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
No doubt she was a Style icon of the 60s. Her hairstyle and her dresses were copied by the girls. There was a time when mothers taking their little girls to the hairdresser for a ‘Sadhana cut'. She created a fashion of the fusion churidar-Kurtis and Mojris she wore in Waqt(1965). In an interview, Sadhana told about her famous Sadhana Cut Hairstyle.
She narrated how she got the famous ‘Sadhana fringe’. “I had a broad forehead, which showed prominently in photo tests. It would then be covered with a patch of hair. When we were about to start Love In Simla, the director RK Nayyar said the patch wouldn’t do. Those days Audrey Hepburn’s Roman Holiday (in which she sports a fringe) had just released. So I was promptly rushed off to a Chinese hairdresser and given a fringe.
Regarding her Churidar Kurtas, she told that she wore those conventional Kurtas in the 1963 film Mere Mehboob which were liked by the girls but she now wanted some changes in her wardrobe. She asked Bhanu Athaiya, the Oscar-winning costume designer to create a fusion of the traditional churidar and modern Kurti for my personal wardrobe. One day Yashji (Chopra) happened to come home to discuss my costumes in Waqt when I walked in wearing a sleeveless, gold-embroidered Kurti, churidar, and Mojris and a chic hairstyle, he went, ‘Wow! What you’re wearing is exactly what I want for my film.’ “The style went on to become a craze.”
Sadhana (2 September 1941– 25 December 2015) started her career with a Sindhi film titled
Abaana (1958) playing the sister's role of the heroine. Very few know that In 1955 she got her first little break. She played a chorus girl in the song "Mud mud ke na dekh... mud mud ke" in Raj Kapoor's Shree 420. She got her first Hindi film Love In Simla released in 1960 but she played a simple girl in her next film Parakh of Bimal Roy. Recall the popular song of this film 'O Sajna Barkha Bahar Aayi'.
In 1961's other hit, Hum Dono released, she played the love interest of Dev Anand. The song 'Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar' remains the most romantic song to date. In 1962, she was again paired with Dev Anand in Asli-Naqli by director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The same year saw director-screenwriter Raj Khosla cast her opposite Joy in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. Khosla would again work with Sadhana to make a suspense thriller trilogy Woh Kaun Thi 1964, Mera Saaya (1966) and Anita (1967) thus making her famous as the "Mystery Girl".Sadhana was the highest-paid actress of her time. During a career spanning over two decades, Sadhana starred in over 30 films.
Sadhana got married to R K Nayyar, the director of her first film in 1966. After marriage, Sadhana worked sporadically and went on to do Ek Phool Do Mali, Intaqam , and Geeta Mera Naam (she even directed it). She quit after Geeta Mera Naam. she was not keeping good health (she was suffering from a thyroid disorder). She was diagnosed with cancer in her old age that led her to her death on 25 December 2015.
Many classic songs were picturized on her, here are a few
Recall the personality on the Black & White screen, immaculate in his dress - a suit, overcoat, hat, and cigarette. A peculiar style of his own, raising his bushy eyebrows,tough looks, loud and nasty talk, and horrible laugh, cultured, and soft exterior. He appeared in over 250 Hindi films over a long career stretching from 1936 to the late 1980s.
Yes, I am talking about K. N. Singh (1 September 1908 – 31 January 2000) who was a prominent villain and character actor of Hindi films. He appeared in several iconic movies in the 40s and 50s including Sikandar (1941), Jwar Bhata (1944) (Dilip Kumar's Debut film), Humayun(1945),, Awara (1951), Baazi(1951) Jaal (1952), CID (1956), Howrah Bridge (1958), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), Amrapali (1966) and An Evening in Paris (1967).
He was selected to represent India in the 1936 Berlin Olympics before circumstances compelled him to go to Calcutta to attend on his ailing sister. There he met his family friend Prithviraj Kapoor, who introduced him to director Debaki Bose, who offered him a debut role in his film Sunehra Sansar (1936). According to his nephew in an interview, his first film was Hawai Daku where he was the protagonist. No records exist of this movie now.
After that, he appeared in Karodpati(1937), Vidyapati (1937), Anand Ashram, and Milaap, all these films he did in Calcutta. He came to limelight after the release of Baghban 1938 in which he played the antagonist. The movie was super hit and his role also became super hit. His suave style, baritone voice, and menacing eyes became legendary.KN Singh and his friends Prithviraj Kapoor and KL Saigal were considered the pioneering stars of the Bombay talkies.
