Remembering Music Director RAVI on his 91st Birth Anniversary

The well Known Music Director Ravi was born on 3rd March 1926 in Delhi.His full name was Ravi Shankar Sharma,had no formal training in classical music but wanted to become a singer. In 1950 he decided to shift to Bombay and become a professional singer but had to strugle for 2 years.
In 1952, Ravi was discovered by Hemant Kumar who hired him to sing backing vocals in Vande Mataram from the film Anand Math.He later became assistant to Hemant Kumar played the tabla for him. 
He played the been for the iconic number ‘Man dole mere tan dole' from ‘Nagin.'  Soon, he started composing as well as writing lyrics. Slowly, he got more work. His song Chandamama Door Ke became a hit. he composed music for several films. Then Hemant Kumar told him to become an independent composer. During that time he got a chance to compose for Vachan (1955) and the other offers followed.
In 1958 his film Dilli Ka Thug released,the songs of this film were instantly hit,Kishore Kumar was the hero of that film and the song C A T  Cat Mane Billi","Hum To Mohabbat Karega"and "Yeh Raaten Yeh Mausam" became immortal.That year his 4 films released,the music of all his movies was apreciated.In 1960 Chaudhvin Ka Chand released,the film became a mega hit ,its music was the highlight,the song Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho was super hit,In fact mohmmad Rafi got Filmfare award for this song.
In 1961 his film GHARANA was released,the film as well as its music was super hit, He won Filmfare awards for Gharana (1961) and latter on for Khandan (1965). His other successful films include Waqt, Neel Kamal,Do Badan , Gumraah,Aankhen,Hamraaz and Nikaah (1982). His songs Aaj mere yaar ki shaadi hai, Babul ki duyaen leti ja, Doli chadh ke dulhan sasural chali and Mere Yaar Bana Ke Dulha became very popular in wedding celebrations.
Ravi was one of the music directors who shaped the career of Asha Bhosle with songs like Tora man darpan and Sun le Pukar Aai. He was also instrumental in making Mahendra Kapoor a popular singer in bollywood.
Besides hindi films he gave music for Gujarati films and Malyali films,He was the rage in Malayalam cinema. As he had worked his magic in Bollywood, he soon had music buffs in Kerala enshrining him as one of the best in the music industry. Evergreen compositions from his baton adorned films such as ‘Vyshali,' ‘Parinayam,' ‘Oru Vadakkan Veergatha,' ‘Sargam,' ‘Sukrutham,' ‘Ghazal,' and ‘Mayookham.'
Ravi's wife, whom he married in 1946, died in 1986. He had two daughters Veena and Chhaya and a son Ajay. His estranged son Ajay is married to Varsha Usgaonkar who is a Marathi and Hindi film actress.
He died on 7 March 2012 in Mumbai at the age of 86.

Chanda mama Door ke from Vachan 1955

Song from Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

Song from Dilli Ka Thug (1958)

Song from Chirag Kahan Roshni Kahan (1959)

Song from Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960

Song from Ghunghat 1960

Song from Gharana1961

Song from China Town 1962

Song from Gumrah 1963

Song from Yeh Rastey Hain Pyar Ke (1963)

Song from Bharosa (1963)

Song from Grahsthi (1963)

Song from Door Ki Awaaz  (1964)

Song from Shehnai   (1964)

Song from Kaajal (1965)

Song from Waqt (1965)

Song from Do Badan (1966)

Song from Dus Lakh (1966)

Song from Hamraaz (1967)

Song from Neel Kamal   (1968)

Song from  Aadmi Sadak Ka (1977)

Song from  Nikaah (1982)

