The Heritage Site used in a Bollywood Song

As a Film and music lover and listening to music then analysing its nuances is an important part of my day-to-day life.This time an idea came to my mind to search for the songs which were picturised on a heritage location.
 India has about 35 such sites which are recognised by UNESCO as the world heritage sites/monuments. Including man made and natural ones.These heritage sites have been popular with Indian filmmakers. They have included these sites in various films by picturising songs or scenes in and around the known and not so known heritage sites. The first song comes in my mind is Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar picturised so beautifully on Nutan and Dev Anand inside Qutab Minar.It remains the only song shot inside Qutab Minar.Another beautiful song which is picturised in the premises of the Qutab complex.is  from Fanaa (2005).

Song from Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963

Song from Fanaa 2005

Taj Mahal is among the 7 wonders It is the no 1 heritage site of India. Many songs were picturised at this location.

Song from Taj Mahal 1963

Here is one such song from “Leader” (1964). This song is sung by Rafi and Lata and it is picturised on Dilip Kumar and Vyjyanti Mala. The picturisation shows Tajmahal in its glorious splendour.

Song from Leader 1964

Song from Begaanaa 1963

Fatehpur Sikri-It was the capitol built by Akbar,The site includes Buland darwaza, Jama Masjid, tomb of Sufi saint Salim Chisti, Deewan-e-aam, deewan-e-khaas and many more pieces of architecture.The first time Buland Darwaza was shown in a song Hum hain raahi pyaar ke (Nau Do Gyarah, 1957):

Song from Nau Do Gyarah, 1957

Do  Dil Mil Rahe Hain the beautiful song from Pardes was picturised beautifully at Fatehpur Sikri We can see the lovely architecture in this song picturised on Shah Rukh Khan.

Song from Pardes 1997

Humayun's Tomb-Humayun’s Tomb (tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun), located at Nizamuddin in Delhi, is a popular tourist as well as filming location. In the film Kurbaan 2009 the song"Shukra Allah" was picturised at this beautiful location.

Song from Kurbaan 2009

. Temples of Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) – Built in 700 – 728 AD by the Pallava Dynasty, they are also known as the 7 Pagodas. The temples are monolithic – carved out of one huge boulder. Here’s a romantic song picturised on the beautiful Sadhna and the flamboyant Shammi Kapoor from Rajkumar (1964)

Song from Rajkumar 1964

 Martand Sun Temple-a Kashmiri Hindu temple dedicated to Surya built during the 8th century . Martand is another Sanskrit name for Sun. Now in ruins, the temple is located five miles from Anantnag in the  state of Jammu and Kashmir.The Bismil song from Haider was shot here.

Song from Haider 2014

Chittorgarh Fort-One of the recent additions to the list of World Heritage Sites in India (2013), this place is famous for its unique Rajput Military Defense Architecture. It includes six majestic forts in Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ramthambore fort, Gagron Fort, Amber Fort and Jaisalmer Fort. They’re located on the rocky Aravalli Mountain Range in Rajasthan. The sheer length and expanse of the forts is enough to portray the power and strength of the Rajputana rulers and chieftains. The fortifications of these forts are extremely strong.The song Aaj Fir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai from Guide 1965 was picturised here.

Song from Guide 1965

Nalanda-Nalanda Archaeological Site in Bihar was a center of learning and a buddhist monastery from 3rd century BCE to the 13th century ,the popular song of 70s "Oh Mere Raja" from Johny Mera Naam was shot here.

Song from Johny Mera Naam 1970

Ellora Caves-The Ellora Caves are an important UNESCO World Heritage site and an archaeological site, ranging 29 kilometers Northwest of the city of Aurangabad. The Ellora Caves are well known for their Indian-rock cut architecture. There are about 34 rock cut temples and caves which can be dated to about 600 to 1000 AD,These were built by Hindu dynasties, such as the Rashtrakutas and and Yadav dynasty who built some of the Jain group of caves. Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne(1964) has a duet picturised on Rajshree and Jeetendra in Ellora caves.

 

Song from Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne(1964)

Mandu-an ancient fort city in Madhya Pradesh. It is located in the Malwaregion of western Madhya Pradesh, India, at 35 km from the Dhar city. In the 11th century, Mandu was the sub division of the Tarangagadh or Taranga kingdom .The song "Naam Gum Jayega " from the film Kinara 1977 was shot here.