He appeared in many R K Films and Navketan films. He was in Barsaat(1949) as Bholu, Awaea(1951) as Jagga. He was in Baazi as Rajni's father, in Jaal as Carlo, in House No 44 as captain. He was in Aandhiyan, Funtoosh, and almost all the earlier films of Dev Anand. He was also a favorite actor of Guru Dutt, who took him in Baazi, Jaal, Baaz, and CID. He played General Barborosa in Baaz(1953)
As an actor, Singh's thirst for learning was legendary. For example, he studied the style and mannerisms of carriage riders to prepare for the role of a horse carriage driver in Inspector (1956).He played prominent roles in movies such as Jhoota Kahin Ka (1970), Haathi Mere Saathi (1971) and Mere Jeevan Saathi (1972). His last prominent role was in the 1973 film Loafer.
He had the distinction of working with three generations of the Kapoor family. He acted with Patriarch Prthiviraj Kapoor in Bidyapati (1937), with Raj Kapoor in Awara (1951) and Rishi Kapoor in Rafoo Chakkar (1975).
Kishore Kumar made him sing and dance in his film Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi in 1974. This is a rare occasion we see K N Singh in a cameo role.
Song of Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi in 1974.
K.N. Singh turned completely blind in his last years. He died in Mumbai on 31 January 2000 aged 91 was survived by his adopted son Pushkar, who is a producer of television serials.
Shailendra's (30 August 1921 – 14 December 1966),forte was his ability to write songs that were easy to sing but had a hook that led you to a deeper meaning. The finesse with which he could switch from the philosophical to the trivial is extraordinary. Initially, he was inclined towards Left, some of his film songs had a socialist theme
Take 'Dil Ka Haal Sunay Dil Wala' for instance. It talks about class struggle, exploitation, and nepotism. In another song, Suraj Zara Aa Paas Aa, Aaj Sapno Ki Roti Pakayenge Hum, he talks about hunger—not bitterly but in a jovial manner. His soulful song, Musafir Jaaye Ga Kahan, is one such philosophical gem from Guide (1965).
He created the famousslogan — “Har zor-zulm kee takkar mein, hartal hamara nara ha", this is still used by protesters even today. He used io recite poems in Mushaira and Kavi Sammelan. One of his poems 'Jalta Hai Punjab' attracted the filmmaker Raj Kapoor to have this in his debut directorial film Aag.
He was one of the pillars of the great songs of the Golden Era of Bollywood. Although other contemporaries like Majrooh, Sahir, Kaifi, Shakeel, Jan Nisar Akhtar were regarded as poets who drifted from literature to film songs, Shailendra was generally thought primarily as a lyricist. His sheer diversity of thought is quite unique.
His songs reflect his keen observation of life, culture, relations, and emotions and his hope for a fair and just world Let's look into some of his songs.
There was an anecdote told by his son in an interview that Raj Kapoor took Shailendra to introduce him to K A Abbas who was his main scriptwriter for the narration of the script. , Abbas ignored him. After two-and-a-half hours of narration, Raj Kapoor asked, “Kuchh samajh mein aaya Kaviraaj?” Shailendra replied, “Gardish main tha, par aasman ka taara tha. Awaara tha.” A shocked Abbas finally noticed the stranger in his room for he had summarised his two hours of effort in one line. The three together with Shankar Jaikishen made a formidable team in the years to come. these three lines later created history. Watch the video below to know its popularity all over the globe
The first song he wrote for Barsat(1949) was- 'Patalii kamar hai, tirachhii najar hai patalii kamar hai, tirachhii najar haikhile phuul-sii terii javaaniiko_ii bataa_e kahaa.N kasar hai' the other song was 'taak-dhinaa-dhin dhinaa-dhin taak-dhinaa-dhin barasaat me.n taak-dhinaa-dhin barasaat me.n hamase mile tum sajan, tumase mile ham barasaat mein'. This song was super hit and created a trend of Title sons in Hindi songs.
Some of his songs were romantic (‘Yeh raat bheegi bheegi’, ‘Tere mere sapne’), some metaphysical (‘Wahan kaun hai tera’, ‘Zindagi khwab hai’, ‘Sajan re jhoot mat bolo’, ‘Jao re Jogi’) others of longing (‘Aja re Padesi’, ‘Oh jaanewalae ho sake’, ‘O basanti pawan pagal’) anguish (‘Kya se kya ho gaya’, ‘Dost dost na raha’, ‘Sajanwa bairi ho gaye’), abandon (‘Mud mud ke na dekh’, ‘Suhana Safar’, ‘Aaj phir jeene ki’), or even nonsensical (‘Tin kanastar’, ‘Chuhe mama’).
.He was a complete lyricist in all genres of lyricism: serious, funny, spiritual, romantic, sad, happy, and angry.Gulzar called him the greatest lyricist in Hindi films.He shaped his songs to suit the characters and through his lyrics added other dimensions to the story."
