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
We all remember Dev Anand for the Romantic Songs he sang in films but he also sang many Funny songs in many of his films. In this Blog, I have selected some of his funniest and hilarious songs.
India is a diverse country, Every region, every state has its own music. From the rural part of these areas originated the music whichhad been one of the indispensable sources of music for Bollywood. The leading composers of Bollywood films had used the folk songs in successful films and popularized them. The first Marwari song in Hindi film was taken inearly talkie era – ‘Baala Joban’ from 1934. S D Burman was one of the composers of Golden Era who created many great songs based on Folk Music.The major folk songs used by SD Burman in bollywood films include “jane kya tune kaha” sung by Geeta Dutt in Pyasa, “dil ka bhanwar kare pukar” sung by Rafi in the film Tere Ghar Ke Samne, “o janewale ho sake to”, sung by Mukesh in the film Bandini, “mitwa” sung by Talat Mehmood, in the film Devdas. In this Blog, I have selected such songs based on Folk by various Music Directors. Bichhudo Ri Ghaali Peehar Chaali Saa, Aali Jaa
Song of Baala Joban 1934
Song of Pyaasa 1957
Song of Bombai Ka Babu 1960
Allah Megh De Paani De
This song “Allah Megh De paani de” is based on a East Bengal folk song. This song is sung by S D Burman and the song plays in the background in the movie.
Shailendra is the lyricist. Music is composed by S D Burman.
Song of Guide 1965
daiya re daiya re jangal papi bichua”
Salil Choudhury had merged Assamese Bihu folk music with westernized folks.
Song of Madhumati 1958
Nain Lad Jaye Ho To Manwa Ma
Naushad used Bihari & Eastern UP folk in Ganga Jamuna 1961
Song of Ganga Jamuna 1961
Mohe Panghat pe Nandlal chhod gayo re
This is from the Folk of UP very well composed by Naushad
Today on World Photography Day I recall the Bollywood Films where the Hero or Heroine played a character of a Photographer. The first such film comes to my mind is Heera Panna where Dev Anand is a fashion photographer and can be seen using multiple cameras- Nikon, Nikomat, Pentax and Hasselblad medium format one where he changes the film roll(120 formats) also. I think in one scene he uses a macro lens where he takes an extreme close up of the face of Zeenat Aman. Another important film was Jane Bhi Do Yaron In this movie, the lead actors Naseerudin Shah & Ravi Vasvani start a photography studio. Glamour photography is on their mind but they also do street photography to participate in a photography contest to get the prize-winning money to sustain. They are hired by a newspaper editor to expose corruption in the Land & Building Department and nexus between builders and officials.
Another film is Ram Gopal Verma's Nishabdh where Amitabh Bachchan plays a character of a photographer. Though the film is not about the photography but about the relationship with the friend of his daughter.
Three Idiot was a film in which one of the characters played by Madhavan. A passionate wildlife photographer who is forced to study Engineering by his strict father. After graduation, he pursues his passion, assists a well known International wildlife photographer and after a few years publishes many photo books on nature & wildlife.
Ijazat was another film made by Gulzar, Naseeruddin Shah is shown as a freelance advertisement photographer( he travels for campaigns) who has his own dark room and is shown making prints under red light with an apron.
In Wake, Up Sidh plays a role of a photographer..He starts working as an intern in a magazine where is girlfriend is also working. He takes a lot of her photographs and they take selfies also using a DSLR,
Gulzar, originally Sampoorna Singh Kalra started to work as a garage mechanic in Worli while writing poetry in his spare time. Gulzar, as any other dreamer who comes to Bombay for the first time, was bitten by the film bug. It is said that Gulzar's first song was Mora Gora Rang Le Le from 1963 film Bandini. that's not a true the first song written by him was from Kabuliwala 1961, "Ganga Aye Kahan Se" the Hindi translation of a Bengali song.sung by Hemant Kumar. After that Bimal Roy asked him to write songs for Prem Patra 1962 film. He then began writing for films for directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Asit Sen. Some of the films that Gulzar has written include Anand (1970), Guddi (1971), Bawarchi (1972) and Namak Haram (1973) for Hrishida and Do Dooni Char (1968), Khamoshi (1969) and Safar (1970) for Asit Sen. With Mere Apne in 1971, he donned the role of a filmmaker. Gulzar went on to make Parichay (1972) and Koshish (1972). With Sanjeev Kumar, he made Aandhi (1975), Mausam (1975), Angoor (1981) and Namkeen (1982) He also made film with Jeetendra (Parichay, Khushboo (1975), Kinara (1977), with Vinod Khanna: Achanak (1973), Meera (1979) and Lekin (1990) and Hema Malini: Khushboo (1975), Kinara (1977), Meera (1979) As a lyricist, Gulzar had a close association with the music director Rahul Dev Burman. Both of them gave some gems of the songs. Later he is associated with Vishal Bhardwaj in Maachis (1996), Omkara (2006) and Kaminey (2009); A. R. Rahman in Dil Se.. (1998), Guru (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Raavan (2010) Rahman and Gulzar won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Jai Ho" at the 81st Academy Awards. The song received international acclaim and won him a Grammy Award (shared with Rahman) in the category of Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Gulzar has written lyrics and dialogues for several Doordarshan TV series including Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland, Hello Zindagi, Guchche and Potli Baba Ki with Vishal Bhardwaj. Gulzar is married to actress Raakhee. The couple has a daughter, Meghna Gulzar (Bosky). Meghna Gulzar grew up with her mother and father and, after completing her graduation in filmmaking from New York University, went on to become a director of films such as Filhaal, Just Married,Dus Kahaniyaan and Raazi He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. He has won a number of National Film Awards and 20 Filmfare Awards. He was also given Baba Saheb Phalke Award.
