The Great Horse Beat Songs of Bollywood

During the 50s and 60s Horse Beat or Tonga, songs were very common. Those days Tongas were the main mean of transport in Indian cities. Victoria which was also called a Tonga or Baggi which was pulled by or trotted by one or two horses produces a typical rhythm. The musical notes of a horse’s galloping have remained etched in our memories even today.
It is believed that O P Nayyar is the music director who gave us the Tonga or Horse beat songs but that is not true. Before O P Nayyar it was S D Burman, Naushad, Roshan who gave many of these beats songs. Remember the song of Deedar (1951) Bachpan Ke Din Bhula Na Dena and the song of Bawre Nain(1950) Ghir ghir ke aasmaan par chhaane lagi ghataayen with one of my fav singer Raj Kumari singing for my fav actress Geeta Bali.
On researching the songs with horse beats, I came across the song  Chale pavan ki chaal by Pankaj Mullick from Doctor (1941), This is the earliest known instance of such a song I could stumble upon.

Song of Doctor 1941

Another tonga beat song of the 40s is from V Shantaram's film Doctor Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani 1946.In this song Dr Kotnis (Shantaram) is singing while plying the cart, calling on people to come forth for service, and stresses even sacrifice of life in the process. The music was given by  Vasant Desai.

Song of Doctor Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani 1946

In 1950 S D Burman was another music director who gave the beats from instruments in an immortal song written by Kavi Pradeep, sung by Manna De for the film Mashaal 1950

Song of Mashaal 1950

The same year C Ramchandra gave us a song Ho Bajoo Mera Dil Hai sung by himself in the film Nirala starring Dev Anand and Madhubala

Song of Nirala 1950

Roshan who made his debut from Kidar Sharma's film Neki Aur Badi in 1949. Despite the disaster of their first film together (Neki Aur Badi, 1949) he gave him a second chance in the film Bawre Nain. The roaring success of the songs shows how legends are created. Roshan never looked back after that. In this film he used these beats in this song

Song of Bawre Nain(1950)

Song of Deedar (1951)

Song of Aan, 1952

Song of Chhoti Bahen, 1959

Let me now present the song from where O P Nayyar became synonymous with ghoda gaadi beats. The song is Piya piya piya by Asha Bhonsle & Kishore Kumar from Baap Re Baap (1955)

Song of  Baap Re Baap (1955)

OP Nayyar is in his elements and ticks off another successful composition.

Song of Naya Daur (1957)

Song of Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957)

Song of Howrah Bridge (1958)

Song of Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon (1963)

Song of Sawan Ki Ghata (1966)

Song of Pyar Ka Bandhan (1963)

Song of Dadi Maa (1966)

  

50 Years of Padosan (1968)

The title “Padosan”  brings a smile to every face. Produced by Mahmood and N.C. Sippy, the film is one of the best entertainers of all times. The film that immortalises Kishore Kumar and Mehmood as master entertainers. The film is also known for the behind-the-scenes rivalry in the song, “Ek Chatur Naar”, between Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar. The film was released on 29 th Nov 1968 and was a super hit. It is among the Top 50 classics of Hindi Cinema.
The film was based on a Bengali story, ‘Pasher bari' (next-door neighbour) written by Arun Chowdhury and adapted in Bengali in 1952, in Telugu as “Pakkinti Ammayi” in 1953, in Tamil as “Adutta Veetu Penn” in 1960 and again in Telugu as “Pakkinti Ammayi” in 1981. 
The film was  Directed by Jyoti Swaroop. The movie stars Sunil Dutt and Saira Banu in lead roles. Kishore Kumar, Mukri, Raj Kishore and Keshto Mukherjee played the supporting roles. Mehmood as the South Indian musician and rival to Sunil Dutt is among the highlights of the film. It was considered one of the best comedy movies made in Hindi film history. Mehmood's portrayal of a south Indian music teacher was one of his noted performances and a key highlight of the film. Kishore Kumar's character of a comical theatre director was also well received.
The music of the film was composed by Rahul Dev Burman and the lyrics were written by Rajendra Krishan.R.D. Burman's hit music gave us all-time great songs like “Mere Samne Wali Khidki Mein” (Kishore Kumar) and “Ek Chatur Naar Karke Singaar” (Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar) not to forget “Main Chali Main Chali”, “Sharm Aati Hai Magar”, “Bhai Batur” (all Lata Mangeshkar), “Bindu Re Bindu” and “Kahna Hai Tumse Ye Pahli Baar” (both Kishore Kumar).

Padosan is a story of a simpleton named Bhola (Sunil Dutt) who falls in love with his neighbour Bindu (Saira Banu). To impress her he wants to sing to her. However, he isn't a good singer and so seeks the help of his friend, Guru (Kishore Kumar). Guru, a famous singer, agrees to help his friend.

