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
Amirbai Karnatki (19 Feb 1906 – 3 March 1965), was a famous actress/singer and playback singer of the early Hindi cinema She was a singing star of the late 30s and 40s.In 1943, with the release of Bombay Talkies' Kismet (1943 film), she achieved popularity: the songs of Kismet became a rage and Amirbai became famous. Mahatma Gandhi was an ardent fan of her song Vaishnav Jan To. She was fluent in Kannada (mother tongue) and Gujarati languages. "Mahre te gamray ek baar aawjo" is one of her famous Gujarati songs from the film Ranrakdevi. She was not a trained singer but during the 1940s, Amirbai became one of the most sought after singers. She reached her career peak by 1947. There was a time. when other singers used to get Rs. 500 for singing a song, Amirbai used to get Rs. 1000 per recording. Those days she avoided taking acting roles and concentrated more on her singing.
After 1947, Lata Mangeshkar became a rising star, so once again Amirbai switched over to acting. In her later years, she mostly played character roles. Amirbai also composed music for Wahab Pictures' film Shehnaaz (1948). In the same year, she almost left Hindi Cinema for Gujarati and Marwari films.
She had a paralytic attack in 1965, died just four days later and was buried in her hometown. A cinema hall is still run in the name of "Amir Talkies" in the city of Bijapur, by her family.
Recall the iconic dialogue of Amitabh Bachchan : ‘Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, pura naam. Baap ka naam Dinanath Chauhan, maa ka naam Suhasini Chauhan. Gaon Mandwa. Umar chattis saal, nau mahina, ath din.. ey, ey solwa ghanta chaloo ey re’. Yes, I amtalking about none other than the 1990’s film ‘Agneepath. This film was released on 16th Feb 1990. It is Amitabh Bachchan's one of the most highly respected dramatic roles. The title of this film was suggested by Amitabh taken from his father Harivansh Bachchan's one of the poems.Amitabh Bachchan received his first National Film Award for Best Actor at the 38th National Film Awards for his performance. It is considered a milestone in Bachchan's career, and in the league of his all-time great movies. When released, Agneepath was a failure, both at the box office as well as among the critics. Amitabh Bachchan's experimentation with his voice did not go well with the masses and the critics. He had spoken the dialogue in a different voice inspired by Marlon Brando in The Godfather but the audience loved his baritone voice. Amitabh Bachchan looked tired at places but does an excellent job as the underworld don. His mannerisms are superb. The opening scene and few thereafter have some emotional as well as a class appeal but not of the type which can move the viewers. The long climax is thrilling. But Amitabh’s death was a jolt.A characteristic feature of the movie was the dark undertones and the grim atmosphere of the film, which was unusual for any of Amitabh Bachchan's films. The film was remade in 2012 with the same title, by Johar's son Karan Johar, as a tribute to his father.
Randhir Kapoor(15th Feb 1947) the eldest son of Raj Kapoor made his acting and direction debut in a leading role in the family drama Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971). He appeared as a child artist in Shree 420 (1955) and Do Ustad (1959). After his debut, he acted in three consecutive hit films, all released in 1972: Jeet, Rampur Ka Lakshman, and Jawani Diwani. In 1975, he directed and starred alongside his father again in the critically acclaimed Dharam Karam, which was a box office disappointment. From 1976 to 1981, his multi-star films such as Chacha Bhatija (1977), Kasme Vaade (1978) were successful .Randhir married actress Babita, the daughter of actor Hari Shivdasani, on 6 November 1971 when he was just 24 after co-starring with her in Kal Aaj Aur Kal, as the couple fell in love during the shooting of this film. Their two daughters, Karisma Kapoor, born in June 1974, and Kareena Kapoor, born in September 1980, are Indian film actresses. In 1991, he directed and produced the blockbuster Henna (1991), that starred his younger brother, Rishi Kapoor and Pakistani actress Zeba Bakhtiar. The film had started production in 1988 with his father Raj Kapoor directing, but after his death, Randhir took over as director of the film. Henna resulted in a trip to Pakistan, where he was treated royally by then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a fan of his father Raj and his uncle Shammi Kapoor. In 1999, he made his comeback in the film Mother, alongside Rekha, Jeetendra and Rakesh Roshan. After another break, he appeared in the film Armaan (2003), in a supporting role as Preity Zinta's father.