A Tribute To TALAT MAHMOOD-A Legend with Velvet Voice

Remembering Today on  His Birth Anniversary

Talat Mahmood (24 February 1924 – 9 May 1998) is considered one of the greatest male Indian non-classical and semi-classical singers. He was a born singer with an intuitive sense of beauty, charm and grace, he was one of the most important and significant singers of the Golden Era of Hindi film music.. 
Talat apprenticed classical music under Pandit S.C.R. Bhat at Marris College of Music, Lucknow.He  began his singing career at the age of 16 in 1939 when he began singing the Ghazals of Daag, Mir, Jigar etc. on All India Radio, Lucknow. His voice had a quality distinct from all the other singers. HMV was quick to notice this and offered Talat his first disc in 1941 Sab din ek samaan nahin tha, Bun jaoon ga kya se kya main, Iska to kuch dhyan nahin tha.
In 1944 came the hit Tasveer teri dil mera behela nah sake gi. Its popularity was so phenomenal and unrivalled that even today it remains one of the top selling non-film discs.This disc brought Talat the fame throughout India and soon he was beckoned by the Calcutta film industry. Talat made cameo appearances and starred in about 16 movies, for both the Calcutta (film hub of the 1940s) and Bombay Film Industry.
In 1949 Talat moved to Bombay, to sing for the Hindi film industry. His name and fame had already preceded him and soon he was flooded with offers. His big break came with the song Ae dil mujhe aisi jagha le chal jahan koi na ho composed by music director Anil Biswas for the soundtrack of the movie Arzoo. 
Besides being a gifted singer, Mahmood was quite handsome as well. He acted in over a dozen films with top actresses of the time like Nutan, Mala Sinha, Suraiya and others.Some of the films were  Rajlaxmi 1945,Tum Aur Main 1947, Araam with Dev Anand and Madhubala in 1951,Thokar  with Shammi Kapoor in 1953,his last appearance was in Sone ki Chidiya (1958) opposite Nutan. Later he decided to give up acting to concentrate on singing.
Talat Mahmood was probably the pioneer of international concert tours – his first tour was to East Africa in 1956. Music directors felt that Talat, busy with his films and overseas concerts, wouldn’t be available to sing playback. Music directors who had earlier given him plum assignments now began favouring other singers. SD Burman, for whom Talat had rendered the sublime Jaaye toh jaaye kahan wanted Mohammed Rafi for the plaintive  Jalte hain jiske liye, and it was only on Bimal Roy's insistence that Talat got to sing it.
By the 60s, things had taken a turn for the worse. There seemed to be no place for Talat’s voice by this time .Talat’s career never quite recovered. Except for the odd song in a few nondescript films, Talat Mahmood retired graciously from film music, preferring to focus on his non-film records and live shows, until ill-health saw him leave the limelight completely.
Talat recorded his first track way back in 1941 and sang around 750 songs in 12 languages. 
My Tribute to this Great Singer
First Song for Hindi film Rajlaxmi 1945 

Song from Rajlaxmi 1945 (Audio only)

 Ae dil mujhe aisi jagah le chal (Aarzoo/1950)

Song from Aarzoo 1950

Shukriya shukriya ae pyar tera  from Aaraam 1951,He himself acting

Song from Aaraam 1951

Main dil hoon ek armaan bhara. from Anhonee 1952

Song from Anhonee 1952

Ye hawa ye raat ye chandni from Sangdil 1952

Song from Sangdil 1952

 Andhe jahaan ke andhe raaste from Patita 1953

Song from Patita 1953

 Shaam-e-gham ki kasam from Footpath 1953

Song from Footpath 1953

Zindagi denewale sun from Dil e Nadaan 1953 picturised on Talat himself

Song from  Dil e Nadaan 1953

Raat ne kya kya khwaab dikhaaye from Ek Gaon ki Kahani (1957)

Song from  Ek Gaon ki Kahani (1957)

Pyar par bas toh nahin hai  from Sone ki Chidiya (1958)

Song from Sone ki Chidiya (1958)

Jalte Hain Jiske Liye from Sujata 1959

Song from Sujata 1959

Phir wohi shaam  from Jahan Ara (1964)

Song from Jahan Ara (1964)

Remembering IFTEKHAR on his 97th Birth Anniversary

For cinema lovers this name is synonymous with Police Officer, a role he often played on the silver screen. In fact the movie “Ittefaaq” changed his life completely. The cop’s uniform suited his personality so well, that he instantly became a very busy man. He soon bought his own flat in Khar. 

He was born on 26^th February 1922 in Jalandhar and brought up in Kanpur. After completing his matriculation he did a diploma course in painting from Lucknow College Of Arts. 
Iftekhar’s debut film was 1944 release “Taqraar” which was made under the banner of “Art Films-Kolkata”. Heroine of this film was that time star actress Jamuna.
Iftekhar acted in over 400 films in a career that spanned from the 1940s through to the early 1990s.He  had been a lead actor in his youth during the Black & White era of Bollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar graduated to playing uncle, father, and what came to be his speciality: police inspector roles, doctor or senior advocate. Generally he played 'sympathetic' characters but, on occasion, he played the heavy. One of his most memorable roles as a heavy was as Amitabh Bachchan's corrupt industrialist mentor in Yash Chopra's classic Deewaar (1975).