To impress Bindu, Guru sings in the background and Bhola mouths the words. Bindu is charmed by what she thinks is Bhola's singing. They become friends and fall in love. Bindu has a music teacher named Master Pillai/Masterji (Mehmood) who is also in love with her and keeps proposing to her. Bindu loves Bhola and hence refuses Masterji.
One day Bindu finds out about Bhola's lie. She decides to marry Masterji instead. Bhola thinks of a way to get Bindu back. So on the wedding day, Guru gets an idea. He makes Bhola pretend to have committed suicide.
Guru goes and tells the news to Bindu. She is shocked. She leaves her wedding altar and runs to Bhola. She reads the note and starts to repent. Bindu then tries to wake Bhola up. Bhola wakes up and Bindu is delighted. She tells Masterji that she wants to marry Bhola and he agrees. Bhola and Bindu get married. 
With brilliant performances and enduring songs, “Padosan” can be watched any number of times. 

Song of Padosan 1968

Song of Padosan 1968

Song of Padosan 1968

Song of Padosan 1968

Song of Padosan 1968

Song of Padosan 1968

Let's look into the Philosphy of Dev Anand

Dev Anand was not just the man of success & talent but also a man who had the ability to think. He used to sound like a philosopher. He was well educated and a creative man. His temperament and attitude to face life are extraordinary that made him such a great person. We all talk about his films and songs but in this Blog, I look at the intellect and philosophy of this great hero of Bollywood
In his Auto Biography, he says about becoming an actor "I knew I had that quality, for my mirror always told me, as it lit my reflection in it every time I looked into it, with a chorus of angelic voices, wow! Let the world see you"

On Life.
a philosophy which Dev Anand, a non-smoker, was said to live by. “Har Fikr ko dhue mein udhata chala gaya,” which roughly translates as: “I puff away the worries with the smoke.”

Looking Back on Past

"For me, today is exciting. This moment is exciting. This film I am making is exciting. The past is only where I came from. The present counts.”

On dreams

"You are dead the moment you stop dreaming"

On beauty
I get turned on by anything I find beautiful my greatest necessity is to be activated all the times my strength is my inborn optimism.

On Looks and Style

“There’s no Dev Anand style. If you like yourself, you are going to conquer. That’s self-confidence.”

About a star

A star is a man who is known. That’s all, people look forward to seeing him, listening to him or viewing him. A star is not necessarily a 25, 26, 36-year-old young lad with youth giving him good looks, which will fade away. The first important thing is personality, personality stays.

On his dialogue delivery (Why he spoke so fast). 
“Life is too short,  I don’t have time to speak slowly. My life is without full stop”

What keeps you moving

 It’s the mind which is ticking all the time, if the mind is alert and mind is moving, your mind never gets tired, your body does. My mind is the mind of a creator. One never grows old, one just grows, matures and dies.

On his mannerism

“I speak fast and so I spoke my dialogues fast. I have a stoop and that explains the way I held my body. I walk fast and that explains my movement.”

On Fear

I don’t have any fear... even death... if it comes, I will take it. 

How he finds a story for a film

 Stories are all around us. In newspapers, in trains, in markets… "Wherever there are people, there are stories. 

About discovering Talent

"Dev Anand doesn’t discover anybody. They find Dev Anand". 

On his Flop films

To my mind they are all hits, monetarily, they have not earned big money but that does not mean they are bad pictures.

After a debacle of Ishq Ishq Ishq

"A broken nose sometimes makes a great boxer"

On  youthful spirit
 “My life is the same and I am at a beautiful stage at 88. I am as excited as I was in my 20s.”

On his 88th Birthday
“I am always in a rush because time is slipping away and I am chasing it, chasing it. I have so many stories to tell but where is the time. I wish I am born again as Dev Anand and people will see a young star 25 years later. That will give me some time to finish what I want to do,”

Dev Anand also gave us a most profound philosophy : “Zindagi Ek Khayal Hai Jaise Ki Maut Bhi Ek Khayal Hai, Na Sukh Hai Na Dukh Hai; Na Deen Hai Na Duniya; Na Insaan Na Bhagwan ...Sirf Main Main Main..You have to detach yourself to go further...”.
Let's Watch Some Of the Philosophical Songs from his films

Song of Hum Dono 1961

Song of Munimji 1955

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Guide 1965

Song of Bambai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Nau Do Gyarah 1957

Song of Solva Saal 1958

Song of Kala Bazar 1960

Song of  Baat Ek Raat Ki 1962

Song of Gambler 1971

Song of Joshila 1973

Kashti (Ferry) Film Review

Ferry the film was released in 1954, produced and directed by Hemen Gupta starring Dev Anand and Geeta Bali
Ferry is very different from the usual (mainly romantic or noir) films of Dev Anand film. Dev Anand in a Dhoti Kurta and playing the Sarod is surprising to his fans. In this film, Dev Anand plays a widower and father of 8 years child named Raju, on an island off of Bombay's Gateway of India. Raju has not been told of his mother's demise and believes that she will return home by the next boat. He is looked after and abused by Vikas' aunt and manages to run away. 

