Romeo & Juliet in Hindi Cinema

 

William Shakespeare's 1590s play Romeo and Juliet has been adapted to film many times in almost all the languages of the world. The first time it was adapted into a film was in 1911  It was directed by Barry O'Neil (USA). In India, it was in 1947 that Romeo & Juliet appeared on-screen by Nargis Art Concern directed by Akhtar Hussain, the roles played by Sapru and Nargis.

Almost after 30 years, it was adapted ( Maro Charitra ) in the Telugu language written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan and Saritha in the lead.The film dealt with a cross-cultural romance between a Tamil boy and a Telugu girl. Upon release, it was commercially successful and remains a cult classic. Three years later the Hindi version of  Maro Charitra as ,'Ek Duje Ke Liye'( 1981),   directed once again by K Balachandra was released. with Kamal Haasan reprising his role. the female lead, was, however, replaced by actress Rati Agnihotri. The Hindi remake became a success as well.

 Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988); was the next Hindi film adapted on Romeo & Juliet a long-standing blood feud between two families is complicated when the son of one falls in love with the daughter of the other; directed by Mansoor Khan (India). The film was a super hit.

Saudagar (1991) was another successful film adapted from the great play by the producer-director Subhash Ghai. The role of Romeo & Juliet was played by Vivek Mushran and Manisha Koirala. The role of Mandhaari was somewhat similar to Friar Laurence of Romeo and Juliet

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (2013) is another super-hit adaptation of Romeo and Juliet , directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. Bhansali called it a "desi adaptation" of William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet

Song of Romeo Juliet 1947   Audio only

Song of Ek Duje Ke Liye 1981

Song of Quamat Se Quamat Tak 1988

Song of Saudagar 1991

Song of Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela (2013)

Bollywood Songs for Expecting Mother or Parents

 

Pregnancy is a kind of miracle. Especially so in that, it proves that a man and woman can conspire to force God to create a new soul. Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever-fresh and radiant possibility. 

 In India, we have a ceremony called 'Godh Bharai', in the west we call it  Baby Shower.  Godh Bharai is the traditional celebration of the beauty and splendour of pregnancy and motherhood. The 'Godh Bharai' ceremony is generally performed during the seventh month of pregnancy. Bollywood never misses an occasion to create a song for any situation. There is a long list of songs for this occasion from 1940s onwards. The earliest song in my research is from the 1940 film 'Alakh Niranjan' here the 'Nand', the younger sister in law of the lady; she playfully pulls at her bhabhi’s palla and asks – o tell me, where is the child. 

Song of Alakh Niranjan 1940   Audio)

The second song in my list is from the 1947 film Aage Bado, This song is sung by Khursheed and it is picturised on herself. The picturisation shows her holding a doll and imagining it to be her baby. Dev Anand is the hero of the film who is a would be father in this film. This is the second film of Dev anand's career.

Song of Aage Bado 1947

The next song is a naughty conversation piece, minimum emotional and philosophical content. The husband is teasing wife who is expecting their first child. It is a duet of Mukesh and Lalita Deulkar from the 1948 film Mera Munna.

Song of Mera Munna 1948

This is a rare song from the 1953 film Jeevan Jyoti, the debut film of Shammi Kapooir. In  this song  Chaand Usmani, the heroine of the film and Shammi Kapoor playing the expectant parents. Chaand Usmai is expecting a child and she is singing this song in Asha Bhonsle’s voice, and Shammi Kapoor joins in the end, singing in his own voice.

Song of Jeevan Jyoti 1953

This is an interesting Godh Bharai song here the hero and heroine posed as husband and wife to get a job, actually, they are not. The ladies in the house suspect that Meena Kumari is in the family way. So they started celebrating the occasion. The picturization shows a bemused Meena Kumari being subjected to this “godh bharai” rasm in the song.

Song of Miss Marry 1957

This song is picturised on Nirupa Roy (an expectant mother ) and Kishore Kumar, playing her Devar (brother in law) sings this song. In this song, Kishore Kumar imagines how the kid would behave once he is born. The song was written by Shailendra and composed by Salil Chowdhry

Song of Musafir 1957

 It is an expectant parents’ song which is picturised on beaming Dharmendra and Meena Kumari in the 1964 film “Main Bhi Ladki Hoon"

Song of Main Bhi Ladki Hoon 1964

In this song the would be mother played by Vyjyanti Mala, surrounded by ladies viz. Leela Chitnis, Mumtaz Begum and others while Helen sings and dance. The song is from the 1964 film Zindagi.