Madhubala (14th Feb1933 – 23 February 1969 ) started acting at the age of seven and made her first film for Bombay Talkies, where she had to sing a song – ‘Mere chhote se man me, chhoti si duniya re’. She was called Baby Mumtaz. She worked as Baby Mumtaz in many films such as Pujari, Phoolwari, and Rajputani. She was spotted by Kidar Sharma and paired her as heroine opposite Raj Kapoor in Neel Kamal(1947). She was barely 14 years old and he named her Madhubala. A couple of years later, Kamal Amrohi cast her opposite Ashok Kumar in Mahal and a star was born. She became everyone’s darling and the industry crowned her ‘Venus of the Indian Screen’, She was now the preferred heroine of Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand.
Madhubala as Baby Mumtaz
Her first film with Dilip Kumar was Tarana. They went on to do three more – Sangdil, Amar and Mughal-e-Azam. The latter was also her last film before she was bedridden. With Dev Anand, she worked in 6 films. The first film they did together was" Nirala "released in 1950, the other films were Aaram (1951), Naadan (1951), Kala Pani (1958),Jaali Note (1960), and Sharabi (1964) During the career span of 22 years, she appeared in around 73 Hindi films. She worked with all the leading heroes of their time. Madhubala's co-starsAshok Kumar,Raj Kapoor,Rehman,Pradeep Kumar,Shammi Kapoor,Dilip Kumar,Sunil Dutt,andDev Anandwere the most popular actors of that period. She also appeared with notable leading ladies such asKamini Kaushal,Suraiya,Geeta Bali,Nalini Jaywant,ShyamaandNimmi. The directors she worked with,Mehboob Khan(Amar),Guru Dutt(Mr. & Mrs. '55),Kamal Amrohi(Mahal) andK. Asif(Mughal-e-Azam), were amongst the most prolific and respected. Madhubala also became a producer and produced films likeNaata(1955) andMahlon Ke Khwab(1960) and acted in both the films. Madhubala gave a flamboyant performance in Guru Dutt's satire Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955). The film revolves around Anita, a wealthy heiress, and a struggling cartoonist, Pritam (Guru Dutt). Mr. & Mrs. '55 has hit songs, "Jaane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Jee" (a duet sung by Geeta Dutt and Mohammed Rafi) and "Thandi Hawa Kali Ghata" (sung by Geeta Dutt). Mr. & Mrs. 55 was the fifth highest-grossing film of that year. She also acted in costume dramas such as Shirin-Farhad (1956), Raj-Hath (1956) (both with Pradeep Kumar).]Dhake Ki Malmal was a romantic musical comedy directed by J.K. Nanda and produced under the Nanda Film banners. The film starred Madhubala and Kishore Kumar together for the first time. Both of them later acted in several popular "musical comedies" such as Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Jhumroo (1961) and Half Ticket (1962). The love with Dilip Kumar is well known but they couldn't marry. Madhubala met Kishore Kumar during the shooting of Dhake Ki Malmal (1956). In 1960, Madhubala married him when she was 27 years old. When Madhubala was ill in the late 1950s with the congenital heart disease, Kishore Kumar proposed to her and she decided to marry him after realizing that Dilip Kumar was not going to marry her. Madhubala had a ventricular septal defect (a hole in her heart) 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 23 February 1969, shortly after her 36th birthday. The cause of death was determined to be the prolonged lung and heart illness
Mere chhote se man me -sung by Madhubala as a child in Basant 1942
Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) is considered as one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent.He was known for his ability to mold his voice to the persona and style of an actor, lip-syncing the song on screen in the movie. He has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in various regional Indian languages as well as foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi over which he had a strong command. In this blog, I plan to divide Rafi’s very long career into 10-year slots, look for a film that has his first association with the music director, and then pick up one solo song that seems to slip from our memories. 1944 to 1953 Rafi moved to Bombay, Maharashtra in 1944. His first recorded song in a Hindi film was a duet with G M Durrani "Aji dil ho kaabu mein to dildar ki aisi taisi...," for Gaon Ki Gori, As can be expected the first five-year period of Rafi had a very large number of music directors who deployed Mohammad Rafi first time.
Song of Gaon Ki Gori. 1944
Pandit Govindram, one of the then leading music director, teamed up with lyricist Ramesh Gupta for Hamara Sansar with what may be termed as a full-fledged 1st solo song. The experts may see that youthful rawness in Rafi’s voice but not in his singing prowess.