 When Vikas goes to work one day, villagers find an unconscious female and bring her to his house. She is looked after, and Raju believes that his mother has returned. When Vikas returns, he decides to let this female, whose name is Juhi, live with them - little knowing that she is a runaway prostitute.

The most interesting in the film is an instrumental Jugalbandi by Geeta Bali and Dev Anand playing the Sitar and Sarod respectively (Originally played by Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan). Music by Hemant Da.

                            An instrumental jugalbandi in the movie 'Ferry' (1954)

Song of 'Ferry' (1954)

Song of 'Ferry' (1954)

Song of 'Ferry' (1954)

Song of 'Ferry' (1954)

Song of 'Ferry' (1954)

Sudha Malhotra- The magical voice

Born in New Delhi on 30th Nov 1936( There is a confusion on her date of birth in one video 30th Jan is mentioned), she was discovered as a child artiste by Master Ghulam Haider (a prominent music director of the 1940s). Her first break came with Mil gaye nain,composed by Anil Biswas, for the film Arzoo. Salaam-e-Hasrat Qubool Karlo and Kashti ka Khamosh Safar hai a duet with Kishore Kumar is the other songs she is often remembered for.
Upon the recommendation of music composers Husnlal-Bhagatram, she took classical singing lessons from Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan and began singing playback with the film Arzoo (1950).
She also acted in some Bollywood films and as a playback singer, worked in popular Bollywood movies in the 1950s and 1960s, like Arzoo, Dhool Ka Phool, Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Girl Friend, Barsat Ki Raat, Didi, Kala Pani, Prem Rog and Dekh Kabira Roya. 
There is another interesting little-known aspect of her life. She is one of the rare female singers to have sung a self-composed song. Sudha has not only given the music for Tum mujhe bhool bhee jao from film Didi, but also sung it with Mukesh.

She sang ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ first with Geeta Dutt composed by Khayyam for a Chetan Anand film. The film was never made but it was eventually reused for the Yash Chopra film.
The most saddening part of her career was that by singing more of children songs and motherly numbers in movies like Ab Dilli Door Nahin, Andher Nagri Chaupat Raja, Jeevan Saathi and Masoom, Sudha was labelled as a "typed singer". But determined Sudha proved everybody wrong. Her bhajan in Kala Pani 'Na Main Dhan Chahun..' became immensely popular. She sang the famous qawwali 'Ishq Ishq..' in the film Barsat Ki Raat. This song was recorded for a period of twenty-nine continuous hours. She was awarded the Kala Bhushan award by Gyani Zail Singh, the then president of India. She was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2013
She has sung 264 songs in 155 films.She was last heard in Raj Kapoor's Prem Rog (1982) in the song "Yeh Pyar tha ya kuch aur tha". Apart from Hindi songs, Sudha sang many popular Marathi songs (Bhavgeet) with Arun Date.
The poet-lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi was said to be infatuated with Sudha Malhotra, 15 years his junior, when  they first began working on Bhai Behen (1959). Malhotra’s dulcet voice brought alive many of Ludhianvi’s songs in film, and ‘Salaam-E-Hasrat Qubool Kar Lo’ was no exception. Composed by Roshan in the raga Yaman, the song was picturised on actresses Shubha Khote and Azra in the Muslim social, Babar (1960).

Song of Babar 1960

Her first song was composed by Anil Biswas for Shaheed Latif’s Arzoo (1950). The film was written by Latif’s wife Ismat Chughtai and hero Dilip Kumar. The melodious song, written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, was picturised on an equally young Shashikala. 

Song of Arzoo 1950

Another unforgettable number is the prayer song ‘Darshan Do Ghanshyam’ that Sudha Malhotra sung along with Hemant Kumar and Manna Dey. Composed by music composer Ravi

Song of Narsi Bhagat (1957)

It was the only time Sudha Malhotra composed a song in her career on request. ‘Tum Mujhe Bhool Bhi Jao’, written by Sahir Ludhianvi, is a duet sweetly sung by Malhotra and Mukesh. 

Song of Didi (1959)

In 1960's Girl Friend, Sudha Malhotra got to sing a beautiful duet with Kishore Kumar for music composer Hemant Kumar.