It was 75 years ago before coming to Bombay Dev Anandvisitedthe famous Doon School at Dehra Dun to spend time with his elder brother, whom he idolised. The elder brother was a teacher of history, English theatre and tennis at this prestigious institution, which was then just eight years old. Dev hero-worshipped Chetan, who was a tennis player (he had played at Wimbledon), swimmer, appeared for the ICS (now IAS) exams at England and spoke fluent flawless English. "I had always looked up to my brother. He was a model of everything I admired, handsome, intellectual, fashionable, England-returned, and now teaching in one of the most elite schools of the country," he writes in his biography. Dev Anand admits that it was Chetan who inspired a style in him. The Doon School and Chetan together taught him many a thing about personality, and with it he evolved his own unique style that he was perhaps known for as much as he was celebrated for his acting. During his visits to the school, Dev came to learn "the manners of a proper Englishman". He writes that Chetan taught him table manners as "he put me amongst the affluent, pick-of-the-upper class students at Doon School, with their spick - and span-manners - breakfasting and dining on tables laid out for them by uniformed khansamas. He would wear his brother's big leather boots, imported from London, as well as his woollen check-shirt, black and maroon, typically English, both of which he loved to flaunt. Chetan Anand, the elder brother of Dev worked at the Doon School from 1940 to 1944. In 1944, he resigned from the job and started his journey towards becoming a writer, actor and director. His first film as a director - "Neecha Nagar" went on to win the Golden Palm in the very first year of the Cannes Film Festival! Chetan's erudite, polished and sophisticated personality, which one can see in films like Haqeeqat and Hindustan ki Kasam, greatly inspired young Dev The two brothers worked as a team under their Navketan banner, doing films like Afsar, Andhiyan, Taxi Driver andFuntoosh. They then parted ways with Chetan forming his own company. Dev retained the Navketan banner. The brother whom he held in high regard went another way, professionally. Chetan Anand appearedin Humsafar made in 1957. In 1957 he directed two movies Arpan and Anjali, in which he played lead roles too. He went on to act in Kala Bazar, Kinare-Kinare, Aman, Kanch Aur Heera and Hindustan Ki Kasam, which he directed too.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan known as The King of Kings of Qawwaliperformed at the wedding of Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. It was possibly his first performance in India. It was Raj Kapoor who heard him casually somewhere and liked his singing. He kept him in mind that whenever he will get a chance he would invite Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to India. Born(13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) in Faisalabad, Khan had his first public performance at the age of 16. He was the fifth child and first son of Fateh Ali Khan, a musicologist, vocalist, instrumentalist, and qawwal. The tradition of qawwali in the family had passed down through successive generations for almost 600 years.In 1964, Khan's father died, leaving his musical education under the supervision of his paternal uncles, Mubarak Ali Khan and Salamat Ali Khan. In 1971, after the death of his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan, Khan became the official leader of the family Qawwali party and the party became known as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mujahid Mubarak Ali Khan & Party. Khan's first public performance as the leader of the Qawwali party was at a studio recording broadcast as part of an annual music festival organized by Radio Pakistan, known as Jashn-e-Baharan. His first major hit in Pakistan was the song Haq Ali Ali, which was performed in a traditional style and with traditional instrumentation. The song featured the restrained use of Khan's Sargam improvisations. He also contributed songs to and performed in, several Pakistani films.In the summer of 1985, Khan performed at the World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival in London.Khan's album Intoxicated Spirit was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1997. That same year, his album Night Song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album. Shortly before his death, he composed music for three Bollywood films, which includes the film Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya, in which he also sang for "Koi Jaane Koi Na Jaane" on-screen with the lead pair, and "Zindagi Jhoom Kar"; He also composed music for Kartoos, where he sang for "Ishq Da Rutba", and "Bahaa Na Aansoo", alongside Udit Narayan. He died very shortly prior to the movie's release. His final music composition for Bollywood was for the movie, Kachche Dhaage, where he sang in "Iss Shaan-E-Karam Ka Kya Kehna". The movie was released in 1999, two years after his death. The two singing sisters of Bollywood, Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar sang for the songs he composed in his brief stint in Bollywood. He sang "Saya Bhi Saath Jab Chhod Jaye" for Sunny Deol's movie Dillagi. The song was released in 1999, two years after Khan's death. He also sang "Dulhe Ka Sehra" from the Bollywood movie Dhadkan which was released in 2000. He is widely considered to be the most important qawwal in history. In 1987, he received the President of Pakistan's Award for Pride of Performance for his contribution to Pakistani music.
