Popular Songs in Hindi Cinema about the Ganga.

 

The Ganga (Ganges) flows for a distance of 2,525 km, all the way from the Himalayas, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the holiest river for the people of India.  Hindi cinema has embraced it wholeheartedly, Many film titles and songs have been written on this river.

Raj Kapoor had a great fascination for Ganga, he made two films with Ganga in the title Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai(1960) and Ram Teri Ganga Maili(1985) and recall the song 'Bol Radha Bol' from the 1964 film Sangam. Since the beginning of sound cinema, many songs have been written praising Ganga by almost all lyricists. The first song on Ganga as per my research was written by  Pt. Niranjan Sharma ‘Ajit’, for the 1939 film 'Sach Hai'.

Song of Sach Hai 1939

Gori Mose Ganga Ke Paar Milna

Song of Basant 1942

Mirza Ghalib, the great 19th-century poet, also wrote in praise of Ganga and Banaras when he visited Varanasi.  It all comes out in ‘Chiragh-e-Dair’ (Temple Lamp), a masnavi in Persian which Ghalib wrote on Banaras. Shakeel Badayuni wrote a song in the 1954 film Mirza Ghalib inspired by Ghalib

Song of Mirza Ghalib 1954

Shakeel Badayuni also wrote about Ganga in 1952 film  Baiju Bawra 

Song of  Baiju Bawra 1952

Song of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai(1960)

This song was written by Gulzar for Kabuliwala

Song of Kabuliwala 1961

                      Machalti huyi hawaa mein chham chham

Song of Ganga Ki Lehren1964

Song of Sangam, 1964

Prem Ki Ganga Bahate Chalo

Song of Sant Gyaneshwar 1964

           Ganga mayya mein jabtak ke paani rahe

Song of Suhaagraat (1968)

                Ganga meri maan kaa naam baap ka naam Himalaya

Song of Tumse Achha Kaun Hai 1969

Song of Ganga Tera Paani Amrit 1971

Song of Ganga Ki Saugandh 1978

Song of Don 1978

Bollywood songs talk about Food or Sweets- Part 1

 

This blog is completing 5 years in a few days (25th June) and every now and then, someone suggests a theme for a song list One follower suggested making a blog on the songs mentioning or referring food products like Daal, Roti, or Laddoo, Jalebi or any fruit & vegetable.

On researching the songs under this theme, many songs were found, it is not possible to mention all songs in one blog so I have decided to create 2 blogs In the first blog I have compiled songs from the films from 1940 to 1980 and the rest in part 2. The first song in this blog is the title song from Roti (1942). 'Roti Roti Roti. The second song is a funny song from the  film 'Station Master'(1942), 'Baba Chocolate Laye' composed by Naushad. Another song from 'Nishan(1949) 'Jaiyo Jaiyo Sipaiya Bazar, Daal Meri Chulhe Chadi'. This song sung by Shamshad Begum also mentions Rasgulla & Lassi.

Song  of Roti 1942

Song of Station Master (1942)

Song  of Nishan1949

Song from Sansar (1951)

Song of Chham Chhama Chham 1952

Song of Shree 420 1955

Song of Vachan 1955

Song of Naya Andaaz, 1956

Song of Bhai-Bhai, 1956

Song of Bandi 1957

Chaat Hai Yeh Chaupati Ki

Song of Karigar 1958

Song of Love in Simla 1960

Song of  Ghar Ki Laaj 1960

Song of Maya 1961

Song of Ustaadon ke Ustaad, 1963

Song of Door ki Awaz  1964

Song of Bheegi Raat, 1965

Song of Pyaar Mohabbat  1966

Song of Anokhi Raat 1968

Song of Apna Desh 1972

Song of  Jwar Bhata 1973

Song of Kranti 1981

Song of Dance Dance 1987

Why Bollywood is Lagging Behind on Films on Environment ?

 

India is the biggest producer of films in the world but very few films are made on this subject. The Government of India introduced an award for Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation in 1989 to encourage films in this genre. The first film awarded on this subject was an Assamese Film 'Bonani'  directed by Jahnu Barua. Since its inception, the award has been present only nineteen times to unique films. It has been presented for films in eight languages with the highest being six in Malayalam, followed by five in Kannada, two each in Assamese and Odia, and one each in Bodo, Manipuri, Marathi, and Tamil.

