Raj Kumar -The King of Dialogue Delivery

Remembering RAJ KUMAR on his20th Death Anniversary

The real name was Kulbhushan Kharbanda,was born on 8th October 1926 at Baluchistan Pakistan.He was a Kashmiri Pandit,he could read and write Urdu,he had strong language skills.He was a Police Sub-Inspector in Bombay before he joined films.As per his son  once he went to watch a film at Metro cinema. There veteran filmmaker Sohrab Modi saw him and offered him a film. But he declined it. He eventually did Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957) with him. Later, he went on to do films like Mother India, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi and Dil Ek Mandir (between 1957-1963). His quintessential style emerged after Waqt (1965) and he came into his own with Kaajal, Humraaz and Neel Kamal in the late 60s. It was often said that he didn’t suit the romantic category. But look at him in Heer Raanjha, Lal Patthar and Pakeezah (early 70s). How much more romantic can you get? Personally, I liked him in Karmyogi, Bulandi, Police Public and Saudagar (between 1978- 1991).His first film was Rangeeli released in 1952

He married Jennifer, an Anglo-Indian, whom he met on a flight where she was the airhostess. She later changed her name to Gayatri per Hindu customs.^[3] They had three children, sons Puru Raajkumar (a Bollywood actor), Panini Raajkumar and daughter Vastavikta Raajkumar,all the three tried their luck separately in fims but couldn't get success.

A scene from Dil Ek Mandir

 In Sridhar’s Dil Ek Mandir, Raaj Kumar played the role of a cancer patient for which he won the Filmfare Award in the Best supporting actor category for movies Dil Ek Mandir and Waqt.He played memorable characters in 60-odd films,his last film was God & Gun released in 1995.He died of throat cancer at the age of 69 on 3 July 1996.Raj Kumar played his part and left an imprint which is unique to him — his memorable dialogues.

 One of the most memorable dialogues in Hindi films: “Chinai Seth, chhuri bachchon ke khelne kee cheez nahin hoti, haath kat jaye to khoon nikal aata hai.”and " Chinai seth Jin Ke Ghar Sheshe Ke Hote Hain Woh Doosron Ke Ghar Patthar Nahin Marte"

 “Aapke paon dekhe bahut haseen hain. Inhe zameen pe mat utariyega. Maile ho jaayenge!” Even 44 years later, the dialogue rendered by the late Raaj Kumar in Kamal Amrohi’s classic Pakeezah (1972) is listed among Hindi cinema’s most romantic moments.

“Jaani… hum tumhein maarenge, aur zaroor maarenge, par bandook bhi hamari hogi, goli bhi hamari hogi, aur waqt bhi hamara hoga!” the famous dialogue of Saudagar(1991) opposite Dilip Kumar,both of them worked earlier in PAIGAM(1959).In Saudagar Subhash Ghai could not think of any other actor for the coveted role of Thakur Rajeshwar Singh in Saudaagar. With his memorable dialogue: Duniyaan jantee hai keh Rajeshwar Singh jab dosti nibhata hai to afsane ban jate hain, mugar jab dushmani karta hai to itihass likhey jate hain, Raaj Kumar packed a punch in this role.

Though anger was an emotion done to death by Raaj Kumar in most of his roles, he gave sensitive expression to other emotions as well. He was equally at home expressing pathos. As Chitersen, being entombed alive in the film Neel Kamal,Raaj Kumar captured the pain of unfulfilled love when he said: Tumhare prem mein main mar kar bhee na mar saka aur Neel Kamal, tum zinda ho kar bhee mere prem ko bhool gayee. The hallmark of Raaj Kumar’s dialogue delivery was that he could cast a spell without being dramatic.In the climax scene of Humraaz, his voice cracks when as Capt Rajesh, who was mistakenly presumed dead, he faces Sunil Dutt, the second husband of his wife Vimmi, Main zinda hee kab thha. Main to aaj sey bahut pehle hee mar chuka thha.

