Shammi Kapoor - Who Sang his Songs from his Heart

Most Hindi movie buffs know that when we talk of romantic songs it was Shammi Kapoor, along with Dev Anand, who set the template for your typical Bollywood hero. There was a time when in Chitrahar and Chhayageet Four out of six songs used to be from Dev Anand or Shammi Kapoor's Films.

A lot has been written about how before Kapoor’s Tumsa Nahin Dekha, a 1957 musical hit, the Bollywood hero sang – but never danced. At least, not with as much gusto and rebellious freedom as Kapoor did. “Shammi Kapoor changed the image of the Hindi film hero from sad and brooding into one who revelled in singing and dancing.

Shammi Kapoor in a TV show informed that he used to like western music, once Nargis took him to a music shop in Fort, Bombay and pampered him with a gramophone player and 20 records of his choice. Thus began Kapoor’s fascination with English music. 

Shammi Kapoor also felt grateful to Dev Anand who refused to sign Tumsa Nahin Dekha and suggested his name to Nasir Hussain. This film made him Shammi Kapoor the star. Before that none of his films was even an average runner.

Shammi Kapoor (21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) told that he had no pretensions of being a great actor. He was happy with his style of dancing. He didn't know how to dance but he had given expressions to his songs. He never had a choreographer but did all the dance steps himself. With a great sense of music and energetic dance moves

Initially, it was O P Nayyar who created songs for his films later it was Shankar Jaikishan who composed songs in most of his films. Mohammad Rafi became his voice.

Shammi Kapoor took his music very seriously. His songs were – and still are – a rage. Stories abound of how he would attend all his song recordings. Mohammed Rafi adjusted his voice to match the Shammi Kapoor persona – a more youthful, delinquent and livelier voice that would complement the energetic dance style of the Junglee star.

In 60s Shammi Kapoor gave many hit films and songs. Through his breezy and carefree roles, in which he indulged in all kinds of burlesque antics, Shammi Kapoor participated in the party song (the male item number, if you will) more than any other mainstream hero before or during his time. Some of his most memorable numbers, such as the Dil Deke Dekho title track, Baar Baar Dekho from China Town, Dekho Ab Toh from Janwar, the two Teesri Manzil club songs (O Haseena Zulfonwaali and Aaja Aaja) and Aaj Kal Tere Mere take place in the club or hotel space or on the occasion of a celebration.

He became a sensation, Bollywood's first youth icon. Soon he was playing characters named Rocky as in the thriller Teesri Manzil (a 1966 film once again Dev Anand opted out of), playing modern trades such as photography in the frothy Bluff Master (1963), and trying to convince smart singletons such as Sharmila Tagore in An Evening in Paris 1967.

Such was the great entertainer who made the audience forget all their troubles for three hours and gave them undiluted entertainment.

Song of Tumsa Nahin Dekha 1957

Song of Dil Deke Dekho 1959

Song of Ujala 1959

Song of Junglee 1961

Song of Dil Tera Diwana 1962

Song of Professor 1962

Song of Bluff Master 1963

Song of Kashmir Ki Kali 1964

Song of Janwar 1965

Song of Teesri Manzil 1966

Song of  An Evening in Paris1967

Song of  Brahmachari 1968

Most Memorable Films of Vyjayantimala

Born on August 13, 1933, she was a natural performer who danced for the pope at the age of four. She started in films under MV Raman’s direction at AVM with Vazhkai/Jeevitham (1949), a bilingual film in Tamil and Telugu. The immensely popular film was later adapted as Bahar (1951)
She was the first South Indian actress who made it as a national star and was one of the biggest ever Hindi Film female stars in a career lasting almost two decades. She was the first heroine refusing to take Filmfare Award as Best Supporting Actress for Devdas 1955
Nagin 1954 It stars Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar, and has a hit musical score by Hemant Kumar. The film got favourable responses from the audience and became the highest-grossing movie of 1954 where it was labelled as a blockbuster.In the title role, she puts over a commendable performance besides looking ravishingly beautiful as the belle of the hills. Her dancing, too, is very graceful, especially in those eye-filling colour sequences and delightful ballets towards the finish.Hemant Kumar's music and her dance on the song, "Man Dole, Mera tan dole", rendered by Lata Mangeshkar was one of the highlights of the film.

