Saturday, 3 September 2016

Happy Birthday PYARELAL Ji of Laxmikant Pyarelal



Pyarelal of Laxmikant–Pyarelal the popular Indian composer duo was born on 3rd September 1940.His father was a  renowned trumpeter Pandit Ramprasad Sharma (popularly known as Babaji), who taught him the basics of music. He started learning violin at the age of 8 and practised it 8 to 12 hours daily. He learnt to play violin from a Goan musician named Anthony Gonsalves.
Due to financial hardship he started earning money from the age of 12.He then  then used to visit  many Film Studios frequently to play  violin in studios such as Ranjit Studios, to earn money for his family.

Pyarelal met Laxmikant  at Sureel Kala Kendra, a music academy for children, run by the Mangeshkar family. When Lata came to know about their financially poor backgrounds, Lata recommended their names to music directors like NaushadSachin Dev Burman and C. Ramchandra. Similar financial backgrounds and age made Laxmikant and Pyarelal very good friends. They used to spend long hours at the recording studios, sometimes getting work for each other and even playing together whenever they got the opportunity.
Pyarelal often used to go to the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the Paranjoti Academy, where he would perfect his skills in the company of Goody Seervai, Coomi Wadia, Mehli Mehta and his son, Zubin MehtaPyarelal often used to frequent the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the Paranjoti Academy, where he would perfect his skills in the company of Goody Seervai, Coomi Wadia, Mehli Mehta and his son, Zubin Mehta.

Pyarelal was not earning enough he decided to move to Madras for earning he and Laxmikant both went to Madras but came back after some time as their financial conditions were not improving.Pyarelal was the only earning member of his family.Both worked with almost all reputed music directors (with the exception of O. P. Nayyar and Shankar-Jaikishan) of the 1950s. In 1953, they became assistants to Kalyanji-Anandji and worked with them as assistants till 1963.

They worked as music arrangers for many music directors including Sachin Dev Burman (in Ziddi) and also for his son Rahul Dev Burman (in his first film Chhote Nawab). Laxmikant–Pyarelal and R D Burman remained very good friends, even when Laxmikant–Pyarelal started giving music independently. R D Burman played mouth organ for all songs of Dosti. Laxmikant once made a guest appearance playing role of himself as a Composer of Song "Dil Ki Baat" in Teri Kasam (1982), which had music by R D Burman.
 The first released movie which featured them as music directors was Babubhai Mistry's Parasmani (1963), which was a costume drama. All the songs of the film became immensely popular esp. "Hasata Hua Nurani Chehara", "Wo Jab Yaad Aaye" and "Mere Dil Main Halki Si". 
Hasata Hua Nurani Chehara from Parasmani

Throughout their tenure as music directors, Laxmikant–Pyarelal only used A-grade singers. Their mentors, Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi, agreed to sing for them in spite of low budgets, and Laxmikant–Pyarelal always remained indebted to them. In fact, all three, Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosle and Lata have sung the maximum number of songs in their career for Laxmikant–Pyarelal.They continued to give patronage to Mohammed Rafi, sometimes against filmmakers' wishes. They had a great rapport with Kishore Kumar as well. Kishore Kumar sang maximum songs (402) for LP among all male singers, followed by Rafi(about 365 songs).
Chahoonga main tujhe shaam savere 

In 1964 Rajshri,s Dosti released ,the music of that film was given by them which became hit.
the film was a success due to its music. Songs like Chahoonga main tujhe shaam savere and Rahi manava became very popular. At that time, many used to think that there was a single person by the name of Laxmikant Pyarelal. Laxmikant–Pyarelal won their first Filmfare Best Music Director Award for the movie, ahead of stalwarts like Shankar-Jaikishan (for Sangam) andMadan Mohan (for Woh Kaun Thi?). Then came Lootera a super hit musical non-star cast film which is remembered only because of Lata Manageshkar's super hit songs with Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Song from Aaye Din Bahar Ke