Song of Zindagi 1964

This is a beautiful song from the 1971 film Tere Mere Sapne, written by Neeraj and composed by S D Burman picturized on Dev Anand and Mumtaz. They are husband & wife in this film and expecting their first child,

Song of Tere Mere Sapne 1971

This song is from Hum Aapke Hai Kaun

Song of Hum Aapke Hai Kaun 1994

Song of Kya Kehna 2000

Here is a baby shower song of the 21st Century that talks about the different demands and wishes of a pregnant mother, with clear instructions for the husband to follow

Song of Filhaal 2002

Last not least a song from Badhai Ho where Neena Gupta is an elderly woman mother of a full-grown son is expecting a child 

The Songs written by Hasrat Jaipuri for Other Music Directors

 

We all know that Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra were the lyric writers for Shankar Jaikishan but both of them wrote for other Music directors also and gave us many immortal songs. He made his debut from the 1949 film Barsat, this was also Shankar Jaikishan's debut film. The success of the film and its songs made him and Shailendra the permanent Lyricist for Raj Kapoor films and Shankar Jaikishan

Immediately after Barsat, he wrote a song under the composition of Bulo C Rani for the 1950 film Wafa. The song 'Armaan Bhara Dil Toot Gaya' a duet by Lata & Mukesh, was a hit. He also wrote a song for the composer Sajjad Hussain for the 1951 film Halchal. He wrote a song for Anarkali 1953 under the composition of C Ramchandra. He worked with SD Burman in just 3 films ...Tere Ghar ke saamne had super hit songs Similarly in 1963 film Ziddi. With Kalyanji Anandji he wrote for' Ji Chahta Hai' and Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani. With O P Nayyar in Howrah Bridge

Here are a few of the great songs of Hasrat Jaipuri composed by Music Directors other than Shankar Jaikishan

Song of Anarkali (1953)

Song of Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje (1955)

Song of Tere Ghar ke Saamne 1963

Song of  Ziddi 1964

Song of   ji chahta hai 1964

Song of Bhoot Bungla (1965)

Song of  Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani 1970

Song of Munimji (1972)

Shamshad Begum - The Highest Paid Female Playback Singer from 1940–1955.

 

Shamshad Begum’s debut in Hindi films came in 1941 in Khazanchi, a year before Noorjehan’s in Hindi films in Khandan (1942), both under Ghulam Haider. The song 'Sawan Ke Nazare Hain' made her instant famous and became favourite of every household.  In the next year the song Duniya mein garibon ko aaram nahi milta from Zameendar (1942), and Gaaadiwale dupatta uda liya jaye re  from Poonji (1943) made all the successful music directors of that era to approach her to sing their compositions 

Naushad acknowledged in an interview that he was indebted to Shamshas Begum in reaching the top. It was Begum's solo and duet songs sung for Naushad in the late 1940s and early 1950s which made Naushad famous. Naushad was floored on the clarity of her tone, She sang 60 songs under his direction. She was the lead singer in Anokhi Ada, Mela (1948) and Chaandni Raat (1949).

Two of the most iconic songs of our films – Ana meri jaan meri jaan Sunday ke Sunday and Mere piya gaye Rangoon – are C Ramchandra-Shamshad Begum creation, She sang nearly 60 songs for C Ramchandra. He used her voice for the first time in a film Safar, 1946, in a duet with him. She is credited with singing one of the first Westernised songs, "Meri jaan...Sunday ke Sunday", this made her the most sellable female voice. She kept getting more offers to sing songs and was the highest-paid female singer from 1940 to 1955 and again post-Mother India in 1957 to 1964.

 In 1946, S D Burman asked Shamshad Begum to sing in his debut Hindi film as music director, Shikari (1946), with the song, "Kuch Rang Badal Rahi". In 1949, came Shabnam, in which Burman asked her to sing duets named "Pyar Main Tumne" and "Kismat Bhi Bhichadna" with Mukesh, which became popular. Shabnam was Burman's biggest hit to that date with Filmistan,  In 1954, when Nayyar got a break as a composer, he approached Begum to record songs for Mangu. Nayyar described her voice as resembling a "temple bell" for its clarity of tone. He worked with her until the late 1960s and gave her many hit songs, including "Ab To Jee Hone Laga" from Mr. & Mrs. '55, "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar", "Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana", "Boojh Mera Kya Naam Re" – CID (1956); "Main Jaan Gayi Tujhe" from Howrah Bridge, "Zara Pyar Karle" from Mangu, "Saiyan Teri Ankhon Mein" from 12' O Clock, "Thodasa Dil Lagana" from Musafirkhana, and many others.