The first Bollywood film on this subject awarded was 'Irada' in 2017 directed by Aparna Singh starring Naseeruddin Shah. The same year another film . Kadvi Hawa'  starring Sanjay Mishra, Ranvir Shorey and Tillotama Shome was also released on this subject. This film was  also got a Special Mention at the 64th National Film Awards .

It is surprising that Bollywood, the oldest and the largest producer of films in India has not made many films in this subject but many regional filmmakers have made many films on this subject. In southern languages like Kannada and Malayalam, many National Award-winning films are being made every year. Interestingly a Malayalam film 'Valiya Chirakula Pakshikal' 2015 was made on an incident in a small village in Kasaragod in the state of Kerala where thousands of people were infected with fatal diseases due to the effects of endosulfan, a pesticide used to protect cashew nut trees. 

Irada (2017) raises the contemporary ecological issues of uranium poisoning, reverse boring, fertilizer poisoning due to the green revolution and their immediate adverse impact on the people who live in Malwa region.

Kadvi Hawa (2017) is the story of a blind, old man (played by Sanjai Mishra), who lives in a Bundelkhand village where it hasn’t rained for 15 years. He lives in the fear of his son, Mukund (essayed by Bhupesh Singh) committing suicide in the face of back-breaking debt.

Kedarnath(2018) was a film based on the actual Kedarnath flood tragedy in the year 2013. This being a commercial film, a Love Angle  added between two inter-faith Lovers.

Many Bollywood films had natural calamities in their stories but not outright an environmental story. The floods or droughts were the part of many great films like 'Mother India' or 'Guide' but these do not come in this genre. Bollywood has a massive potential to reach out to the masses and create awareness about the same. It has the power to influence people’s actions and thus make a difference. The films can represent environmental issues and community problems efficiently and convey to the people the aftermath of their current deeds. 

Bollywood Journey of Bicycles.

 

In the 50s and 60s, much of the romance in Bollywood bloomed on bicycles. There are many great romantic songs bloomed on bicycles.  When we think of the Golden Era immediately the song Mana janab ne pukara nahin  from Paying Guest comes into our mind.

The earliest cycle song was 'Sawan Ke Nazare Hain' of 1941 film 'Khajanchi'. The film starts with this song picturized on S D Narang, Ramola, and their friends who are cycling on the road. Since then The cycle romance kept blooming and almost all heroes and heroines had a cycling song in their career. In this blog, I have selected a few cycling songs picturized on various heroes.

Song of Khajanchi 1941

Dilip Kumar

Song of  Gopi 1970

Dev Anand - 

Song of Paying Guest (1957)

Song of  Baat Ek Raat Ki 1962

Pradeep Kumar

Song of Adalat (1958)

Raj Kapoor & Nutan

Song of Anari (1959)

Raj Kapoor & Vyjantimala

Song of  Nazrana 1961

Rajendra Kumar

Song of  Aas Ka Panchhi 1961

Sunil Dutt

Song of Ek Hi Rasta 1956

Kishore Kumar

Song of Bewaqoof 1960

Joy Mukharjee

Song of Ishara 1964

Biswajeet

Song of Mere Sanam 1965

Dharmendra

Song of Lalkar 1972

Manoj Kumar 

Song of Shor 1972

Rajesh Khanna

Song of Palkon ki Chhaon Mein 1977

Amitabh Bachchan & Shashi Kapoor

Song of Shaan 1980

Saira Bano

Song of Padosan (1968)

Rishi Kapoor

Song of Prem Rog 1982

Vinod Khanna

Song of Aarop 1973

Govinda

Song of Bhabhi 1991

Aamir Khan

Song of Jo Jeeta Woh Sikandar 1992

Shahrukh Khan

Song of King Uncle 1993

Ranbir Kapoor

Song of Barfi 2012

Salman Khan

Song of Bajrangi Bhaijan 2015

Bollywood Songs for Expecting Mother or Parents

 

Pregnancy is a kind of miracle. Especially so in that, it proves that a man and woman can conspire to force God to create a new soul. Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever-fresh and radiant possibility. 

