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
Mohinder Singh Sarna (aka S. Mohinder) was born in a small town called Sillanwali in 1925.Histraining in classical music was from Sikh religious musicianBhai Samund Singh. Frequent transfers of his father kept the family on the move. Since Mohinder’s education suffered, his father enrolled him inKhalsa High Schoolduring the 1940s in the village Kairon inAmritsar.
In 1947, the rest of his family moved to East Punjab in India. The love for classical music brought S. Mohinder to Benares, the Mecca of Indian Classical Music. After some years of grooming S. Mohinder, moved to Bombay(now Mumbai), the centre of the film industry. He got the first chance as music director from Arun Kumar's SEHRA in 1948 ,he himself sang one song in that movie "Aei Dil Uda Ke Le Chal"
A very rare song by S Mohinder From SEHRA (1948)
.He sang another song which was a duet with Prem Lata in the movie Jeewan Saathi (1949),the song was" O Dear My Dear". S. Mohinder took a regular job of music director in “Filmistan Studio”, which was churning out movies like a mint producing coins. S. Mohinder composed music for “Filmistan” for half a decade. It was a great experience.
His first successful film was Nili(1950),starring Dev Anand and Suraiya, which was musical hit but a film disaster.In this movie Suraiya sang 7 songs out of 9.One popular song is being posted below(only Audio)
His noticeable Films inclue "NAATA"(1952) in which the song"Dhadka Reh Reh Ke Dil Baawra" was very popular,the song had the voice of Lata,Rafi,Shamshaad Begum and Balbir. In 1956 his another film Caarvan was released which had some good songs,Aa Ja tujhe Mohabbat Awaaz De Rahi Hai by talat mahmood and another Kis Rah Ka Rahi Hai Tu by Lata and G M Durrani
In 1967 Shirin Farihad released, The song Guzra Hua Zamana Aata Nahin Dobaara became the immortal song of S Mohinder.This movie may be remembered by its songs.
Gujra Hua Zamana by Lata
Aye Dilruba Hemant Kumar Asha Bhonsle Film Shirin Farhad (1956)Madhubala, a leading actress in the film, was so impressed with the music of “Sheereen Farhad” that, while coming home after a hectic shooting session, she herself visited the residence of S. Mohinder, to thank him for the special music he had created. This film had nine songs, all were great hits. Big playback names like Talat Mehmood, Hemant Kumar and Mohammad Rafi gave their voices to the songs.
Song from Pardesi DholaHis music for his first Punjabi film “Pardesi Dhola” was a hit. After that he mainly devoted his attention on composing music for Punjabi films only.. His music for “Chambe Di Kali” also became a hit. Inderjit Hassanpuri, a friend of S. Mohinder, made a Punjabi film “Daaj” in which S. Mohinder composed very emotional tunes. Later on during the late seventies S. Mohinder composed music for some non-film Punjabi albums too and the singers included the best in the Punjabi music business, Surinder Kaur and Asa Singh Mastana. These private albums were also instant hits. \In 1969. Ram Maheshwari and Panna Lal Maheshwari, originally from Amritsar, decided to make a movie in Punjabi based on Sikh religious sentiments. The film was titled“Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai”. S. Mohinder got the contract to compose the music. As we all know film “Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai” has been an all time hit Punjabi movie. Its music was also as big a success.He was given The National Award For Best Music Director 1970 for this film by Govt Of India. S. Mohinder composed the music for most of these Sikh religious movies. “Dukh Bhanjan Tera Naam”featuring Shaminder Singh as the hero was the next film, it was also quite successful. Then came two more namely “Man Jeete Jug Jeet” and “Paapi Tare Anek”. Both were successful at the box office. All these movies were made during the decade of seventies. S. Mohinder also composed some of his most memorable music for these moviesS. Mohinder left India for the USA in 1982, when he was at the peak of his career as a music composer. The last film featuring his music was named “Maula Jatt”, with Dara Singh in the male lead role
Remembering PRAKASH MEHRA on His 77th Birth Anniversary (13 July 1939 – 17 May 2009) A legendary Hindi film producer and director who was considered among the 'Golden Directors' of his time.His collaboration with the actor Amitabh Bachchan resulted in several box office blockbusters and classics. Mehra started in the late 1950s as a production controller. In 1968, he directed Shashi Kapoor who played a double role in Haseena Maan Jayegi. . In 1973, he produced and directed Zanjeer. This hit with Amitabh Bachchan started a relationship that spanned 7 more films, 6 being huge blockbusters (Khoon Pasina, Hera Pheri (1976 film), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Lawaaris (1981 film), Namak Halaal, ;Sharaabi) and Jaadugar. Prakash Mehra was a complete director in every sense of the word. He had great story telling and screenplay sense. His approach was simple yet profound in content. He also had great music sense and did a lot of the lyrics himself.Prakash Mehra also directed & produced Zindagi Ek Jua with actor Anil Kapoor in 1991, which was not a commercial success. In 1996, he introduced veteran actor Raaj Kumar's son Puru Raajkumar in Bal Brahmachari which was also unsuccessful. This was the last film he directed. He also produced the movie Dalaal with Mithun Chakraborthy, in the mid-90s, which was a box-office hit. Mehra died on 17 May 2009 in Mumbai of pneumonia and multiple organ failure.He had three sons - Sumeet, Amit & Puneet. His son Amit Mehra died of a cardiac arrest on 1st March 2015.