By 1966 they established thmselves in Bollywood..Their first musical hit film, with big star cast, Aaye Din Bahar Ke was released, followed by Pyar Kiye Jaa.The same year they scored hit music: Sati Sawitri (Songs:"Tum Gagan Ke Chandram Ho", "Jeevan Dor Tumhi Sang Bandhi", "Kabhi To Miloge"); Sant Gyaneshwar (Songs: "Jyot Se Jyot Jagate Chalo", "Khabar More Na Line"); Hum Sab Ustaad Hai (Songs: "Pyar Batate Chalo", "Ajanabi Tum Jane Pehachane Se"); Mr. X in Bombay (Songs: "Mere Mehaboob Quayamat Hogi", "Chali Re Chali Re Gori", "Khoobsurat Haseena"); Shriman Fantush..(Songs: "Sultana Sultana Tu Na Ghabarana", "Yeh Dard Bhara Afasana").
Bindiya Chamkegi from Do Raaste

Lata Mangeshkar played a major role in shaping up the careers of LP. She sang the maximum numbers of songs for them. She sounded extremely melodious under LP. Lata Mangeshkar and Laxmikant–Pyarelal shared a long, close and rewarding association. From 1963, to the next 35 years, Lata Mangeshkar and Laxmikant–Pyarelal were to chalk up around 712 songs together, which accounted for one in every 10 Hindi film songs recorded by the Melody Queen, and one of every four songs composed by the duo.


Sawan Ka Mahina from Milan

Laxmikant–Pyarelal composed Indian classical music as well as Western music. But they were most popular for their folk tunes and semi-classical music.Between them  Laxmikant mostly looked after vocals and Pyarelal used to take care of orchestration. Both had vast knowledge of various music genres, musical instruments and orchestra management. Both of them composed music in more than 400 films from 1963 to 1998

After Laxmikant passed away in 1998, he made his first unique experiment when he recorded three songs (with only basic rhythm and percussion) with popular playback singers singing the chorus and instrumental sections, while the chorus sang the solo portions.
In 2003, a British violinist named Candida visited Pyarelal and persuaded him to visit England's Trinity College of Music. Pyarelal taught the British musicians to play his music. ''The London Philharmonic Orchestra got used to playing Western classical with an Indian folk touch and pan-Asian influences. He introduced new drums and wrote to a 2-4 beat when they are used to play on the 5-4. I also taught them to stop moving from side to side while playing.

Pyarelal simultaneously composed two symphonies (the most difficult of all Western music creations) and his work was published there in the book called Indian Summer by Schotts, a London-based publishing company. The symphony, called Om Shivam In A-Minor, was later registered in 2009 (after it went through the due but lengthy protocol of vetting the composition) at New York and the registration certificate is among his proud possessions.
In France some years back, Pyarelal had composed and arranged an album of Indian film hits for leading artiste Pascal, called Pascal In Bollywood. ''The songs were neither restricted to Laxmikant-Pyarelal songs nor Hindi films alone.
For Pyarelal, the sky is obviously not the limit.he at this age is still working on music .

Some of The Most Popular Songs of Laxmikant Pyarelal
Wo Jab Yaad Aaye from Parasmani


Rahi manava from Dosti


Song from Pyar Kiye Jaa



Tum Gagan Ke Chandram Ho


Jyot Se Jyot Jagate Chalo

Song  from Hum Sab Ustad Hain


Mere Mehaboob Quayamat Hogi

Dil Vil Pyar Vyar from Shagird

Kaise Rahu Chup from Intequam



Hai Hai Yeh majboori

My Name is Anthony Gonsalves

Dafali Wale from Sargam

Om Shanti Om from Karz




Friday, 2 September 2016

Remembering SADHNA on her 75 th Birth Anniversary


Sadhana(2 September 1941[1] – 25 December 2015), was an Indian actress who was one of the top actresses in the 1960s and the early-1970s, a period regarded as Bollywood's "Golden Era".She was famous for her Sadhna Cut Hair.The style that was copied by girls in India and is still known by the same name.
Sadhana aspired to be an actress since childhood. Her father helped her enter films. In 1955 she played a chorus girl in the song "Mur Mur Ke Na Dekh Mur Mur Ke" in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420

She made her debute in bollywood with Love in Shimla opposite Joy Mukharjee,R K Nayyar who later on married her was the director of this film. The film was declared a hit at the box office and was listed in the top 10 films of 1960.Before this she appeared in a Sindhi Film.