Song from Kinara 1977

 Saint Augustine Church Goa-The 15th and 16th centuries mark the coming of the Portugese to India and they established themselves at Goa, along the Konkan coast in the South-western part of India. And the advent of the Portugese marks the introduction of Christianity in the Indian subcontinent. Hence, several churches and convents were built in Goa, as a way of evangelization. Due to their different, yet beautiful architectural forms, these churches have been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.The famous song "Gumnam Hai Koi" from Gumnam  was shot at the ruins of St. Augustine in Old Goa.

Song from Gumnam 1965

Red Fort Delhi- Red Fort is named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone,Constructed in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the palace of his fortified capital Shahjahanabad earlier name of Delhi.There was a film in 1960 Lal Quila which was picturised here

Song from Lal Quila 1960

Hampi-a village and temple town recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi. in northern Karnataka, India. It is located within the ruins of the city of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara 

Song from Lal Quila 1960

Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus(BombayVT Rly Station)-formerly known as the Victoria Terminus is the headquarters of Central Railway in Mumbai. It was built by Frederick William Stevens with the inspiration from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and traditional Mughal buildings between the years 1878-1888, and gave Bombay the face of being the International Mercantile Port of India.

Song from CID 1956

Song from Slumdog Millionire 2009

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway-The mountain railways of India comprise of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway and are a part of the World Heritage Sites in India. Bollywood has many songs shot at these railway location specially Darjeeling Toy Train

Song from Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai 1961

Song from Song from Aradhana 1969

Song from Song from Parineeta 2006

The film Artists migrated after Partition of India

On the occasion of Independence Day I look back at the impact that the political changes of 1947 had on the Indian cinema.The impact of partition was not only the loss of human lives and property but the near-fatal blows on cultures that mark its distinctively hideous features.As the year 1947 witnessed the birth of two new nations, it also saw the emergence of two distinct film industries.Both in India and Pakistan, cinema as a cultural production wields immense influence in the lives of the people and mainstream cinema has been deeply affected by Partition.For us there was loss as well as gain. The Partition affected film production and many great performers had to make choices about their location. It affected the Indian film industry by destabilizing two major film centers of undivided India – Bombay (now Mumbai) and Lahore. Legendary film personalities like Noor Jehan, Zia Sarhadi and Ghulam Mohammed left for Pakistan. Similarly, prominent Indian filmmakers such as Gulzar and Govind Nihalani, B R Chopra and Yash Chopra migrated to India.
. The migrations caused a great deal of professional insecurity in the film industries, especially in India for those Muslims who chose to stay back. Ian Talbot notes that even in secular India the Muslim actors felt apprehensive of the audience’s acceptance and therefore functioned with Hindu names. He cites the example of Dilip Kumar who adopted this screen name and even refused to perform roles of Muslim characters with the exception of Mughal-e-Azam.
 After the partition in 1947, prominent music directors like Ghulam Haider, Khwaja Khursheed Anwar, G A Chisti, Feroze Nizami, Rafique Ghaznavi , Innayat Hussain migrated to Pakistan. Most of them were born or brought up in western part of Punjab of undivided India which became a part of Pakistan. So rather than calling the process as migration, they actually returned to their original places.

Noor Jehan-She is also thought to be one of the most prolific singers of all time, alongside her protégé: renowned Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar. She is also considered to be the first female Pakistani film dire ctor.She was at the top in 40s.In 1942, she played the main lead opposite Pran in Khandaan (1942). It was her first role as an adult, and the film was a major success. Khandaan's success saw her shifting to Bombay, with director Syed Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. whom she married.In 1947, Rizvi and Jehan decided to move to Pakistan. They left Bombay and settled in Karachi with their family.

Roshan Ara Begum-Roshan Ara Begum was born in 1917 in Calcutta. Roshan Ara Begum visited Lahore during her teens to participate in musical soirées held at the residences of affluent citizens of Chun Peer in Mohalla Peer Gillaanian at Mochi Gate. During her occasional visits to the city she also broadcast songs from the then All India Radio station and her name was announced as Bombaywali Roshan Ara Begum. She had acquired this popular nomenclature because she shifted to Mumbai, then known as Bombay, in the late 1930s to live near Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, from whom she took lessons in Hindustani classical music for fifteen years.. Migrating to Pakistan in 1948 after the partition of India, Roshan Ara Begum settled in Lalamusa, a small town from which her husband hailed. She died on 6 December, 1982.