He was known as "Jubilee Star" of Bollywood.Starting his career in 1950, he appeared in more than 80 films in a career spanning over four decades. He was considered as one of the most successful Indian Bollywood actors in the 1960s. In an interview Rajendra Kumar said"when we came to Bombay, I decided to try my luck in the film industry. I never wanted to be a hero, so I became an assistant to director H.S. Rawail. For five years, I worked with him in films like Patanga, Sagai, Pocketmaar.. He made his film debut with a small role in Kidar Sharma's 1950 film Jogan, opposite Dilip Kumar and Nargis. It was producer Devendra Goel who noticed Kumar in Jogan and gave him a break in Vachan in 1955,the film was a hit and was Kumar's first silver jubilee film.
He got further success with his supporting role in Mehboob Khan's blockbuster epic film Mother India in 1957 in which he played Nargis's character's son. His first major success as a romantic leading man was in Amit Saxena's musical Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959), co-starring Ameeta.
He came at a time when Dilip Kumar,Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor were ruling the Bollywood,he esteblished himself and gave one hit film by another hit.There were times when he had six or seven films which had run for more than 25 weeks, all running at the cinema at the same time,
After Suraj(1966), the sun began to slowly set on Rajendra's career. Whether it was Aman and Palki [1967], Jhuk Gaya Aasmaan and Saathi [1968] or Shatranj [1969], his films were disappointments.
With the rise of Rajesh Khanna in late 60s and early 70s his position was shaky,he switched to character roles predominantly for Sawan Kumar Tak (Saajan Bina Suhagan, O Bewafa and Saajan Ki Saheli).
In the early 1980s, he successfully launched his son, Gaurav, in Love Story. However, even when Gaurav's career ran a ground, Rajendra continued making films with him even when he lost a small fortune on films like Lovers and Phool.He was the producer of successful film "Naam"(1986) his son Kumar Gaurav and Sanjay Dutt acted in this movie. Rajendra Kumar "was the quintessential good man who never played politics and was like an elder brother to many newcomers. He provided them food, help, advice as well as a lot of moral strength. On July 12, 1999, Rajendra Kumar, an ace at playing a doctor grappling with life-threatening diseases (Dil Ek Mandir, Saathi), finally succumbed to cancer.
Believe it or not , but
there is some kind of an unseen hand of Destiny that shapes Human life. In film
industry, one can see very strange cases. Some people gracefully retire, when
they are on Top of their careers and some have to retire because there is no
work for them. Some people join the industry in a department of their choice,
but Destiny changes their life and they end up working and succeeding in an
entirely different field of activity.
Some examples are, Guru Dutt (Choreographer to Actor/Director), Ashok Kumar (
Lab Technician to Actor), Mehboob Khan ( Extra actor to Producer/Director),
Shashi Kapoor Sr. ( actor to Professor of Maths in USA ), Ashraf Khan
(actor/singer to Sufi Saint), Mukund Rai Trivedi (Music composer to Mine
owner/Businessman) etc etc.
Uma Devi, who became
a singing sensation overnight with her ” Dard “-1947 song ” Afsaana likh rahi
hoon “, left singing and became a Comedy actress. What a turn of events to her Career!
