Sunday 25 June 2017

Remembering Madan Mohan on his 93rd Birth Anniversary


The man, who was acknowledged as a genius by people who understood and appreciated music, was never at the top rung in the hit parades or with the big banners or the big stars.He had very few Hit Films but His Music was always Hit. His first silver jubilee hit came 8 years later with "Woh Kaun Thi" in 1964.
Many tunes composed by him remained unused... many songs remained unreleased... some recorded but unreleased songs have now been released on the album TERE BAGAIR... while others have just been lost! Some unused tunes were used in Veer-Zaara, while various others remain well preserved with his family.
Madan Mohan composed music for 95 released Hindi films and 12 shelved films. These 100 plus films featured almost 700 songs, many of which are remembered to this day while some have been lost over the years. He was extremely versatile, but he is best remembered for his ghazals, pathos-laden songs and classical based songs 
 Madan Mohan was born on 25th June 1924.He spent the early years of his life in the Middle East. After 1932, his family returned to their home town of Chakwal, then in Jhelum district of Punjab, British India. In 1946, he joined the All India RadioLucknow as Programme Assistant, where he came in contact with various artists such as Ustad Faiyaz KhanUstad Ali Akbar KhanBegum Akhtar, and Talat Mahmood. During these days he would also compose music for programmes to be broadcast on All India Radio. In 1947, he was transferred to All India RadioDelhi where he worked for a short period. 
He started his film career as a singer, In 1948, he got his first opportunity to sing a film duet Pinjare Mein Bulbul Bole and Mera Chhotasa Dil Dole with Lata Mangeshkar under composer Ghulam Haider (composer) for the film Shaheed (1948 film), though these songs were never released or used in the film. Between 1948 and 1949, he assisted music composers S.D. Burman for Do Bhai, and Shyam Sundar in Actress and Nirdosh.
He got  his first big break as composer with the film Aankhen  in 1950.His association with Lata ji though started as a singer before he became composer but the  long lasting collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar started with his 2nd film Adaa in 1951.Lata ji gave some of her best solo songs under his direction.In this Blog I have selected some the great songs of this duo.
Song from Adalat 1958



Song from Jailor 1958



Song from Sanjog 1960



Song from Manmauji 1962



Song from Woh Kaun Thi 1964


Song from Haqeekat 1964



Song from Jahan Ara 1964



Song from Aap Ki parchhaiyan 1964



Song from Mera Saaya 1966



Song from Dastak 1970







Saturday 24 June 2017

Dev Anand's Song without his Trademark Playback Singers


Dev Anand represents a particular era of history of Hindi cinema of which he was an integral part for almost 65 years. He had a huge influence on Hindi cinema and beyond it.He hypnotised generations of audience.Music in his films laid a benchmark for the other Hindi films. His association with playback singers like Rafi and Kishore Kumar is well known. These 2 singers gave Dev Anand maximum playback, followed by Hemant Kumar.In this Blog I am posting few such songs which were sung by other playback singers,these songs may be surprise for many Dev Anand's fans.
The first song on my list is the song from the film Jeet (1949)
 Chahe kitni kathin dagar ho  Picturised on Suraiya and Dev Anand, music by pitamah of Hindi film music Anil Biswas, lyrics by Prem Dhawan and sung by Shankar Das Gupta for Dev Anand, Suraiya for herself
Song from Jeet 1949

Bahe Na Kabhi Nain Se Neer-this song is from the film Vidya (1948) ,it is the first time Mukesh gave playback to Dev Anand

Song from Vidya 1948

Laayi Khushi Ki Duniya this is a duet from Vidya sung by Mukesh and Suraiya

Song from Vidya 1948

Humne Khayi Hai Mohabbat  this song is from the film Dilruba (1950),For this duet Dev Anand has been given playback by none other than G.M.Durrani, which is very unusual.

Song from Dilruba 1950

Dekho Mane Nahi Ruthi Hasina-This song is from Taxi Driver 1954,this ia a duet by Asha Bhosle and Jagmohan Bakshi, this Jagmohan Bakshi is the same Jagmohan of Music director Sapan Jagmohan.