Har zo zulm ki takkar mein hartal hamara nara hai Tumne mangen thukrai hain, tumne toda hai har wada Chhini hamse sasti roti, tum chhatni par aamada ho Toh apni bhi tayyari hai, toh humne bhi lalkara hai Har zo zulm ki takkar mein hartal hamara nara hai
Recall the song 'Gentleman Gentleman Gentleman' sung by Mahendra Kapoor. Yes, this was a very popular song of 1970, picturized on Dilip Kumar in the film Gopi. This film was released on 28th Aug 1970. It stars Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Pran, Om Prakash, Durga Khote, Farida Jalal, Johnny Walker, Lalita Pawar, and Aruna Irani. The film was a Jubilee Hit with hit music by Kalyanji Anandji. The film had 5 songs, all the songs were very popular. "Ramchandra Keh Gaye Siya Se" and "Ek Padosan Peechhe Pad Gayi" were very popular.
According to film expert Rajesh Subramanian, Rajendra Kumar was first signed for the film. The producers felt Saira Banu and Dilip Kumar would make a perfect pair and requested Rajendra Kumar to return the signing amount and quit the film.
Dilip Kumar plays Gopi, who is a simpleton of a village. He lives with his elder stepbrother played by Om Prakash, bhabhi played by Nirupa Roy and younger sister played by Farida Jalal. Om Prakash works for a local Lala played by Pran. Om Prakash keeps all his savings with Pran so that in future he needs for the marriage for Farida Jalal.
Saira Banu along with her aunt comes to their home for a few days, Saira Banu fell in love with Dilip Kumar. There are a few songs picturized on them'
Farida Jalal's marriage got fixed so Om Prakash goes to the landlord Lala (Pran) to take back money, which he had saved for Nandini's wedding but gets thrown out of the house. Gopi forcibly gets the money but is accused by the landlord of stealing. Sent out of the house by Girdhari, Gopi leaves for the city and vows to come back only after making enough money for Nandini's wedding.
The highlight of the film was the acting of Dilip Kumar and Om Prakash. It is said that when Dilip Kumar heard the script of gopi he felt only Om Prakash could play his older brother. When Om Prakash was offered this movie as Dilip Kumar wanted only him to play this role Om Ji agreed on one condition that he would be paid 1 rupee more than Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar gladly accepted his condition. And what a performance by both actors.
In the 40s KL Saigal was the voice of the nation, every male singer used to sing in his style. Our great singers, Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, or Mukesh were his fans and used to sing in his style. If you listen to their earlier songs, you will not recognize their voice. In fact, it is said that when K. L. Saigal first heard the song "Dil Jalta Hai..." sung by Mukesh, he remarked, "That's strange, I don't recall singing that song.
In the 40s, there was a trend of singing actors, there was no playback singing prevailing in those days. The hero or heroine was taken on the basis of their singing ability. Mukesh was offered the role of a hero opposite Nalini Jaywant in the 1941 film Nirdosh.In this film, he had a duet with Nalini Jaywant and also a solo.
Mukesh and Suraiya.
Naushad though worked very less with him but asked him to sing on his own voice. In Mela, the song " Gaye Ja Geet Milan Ke" became a smash hit after that most of the composers asked him to sing on his own style.
Naushad composed approximately 23 songs for Mukesh, out of which 15 were solos and 8 were duets. Naushad created some of the best gems for Mukesh including Kabhi dil dil sai takrata to hoga, Main bhanwara tou hai phool and Tu kahe agar.
Naushad in an interview disclosed an interesting fact that Mukesh could never sing without a harmonium. This was because he thought that he would go out of tune. In fact, many times I had to pad up the harmonium, and whenever we did that the result was much better.
A K Hangal (1 February 1914 – 26 August 2012), was a freedom fighter, he spent 3 years in jail during the freedom struggle He was a stage actor till 1966. and later became a character actor in Hindi language films from 1966 to 2005. He has acted in around 225 Hindi films. He had the rare ability to imbue the smallest and the most ordinary of roles with quality and dignity
We all remember him as Imaam Saab of Sholay (1975). He started his Hindi film career at the age of 52 with Basu Bhattacharya's Teesri Kasam in 1966. He mostly played the roles of a father, uncle, or school teacher in many films. He was a member of IPTA was a friend of Chetan Anand who cast him in Heer Ranjha in 1970. His most notable roles are as Ram Shastri in Aaina (1977), as the Inder Sen in Shaukeen, as Bipinlal Pandey in Namak Haraam, as Anokhelal in Manzil.
Young AK Hangal
AK Hangal in Sholay
He was cast in roles that demanded piety, playing characters that carried the burden of their virtuous poverty with quiet and kindly dignity. Shaukeen was the film in which he played, along with Ashok Kumar and Utpal Dutt, a lecherous old man.
A K Hangal in Shaukeen
He did a number of films with Rajesh Khanna (16 films) a few significant ones with the Amitabh Bachchans and many others.The best performances in his later years were in Shararat (2002) his character roles in Tere Mere Sapne (1997) and Lagaan.
