Saroj Khan- The Mother of Bollywood Choreography

Saroj Khan (22 November 1948 - July 3, 2020),  started her career as a child artist at the age of three with the film Nazarana as child Shyama. She worked as a background group dancer in many dance songs in the late 50s.
She got her break as an independent choreographer, with Geeta Mera Naam (1974).before that she was assistant to dance director  B. Sohanlal.  Her first breakthrough came with Subhash Ghai's Hero (1983), but it was Sridevi's Nagin dance in Nagina (1986) where she was noticed for her talent, followed up by Mr. India. Next, she worked with Madhuri Dixit in 'Ek Do Teen' number, Tezaab (1989), and later in Khalnayak, where she choreographed the Choli Ke Peeche' number.
Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit were her favs. dancers in Bollywood. Sridevi danced to her steps in Mr. India's Hawa Hawai and Chandini's 'Mere Hathon Mein'.Madhuri Dixit starting with the hit Ek Do Teen in Tezaab (1988), Tamma Tamma Loge in Thanedaar (1990), and Dhak Dhak Karne Laga in Beta (1992). 
With a career span of over forty years, she choreographed more than 2000 songs Many of her choreographed songs have been iconic. Saroj Khan was the recipient of the most National Film Awards for Best Choreography with three wins. She was the first recipient of the filmfare Best Choreography Award. Filmfare instituted this award after watching the excellent choreography and audience response to Khan's song "Ek Do Teen" from Tezaab. Saroj Khan went on to have a hat-trick at the Filmfare awards winning consistently for 3 years from 1989 to 1991. She also holds the record for winning the most Filmfare Best Choreographer Awards, winning 8 times. 
She was admitted to Guru Nanak Hospital at Bandra, Mumbai on June 17, 2020. She was admitted with breathing complaints, and died of cardiac arrest at 1:52 am early on Friday, July 3, 2020.  
Some of her Iconic Choreography

Song of Hero (1983)

Song of Nagina (1986)

Song of Mr India (1987)

Song of Tezaab (1988)

Song of Chandni (1989)

Song of Beta (1992)

Song of Khalnayak (1994)

Song of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 2000

Song of Devdas  2003

Song of Guru   2008

Bollywood’s Obsession With Fair Skin

Black Lives Matter movement gave me a thought to write a blog on the obsession of Bollywood with fair skin. There are are many songs related to dark skin or fair skin. From Hum Kale Hai Toh Kya Hua to Chittiyan Kalaiyan, take a moment to consider how offensive all these songs are.
In Mother India (1957), the good son is shown as light-skinned and the bad son has decidedly dark skin, with actor Sunil Dutt blackening his face for that role. The bad son is later shot dead by his own mother
A few months back I saw a Hindi movie 'Bala': The film portrayed the story of a woman facing prejudice based on her skin tone. I remember a film in which  Zeenat Aman darkening her skin to play the role of a domestic worker in the 1982 movie Pyaas, In Bollywood, often the roles of protagonists are reserved for fair-skinned artistes. Dark-skinned actors are either reduced to making jokes about their grotesque bodies, or they play detestable villains.
In 1972 film Gora Aur Kala, which translates as black and white, identical twins are separated at birth and grow up with dramatically different skin tones. The fair one grows up to be a nobleman. The one with darker skin becomes a dacoit 
1986 movie Naseeb Apna Apna starring Rishi Kapoor as Kishan and his "dark-skinned and ugly wife" Chando played by Raadhika Sarathkumar. The problematic storyline has Kishan being married to Chando without his consent. Kishan who is clearly unhappy with the marriage marries a "light-skinned and beautiful girl" Radha. So Chando decides to go through makeup to become fairer and desirable to her husband.
The first song that I recollect on the dark skin was written by Rajendra Krishan for the film Payal, 1957, though it's not racist but talks about the skin, referring to Lord Krishna

Song of Payal 1957


 Next song by Gulzar in Bandini(1963). Incidentally, this was the debut song of Gulzar. This is also not a racist song but tells about the color of skin.

