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
This immortal song of Pyaasa(1957) was written by Sahir Ludhianvi, sung by Hemant Kumar and composed by S D Burman. This song was inspired by the second stanza of our national anthem, according to a book on celebrated music composer S. D. Burman. "In a conversation with lyricist Pulak Bandyopadhyay, Burman had mentioned that the second line of the national anthem—Punjab Sindh(u) Gujarat Maratha Dravid Utkal Banga—had inspired the line, 'Humne to Jab Khushiyaan Maangi'. "The reference to the national anthem is so subtle that unless someone points it out, it is next to impossible to spot a similarity." Pyaasa had 10 songs, two solo songs were sung by Geeta Dutt, and one duet of Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi, all the other were solo of Rafi except this song. In fact, Guru Dutt wanted this song to be sung by Rafi but Burman Dada insisted on Hemant Kumar. Dada knew that this song suits Hemant Kumar, one of the highlights of this song was the aching frailty of Hemant's rendition. A major argument took place between Guru Dutt, composer Burman Dada, writer Abrar Alvi, and Geeta Dutt. Finally, Dutt, who remained unconvinced, had to give in to the pressure.
This song was picturized on Guru Dutt. He is leaning against a bookshelf, wearing a white shawl, stretching his hands, a wry smile even though he was deserted. Singing in a small gathering organized by his employer Rehman, where he meets his ex-girlfriend Mala Sinha, whoabandonedhim for wealth by marrying none other than the man currently employing him. If you listen carefully you will find a piece of very light music is being played in the background. Burman Dada had arranged the song with delicate piano notes, surprisingly np piano is shown on the screen. Once Burman dada was asked why this song had such little music. He replied that the poetry was the hero of the song and had to be showcased. And it’s true, the soft tune in the background pushes Sahir Ludhianvi’s words to the forefront. Unfortunately, this was the last song of Sahir composed by Dada Burman. They never worked together after this song and film.
The Filmfare reviewed Mughal-E -Azam at the time of its release on 5th Aug 1960, it is a tribute to the imagination, conviction, hard work, and lavishness of an extraordinary filmmaker K Asif. The development of Mughal-e-Azam began in 1944 when Asif read a play set in the reign of Emperor Akbar He got a financer/producer Shiraz Ali Hakeem to make the movie. K Asif cast Chandra Mohan, D.K. Sapru, and Nargis for the roles of Akbar, Salim, and Anarkali, respectively..Shooting started in 1946 in Bombay Talkies studio. It is said four reels were shot. The political tensions and communal rioting surroundingIndia's 1947 partition and independencestalled production. Shortly after partition, Shiraz Ali migrated toPakistan, leaving Asif without a financier.
The actor Chandra Mohan suffered a heart attack and died in 1949.Shiraz Ali had previously suggested that business tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji could finance the film. Although Pallonji knew nothing about film production, in 1950 he agreed to produce the film because of his interest in the history of Akbar.Production was then restarted with a new cast. Initially, K Asif rejected Dilip Kumar for the part of Prince Salim as he was too slim but later signed him for the role. For Akbar, the name of Prithviraj Kapoor was recommended by Shapoorji, and for the role of Anarkali the name of Suraiya was chosen but she refused the film. Ultimately Madhubala was signed for this role.
In 1952 K Asif began the shooting with the new cast. The music director now was Naushad, earlier it was Anil Biswas. Asif wanted to make the film on a grand scale, each set took 8 to 9 months to complete. It took 7 years to complete the film. Shahpoorji had full faith on Asif, he kept on pouring money for this film. Those days a normal film used to have a budget if 12-15 Lakh but this film was made on a budget of 1.5 crore rupees. The film was sold for an astounding amount of 1.7 million per territory at a time when a big film used to be sold at 3 to 5 lakh per territory. There was a great euphoria related to this film. A grand premiere of this film was organized at Maratha Mandir theatre in Bombay'.All the top celebrities attended the premiere. In sync with the grandeur of the era, the film had set out to capture, invitations designed as a royal scroll and titled “ Akbarnama” were sent out to “command” the guests to arrive at the grand opening of the film.