Song from Love In Shimla
Alongside Love in Simla, Sadhana was signed by acclaimed director Bimal Roy for his satirical film on Indian democracy, Parakh. She portrayed a simple village girl in this multi-award-winning film.

Song from Parakh
1961's other hit Hum Dono, she played the love interest of Dev AnandThe duet "Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar" from the film Hum Dono is regarded as "the most romantic song".After this film she became the darling of Indian Cine goers.

 In 1962, she was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The same year saw director-screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her opposite Joy in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. Khosla would again work with Sadhana to make a suspense thriller trilogy.

Song from Mere Mehboob
In 1963, Sadhana played her first role in a technicolour film Mere Mehboob directed by H. S. Rawail. The film was the "blockbuster" of 1963 and ranked in the top 5 films of the 1960s.

Songs from Woh Kaun Thi
In 1964, she played a double role in the first of the suspense-thriller trilogy, Woh Kaun Thi? ,Directed by Raj Khosla,This white-sari-clad performance opposite Manoj Kumar earned her first Filmfare nomination as Best Actress.Later on Raj Khosla  cast her in two more successful mystery films, Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita(1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery girl".

Song from Mera Saaya
 Mera Saaya, a box office "Super Hit" courtroom drama film again saw her playing a double role, now opposite Sunil Dutt. The song "Jhumka Gira Re" sung by Asha Bhosle and composed by Madan Mohan saw Sadhana perform dance steps choreographed by Saroj Khan. Khan was then an assistant to dance director B. Sohanlal. The song became so popular that excited audience in cinema halls used to throw coins at the screen, and is one of the most requested songs on radio.

Song from Mera Saaya
In 1965 Yash Chopra's Waqt released, She stood out in Bollywood’s first ever ensemble cast by bringing along the fashion of tight churidar-kurtas.The trend lasted well in the 1970s and can be seen to be adopted by many actresses The film proved to be 1965's "blockbuster hit",Sadhana got her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for the role of Meena 

Song from Aarzoo 1965
1965 was a very good year for Sadhna, this year another Blockbuster film Aarzoo was released.She was once again paired with Rajendra Kumar.Her other notable works in the 1960s include performances in Rajkumar (1964), Dulha Dulhan (1964), Gaban (1966) and Budtameez (1966)
After 1965 another golden year 1969 came in her life .She gave 2 Super Hits that year,Intaquam and Ek Phool Do Mali ,In Intaquam she played the role of a woman who revengefully allures the son of her own boss who cheated her to be put behind the bars for a crime she did not commit

Song from Intequam
 In 1974 her directorial venture Geeta Mera Naam released. Produced by her husband, the film had herself playing the lead actress along with Sunil Dutt and Feroz Khan.This was her last hit movie after that she did very few movies.
Despite the fact that many of Sadhna's films fared very well at the box office, she appeared in very few movies (nearly 50).She was also not been awarded the best Heroine Award.For her contribution to film, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the IIFA in 2002
Sadhana died on 25 December 2015 in Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai after being hospitalised with high fever. Although the illness she briefly suffered from was officially undisclosed, a family friend confirmed Sadhana had cancer.

It would only be fair if we remember her for her contribution to Hindi cinema, her devotion to films and the woman she was. Here are some beautiful track which will  be remembered  forever.