The credit of introducing this great singer to India goes to the great Showman of India Raj Kapoor. who invited him for the sangeet ceremony of his son Rishi Kapoor. He sang all night. The guests were stunned by his performance! The gaana bajaana [musical celebrations] went on for days. The invitation was, in fact, extended to Nusrat by famous Pakistani actor Mohammad Ali. On receiving the invitation Khan was thrilled, more so for the chance to visit Ajmer Sharif Dargah, the famous shrine of Sufi Saint Moinuddin Chishti, in Rajasthan. The wedding party boasted of a number of artists and musicians from that era. Surprisingly he decided to treat the guests to Indian classical vocals rather than his trademark qawwali. It is said that his performance created a flutter, with senior musicians climbing to the stage to personally congratulate the then 31-year old. After this programme, he became darling of many of Music lovers in India.Nusrat went on to sing live and perform at a number of concerts across India in the years to come, but it was only with 1994's Bandit Queen that he first composed music for an Indian film. His first recorded Bollywood song came about in 1996, thanks to Aur Pyar Ho Gaya, starring Aishwarya Rai and Bobby Deol.
Here is the Audio Recording of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's programme at Rishi Kapoor's wedding
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Marriage Ceremony Of Rishi Kapoor & Neetu Singh
Most Hindi movie buffs know that when we talk of romantic songs it was Shammi Kapoor, along with Dev Anand, who set the template for your typical Bollywood hero. There was a time when in Chitrahar and Chhayageet Four out of six songs used to be from Dev Anand or Shammi Kapoor's Films.
A lot has been written about how before Kapoor’s Tumsa Nahin Dekha, a 1957 musical hit, the Bollywood hero sang – but never danced. At least, not with as much gusto and rebellious freedom as Kapoor did. “Shammi Kapoor changed the image of the Hindi film hero from sad and brooding into one who revelled in singing and dancing.
Shammi Kapoor in a TV show informed that he used to like western music, once Nargis took him to a music shop in Fort, Bombay and pampered him with a gramophone player and 20 records of his choice. Thus began Kapoor’s fascination with English music.
Shammi Kapoor also felt grateful to Dev Anand who refused to sign Tumsa Nahin Dekha and suggested his name to Nasir Hussain. This film made him Shammi Kapoor the star. Before that none of his films was even an average runner.
Shammi Kapoor (21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) told that he had no pretensions of being a great actor. He was happy with his style of dancing. He didn't know how to dance but he had given expressions to his songs. He never had a choreographer but did all the dance steps himself. With a great sense of music and energetic dance moves
Initially, it was O P Nayyar who created songs for his films later it was Shankar Jaikishan who composed songs in most of his films. Mohammad Rafi became his voice.
Shammi Kapoor took his music very seriously. His songs were – and still are – a rage. Stories abound of how he would attend all his song recordings. Mohammed Rafi adjusted his voice to match the Shammi Kapoor persona – a more youthful, delinquent and livelier voice that would complement the energetic dance style of the Junglee star.
In 60s Shammi Kapoor gave many hit films and songs. Through his breezy and carefree roles, in which he indulged in all kinds of burlesque antics, Shammi Kapoor participated in the party song (the male item number, if you will) more than any other mainstream hero before or during his time. Some of his most memorable numbers, such as the Dil Deke Dekho title track, Baar Baar Dekho from China Town, Dekho Ab Toh fromJanwar, the two Teesri Manzil club songs (O Haseena Zulfonwaali and Aaja Aaja) and Aaj Kal Tere Mere take place in the club or hotel space or on the occasion of a celebration.
He became a sensation, Bollywood's first youth icon. Soon he was playing characters named Rocky as in the thriller Teesri Manzil (a 1966 film once again Dev Anand opted out of), playing modern trades such as photography in the frothy Bluff Master (1963), and trying to convince smart singletons such as Sharmila Tagore in An Evening in Paris 1967.
Such was the great entertainer who made the audience forget all their troubles for three hours and gave them undiluted entertainment.