Muhammad Rafi 1st solo Song from Film Hamara Sansar 1945
Song of Hamara Sanar 1945
In 1946 S Quereshi another popular composer of that era composed a slightly fast-paced tune which is essentially in the nature of a traditional prayer. Shevan Rizvi has made required changes in the lyrics to suit the song to probably a 78-RPM
record singing length duration. In the years to come, Mohammad Rafi developed a special
forte for this genre.
Song of Arab Ka Sitara 1946
Song of Shahjahan (1946)
Composer Naushad took Rafi for the first time in a chorus with Shyam Kumar, Alauddin and others from the film" Pehle Aap." in 1944. In 1945, he appeared on the screen for the song "Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha" in the film Laila Majnu. He sang a number of songs for Naushad as part of the chorus, including "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani, Roohi Roohi" with K. L. Saigal, from the film Shahjahan (1946). Rafi sang "Tera Khilona Toota Balak" from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946) and a duet with Noor Jehan in the 1947 film Jugnu, "Yahan Badla Wafa Ka".
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Song of Anmol Ghadi (1946)
Song of Jugnu 1947
C Ramachandra has scored a double solo in Safar. Kehke Bhi Na Aaye Tum can be treated as one of the popular among Mohammad Rafi’s early songs.C.Ramchandra went onto
compose 22 more songs of Mohammad Rafi by 1949
Song of Safar 1946
Song of Safar 1946
S D Burman also opens an account with Mohammad Rafi solo in Do Bhai. Raja Mahendi Ali Khan’s lyrics have been done a very fair justice by Mohammad Rafi in the way the song has been rendered. S.D. Burman used Rafi as a singing voice of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt in the years to come.
Song of Do Bhai 1947
In 1948 composer Ram Ganguly had used Mohammad Rafi in the maiden Raj Kapoor film Aag, but that is a duet with Shamshad Begum – Solah Baras Ki Bhayee Umariya.
Song of Aag 1948
Hans Raj Behl has used Mohmmad Rafi for one solo and one duet (with Geeta Dutt) for Chunariya. This can be taken as first of the signature HRB-Rafi song, which seems to pave for fairly qualitative combined work in the years to come.
Song of CHUNARIYA 1948
Rafi's partnership with Shankar Jaikishan was among the most famous and successful in the Hindi film industry. Rafi sang his first song under Shankar Jaikishan in their Debute film Barsaat in 1949. This was the only song he sang in his movie
By the end of the year 1949, Mohammad Rafi became very popular among music directors and the public. The overall tally of Mohammad Rafi’s songs for the year 1949 is 121 songs, with 21 music directors, spread over 49 films.
Song of Barsaat 1949
In 1950, Mohammad Rafi had had 29 solos out of 108 songs He became a favorite of Naushad. This year another great music director Madan Mohan gave Rafi his first solo with him in the 1950 film Aankhen
Song of Aankhen 1950
The year 1951 has 26 solos from a total of 72 Mohammad Rafi songs. The year had Naushad switching over to Mohammad Rafi for background voice of Dilip Kumar and we have some of the top Mohammad Rafi songs in Deedar. Husnlala Bhagatram also has a twin solo for Mohammad Rafi in Afasana – Duniya Ek Kahani Re Bhaiya – which also was quite popular. Shankar Jaikishan has used Mohammad Rafi for special songs in RK’s Aawara, which is also going to be a very notable trend in itself.
Song of Deedar 1951
Another song by Mohammad Rafi for the film Janam Janam Ke Phere 1951 became very popular. The year, on the whole, seems to be the game turner in the career path of Mohammad Rafi.
Song of Janam Janam Ke Phere 1951
The year 1952 was the year of Baiju Bawra, Naushad gave a slew of Rafi hits in Aan and Baiju Bawra. For Deewana, Naushad had one of Rafi’s immortal "Tasweer Banata Hun Teri Khoon-e-Jigar Se."
The year 1952 had 80 songs to Mohammad Rafi’s account, of which 32 songs were solos.
Song of Deewana 1952
Song of Baiju Bawra 1952
The year 1953 had 31 solos songs of Mohammad Rafi out of a total of 71 songs. This year Salil Chaudhary made his debut with Do Bigha Zameen, Rafi was given one song in this film. Rafi also sang for O P Nayyar for the first time in Baaz.