 Mumtaz Shanti-Shwas a very popular movie star of the 40′s and her film Kismet (1943) is regarded as one of the biggest hits of Hindi cinema. Mumtaz started her career in the early thirties in Lahore, by working in a local theatre. She got a break in Lahore’s Mangti and was lured to Bombay. With the success of Basant (1942) and Kismet (1943) (in which she played a lame girl opposite Ashok Kumar) Mumtaz Shanti became one of the top actresses of Bombay Talkies.In the mid-fifties, she migrated to Pakistan along with her famous writer-director husband Wali-Saheb. Wali, who started his career as a writer in the early thirties in Lahore, used to write songs and stories for others before getting his first assignment as a director. Of the few films he directed in Bombay including Dekho-ji, Heer Ranjha and Putli,
Meena Shorey -Meena Shorey was born in 1921 in Raiwind, Pakistan. She was the silver screen temptress of the 40′s and the 50′s. One of Meena’s sisters married and moved to Bombay, and she and her mother followed.She started her acting career playing a character role, as Ambhi, Raja of Taxila's sister in Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Married to her third husband, Roop K. Shorey, by the mid-1940s, she found fame when she acted in her husband's film Ek Thi Ladki (1949), opposite actor Motilal. The story was written by I. S. Johar, who also starred in the film. She was one of the first women to be recognized in Indian cinema as a "comedienne of caliber"In 1956, she went to Lahore, Pakistan with her husband, where they were invited by Pakistani producer J.C. Anand to make a film there following her mass popularity with the public in both India and Pakistan.. 

Ghulam Ahmed Chishti-He is also sometimes referred to as Baba Chishti.
Working with filmi music, Chishti excelled at Punjabi compositions and was apt at weaving the design of influences around Punjabi music. With almost 5,000 tunes to his credit, he composed scores for 140–150 films and was the first musician to reach the 100s threshold. Chishti is responsible for bringing Noor Jehan to the Lahore stage when she was 9-years old in 1935. He gave music to films in Bombay but after the independence came back to Lahore. He died on 25 December, 1995, in Lahore.
Ghulam Haider-He was a well-known music composer who worked both in India and in Pakistan after independence. He changed the face of film songs by combining the popular Raags with the verve and rhythm of Punjabi music, and also raised the status of music directors. He is also known for giving a break to the well-known playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar. He started his career in 1935. Some of his hits are Gul Bakavli, Yamla Jat, Khzanchi, Humayun, Majboor, Shaheed, etc.

After independence, he returned to Lahore and his first Pakistani film was Shahida (1949). He composed music for many other films like Beqarar (1950), Akeli (1951) and Bheegi Palken (1952) but the films flopped. He died just a few days after the release of Gulnar. He died o 9 November, 1953.

Nazir Ahmed Khan-He was the first successful film hero in Pre-independent India and later in Pakistan. Nazir was one of the pioneers of the film industry in India. He is the only hero in history to have been cast opposite 35 actresses most of whom were the reigning queens of their time. In the turmoil of partition he lost everything and moved to Lahore. And was one of the pioneers who established Pakistan film industry.

Gohar Mamajiwala-She was also known as Miss Gohar, was an Indian singer, actress, producer & studio owner. Gohar started her career at the age of sixteen with the film Fortune and the Fools (1926) directed by Kanjibhai Rathor and the role of the hero was portrayed by Khalil and the film was produced by Kohinoor Films. The film was a Hit. 

Patience Cooper-She was one of the early superstars of Bollywood. Cooper is credited with the first double roles of Indian cinema—as twin sisters in Patni Pratap and as mother and daughter in Kashmiri Sundari. She married Mirza Ahmad Ispahani Saheb, a well-known Indian businessman. In 1947, they migrated to Pakistan.

Khawaja Khurshid Anwar-He was a great filmmaker, writer, director and music composer. He got fame and success both in India and Pakistan. He is widely credited as being one of the most original and inventive music directors of his generation. He started his career from All India Radio, Delhi and then entered the film industry. His first film as a music director was, Punjabi movie Kurmai, released in 1941 in Bombay.During his days in Bollywood he achieved the status of top composer and musician. In 1952 he migrated to Pakistan.

Khursheed Bano- She was born as Irshad Begum on 14 April, 1914, in Chunian, district Kasur. a singer and actress, and a pioneer of the Indian cinema. Her career ran through the 1930s and 1940s, before she migrated to Pakistan in 1948. She is most known for her film Tansen (1943) with actor-singer K. L. Saigal, which featured many of career's best hits. Her last film in India was Papeeha Re (1948), which was a great hit, prior to her migration to Pakistan, leaving her mark in the Indian film industry. 

