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

Holi songs from Bollywood Across Dades

 

Holi is a festival of colours. It is an inseparable part of Indian culture, Bollywood never misses a chance to infuse the ‘Holi factor’ in the form of dance numbers with stars going footloose and crazy. The first song of Holi was from the 1931 film ‘Ghar Ki Laxmi’. The Mukhdaa of the song goes like – “Mo Pe Daar Gayo Saari Rang Rang Ki Gaagar, Kaisa Dhokha Diya. . .”. This and many other songs of that era are now lost.

In this blog, I have selected the great Holi Songs of Bollywood starting from the 1940s to the 2020s. This year  we might be stuck indoors due to Covid 19, we can enjoy this year's Holi with the song of every decade.

.I present a song from this very first decade of Hindi films – a song from the film ‘Aurat’ from 1940. ‘Aurat’ is a magnum opus by producer-director Mehboob, a much-celebrated film of its era.

Song of Aurat 1940

Song of Jogan 1950

Song from Navrang 1959

Song of Kohinoor 1960

Song from Kati Patang 1970

Song from Silsila 1981

Song from Darr 1993

Song from Baghban 2003

Song from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani 2013

Holi Mein Rangeele 2020

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Missing the Sound of Saxophone

 

The saxophone is a wind instrument but it was a very versatile instrument excessively used in Hindi Songs of the 60s and 70s. Composers of that era have used it effectively to convey many moods with Saxophone. Before it came on the scene, other wind instruments like Trumpet or Clarinet were in use. These instruments could convey the primary emotion in the song but the Saxophone could convey many moods of a song. 

Manohari Singh is known as the first Saxophone player of Bollywood, but as per him Ram Singh was the first Saxophonist who played a few songs in the early 50s but after his death in the early 50s, composers stopped using Saxophone in their songs. It was in the late 50s when Manohari Singh arrived in Bombay from Kolkatta. 

His first break in the Hindi film industry was in 1958 with Sachin Dev Burman, as a saxophonist for the movie Sitaron Se Aage. He went on to play with many other music directors, his strongest association being with R.D. Burman, for whom he played the saxophone in many compositions. In addition to playing the alto saxophone, 

In this blog, I have selected a few songs in which Saxophone played beautifully. These songs are mostly from the 60s and early 70s. The first song that gave him popularity was from the 1959 film Satta Bazar composed by Kalyanji Anandji

Song of Satta Bazaar (1959)

Song of Sanjog (1960)

Song of Maya, 1961

Song of KASHMIR KI KALI 1964

Song of Leader 1964

Song of Arzoo 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Sholay 1975

Song of Hum Kisise Kum Nahi 1977

Song of Saathi 1968

Song of Brahamchari 1968

Song of Aradhana 1969

Song of Ameer Garib 1974

50 Years of Sharmilee

 

Sharmilee was released on 23rd March 1971. The film was a hit with hit music given by S D Burman and lyrics by Neeraj. Shashi Kapoor was the hero and Rakhi was in a double role, one a shy mellow young woman, and the other a spontaneous extrovert.

The film was based on a novel of Gulshan Nanda, who was a very popular Hindi novelist of that time, almost all the films based on his novels were successful. The film was produced by Subodh Mukherjee and directed by Sameer Ganguly

It's the story of twin sisters - Kanchan and Kaamini,  Kaamini is an extrovert, and the ultramodern girl whom any boy may fall for whereas, on the contrary, Kanchan is a shy girl who speaks very less and is hesitant to interact with strangers. 

Shashi Kapoor, the prospective groom and his family members come to see Kanchan decide on a matrimonial alliance, Shashi Kapoor who met Kamini once misunderstood Kanchan as Kamini , he agreed to the proposal. 

When he came to know of the fact it's Kaamini whom he had met and got smitten by, he refuses to marry Kanchan. Kaamini who was earlier ready to marry Shashi Kapoor who was an army officer flees away from her house on the D-Day and it is known after some time that her car met with an accident. Though her dead body is not found, there's enough evidence that she is no more. Now to save the prestige of the family, the parents of the sisters marry Kanchan to Ajit. Though Kanchan tells this fact to Ajit in a letter prior to the marriage, Ajit remains unaware of it because that letter is not allowed to reach him. He marries Kanchan mistaking her for Kaamini and comes to know the truth on their first conjugal night. Feeling betrayed and heartbroken, he returns to the army base, leaving a weeping Kanchan behind.

One fine day Ajit ( Shashi Kapoor) was assigned the responsibility by his superior to catch some traitors spying for the enemy country. These traitors include a young female also and Ajit is shocked like anything to find that her face is the same as that of his sweetheart. Who is she - Kanchan or Kaamini ? 

Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee have done brilliantly in lead roles. Raakhee deserves special mention for her superb performance in the twin roles which are polar apart from each other.

