The Cinema & Songs of Gulzar

 

In an interview, Gulzar Saheb said that songwriting is my profession while writing poetry is my statement of life. Since his childhood, he was writing poems, He was also writing when he worked as a mechanic in a car garage in Bombay. It was during his interactions in the PWA Sunday meetings that lyricist Shailendra and Bimal Roy encouraged him to join films. Initially, he joined Bimal Ray as his assistant and later got a chance to write a song in Bandini (1963)under the composer S D Burman, the song that brought him to notice was 'Mera Gora Rung Le Le' from Bandini.

 Gulzar’s first venture as a filmmaker was Mere Apne (1971), It was produced by N C Sippy and directed by him. The film stars Meena Kumari, Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha in lead roles, In fact, it was the first film of Vinod Khanna as a hero. Before ventured into the direction he wrote dialogues for Biwi Aur Makan(1966), Aashirwad(1968), Khamoshi, and Anand(1969) all directed by Hrishikesh Mukharjee. He also wrote the story, dialogue and screenplay of Guddi, once again directed by Hrishikesh Mukharjee.

His second venture as director was Parichay in 1972.It stars Jeetendra, Jaya Bhaduri; while Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Khanna, has given special appearances and the music was composed by Rahul Dev Burman. The film was reported to be based on the Bengali novel Rangeen Uttarain by Raj Kumar Maitra and partially inspired by the 1965 movie The Sound of Music.

His third film was Koshish released in Dec 1972. It was inspired by the 1961 Japanese film Happiness of Us Alone. The film was highly acclaimed. he got a National Award for its screenplay and nominated the Filmfare Best Director Award. 

The next film he directed was Achanak in 1973, written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, and starring Vinod Khanna. Gulzar received a Filmfare nomination as Best Director for this film. Even though Gulzar is an accomplished lyricist, this film did not have any songs in it.The entire film production was completed in 28 days

In 1975, three films under his directions were released. the first released was Aandhi in Feb 1975. The film was an Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship with her estranged husband, The film got the Filmfare Award of Best Film and Best Actor award to Sanjeev Kumar.

Khushboo was the next film released in March 1975.it was produced by Prasan Kapoor under the Tirupati Pictures banner, presented by Jeetendra and directed by Gulzar. It stars Jeetendra, Hema Malini, and music composed by R. D. Burman.  It was praised as a beautiful film with good acting by Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Asrani and Jeetendra

Mausam was the third film of that year released on 29th Dec 1975. The film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore, and directed by Gulzar. It is loosely based on the novel, The Judas Tree, by A.J. Cronin. Sharmila Tagore for her acting received The Silver Lotus Award at the 23rd National Film Festival and the movie was honored by presenting an award for 2nd Best Feature Film. The film received two of eight nominations at the 24th Filmfare Awards. The film also won many other accolades as well.

In 1977 he entered into production also, two films Kitaab and Kinara both produced and directed by him were released, Meera was the third film under his direction released in 1977, all the films couldn't receive well in Box office. Though Meera received critical acclaim.

Angoor was the film released in 1982, in between two insignificant films released under his direction in 1980. Angoor was based on Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors. The film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma in dual roles, and directed by Gulzar. The film was appreciated by all. Deven Verma got the Filmfare Best Comedian Award.

Machis(1996) was an important film of Gulzar, after the death of R D Burman he made the film with Vishal Bhardwaj as music director for the first time. The film was produced by R. V. Pandit.  It stars Chandrachur Singh, Om Puri, Tabu and Jimmy Sheirgill in the lead roles. The film portrays the circumstances surrounding the rise of the Sikh insurgency in Punjab Maachis was a critical and commercial success. Gulzar's direction and the music of Vishal Bhardwaj were strong points. 