Malika Pukhraj -She was among the greatest singers of British India in the 1940s, and after Partition of India in 1947, she migrated to Lahore, Pakistan, where she received much more fame, through her radio performances with composer, Kale Khan at Radio Pakistan, Lahore.her fans remember her with the song " Abhi To Mein Jawan Hoon".

Shaukat Hussain Rizvi- Shaukat Hussain, a personable and handsome man with a good taste of dressing for occasions, was noted early and received a huge amount of attention from renowned showmen of the Indian film industry. Famous filmmaker and financier Seth Dalsukh M. Pancholi noted him and brought Rizvi to Lahore from Calcutta, where he edited films such asGul Bakavli (1939), Khazanchi (1941), etc. After editing a few films, he was chosen by Dalsukh Pancholi as the director of their next venture, Khandaan. Rizvi's Khandaan, released in 1942, became one of the greatest hits of the era,After the success of Khandaan, Rizvi and Noor Jehan moved to Bombay together, where Rizvi directed his next venture, Naukar (1943), based on an Urdu story written by Saadat Hassan Manto. In the same year, Rizvi and Noor Jehan were married.After the couple's marriage, they began a revolution with many superhit films, which Rizvi directed or produced and Noor Jehan acted in, like Zeenat (1945) and Jugnu (1947).He shifted to Pakistan along with Noor Jehan in 1947.

Nisaar Bazmi-There were two music directors who had started their filmy career in the 1940s but decided to migrate to Pakistan in early 1960s. They were Nashaad from Delhi and Nisaar Bazmi from Jalgaon, Maharashtra. They did very well in Pakistani film industry. While Nashaad was reportedly persuaded by producer-director-lyricist, Nakhshab Jarchavi to accompany him to Pakistan, Nisaar Bazmi migrated to Pakistan after getting an offer from Producer Fazli to compose songs for his films ‘Aisa Bhi Hota Hai’ (1965).Nisaar Bazmi is known for his iconic song chanda kaa dil toot gayaa hai from ‘Khoj’ (1953) among his songs from Indian films.

Nashad- He composed music for Hindi films in 1940s and 1950s, credited under the names Nashad or Shaukat Haideri and then migrated to Pakistan in 1964.In the earlier films he kept his original name Shaukat Haideri. The story behind the name change has been written in the book "Naushad: Zarra Jo Aaftaab Bana" (Penguin). The director initially approached Naushad Ali for composing the music for his film. When Naushad Ali refused, the irate director Nakshab Jarchavi then changed Shaukat Ali's name to Nashad, to make it sound like Naushad. Nashad composed for Jarachavi's 1953 film Naghma, starring Nadira and Ashok Kumar.

Nasir Khan-the younger brother of actor Dilip Kumar. Nasir Khan made his acting debut in 1945 in Mazdoor. After a few films, he shifted to Lahore after partition and starred in the first ever Pakistani film Teri Yaad in 1948.^[1] He acted in another Pakistani film Shahida in 1949. Both films failed to do well and Nasir returned to India in 1951. He resumed his acting career in Bombay, acting in several films throughout the 1950s. Nasir enacted the role of Jamna alongside his real life brother Dilip Kumar who played the role of Gunga in the 1961 film Ganga Jamna This was his last film for a decade.