Song of Girl Friend (1960)

SD Burman compiled a wide array of singers from Mohammed Rafi to Asha Bhosle to Manna Dey. In this bhajan written by Shailendra, SD Burman chose the voices of Geeta Dutt and Sudha Malhotra. Their voices complemented each other perfectly. 

Song of Kala Bazar (1960)

The famous qawwali was sung by Sudha Malhotra, Manna Dey, and Asha Bhosle from PL Santoshi’s Barsat Ki Rat (1960), ‘Na To Karwan Ki Talaash Hai’, penned by Sahir Ludhianvi, was masterfully composed by Roshan

Song of Barsat Ki Rat (1960)

She was persuaded to return to playback singing for Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog (1982) with the duet ‘Yeh Pyar Tha Ya Kuch Aur Tha’ with the singer Anwar. This remains her last song.

Song of Prem Rog (1982)

The Great Bollywood Songs in Disguise

There are many situations in Hindi films where the hero comes in disguise to the heroine's house or vice versa. Sometimes the hero comes in disguise to kill the villain and his henchmen? And the dumb villain enjoys the song thoroughly. No wonder, with such low IQ they all get killed in the end.
There are many songs where the hero is in disguise of a girl or girls in disguise of a man, sometimes hero in disguise teasing the heroine. Many such song situations have given us many hit songs.
The first song in my list is from Jaali Note (1960)

Song of Jaali Note (1960)

Song of Kohinoor (1960)

Song of Half Ticket (1962) 

Song of Dil Hi To Hai (1963)

Song of Bluffmaster 1963

Song of Aarzoo (1965)

Song of Pyaar Kiye Jaa 1966

Song of Kismet (1968)

Song of Aankhen (1968)

Song of Jaane Anjaane (1971)

Song of Apna Desh (1972) 

Song of Anokhee Ada 1973

Song of Dharma 1973

Song of Amir Garib 1974

Song of “Rafoo Chakkar” (1975)

Song of Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

Song of Lawaris 1981

Helen - The Original Dancing Diva of Bollywood

Started her career as a Chorus Dancer Helen became the first Dancing Diva of Bollywood. It was the dance song Mera Naam Chin Chin Chu from the film Howrah Bridge in 1958 made her the Cabaret Queen of Bollywood. She changed the entire scenario of dance in Hindi cinema from the early 50s to the late 70s to emerge many years later as a character actress in a few chosen films. 
She was born in Burma (21 Nov), now Myanmar, to a Burmese mother and Anglo-Indian father. The famous dancing star Cuckoo was a family friend. She introduced her as a dancer in the chorus in Shabista in 1951.  She got  her first hit song-and-dance number in Baarish (1957), Mr John, Baba Khan ya Lala Roshandaan Jo Bhi Dekhe Mera Jalwa Ho Jaaye Qurbaan. 

She was initially trained in the Manipuri style. Then she learnt Bharat Natyam from P.L. Raj, one of the leading choreographers of the time. Kathak followed this. She was the one who introduced the cabaret and the belly dance in Indian films.  
Helen vamped three generations of men, Prithviraj Kapoor (Harishchandra Taramati), Raj Kapoor (Anari (1959)) and Rishi Kapoor (Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (1977)).
Hindi cinema found many uses for Helen. Since she was an outsider in almost every sense – by name, by national origin, by heredity – she could be anyone. And so a million fantasies were pinned on to one single form. She could be an Italian countess (Prince (1969)) or a German one (Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976)) or an Anglo-Indian gold-digger (Gumnaam (1965)) or a tribal (Baadal) or an aboriginal Maharashtrian Koli fisherwoman (Inkaar (1977)) or a Chinese woman (Howrah Bridge (1958)) or a Roman Catholic Jenny (Imaan Dharam (1977)).

 She was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1965 for her role in Gumnaam. She played dramatic roles such as the rape victim in Shakti Samanta's Pagla Kahin Ka (1970).It was  a role in Mahesh Bhatt's film Lahu Ke Do Rang (1979), for which she won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. In 1999 Helen was given India's Filmfare lifetime achievement award.
Helen officially retired from movies in 1983, but she has since then appeared in a few guest roles such as Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) and Mohabbatein (2000). She also made a special appearance as the mother of real-life step-son Salman Khan's character in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.. She also appeared in Humko Deewana Kar Gaye in 2006.

Helen was selected for the Padma Shri awards of 2009 along with Aishwarya Rai and Akshay Kumar.

Song of Baarish 1957

Song of Howrah Bridge 1958

Song of China Town (1962)

Song of Gumnaam (1965)

Song of Teesri Manzil (1966)

Song of Talaash (1969)

Song of Intaquam (1969)

Song of The Train (1970)

Song of Caravan (1970)

Song of Sholay (1975)

Song of Don 1978