Song of Kabuliwala 1961

Song of Bandini 1963

Song of Aashirwad 1968

Song of Khamoshi 1969

Song of Anand 1971

Song of Anubhav 1971

Song of Parichay1972

Song of Aandhi 1975

Song of Mausam 1975

Song of Masoom (1983)

Song of Ijazat (1987)

Song of Bunty aur Babli  2005

Song of Omkara 2006

Song of Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

The First English Song and Kiss in a Hindi Film

The first English song in a Hindi film was sung by Devika Rani in 1933 film Karma, starring Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai. The film was among the first Talkie Film in India to feature an on-screen kiss. The four-minute-long scene between Devika Rani and Rai, her husband in real life, is also known to being the longest such scene in Indian cinema.
 The song, ‘Now The Moon Her Light Has Shed’ is a proper western tune composed by German composer Ornest Broadhurst and song. The style is typical of the high pitched English songs The next English song was sung by Shanta Apte, composed by Keshav Bhole in Duniya Na Mane (1937) with the lyrics around poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem A Psalm of Life. 
The story is about a princess (played by Devika Rani) who falls in love with a neighboring prince ( Himanshu Rai) much to the disapproval of the latter's father. The film opens with a very cute scene of the Prince telling a squirrel how much he loves the Maharani, who is hiding behind a rock and replies on behalf of the squirrel.
Maharaja, the prince father who knew that his son is in love with the princess, consults with his holy man on what to do about his recalcitrant son’s ongoing romance. The priest wisely counsels him not to interfere, but to allow them to marry and then control her through the alliance.
English language Song by Devika Rani 

Song of Karma 1933

Song of Duniya Na Mane 1937

                   First Lip Lock In Indian Cinema - KARMA (1933)

Films Released on the Independence Day(15 Aug 1947)

 It was Friday on 15th August 1947. Two films were released in Bombay on the Independence Day itself, 'Shehnai' at Novelty on Grant Road and 'Mera Geet' at Swastik on Lamington Road around the corner. 'Mera Geet' starring Sushil Kumar and Naseem Jr must have sunk like a stone since there seems to be no record of it anywhere but Shehnai was one of the biggest hits of the year. In fact, it became the first roaring hit of free India.  

Shehnai was produced by Filmistan Studio and Directed by PL Santoshi. Nasir Khan, the brother of Dilip Kumar was the hero and Rehana was the heroine. The music of the film was composed by C Ramchandra. Its song 'Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke' was a super hit. The film had a straight-up. silver jubilee run in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Karachi.

A Still from Shehnai 1947

Starring Rehana, Nasir Khan, and Indumati, Shehnai's story run around four sisters and their respective suitors. The ensemble drama also features acclaimed performers of the era like comedy great VH Desai, Mumtaz Ali (actor Mehmood's father), Dulari, and Leela Misha among others. Desai plays a struggling entertainer trying to keep his dance company afloat with the help of his four daughters. However, his wife (Mishra) is worried about the disrepute the profession is bringing the girls and diminishing their chances of marriage. Rehana plays the second eldest sibling, Kamla, a gutsy girl who clashes with Pramila (Indumati) – the snobbish, college-educated daughter of the zamindar. When Pramila humiliates Kamla's family, the latter gets even by tricking Pramila's soon-to-be fiancé Rajesh (Khan) into believing that she is his betrothed but ends up falling for him. The mix up goes a step further when Pramila mistakes her father's adversary for Rajesh and falls in love with him.

Aana Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday

The music was the highlight of this film, it was composed by C Ramchandra. It had 9 songs, all the songs were written by P L Santoshi, who was the director of this film also. The song' Aana Meri Jaan Meri Jaan Sunday Ke Sunday' became a rage.It was the first song of Bollywood based on western beats, It was the first time western instruments were used in any Hindi song. It was C Ramchandra who brought music from many other countries in Bollywood music, In 1950 he brought Burmese music in the song 'Gore Gore Banke Chhore' in the film Samadhi, and ' Mein Hun Ek Khalasi' in Sargam(1950)

Nasir-Khan -Brother of Dilip Kumar in Shehnai 1947

 There were five major film production centers, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore, and to a lesser extent Poona till 1947. Bombay was the main center,  In Bombay alone, 114 films were made and released that year. Six films, 'Shehnai, Elan Jugnu, Do Bhai, Dard, and Mirza Sahiban' were super hit. The other hit film was Parwana of K L Saigal, which was released after his death on 18th Jan 1947. 

In March, we had Kidar Sharma’s Neel Kamal with Raj Kapoor and Madhubala in their first lead roles. He was twenty-three and she was just sixteen.