There are a few other cases like Amirbai Karnataki, who left acting to
concentrate on singing, Singer Shyam who was forced to do only acting in later
life as there were no song assignment for him and Sailesh Mukherjee, who became
a hero in films-with a New name, Shrikant Gaurav- after leaving singing/composing.
Tun Tun. The name
conjures up the image of a roly-poly, funny woman. She was christened thus by
none other than Dilip Kumar. She was working with the thespian in her first
film Babul which had Nargis in the romantic lead. And the impact that she made with
her debut was so “heavy” that Tun Tun emerged an overnight star. She was indeed
Hindi cinema’s first-ever comedienne and roles were specially written for her.
She did not make a special pair with any one comedian but she was paired with
everyone from Bhagwan Dada, Agha, Sunder, Mukri, Dhumal, Johnny Walker to
Keshto Mukherji.
The funny thing was
that while all other heroines were on a constant diet, watching what they ate,
Tun Tun made it a point to carry a dabba with her all the time, nibbling at
junk food and mithai every minute she was on the sets. “I had to maintain
myself,” she often joked.
But Tun Tun, whose real name was Uma Devi, did
not join the film industry to become an actress. She was born on 24-12-1926 in
a poor Khatri family, in the village Alipur, near Mathura in U.P. She wanted to be a singer. In
fact, even as a child she only dreamt of becoming a singer. And not just that,
she, at the age of eight, had some great, almost impossible dreams. If and when
she would sing, it had to be for Naushad only! She would not sing for any
lesser music-director. Naturally, she had to struggle very hard to realize her
dream.
Orphaned as an
infant, Uma was raised by her chaacha in an obscure village near Mathura. Girls were not
sent to school as a matter of course. Consequently, as a child Uma would climb
on imli trees, play on farm yards and listen to film songs on the radio. She
would listen to the names of the singers and music directors being announced on
the radio and dream of hearing her name on the air waves.
However, a major
hurdle stood in the way. Singing was taboo in her orthodox North Indian
household. She began practicing singing on the sly. Ramlila and film songs were
her source of inspiration. She taught herself to read and write Hindi and later
picked up a smattering of Urdu and English to get by in showbiz.
Luckily for Uma, her
friend from Delhi
came to her village. She was educated and had connections in the Bombay film industry. She
wrote to her director friend in the tinsel-town to help Uma. In 1946, all of
13, Uma boarded the train to Bombay
without informing her chaacha. In Bombay
she struck up an instant friendship with actor-director Arun Ahuja and his
singer-wife Nirmala Devi (Govinda’s parents). They introduced her to various
music directors.
One of them was Allah
Rakha who agreed to give her one song in the film, the others being sung by
Mallika Pukhraj. Thus, Uma Devi sang “Hai do dil milte milte reh gaye…” and got
paid Rs 200, a princely sum those days.
The quest for Naushad
continued. Finally, A.R. Kardar, who was looking for fresh female voice for his
heroine, viz Munawwar Sultana, introduced her to Naushad. She told him if he
did not give her a chance, she would jump into the sea, which happened to be
right across the bungalow where they were. The great music director asked the
chubby Uma what was the “sur” she sang in. Uma was blank. She asked him to
listen to her and decide. After listening to her for 10 minutes, Naushad gave
the nod. A contract was signed and Uma was enrolled at Kardar Productions. She
was paid Rs 500 as advance and arrangements were also made for her stay at the
official guest house where the staff stayed.
Uma sang “Afsana likh
rahi hoon, dil-e-baqarar ka, aankhon mein rang bhar ke tere intezar ka”… for
Munawwar Sultana. The song floored the nation and established her as a
front-ranker in the era of Noor Jahan Shamshad Begum and Mallika Pukhraj (Lata
Mangeshkar had not yet arrived on the scene). She became Naushad’s favorite
singer and he would reserve at least two songs for her in each of his films.
Uma Devi’s “Kahin
jiya dole…” and “Dil ko lagaya humne…” from Anokhi Ada cemented her popularity.
She was offered Chandralekha by director S.S. Vasan of Madras. She had to sing seven classical songs
for music director S.S. Rajeshwarrao. Uma realized these were beyond her
capabilities. However, Rajeshwarrao worked hard on her and helped her sing the
compositions.