. The film had an all-India release in 150 theatres simultaneously. This was a stupendous feat in those days. The film opened to largely positive reviews. It had captured the imagination of the viewers with its lavish scale, excellent performances, immortal dialogues, and soulful music. The film made a record collection 0f rupees 4 million by way of advance booking for the first week in Bombay only. Audiences queued up in front of theatres to see the film. Many stood and lived outside the theater for days. The demand for tickets of the film forced the management to close ticket bookings for three weeks, “something that had never happened before—or since”.A rupees 1.30 ticket was sold in black for an amount as high as 200/-. Newspapers widely reported the success of the film and the mass hysteria amongst the audience. Mughal-e-Azam became a mega-success and collected sales amounting to 35 million. It ran houseful in Maratha Mandir for three years, a record for Indian cinema which was broken after 15 years by Sholay in 1975. Mughal-e-Azam garnered the position of a celluloid monument. On November 12, 2004, the film was re-released after fully coloring in theaters across India and history was all set to repeat itself.
This song from the 1961 film'Jhumroo' was written, composed, and sung by Kishore Kumar. He was the producer, editor, story writer, and hero of this film. This song is a title song played with the opening credit titles of the film. The film starts with this song, Kishore Kumar is nowhere in the scene. The picturization shows a toy train finding its way on the picturesque terrain of Darjeeling hills while this song gets played in the background. Madhubala is one of the passengers traveling on this train. Jhumroo was Kishore Kumar's first released film as a composer, before that two of his films as a composer was shelved. Both were to be directed by Phani Mazumdar. Both films couldn't see the light of the day. Kishore Kumar is at his absolute best as a singer in this song. This song has Kishore Kumar at his yodeling bestThere were 11 songs in the film Most of the songs were recorded well before the shooting of the film stated. There was no situation for this song, everybody was appreciating this song and wanting to retain this song, so it was kept in the beginning as a background song with the credit titles. Since Kishore Kumar had no musicians, orchestra, and music arranger so the help of S D Burman's team was taken. Basu Chakravarti who was Burman Dada's arranger helped Kishore Kumar to complete songs. The song starts with the rhythm of a guitar matching the sound of a steam engine followed by the yodeling of Kishore Kumar Before yodeling starts Kishore creates the sound of the whistle of the engine. There is no differentiation between Mukhda and Antra in this song, in fact, each Antra has the Mukhda in it. Between the Antra Kishore Kumar's high pitched laughter and yodeling is kept as an interlude. The words are simple and minimum use of musical instruments mainly guitar and accordion are the main instruments.
When we speak of the Golden Age of Hindi film music mostly we speak of a commercially successful composer like Naushad, Shankar Jaikishen, S.D. Burman, O P Nayyar, Madan Mohan, Kalyanji Anandji, and Laxmikant Pyarelal. But there are many composers who established their identities through the uniqueness of their compositions alone. They may not have composed music for a very large number of films. Many of their films might not have succeeded at the box office.but their music is unforgettable. Jaidev is one such name. Hisname imprinted on the hearts of lovers of vintage Hindi film songs as the genius who gave such fabulous numbers as ‘Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalaat Pe’, ‘Allah Tero Naam’ and ‘Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar’. ‘Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalaat Pe’ is among the best ghazal numbers sung by Mohammad Rafi. He started his film career as a child artist but had to leave acting, He had an interest in music, he learned classical music under Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. When Chetan Anand asked Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to give music for Aandhiyan, he joined Ustad Ali Akbar Khan as his assistant. He was also an assistant to Ustad ji in the next Navketan's film 'Humsafar'. When Ustad Ali Akbar Khan decided to return back to Lucknow, he remained in Bombay and became assistant to composer S D Burman. He was assistant music director for Taxi Driver, SD Burman had full trust in his genius assistant; Each time he entrusted him with a composing or creative job, he would advise him not to complicate it with difficult ‘murkis’ and ‘harkats’. Jaidev’s contribution to the compositions of SD Burman can be gauged through these very intricate nuances, very typical of him, obvious in a number of gems like ‘Phaili hui hain sapnon ki baahen’ (House No. 44), ‘Hum bekhudi mein tumko pukare chale gaye’ (Kala Pani), ‘Hum hain raahi pyar ke’ (Nau Do Gyarah), ‘Dekho rootha na karo’ (Tere Ghar Ke Saamne), ‘Aise to na dekho’ (Teen Deviyan), and ‘Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain’ (Guide) to name a few.