Song from Taxi Driver 1954

Phir Wohi Chand-this song is from Baarish (1957),Sharing a delightful chemistry on screen, Dev Anand and Nutan sing to the tunes of C. Ramchandra where the MD himself gives playback for the evergreen star.

Song from Barish 1957

O Kahan Jaate Hain Woh-this song is from the film Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1961),I think this is the only film where Mahendra Kapoor sang for Dev Anand

Song from Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1961)


Tak Dhoom Tak Dhoom Baaje ,this song from 1960 film Bambai Ka Babu,Manna De is singing for Dev anand

Song from Bambai Ka Babu 1960

Aye Dil Kaha Teri Manzil This song also happens to be one the best of Dwijen Mukherjee in Hindi cinema. Under the music direction of Salil Chowdhury,from the film Maya 1961

Song from Maya 1961



Monday 19 June 2017

Disco Gripped bollywood in 80s


 Bollywood music is ever-evolving and cannot be restricted to one or two genres. 
Directors are constantly experimenting in incorporating popular genres in their films, as songs are perhaps the most important selling point of Bollywood movies.
Disco’s prominence in the 1970s in west started gaining ground in Bollywood in 80s.It was Indian music director Biddu Appaiah, known mononymously as Biddu, saw success in the West composing and producing Carl Douglas’ mega hit "Kung Fu Fighting".Biddu found a muse in Pakistani songstress Nazia Hassan, for whom he wrote and produced. Perhaps their most standout hit was the rather light and bouncy "Disco Deewane".Actor,Director Feroz Khan was so impressed with Biddu and asked him one song for his forthcoming film Qurbani ,the song was  "Aap Jaisa Koi"picturised on Zeenat Aman opened the way for Desi Disco.
With trend changing from Melody to Beats emerged Bhappi Lahri who became Desi Disco King who remained on Top for 3-4 years giving Hit after hit disco songs.As Lahiri’s reign of the disco period crept in, we saw Burmans and Laxmikant Pyarelal  acclimatize to this phenomenon. Burman tried to find a middle ground between Indianized psychedelia and disco, Laxmikant Pyarelal  played with traditional Hindu and Sufi religious motifs for the film Karz and infused them with disco in an effort to keep up. 
This period of Bollywood music saw an interesting variation in styles as many music directors tried to process and incorporate disco without losing what made them famous in the first place. Disco became important genre for contemporary, current and future Bollywood. Being a hardcore Bollywood movies and music fan. I take this rare opportunity to list down the Top 20 Bollywood Songs of the 80s and 90s
Disco diwane






Boom Boom by Nazia Hassan from Star




Song from Qurbani



Song from Suraksha (1979)



Song from Suraksha (1979)



Song from Pyaara Dushman (1980)



Song from Karz 1980



Song from Shaan 1980



Song from Aap Ke Deewane 1980


Song from Armaan (1981)



Song from Haathkadi (1982)



Song from Disco Dancer 1983



Song from Namak Halaal (1982)



Song from Khuddar 1982



Song from Vidhata 1982




Song from Disco Dancer 1982


Song from Justice Chaudhary(1983)





Song from Locket 1986



Song from Love Love Love 1989



Song from Thanedar 1990




















Sunday 18 June 2017

Celebrating Father;s Day with these Beautiful songs



Fathers are our first superheroes, our biggest motivator without whose guidance there would be no meaning to life.Bollywood which draws inspiration from real life emotions have given us songs that emote the unsaid feelings seamlessly. Let us Celebrate this day with these songs.
Babul Mora Naihar Chhuto Hi Jaye 
 Song from Street Singer 1938

BABUL KI DUAEIN LETI JA 

Song from Neel Kamal 1968

Muskura Ladle Muskara...