Song of Nagin 1954

Devdas 1955- Bimal Roy cast her as Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar in the critically acclaimed Devdas, which was the adaptation of the novel with the same title by Sharat Chandra Chatterji. The industry initially was not in favour of this choice when they heard about Vyjayanthimala being cast in Bimal Roy's film, For Vyjayantimala, the character marked a turning point from glamour to pure histrionics, offering her scope to explore her potential as a dramatic actress 

Song of Devdas 1955

Naya Daur 1957 had a theme of "Man vs. machine", and Vyjanthi's portrayal of a village belle.For this film, Dilip Kumar won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the third time in a row, being his fourth overall. The film was a big hit

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Madhumati 1958  film directed and produced by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The film stars Dilip Kumar and Vyjayantimala in the lead roles, with Pran and Johnny Walker in supporting roles. The plot focuses on Anand, a modern man who falls in love with a tribal woman named Madhumati. They are unable to have a relationship during their lifetimes and are reincarnated.The soundtrack of Madhumati became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of 1958.^[21] Salil Chowdhury won his first Filmfare Award for Best Music Director. Suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen is one of the most popular songs

Song of Madhumati 1958

Sadhna 1958 -the film produced and directed by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt in the lead with Leela Chitnis, Radhakrishan, Manmohan Krishna, Uma Dutt and Ravikant, forming an ensemble cast. The story, screenplay and dialogue were penned by Mukhram Sharma. The film revolves around Rajini (Vyjayanthimala), a prostitute, and her love affair with a professor She got the Filmfare Award for best Heroine.

Song of Sadhna 1958

Ganga Jamuna 1961 Indian dacoit crime drama film, produced in Technicolor. It was written and produced by Dilip Kumar, and directed by Nitin Bose, with dialogues written by Wajahat Mirza. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Nasir Khan and Vyjayanthimalain leading roles, and Azra, Kanhaiyalal, Anwar Hussain, Nazir Hussain and Leela Chitnis in supporting roles.She got the Best Heroine Filmfare Award.

Song of Ganga Jamuna 1961

Sangam 1964 directed by Raj Kapoor, written by Inder Raj Anand, and produced by Kapoor with Mehboob Studio and Filmistan. The film stars Vyjayanthimala, Raj Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar in the lead roles.It became a hit in India and is considered a classic today. One of the features of the film that became widely used later on in Bollywood is the use of foreign locales for on-location shooting, such as Venice, Paris, and Switzerland. She got the Best Heroine Filmfare Award.

Song of Sangam 1964

Amrapali 1966  directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads. Music of the film was by Shankar-Jaikishan. It was based on the life of Amrapali (Ambapali), the nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of Vaishali in present-day Bihar, fully Indian classical music-based score in the four songs, 

Song of Amrapali 1966

Jewel Thief 1967  spy thriller heist film directed by Vijay Anand.The film stars Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala and Ashok Kumar in the lead roles. It also features four bond girl-like actresses portrayed by Tanuja,the highlight of the film was the Iconic dance 

number  Hothon Pr Aisi Baat Mein Daba Ke Chali Ayi

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

Dev Anand was Jackie Shroff's Spiritual Guru

We all know that Jackie Shroff was an ardent fan of Dev Anand. I read somewhere that he hero-worshipped Dev Saab. He said that his love for Dev Anand was genetic. His mother was his biggest fan. She passed it on to me.

His earliest memory is of being sent to school by his mother with that famous ‘Dev Anand Puff' hair. My mother used to comb my hair like Dev Saab every morning. And I made sure it stayed in place. " It was unfortunate for him when he met Dev Saheb, he was not having his Puff, he changed his hairstyle by that time.
Before Jackie Shroff met Dev Saheb he met his son Suniel Anand. They both were doing Hindi diction classes together. Suniel suggested I meet his father for a film that Dev Saab was making. 

Jackie with his Parents

Jackie Shroff believes in fortune. His father who was an astrologer once told him that he will become an Actor. He couldn't believe his father that time. He was an ordinary guy living in a chawl how can he become an actor?. Initially, he worked in a travel company and doing small modelling assignments as a side business.