Songs of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Shehnai 1947

Shammi Kapoor- A Natural Dancer

 

Shammi Kapoor in his Biography said"The sound of any music evoked in me a strong urge to dance. The rhythm didn't take time to seep into me and seek expression in dance. The urge to dance was always there in him. His brother Raj Kapoor was a good dancer but Shammi was different.

He never had a dance director or a choreographer for his dance songs in any film. He danced to his own style and created his own steps and movements. The first time he got the chance of expressing himself in dance songs was in Tumsa Nahin Dekha, this film redefined him and shot him to bigtime stardom.

In his Biography, he tells "From a very early stage, he wanted to learn dancing but there were no professional dancing schools in Bombay at that time. There used to be a hotel in Dadar, whose owner used to teach Tango dance He took a few lessons from him.

Shammi Kapoor said that it was lucky that he got good songs." I think I tried to give physical expressions to music. My choreography was always done here( pointing towards his heart) and I brought it out on the floor. Telling about the picturization of the song' Yahoo' he said "everybody was satisfied with the song Yahoo recorded after the hard work of Rafi saheb and music director Shankar Jaikishan, now it was my turn to make this song an immortal. This song was picturized in Kufri, not in Kashmir. The setting looked ideal with 12 feet deep snow and the breathtakingly beautiful sight around Everybody was in a fix what will I do?, how will I do?

Shammi further said that he was also not made in his mind about how to do it. Yes it was sure that he had to slide on the snow, The next day in the morning at 7 AM the whole unit collected at the spot from where he had to slide, But just when the camera was to roll, the sun disappeared, they couldn't shoot that day due to poor sunlight. This happened for six days, the song couldn't be picturized Finally on the Seventh-day the song was picturized. Shammi Kapoor said that there was no choreographer, no preparation by himself, whatever he did was spontaneous.

After Junglee every producer and director wanted Shammi to perform the song as per his wish. He said in the book" I used to tell my directors to keep the camera flexible, don't freeze the field, play the music, and let me do the act. That is what he did in most of his songs.

He said for the song Aasman Se Aya Farishta of An Evening in Paris, it was his idea to perform on a helicopter.

His biggest hit Teesri Manzil (1966) broke all kinds of records at the box office — thanks to its music. Composed by R.D. Burman, songs of this movie are considered some of his best works and Shammi’s best dance performances. O Mere Sona Re, O Haseena Zulfonwali Jaane Jahan, and Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyaar Tera are still regularly seen on playlists and heard on the radio.

Looking at just one decade of Shammi’s career, it is clear about the kind of stupendous impact that he has had on Bollywood and its audience. He left a mark like no other and even though many have managed to make a name as great dancers, nobody has come close to him — much like the original Elvis Presley.

Song of Tumsa Nahin Dekha 1957

Song of Dil Deke Dekho 1959

Song of Junglee 1961

Song of Dil Tera Deewana 1962

Song of Professor 1962

Song of Kashmir Ki Kali 1964

Song of An Evening in Paris 1966

Song of Teesri Manzil 1967

Song of Brahmachari 1968

Vyjaynthimala- The Dancing Queen of Bollywood

 

Vyjayanthimala Bali celebrates her birthday on the 13th of August. She shares this birthday with another Bollywood legend Sridevi who was also a multilingual actress with superior dancing prowess. Both the actresses married Punjabi men who left their first wives.

 Vyjayanthimala performed some superhit song and dance numbers in Hindi 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) and not to forget Indian classical dances of Amrapali(1966)

At the age of seven, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII while her mother was an audience in 1940 at Vatican City. She learned Bharata Natyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic music from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her arangetram at the age of 13 and started performing in Tamil Nadu later.

She made her debut in the Tamil language film Vaazhkai in 1949 on the basis of her dance performance of Bharata Natyam in Chennai's Gokhale Hall. The success of her Tamil film Vazhkai in South India inspired AVM Productions to remake it in Hindi as Bahar in 1951. In their first Hindi venture, they decided to cast Vyjayanthimala again in the lead role with Karan Dewan, The film became a hit and also its music and dances. The next film 'Ladki' released in 1953 was opposite Kishore Kumar and Bharat Bhushan.