                                                Song from Purnima 1965
Tu ho ke badaa ban jaana apni maata ka rakhwaala
Song from Khaandaan (1965)


Pappa Jaldi aa jana
Song from Taqdeer 1967



TUJHE SURAJ KAHOON YA CHANDA
Song from Ek Phool do maali 1969


Chanda O Chanda


Song from Lakhon Mei Ek 1971

Aye Mere Bete Sun Mera Kehna 


Song from Aa Gale Lag Jaa”(1973)


Aa Re Aa Nindiya


Song from Kunwara Baap 1974

Tujh Se Naraz Nahi

Song from MASOOM 1983

papa kehte hain bada naam krega 

Song from QUAMAT SE QYAMAT TAK 1988


I Love You Daddy


Song from Akele Hum Akele Tum 1995






Friday 16 June 2017

Hemant Kumar-a fabulous singer and irrepressible composer.


 Every distinguished creative artiste is born with one gift, but, Hemantda was born with several gifts. As a singer he reigned supreme in Calcutta and Bombay.From Naagin and Jaal to Bees Saal Baad and Kohraa the 50's and 60's were decades that 'belonged' prominently to the unique talents of Hemant Kumar. Remembering him on his 97 th Birth Anniversary,I present some of his Immortal songs.
Hemant Kumar Mukherjee was born on 16 June 1920 in Varanasi. Music seemed to be an inherent part of his life from the outsetAfter passing the intermediate examinations (12th grade), Hemanta joined Bengal Technical Institute at Jadavpur to pursue Engineering. However, he quit academics to pursue a career in music. At the age of 15 Hemanta recorded his first song for All India Radio in 1935.In his early life Hemanta Da used to follow the famous Bengali singer Pankaj Mullick ,he even was called as Chhota Pankaj during those days.In 1937, Hemanta cut his first gramophone disc under the Columbia label. The songs (non-film) on this disc were "Janite Jadi Go Tumi" and "Balo Go Balo More" whose lyrics were by Naresh Bhattacharya and music was composed by Sailesh Duttagupta.
Hemanta's first film song was in the Bengali film Nimai Sanyas released in 1941.His first Hindi film songs were in Irada  in 1944 under Pt. Amarnath's music direction.His first movie as a music director was the Bengali film Abhiyatri in 1947.
 Hemanta Kumar migrated to Mumbai in 1951 and joined Filmistan Studios,Hemen Gupta. the Director from Bengal with whom he gave music earlier in Bengali films approached  Hemanta  Kumar to compose music for his first directorial venture in Hindi titled Anandmath under the Filmistan banner.
The music of Anand Math (1952) was a moderate success. Perhaps, the most notable songs from this movie is 'Vande mataram' sung by Lata Mangeshkar,After that Hemanta Kumar scored music for a few Filmistan movies like Shart in subsequent years, the songs of which received moderate popularity. Simultaneously, Hemanta gained popularity in Mumbai as a playback singer.
His songs playbacked for actor Dev Anand under music director Sachin Dev Burman in movies like Jaal (" Yeh raat, yeh chandni phir kahan ... "), House No. 44 (" Chup hai dharti, chup hai chand sitare... "), Solva Saal (" Hai apna dil to awara ..... "), Funtoosh (" Teri duniya mein jeene se ... "), and Baat ek raat ki (" Na tum hame jaano ..... "), became very popular and continues to be so.