Shambhu-Kaka. of Lagaan
After 2007, Hangal had been suffering from an illnessand could not afford the treatment. Hangal made his last appearance in the television series Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon in May 2012, in which he had a cameo.Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon was a tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema. He also gave his voice for the character of King Ugrasen in the animation film Krishna Aur Kans which was released on 3 August 2012. This was final work in his career before his death. He died on 26th Aug 2012 in Mumbai. The government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi Cinema in 2006.
Saira Banu in an interview once said" I was all in love with Dilip Kumar right from the age of 12 after watching 'Aan' I was not just another girl smitten by Dilip Kumar. For me, it was no castle in the air because I had given my dream the strong foundation of faith- faith in myself and faith in God.”
She was only 16, had gone for the show, hoping to get a glimpse of her favorite hero in person. But she was heartbroken as Dilip Kumar was unable to come to the premiere. She still remembers her first encounter with Dilip Kumar “When he smiled at me and remarked that I was a pretty girl, I could feel my whole being taking wing and flying rapturously. I knew somewhere deep within me that I was going to be his wife.”
After the release of Junglee, her first film in 1961, she became a big star, she was offered heroine roles with all the big stars of that time. Dilip Kumar in his biography told that a few films were offered to him with Saira but he refused because he felt to be her too young as his heroine.
It is said that it was Naseem Banu, her mother played the role of the cupid between Dilip and Saira. She got them closer, thanks to which love blossomed between the two.Dilip Kumar mentioned in his biography that when he fell in love with Saira. It was during a party thrown to celebrate her birthday. The actor revealed, "When I alighted from my car and entered the beautiful garden that leads to the house, I can still recall my eyes falling on Saira standing in the foyer of her new house looking breathtakingly beautiful in a brocade sari. I was taken aback because she was no longer the young girl She had indeed grown to full womanhood and was, in reality, more beautiful than I thought she was.
It was one day when Saira Banu was shooting for the film'Jhuk Gaya Aasman' Dilip Kumar proposed Saira. He simply stepped forward and shook her hand and proposed. Dilip Saab said, "Saira, you are not the kind of girl I want to drive around with or be seen around with... I would like to marry you... Will you be my wife?" Promptly came the response from Saira, "And how many girls have you said this to?" She, however, said yes.
They married on 12th Oct 1966 and celebrated the Golden Jubilee of their marriage in 2016. She remained her pillar of strength throughout all these years. There was a time when Dilip Kumar married another lady but Saira continued to look after him. The second marriage lasted for two years since then the two have stood beside each other like a rock, considering one another to be the greatest gift of God.
Saira Banu continued to work in films after the marriage, in fact, Dilip Kumar encouraged her to do films but she restrained herself to one or two films a year. Aman (1967), opposite Rajendra Kumar, was her first release after marriage to the thespian. She acted in three films with Manoj Kumar, Shaadi, Purab Aur Paschim, and Balidan. Cult film Padosan, in 1968, opposite Sunil Dutt, catapulted her to the top league and she continued to play the heroine for several years after that. Victoria No. 203 with Navin Nischol is her biggest hit. She acted in three films with her husband: Gopi. Sagina and Bairaag. Only Gopi was successful at the box office. She acted in three films with Manoj Kumar, Shaadi, Purab Aur Paschim, and Balidan and six with Dharmendra: Jwar Bhata, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Resham Ki Dori, Pocket Maar, International Crook and Chaitali.
She worked with Amitabh Bachchan inAmitabh Bachchan in Zameer and Hera Pheri. Nehle Pe Dehla. She never worked with Rajesh Khanna though once she was offered the role in Chhoti Bahu in 1971 but couldn't do it due to illness.
Dilip Kumar told in an interview that she was signed for the role that Mumtaz did in Ram Aur Shyam but he himself asked her not to do that role. She appeared in a cameo opposite her husband in Duniya (1984), wherein the song "Teri meri Zindagi" became very popular. Faisla which was eventually released in 1988 and is officially her last film.
Khayyam came to limelight with the Ghazal "Shaam-e-Gham Ki Kasam" sung by Talat Mehmood from the film Footpath(1953). He gained greater recognition from the film Phir Subha Hogi (1958), in which all the songs were written by Sahir Ludhyanvi. Since then, he preferred to work with poets rather than film lyricists.That is the reason one finds poetry playing an equal role in Khayyam's compositions as the music or the singer.
Khayyam's music had the touch of ghazal but was rooted in Indian classical music. In a career spanning over four decades, he gave Hindi cinema some of its most memorable movie soundtracks with films like Umrao Jaan, Kabhi Kabhie, Raziya Sultan, Bazar, and many others.
I am posting a few of my favorite Ghazals of Khayyam