In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in the magnum opus film Nagin with Pradeep Kumar. The film got favorable responses from the audience and became the highest-grossing movie of 1954 where it was labeled as a blockbuster. Her performance as the Nagi tribe's chief got Mala favorable reviews from the critics, as in 1955,

Nagin was a precursor to her rise in Hindi cinema as an iconic actor, who combined her talents, performing and dancing, to rule the screen on her terms... biggest recall values of Nagin are Vyjayanthimala". Post Nagin Vyjayanthimala had established herself as one of the leading actresses in Bollywood because of the film's nationwide success.

Vyjayanthimala's influence on films has been far-reaching. With her, semiclassical dance became an integral part of almost every Hindi film heroine's resume.At her peak, Vyjayanthimala took off to do a series of much-appreciated dance shows in Paris in 1959 besides working for top actors like Dilip Kumar in Paigham (1959) and Raj Kapoor in Nazrana (1961).

Vyjayanthimala has won four awards from five nominations, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Bollywood. She was the first person to decline the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for Devdas, as she stated that the roles of Chandramukhi and Paro, played by Vyjayanthimala and Suchitra Sen respectively, were parallel and of equal  importance

In this blog, I am posting a few of her best dance songs.

Song of Bahar 1951

Song of Nagin 1954

Song of Devdas 1955

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Song of Kathputli 1957

Song of Madhumati 1958

Song of Ganga Jamuna 1961

Song of Sangam 1964

Classical Dance of Amrapali 1966

Song of Amrapali 1966

Song of Jewel Thief 1967

Song of Sangharsh 1968

Manmohan Krishna- The Character Actor of the Golden Era of Bollywood

 

Manmohan Krishna (11 August 1921 – 3 November 1990), a familiar actor of the 50s and 60s.He worked in nearly 250 films, notably Naya Daur (1957), Khandan ( 1965), Sadhana (1958), Waqt (1965) and Hamraaz (1967)^] He won acclaim for his work in Bees Saal Baad (1962) and won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Abdul Rasheed in Dhool Ka Phool (1960), where the song, Tu Hindu Banega Na Musalman Banega, Insaan ki Aulaad Hai, Insaan Banega was picturized on him. He was a favorite for B R Chopra and Yash Chopra. Later in his career, he directed the hit film for Yash Raj Films, Noorie (1980),

He started his career as a professor in Physics and held a master's degree in physics. He anchored radio the show Cadbury's Phulwari, a singing contest. 

 Many people don't know that Manmohan Krishna started as Hero cum singer from the 1947 film Matwala Shair Ramjoshi (1947), he sang all the songs in that film. The next film he appeared was1949 film Apna Desh where he sang a song. his next song, 'Jhat khol de' in Afsar (1950), a Dev Anand film with music by S.D. Burman. He also sang in 1951 film Aaram where he played a comedian. sang the song 'Yeh Zindagi Hai Yo-Yo'. In the 1955 film 'Railway Platform' he sang a few songs.In this blog, i am posting these rare songs either in audio or video.

Song of  Matwala Shair Ramjoshi (1947)

Song of Afsar 1950

Song of Aaram 1951

Song of Railway Platform 1955

Song of Railway Platform 1955

Song of Dhool Ka Phool (1960),

KHEMCHAND PRAKASH- A Forgotten Genius

Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1949) is immortal to the music lovers who like old Bollywood songs. Very few of us know that greats like Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, Naushad, Manna Dey, and Bulo C Rani were mentored by him. But the creator of these musical gems and the mentor of this league of stalwarts is now largely forgotten. On his Death Anniversary, I pay my tribute to this great composer who composed the song Aayega Aane Wala Aayega sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

He got his training of music from his father Pt. Goverdhan Prasad was a renowned Dhrupad singer who received royal patronage and sang in the Jaipur Durbar. Khemchand was not only a trained classical singer but also mastered the Rajasthani folk music and trained as a Kathak dancer. Once the king of Nepal was in Jaipur, he saw him performing there, invited him to come to his Kingdom. He went there and spent 5 years in Nepal.

 The destiny landed him in Kolkata and he joined the legendary New Theaters. While working in New Theatres, he had a chance encounter with Prithviraj Kapoor, and they became lifelong friends. At his suggestion, Khemchand Prakash moved to Bombay along with Kidar Sharma, KN Singh, and last but not the least, the much-celebrated KL Saigal.