The dialogue of his last hit film TIRANGA “Na talwaar ki dhaar se, 

na goliyon ki bauchaar se… banda darta hai to sirf
 parvardigaar se.” was became popular. Its really sad after his demise hindi films are now without powerfull dialogues.

Raj Kumar also gave us some memorable songs,how can we forget the song of KAAJAL(1965) where drunk Raj Kumar forces her wife played by MEENA KUMARI to drink is one of his best songs

Another song from the film Heer Raanjha "Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil" by Mohammad Rafi,written by Kaifi Azmi ,music by Madan Mohan and acted by Raj Kumar made it a great song

Another memorable song of Raj Kumar is from the film "Mere Huzoor" the song sung by Manna De is a Manna De's classic song Jhanak Jhanak Tori Baje Paayaliya

Music of Hindi Cinema in 1940s

Hindi Film Music in 40s was changing,new experiments and modern techniques were tried.In this decade playback singing started.This brought in great new talented singers.On the otherhand few most talented singers like Noorjahaan and composer like Ghulam Haider had to move away to Pakistan because of partition.This decade gave us  the exceptional singers like Geeta Roy-Dutt, Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Rajkumari, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Mohd. Rafi, Mukesh,Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and Kishore Kumar . Superlative composers like Anil Biswas, Naushad, C.Ramchandra, S.D.Burman and Vasant Desai were there now to compose masterly tunes for these golden voices.

1941. This year a movie called KHAJANCHI  directed by Moti B. Gidwani, starring M. Ismail, S.D. Narang, Ramola Devi and Durga Mota in lead roles was a major success.The music of this movie made the movie hit.The music director Ghulam Haider made an experiment by combining popular Raags of Indian classical music with Punjabi folk music and revolutionalized  the film music industry. The music songs were a hit. The playback includes Shamshad Begum, Noor Jehan .

This year another film JHOOLA  It was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee under the banner of Bombay Talkies. The film starred Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Rajkumari Shukla, V. H. Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Shah Nawaz, and Jyoti. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep.The song na jaane kidhar aaj meri naav chali re (I know not where my boat is heading) sung by Ashok Kumar was an immensely popular song in the 40s.

Another song from the movie, Dilli se aayi meri Dulhan too was extremely popular. Dance master Mumtaz Ali capitalised on the success of that song to start his own dance troupe.

1942 hindi film BASANT directed by Amiya Chakrabarty. Music for the film was composed by Indian flute maestro and music director Pannalal Ghosh. The film starred Mumtaz Shanti,Ulhas and Madhubala as Child Artist I am posting a song acted by Baby Madhubala from this film.The songs sung by Panna Lal Ghosh in this film were very popular "Ummeed Unse Kya Thi" and "Kanta Lago Re Sajanwa Mose" were few of them.

Same year another film Khandaan was released.It was a pre-partition Urdu film directed by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and produced by D.M. Pancholi, starring Pran Krishana ( PRAN) , Noor Jehan, Ghulam Mohammed and M. Ajma.The music was composed by Ghulam Haider and  playback singers include Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum,Ghulam Haider and Nasim Akhtar.
This film was a landmark movie for Ghulam Haider and Noor Jehan as well as the film director Shaukat Hussain Rizvi.All 3 ended up becoming well-sought-after persons, when this film became a Mega Hit Musical Movie The film had 9 songs all the songs were popular. Noorjahan sang 6 songs and Shamshad Begum sang 3 songs.Noor Jehan in her very first film as a lead actor-singer sang this song beautifully with her teenager’s voice.Here is one of those songs

1943 was the year when "Kismet"starring Ashok Kumar and Mumtaz Shanti.The movie was the first blockbuster movie of Indian cinema,written and directed by Gyan Mukherjee and produced by Bombay Talkies during the second world war period, while it was in a succession battle between Devika Rani and Sashadhar Mukherjee after owner Himanshu Rai's death. 