sic composer

Shammi Kapoor - The Original Dancing Star of Bollywood

Do you know that the Shammi Kapoor we know today became Shammi Kapoor after giving 19 flop films in a row.tThe first of Shammi Kapoor was Jeevan Jyoti but Rail Ka Dibba (1953) was released first.He reinvented himself in Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), losing his seducer’s pencil moustache and fashioning his hair in typical ducktail style of the 1950sThis new Shammi did what no other hero had done earlier. He swayed, sashayed and sizzled while singing songs on screen. He became the first dancing star of Bollywood. His dance songs were never Choreographed.Today (14th Aug 2017) on his 6th Death Anniversary I look for his dancing style..
Before Tumsa Nahin Dekha, the Hindi film hero seldom danced. How could he, for the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders. On the rare occasion that he did, like Raj Kapoor in ‘Mud mud ke na dekh’ or in ‘Dil ka haal suney dilwaala’ in Shree 420, his actions were characterized by a kind of rhythmic one-two, one-two movement that responded to the beat of the song.
The final song in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, ‘Sar par topi laal’, made a dramatic departure. Early in the song, after Shankar has sung his half of the mukhda, ‘Gorey gorey gaal, gaal pe uljhey uljhey baal, ho tera kya kehna’, he claps along with the junior male artistes for a few seconds, showing a joviality that matches the beat of the song.He is shown dancing on one leg, going back and forth with the male artistes, matching them step for step all the while. He shouts out ‘oh sad ke, oh beliyaa’ and flits across the frame.
In Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Shammi dances his way through most of the film. Shammi’s entire frame features prominently in the songs ‘Megha re bole’, ‘Do ekum do’, ‘Pyaar ho toh keh do yes’ and ‘Yaar chulbula hai’, differentiating him from other mainstream heroes. 
Shammi Kapoor in an interview claimed not knowing how to dance but his energy, verve and rhythm in those songs were unmatched and very different from the norm.
He found stardom with his first colour film, Junglee, released in 1961, which proved a blockbusting hit.After Junglee began a series of box-office hits like Dil Tera Deewana (1962) and the thriller Teesri Manzil (1966) with hit songs and his style of dancing mannerism.The way he smiled, the way he pouted and the way he looked into heroine’s eyes, everything was infectious; simply because it was fresh, fun and flamboyant. Even his famed dances were never choreographed; on the dance-floor, he just needed a catchy melody and a zingy beat and then he rock ’n’ rolled.
Shammi Kapoor-songs have become a genre by itself. Racy, robust, rhythmic and romantic numbers composed by the master composers like O.P. Nayyar, Shankar- Jaikishan, Ravi, Usha Khanna and R.D. Burman added their own magic to this rebel star’s screen persona.

Song from Tumsa Nahi Dekha 1957

Song from Dil Deke Dekho 1959

Song from Junglee 1961

Song from China Town 1962

Song from Professor 1962

Song from Dil Tera Diwana 1962

Song from Kashmir Ki Kali 1964

Song from Rajkumar 1964

Song from Teesri Manzil 1966

Song from An Evening In Paris 1967

Song from Brahmchari 1968

Vyjayanthimala-The Most Loved Actress of the Golden Era of Hindi cinema

 This South Indian beauty was much more than an actress. A Bharatanatyam Dancer, Carnatic singer, dance choreographer and parliamentarian, the actress is celebrating her 81st Birthday today.On this occasion we remember the dance and songs she performed in Bollywood Films,Whether it is Man dole mera tan dole (Nagin) or Chadh gayo paapi bichhua (Madhumati) or Buddha mil gaya (Sangam) or Hothon pe aisi baat (Jewel Thief), Vyjayanthimala performed some superhit song and dance numbers in Hindi films.Most of her Dances and songs were appreciated by the audiences and were crowd puller.

Nagin in 1954 made her super star,the song Man  Dole Tan Dole was a craze that time,the film became the highest grocer of that year.She got her first Filmfare Award for Best  Supporting Role in  the next year release Devdas as Chandramukhi. but she refused to take as she felt that she was the heroine.
In the  1958 film Sadhana  Vyjayanthimala got her first Best Actress Award. B R Chopra cast her in the film when Nimmi hesitated to play a prostitute. Vyjayanthimala played the mercenary prostitute with a no-holds-barred derring do and yet managed to evoke tears with the soul-stirring Sahir Ludhianvi number, Aurat ne janam deeya mardon ko, mardon ne usse bazaar deeya.Same year Madhumati released,she was among the top heroines now.

At her peak, Vyjayanthimala took off to do a series of much appreciated dance shows in Paris in 1959 besides working for top heroes like Dev Anand in Amardeep in 1957,Jewel Thief (1967), Dilip Kumar in Paigham (1959)Ganga Jamuna(1963)  and Raj Kapoor in Nazrana (1961).Sangam (1964).For her role Radha, who caught between her husband and her former lover, Vyjayanthimala was awarded with Filmfare Best Actress trophy. She then co-starred Dilip Kumar for the sixth time in Ram Mukherjee's Leader. The film was comeback film for Kumar whose last film was Gunga Jumna also with Vyjayanthimala.
Vyjayanthimala married Chamanlal Bali in 1968. After marriage, she gave up her acting career and moved to Chennai.However between 1968 and 1970, she shot for those films which she had signed before her marriage, like Pyar Hi Pyar, Prince, Ganwaar. They have a son, Suchindra Bali. In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as co-writer.

Song from Nagin 1954

Song from Devdas 1955

Song from Naya Daur 1957

Song from Kathputli 1957

Song from Madhumati 1958

Song from Ganga Jamuna 1961

Song from Sangam 1964

Dance competition from Amrapali 1966

Song from Amrapali 1966

Song from Jewel Thief 1967