Jaidev got an independent assignment in “Joru Ka Bhai”, after which he composed music for ChetanAnand’s “Anjali”. The music of both of these films became very popular. Though he became an independent composer, he continued to work as an assistant to SD. When Hum Dono was in making, Burman Da was ill, he suggested his name for the music director for that film.He gave the music for this film, all the songs became hit.Who can forget the songs like ‘Abhi Na Jao Chhodkar’‘Main Zindagi ka Saath Nbhata chala gaya’ and the bhajan ‘Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar Tero Naam’ sung by Lata! .
It is said that after Hum Dono’s success, a promise was made by Dev Anand that every alternate film of Navketan will have music by SD Burman and Jaidev. Accordingly, SD Burman has entrusted the baton of “Kala Bazaar” and Jaidev ‘signed’ for the music of “Guide” for which he is believed to have composed a couple of tunes too (‘Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hain’, and ‘Din dhal jaaye haye raat na jaaye); however, the film was made and released finally with music by S D Burman,
Being cast out of Guide was a very big setback in Jaidev’s film music career. He never really recovered from the shock. Jaidev used to frequently narrate such incidents to his friends, wracked by inconsolable grief. He did a Nepali film immediately after this incident.produced by King Mahendra. The King was so pleased with Jaidev that he offered him a blank cheque and asked him to fill in any amount as he wished. But Jaidev returned the cheque and asked for a tiger skin instead! He got a few insignificant films zafter that. Sunil Dutt with whom he worked earlier in 'Mujhe Jeene Do'entrust him for his next venture 'Reshma Aur Shera' released in 1971. for this film, he got the National Award of Best Music Director. He got this award twice later in 'Gaman; 1979 and Ankahee in 1985.
In 1976, Madan Mohan passed away, and Jaidev finished the film Laila Majnu by composing five remaining songs for the film. His other film was Alaap starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha. Jaidev had ample opportunity to use his classical background in this film. He used the composition of late great master Pt Vishnu Digambar, Mata Saraswati Sharda in Lata-Yesudas-Dilraj Kaur-Madhu Rani's voices. The best song of the film was Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan's poem, 'Koi Gata Mein So Jata'.
Jaidev had composed music for less than thirty films. The number of songs to his credit may not be more than a hundred and fifty. Though many of Jaidev's films failed at the box office, many of them, such as Alaap, Kinare Kinare, and Ankahee, is remembered for his imaginative musical scores. Jaidev shot to prominence once again with his ghazals and songs in Muzaffar Ali's Gaman like Seene mein jalan, Raat bhar aapki yaad aati rahi and Ajeeb saaneha mujhpar guzar gaya yaaron. He introduced many new singers like Suresh Wadkar, A Hariharan and his protegee Chhaya Ganguly in Gaman.
Jaidev never married. He remained close to his sister's family who later settled in the United Kingdom. He died on 6 January 1987 at the age of 68.
The writer of this immortal song was Prem Dhawan. It was composed by Anil Biswas and sung by Talat Mehmood and Lata Mangeshkar. Anil Biswas composed the tune of this song in just 15 minutes while riding in a car. There was a rumor that the lyrics had been bought from Sahir Ludhianvi for Rs 5/-, as Sahir was in need of money, and Prem Dhawan had helped him. It is very sad that Prem Dhawan was always underrated. He was multitalented, he was a composer beside lyricist and as well as a Choreographer.and also acted in a few films. He wrote songs like Mera Rag De Basanti Chola, Ae Watan Ai Watan from Shaheed, and many more songs. He won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics in 1971 for the film, Nanak Dukhiya Sub Sansar
This song was picturized on Dilip Kumar and Madhubala for the film Tarana released in 1951. This was the first film of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala together. Regarding this song, Shikha Biswas Vohra, daughter of music director Anil Biswas said in an interview that how her father composed this song. Prem Dhawan and her father were good friends, they were booked for two films Tarana and Arman in 1950. One day Prem Dhawan gave him few lines of this song and asked him to make the tune while going to meet the famous Punjabi singer Surinder Kaur On reaching.the destination Anil Biswas asked Prem Dhawan to go to meet the singer and he sat on the parapet and started humming the tune. By the time Prem Dhawan returned, the tune was ready. Interestingly the song was a sad song but Anil Biswas used the major scale and another point to highlight that he used three different tunes for the three Antaras. A very rare occurrence and only a genius like Anil Biswas could do that. Madan Mohan also did the same in many songs later.in the 60s.If we look technically the use of Teevra 'Ma'gives it the feeling of Raga Yaman Kalyan. This is probably one of the greatest duets of Bollywood. Everything is perfect, lyrics, music, singing, and picturization on two of the greatest actors Dilip Kumar and Madhubala.