The film came with some bold themes for the first time in Indian Cinema showing an anti-hero character, double role and an unmarried girl getting pregnant.The unprecedented success of Kismet established Ashok Kumar as the first ever superstar of Hindi cinema. He remained the most popular actor in Hindi cinema until the early 50s.The music of the film by Anil Biswas introduced 'full chorus' for the first time in Hindi cinema. The film gave memorable hits like the patriotic, Door Hato O Duniyawalon Hindustan Hamara hay, the sad Ghar Ghar Mein Diwali and a soothing lullaby, Dheere Dheere Aa. The last was a duet between Amirbai Karnataki and Ashok Kumar, which added to the success of the film that is still known as one of his finest works, All the Lyrics were written by Kavi Pradeep.Amirbai Karnataki who sang film songs in earlier fims but she achieved popularity only after the songs of Kismet became a rage and Amirbai became famous. The man behind the success was the composer Anil Biswas.Amirbai was a talented singer and actress who was fluent in Kannada (mother tongue) and Gujarati languages. 'Mahre te gamray ek baar aawjo' is one of her famous Gujarati songs from the film 'Ranrakdevi' with music composer Avinash Vyas.She  was famous as Kannada Kokila. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song Vaishnav Jan To.

Another hit movie of 1943 was TANSEN directed by Jayant Desai and featuring K. L. Saigal and Khursheed Bano in the lead roles. The film was based on Tansen, the 16th century musician in the court of Mughal emperor, Akbar.The film featured 13 hit songs, performed by the leads, including More Balapan Ke Saathi, Rum Jhum Rum Jhum Chal Tihari, Kahe Guman Kare Gori, Bina Pankh Ka Panchhi, Sapt Suran Teen Gram, Diya Jalao and Baag Laga Doon Sajni. It was the second highest grossing Indian film of 1943.

1944 was the year when NAUSHAAD established himself the leading Music Director for the years to come.Rattan is a 1944 Indian Bollywood film starring Swaran Lata, Karan Dewan and Amir Bano. It was a highly successful movie of 1944. The film is noted as the film which made Naushad one of the top contributors to music in Indian films and enabled him to demand a fee of Rs 25000 a film.

This film gave success to the singer Zohrabai Ambalawali.She is best known for her contralto or low voice range singing in the film songs, "Ankhiyan Milake Jiyaa Bharmaake" and "Aai Diwali, Aai Diwali" in 1944 hit Rattan The song "Ankhiyan Milake Jiyaa Bharmaake" is a landmark song from a this movie. “It was the first movie that drew upon folk music for its songs.The song was picturised on Swarnlata and Karan Deewan. And it was a “Tonga” song.

1945 Indian Muslim social melodrama film ZEENAT directed by Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi and starring Noor Jehan, Yakub, Majid, Himalayawala, and Karan Dewan. It was produced by Shirazali Hakim and Ramzanali S. Lakhani. The film’s story and dialogue was written by Wajahat Mirza Changezi. The music was composed by Meer Saheb and Hafiz Khan while the background music was provided by Rafique Ghaznavi.The highlight of the film was its Qawwali. It was the first all-female qawwali and picturised on the then very young Shashikala, Baby Khurshid (Shyama), Rehana, Zohrabai, Zebunnissa, Yasmin and the singer Kalyani herself. The qawwali was written by Nakshab Zarachvi and music was composed by Hafiz Khan.

1946 Anmol Ghadi directed by Mehboob Khan was the No 1 Super Hit movie of that year.The film was musical hit and still remembered for its music by Naushad, which have hits like, Aawaaz De Kahaan Hai, Jawaan Hai Mohabbat Haseen Hai Zamana and Mere Bachpan Ke Saathi Mujhe Bhool Na Jaana. The film also featured playback singer, Mohd. Rafi first notable song, Tera Khilauna Toota, This movie has so many timeless classics that one can only be amazed at the genius of the persons involved in creating the music of this movie.Here is a timeless classic from this song. “Jawaan hai muhabbat haseen hai zamaanaa” is sung by Noorjehaan and it is picturised on herself 