Besides Deewaar and Zanjeer Iftekar had character roles in many of the classics of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s Bollywood cinema: Bimal Roy's Bandini, Raj Kapoor's Sangam, Manoj Kumar's Shaheed, Teesri Manzil, Teesri Kasam, Johny Mera Naam, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Don, The Gambler and Sholay to name but a few.
70s and 80s were busiest days for Iftekhar During this period he acted in hundreds of movies like “Sharmili”, “Mehboob Ki Mehndi”, “Gambler”, “Kal Aaj Aur Kal”, “Hare Rama Hare Krishna”, “Jawani Deewani”, “Achanak”, “Zanjeer”, “Majboor”, “Deewar”, “Dharmatma”, “Sholey”, “Kabhi Kabhi”, “Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Mann Bhaaye”, “Don”, “Trishool”, “Noorie”, “Kaala Patthar”, “Karz”, “Dostana”, “Rocky”, “Saath Saath”, “Rajpoot”, “Sadma”, “Inqalaab”, “Jageer”, “Tawaif”, “Angaare” and “Awaam”, “Bekhudi” (1992) and “Kaala Coat” (1993) are among the last films.

Iftekhar with his wife

Iftekhar married Hannah Joseph, a Jewish girl from Calcutta,he had 2 daughters.His elder daughter, Salma was born in 1946 and the younger one, Sayeeda, was born 1946.Sadly his younger daughter died in 1995 which completely broken him and he died  on 1st March 1995, a few days after his younger daughter's passing away.

Song(Audio) from Ghar 1945

Song from Rajlaxmi 1945 Audio only 

Song from Aisa Kyon 1947

Happy 90th Birthday to KHAYYAM

Khayyam was born on 18th Feb 1927 as Sa'aadat Hussain in undivided Punjab in Rahon, a town in Nawanshahr District no in India. When he was young. It was his dream to become like a singer-actor like the great KL Saigal whose movies he used to watch very often. However, his family opposed this and he had to leave his house. Khayyam then went to his uncle in Delhi to learn music but was forced to return to complete his education. Khayyam then went to Lahore to learn music from the famous Baba Chishti.
 He made his debut as Sharmaji of the Sharmaji-Varmaji composer duo with the movie Heer Ranjha in 1948. He went solo after his co-composer Rahman Varma went to the newly created Pakistan post partition. One of his earliest breaks was in the film Biwi in which the song "Akele mein wo ghabrate to Honge" sung by Mohammed Rafi was a huge hit. But he gained greater recognition from the film Phir Subha Hogi starring Raj Kapoor and Mala Sinha, in which songs written by Sahir Ludhyanvi and sung by Mukesh and Asha Bhonsle were set to tune by Khayyam, notable amongst them "Wo Subha Kabhi to Aayegi", "Aasman Pe hai Khauda aur Zameen pe Hum" and "Chin-o-Arab Humara".
The song "Jaane kya dhhonti rehti hein ye aanken mujhmen" sung by Rafi from the film Shola Aur Shabnam established Khayyam's reputation as a great composer.Latter on Songs from the film Shagun which had Khayyam's wife Jagjit Kaur sing "Tum apna ranj-o-gham" and "Tum chali Jaogi". From the film Lala Rukh "Hai Kali Kali ke lab par" sung by Rafi and from Footpath "Shyam-e-Gham ki Kasam" sung by Talat Mehmood. From Mohhabat Isko Kehte hein "Theheriye hosh mein aa lun to chaley jaiyega" by Rafi and Suman Kalyanpur made him popular composer.
Khayyam teamed up with Sahir Ludhyanvi once again to work in the Yash Chopra-directed "Kabhi Kabhi". The songs were super hits and showed Khayyam's versatility with huge hits like "Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mein Khayal ata hai" (Sung by Mukesh), "Tere chehre se nazar Nahin hatti" (Kishore & Lata) and "Mein Pal do pal ka Shayar Hun" (Mukesh). 
 Again pairing with Sahir in Trishul he produced great songs like "Mohabbat bare kaam ki cheez hai" and "Janeman tum kamal karti ho" and the light "Gapuchi Gapuchi gam gam". "Hazar rahen" from Thodi si Bewafai and "Aaja re o mere dilbar Aaja" from Noorie and "Dikahyi Diye" from Bazaar are some noticeable songs. Khayyam also created music for the Kamal Amrohi directed "Razia Sultan" and his "Aye dil-e-nadan" sung by Lata capturing the mood beautifully. One of popular song is Cho lene do.
How can we forget him in Muzaffar Ali's Umrao Jaan in 1981. He made Asha Bhonsle sing songs which are indisputably her best. "In Aankhon ki masti ke", "Ye Kya Jagah hai doston" and "Dil Cheez kya hai" are evergreen.