By the mid-1950s, Hemanta had consolidated his position as a prominent singer and composer.He composed music for a Hindi film called Nagin (1954) which became a major success owing largely to its music. Songs of Nagin remained chart-toppers continuously for two years and culminated in Hemant receiving the prestigious Filmfare Best Music Director Award in 1955. 
In the late 1950s, Hemanta ventured into movie production under his own banner: Hemanta-Bela productions. The first movie under this banner was a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen, titled Neel Akasher Neechey (1959).Latter he made films in hindi,his production company was renamed Geetanjali productions and it produced several Hindi movies such as Bees Saal BaadKohraaBiwi Aur MakaanFaraarRahgir and Khamoshi — all of which had music by Hemanta. Only Bees Saal Baad and Khamoshi were major commercial successes.
The 1962 was special year for him,The music of Bees Saal Baad and Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam became very popular.Hemantda pulled out all stops for a score that ranks as one of the ten best ever composed for the Hindi cinema. Between them Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle created a universe of pain and romance in Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. From Geeta Dutt's 'Na Jao Saiyyan..' to Asha'a 'Bhanwara Bada Naadan Hai..', each song stuns each note cuts deeply in Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam.
Hemant Kumar  sang finest Hindi songs for Sachin Dev and probably his Sazaa and Jaal songs were his first real popular numbers He once became voice of Dev Anand in the mid 50s,he sang 11 songs for him surprisingly all were great hits.
Hemant Kumar was also remained connected with Bangla Films through out his career,in fact he was very busy there in the late 60s and 70s. He remained the foremost exponent of Rabindra Sangeet, film and non-film songs. His output continued to be popular for most of the decade. Some of them are Jodi jante chao tumi... (1972), Ek gochha rajanigandha , Aamay prasno kore nil dhrubatara..., Sedin tomay dekhechilam... (1974), Khirki theke singho duar... (Stree, 1971), Ke jane ko ghonta... ( Sonar Khancha, 1974), Jeona daraon bandhu... ( Phuleswari, 1975 ) and popularised Rabindra sangeet using them beautifully in films as per situations. A very popular and classic example is the song Chorono dhorite diyogo amare.. in Dadar Kirti(1980). 
In 1980, Hemanta had a heart attack that severely affected his vocal capabilities, especially his breath control. After that he composed music for a handful of Bengali movies and one Bengali and one Hindi tele-series.In 1987, he was nominated for Padmabhushan which he refused politely.
In September 1989 he travelled to DhakaBangladesh to receive the Michael Madhusudan Award, as well as to perform a concert. Immediately after returning from this trip he suffered another heart attack on 26 September and died at 11:15 pm in a nursing home in South Calcuuta
Song from Sazaa (1951)