Another movie that year with immortal music was SHAHAJEHAN The film was directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar and written by Kamal Amrohi. It starredK. L. Saigal, Ragini, Kanwar, Nasreen and P. Jairaj. The music was composed by Naushad with Majrooh Sultanpuri making his debut as a lyricist in this film.JAB DIL HI TOOT GAYA and another song GAM DIYE MUSTAKIL ITNA NAAZUK HAI DIL both sung by K L SEHGAL are still liked.It was KL SEHGAL's Last Movie he died soon after the release of this movie. Here i am submitting a song,I think this song is quite a special song. which has the voice of the great Mohammad Rafi, listen to the last portions of the song, and one can recognise the  voice of Rafi in the song. This song could well be regarded as a song where one legend passed on the baton of male playback singing to another (would be) legend.

1947 the most successful movie of that year was JUGNU directed by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. The film stars Noor Jehan, Dilip Kumar, Gulam Mohammad, Sulochana (Sr.), Latika, Zia, Jilloo, Agha, Shashikala and the famous playback singer Mohammed Rafi.. This film was the first major hit for Dilip Kumar who went on to become one of Indian film industry's legends.Feroz Nizami provided superb music for this film, film song lyrics were written by the top lyricists of the time including Tanvir Naqvi,Adeeb Saharanpuri,Nakhshab Jarchavi and Asghar Sarhadi. Most of the film songs ended-up being super-hit.This was the last film of Noorjahaan after that she moved to Pakistan.There were 8 songs in it. The most famous song was ‘ yahan badla wafaa ka” by Noorjehan and Rafi, who was yet to become a phenomena in the industry. This film helped Rafi tremendously. Incidentally, Rafi was seen in person,in one of the songs of this film ” Woh apni yaad dilane ko “.This song is described as having been sung by Rafi but there are other voices too that need to be identified. There are at least three other voices in this song excluding the chorus.

1948 this year another would be Legend Dev Anand to be established.With the release of "Ziddi" The film helped establish its stars Dev Anand, Kamini Kaushal and Pran in Hindi films. The playback singers - Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar recorded their first duet - "Ye Kaun Aya Re" together in this 1948 film Ziddi.The music of the film was composed by Khemchand Prakash. The soundtrack featured the first film song sung by playback singer Kishore Kumar, "Marne ki duayen kyon mangu", a solo picturised on Dev Anand.Kishore Kumar, who was a big fan of K L Saigal sings this song is K L Saigal style, though one can see signs of his original voice too, which would come out in his singing in coming years.

 The film also included Lata Mangeshkar's solo, "Chanda re ja re ja re, piya se sandesa mora kahiyo jaa" picturised on Kamini Kaushal,who had another hit film the same year SHAHEED with DILIP KUMAR as Hero. It had lyrics by Qamar Jalalabadi and music by Ghulam Haider. Songs like "Watan ki Raah Men Watan Ke Naujawan Shaheed Ho" and "Badnaam Na Ho Jaaye Mohabbat Ka Fasana" have not lost their appeal even after 68 years of the film's release. it was a very popular song of its time. In fact, this movie was a musical blockbuster. This song is written by Qamar Jalalabadi and its music is composed by Ghulam Haider and sung by the great Surinder Kaur.

Surinder Kaur was a Punjabi singer-songwriter. She sang mainly Punjabi folk songs, where she is credited for pioneering and popularising the genre and later was known as the 'Nightingale of Punjab'

1949 the golden era of hindi film music actually started from here.This year film like Barsaat, Mahal, Andaz, Dillagi, Badi Bahen,Jeet and Patanga, that had "Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon" and picturised on actorGope and lead heroine Nigar Sultana became popular. The playback singers for the song were C. Ramchandra, who also composed the music for the film, and Shamshad Begum

BARSAAT  was a 1949 Bollywood film directed by Raj Kapoor. The film stars the famous duo of Kapoor and Nargis as well as Prem Nath. It was also the introduction of actress Nimmi in her first film role. Barsaat was one of the first major hit films directed by Kapoor. This success allowed Kapoor to buy RK Studios in 1950.The film was the debut for music directors Shankar Jaikishanand established their careers. The famous playback singer Lata Mangeshkar famously sang for both Nargis and Nimmi in Barsaat.All the songs(11) of this film were super hit.I am posting here the iconic song "Hawa Mein Udta Jaye Mora Lal Dupatta" Most funny part of this song that the dupatta the Lady using is white.