 In India, we have a ceremony called 'Godh Bharai', in the west we call it  Baby Shower.  Godh Bharai is the traditional celebration of the beauty and splendour of pregnancy and motherhood. The 'Godh Bharai' ceremony is generally performed during the seventh month of pregnancy. Bollywood never misses an occasion to create a song for any situation. There is a long list of songs for this occasion from 1940s onwards. The earliest song in my research is from the 1940 film 'Alakh Niranjan' here the 'Nand', the younger sister in law of the lady; she playfully pulls at her bhabhi’s palla and asks – o tell me, where is the child. 

Song of Alakh Niranjan 1940   Audio)

The second song in my list is from the 1947 film Aage Bado, This song is sung by Khursheed and it is picturised on herself. The picturisation shows her holding a doll and imagining it to be her baby. Dev Anand is the hero of the film who is a would be father in this film. This is the second film of Dev anand's career.

Song of Aage Bado 1947

The next song is a naughty conversation piece, minimum emotional and philosophical content. The husband is teasing wife who is expecting their first child. It is a duet of Mukesh and Lalita Deulkar from the 1948 film Mera Munna.

Song of Mera Munna 1948

This is a rare song from the 1953 film Jeevan Jyoti, the debut film of Shammi Kapooir. In  this song  Chaand Usmani, the heroine of the film and Shammi Kapoor playing the expectant parents. Chaand Usmai is expecting a child and she is singing this song in Asha Bhonsle’s voice, and Shammi Kapoor joins in the end, singing in his own voice.

Song of Jeevan Jyoti 1953

This is an interesting Godh Bharai song here the hero and heroine posed as husband and wife to get a job, actually, they are not. The ladies in the house suspect that Meena Kumari is in the family way. So they started celebrating the occasion. The picturization shows a bemused Meena Kumari being subjected to this “godh bharai” rasm in the song.

Song of Miss Marry 1957

This song is picturised on Nirupa Roy (an expectant mother ) and Kishore Kumar, playing her Devar (brother in law) sings this song. In this song, Kishore Kumar imagines how the kid would behave once he is born. The song was written by Shailendra and composed by Salil Chowdhry

Song of Musafir 1957

 It is an expectant parents’ song which is picturised on beaming Dharmendra and Meena Kumari in the 1964 film “Main Bhi Ladki Hoon"

Song of Main Bhi Ladki Hoon 1964

In this song the would be mother played by Vyjyanti Mala, surrounded by ladies viz. Leela Chitnis, Mumtaz Begum and others while Helen sings and dance. The song is from the 1964 film Zindagi.

Song of Zindagi 1964

This is a beautiful song from the 1971 film Tere Mere Sapne, written by Neeraj and composed by S D Burman picturized on Dev Anand and Mumtaz. They are husband & wife in this film and expecting their first child,

Song of Tere Mere Sapne 1971

This song is from Hum Aapke Hai Kaun

Song of Hum Aapke Hai Kaun 1994

Song of Kya Kehna 2000

Here is a baby shower song of the 21st Century that talks about the different demands and wishes of a pregnant mother, with clear instructions for the husband to follow

Song of Filhaal 2002

Last not least a song from Badhai Ho where Neena Gupta is an elderly woman mother of a full-grown son is expecting a child 

Holi songs from Bollywood Across Dades

 

Holi is a festival of colours. It is an inseparable part of Indian culture, Bollywood never misses a chance to infuse the ‘Holi factor’ in the form of dance numbers with stars going footloose and crazy. The first song of Holi was from the 1931 film ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’. The Mukhdaa of the song goes like – “Mo Pe Daar Gayo Saari Rang Rang Ki Gaagar, Kaisa Dhokha Diya. . .”. This and many other songs of that era are now lost.

In this blog, I have selected the great Holi Songs of Bollywood starting from the 1940s to the 2020s. This year  we might be stuck indoors due to Covid 19, we can enjoy this year's Holi with the song of every decade.

.I present a song from this very first decade of Hindi films – a song from the film ‘Aurat’ from 1940. ‘Aurat’ is a magnum opus by producer-director Mehboob, a much-celebrated film of its era.

Song of Aurat 1940

Song of Jogan 1950

Song from Navrang 1959

Song of Kohinoor 1960

Song from Kati Patang 1970

Song from Silsila 1981

Song from Darr 1993

Song from Baghban 2003

Song from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani 2013

Holi Mein Rangeele 2020

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