Song of Bandini 1963

The next song about the skin color is from the 1965 film Gumnam, written by Shailendra

 

Song of Gumnam 1965

This song was again picturized in 1968 film Brahmachari on Jr Mehmood.

Song of Brahmachari  1968

Song of Roti 1974

Song of Apne Rang Hazar' 1975

Song of Satyam Shivam Sundaram 1978

In 1982 film Desh Premee, superstar actor Amitabh Bachchan and his A-list leading lady Hema Malini both put on blackface to portray Afro-Caribbean singers for the song Gore Nahin Hum Kaale Sahi

Song of Desh Premee 1982

Song of Aaj Ka Arjun 1990

This song is based on Kashmiri's poem Bhumbroo from 2000 film Mission Kashmir The song talks about the black colored Bee

.

Song of Mission Kashmir 2000

Song of Mujhse Dosti Karoge’ 2002

Song of Roy 2015

O Haseena Zulfon Wali - The song that made Pancham Unbeatable

 Who can forget the 20-feet-tall Rocky sculpture and the massive "human eye" visual in the "O Haseena Zulfon Wali" song with Helen and Shammi Kapoor? This super hit song from Teesri Manzil has a story behind it.
The creator of this song was R D Burman. Four films ahead of him, none of these a hit, looking for a big break was not the first choice of the producer Nasir Hussain and hero Shammi Kapoor. Both of them were keen on Shankar Jailishan or  O P Nayyar. It was only the director  Vijay Anand and lyricist Mazrooh Sultanpuri who persuaded both the producer and the hero to listen to his tunes then decide.

Pankaj in an interview once said that he had already prepared six tunes for this film and was sure that these will be approved by them. In the first sitting he started with the first  two lines of a Nepali tune, which was later remade as ‘Deewana mujhsa nahin’, when Shammi interrupted him, completed the rest of the lines ‘Deotara mattali oina’, Shammi Kapoor told him he knew the full Nepali song and heard it before, he liked the tune since then.
After this Pancham played the tunes he had reserved for this occasion. The first tune he presented was O Haseena Zulfon wali, listening to this Shammi Kapoor jumped from his seat. The next tune Pancham played was of the song Aaja Aaja Mein Hoon Pyar Tera. Shammi Kapoor stopped him abruptly and said, ‘I don’t want to hear any more songs.’ He rose and made for the exit. ‘You’ve passed. You are my music director,’ 
This is a duet of Asha Bhosle and Mohammad Rafi in which Pancham used a big orchestra of more than 80 musicians of whom close to forty were violinists. Pancham laid out a variety of instruments ranging from the drums and the violins for the main course of dominant sounds, the triangle and the trumpet for the side dishes of supporting sounds, and the acoustic guitar and sax in the Bossa nova-style interludes. 
. Filmed in multiple crane shots with fleeting close-ups and cuts introduced only when switching between characters, Manohari Singh the right-hand man of RDB said that this song was recorded well before Shammi Kapoor reaching the studio.  In the song, the Saxophone was played by Manohari Singh and in the film, Shammi Kapoor plays Saxophone. When Shammi Kapoor heard the recorded version of this song, he said it would set the standard for the portrayal of lively music and dance in Indian cinema.

Copy Cat Songs Of Bollywood Part 3

As human beings it is in our nature to imitate actions of success as a survival instinct, therefore being doing so, we are undermining our own originality. Needless to say, our Hindi film industry aka Bollywood has had a long and illustrious history of plagiarism. Anyways, the blame game for copying music is not something new and has been going on for a long time.
On this issue, two blogs were posted by me in 2018. In this blog, I am posting a few songs by Pritam, inspired/copied by other songs. I believe great music shouldn't be restricted to only one community just because of the language barrier, it should be introduced to the other languages by modifying or acknowledging the original song.
In my first blog, I have discussed the songs of Shankar Jaikishan inspired by foreign language songs. In my second blog, a few songs of O P Nayyar and S D Burman were included.