She stopped recording her songs in the year 1955 after her husband's death, the songs released between 1955 and early 1957 including songs from films such as CID, Naya Andaz, Baradari, Mr. & Mrs. '55 and other hits continued to be popular. At this juncture, Mehboob Khan approached her in 1957 and said he wanted a full-throated voice for Nargis in Mother India. The first song she sang after returning to her career was "Pee ke ghar aaj pyari dulhaniya chali" for Mother India. She made a successful comeback and subsequently recorded many notable songs for films such as Howrah Bridge, Jaali Note, Love in Simla, Bewaqoof, Mughal-e-Azam, Bluff Master, Gharana and Rustom-E-Hind.

You would be surprised to know that Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar were part of a chorus in a few songs of Shamshad Begum.  From 1949 to 1960, beginning with the song "Dar Na Mohabbat Karle" from Andaz, Mangeshkar and Begum have sung many duets together, with the most famous being "Pyar Ke Jahan Ki" from the 1949 film Patanga, "Bachpan Ke Din" from 1951's Deedar; their last song together was Mughal-e-Azam's song "Teri Mehfil Mein Qismat" in 1960

 She sang over 6,000 songs in Hindi and Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Punjabi languages and of the 1287 songs were Hindi film songs.

Shamshad Begum died at her Mumbai residence on the night of 23 April 2013 after a prolonged illness. She was 94 that time. Her melodious voice with powerful lyrics gave us songs that have remained popular even today.

Song of Khazanchi (1941 film) 

Song of Shahjehan (1946)

Song of Dard (1947 film)

Song of Shehnai 1947

Song of Patanga 1949

Song of  Babul 1950

Song of  Bahar 1951

Song of Awaara (1951)

Baiju Bawra (1952)

Song of Aar Paar 1954

Song of CID 1956

Song of Naya Andaz 1956;

Song of Naya Daur 1957

Song of Mother India 1957

Pakeezah was Meena Kumari's Swan Song

 

Pakeezah took 16 years to reach the celluloid. The film started on July 16, 1956, and released on February 4, 1972. It was a dream project of Kamal Amrohi, he wanted his wife Meena Kumari to be Sahibjaan of Pakeezah.

Pakeezah was conceptualised in 1954 as a Black & White venture. The mujra 'Inhin logon ne' was shot on July 16, 1956 , interestingly at that time the script was not ready, nor the star cast was decided, even the hero was not decided,the next several years went in scouting for locations, deciding on a leading man, writing and rewriting various bits of the film. 

By 1964, the film had still not been completed, while Meena Kumari had become a superstar, with films like Kohinoor (1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and many others. That was also the year she and Kamal Amrohi separated, causing another blow to their already much-delayed dream production.

In the meantime, Meena Kumari got addicted to alcohol and her health got affected. She was not talking to Kamal Amrohi after her separation but she agreed to restart the shooting of this film after a gap of 5 years. It is said that Nargis and Sunil Dutt persuaded her to complete the film.

Kamal Amrohi, who was a poet also wrote 'Sochta hoon ek shahkaar banaoon/Ek insaan ko izraar banaoon', he initially naming it 'Daaman-e-Paak' (Pure entity), when Kamal Amrohi consulted a nujoomi (astrologer) at Unnao in UP, he suggested to give a name beginning with the PE letter of Urdu alphabet.

Pakeezah’s shooting commenced again in 1969. The first shot showed Meena Kumari in a shirt and a lungi walking along with a tent singing “Mausam Hai Ashiqana”. The shooting of the film kept getting delayed due to Meena Kumari’s painful illness. Her liver had bloated; she was unable to dance and found it difficult to even walk a few steps.

For the last song in the film –“Teer E Nazar Dekhenge”, Padma Khanna was appointed to act as her duplicate. Meena Kumari was not well those days but she wanted to complete the film. Padma Khanna in an interview that the fastidious Meena Kumari was fabulous in her attention to detail and that Meena Kumari had amazing directorial acumen. Meena Kumari had the final word on the sets even though the film was helmed by Kamal Amrohi. 

Meena Kumari gave her best performance in this film despite her worsening health condition. She attended the premiere of the film at Maratha Mandir. The film was received lukewarm at the Box Office but when the news of Meena Kumari admitting in the hospital spread, it gained momentum.

 it was Meena Kumari's untimely death on 31 March 1972 which acted as an ultimate push and made it one of the top grosser of that year. Pakeezah was house-full for 33 weeks and even celebrated its silver jubilee in many cinema halls all over the country.

Song of Pakeezah 1972