Here is the song that can be said to be one more defining step in Mohammad Rafi’s career.
Jal Jal Ke Shama Ki Tarah Fariyad from the film Fariyadi 1953 composed by Baldev Nath Baali
The song is cast in what we know as Mohammad Rafi’s signature style for the songs of sad mood.
In the 60s and 70s, the world of ghazals was dominated by renowned names like Noor Jehan, Malika Pukhraj, Begum Akhtar, Talat Mahmood, and Mehdi Hassan but In the 70s a new voice appeared in Ghazals in India. It was Jagjit Singh with a different melody and freshness in his voice appealed to all and he was recognized by the industry. His pairing with Chitra and the use of unconventional musical instruments in the Ghazal and catchy rhythms and soulful music popularised Ghazals to the masses during the 70s and 80s. The couple's first Album " The Unforgettables" released in 1976 made them star in the ghazal Industry in India. It became the highest-selling album at a time when there was no market for non-film albums. The Unforgettables is also notable for one exceptional ghazal, Raat Bhi Neend Bhi, based on a Firaq Gorakhpuri poem. Chitra did not like the initial composition. Jagjit changed the tune and it became one of her most recognized solos in an album over which her husband towers with Baat Niklegi Toh Phir Door Talak Jayegi and Sarakti Jaaye Hai Rukh Se. Jagjit Singh touched unprecedented heights and a number of his songs are considered classics. He is also the first Indian musician to record a purely digital CD album, titled ‘Beyond Time’ (1987). Jagjit Singh has also sung many songs for Hindi movies. Popular films include Arth, Saath Saath, Premgeet, Tum Bin, Sarfarosh, Dushman and Tarkeeb. Jagjit Singh has proved himself as a genius as he brings out the true meaning of Mirza Ghalib's poetry by singing them as melodious Ghazals. The album can be easily called a masterpiece.
Bhagwan Dada was the first dancing superstar of Indian cinema. He had rhythm and music embedded deep within him. He originated a particular style of dancing. That tender sway of the hip, the naughty look of an infant, and the candor of a star – he possessed it all. He had swag before swag got swag! His signature dance moves soon became a sensation. He was among the few male stars to break into an inner elite circle of actors/dancers, which was dominated by women. Many actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, Mithun Chakraborty, and Rishi Kapoor are known to have drawn inspiration from him.
He was perhaps the first to introduce Ramba, Samba, Disco, rock-n-roll and other dance forms to Hindi cinema, the first male star to do so in the industry ruled by female dancers. Bhagwan Dada as he was popularly called, created a new grammar of comedy, through the unique style of acting and dancing, which inspired a whole generation of comedians in the Hindi cinema. Bhagwan Abhaji Palav popularly known as Bhagwan Dada was born on 1st Aug 1913 and died on 4th February 2002 was a popular comedian of Bollywood of the Golden Era. He is best known for his social film Albela (1951) and the song "Shola Jo Bhadke".A veteran actor of about 600 films in the course of more than five decades,
In 1934 he made his first talkie "Himmat-e-Mardan". After that, he joined another company and directed a film called "Bahadur Kisan", with Hansa Wadkar as the heroine. The movie again was a big hit. During the shooting of the film, he had taken a lanky young man, Chitilkar Ramachandra, as his assistant. He gave him a break as a music director in the three. Tamil films he directed in Madras. He used to call him Anna and there began their long association during which C. Ramachandra, out of gratitude, gave him the Hindi film industry’s all-time favorite songs for "Albela," including one of the loveliest loris Dhire se aaja ri, ankhiyan mein. He produced many films after ALBELA but most of his films flopped, His film "Sahme Hue Sapney" didn’t survive beyond the first show. Then he suffered a heavy loss while making "Hanste Rehna" with Kishore Kumar. He had invested his own money, pawned his wife’s jewelry and withdrawn all his life’s savings. But halfway through, Kishore started dilly-dallying and "behaving crazily" and the project had to be shelved.
His sea-facing Juhu bungalow with 25 rooms along with his fleet of seven cars (one for each day of the week) had to be sold. The family moved to a two-room set in a Chawl at Dadar. In his last days, he was being looked after by his unmarried daughter and the family of his youngest son, who is a sound recordist. Bhagwan died of a massive heart attack at his residence in Dadar on 4 February 2002.