 It was after an advert for Charminar that Dev Anand approached him with what turned out to be his first film - Swami Dada, following which he was offered Hero. 
Initially, Dev saheb offered him the second lead but luck again played its role, this role went to Mithun Chakraborty who was a bigger actor than me. He felt sorry for me. He told me there was one role still open. I had to stand quietly behind Shakti Kapoor throughout. 
 From that time when he did Swami Dada for Dev Saab, then his jump to a leading man in Dev Saab's Sache Ka Bol Bala, to Censor and Chargesheet...Dev Saab just had to ask. I'd blindly do any role big small, cameo, a walk-on for him. "

He said that Dev Anand was also Jackie's spiritual guru. "He taught me so much about life and about cinema and about good heart and kindness to others. I never ever saw him raise his voice at anyone. I try to be like that. People say I resemble him physically. 
It was Dev Saab's screen presence that taught me how to romance women on screen. Off-screen, I was known to be quite junglee. " I certainly copied him in my romantic songs. You know, I was a complete wild street-kid when I came into movies. 
When he was selected by Subhash Ghai to play the lead role in Hero he used to talk like Dev Saheb. In fact, When we were filming for Hero, my dialogue delivery would come out in Devji’s style. At that time, Subhash sir would remind me that I am supposed to sound more like Shatrughan Sinha, not Devji,”

 Till Dev Anand’s last, his self-declared biggest fan Jackie Shroff continued to connect with his idol once every fortnight. “It was a self-imposed rule. I had to catch up with Dev sahab.
It wasn’t for him, it was for my own sake. I hero-worshipped Dev Sahab, from the first to the last day. 

Song of Swami Dada 1982

Song of Sachhe Ka Bol Bala

Song of Sachhe Ka Bol Bala

KHEM CHAND PRAKASH - The creator of musical gems, and the mentor of stalwarts

Very few of us know that greats like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Manna Dey and Bulo C Rani were mentored by him. But the creator of these musical gems and the mentor of this league of stalwarts is now largely forgotten. On his Death Anniversary, I pay my tribute to this great composer who composed the song Aayega Aane Wala Aayega sung by Lata Mangeshkar.
Khemchand Prakash was born in Jaipur in 1907 where his father Goverdhan Das was a Dhrupad singer & Kathak dancer in the royal court of Madho Singh II, and the boy, Khemchand got his first training in music & dance from his father. Soon he became popular for his Kathak dancing talent and for his unmatched skills in drawing animal sketches with gulaal on the floor using his feet while dancing!
He joined New Theaters as an assistant of Timir Baran, the music director of Devdas (1935) two of the classic compositions from Devdas, ‘Dukh ke din ab...’ and ‘Baalam aan baso...’ , were composed by him as an assistant Music Director.
Initial few years were not good for Khemchand Prakash, it was in 1943 that came a film which pushed Khemchand Prakash much ahead of the other music directors of the era and the film was KL Saigal starrer Tansen, considered one of the finest musicals. Diya jalaao jagmag jagmag, Rumjhum rumjhum chal tihari, More balpan ke saathi, Sapt suran teen gram... are musical gems.

Song of Tansen 1943

Legendary Music Director Naushad was his assistant in many films, in an interview, Naushad said it was Khemchan Prakash who made him assistant from the film Gaazi Salauddin, after that he was assistant to him for many films. He learnt from him a lot He was his real Guru.
We all know that Ghulam Haider was the mentor of Lata Mangeshkar. He introduced Mangeshkar to producer Sashadhar Mukherjee, who was working then on the movie Shaheed (1948), but Mukherjee dismissed Mangeshkar's voice as "too thin".Her voice was also rejected by producer Chandu Lal Shah, owner of Ranjit Movietone and Khemchand Prakash, music director with the studio, challenged his decision and told him that Lata’s voice will rule the nation one day and resigned from the studio. Khemchand’s first film with Bombay Talkies studio, Ziddi, also featured a beautiful song by Lata Mangeshkar, ‘Chanda re, ja re ja re...’. 

Song of Ziddi 1948

But what followed Ziddi was an outstanding piece of work in the form of the music of Mahal (1949).

Mahal made Lata Mangeshkar a popular name in every corner of the country. The haunting melodies and brilliant orchestration of Mahal, set the foundation for the golden period of Hindi film music of the 50s.

Song of Mahal 1949

1948 marked yet another significant film in Khemchand’s career - Bombay Talkies’s Ziddi, in which he gave Kishore Kumar his first major break as a singer with the song ‘Marne ki duaaen kyun maangu...’