He was assistant to composer Timir Baran in Devdas (1935 film), and he sang a comedy song 'lo kha lo madam khaanaa' in Street Singer (1938). He made his debut as music director in 1939 with Supreme Pictures' films Meri Aankhein and Gazi Salauddin and was soon signed up by Ranjit Movietone Film Studio.

In this film, the great music director Naushad was his assistant. Khemchand Prakash used the Arabic style of orchestration to synchronise the ambience of the subject. He also composed Mirza Ghalib's famed ghazal, 'Kabhi neki bhi uske jee mein gar,' in Kalyani's voice. He got another offer for Dwarka Khosla's Meri Aankhein, wherein singer-actor Khursheed got her maiden break and sang 'Aisa geet suna jao' and 'Sach ke khel khilaye aasha,' 'Doodh piyo sab doodh'. These two films established Khemchand and in times to come, he gave classical gems to music lovers. Khursheed was his leading singer and both of them gave many hits of the early 40s. 

Khemchand tasted real success when he joined Ranjit Movietone and accomplished nineteen films during his five-year stint. His films, Pardesi and Shaadi became hits. Pardesi had a ghazal, 'Pahle jo Mohabbat se inkar kiya hota' (Khursheed), which became an instant rage. It is said that Khursheed rehearsed this ghazal for fifteen days before recording it.

 His biggest hit with Ranjit Studio was the film Tansen in 1943. Songs like "Diya jalaao jagmag jagmag", "Rumjhum rumjhum chal tihari", "More balpan ke saathi", "Sapt suran teen gram", "Hath sine pe jo rakh do to karara aa jaaye" were big hits. It is said that he played a key role in classic songs of Devdas( 1935) sung by KL Saigal: 'Balam aayo baso morey man mein' and 'Dukh ke din ab beetat nahin'. He also did cameo roles in New Theatres' films, and this song, 'Madam lo kha lo khana,' in Street Singer, was picturized on him and Kanan Devi. He was also seen in Debki Bose's Sapera.

After Tansen, the next film he did was Bhanwra (1944), starring K L Saigal. Khemchand Prakash offered a totally different type of music in Bhanwara, as evident in its compositions: 'Thukra rahi hai duniya,' 'Muskratey huey aankh churaya na karo,' 'Hum apna unhey bana na sakey,' 'Diya jisney dil' (Saigal), and a duet with Ameerbai Karnataki, 'Kya humne bigara hai,' became super hits.

Another classic of Khemchand Prakash was' Bhartihari' released in 1944, starring Surendra and Mumtaz Shanti. His compositions were once again in classical mode: 'Chanda des piya ke jaa' (Ameerbai Karnataki), and a duet in a dialogue form, 'Bhiksha de de maa pingla' (Surendra-Ameerbai Karnataki), became a listeners delight.

Prabhu Ka Ghar (1945) was the last film he composed music for Ranjeet Movietone, the same year his movie Dhanna Bhagat directed by Kidar Sharma had 'Panchhi pinjara hua purana' (Khan Mastana), that also became quite popular. He had differences with the owner Chandu Lal Shah of  Ranjeet Movietone on the issue of using a new voice in a film. Chandu Lal Shah didn't agree and outright rejected the new voice. The new voice was that of Lata Mangeshkar. Thereafter, Khemchand Prakash started freelancing.

As a freelancer his significant film was Kishore Sahu's silver jubilee 'Sindoor'(1947) with such unforgettable numbers: 'Kissi Ke Madhur Pyaar Mein' (Nasim Akthar-Sushil Sahu), and Ameerbai's solo, 'O Roothey Huey Bhagwan'

1948 marked yet another significant film of his career, Bombay Talkies’s Ziddi. He gave first major break to Kishore Kumar as a singer for the song "Marne ki duaaen kyun maangu".Ziddi featured a beautiful song of Lata Mangeshkar "Chanda re ja re ja re".Lata sang for him for the first time in Asha released in 1948.

Kishore Sahu had Khemchand in his own home production 'Rimjhim'. He composed a rare gem for Kishore, 'Jagmag jagmag karta nikla chaand poonam ka pyaara' This film also had a super hit number in Shamshad's voice, 'Na tum aaye na neend aayi'. Kishore Sahu and Khemchand again came together in Sawan Aya Re, which had all-time greats of Rafi-Shamshad, 'Aye dil na mujhe yaad dila baatein purani.'In the same year released the film Mahal, its song 'Aayega Aane Wala' became a hit and made Lata a household name. The film and its music became a super hit, unfortunately, Khemchan Prakash died before the release of this film. He died at an early age of 41 on 10 August 1949 due to Cirrhosis.