The Movie Mahal made Lata Mangeshkar famous and established playback singers as stars in their own right.Produced by Bombay Talkies studio, this Kamal Amrohi's directorial debut launched both playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and the leading lady Madhubala into super-stardom.Its songs, particularly "Aayega Aane Waala" sung by Lata Mangeshkar, are perennial favourites. Rajkumari sang most of the songs. Lata sang only 3 songs two other well-known songs from the film, "Mein woh dulhan hon" and "Yeh raat phir na aayge"Here I am posting the superb song by Rajkumari "Ek Teer Chala Dil Pe Laga"

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Happy Birthday Mohammad Aziz- Singer

Happy Birthday(62nd) Mohammad Aziz 

Born on 2nd July 1954 is a well known singer.He got a break when the music director Anu Malik got him to sing the song Mard Taangewala for the movie Mard, starring Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. People thought it was a Shabbir Kumar's song and the song became a hit and Aziz became a popular singer, and was patronised by leading music directors including Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Rahul Dev Burman, Naushad, O. P. Nayyar, Bappi Lahiri, Rajesh Roshan, Usha Khanna, Anand-Milind, Nadeem-Shravan, Jatin Lalit, Anu Malik, Damodar Raao, Anand Raj Anand and Aadesh Shrivastava.
At his peak, he was considered an heir to Mohd. Rafi. He is one of the rare singers who can sing at the 7th note (saatwan sur) - example being his song, "Saare Shikawe Gile Bhulaa Ke Kaho".

 Laxmi-Pyare recognized his potential very early and repeated him in a lot of their movies.Some of his memorable songs are from Khuda Gawaha,Mard ,Tridev and Karma.

His daughter Sana Aziz is also a singer. She has sung for a Bengali album, tele films etc. She has studied under A.R. Rahman.

Aziz is busy in the Odia film industry. He has sung several Odia bhajans, private albums, and Odia film songs since 1985. Some of his Odia bhajans (Lord Jagannath's Bhajans) are famous. He has performed stage shows in India and abroad, and has been nominated twice for best male playback singer award.

Remembering Kalyanji Bhai on his 88th Birth anniversary

Kalyanji Bhai of Kalyanji Anandji duo Music Composer of 1960s and 1970s.Kalyanji and Anandji were children of a businessman who migrated from Kutch to Bombay.Kalyanji was the eldest of three brothers.Kalyanji started his career as a musician, with a new electronic instrument called the clavioline. which was used for the famous "Nagin Been," used in the film Nagin (1954) which had the music of Hemant Kumar.Initially he along with his younger brother Ananji formed a musical group called Kalyanji Virji and Party which organised musical shows in Mumbai and outside.

They came at a time when big music directors like S.D. Burman, Hemant Kumar, Madan Mohan, Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan and Ravi were ruling the Hindi film music world – and it was a golden period of film music – it was very tough to make a place amongst them.The Bharat Bhushan–Nirupa Roy hit Samrat Chandragupta (1959) was their first film as Kalyanji Virji Shah,the song of that film"Chahe Paas Ho" a duet by Rafi and Lata became hit,Another film Post Box 999 came simultaniously,the song NEEND NA MUJH KO AYE became instant hit.Another song MERE DIL MAIN HAI EK BAAT was also became popular.

The younger brother Anandji who was assisting him till then, joined him officially to form the Kalyanji Anandji duo in Satta Bazar and Madari (1959).The Duo's First musical hit was CHALLIA (1961).All the songs of that film were hit."Dam Dam Diga Diga" and"Chhalia Mera Naam" were very popular among masses.Some of the songs of BLUFF MASTER were also became popular in the early 60s but the real recognition happened in 1965 when two decisive scores, Himalay Ki God Mein and Jab Jab Phool Khile, established them as composers to reckon with.The songs of both the films were super hit,Remember the song EK THA GUL AUR EK THI BULBUL of Jab Jab Phool Khile and "Chand Si Mehbooba" and "Kankaria Maar Ke Jagaya" of Himalaya Ki God Me were hit songs of that year.In 1967 came UPKAAR who can forget KASME VADE PYAAR VAFA and MERE DESH KI DHARTI.
The Duo got their first National Award for "Saraswatichandra",in 1968. They got the Filmfare Award in 1974 for KORA KAGAJ.