Song of Ziddi 1948

Unfortunately, Khemchand Prakash did not survive long enough to see the success of Mahal or the shaping of the golden era of the Hindi film music of the 50s. He passed away on Aug 10 1950

Song from Sindoor 1947 (Audio only)

Song from Mahal 1949 

Song from Tamasha 1952

Song from Tamasha 1952

Baazi 1951 Songs Were Banned by All India Radio

You would be surprised to note that the popular songs like Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana Le and many more songs were not allowed to air from All India Radio. It was in 1952 that the minister of information and broadcasting (I&B) of newly independent India, B.V. Keskar, decided that All India Radio (AIR)—the information and entertainment lifeline of the nation—would not air film songs as they were degenerate and far too “Westernized”. He believed they would hinder the cultural growth of a young nation on the cusp of a bright future. 
Mr Keskar who was a staunch supporter of Indian Classical music. To his mind, Indian film songs were straying from their responsibility of instilling national pride in people.
The influence of western music and instruments would keep the Indians away from their culture. 
In an article in The Hindu (19 July 1953), Keskar argued that the country’s appreciation for classical music had “fallen” and was “on the point of extinction” particularly in north India.
To begin with, he mandated that all songs aired on AIR would be screened, he imposed “a quota of 10 percent of all program time”. In addition, Keskar ensured that if a film song was played, the film’s title would not be announced, since he considered that advertising. Only the singer’s name would be mentioned.
As a result, Radio Ceylon got popularity. It created the legendary musical countdown Binaca Geetmala—a show entirely dedicated to Indian film songs. Every Wednesday, Indian listeners would tune into Radio Ceylon and listen to their favourite songs with their favourite show host—the iconic and charming Ameen Sayani, who would engage them with complimentary film trivia.

Song of Baazi 1951

"Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hain" An Immortal Art in Celluloid.

Vijay Anand was an Ace Director. His directorial excellence was as much about his deft camera work as it was about his nuanced characters. He was a master of picturising songs. His songs outlived his times. This great song from Guide is an immortal art in celluloid. Both he and his elder brother Dev had a  belief that the songs have repetitive value. Besides the composition of the song, they were very particular about the picturization of the song. Vijay Anand used to say “My camera listens to the song and moves with it,” Long shots, lush backdrops and sharp intercutting brought out the poetry in the prose.
Guide (1965) was Navketan’s first film in colour. Based on RK Narayan’s novel. It became a classic because it excelled in acting (Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman), music (SD Burman), photography (Fali Mistry), editing (Vijay Anand and Babu Shiekh)... 
There was a situation in the film where the heroine was dejected and to bring hope the hero sings a song. For this situation, three legends, Dada Burman created a tune for which  Shailendra wrote the beautiful lines and Mohammad Rafi gave the voice.  Incidentally, the saxophone that plays in this song was played by Manohari Singh, a music assistant to S D Burman (and later R D Burman).

The song Tere Mere Sapne was shot in the early light(Sun Rise) in Udaipur. This sequence lasts more than four minutes, but it is made up of only three shots, which increase progressively in length – in other words, there are only two cuts in the whole scene. And this isn’t an arbitrary stylistic decision, it is central to what is happening in the film at this point. 
The two cuts in this scene (the first around the 39-second mark, the second around 1.44 minutes) both occur after a movement of the song has been completed, and both have Rosie drawing away from Raju after initially reaching for him. In the first scene, she strokes his shoulder; in the second she hugs him briefly, but then bunches up her fist and moves away. She is still conflicted at the end of both these movements, and in each case the cut serves as punctuation, indicating that the process of reassuring her must begin anew. And this is done at a dual level, by the lyrics of the song as well as by the sympathetic, probing movement of the camera.

 In his book Cinema Modern, Sidharth Bhatia quotes the cinematographer Fali Mistry’s son as saying of this sequence, “It was shot over two evenings and a morning, at dusk and dawn, which means they must have had a very small window of about 10 minutes each time, so they had to ensure nothing went wrong in the acting, camera placement, lighting etc … It required great coordination.” 