Song of Street Singer 1938

Song of Tansen 1943

Song of Bhartrahari 1944

Song of  Dhanna Bhagat 1945

Song of Sindoor 1947

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Ziddi 1948

Song of Mahal 1949

Song of Rimjhim 1949

Rehana - The first Heroine of Dev Anand

Rehana got her major break as a heroine in 1946 film Hum Ek Hain which was also Dev Anand's first film. She became the overnight star in 1947 with the release of her next film Sajan opposite Ashok Kumar.
She was regarded as Hindi cinema's first "jhatka queen". Whether it was her infamous "lesbian act" with Nigar Sultana in Sunehre Din (1949), or the famous bath scene in Dilruba (1950),

She appeared on the silver screen sometime in the late '30s acting in minor roles but soon took the cine world by storm in 1947, her two films Sajan and Shehnai became hit.
1948 to 1951 was the best phase of her career as she did a variety of films paired opposite most of the top heroes of that time, like Prem Adib in Actress (1948), with Raj Kapoor in Sunehre Din (1949) and Sargam (1950), with Dev Anand in Dilruba (1950), with Shyam in Nirdosh (1950) and Surajmukhi (1950), with Shekhar in Ada (1951) and with Premnath Sagai (1951). Two of her biggest hits from these were Sargam (1950) and Sagai (1951).
Mushtar Jehan was her real name,her date of birth is not known but her place of birth was Bombay.

After 1952, her career sharply went on the decline as films like Rangeeli (1952), Chham Chhama Chham, Hazar Raatein (1953) and Samrat (1954) all sank at the box office. With her career on the decline in India, Mushtar migrated to Pakistan with the hope of continuing her career there

Scene of Hum Ek Hain 1946

Song of Hum Ek Hain 1946

Song of Sajan (1947)

Song of Shehnai (1947)

Song of Sargam (1950)

Song of Dilruba (1950)

Song of Sagai (1951)

A Hit Song is a Collaborative Effort

Recently I was watching a video where five Bollywood lyricists were discussing that the due credit is not given to the lyricist. The whole credit for making it hit goes to the composer, singer or hero or heroine who lip-synced the song on the screen.
I believe that a cinema is a collaborative effort, all sections of a movie are in the hands of different professionals. Each one should get their own credit. 

A few years back in an award function, Anu Malik was awarded for the Best Song for" Moh Moh Ke Dhaage" and he didn't take the name of Varun Grover, the lyricist of the song

A few days back they ( Lyricists) came out with this video' Credit De Do Yaar'

         Credit song| Varun Grover| Kausar Munir | Amitabh Bhattacharya

During the Golden Era of Bollywood, there was a long and rich tradition of poems and lyrics. Many great poets were writing songs for the films. The songs were carrying the story forward. The songs written by them became hits and super-hits but their names were forgotten and with the passage of time not many pause to remember them and their contribution to the world of Hindi film music.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Lyricist and playback singer Amitabh Bhattacharya feels that lyricists are not being given their due in the film industry. He says singers and composers receive more recognition than lyricists. The today music industry is in the hand of a few music companies, they are not bothered to give any credit to the lyricist. Many Bollywood singers recently shared on Twitter that they are disheartened by the lack of recognition in the entertainment industry. Singer Neha Bhasin, known for the song Jag Ghoomeya (Sultan, 2016) and other hits, is the latest musician to claim that she has faced the brunt of disrespect in the entertainment industry.

Song of Sultan 2016

 In Urdu poetry, there is a longstanding tradition of paying tribute or treating a great master’s work as the starting point from where you push off your own lyrical boat.  All the Ghazal singers before starting to sing always tell about the name of the poet who wrote the Ghazal. There was the time when in Vividh Bharti or Radio Ceylon, the name of the lyricist, composer, and singer used to be announced. but nowadays in FM radios and many musical platforms, this is missing.

My suggestion to the people, Whenever we see a song and the lyricist name is missing hit comments and enter it. If a couple of million people keep doing it on every song the platforms will change