The character of Chhoti Bahu in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is a lonely suffering wife, who took to alcohol to please her philandering husband. This role was played by Meena Kumari and isconsidered one of the most brilliant portrayals in Hindi cinema by any actress. The film was based on the 1953 Bengali novel, Saheb Bibi Golamby Bimal Mitra. Guru Dutt was very sure that Meena Kumari is the only actress of that time who could do justice to that role, So he approached her to do this role. Meena Kumari was very busy and had no dates for Guru Dutt that was in 1958. Waheeda Rehman wanted to play the role of Chhoti Bahu. She even did a screen test, but the photographer V.K. Murthy realized that she was too young for the mature role. So the role of Jaba was given to her. Guru Dutt then tried an Indian girl living and acting in London but "she was entirely unsuitable". Desperate, he completed the entire film by 1961 except for the role of Chhoti Bahu. Before selecting another heroine, he once again contacted Meena Kumari he went to her home and offered the role again. By now, the rift in her relationship with Amrohi had widened and she was taking on more films. When Guru Dutt arrived at her home, he found she was away shooting and left the script with her sister, Khursheed Bano. When Meena Kumari returned, she was shocked to find the script of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She started reading it immediately and called Dutt at 2 a.m. to tell him that she would play the role of Chhoti Bahu. Meena Kumari had one request for the legendary filmmaker. She asked for the film to be shot in a linear way, as the story progresses so that shecould map the changes in her character. This was the first time both of them had shot a film in this way, from start to finish, exactly in keeping with the timeline of the script. The film was shot at Dhankuria Mansion near Calcutta, but Meena Kumari didn't come to the haveli, its interiors were recreated on a set in Bombay. She gave consecutive forty five days for the shooting of this film. As the film progressed, she devoted herself to this character. Vinod Mehta who wrote the Biography of Meena Kumari quotes a passage from her diary where she writes, "This woman is troubling me a great deal. All-day long-and a good part of the night-it is nothing else but Chhoti Bahu's helplessness. Chhoti Bahu's sorrows, Chhoti Bahu's smiles, Chhoti Bahu's hopes, Chhoti Bahu's Tribulations, Chhoti Bahu's endurance, Chhoti Bah's ... Chhoti Bahu's... Chhoti Bahu... Oh! I am sick of it." The character of Chhoti Bahu was seen as a gamble for Meena Kumari given that the traditional representation of an Indian woman up until that point was of a virginal woman. A woman who could drink herself to self-destruction? She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for this role. In fact, she was nominated for all the three nominations for this category No one before and after this got all the nomination for a particular category.
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This film was released on 31st July 1970. It was the tenth highest-grossing film of that year. Rajesh Khanna was the hero, who was at the peak of his career. This being one of the seventeen consecutive hit films between 1969 and 1971. It won one Filmfare Awards and four BFJA Awards. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, and Feroz Khan in lead roles. This was the second film of Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore Jodi, they appeared together in many films after this film. Sharmila was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for this film. This is also one of the movies for which Rajesh Khanna shall be remembered forever. Safar is a story of common people grappling with staggering challenges and compromises. Sharmila Tagore plays a doctor she works under the guidance of Dr. Chandra (Ashok Kumar), who tells her that however hard doctors might try, sometimes a patient wouldn't survive. Rajesh Khanna is a cancer patient. Both of them studied together in college. Though he admires Neela(Sharmila Tagore) very much, he never talks about love or marriage. Everyone thinks that it's because of his financial status, but it is later revealed that he has terminal cancer. Feroz Han plays Shekhar,, he falls in love with Neela. He goes to propose marriage with her and meets her brother, Kalidas, but is told that he should instead meet with Avinash. So Shekhar introduces himself to Avinash, tells him of his intentions, and Avinash instantly approves of him, and subsequently, Shekhar and Neela are married. Neela regularly visits her brother's house where Avinash was a frequent visitor. Shekhar slowly grows suspicious of Neela and Avinash and asks his younger brother to spy on her. Shekhar comes to the conclusion that Neela is in love with Avinash and confronts her, they quarrel, he drinks his medicine and passes out. The next day the police arrest Neela on the charge of murder. With Avinash nowhere to be found, Neela has now to face life behind bars - or even the death sentence.