Song of Guide 1965

The First KIKI Challenge was originated by Kishore Kumar

The latest in Social Media is KIKI Challenge(It is dangerous not recommended). Jumping out of a moving car to break into a dance may seem bizarre. But that’s exactly what social media users are doing as part of the latest internet sensation.
 People step out of their cars, and dance to the tunes of a Drake track called ‘In My Feelings’ from his latest album ‘Scorpion’. Kiki comes from the lyrics of the song: “Kiki, do you love me?” But it’s not the Canadian rapper who prompted the viral challenge. It was Kishore Kumar who was the original challenger. In the 1959 Hindi film Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi there is a song "Babu Samjho Ishare" we can see the three Ganguli Brothers doing the same but that time it was not a challenge. It was a fun song.
Thousands of social media users across the world are uploading videos of viral KiKi challenge, inspired by Canadian rapper Drake’s song Police across the world have issued warnings against the KiKi challenge as many people attempting the act have received injuries So do not accept this challenge Enjoy the song

Song of Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi 1958

                                    Drake - KeKe Do You Love Me (In My Feelings)

Bollywood can never forget the Friendship of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt

The two young men struggling to find a foothold in the Bombay film Industry became friends in a studio. the one was struggling Actor and other was a struggling Director. On the Friendship Day Let's remember the friendship between the two Legends Dev Anand and Guru Dutt.
It happened in Prabhat studio where Dev Anand was doing his first film Hum Ek Hain, Guru Dutt was the Assistant Director and Choreographer of that film. Both were staying in that studio in an apartment. One day Dev Anand saw Guru Dutt was wearing his shirt. On enquiring, Dutt admitted that the shirt got swapped in the laundry and since he didn't have any spare shirt so he wore it. This incident became the foundation of a great friendship.
After this incident both started living together and spending time together.both were talented and dreaming to make it big in Bollywood. they promised each other that if Guru Dutt turns a filmmaker he would take Dev as his Hero and If Dev makes a film he will take Guru Dutt as the Director.

The dream did come true. After Dev Anand started Navketan, he asked Guru to direct Navketan’s second film, Baazi in 1950. It was then Guru’s turn to give his best for his dear friend. Guru Dutt exhibited his unique style and showed expertise in song sequences. However, Guru was under-confident when it came to the film’s climax and, unexpectedly, even went into hibernation at Mangalore. Dev’s elder brother, Chetan, shot the climax to some extent and persuaded Guru to return. Chetan and Dev restored confidence in Guru and he completed the post-directional work. The film became hit that established Guru Dutt as a Director.
The second film of Guru Dutt was Jaal released in 1952 Jaal sees one of Dev Anand’s best ever performances as he mixes his dark side with his charming one perfectly. In 1953 he directed a film Baaz in which he himself became Hero with Geeta Bali as his heroine but the film flopped. After that, he produced and directed and also acted in Aar Paar in 1954.Side by side he also produced CID in which he took Dev Anand thus fulfilled the promise made earlier.
Though they all worked separately after CID, Guru was highly instrumental for the success of Navketan’s production, Kala Pani, in 1958. Raj and Guru brought in Lachhu Maharaj to choreograph the immortal songs, Nazar Lagi Raja and Hum Bekhudi Mein. Khosla shot all the intense court scenes of the film under Guru’s guidance.
Dev Anand in an interview said that their friendship remained intact even Guru Dutt and he was not working together. Both were busy making films so couldn't meet frequently.
Guru Dutt was having trouble in his marriage and with the flop of Kagaz Ke Phool, he was completely shattered. Though Guru regained success with Chaudhivian Ka Chand (1961) and Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam (1962), he quit direction soon after. On October 6, 1964, he came back to Dev with the idea of directing him and Waheeda in a serious, social film for Navketan. He was bent on Vijay Anand, Dev’s younger brother to edit the film. Dev welcomed his true friend back with open arms. 
Unfortunately four days after the conversation, Guru committed suicide.Dev Anand was shooting for Teen Deviyan when he got this news. He immediately rushed to his house infact he was the first person to be there on the spot.
 It was a pathetic sight — a sobbing Anand holding the dead Guru’s hand and repeatedly saying, “Guru.Uth Kahan Chala Gaya Tu (Guru, get up. Where have you gone?)”. Consoling a speechless Geeta, Dev broke down. Remembering this immortal friendship seems the best way to mark the Friendship Day

Song of Baazi 1951

Song of Jaal 1952

Song of  CID 1956