Song from Jaal 1952



Song from Patita (1953)



Song from Anarkali (1953)



Song from Shart (1954)



Song from Nagin (1954)



Song from Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955)



Song from House No. 44 (1955)



Song from Anupama 1966



Song from Pyaasa (1957)



Song from Solva Saal (1958)



Song from Post Box No. 999 (1958)



Song from Detective (1958)



Song from Satta Bazaar (1959)



Song from Kabuliwala (1961)



Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki 1962




Song from Bees Saal Baad 1963



Song from Bahu Rani (1963)






Song from Kohraa (1964)



Song from Khamoshi 1969







Thursday 15 June 2017

SURAIYA-Malika-e-Husn and Malika-e-Tarannum


Along with Kanan Devi and Noor Jehan, Suraiya was one of the most prominent female singing stars of the Golden Era of Hindi films.She had great looks, natural expressions and a sweet soothing voice. She was the heart-throb of the nation in the 40s and early 50s. In a career spanning over 20 years, Suraiya acted in about 65 films and sang close to 350 songs. She lived like a star all her life. She did not turn to playback singing past her prime age  nor she switched to character roles. Her beauty coupled with melodious voice captivated the hearts of generations of movie and music lovers. Today I pay tribute to her on her 88th Birth Anniversary.
Suraiya was born Suraiya Jamaal Shaikh on 15th of June 1929 in Gujranwala in the Punjab province of the undivided India (now in Pakistan). Later her parents shifted to Bombay well before partition.She had a natural talent for singing, acting and dancing from childhood. She received basic training in music, when her mother used to take her to Hindustani music teacher or 'masterji' for training.At the age of 9 she first sang for a children's program for All India Radio,in fact it was Madan Mohan who was her childhood friend insisted her to come with him to All India Radio Bombay for this children programme.Naushad sa’ab, who heard her voice on the radio, got in touch with her to sing for Kardar sa’ab’s film, ‘Sharda’. And she sang ‘Panchi ja peeche raha hain bachpan mera’, which was picturised on Mehtab.
Her first song as a child-singer was "Boot karun main polish babu" (as a playback singer) in the film Nai Duniya (1942), composed by Naushad. Suraiya sang as a child playback singer for actress Mehtab in Sharda (1942), Kanoon (1943) and Sanjog (1943), with Naushad as the music director. Mehtab was a big name those days,Initially she was hesitant to have her as her playback singer, but on hearing her, she wanted Suraiya to sing all her songs in her films.
 Manna Dey, recorded his first song under the baton of his uncle K C Dey a duetJaago jaago aayi usha, panchhi bole jaago  with Suraiya in Tamanna 1942.
 By the year 1945, she was establishing herself as singer and also as an actor (though in smaller roles as she was not grown enough to be the lead actress). For “Main kya karoon” (1945) she sang two duets with Hamida Bano. “Suno more raja, nazariya milaaike” for composer Neenu Majmudar from this film.
In the year 1945, Suraiya acted in K Asif’s multi-starrer magnum opus film Phool (1945). It had a stellar star cast of Wasti, Veena, Prithviraj Kapoor, Yakub, Sitara, Durga Khote and Suraiya. She sang as many as four songs for legendary composer Master Ghulam Haider for this film.
K L Sehgal who was on top liked her singing and agreed to sing with her,Suraiya seemed to be holding herself pretty well in this song.The song Rani khol de apne dwar, milne ka din aa gayaa” was a sweet melodious romantic number.
The film Anmol Ghadi was a major milestone in Suraiya’s career as she got to work with another mega singing star Noor Jehan in this film.The film was musical hit and still remembered for its music by Naushad.She played the second lead and had three solos to her credit.All the three songs became popular,the two songs Main dil mein and Mann leta hain angdaai are happy songs and the third song"Sochaa thaa kya, kyaa ho gayaa" was a sad song.
The year 1947 was also very important for not only India but also to Suraiya. Many Muslim artists migrated to Pakistan but Suraiya continued to stay in India.This year came Dard which had the music of  Naushad the film was a musical hit,All of Suraiya’s five songs from this film became very popular.Her duet “Betaab hain dil” with Uma Devi/Tuntun also became a big hit.Another song Dil dhadke aankh mori phadke became immense popular.
The year 1947 saw release of as many as five of her films, a couple of them major musical hits.This year she sang six songs for a newcomer composer Naresh Bhattacharya for the film Daak Bangla. She sang four solos and two duets for this film. Her duet with Mukesh “Jab badal ghir ghir aayenge, kaho jee kit jaayenge”was liked by the music lovers.This year her film with K L Sehgal " Parwana"released,she starred with Saigal but did not have any duet with him. The film was again a musical hit.Her three solo songs “Paapi papihaa re, pee pee na bol”, “Mere mundere na bol, kaaga jaa, jaa kaaga” and “Jab tum hi nahin apne, duniya hi begaani hain” became major hits. She looked innocent and pretty with Saigal in his song “Us mast nazar pe padi.. kahin ulajh na jaana”.