A song from unreleased film Bidhaata (1940)"Hum Dard Liye Baithe"
Uma’s career as a
singer was short-lived. New singers entered the industry. It was impossible to
keep pace with Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. “Rakhi”-brother Naushad used to
compose songs to suit her range. But that could not have continued for long.
Her luck changed when
she went to Madras
in 1948,to sing in S.S. Vasan’s ” Chandralekha”-48. In doing so, she broke the
contract conditions, laid down by the Kardar studios, for which she was singing
in Bombay.
Director A.R.Kardar was so furious that he ensured that no singing assignments
came her way. Still she sang in almost 12 films in 1949, before work stopped.
There was a gap in her career.
When she resumed in
1950, the singing scenario had changed drastically with new singers and she was
forced to take up acting to survive. As a comedy actress she was extremely
successful. As a singer she sang about 120 songs in 42 films. Even after
becoming actress, she did sing in some films, but except in Deepak-(1952),all
were duets ,trios or chorus songs. Her last song was in ‘Premi Gangaram’-1978
It was time to change
tracks. Naushad advised her to switch to acting. He felt she would make an
excellent comedienne for she had a natural flair for the funny stuff.
Once again, Uma
wanted the best. She said she wanted a role opposite Dilip Kumar. Naushad
couldn’t stop laughing, but he talked to Dilip. A role was created for Uma and
she got her first film Babul in 1950. A scene required her to chase Dilip
around a charpai (cot), but she ran so fast that she would leave the hero
behind. Ultimately, after repeated takes, she pulled him in front of her. But
in the process she fell on the charpai and Dilip fell on her. The shot was
canned and they retained the shot. The credits announced her name as Uma Devi,
but they decided to give her a screen name. It was Dilip Kumar’s idea to call
her Tun Tun.
Tun Tun did many
films later. She had a fan in Guru Dutt and acted in almost all his films. Her
favourite role too was from Guru Dutt’s “Mr and Mrs 55” in which she played a
Christian lady.
Having more or less
left films, Tun Tun, alias Uma Devi, led a retired life in a middle-class
residence at Andheri, Mumbai. She spent her time playing with her grandchildren
or listening to her favourite songs on All-India Radio. It was, after all,
listening to the radio that got her attracted to the film industry in the first
place.
Uma Devi aka Tun Tun
died on 24-11-2003,after a long illness.
Remember the songs of Jai Santoshi Ma,all the songs of this film were hit.The movie released with Sholay was a super hit.Its songs were liked by all the groups be it young or old,the songs were topping the charts be it Binaca Geetmala or Vividh Bharti. The music Composer of this movie was C.Arjun,the real name was Arjun Parmanand Chandani born on 1-9-1933 at Karachi Pakistan.Originaly a Sindhi,his family got settled at Vadodara after the partition.His father was a singer,so music was in his genes.Before joining Hindi Film Industry he was assistant to a Sindhi Music Director Bulo C Rani.He started as an independant composer from a Sindhi Film ABANA.
Song from Road No 303 released in 1960 His first Hindi film was Road No 303 released in 1960,It was directed by Dharam Kumarwho directed films like,Truck driver,Sarfarosh,Rustam Kaun,Main aur mera bhai,Jalte deep,Capt.Sheroo etc. Menmood and Shubha Khote were the lead pair.Jan Nissar Akhtar and Naqsh Lyallpuri wrote the lyrics
Paas Beitho Tabeeyat Bahal Jaayegi" sung by Mohammad Rafi from Punarmilan In 1964 his film Punarmilan released, the immortal song of this film"Paas Beitho Tabeeyat Bahal Jaayegi" sung by Mohammad Rafi gave him recognition in the film industry.The film didn't run but the songs became hit.The songs were Picturised on Jagdeep the famous comedian and Ameeta who were the lead pair. It was tragedy with this Composer that he was not offered music for big banners so he had to give music to B or C grade movies.His teaming with the lyricist Jaan Nisar Akhtar would rank at par with the best of Sahir Ludhiyanvi’s composed by SD Burman or Roshan.but luck was not in his favour
Gham ki andheri raat mein by Rafi and Talat Mahmood fromSusheela (1966), In 1966 another immortal composition of this great composer came .Gham ki andheri raat mein by Rafi and Talat Mahmood fromSusheela (1966), lyrics Jaan Nisar Akhtar.This song probably may be one of the last songs of Talat Mahmood.This song bears an uncanny similarity to Sahir Ludhiyanvi – Khayyam composition Wo subah kabhi to ayegifrom Phir Subah Hogi.