In the seventies they gave hit music in many films like MAHAL.Johny Mera Naam,SAFAR,Purab Aur Paschim,Sachha Jhuta,Blackmail,Victoria 203,Dharmatma.Maryada,Zanzeer.Infact he was the favourite Music Director of Prakash Mehra.Lots of Amitabh Bachhan films had the music of Kalyanji Anandji

How can we forget their songs like Too kya jaaney wafaa (Haath ki safaai), Ye mera dil, pyaar ka deewaana (Don-original!), Laila main laila (Qurbani), Oh ya Allah (Muqaddar ka sikander), all of which had either the beats or orchestration heavily westernized? That apart the duo also gave quite a few folk numbers like Main to bhool chali babul ka des (Saraswathi Chandra), salaam-e-ishq meri jaan (Muqaddar ka sikander), khaike paan banaaras waala etc.
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Music of Hindi Cinema in 1930s

Hindi films without songs and dance are not complete.Though there are few films without songs but very few. Music is the soul of Indian Cinema.The songs in the films started well before the sound films started but these were played separately on a gramophone during the screening of the film.these songs are listed as NFS. The first sound film ALAM ARA had 6 songs but none of those songs are available. Indrasabha that had 71 songs none of the song is available.The credit of first singer in a song movie goes to Wazir MMohammad Khan who acted and sang this song De De Khuda Ke Naam Se De.In the year 1931 a film naming TRAPPED its hindi name was Farebi Jaal. i have found this video from u tube,its a rare song sung and written by Master Vasant I am uploading this song here.

1930s was the era of K L SEHGAL and Pankaj Mallic.Saigal's songs became a rage all over the country and inspired many a future stalwarts.Sehgal's Devdas and Musical hit Street Singer released in this decade the immortal song of Street Singer "Babul Mora Naiyar Chhooto Jye" was the song of that decade.

In 1935 KL Sehgal's Devdas was released this film was outright success its music became popular K L Sehgal became the heart throb of the country, one of its song Balam Aye Baso Mere Man Main is still in the heart of people. 

In the same year another film of Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani was released Its music was also became very popular The song Koi hum Dum Na Raha wasvery popular. This song was later after many years was again taken in a film JHUMROO (1961) sung by Kishore Kumar

In 1936 Achhyut Kanya starring Ashok kumar and Devika Rani was released.This film was shot,edited and released in just two months.It was a huge success,Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru came to see this film at Roxy cinema.Its all the songs were popular but the song  Main Ban Ki Chidiya Banke Ban Ban Dolon Re sung by Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani was super hit

In 1937 another hit film of K L Sehgal's "President"was released. This film had the Immortal song "EK BANGLA BANE NYARA" The music was given by R C Boral , he was assisted by Pankaj Mallic who had a role in composing this song.

In 1939 PUKAR was released.Naseem Banu was a stunner and shot to fame with the film. Her song 'Zindagi ka saaz bhi kya saaz hei' was a big hit. The film got a huge response throughout the country.

Film released in 1939 Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani's another film KANGAN released,its music was also popular. K L Sehgal's another film DUSHMAN also released that year Song-Karoon kuya aas niraas bhayi (Dushman) (1939) Singer-K L Saigal, Lyrics-Arzoo Lucknowi, MD-Pankaj Mullick

This song from KANGAN is composed by Saraswati Devi. The song is sung by Leela Chitnis herself, as was the practice those days. Pradeep is the lyricist.This song is a nice walk down memory lane to the era of late 1930s, when actors used to sing their own songs.