Song of Chocolate 2005

Original

                                      Breeze From Saintes Maries- Jesse cook

Song of Garam Masala 2005

Original

                                                              Ana - Amr Diab 

Zara Zara Touch Me from Race 2008

Song of Race 2008

Original Song

Depth in Bamboo Forest- Leehom Wang

Pehli Nazar Mein  from Race

Song of Race 2008

Original

                                            Kim Hyung Sup - Sarang Hae Yo

Hai Junoon from New York 2009

Song of New York 2009

Original

                                                     SAMSONS - Naluri Lelaki

Hare Rama Hare Rama from Bhool Bhuliya 

Song of Bhool Bhuliya 2007

Original

                                        JTL - My Lecon (Feat Enter The Dragon)

 

R D Burman - The Musical Legacy And Creativity

He was a child prodigy. He inherited music from his mother and father. His father S D Burman inherited it from his mother and father, who was a Sitar player and proficient Dhrupad singer.
 Initially, he was nicknamed Tublu by his maternal grandmother but later changed to Pancham. There were many stories about naming his name. It is believed that actor Ashok Kumar gave him this name because once he heard him crying, it sounded in the fifth note (Pa),  He immediately suggested the name 'Pancham' to Dada Burman. Another story says that the baby was nicknamed Pancham because he could cry in five different notes. 
S D Burman saw that Pancham had a little interest in studies, he initiated his son to music. The first instrument he learned was Tabla under a blind Tabla ustad Brajen Biswas in the early days. His training of Tabla continued almost lifelong. After Tabla he was enrolled to learn Sarod at Ali Akbar Khan's school in Calcutta. Pancham spent a lot of time watching Jugalbandi between Ali Akbar Khan and renowned Sitar player Pt. Ravi Shankar. This created his interest in Indian Classical Music.
In the late 40s, his father was a busy Music director in Hindi Films. Pancham got introduced to film music  When he was nine years old, R. D. Burman composed his first film tune which was used after many years by his father in the Navketan film 'Funtoosh' 1956 in the song, 'Aye meri topi palat ke aa'. Another of his tune was used in the song 'Sar Jo Tera Chakraye' of the film Pyasa 1957. 
In Bombay, Burman was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla). He also considered Salil Chowdhury his guru. He served as an assistant to his father and often played harmonica in his orchestras. In the song, 'Hai Apna Dil To Awara' he played harmonica which became very popular.
Pancham was very impatient about music, he wanted to learn more numbers of instruments. He had an inclination for Western music particularly the Jazz and Cuban Big Band Music.
Kersi Lord who was a musician with S D Burman was instrumental in Pancham's interest towards Jazz. Kersi Lord had a large collection of Long-Playing Records of Jazz, Latin American, European, and Middle Eastern Music.
It was in 1951that Pancham met Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar in a studio. He met Lat once again during the recording of the song 'Thandi Hawayen" of the 1951 film Naujawan. 
According.to the Film Historian Raju Bhartan during that time once he questioned his father when he was composing a song for Jaal using Tagore's tune in the interlude of the song to be picturized in Goa. This reflects his understanding of film music at that age. He was not even in his teens.
Pancham was living with his grandmother in Calcutta, he used to visit Bombay only during his school vacations. In Calcutta, he made many friends and formed his Band called Melody Chimes. He started smoking and he was lured into the pot. This perturbed Dada, in 1955, he brought him to Bombay to live with him. This shift gave his life a 180-degree turn.  He was now with the music all the time. he started assisting father in films. 
Pancham played Sarod in the famous Bengali song sung by Dada Burman 'Ghum Bhulechi Nijhum' composed by Dada itself. This tune was later taken in Kaala Pani song 'Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukare Chale Gaye'