song from Ustaad Pedro(1971) "chhayi ghata baagon mein" Before the relelease of Jai Santoshi Ma he gave music in many films like Mangu Dada,Ustad Pedro,Guru aur Chela all these movies were B grade after Jai Santoshi maa he was offered the music of Mythological films. In 1978 “Nawab Sahib” was produced by Satnam Rohra and directed by Rajinder Singh Bedi. The movie had Rehana Sultan, Parikshit Sahni, Johnny Walkar, Omprakash, Bharat Bhushan, Farida jalal, Chaman Puri,Tamanna, Ranjeet,Chand Usmani etc in it.If this movie is still remembered today, then the credit should go to the song.This song is sung by Usha Mangeshkar. It is picturised on Tamanna, with Rehana Sultan also present in the picturisation and Parikshit Sahni also visible in the picturisation
song from Nawab Sahib
How can I not incude the songs of Jai Santoshi Maa This movie was a Super Duper Hit of 1975.Released with Sholay,the music became super hit after its release.
Remember the famous song "Laagi Chhoote Na" sung by Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar from the film"Kaali Topi Lal Rumaal" , "Chali Chali Re Patang Meri Chali Re" or" Chal Ud Ja Re Panchhi Yeh Desh Hua Begana" from BHABHI these immortal songs were composed by Chitragupt.
Born as Chitragupta Srivastava (16th Nov 1917) in Karmaini village of Gopalganj district of Bihar and left his job as a lecturer in a Patna college to make a career in music composing. He started working as assistant to SN Tripathi, which explains a slew of devotional/ mythological films Some of these films were Shivratri, Balyogi Upmanyu, Gayatri Mahima, Sati Madalasa and Pavanputra Hanuman. The other kind of films which fell to Chitragupta’s lot was D-grade stunts.It was after struggling for several years that in the fifties he got introduced by SD Burman to a banner of some standing. That was the AVM Productions of South. It was from the Film Bhabhi(1957) his songs became popular among all.
Chitragupta, who rarely got the opportunity to work in A grade movies ( even this movie was not an A grade movie) gatecrashed into the party of A grade music directors with its songs.
When Chitragupt came to Hindi Film Industry that time the industry was dominated by the big three Naushad, Shankar Jaikishan and SD Burman who were the favourite composers of the three greats Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapur and Dev Anand. Standing alongside them were the two other superstars OP Nayar and C Ramchandra. After the big five the remaining space was occupied by other greats, Madan Mohan, Roshan, Hemant Kumar, Salil Choudhry and Kalyanji Anandji. You still have to reckon with Khayyam, Jaydev, Ravi and several more.Even then Chitragupta made a mark in this crowd with the kind of films he got and with the background he came from is a testimony to his talent.
His classical roots can be seen with the song like Paayal Wali Dekh Na sung by Kishore Kumar for the film Ek Raaz(1963)
In the year 1961 Chitragupta's seven films released most of the films had one or two popular songs but Zabak had many,one of the songs Teri Dunia Se Door a duet by Lata and Rafi is being posteg here.
In 1964 Ganga Ki Lehren came with few good songs,one of such song is here.
Chitragupta had Paralytic stroke in 1974 after that he recovered and continued to give music.his last released film was Insaaf Ki Manzil (1988),he died on 14th Jan 1991
His sons Anand-Milind are also noted Bollywood music directors.They worked as assistant music directors with their father for eight years.they got a big name after Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
Other Hit Songs From CHITRAGUPTA
"ADAA SE JHOOMTE HUYE"BY MOHD.RAFI & SHUMSHAD,M:CHITRAGUPTA-"SINDBAD THE SAILOR-1952"
LATA,USHA.....kasam jhuthi khakar na jalao re jiya,film,kal hamara hai AUDIO
Before I conclude this blog I am posting my favourite Song of Chitragupta
Do dil dhadak rahe hain aur awaz ek hai (Asha, Talat Mahmood)