The highlight of the film is its music The film has 7 songs,  Khilte Hain Gul Yahaan is the most popular song sung separately by both Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar for Shashi Kapoor and Raakhee respectively. Megha Chhaye Aadhi Raat (Lata singing beautifully in the classical Raag - Madhuranjani), Aaj Madhosh Hua Jaaye Re Mera Mann (Lata-Kishore), Reshmi Ujaala Hai Makhmali Andhera Hai (Asha Bhosle), Kaise Kahen Hum Pyar Ne Humko Kya Kya Khel Dikhaaye (Kishore) and the title track (O Meri Sharmilee) sung again by Kishore Da; all are quality songs 

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Megha Chhaye Aadhi Raat"	Lata Mangeshkar
2	"Reshmi Ujala Hai Makhmali Andhera"	Asha Bhosle
3	"Aaj Madhosh Hua Jaye Re"	Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar
4	"Kaise Kahen Ham"	Kishore Kumar
5	"Khilte Hain Gul Yahan" (Male)	Kishore Kumar
6	"O Meri Sharmilee"	Kishore Kumar
7	"Khilte Hain Gul Yahan" (Female)	Lata Mangeshka

Song of Sharmilee 1971

Song of Sharmilee 1971

Song of Sharmilee 1971

Song of Sharmilee 1971

Song of Sharmilee 1971

90 Years of India's First Talkie Film 'Alam Ara'

 

Today on 14th March 1931, India's first Talkie Film 'Alam Ara' was released. It was released in one cinema theatre' Majestic'in Mumbai. The first show was started at 3 PM was a house full. The theatre was mobbed, people started collecting to buy tickets from 9 in the morning. The tickets which were costing 4 Annas(a Fourth of a Rupee) that time was sold for Rs 5 in the black market. That was the craze for this film

If you see the publicity poster of this film, it says 'All Living, Breathing, 100 % Talking' , 'All Talking Singing and Dancing' and  ' 70 Murda Insaan Zinda Ho Gaye, Unko Bolte Dekho' 

The film ran the full house for 8 weeks in Majestic Cinema, later the full unit visited all over the country along with the print, the projector and sound equipment. The film drew a crowd all over the cities of India.

Since Alam Ara was a talkie, the casting was of utmost importance. As it was imperative for actors to know the language, Zubeida got the nod to play the title role instead of the studio’s top star, Sulochana.  The reason being not taking Sulochna as the heroine was that she was not proficient in Urdu or Hindustani and thus lost out on the opportunity to be the first talkie heroine of Indian cinema.

Similarly, for the role of hero, Ardeshir Irani first signed Mehboob Khan( the producer, director of Mother India)as the hero but then decided to go for a more commercially viable name. As Alam Ara was a tale that also involved stunts and fight sequences, Irani thought of casting the biggest stunt star of silent cinema, Master Vithal.

A total of 70 actors were part of this film, Prithviraj Kapoor was also one of the actors in this film. He played the role of General Adil Khan. The film was a love story between a prince and a gypsy girl, based on a traditional Parsi play. The film had music by Ferozshah M. Mistri and B. Irani, and had seven songs. The songs were in the Hindustani language, primarily the Urdu dialect. It was the first filmi Hindi songs soundtrack, and the first in the filmi-ghazal style,

Nasir Hussain- Always Believed in Long Associations

 

Nasir Hussain (16 November 1926 – 13 March 2002),  started his career as a story writer in 1948. He remained there till he started his own Nasir Hussain Films and turned producer-director. He made musical hits like Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961),  

He introduced Asha Parekh in Dil Deke Dekho (1959), she was the heroine of his first production Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961),  she was the heroine for all his films like  Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Teesri Manzil (1966), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), Caravan (1971),  After a gap of 13 years, she did a cameo in his film Manzil Manzil (1984). With Teesri Manzil he associated with music director R D Burman and after that RD was the music director of all his films like  Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), Caravan (1971), Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973), and Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977),  Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai (1981), Manzil Manzil (1984) and Zabardast (1985) So was the lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri who wrote lyrics for all the above films.

Rajendra Nath the comedian was a fixture in almost all of his early productions. He was in Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai (1961), Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963), Baharon Ke Sapne (1967), Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), Zabardast (1985) and Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai (1981).

Pran was also a constant villain in Ziddi, Love in Tokyo, Paying Guest and Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon. He also collaborated with writer Sachin Bhowmick, comic Wasti, and editors Babu Lavande and Gurudutt Shirali in many of his films

Here are a few songs of his films of RD & Majrooh Sultanpuri combination.

Song of Teesri Mnzil 1966

Song of  Baharon Ke Sapne (1967)

Song of Pyar Ka Mausam (1969)

Song of Caravan  (1971)

Song of Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973)

Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977)