Wo Subha Kabhi to Aayegi

Aasman Pe hai Khauda aur Zameen pe Hum

Jaane kya dhhonti rehti hein ye aanken mujhmen

Jeet Hi lenge Baazi Hum tum

Tum apna ranj-o-gham

Shyam-e-Gham ki Kasam

Theheriye hosh mein aa lun to chaley jaiyega

Mein Pal do pal ka Shayar Hun

Hazar rahen

Aye dil-e-nadan

In Aankhon ki masti ke

Remembering MADHUBALA-The Venus of Indian Cinema on her 84th Birth Anniversary

Madhubala (February 14, 1933 - February 23, 1969) the woman who was born on Valentine's Day and became India's sweetheart struggled to find true love all through her life is one of the most gorgeous actresses to have graced the screens of Bollywood.Madhubala is an epitome of beauty, who had an unbeatable charm. She is admired for her looks and work even by the present day generations.
Born as Mumtaz, Madhubala joined the Bombay film industry when she was 9 as her father lost his job. She was one of five children in the family and her earnings helped the family to survive hard times. By the time she turned 14, Madhubala was playing the leading lady (in ‘Neel Kamal’) with Raj Kapoor in 1947.Her first film as child artist was Basant (1942), was a box-office success.As a child actress she went on to play in several movies. Actress Devika Rani was impressed by her performance and potential, and advised her to assume the screen name 'Madhubala'.

She acted in 70 films but most of her films were flops.Only 15 films were hit,still she was the most saught after heroine of her time.
It was the movie Mahal (1949) which made Madhubala a household name. The song Aayega Aanewala made both Madhubala and Lata Mangeshkar superstars.

Following the success of Mahal, Madhubala appeared in the box office 
hits Dulari (1949), Beqasoor (1950), Tarana (1951) and Badal (1951).Her 1950 film Hanste Aansoo was the first ever Hindi film to get an "A" – adults only – rating from the Central Board of Film Certification.
 In the mid-1950s, her films including the major ones like Mehboob Khan's Amar (1954) did not do well commercially. However, she bounced back between 1958 and 1960 when she starred in a series of hit films. These include Howrah Bridge, opposite Ashok Kumar where she played the role of an Anglo-Indian Cabaret singer involved in Calcutta's Chinatown underworld. In the song Aaiye Meherebaan from this film, she lip-synced a torch song dubbed by Asha Bhosle which has remained popular to this day. Among other successful films, she played opposite Bharat Bhushan in Phagun; Dev Anand in Kala Pani; Kishore Kumar in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi; and Bharat Bushan again in Barsaat Ki Raat (1960). Then in 1960, she appeared in the magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam.It was the film Mughal-e-Azam that marked what many consider to be Madhubala's greatest and definitive characterization, as the doomed courtesan, Anarkali.

She co-starred with all the popular heroes of that time including Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Rehman, Pradeep Kumar, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Dev Anand. She also worked with many top directors including Mehboob Khan (Amar), Guru Dutt (Mr & Mrs '55), Kamal Amrohi (Mahal) and K Asif (Mughal-e-Azam). She also ventured into production and made the film Naata (1955).
In 1960, Madhubala was at the peak of her career and popularity with the release of Mughal-e-Azam and Barsaat Ki Raat. She did have intermittent releases in the early 1960s. Some of these, like Jhumroo (1961), Half Ticket (1962) and Sharabi (1964).Her last film released was Jwala in 1971.
Madhubala married Kishore Kumar in 1960 after Kishore Kumar converted to Islam and took up the name Karim Abdul, and according to Leena Chandavarkar (Kishore's fourth wife): "When she realized Dilip was not going to marry her, on the rebound and just to prove to him that she could get whomsoever she wanted, she went and married a man she did not even know properly.
Madhubala had ventricular septal defect (a hole in her heart) which was detected while she was shooting for Bahut Din Huwe in Madras in 1954.By 1960, her condition aggravated, and her sister explains that "due to her ailment, her body would produce extra blood. So it would spill out from the nose and mouth.
When acting was no longer an option Madhubala turned her attention to film direction. In 1969 she was set to make her directorial debut with the film Farz aur Ishq. However the film was never made as during pre-production, she died on February 23, 1969, shortly after her 36th birthday.
My Tribute to her
Song from Neel Kamal the first film as a leading lady,Raj Kapoor also made his debute with this film

Song from Neelkamal 1947

Song from Mahal 1949

Song from Dulari 1949

Song from Tarana 1951

Song from Mr &Mrs 55 1955

Song from Phagun 1958

Song from Kala Paani 1958

Song from Howrah Bridge 1958

Song from Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi  1958

Song from Jaali Note  1960

Song from Barsaat Ki Raat  1960

Song from Mughal-e-Azam  1960

Song from  Jhumroo 1961