Guru Dutt who knew the potential of this genius offered him a film 'Raaz' an independent composer in 1959, Unfortunately, this film got shelved. During the making of Raaz in 1959. Manohari Singh and Pancham decide to make a team but the idea fell through.
After a gap of one year comedian Mehmood gave him his first film as a producer 'Chhote Nawab'. The film was released in 1961, the film was a flop but Pancham left a mark in Bollywood that he will be a Music Director of class. In this film, he displayed his skill both in Indian classical and western tunes. The song 'Ghar Aaja Ghir Aaye Badra' sung by Lata Mangeshkar.  This song is based on a lesser-known Raag called Raag Malgunji which is a mixture of Raag Bageshree and Raageshree. This Raaga was very unusual for Hindi Films, most of the composers used to make songs on Bhairavi, Malkaus, Yaman or Darbari. When the song was recorded even Lata Mangeshkar admired Pancham’s talent. 
His versatility was visible in the song 'Matwali Ankhon Wale' sung by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. In this song, he used Resso Resso in the interlude for the first time. This instrument is one of the favorite instruments of R D B. We can hear the sound of Resso Resso in many of the hit songs of RDB. Another highlight of this song is the prelude of the song by Mohd Rafi the way he adjusts his voice to suit Mehmood.The Genious of a would-be world-class music director us visible in his first movie. The film was not successful so RDB was not offered films. The music was appreciated but he had to wait for 4 years to get the second assignment.
In the meantime Pancham continued to assist his father in Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Benazir, Meri Surat Teri Aankhe, Ziddi, Guide, and Teen Deviyan.
In 1964 Mehmood decided to produce & direct Bhoot Bangla, he once again invited Pancham to compose the music of this film. This was the first time Kishore Kumar sang for R D Burman, Jago Sone Walon' The music of Bhoot Bangla was a hit but critics were against it. This is the film in which Pancham introduced his voice in a song Kahaan Aa Kar La Hum Dono Ko' sung by him and Mehmood.
In 1965, the third film 'Teesra Kaun' released. This film brought Pancham and Asha Bhosle together. Versatility, greatness, intensity, and supremacy of RDBurman reflect in his 3rd film. In the song 'O Dilruba' sung by Asha Bhosle had a sharp skid from B flat to F note., a new experiment, never attempted before, beautifully handled by Asha. This was the beginning of Asha and R D B magic. There was another song by Asha 'Achha Sanam Kar Le Sitam' is a fast-paced, hummable composition.
The hit song of the film was 'Pyar Ka FasanDil Diwana' was sung by· Lata Mangeshkar and Mukesh. A point to note in this song that the rhythm pattern in the interlude of this song was maintained by Bongo, coupled with the damped strokes on the guitar. This he did in many of his future songs.
Pati Patni (1966) was his fourth film release. In the song 'Maar Dalega Dard e Zigar sung by Asha Bhosle, for the first time, he introduced the Brazillian Bossa Nova rhythm. Asha Bhosle in an interview once said that this song made her wakeup to a thoroughly new rhythm and metre. Interestingly Pancham not used those beets as it is but Indianized to a beautiful melody as well as western fragrance. This bossa nova base Rd Burman used in his next venture Teesri Manzil in the famous song, 'O Hasina Zulfowali Jane Jaha' and'. Aaja Aaja Meini Hu Pyar Tera',
Teesri Manzil was the fifth film of Pancham We all know how hit the music of this film was? It changed the definition of Hindi Film music. There was so much of freshness and innovation in this music. Even the versatile singers Rafi- Asha was astounded by the way they were made to sing and who later on was showering praise on Pancham for his originality and concepts. And Shammi had made it a point to be present at each recording as he was thrilled with the thought of how he would be dancing and singing those numbers on the screen.
Everywhere there was a talk of his music, a new Emperor had emerged in the musical arena of Bollywood.The trend was set RD Burman has arrived and later followed by the music of Baharon Ke Sapne, Padosan, Pyar Ka Mausam, Caravan, and Hare Rama Hare Krishna. 

Song of Chhote Nawab 1961

Song of Chhote Nawab 1961

Song of Bhoot Bangla 1965

Song of Bhoot Bangla 1965

Song of Teesra Kaun 1965

Song of Teesra Kaun 1965

Song of Pati Patni 1966

Song of Teesri Manzil 1966

Song of Baharon Ke Sapne 1967

Song of Pyar Ka Mausam 1969

Song of Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971

Madan Mohan - Unreleased and Unheard Songs

Madan Mohan is the only composer whose compositions were used after two decades of his death. It was in the 2004 film Veer Zara his compositions were used. Once an assistant to S D Burman, he made few tunes for him but those were not used.
S. D. Burman used a tune very late in 1956. This was the song 'Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya' (Do Bhai)originally composed by Madan Mohan. It is also believed that the song 'Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi' (Munimji) was a Madan Mohan composition as he was an assistant for Munimji.
He was so creative that he composed different tunes for antras in the same song very often. Recall the song 'Tum jo mil gaye ho' and 'Betaab dil ki tamanna' (Hanste Zakhm) or Ek haseem shaam ko'l' (Dulhan Ek Raat Ki) and almost all songs from Heer Ranjha... 'Do Dil Toote', 'Tere kolache Mein', 'Milo na tum to' and 'Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil'. 

In the film "Chandan", the song "Ye Khule Khule Se Gesoo, Ye Udee Udee Si Rangat... Log Kahe Mere Nain Baaware", has all the three stanzas composed in different tunes. There are three heroines in this film viz. Nutan, Shyama, and Mala Sinha. Possibly, each stanza is picturized on a different actress.

Madan Mohan & Lata Mangeshkar

Madan Mohan & Rafi

The first film of Madan Mohan

Madan Mohan had a habit of making many tunes well in advance, one of such tune of the hit song, Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil was composed by Madanji in the 50s, but found a place in a film only when it was recorded for Chetan Anand's HEER RANJHA (released in 1970). another tune of "Naina Barse" was made in 1952.It was used in Woh Kaun Thi
Madan Mohan was also a good singer. He had a fascination for K L Saigal. He gave playback for a few films in his films. Aankhen 1950 was his first film as an independent composer, he sang a duet with Shamshad Begum " Humse Na Dil Ko Lagana".

There is an official site of Madan Mohan Ji https://www.madanmohan.in/ in this site  2 categories of unreleased songs are mentioned. We can visit this site and listen to these rare songs.

In this blog, I am posting a few such songs.

                                                  Kaise Kategi Zindagi Tere Bagair

Har Sapna Ek Din Toote

Mere Dilse Aake Lipat Gayi

Mere Ashqon Ka Gham

Tum Juda Hokar

Kishore Kumar song from Unreleased film

Aaj mujhe Jal Jane Do

A Rare Song

Rehman - An Actor Par Excellance

Rehman (23 June 1921- 5 Nov 1984), was an integral part of the Guru Dutt team, and most known for his roles in films such as Pyar ki Jeet, Badi Behen, Pyaasa, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, like Guru Dutt he was also signed by Prabhat Studios as 3rd assistant director to Vishram Bedekar during the shooting of Lakharani (1945).
He appeared as one of the heroes with Dev Anand in PL Santoshi’s Hum Ek Hain (1946), The movie was a success and Rehman never had to look back. Initially, he played lead roles, but as time passed, he accepted supporting roles and made his mark in some hit films. He will be remembered as the  Mr.Ghosh, the publisher of Pyaasa; the insensitive Zamindar (Chhote Sarkar) of Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam or Nawab of Chaudvin ka Chaand, and Chinoy Seth of Waqt.
After college (1942), he joined the Royal Indian Air Force and trained at Poona as a pilot. The Air Force didn't appeal to him and soon left for a career in films at Bombay. His first brush with acting happened almost by chance. Director D.D. Kashyap, whom Rehman was assisting at that time, urgently required someone to play the role of a Pathan in his film ‘Chand’ (1944). Since Rehman was the only one on the sets who could tie a turban the Pathani way, he got this role, for this role he had to speak one dialogue, he had to give 50 takes for this dialogue.
The next film was Hum Ek Hain followed by Pyar Ki Jeet(1948) and Badi Behan(1949) as hero opposite Suraiya. Both films were hit but after these films, none of his films as hero clicked. It was Guru Dutt who offered him the character role in Pyasa 
Rehman also did key roles in ‘Waqt’, ‘Baharon Ki Manzil’, ‘Gomti ke Kinare’, ‘Dushman’, ‘Holi Ayi Re’. Rehman received four Filmfare nominations as Best Supporting Actor for: Choti Bahen (1958), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (1966).
In 1977, he suffered heart attacks after which he got throat cancer and died after a prolonged and painful illness in 1979.
The song in which he appeared with Suraiya in Badi Behan will be remembered forever. “Chup Chup Khade ho, Zaroor koi Baat hai”, will always be in our memories.