The soundtrack of the film contains 5 songs. The music is composed by Kalyanji Anandji, with lyrics authored by Indeevar.
This song from 1998 film 'Dil Se' is written by Gulzar, composed by A R Rehman and sung by Lata Mangeshkar. This is the first song Lata Mangeshkar sang for A R Rehman'This song was recorded in Chennai in the recording studio of Rehman. It was the first time Lara Di was recording outside Mumbai. Gulzar in his book has mentioned this song. He said that Lata Ji had not met Rehman before and also not familiar with his style, she asked Gulzar saheb to be present there at the time of recording. He was not only present there but also accompanied her to Chennai. Rehman received her at the airport and took her and Gulzar saheb to the studio. Reman has many studios in Chennai, this was his first studio. Rehman explained the tune to Lata Ji and asked her to sing. Nowadays composers ask singers to sing one line and record it but Lata Ji told him that she will sing the full song in one take but before that she wants a rehearsal. Rehman agreed and took her to the singer's cabin The cabin had a glass on the front side and no glass on the side walls. Unfortunately, Lata Ji could not see the mixing desk from there, nor could she see the musicians. That was a big problem for her, as she was used to having eye contact with the composer. After one rehearsal, Lataji called Gulzar saheb to her side and said ‘Gulzarji, it feels as though I am blind.’ You kindly sit in front of me.so he sat on a stool outside the cabin’s glass door from where he could see both Lataji and Rahman. Despite the fact she recorded the whole song in one session, the song itself was not finalized. Rahman then worked on it for about ten days. He usually works out the instrumentation etc., and so the song evolves slowly into its final form. The next day returned back to Mumbai. After a week Rehman made a call to Gulzar saheb and said ‘Gulzar Saab, I have recorded a male and female chorus and inserted it in between the antaras. The words are in Malayalam, will you translate them into Hindi? He played the song to him over the phone. It sounded very beautiful, so I suggested we keep the chorus in Malayalam. It’s the impact of the overall sound that matters. Malayalam has its own sound and folk songs have their own kind of music. Lataji and the chorus sounded wonderful. Another interesting thing about the song was its lyrics. The song is about the description of a wedding night, Lata Ji usually not sing a song that has anything to do with sex or includes vulgar words or expressions. So it was decided that it will not be picturized as a typical wedding night. This song was picturized on Pritty Zinta and Shahrukh Khan on an outdoor location.
Song of Dil Se 1997
Watch this Video on Gulzar for his work in Bollywood
In an era when star billing in song picturizations was reserved only for the hero and heroine, Johnny Walker had a special status. He had one or more songs in every film. The most popular Sar Jo Tera Chakraye from Pyaasa,Yeh hai Bombay Meri Jaan from C I D .and many songs were the attraction of the films produced in the 50s and 60s.I am posting those songs which were hit but now forgotten. He made his debut from the 1951 film Baazi and worked in almost 300 films in a career span of 40 years. The first time he appeared in a song in 1954 film Taxi Driver with Dev Anand."Mastram Ban Ke Zindagi Ke din Guzar De' and the next year in Mr and Mrs 55, 'Jane Kahan Mera Jigar Gaya Ji' After that in almost every film one song was picturized on him. Most of the songs picturized on him became very popular. The credit has to go to Mohammed Rafi who gave playback to Johnny Walker in most of his movies. When Rafi sings for Walker, you only listen to Walker and not to Rafi. Johnny Walker’s memories will continue to be alive through his movies and songs.
Meeting someone for the first time may be the best thing that happened to you. It is him or her that changes your life and brings it meaning. I recall a quote by someone "We don't meet someone by accident but they are meant to cross our path for some reason. Many romantic songs on this situation were written by almost all the great lyricist of Bollywood. Recall the song 'Chup Chup Khade Ho Zaroor Koi Baat Hai, Pehli Mulakat Hai' from 1949 film 'Badi Behen', written by Rajendra Krishan and composed by Husna Lal Bhagatram and ' Ek Ajnabee Hasina Se Mulakat Ho Gayi' written by Anand Bakshi for 1974 film Ajnabee, starring Rajesh Khanna In this blog, I have selected a few such songs The first song in my list is from the film '1857' released in 1946, written by Pandit Ankur, composed by Sajjad Hussain, picturized on Surendra and Suraiya