The year 1948 proved to be her best with Vidya (her first film with Dev Anand), Gajre (MD Anil Biswas), Kaajal (MD Ghulam Mohd), Rang Mahal (MD K Dutta), Shakti (MD Ram Prasad) releasing the same year.For the film Vidya, Suraiya sang for the first time for Sachin Dev Burman.All the five songs from this film showcase the talent and versatility of S D Burman and Suraiya.Her breezy romantic duet with Mukesh (Laai khushi ki duniyaa) and solos “Kinaare kinaare chale jaayenge” and “Jhoom rahi jhoom rahi khushiyonki naav” have become favorites of music lovers. This film brought two young hearts closer and then they went on to become romantically involved in real life.
This year she also associated with another great Music director duo Husnlal-Bhagatram.  She sang for the film Aaj Ki Raat and Pyaar Ki Jeet released that year for them. Pyaar Ki Jee was a musical blockbuster with superhit songs like “Tere nainon ne chori kiya” and “O door jaane waale, waada na bhool na jaana”. Their rhythmic music, Qamar Jalalabadi’s imaginative lyrics and her soulful singing captured hearts of the nation. Till date, whenever one thinks of Suraiya one remembers these songs. This team repeated their success the very next year with the film Badi Behen.
 Major hit of 1949 was Dillagi with handsome Shyam, once again becoming a musical blockbuster. Naushad had a junior artist (nick named Shyam) give male voice to actor Shyam with Suraiya in the superhit song “Tu mera chand mein teri chandni”. Her solo “Murli wale murli baja” also became very popular.
 In 1950 she starred with Raj Kapoor in Dastan (MD Naushad) and with Dev Anand in Afsar (MD S D Burman) and Nili (MD S. Mohinder).By this time  Nargis , Madhubala and Meena Kumari were also successful as heroines,she had to face a tough competition with them.Though they were not singing actresses but by this time Playback singing was also on rise,Some of her films like Laal Kanwar, Moti Mahal, Goonj, Mashooka (with Mukesh), Bilwa Mangal were not accepted in box office.Her popularity was in wane.Her reign at the top was from 1947 to 1952.Her contract with A. R. Kardar ended with Deewana, after which she reduced her assignments in films. She made national news with Sohrab Modi's film Mirza Ghalib (1954), which won a national award, the President's Gold medal for the Best Feature Film. In the film, she made vivid, the role of the married Ghalib's lover.
She also acted with famous singer and aspiring actor Talat Mehmood in Waaris (Raahi matwaale) and Shammi Kapoor in Shamma Parwana (Meri dildar na milaya) but none of these films received the success like her late forties films. In the subsequent years she starred in smaller budget films like Mr Lambu, Trolly Driver, etc. Her swan song is supposed to be “Yeh kaisi ajab dastaan ho gayi hai” composed by Sajjad Husain for the film Rustom Sohrab (1963).
 Rustom Sohrab (1963) was her last film. The song, 'Yeh kaisi ajab daastan ho gayi hai'[33] from the film, which was one of her finest songs, was also her last, as with this song Suraiya also said 'adieu' to her singing career, along with her film career.
Naushad experimented withher in a few western tunes for the film Dastan. Her songs like “Aaya mere dil mein tu” and “Ta ra ri ta ra ri” (with Mohd Rafi) became very popular. She had become the highest paid actress and continued with the success in the films like Shokhiyaan (Raaton ke neend chheen lee), Sanam (Ke sska kiya matlab hai), Rajput (Raste pe hum khade hain), Do Sitare (Mujhe tumsai mohabbat hai).
After her mother's death in 1987, Suraiya started feeling lonely in her rented apartment (owned by Aswin Shah) in Krishna Mahal, Marine Drive in Mumbai, where she lived from the early 1940s until her death in 2004 at the age of 74. She possessed several apartments in Worli and a house and orchard in Lonavala.
Song from Tamanna 1942. Duet with Manna Dey ,his first song


Song from Tadbir, 1945 (Audio)


Song from Phool (1945) Audio only



Song from  Anmol Ghadi 1946



Song from  Anmol Ghadi 1946



Song from 1857 (1946)



Song from 1857 (1946) Audio



Song from  Dard (1947)



Song from Parwana (1947)



Song from Daak Bangla (1947) Duet with Mukesh



Song from Vidya  (1948)



Song from Gajre 1948 Audio


Song from Aaj ki Raat  (1948) Audio



Song from Pyaar Ki Jeet  (1948) Audio

Tu mera chand mein teri chandni (Dillagi, 1949)

Song from Dillagi  (1949)



Song from Dillagi  (1949) Murli wale murli baja


Song from Jeet (1949)



Song from  Dastan (1950)



Song from  Dastan (1950) Duet with Md Rafi



Song from Afsar (1950)



Song from Shokhiyaan 1951



Song from Rajput 1951



Song from Waaris  1954 Duet with Talat Mehmood



Song from Rustom Sohrab (1963).