Song of Badi Behan 1949

Song of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam 1962 

Song of Waqt 1965

Piya Tose Naina Lage Re- An Iconic Dance

"Piya Tose" the song from Guide was composed by Dada Burman using Roopak Taal (7 Beats) which was Dada's most favorite Taal. Waheeda Rehman looked extremely charming with her Gentle Dance Steps while singing "Piya Tose".If you notice carefully this song starts without any prelude which was Dada's typical style. Alaaps within this song were very carefully composed.
This is one of the best dances of Waheeda Rehman in films. Waheeda Rehman in an interview once said that Since this was a very long dance sequence, there was a possibility in final editing, part of this song would have been cut. Realizing this, Waheeda Rehman took a promise from Dev Anand that in the final editing he will cut something else from the movie but will not touch this dance song. And guess what, Dev Kept up that promise and this dance sequence was kept intact and no cuts were made.

This dance song was very long nearly 8 minutes. There are 4 stanzas and each stanza of 5 or 6 lines. It took 21 days to picturize this song. The specialty of this song, it presented a new dance aesthetics that blended Kathak, Bharatnatyam, and different folk dances from across India as also a celebration of different festivals. This dance was choreographed by Master Sohan Lal and his younger brother Hira Lal B, under the guidance of Vijay Anand. The choreography of the song and the picturization by the Cameraman Fali Mistry is simply superb. Vijay Anand is known for the excellence of picturizing a song.

The striking stage sets that accompany the song and dance sequence mapped the different stages of Rosie's success as a professional dancer. Beginning from a simple theatrical setting in a rural environment to a further grand scale. The costumes in this song according to the stanzas. Each stanza unfolded a different setting, dance style, music, and background. The innovative cinematography showed the backup dancers in novel ways. First, the camera only caught their moving feet but then their bodies filled the stage in various visual designs. The camera angles also enhanced the dance sequence. The sheer grace and beauty of Waheeda Rehman's dancing, her restrictive movements, and energy made the scene memorable.

Watch carefully the last stanza "Raat Ko Jab Chaand Chamake Jal Uthe Tan Mera" is a turning point of this song, where our soul is lost in the beautiful scene of moonlight of Raag Khamaj and the same in the second stanza about morning sunrise "Bhor Kii Bela" just observe the sound of a flute, what a composition by Dada Burman.
The interludes in "Piya Tose" are very rich and composed very intrinsically. Dada used a wide variety of musical instruments in this song such as Sarangi, Harmonium, Tabla, Ghungroos, and North Eastern Drums. There is also a piece of very interesting information to the readers that the world's best Santoor Player Pt. Shivkumar Sharma played Tabla for this song and flute by Hariprasad Chaurasia.
There is a story that this song was sung and recorded by S.D.Burman himself before he recorded Lata's song. It was a usual practice of Dada to sing the song himself first then tell his singers to sing like him.
There is one more story about this song that this song was already composed 10 years ago for the movie Devdas of Dilip Kumar. It was picturized on Dilip Kumar and Suchitra Sen as a background song. The wordings of the song were a little different. Even music was a little different. Whereas a tabla piece replaced original sitar piece. 

Song of Guide 1965