Sambhal Aye Dil from Sadhna


Lag ja Gale from Woh Kaun Thi



Mera Saaya Saath Hoga



Song from Intequam



Aa Ja Ayi Bahar Hai from Rajkumar



Song from Hum Dono



Song from Manmauji



Song from Asli Naqli








Song from Asli Naqli



Song from Parakh



Song from Ek Phool Do Maali



Song from Aap Aayi Bahar Aayi


Song from Prempatra


Song from unrelesed film Picnic


song from Manmauji






Song from Dulha Dulhan



Song from Badtameej



Song from Geeta Mera Naam



Aa Jane Jaan from Intequam






Thursday, 1 September 2016

Remembering K N SINGH on his Birth Anniversary





 K. N. Singh The "gentleman villain" of Bollywood,  was a prominent villain and character actor. He appeared in over 250 Hindi films over a long career stretching from 1936 to the late 1980s.He was born on 1st September 1908.His full name most of the people don't know,it was Krishan Niranjan Singh.

 K.N. Singh was a sportsman who was selected to represent India in the 1936 Berlin Olympics before circumstances compelled him to go to Calcutta to attend on his ailing sister. There he met his family friend Prithviraj Kapoor, who introduced him to director Debaki Bose, who offered him a debut role in his film Sunehra Sansar (1936).

He came to limelight after the release of Baghban 1938  in which he played the antagonist.The movie was super hit and his role also became super hit.His suave style, baritone voice and menacing eyes became legendary.KN Singh and his friends Prithviraj Kapoor and KL Saigal were considered the pioneering stars of the Bombay talkies.

He appeared in several iconic movies in the 40s and 50s including Sikandar (1941), Jwar Bhata (1944) (Dilip Kumar's film debut), Humayun (1945),Awara (1951), Jaal (1952), CID (1956), Howrah Bridge (1958), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Amrapali (1966) and An Evening in Paris (1967).
Singh played prominent roles in movies like Jhoota Kahin Ka (1970), Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) and Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972). His last prominent role was in the 1973 filmLoafer.


                                   Guru Dutt, K. N. Singh, in Baaz

K.N. Singh was the eldest among 6 siblings: a sister and five brothers. His marriage with Praveen Paul did not produce any children, and so the two adopted Pushkar, the son of his brother Bikram (who was once the editor of Filmfare magazine) as their son.

K.N. Singh turned completely blind in his last years. He died in Mumbai on 31 January 2000 aged 91 was survived by his adopted son Pushkar, who is a producer of television serials.

Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Happy Birthday LEENA CHANDAVARKAR


Born on 30th Aug 1950 to an Army officer in Dharwad in Karnataka,made her Debute in Man Ka Meet for Sunil Dutt, and it was his wife Nargis who groomed her to be an actress.

She was active from 1969 to 1979. She was cast opposite many of popular heroes of that era. She gave one of her best performances in Mehboob Ki Mehndi with Rajesh Khanna in 1971.
She had an arranged marriage to her first husband, Siddharth Bandodkar, who came from a prominent political family. He died from an accidental gunshot wound, a few days into the marriage, leaving Leena a widow at age 25.

 A few years later, she defied her father by marrying singing legend Kishore Kumar. Her father initially objected because Kumar had been married three times already, and was more than 20 years older than her, but he soon came around and welcomed Kumar into the family. She has a son with Kishore Kumar named Sumit Ganguly. Kishore died in 1987, leaving Leena once again a widow at age 37. She lives with her son Sumit, her step-son Amit, his wife, and with Amit's mother.
She acted against the legends like Dilip Kumar in Bairaag and Raj Kumar in Dil Ka Raja 1972
She appeared as a guest judge for the first 2 episodes of "K for Kishore", a reality TV singing show launched by Sony TV during December 2007.

Some of Leena's Hit Songs
Song from Mehboob Ki Mehandi


Song from Bairaag


Song from Manchali


Song from Mein Sunder Hoon


Song from Mein Sunder Hoon


Song from Bidai


Song from Hamjoli


First Song and Dance from Mam Ka Meet

Song from Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka