar. This he did in many of his future songs. Pati Patni (1966) was his fourth film release. In the song 'Maar Dalega Dard e Zigar sung by Asha Bhosle, for the first time, he introducedthe Brazillian Bossa Nova rhythm. Asha Bhosle in an interview once said that this song made her wakeup to a thoroughly new rhythm and metre. Interestingly Pancham not used those beets as it is but Indianized to a beautiful melody as well as western fragrance. This bossa nova base Rd Burman used in his next venture Teesri Manzil in the famous song, 'O Hasina Zulfowali Jane Jaha' and'. Aaja Aaja Meini Hu Pyar Tera', Teesri Manzil was the fifth film of Pancham We all know how hit the music of this film was? It changed the definition of Hindi Film music. There was so much of freshness and innovation in this music. Even the versatile singers Rafi- Asha was astounded by the way they were made to sing and who later on was showering praise on Pancham for his originality and concepts. And Shammi had made it a point to be present at each recording as he was thrilled with the thought of how he would be dancing and singing those numbers on the screen. Everywhere there was a talk of his music, a new Emperor had emerged in the musical arena of Bollywood.The trend was set RD Burman has arrived and later followed by the music of Baharon Ke Sapne, Padosan, Pyar Ka Mausam, Caravan, and Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
